Oops, forgot to answer to this thread. Starting Uni kind of messed up my routine and thought patterns
Hi Chas,
The Stag pony guitar has nylon strings so no problems there, soreness of fingers would put her off big time. My son saw the state of my fingers when I started up again last year and it's put him off playing guitar so I wanted to make sure it was a smooth introduction for my daughter.
I remember when nearly all acoustics seem to be strung with nylon strings. If they get old enough they can start fraying and still bugger up your finger tips! Not as bad a steel strings though
So has your daughter started playing the pink pony guitar yet Mark? I'm sure she'll just initially strum the strings at random, but hopefully you can teach her a few chords and get her playing along with you.
As for your son and bleeding finger tips - tell him that there's no gain without pain. I'm sure it was Jimmy Page who said "If your fingers don't bleed you aren't trying hard enough"!
I surprised myself this week, I bought a book with a load of tabs in it which I thought looked fairly advanced but within my repertoire after a bit of practice. However I found myself to be way ahead of the standard in the book when it came to playing the tunes, so much so that I bought some blank tab paper and have rewritten a couple of the songs so that I can fill the spaces between the chords. :slayer: Lovin it
Lol! That's always a boost to the confidence! It's even better when you get a guitar tab book for famous songs and start saying "No, that's the wrong chord. It should be A major diminished seventh"
I do like the look of that Squier Telecaster :yum:
Strangely, I never used to like the look of a Tele. Then again, when I first got into playing bass I didn't like the look of a Rickenbacker and didn't like sunburst paint finishes. Now I own a Rickenbacker 4001 bass, a Sunburst Jazz Bass and am looking for a Fender Telecaster. My tastes seem to have reversed as I've got older!
I know what you mean with the outlay for an expensive guitar, I have my eye on a few acoustics and I was tempted this time to get something close to the £700 mark with the Ibanez EP9 Steve Vai signature model here
That looks nice, it almost looks too good to play! I like the 'tree of life' on the fret board too.
In general you do get what you pay for when it comes to instruments. The more you pay, the better the craftmanship.
However it can get confusing when companies like Fender have their guitars made in different factories and in different countries. It also depends on when the guitars were made! For instance, a lot of people thought that the Japanese Fenders were as good (or better) compared with the USA Fenders even though they were cheaper. Very early Squires that were made in Japan were considered to be superior to the then current US models!
But then Squire production was moved to Korea, and there's even a budget Squier brand called the 'Affinity' model made in China. The Korean Squires are quite good, but the general consensus is to avoid the Affinity models.
It then gets more confusing in that there are Mexican made Fenders. The early Mex Fenders weren't supposed to be that good, but now the quality is supposed to be very good!
So in my hunt for a Squire Tele I have to be so careful to buy the 'right' model. There was a 1984 model for sale on Ebay recently, quite beat up, that fetched £180. Brand new Affinity models cost less and new Korean Squires are only about £20 - £40 more! That's because a lot of people have cottoned on to how good the early Jap Squires are...
Rickenbacker by the way have no such problem. They are still hand made in the same factory that has always made them. One of the things I like so much about my Rick is that it feels like a quality instrument as well as sounding fantastic. Bloody well ought to considering I went through hell and high water getting it back to the UK from the USA!
A few others were very tempting but a cash flow problem ( a large scale tank due next month ) has limited me. But I do love the Dean and the high action of the crafter has relegated it to second choice now so I may even trade it in for a Taylor or the Ibanez in a couple of months.
I have also got my eye on the Freshman FA300JBKS here
http://www.freshmanguitars.co.uk/products.asp?ID=55#detail
Freshman have been really helpful and are arranging for me to have a play on this guitar at a local shop as it's quite hard to source.
I have no cash flow at the moment! Have had to turn down the chance to buy a Uno Turbo and can't even splash out on a second hand Squier Tele at the moment. Such are the sacrifices one must make for a new career. Then again, I do have rather a few guitars already so I can't complain too much
It's nice that Freshman are arranging for you to play one of their guitars at a local shop (GAK by any chance?) That's how the quality manufacturers used to treat their customers, but now if you ring up most helplines you just get a pre-recorded message with options to press. Grrr...
Have you ever tried an Acoustic Bass Chas ?
I have seen a few and some of the designs are loverly :yum:
Yes, I have - they're kind of strange! The action tends to be a lot higher than an electric, and they sound so different. Much thicker and 'woody', if that is the right kind of description. More like a double bass sound than an electric going through an amp. Also weird the way the body of the acoustic bass vibrates so much, you can really feel it on your chest.
They're quite expensive though, so I couldn't really justify getting one as I also wouldn't get a chance to use it much. Maybe one day, so I'll just add it to my never ending 'Wants' list
Nice one for kicking the smokin habit too
No-one is more surprised than me that I managed to give up smoking. I guess it was just a mind over matter thing, and once I decided to pack it in that was it. Only problem is that I've since put on weight which I'm not happy about! But with the money I'm saving and the health benefits (except the weight gain!) it can only be a good thing, and sooner or later the money saved will go towards a new guitar
In the meantime I've got to get rid of that extra inch or so that's appeared round my waist...
