Mike Hoodenpyle

Awesome. Looking forward to it!

@Steve Krenz I loved your arrangement of 'Tis So Sweet! Absolutely beautiful!

@Eracer_Team-DougH Thanks very much, all good info. With the band, I play electric the vast majority of the time. I used to play acoustic through a Fishman Loudbox Artist, but we've gotten two additional acoustic guitarists since then, so I'm strictly electric now unless they're both out and we need an acoustic. I haven't played acoustic since we went to the in-ears almost a year ago. I've got a Fishman Platinum Pro as well, so I can use that if I need to play acoustic again. As far as needing a speaker, I don't, other than to work on my settings before I plug in to the house. I suppose I could do that with headphones if I used a Pod or similar device. Either way, I need to tweak once I'm going thru the PA. I play mostly clean, so no need for a lot of effects. A little crunch occasionally, and I can get that with a Blues Driver pedal. Also some reverb. I don't need much other than that, but you never know, I may want to add some different effects later. I'm thinking the Katana Mini at $100 may be the way to go. Although it doesn't have reverb, it does have delay, so I could probably get by fine with that. I'm sure there are options similar to a Pod, I'm just not familiar with them.Lots to think about and research. Thanks again, Mike

What's the best way (or is there a "best" way) to get your guitar sound to a PA with zero stage volume? I play in church, and we use in-ear monitors, so everyone is going into the PA. My current set-up is a Boss Katana 50, sending the signal from the headphone jack to a DI box, and then into the PA board. Using the headphone jack cuts the speaker and allows me to shape my tone, so all the sound guys have to worry about is the mix. This is working pretty well. I'm looking for a more portable option so when I travel to my home town I can play there, without having to take the amp. I'm considering a Katana Mini and connecting the same way I do here. The Mini is only seven watts, so I'm wondering if it will send a strong enough signal to the DI. If so, great. That's a pretty inexpensive solution that will still allow some tone shaping. Aside from that, what other options are there? Would a Line 6 Pod or stomp box or something similar do the trick? Or pedals and a preamp maybe? I know just enough about sound systems to be dangerous, so any help is greatly appreciated. Thanks, Mike

Great video, thanks for sharing!

Thanks for the feedback, guys. I've been thinking about a CE 24 for about a year now, so I may go that route instead of a Gibson. Also considering a 594 Singlecut, which would obviously be more similar to an LP than the CE. I wasn't aware of Eastman, so I'll look into those as well. I've played some SEs when checking out amps, so I've seen the PRS build quality on their imports. Nice guitars. Haven't tried a CE or S2, though. I'm not in a big hurry, so I'll definitely check them out in person. I read somewhere the other day that GC is now open in San Antonio, with restrictions on the number of customers in the store, so hopefully I can check out more guitars soon. Thanks again, Mike

Has anyone checked out any new Gibson electrics lately? I know the company has had quite a bit of turmoil in the last year or so, and I'm wondering if their current product line quality has suffered. Thinking of adding an LP to the stable, but also considering a PRS. Thanks, Mike

Excellent choice. Enjoy it!

Love that story! Enjoy your new guitar!

Sounds like you're just trying to determine which note a song's melody starts with based on the key/first chord. Without considering intros or anything other than the melody of the song, you can bet that the first note of any given song will start on one of the chord tones of the first chord. Just use trial and error to determine whether it's the 1st, 3rd or 5th. It could be any of the three, but only one. Using your example of Silent Night in C, start playing the melody by ear starting with a C note. You'll find that the first four notes are C - D - C - A. At that point in the song, there would generally be a chord strum, so go ahead and strum a C chord. You can tell right away it doesn't work. Now do the same thing starting with the E. The notes will be E - F# - E - C#. You should immediately be able to tell you're not in the key of C since you already have two sharps. Now try starting with the G. The notes are G - A - G - E. Strum a C chord at that point and you can hear it works. So, Silent Night begins on the 5th of the root chord. Go back to the first part of your trial and error, starting on the C note. Since you now know that Silent Night starts on the 5th of the opening chord, you should play an F chord after playing C - D - C - A, since C is the 5th in an F chord. If you want to transpose the song to any other key, you'll need to start the melody on the 5th of the root chord. For example, if you want to play Silent Night in G, you'll start the melody with a D note, the 5th of a G chord. Use the same method for any song, and you'll find the melody for about an equal percentage of songs starts on the 1st, 3rd or 5th of the opening chord. Trial and error is the only method I know of to figure it out by ear. Hope that helps. Mike

My wife and I saw him in San Antonio a few years ago. Amazing show. You'll have no regrets about the ticket price.

Love it! Very nicely done.

Have to agree with MGood1. Also, I'm seeing two different guitars in the custom shop front and back pics. One is a cutaway, the other isn't.

@NeilES335 The FSR you describe sounds like the Sweetwater-exclusive version, so you won't find one of those to try if that's the case. I haven't tried humbuckers yet, but I get a really nice, smooth jazz tone with tele and strat neck pickups.

Mystery solved. In short, it was static electricity build-up in the pickguard. When I was practicing last night, the static and hum started again. At some point, I inadvertently touched the pickguard while I wasn't playing, and the static came through the speaker. So I touched it again in a different spot and got static again. I started rubbing the pickguard, and the static would occur and then stop, so I just rubbed the entire pickguard with my fingers, pressing down a little firmly, and both the static and hum went away. I've never heard of anything like that, so I did a Google search for "static electricity pickguard" and found several videos where others had experienced the same thing. Their fix was using a dryer sheet like you mentioned @Eracer_Team-DougH, except it worked for them, and they demonstrated in the video. They mentioned the cause was playing in a carpeted room in sock-feet. I usually have socks and house shoes on, so maybe I've been getting the same effect. When I had played earlier in the day and thought blowing out the output jack may have been the cure, I was about to go out on an errand, so I had shoes on. No static that time. That would also explain why I couldn't reproduce the issue at the store. So, it looks like the short-term fix is to rub the pickguard, with or without a dryer sheet, whenever static electric builds up. The long-term fix would be to add some shielding and/or better grounding under the pickguard.

I've been thinking it's a wiring or ground issue, but the tech didn't find anything wrong, and it didn't make the noise with two different amps in the store. Very mysterious. That said, I may have partially solved the problem. I blew out the output jack with compressed air, then had a practice session of about 45 minutes, with almost no static/crackling. I guess I'll feel better about it if I have a few more sessions with little or no noise. The hum is still there, though, so I still have an issue to resolve, but at least I don't hear it while I'm playing. Thanks for your thoughts, guys.

Yes, it does it on the Princeton and a Super Champ XD. Not as bad on the Super Champ, but it's still there. I've tried adjusting the knobs on both the guitar and amp, wiggling the cable, etc., and nothing has an effect.

Got a problem with my new Tele. I'm getting static and excessive hum (with noiseless pickups). The static isn't constant, but is intermittent. It's also not at a steady volume, but increases with the amp volume. I've tried different cables, moving the amp to a different room, and a power conditioner, and nothing has resolved the problem. I've also tried three other guitars with the same amp/cables, and I have no static/hum with those. I thought it was probably a ground or some other wiring issue, so I had it checked out. The tech could find nothing wrong, and we tried it with two other amps there and had no issues. I'm at a loss as to what to try next. Anybody ever experience something like that?

Neil, Input 1 is full sensitivity for most guitars. Input 2 is lower sensitivity, intended for guitars with hotter pickups to give them a cleaner tone. You can also plug in two guitars at the same time. Per the manual, the sensitivity for both would be the same when used at the same time, though it doesn't say if they would be full or lower sensitivity. The cleans are pristine. I absolutely love the tone. Yes, by "headroom" I mean you have to crank it up pretty loud before it starts to break up. That works for me as I generally prefer clean tone. If I want overdrive, I'll use a pedal (Boss BD-2 Blues Driver to be exact), and get some crunch at much lower volume than the natural amp break-up. To me it's a perfect amp for playing at home if you want cleans. It sounds really sweet a low volume, but it can also get plenty loud. I don't gig, but I do play in church. It would be plenty of amp for that, and probably for most small gigs. Larger gigs too if you mic'd it. I highly recommend it. I A/B'd it against a '68 Custom Deluxe Reverb and liked the Princeton better. YMMV. Check one out if you get a chance, and happy shopping! Mike

Added a Ltd Deluxe Thinline Tele to the stable. Very sweet guitar. Light weight and a great neck. I really like the fourth position, bridge and neck in series. Gives a very rich, full boost. Also added a Ltd Edition '65 Princeton Reverb. Western tolex looks kinda cool, but wasn't really a strong selling point for me. The 12" speaker was a plus. Amazing cleans with plenty of headroom. Happy early birthday and anniversary to me!

That's a beauty!

Congrats on your purchase! I bought one last year to use at church. I wanted something versatile and inexpensive I could just leave there and not have to carry an amp back and forth twice a week. It fills the bill perfectly.

Thanks very much @IanD

I've always liked "Longhaired Redneck," and even better, "The Ride."

Neither does Laurence Juber. My two favorite fingerstyle players, and neither uses nails. LJ doesn't use a thumb pick, either.