colder

I really enjoy the Paradiso videos, and yes, those guys are great players!

I am registered and have everything booked - Very excited to be attending my first gathering this year! Is there a Frequently Asked Questions for these events? I'm wondering what I should bring. Have you found it easier to bring an acoustic or an electric? Would I need to bring an amp and other accessories, or are those provided? Anything non-guitar related that you'd recommend I bring? I'd love to hear some detail on any concerts or anything that the group might be attending, how you reserve a spot for one of Greg's setups, all that kind of stuff. I'm a newbie so any tips for success are appreciated!

Thanks! I was mainly wondering if 30% was bad, consistently, for an acoustic guitar's environment, and also what products Greg might think work the best. I think the Oasis ones are working better for me than the humidipaks, you just have to add a small amount of distilled water every couple of days. But even with two of those, the Minnesota air is still keeping the humidity lower than I'd like it

I'm not Greg, but i own that DVD and it does cover neck adjustments.

Hey Greg, Just wondering what you recommend as far as keeping your acoustic humidified in the winter time? I once lived in Florida and had no problems, but now I live in a cold northern city, in a loft in a old building. The humidity gets pretty brutal here in the winter. I have a humidifier built in to the HVAC system that I run all the time, and at the opposite end of the place I have a "whole house" humidifier running most of the time too. I keep my J-45 in its hard case when not in use, and inside the case I have two Oasis humidifiers, one for inside the soundhole and one of the case-mounted ones. I keep these full with distilled water, per the instructions. (I used to use the d'addario packets, but I found that in this climate they wear out too fast to be economical) Most of the time my case humidity hovers around 35%, and in the rest of the house with both humidifiers running, about 30%. So, I just wondered: -What level of humidity does it take to damage an acoustic? How long would it need to be exposed to be damaged? -What are the first signs you typically see on a dry guitar that we should take as a warning? -Are there any specific products you recommend to manage humidity? Thanks!

Congrats! I really like Sheratons. I actually just found an ES-335 Pro, which is a limited edition thing, or else I might have been getting a Sheraton myself. I like the semihollow thing a lot, and it's great for the jazz practice I need to be doing a LOT of.

I haven't had the best luck with those. Living in the upper midwest where it's very dry in the winter, they need to be replaced in just a couple of weeks. I really like the Oasis humidifiers though. I bought one for the soundhole of my acoustic and another one to put in the case, and the humidity in there stays right around 45 or 50. You just refill it with water (instructions recommend distilled water) when it shrivels up, and use one of the refill packs every so often.

Thanks everyone. I appreciate every thought and post. I'm just continuing to work toward my guitar dream in this area and waiting for the right door to be opened. I have found a few worship-specifc resources online, some from musicademy, worshiponline, and worshipartistry. There's a lot of good material out there. I hope anyone who contributes at church with their guitar talents will continue to offer some advice!

I have an old first-version Vox AmPlug. It works pretty well. Batteries last forever. I wouldn't say the tone is great, but it has what I need - a headphone jack and an AUX IN for practice when I'm traveling, and it will fit in any case or gig bag. I think the new ones have some effects and sound better, and the plug can be rotated, but mine works fine for what it is. After 6 or 7 years I've gotten my $35 bucks worth and then some.

I just got a chance to see Tommy recently and it was really fantastic. Great player, personable guy, and great great music.

Hi everybody, I had an opportunity last week to meet with one of my church's guitar players. It went really well, he was super super helpful and gave me a lot of tips for developing my feel for playing acoustic rhythm and how to pick your strumming patterns for each song, as well as to mesh with the other instruments. We played together a bit too, and he said he didn't think I was far away from being able to play with them, just that it might be good for me to get some experience playing with others first. We are going to see about me attending a rehearsal in the future or maybe even rehearsing with them as if I were going to play that week, and just see how things go from there. Very exciting for me! Just wanted to share an update! If anybody has wisdom on how they decide what they're going to play and how to avoid overplaying, I would definitely like to hear it!

Congrats! I don't follow Gibson too closely but I have not seen a mahogany top LP before. Looks beautiful!

I once had a Cordoba C5, which is not very expensive. It played ok, but the fretwork was kind of rough, as was the bridge's finishing. On the other hand, every Yamaha I've picked up has been well made. I think I'd go that route for sure if I were going to buy another classical to play around on.

Hey Steve! If by chance you see this, I would love to hear your thoughts since I know you're experienced at playing in churches. Might be a good topic for an article too

Thanks for your thoughts, Odie, Fretless, and Doug! I’m excited to see if I will be gifted and blessed in this way. Would love to hear any more thoughts or advice from anyone else who has experience playing in church!

I have found those Fundamental Changes books to be good too. I have The Complete Guide to Blues Guitar and a couple of others. You have to go download the tracks, but after that they are really nice books. I also like the "100 Rock Lessons", "100 Blues Lessons", "100 Country Lessons" series. There are DVDs that you can buy as well for additional licks ("100 Blues Licks", etc.)

You might be able to change strings by one gauge and get away with it, but I would expect your truss rod might need a little tweak after the guitar settles down. You could get a set of feeler gauges and measure the neck relief before and after, to see how much it changed, and then adjust to your liking when you're done.

You heard me! I'll go first I'm pretty enamored with this one - I don't deserve something this nice, but maybe I will one day

I agree Steve, I hope that this remains a civil and friendly and helpful place. Some forums on the internet are so unpleasant, it's nice to be able to kick back with this community and feel at home and welcome.

Hi everyone! It's great to have the guitar family back together! My guitar dream is to be a part of the worship band at church and I wanted to ask those of you who have done this for all your best advice. Basically what I want to know is - how good do you need to be? What skills do you need to have down pat, what skills are more important, and what should I be practicing? I've been playing for a couple of years now and I have been taking lessons every week for about a year and a half. I recently bought some books with play along tracks to worship songs and have been working hard on those, but I know they are no substitute for playing live with others. (I don't have any experience playing with others, and I don't know anyone else here who plays.) I have talked with one of the guitarists about meeting to play together but he's very busy and we've not been able to coordinate it yet. I want to prepare myself as much as I can to serve in this way, if I were blessed with that opportunity... so I'd like to hear from experienced church players on the board. What do you wish new players in your group knew? What skills do you need the most? How do you keep from overplaying and keep it all "just right"? Steve mentioned the ability to listen to other players and play something that compliments them - I'd definitely like to hear more about that. Thanks for any thoughts you could provide - I have nothing to go on but lots of desire and practice time, hopefully I will get there one day.