Fretless

Like @Plantsman13, I have only been to two Santana concerts. The band really gives a full, lengthy show for the money and apart from Carlos's litte sermon each time, there is no wasted time with lots of talking between songs. They are among the best concerts I have been to.

I bookmarked your topic but I have been so busy this last month - we have hundreds of thousands of Ukranians fleeing the war into Slovakia - that I have not had time to reply. If no one else does by the time I get a couple of minutes I will return and help as best I can. Sorry about the delay.

Vincent, the single, was the first record I ever bought and it continues to have a place deep in my heart. Mike, your rendition carries all the emotion of the original. Well done indeed!

Thank you for the mention, Doug. Jan Jurčo is Slovak and started JJ about 30 years ago. JJ tubes have always been and are still made here in Slovakia. My Mesa Boogie runs happily on JJ tubes.

Sadly, CNN Europe will be broadcasting a different program instead - the best and the worst of 2021. Only the US will probably get the James Taylor and Carole King concert. What a pity.

Good thinking, Doug, but the PreSonus AudioBox USB 96 has combination sockets, where you can either plug in a balanced XLR or unbalanced 1/4" jack and it has input impedences relevant for the different plugs.

One possibly would be to use a volume pedal inbetween your guitar and the Audiobox, set to a level that 10 ob your guitar does not cause clipping. Find the right level and leave it there, maybe on your desk beside the Audiobox, rather than on the floor where you might step on it and alter the volume level. You could choose a small pedal like the Valeton Surge EP-2 Mini or an even cheaper pedal such as the Lead Foot LFV-1. There volume attenuators without a pedal (because you don't need the pedal, just a volume knob), like this cheap Chinese Mosky pedal or the more expensive, respected Electro-Harmonix Nano Signal Pad Attenuator Guitar Effects Pedal.

I remember you, Sandy, from the old forum. I am sorry to read of the troubles you have had but you write with such enthusiasm it is evident that you are in a better place - and with a new Tele, too! All the best for your future life-long progress and enjoyment of the guitar.

Your last paragraph explains why it was all worthwhile. Long may you be extremely satisfied. Regarding your clipping sound, have you set the insput gain staging on the Audiobox and in your DAW. It sounds to me like it is set to be more sensitive and needs to be turned down. Is there a red light on the Audiobox to show when the signal is clipping? What is the input level (dB FS or LED colour) in your DAW at the input gain stage? Have you checked the Audiobox's manual to make sure you have not missed anything?

On a Mac the usual app to use to rip video is Handbrake.

Kenneth, you no doubt have some chords where you no longer think about whoch finger goes where, you just know the chord shapes and your hand gets it right without any brain power from you. In time, the F will become like this. In the meantime, you just need to keep playing songs that include F to drive it home. It would be worth getting someone to watch you when you are playing an F so that they can check how straight your wrist is and check that your guitar is such that when you are playing F your hand should be somewhere around shoulder height. Guitar playing does not get any harder than doing barre chords at the 1st fret. It might help to start with an Bb chord - slide the F chord up the neck 5 frets to where it is easier to get right and then play an A (4 frets up from F) and keep going down one fret at at a time until you get to F comfortably and accurately. By all means take a few days or weeks on this. Don't get in a rut over this. Press on through session 10 and beyond and treat this as something that you will return to periodically.

Measuring the neck from the nut to the 12th fret and doubling that measurement will tell you for sure what scale length the neck was built for. Ibanez's normal scale length is 25.5" which the S series uses. Ibanez makes 26.5" necks for 7-string guitars so check your neck to be sure you have been sold the correct scale length. The only way a 25.5" scale neck would produce 26.5" when dry-fitted to the guitar is that the neck is 1" from being fully inserted into the neck pocket. I am sure you have checked that but may be worth double-checking. Do the screw holes in the body and the neck line up?

matonanjin, it wouldn't happen to be Editing Floor Blues by any chance?

Just to be a pedant, modes are modes, not scales.

I would be tempted to find a local luthier who would be willing to teach you using your guitar. He can guide and advise you and you can end up with a properly repaired and restored guitar. He will also know how to deal with the chips and the small crack. Keep us posted - with photos, of course!