Yesterday was New Guitar Day at my house. Finally got around to replacing the black Les Paul Standard, which I regretted selling years ago, with a white Custom. Needs some setup time this weekend, but playing it last night reminded me how much I've missed that sound.

Gibson LP Custom White.jpg
 
Photos don't quite do it justice, the mahogany top is much more lively than it appears in photos, but this is the latest addition. It's an incredibly easy guitar to play.
1605362730694.png
 
Just stumbled across this thread. I've played guitar on and off (mostly off) for almost 50 years, ever since my hippie uncle bought me a used nylon string acoustic at a swap meet when I was about 10 years old and taught me how to play Smoke on the Water on the low E string. :LOL: I played rhythm guitar and did a bit of vocals with a garage jam/party band with a few friends right after high school in the early '80s, but for most of my adult life I've been really on and off with playing. I'll pick it up again and shake some of the rust off, learn a few new things and get my fretting calluses going, then put it aside for a few months and promptly forget everything I learned - rinse and repeat over and over again.

GAS is real though, and over the years I've accumulated a lot more guitars, amps and pedals than a crappy bedroom player needs. Now at 58 years old and retired with plenty of free time on my hands, I'm trying to commit to it and actually become a guitar player rather than just a guitar owner. I don't have any grand aspirations of becoming a rock star, just want to be competent at it and be able to express myself through music. I can play open and barre chords, the major and minor pentatonic scales, and can learn and play basic 3-chord songs, but my technique is sloppy (both picking and fretting). My improvisation skills are pretty much limited to noodling around in the minor pentatonic/blues scales and my theory knowledge (and fretboard knowledge) is somewhere above zero but well below competent. All things I'm trying to improve.

I think my biggest stumbling block is lack of a firm direction where I want to go, genre-wise. I enjoy playing classic rock tunes, but also like country guitar (old and modern), rockabilly, blues, and also can't resist being enticed by the mystery and complexity of jazz guitar. So I end up getting pulled all those different directions, but not having a clear path forward for progress. It's kinda like the opposite of OCD, I can't even put together a solid practice routine - I plug in, turn the amp on, then just get distracted noodling around and don't go anywhere. If any of you have any suggestions/recommendations for a practice routine/method that works for you, I'm all ears!
 
One of the great benefits you have now that we didn't have back in the day (I'm 54) is the virtual cornucopia of information available to us these days. The University of YouTube is an almost endless source of information for budding musicians an veterans alike. I spend more time there than anywhere else on the internet lately. There is more free instruction there than you'll ever be able to watch.

As for your "stumbling block," I'm not sure I'd look at it that way. By playing all the things that interest you, you are becoming a more well-rounded player, and actually developing your own style influenced by them all.
 
One of the great benefits you have now that we didn't have back in the day (I'm 54) is the virtual cornucopia of information available to us these days. The University of YouTube is an almost endless source of information for budding musicians an veterans alike. I spend more time there than anywhere else on the internet lately. There is more free instruction there than you'll ever be able to watch.

As for your "stumbling block," I'm not sure I'd look at it that way. By playing all the things that interest you, you are becoming a more well-rounded player, and actually developing your own style influenced by them all.
I agree 100% about the internet and YouTube - wish I'd had all that information at my fingertips when I was younger! Being able to find instructional videos and/or tab for almost any song you could possibly think of is amazing.
 
2019-09-20 23.10.04.jpg 2017-12-30 18.15.22.jpg
A few of my toys.
 
My most recent acquisition:

Wolfie.jpg Wolfie1.jpg

EVH Wolfgang Standard, quilted maple top in trans amber. Absolutely amazing guitar, especially for the price point. It quickly became my #1 and all my other guitars are on the rack in the closet. It's so much fun to play that it makes you want to play it!
 
I've finally opened up Logic Pro for the first time in about 2 years and starting to track guitars again. The band I was in previously split when the drummer and singer moved to Australia, and we've just decided to make another record, but remotely. Am super excited about it!
 
I've finally opened up Logic Pro for the first time in about 2 years and starting to track guitars again. The band I was in previously split when the drummer and singer moved to Australia, and we've just decided to make another record, but remotely. Am super excited about it!
I'd like to get back into recording, it's been a while since I've played around with it. My last interface was firewire, and no computers have those ports anymore. I recently bought a Positive Grid Spark practice amp that works as a USB interface, but I haven't messed with it yet.

Doing remote collabs like that is fun! I did one a number of years ago on a guitar forum, the people contributing were from all over the world. I played bass on that one - they had guitarists lined up out the door, and it was a simple enough bass line. I'm not really a bass player, but I have a Yamaha bass pretty much just for recording stuff.
 
I'd like to get back into recording, it's been a while since I've played around with it. My last interface was firewire, and no computers have those ports anymore. I recently bought a Positive Grid Spark practice amp that works as a USB interface, but I haven't messed with it yet.

Doing remote collabs like that is fun! I did one a number of years ago on a guitar forum, the people contributing were from all over the world. I played bass on that one - they had guitarists lined up out the door, and it was a simple enough bass line. I'm not really a bass player, but I have a Yamaha bass pretty much just for recording stuff.

My wife bought me a Behringer UMC404 a couple of years ago. I'm finally finding time to investigate how it works. I'm using Reaper as a DAW and learning the ins and outs. I also picked up a 25 key Alesis midi controller to play with. I'm not a great player but I can hold my own for a little bit. I love that there is online collaborations that can be done. 🤘
 
My wife bought me a Behringer UMC404 a couple of years ago. I'm finally finding time to investigate how it works. I'm using Reaper as a DAW and learning the ins and outs. I also picked up a 25 key Alesis midi controller to play with. I'm not a great player but I can hold my own for a little bit. I love that there is online collaborations that can be done. 🤘
I use GarageBand, which is actually a pretty decent DAW for my (limited) needs - it has way more capabilities than I'll probably ever use. I've never messed with keyboards/MIDI controllers because any keyed instrument has always been a complete and total mystery to me. I can play a bit of bass and simple drum stuff, but I can't fake it even a little bit on keys. A basic 4/4 rock beat on drums is easy enough, but I'll never be mistaken for a real drummer - and don't ask for complicated fills or any of those "math rock" time signatures. :LOL:
 
I've fallen off on my playing this last year or so, just like everything else in my life. I'm just starting to try to practice more again. Gotta get the chops back up. Also working on upgrading my recording rig. gotta get more music out.
 
I love that this thread is so old that the first post has a link to a video on MySpace.
 
Still doing my jazz funk class on Tuesdays. Not as effective over Zoom, but it ensures I work on one or two tunes every week (bass).


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
I use GarageBand, which is actually a pretty decent DAW for my (limited) needs - it has way more capabilities than I'll probably ever use. I've never messed with keyboards/MIDI controllers because any keyed instrument has always been a complete and total mystery to me. I can play a bit of bass and simple drum stuff, but I can't fake it even a little bit on keys. A basic 4/4 rock beat on drums is easy enough, but I'll never be mistaken for a real drummer - and don't ask for complicated fills or any of those "math rock" time signatures. :LOL:
I can't play keys to save my life. I got it to help with creating drum tracks to play guitar against. Chopsticks is about it. 🤪
 
I've played bass in numerous mostly cover bands since the early 2000s until a few years ago. I mostly played around Central Ohio but sometimes ventured to Toledo, Cleveland, and near Put-in-Bay. These days, I'm so busy with my job and family that I just do not have the patience for band drama, and the money doesn't impact me quite so much. On the bright side, now I have more time to devote to golf!
 
Check out Everything Music YouTuber Rick Beato, he just passed 2 Million subscribers, i got on the bus at around 270 k... have built some guitars, had two-drummer band back in college early 70's, Chicago Blues + ABB, Dead stuff was great fun, only got shut down couple times for being too loud..

playin guitar and golf

edit: and reshafting my sticks for more flex, since retired and its all play for now
 
Last edited:
I've played bass in numerous mostly cover bands since the early 2000s until a few years ago. I mostly played around Central Ohio but sometimes ventured to Toledo, Cleveland, and near Put-in-Bay. These days, I'm so busy with my job and family that I just do not have the patience for band drama, and the money doesn't impact me quite so much. On the bright side, now I have more time to devote to golf!
I've always said that if I really wanted to get into a band and play out, I'd put the guitars in the closet and take up bass full time. Guitarists are a dime a dozen, bass players seem to be harder to find.

I'm not sure I'd have the patience for band drama at this point in life either. Add to that the fact that I live in a fairly small city with not that many venues to play at, and we're already saturated with cover bands. It would probably be pretty cutthroat to even break into the rotation with all the established bands who already have the hookups, and honestly I wouldn't be into it enough to put forth that kind of hustle. I'd be satisfied to find a few other old guys (past the "alpha musician" stage of life) to get together and jam with once in a while.


Check out Everything Music YouTuber Rick Beato, he just passed 2 Million subscribers, i got on the bus at around 270 k... have built some guitars, had two-drummer band back in college early 70's, Chicago Blues + ABB, Dead stuff was great fun, only got shut down couple times for being too loud..

playin guitar and golf
Rick Beato does some interesting videos. The one about EVH's "Brown Sound" and the "What if EVH, Eric Johnson or Peter Frampton played the Stairway to Heaven Solo" were both a lot of fun to watch. He takes a pretty deep dive on some stuff.

I've built one guitar - I guess I should say "assembled", really - not built from scratch. I built a Tele from a Warmoth double-bound "Sonic Blue" body with MOTS pickguard, a Warmoth neck with a nice, fat back profile (it's like a baseball bat!) and a Corian nut, and had Don Mare wind a set of pickups for it. It was fun to spec out every single piece of the guitar exactly as I wanted it, and do all the wiring, assembly and setup. I knew going in that resale value on "Partscasters" is next to nil, but I don't care - it turned out nice and plays really sweet.

Edit: Here's the Tele:

tele.jpg
 
Last edited:
I'd like to get back into recording, it's been a while since I've played around with it. My last interface was firewire, and no computers have those ports anymore. I recently bought a Positive Grid Spark practice amp that works as a USB interface, but I haven't messed with it yet.

Doing remote collabs like that is fun! I did one a number of years ago on a guitar forum, the people contributing were from all over the world. I played bass on that one - they had guitarists lined up out the door, and it was a simple enough bass line. I'm not really a bass player, but I have a Yamaha bass pretty much just for recording stuff.

I've got a little M-Audio 2x2 that just sits by my desk with a guitar lead in it permanently. It's by no means the greatest interface in the world, but as I'm only tracking one thing at a time it does perfectly well for what we need. I don't actually have a bass, when I'm demoing stuff like I'm doing at the moment I just record the bass runs on a guitar and then transpose it down an octave, like the heathen I am :ROFLMAO:

My wife bought me a Behringer UMC404 a couple of years ago. I'm finally finding time to investigate how it works. I'm using Reaper as a DAW and learning the ins and outs. I also picked up a 25 key Alesis midi controller to play with. I'm not a great player but I can hold my own for a little bit. I love that there is online collaborations that can be done. 🤘

I learned the ropes on Reaper! Is an awesome piece of kit and so intuitive to use, although there I've never even really scratched the surface of its capabilities. I did get a midi keyboard as well, but that was only to be able to add little bits of strings or something like that. Doesn't often happens, who wants a string section on a punk rock record after all haha
 
My wife bought me a Behringer UMC404 a couple of years ago. I'm finally finding time to investigate how it works. I'm using Reaper as a DAW and learning the ins and outs.
I use a behringer UMC404HD interface into Reaper. It's a very budget-friendly, usable setup. That interface is better than the price indicates (as is Reaper).
 
I'm a lousy guitar player and its been a LONG time since I played at all. Gotten the itch lately and all of a sudden am pondering modern gear. My setup is a Squier strat from mid-nineties, well neglected. And as a misguided teen picked up a Fender Pro 185 also back in the mid nineties. Both still work, but jacks are shot and the amp pots need work. So, not quite, but almost junk.

At minimum, thinking a small solid state practice amp and cheap electric guitar so the kids and I have something to play around with. I would like them to have cheap gear available. But one gets to browsing, and darned if the latent interest in nice amps and guitars hasn't perked up.

I mean, I need new guitar gear, right?
 
I'm a lousy guitar player and its been a LONG time since I played at all. Gotten the itch lately and all of a sudden am pondering modern gear. My setup is a Squier strat from mid-nineties, well neglected. And as a misguided teen picked up a Fender Pro 185 also back in the mid nineties. Both still work, but jacks are shot and the amp pots need work. So, not quite, but almost junk.

At minimum, thinking a small solid state practice amp and cheap electric guitar so the kids and I have something to play around with. I would like them to have cheap gear available. But one gets to browsing, and darned if the latent interest in nice amps and guitars hasn't perked up.

I mean, I need new guitar gear, right?
No different than golf gear - the answer is always "Of course you do!"

For a practice amp, take a look at the Positive Grid Spark. It's a fun little amp - plenty loud enough for home and the digital modeling allows you to get a ton of different tones, everything from acoustic to full-on metal. It connects via Bluetooth to your phone or tablet, which is where you play with all the amps and effects modeling. It also gives you a metronome, access to a ton of jam tracks that play through the amp via Bluetooth, and you can also connect to Spotify, Apple Music and YouTube to play along to songs. And when you're not using it for guitar, it's a pretty cool Bluetooth speaker to play music through. Has a headphone jack for silent practice, and can also connect to your computer as a USB interface for recording. Looks like they're on sale for $254 right now at their website, they're really a lot of bang for the buck. I bought mine about a month ago and have been having a blast with it. You can also buy an external rechargeable battery pack (the kind that can power a laptop), and then you can use the amp anywhere without needing a wall plug.

As far as cheap guitars - I don't have any first-hand experience with them, but I've seen a lot of buzz about Harley Benton guitars lately. They're priced very reasonably and the reviews I've seen say the quality is really good for the price. Only downside I can see is that they're sold through thomann.de in Germany, so I don't know what the shipping time to the U.S. is like.
 
Last edited:
Back
Top