Since I last wrote about my new hobby, my stable of gear has grown substantially. I’ve made some awesome deals, some o.k. deals, and I probably overpaid a little for a couple of guitars but I was still happy with the transactions. Right now I have way too many guitars and not enough talent. Each outfit is unique from the others.
Of course, a good guitarist can make just about anything sound great. I’ve seen videos of accomplished players performing quality metal on a Hello Kitty guitar. I, on the other hand, could spend thousands on a guitar and I would sound no better than I do on a $300 model. My guitars average under $400 each and all but two have been used.
When I buy used, and all are in excellent to open box condition, I have paid anywhere from 40% to 75% of new. I also have this Epiphone Les Paul (a less expensive version of my Gibson) that I had thought about getting rid of. At the same time I was itching for a guitar with P90 pickups so instead I put some in that rig and saved myself a few hundred. Sweet.
I will say this … even with a brand new guitar, pay to have it professionally set up! This is a must and it can turn a clunker into a dream. Sometimes, though, mistakes are made and nothing can save you. I bought a rig with a complete Floyd Rose floating bridge and locking nut system and I HATED it. I could not get it in tune or keep it there. I donated it to a local rock school.
I did trade in a steel string acoustic and a classical nylon string acoustic for a better acoustic-electric steel string. Acoustics can be tougher to play than electrics (strings, neck size and shape) so I just now put lighter gauge strings on it and that helped. Acoustic-electrics should use an acoustic amp so I bought one but it sounds like a cardboard box.
However, it is likely not the amp. It turns out that the common “under the bridge piezo pickups” have a tendency toward mid-range “quack” (a very unpleasant honking tone). I could replace that pickup with a transducer pickup for about $150 but … I’ll pass for now. I probably never should have bought an amp for it anyway. But, I am convinced that the right amp probably trumps the right guitar.
In terms of electric guitar amps, I bought a Peavey and then a Marshall before settling on a Fender. The Peavey is a “modeling” amp with 100’s of different settings. I found it to be way too complicated and, regardless of what I tried, it always sounded like crap. The Marshall was simpler but it seemed like you only had two choices … clean and heavily distorted. I like overdrive vs. distortion but could never seem to ever get there.
So, I dumped the Marshall but, I still have the Peavey and I’m actually learning how to make it work. Go figure. Guitars can also be that way. There are some that I don’t like one day but that I do like the next. Ditto for pedals. Part of it may be my ear but a huge part of it has to be developing a greater understanding of what does what and how to adjust all the pieces to achieve a specific sound.
I’ll tell you another thing about amps. I was totally convinced that I needed a tube amp to get the sounds that I was looking for. My Fender amp is actually a hybrid. The clean channel is tube but the “dirty” channel is solid state and the dirty channel sounds just as awesome. If I want, I can use pedals on the clean channel to dirty that up. The point being … I was looking for Fender’s tone and my research now shows me that my musical influencers, for the most part, favored Fender amps. BTW … for the most part, solid state amps will be significantly less money than their tube counterparts.
I’ve also started to do some of the most very basic guitar maintenance tasks on my own like string changes, setting intonation, adjusting pickup heights, and general cleaning and polishing. I’m not particularly mechanical so these skills will likely not progress much farther. Nor will my attempts at a few very minor cosmetic repairs which have yielded very mixed results.
So, after taking some lessons I am ready to hopefully take this to the next level. I have amassed a large amount of digital lessons and applications that were both free and premium. I’m fairly comfortable with chords and can play most adequately. My ability to play lead is practically non existent as is my ability to play scales. While I am dreading these … must be done.
My biggest concern is time. Not having enough time in the day. I’m semi retired and more retired than semi. No, it’s my age. Aside from a bad back and a left thumb that doesn’t work, I think I’m in good shape but, hell, I could go out any minute:) Lot of work to do if my ultimate goal of touring is to be realized. Yeah. Right.
Craig M. Jamieson
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