Six String

Well its been quite a while since I've visited GG, so I thought I'd drop in to see what's going on. Glad to see the Live Lessons are still drawing good response and there are still some familiar names around. I'm sure the live lessons are far more productive than the chats and message board rants from the days of old. lol Still I sometimes miss the discussions we had, despite the drama that sometimes arose from them. I learned a lot from those old message boards and chats. As for me, I successfully transitioned to 100% remote work during COVID and that allowed me to move back to my home State of SC after 30 some odd years in VA. Only now I'm on the coast vs. the foothills where I was born and raised. The move meant leaving my Band in VA and that was a bummer, but the lead guitarist and bassist had both retired and the writing was on the wall regardless of if I stayed or went. I think I was part of the last line up that played a gig but they may have done a few more shows before the final break up. For me, I started reaching out through several venues down here and after a few failed attempts I've found a stable jam group that I play with every other Friday evening. We have a few that are interested in gigging but I'm really not that focused anymore. At times I found the Band to be as demanding as a job as I struggled to learn and keep up with far better musicians. I'm quite content to have an outlet that does keep me playing and learning but is not as demanding as a gigging band. The music scene here is very, very lively with lots and lots of great players, so most weeks, I see live bands at least 2-3 nights. I live walking distance to one of the big areas of restaurant/bars that all feature live music so there are 4-5 bands to choose from. We often walk over after dinner to check them out - Love it. Anyway, Hope you all are doing well in your guitar endeavors, especially any of you L&M old-timers and OG-GG folks that are still around . Oh, btw, my chronic GAS remains in remission and I have not purchased a single bit of guitar gear - not even a cable - In several years. Of course I accumulated significant pile of stuff before finally getting it under control. lol

Nice! Great looking bass! Just gonna throw this out there....for roughly $250 more than the Rocket Bass you could pick up a Line 6 PodGo and get 80 or so different amps including about a dozen Bass amp models and just about every effect you can imagine for guitar. Not saying its a cure, but the Helix put my GAS in remission and the PodGo will do everything I use my Helix for. I've considered trading down, but used gear doesn't fetch much in my new locale.

It comes down to budget. Lots of folks doing acoustic gigs in smaller venues get along fine with a Loudbox or a couple of powered speakers and a small PA mixer. Those that can afford it will often opt for the Bose. I'm currently jamming with one guy that worked for Bose so has a couple of sizes of the Bose rig and another that uses a Bose for his acoustic Gigs. Great sounding units, but pricy, maybe overpriced for many.

Congrats! What model is it? AmPro in Butterscotch? 52 RI?

Guitar playing is a physical activity and it takes a lot longer to build the endurance we need to grip some chords than it does to understand where our finger tips need to be. I think all of us struggle with that from time to time. We understand what is supposed to happen, but haven't built the physical capability to do it yet so we get frustrated and think we aren't progressing when we are actually building the endurance we need. The trick is to accept it'll take time, and work in a steady way, gradually pushing yourself but not overdoing it and getting an injury that slows you down even more. Several of us has made that mistake and had to put the guitar down for days or weeks while we worked out strained muscles and tendons. Keep climbing, you'll get there.

Breedlove Pro Series D25/SRh - Sadly its pretty much a case queen as my playing is about 99.9% electric. I was really drawn to the Martin D28, but knew I didn't play acoustic enough to warrant that level of investment, so I looked long and hard for something that came close in tone for around $500 (this was several years ago). This was over my budget, but less than a 1/3 of a D28's price and is a really, really nice guitar.

Digitech îs responsible for keeping me away from modelers for years. I forget which RP I had, but it was both the worst sounding and most fiddly box I ever owned. I didn't try a modeler again until the Pod HD500X. That one was fiddly, but there were great sounds in there, so it was the gateway drug to the Helix that I traded the HD500x for. I've primarily played the Helix for over 3 years now and it ended my chronic GAS for the latest greatest pedal. There are a ridiculous number of options for just about any effect you can think of available in the Helix and they keep adding new ones in free software upgrades. I haven't bought a piece of gear since the Helix.

Sort of a strange list really. Pretty much any amp would do for absolute beginners and several amps in the list seem targeted to the parents of those beginners that don't want to spend a bunch not knowing if the learner will stick with it. Then there are a group that would take a beginner through their first gigs . I'm not familiar with the Fender Pro Jr but a 15 watt tube amp can easily be a gigging amp and is pretty much in a different price class than the rest of this list, yet still at the very low end of tube amp prices. Others are sort of niche amps more suited to intermediate players that need compact low volume amps. I'm a fan of the Katana as a "best in price range" choice.

Folks ahead of me provided the info you need to help inform your decision. I'll add that your intended use for the guitar matters as well. An all laminate guitar may be just the ticket if you are buying an instrument to take camping, boating, road trips or hauling on airlines, etc. Yeah, it likely won't sound as good as a solid wood guitar, but it will sound better than solid wood guitar that gets smashed to toothpicks or warped like pretzel from wet , cold and heat. For a number one acoustic, I'd aim for solid wood model if I could, but I have a small body solid laminate that I take on work travel and out on our sailboat. Its built like a tank with a laminate neck and body so I don't have to worry too much about it. I think I could almost drive nails with it and it sounds pretty good under the stars on my sailboat.

Yep, My Helix seems to have cured my chronic Gear Acquisition Syndrome. Line 6 keeps doing releases that add new amps and pedals to the already overwhelming choices. I was pretty satisfied with what was in my Helix so I was several updates behind until recently, and now there is yet another update out that adds an Orange Rockerverb Amp, 5 New pedals and also increases the oversample rate which apparently improves the sound on everything. Since I sold an Orange Dual Terror to help fund my Helix, I'm excited to download this update and check out probably the 6th or 7th new amp they added since I bought the Helix, all for zero extra dollars.

Yes, who needs a band once you figure out the corporate chord progression and learn how to code it into the software.

The PRR mentioned above is absolutely a great amp. If the volume of your DRR wasn't a problem the PRR might be a good downsize for you. If you want super light, and aren't hard over on wanting to stick with a tube amp, the Boss Katana's are very light and surprisingly versatile.

Congrats! Beautiful guitar.

I'm among those that have something of a collection of guitars with 7 electrics and 4 acoustics (One belonged to my Mom and a small acoustic I bought for travel). Of my 7, I tend to play my Les Pauls far more than the others. Second would be my Squire CV Telecaster (among my least expensive). My Stratocaster, I've owned the longest and is by far played the the least. So it seems I have a preference for single cut guitars and hum bucker pickups, but it took me a while to learn that and I definitely enjoy single coils for some songs. I think when shopping for a new axe, its best to try to avoid the mindset that your next guitar must be the perfect one. You may bond over time, or you may not, but the guitar you buy should speak to you on some level when you buy it. It may take some time with various guitars to determine if you actually have a strong preference for a particular type. I know that's how my journey unfolded so explore as you feel inspired to. Some of my guitars I just like owning for their beauty as an object nearly as much as I enjoy playing them. Good Luck.

Nice Greg. You are so right that very few ever get to compare cabs head to head so a cab modeler is a very attractive idea. The Kemper version is pretty interesting. I can see why your HD500 gathers dust with that array of gear. The HD500X was my entry into the world of modeling and while great tones were in there, it was a bit of a steep and often frustrating learning curve to get them out. I eventually dialed in a set of tones that worked for me and stuck with them for a good while even after my buddy got a Helix and I saw how much more intuitive it was and how quickly he could set up a decent sounding signal chain. Eventually the simplicity won me over and I switched over to Helix and left the difficulties of the HD500 behind.

Congrats on your new guitar! The chunkier neck may prove over time to be your preference. I though I preferred slim necks until spending some time with a 50's carve Gibson neck. Now I much prefer a medium to thick neck and find the really thin necks the most uncomfortable.

To fully clarify, the Fastrack is a analog/digital converter. Your signal path goes - Analog from string vibrating over magnet (pickup), into the Fastrack where its converted to digital, into the PC via USB where the sound is processed digitally (amps, effects etc.) by whatever software you are using, then back out to the Fastrack as a digital output again via the USB which is then converted back to analog and sent to your powered speaker via the output jacks usually 1/4" or XLR, but could be other formats like RCA. Others have correctly pointed out the speakers you are currently using are really more aimed at streaming playback vs live performance and certainly not up to the task of mixing recordings. They should be ok for quite playing but might self destruct if cranked up very loud. My personal experience is that entry level studio monitors will work for live monitoring, but may not be really satisfying in terms of feeling like an "amp in the room". If all you need is a mono output a powered 10-12" PA speaker can be used in lieu of the monitors and will feel much more like playing through an amp. I ran this configuration for most of last year but my PC started giving me issues and I went back to an amp and analog pedal board.

I use Sweetwater or Amazon. I'm using the Dunlop 07's.

Didn't mean to throw anyone for a loop. I still think the Line 6 modelers are awesome including the HD500X and Pod Go as well as the flagship Helix products. Looking at your gear list you sort of have the same bases covered as I do. A nice tube amp, which to me still can't be beat when you are free to play loud, and you have the HD500X, power block and cab, that you can dial in great sounds at any level from bed room to stage, similar to my Helix LT (admittedly that might take some learning to do). I had also bought the software version of Helix that works as a plug in to a DAW. So I was going in to the PC via a Presonus interface and back out to a PA speaker to practice with backtracks at home. I had essentially that same tones (no foot switch ability) on my PC at home, as I had on my Helix, which I left at our drummers house. This worked for a while but the software just started overloading my PC when also streaming a backing track, so it wasn't working for what I was doing. Basically, Helix Native was a failed experiment for what I was doing, but the actual Helix is still my favorite. Native is probably awesome for recording but haven't started down that path much yet. So, my gear quiver is now stocked with the Helix LT(No. 1), Tube Amp (No 2.) and Katana (No. 3). When/If the band ever gigs again, I'll take either 1 or 2 as primary and (after hearing how awesome it sounds) toss the Katana in the car as a backup gig saver if 1 or 2 lets me down.

Yep. Buying used I didn't get a chance to try it out and haven't studied up on the product like I normally do. I just knew I needed something. I'll go online to find a manual today and figure out the all the features today.

I picked up a deal on a used Boss Katana 50 on Facebook Marketplace today. Others here have raved about these amps, and I've recommended them based on reputation alone, but I finally pulled the trigger on one today and wow, should have done this a while ago. Those familiar with my background know I've pretty much converted from a tube amp guy to a digital modeling guy and have been playing through a Line 6 Helix LT modeler for the past couple of years (still love my Tube amp when I can be loud). Lately, for home practice, I've been playing through my PC using Helix Native modeling while my Helix LT pedalboard was left at our band rehearsal space. However, my PC is aging and was not particularly powerful start with. Also my practice room set up required it to both stream my backing tracks and process the guitar signal chain. I guess the PC's age is catching up, but recently latency and drop out were becoming frequent and infuriating so I'm stoked about this Katana coming along at a price I couldn't pass up. I've only scratched the surface of the amps capability, but on the clean setting with the gain pretty low and a touch of reverb, it delivers the Fender-y clean I'm looking for. Crank the gain on the clean setting and you find that "amp about to blow up" classic rock break up. I already have a full pedalboard and will mainly use that with the clean tone of the amp, but the onboard effects are pretty impressive. All in all I think the amp lives up to the hype and would definitely be my recommendation for someone looking for a versatile, fairly simple amp that works for bed room level but also good for a jam or gig.

Congrats. The GS Mini is a really nice guitar, but a 300 Series Taylor is definitely a lot more guitar.

Congrats. I have a Breedlove Pro D25/srh and have lusted over several of their smaller body guitars over the years but never pulled the trigger. I think they are pretty under rated against the competition from Martin and Taylor since they are newer (and IMHO, suffer from some mixed up marketing). They really do turn out some great guitars and should you ever need it, their customer service is incredible.

Seems the Spark has the same issues as other chord detection apps I've tried. Its probably an unavoidable issue when the technology is trying to pull out the chords for one instrument from the mix. It seems to me it would be very difficult to refine the algorithm enough to pick out every passing tone, quick suspensions, chord variations and not detect the random bass or keyboard note from a fully mixed recording. The ones I've seen have been good enough to get you close and to at least clue you that there was something going on besides a standard chord. You could then go find a cover on youtube and try to suss it out from watching the players hands. On the subject of having both your guitar signal and the backing track signal through the same source, another GG'er pointed out to me long ago it was very easy to fool yourself as to how well you were playing. Based on that warning I experimented and found that I was indeed fooling myself. Therefore, I took that advice to heart and I've made it my routine to have the backing track through one monitoring system, and my guitar through another. I balance the volumes so I can move myself around to hear more or less of one or the other. That way I can be sure if that awesome vibrato is mine or Eric Clapton's. The awesome one is still Clapton's, but being able to clearly determine what I was sounding like has allowed me to get a lot closer with just a few years work on that one sone. lol

Yeah, I'm a Schaller guy also and I'm not sure the new Schaller studs are an improvement. I do like the new style for the strap cup part. They seemed like a nice update over the older ones I have on my guitars/straps. Congrats again on the new axe.