Any guitar players here? (1 Viewer)

[Heinz W]

Hey all, since playing guitar is my OTHER favorite hobby aside from HT I thought I'd see how many of my fellow HTFer's also plucked a plank. What guitars do you have? What kind of music do you play? How long have you played? Let's see whatcha got!

I've played on and off for thirty years, but have really been hitting it in the past five years or so. I would consider myself an intermediate player, playing both rhythm and lead stuff. Though I have one acoustic guitar I play electric 99.9% of the time. My main two electrics are a Fender Eric Johnson Signature Stratocaster and a Gibson Historic 1960 Reissue sunburst Les Paul. The Les Paul in my avatar is a real 1959 Les Paul, and unfortunately not mine. My main amp is a Swart Super Space Tone 30 head with a 2x12 Greenback equipped cabinet. Sweet rig!

 

[Heinz W]

Hmm, no one else at the HTF plays? I know I saw a Martin acoustic in someone's avatar.. Carlo Medina maybe? Yes, that's it. Carlo, where are you?

 

[tyler payne]

Trying to teach myself to play. Bought a cheap Fender Electric to learn on. I play piano and saxophone, so I am familiar with music, but my small girly hands are a bit of an obstacle.

I like to play Classic Rock, and SKA. I love listening to Rodrigo Y Gabriela, but I need about 100 years of practice to get anywhere near what they can do.

 

[Heinz W]

Sorry for the late reply! Good for you Tyler, stick with it. You're already ahead of the game since you already play piano and sax. Guitar is a very expressive instrument, especially the electric guitar. I hope you keep with it, I'd love to be a multi-instrumentalist like you and some of my friends are, but I have enough work cut out for me right now with just the guitar.

Anyone else? Don't be afraid to post even if you're a beginner, we all have to start somewhere. Even if you don't play but have maybe thought about giving it a go, c'mon in!

 

[Carlo_M]

Off and on, total "ham-n-egger" self-taught for about 12 years, but I have to admit I go through long stretches of not playing simply because a lot of the people I used to jam with have moved to other parts of the country, and at 35 with a full time job I find it hard to locate people who just want to jam and aren't interested in trying to become the next big thing.

I play mostly acoustic, though I started out on electric. What is in my signature is a Lakewood M32 (German-build). It's what I play, and mine is very close to what you see in my sig, except my topwood is slightly more orange in hue (Sitka vs. European spruce). Rosewood back and sides. Inlaid "magic symbols" in the rosette. Check out Lakewood's website if you're interested. I have a B-Band A2.2 pickup with AST and UST blended together. Sounds good coming out of my Genz Benz Shenandoah 100 acoustic amp, but I want a more natural sound for recording and I'm not sure how to get it, short of setting up external mics which I don't want to do because I have a hard time sitting still and playing.

I would rank myself between beginner and intermediate, and do have a desire to start taking lessons but it's a classic case of not enough free time.

 

[Heinz W]

Once again, sorry for the late reply. I had DTV upgrade my TV service to HD and the installer took all of my satellite internet connections apart outside! I just got it back up and running last night. Terrible install, he also disconnected my outdoor OTA antenna and left the resolution on the HD DVR set to 480p! Needless to say I'm not happy about this at all. At least the service itself is good, channels look nice in HD. That's why I haven't had a chance to look in on the HTF. Enough this OT rant...

Nice post Carlo, I apologize for calling your Lakewood a Martin! I thought you once had a Martin, I seem to remember reading about it here years ago, is my memory faulty or did you once own one?

Good to hear you're still at it, but I agree with you about finding the time to play, it's tough to do with life's other commitments often taking precedence. Many times on Saturdays I'm so tired from the work week that I don't feel like packing up my gear and going to my friend's house for the jam. But once I'm there and we're playing I'm always glad I went. The best therapy there is.

Carlo, have you tried posting local musician want ads on the various music sites? That can be a good way to find others to play with. You should be able to find some people who are in similar situations regarding the full time job etc. and are just hobbyists like you (and me). Worth a shot.

 

[Carlo_M]

I purchased a Martin OM from Music123 many years ago. However it became very obvious that it was a used instrument [and not just shopworn but owned and played for quite a while] which was sold to me as new, so back it went for a full refund.

re: posting a want ad...I live in Los Angeles, and unfortunately the vast majority of responses are going to be the guys who want to be the next Van Halen. You know, the guys who sit at Guitar Center 24/7 showing off their riffs while the amps are turned to 11.

Seriously, I may try it some day. I do live near a very large college campus so you'd think there should be no shortage of players. In fact someone moved in to the building next to me and on some occasion at night I can hear acoustic guitar playing and singing. If I can locate exactly which apartment it's coming from maybe I'll swing by...

 

[Aaron Silverman]

My guitar, bass, and keyboard have been stuffed under the bed in the guest bedroom for several years, but my almost-4-year-old has taken an interest, so out came the axe!!! (It's one of those strange pinkish Peavey Generation II models. I also have an Alvarez Acoustic-Electric and a Squier Strat autographed by Collective Soul that I won in a local radio station contest.) My old mini-amp failed to respond, and my "regular" amp (a 40 watt Crate) isn't the best at low practice volumes, so I made an excuse um, *took the opportunity* to acquire a Vox DA-5 practice amp. This thing is awesome!!! The tone from its 6.5" speaker is great, especially for the classic rock and metal that I and my son (thank god!!!) love.

Tyler, I feel your "girly-hand" pain. It's annoying but not insurmountable. Sigh.

Sadly, just when things were starting to come back to me (much to Junior's delight), I sliced my left index finger open. The bandage is off but it'll be a few more days before I can play again.