Hello. I'm new here, and you can call me Abe.

[Abe]

Hello.  I'm new here, and you can call me Abe.

I've lived in New England, USA all my life.  Grew up in MA, then lived in ME for 17 years, then moved back down here to MA.

I have had guitars around all my life, and me and all my siblings could play some basic guitar chords since a young age.  We can also drum and play some other instruments.  I started to play piano decently but I no longer have access to one.  Our parents were both artistic and could play, more so on the guitar for my Dad and other forms of art for my Mom.  Between the ages of 16-24 especially I really took it seriously, studied, and learned in a self-taught way to become more of both a rhythm and a lead guitar player.  I like all kinds of music, but I'm more of a jazz-inclined freestyling jamming sort of player.  I never play anything the same way twice and I'm actually kind've useless when it comes to composition as I don't memorize things very well and I play via feel.  I can sometimes wing it from scratch successfully.

Guitars I've had were Harmony, Hohner, Rickenbacker, Gibson, Ibanez, Taylor, and most recently a PRS.  Much of which was lost due to unpredictable life events and an electrical house fire in ME.  (All humans and cats made it out safely though and that's what matters most.)  

So recently after a long hiatus I decided to get back into playing music on guitar.  First I acquired a new Taylor acoustic.  Every time I started playing a lot on it I would do too much too fast and create blood blisters on my fingertips before gaining my callouses back.  So next I bought a Breedlove Nylon string guitar and played more on the softer strings.  Most recently I acquired my current electric guitar which is a hollowbody PRS that I really like.  I've since stretched and worked out my hands and fingers and gained back some callouses, mostly catching back up to where I left off years ago.  Myself, two brothers, and a friend are thinking of getting back together to jam like we used to so I'm hoping we can have some musical success with that.

So basically I registered at some forums like this just to be relevant with the musicality of my efforts.  Currently I've been on a break from playing a couple hours per day because I seem to have sprained my left ring finger a bit excitedly doing full step bends on the G and B strings.  🎸 I may share some pics of my current guitars and some old live jam recordings of myself and my bros playing together.

Thanks for having me.  I hope to share and learn some about playing music and the instruments and gear we do it with.  👋

Edited July 31, 2024 by Abe

[DianeB]

Hello, @Abe, and welcome to our forum. I saw your post in the new members section. Take some time to explore.

Some background: the Guitar Gathering discussion board has existed as you see it for six and a half years. For about six years prior, going back to around 2012, it was operated as an adjunct to the Legacy Systems Learn and Master Guitar DVD Course which Steve Krenz created. Legacy also produced courses in piano, drums, and photography, but none of their online forums were as active as the one for guitar. DVDs were still popular at that time, and many of the early Learn and Master students, like myself, brought our questions and were rewarded with good advice and a delightful sense of community.

By 2017, changes started taking their toll. Physical media plummeted in popularity as streaming took off. With DVD sales dropping, Legacy did not produce more courses. Steve's guitar course was a work for hire, so he did not own the rights to reuse the video and repurpose it for streaming. He needed to find his own niche.

With no new students to keep it fresh, and no IT support from Legacy, the discussion board lost its vitality. Trolls and spammers started to infect it.

But in its decline, hope emerged when one of our members proposed a weekend in Nashville just to meet, play together, and see the town. Steve noticed. He hurriedly arranged a meeting place, assembled some plans, and his annual conference — which had lost its sponsor, Gibson — was revived in 2015. There were 18 of us. The next year, about 70.

Steve found a new service provider for a discussion board, and we migrated as much old content here as we could. He branded his new enterprise as Guitar Gathering. The annual summer conferences in Nashville have continued until this year, when Steve took a break to contemplate a new venue. He also produces the Fall Fingerstyle Retreats (this year's is sold out).

As you may have noticed, he also streams a live lesson about every other Tuesday night, depending on his schedule. He's a busy guy, but the discussion board and the Tuesday night lessons are free. We're here to learn, share, and support one another.

Participation on the forum has cooled somewhat since the first two years. There are multiple reasons, I think: the original cohort found what it needed and has largely moved on. Very few people these days seem inclined to take the time to construct complete sentences (like yours and mine), preferring instead to communicate in emojis, text-speak, and videos. That's where we are now.

So, welcome again, from an old school, old timer. Make yourself at home!

[randomguy]

that's fascinating. 

[Abe]

Thanks for the background DianeB.  I'll try to contribute what little I can here.  I'll share some info, guitar pictures, info on the rig I use, and also some old live jams we used to record.  Sometimes it's just nice to know of mutual interests concerning these things.  I just recently started to be active on the guitar again so maybe I'll have more to share.  I'm not looking to spam you or sell anything.  I'll try to reoccur here with some regularity and add a bit of activity to the forum.  🫡 🎶

[Eracer_Team-DougH]

@Abe we still sort of feel sad that what brought us as a forum community was Steve's Learn and Master Guitar DVD series)  

Now that Legacy that owns the rights to LMG and Steve's content doesn't produce the material any more (fantastic learning series) that Steve hasn't been able to re-create the series under the Guitar Gathering and garner the large following we once had.

Steve makes his own content, (check out the Store link above of some of Steve's mini-series lessons that are for sale) but most of Steve's content is free all on the YouTube channel most Tuesdays.

a number of great players are still here. Diane and others play fairly regularly out. I've played in church till pandemic hit (600 masses ) and haven't played there since. I tell the priest when he sees me that God has me on a different musical ministry at the moment; but I've done a couple of bar jam nights.

many here are just "quite" adult learners. started guitar when they were young. life, marriage, kids, and job all took it's toll and not until they hit later in life (+40-ish) they take guitar backup.

the summer Guitar Gathering as Diane stated was put on hold this year with only Steve's FingerStyle Retreat going on in Oct. both Diane and myself are going plus 22 others. 

sounds like you've had an amazing musical family. 

looking forward for hearing more about your guitar adventures