Ancient Mariner

Interesting. I had no idea Anderton etc had evaporated. Thanks for keeping things running, even if you don't have access to the stuff underneath. I wonder, just wonder, if there's a chance this could become an adult forum again & perhaps see some return to form?

Sounded like just the wrong key - wouldn't be the first player to make that mistake - and she just toughed it out.

Probably in-between burstbuckers on a Les Paul for clean.

Weird thread, though I notice it's from 2021. I like the Pedal Show guys because they advise how to get the suck out of pedal usage and make them work in a band setting. Sure, some of the YT channels are about selling new gear, but by no means all.

Pianists. 😅

One of the things that I love about electric is that most of the time key is irrelevant, and you just shift about on the neck. As long as nothing weird comes along it works really well.

Getting reliable, useful music for worship songs can be a major challenge. Even with a source like Song Select there are weird chords that don't belobg or the chord change is sometimes in the wrong place. There have been times too when I've needed to play a song without chords being given - just a key and follow the piano - and sometimes what sounds good like that can be deeply incompatible on another occasion when someone has got the 'right' chords' off t'internet. Most of the time it feels like the chords were written by an acoustic guitarist who insists on lots of open strings while fretting chords high on the neck. 🙄

Curious - thought I replied in here.

TheFretBoard was the one most of the guys I knew seemed to go to (there was another too, which escapes me right now, but it didnt last) but having weaned myself off HC I didn't want to commit a lot of time to something else.

Yeah - what happened to the 2021 edition? This makes me sad really, used to love HC and I'd never have predicted the forum dying like this in 2005 (despite the date shown, I've been around since the late 90s when I found OLGA).

I'm sure, but it's not worth it: who else will talk to me and about what? HC is dead and the bones are being picked over by would-be spammeras and bots - look at how many posts >10 years old keep being dredged up and answered like the questions were asked 5min ago. The thing that made HC what it was, primarily being packed with musicians on the wild frontier of the internet with minimal moderation and sometimes being thoroughly inappropiate for children, is simply never going to be allowed again. Not that everyone would come back anyway, because it's no longer the unique resource it once was. I'm dividing my time outside work between taking photos and learning French at the moment, plus learning about France since we're buying a house there shortly. Covid has pretty much killed all the gigging since March 2020, and I've played just 7 gigs this year, plus once in church. It's probably worse than that for many other guys. Having said all that, it's good to see you guys here still.

Just dropping by to see who's still around at the end of 2021.

Just here for my almost annual check-in, apparently I'm a noob now. Maybe I am. Have pretty much reached the point where off-loading gear now looks more attractive than buying more kit, getting down to just a couple of amps and guitars because I barely play now. Kinda sad about that, but nothing ever stays the same.

Happy new guitar day. 🙂

Godd to 'see' you again O-a A and great to hear JJ is still going. As you say, this place buzzed once, but those days won't return.

One person gave a neck, another a body (wish I could remember who now - search seems borked that far back) I donated a set of PUs and Ratae C put it all together & shipped it. I didn't see those pix, sadly. I've been here about 20 years now, first came for OLGA, but dates and posts got scrambled & lost in the various changes.

Different slides seem to suit different guitars too. A thick-walled glass slide sounds dull on my resonator, where the best I've found so far is a 17mm spark plug socket. However on a small-bodied acoustic I prefer that thick glass slide but not a thin-walled one (see the LHS back row of Mikeo's picture to get an idea). My preference is pinkie or third finger, and need a slide with a relatively narrow opening so it stays put on the finger - a heavy slide like a spark plu socket can also need a bit more strength to support and move quickly when playing for a couple of hours. I have tried a nut extender, but just hated both the feel and inability to fret notes, although if you're going for the lap steel thing then it's probably helpful.

A little late to the party, I still regularly use G40V that I picked up used in 2010/2011. The original valves didn't sound great and it had a Hartke 10" aluminium cone bass speaker for a somewhat spikey sound. Swapped the Chinese 6L6s for some Russian 5881s and the 12AX7 for a 12AT7 to drop the gain, plus an Emi Ragin Cajun speaker. I also partially closed up the back to leave it about 25% open at the top for air circulation and added foam inside to simulate a larger enclosure. I really like the small size and slightly crazy volume levels this thing can manage - like a shrunken Boogie Mk1. I built amps for about a decade for personal use, but this was so small, relatively light and convenient while having a decent tone that it's become pretty much all I use now.

Exactly that - they're just normal staggered alnico slugs, non-adjustable. Holy thread resurrection batman! This zombie was dead 12 years.

Do a little google research, go see the guitar and try it to see if it plays well, look for a made in Japan sticker (might still be there). In line with the comments above, Arias weren't necessarily the very best guitars to come out of Japan, but were good players instruments. Buy it to play - not to collect.

It will never be like it was because that behaviour would no longer be welcome. And the internet isn't the 'wild frontier' anymore either: more like a Starbucks where you bring your own chair.

Sounds pretty good. I quite like the look of yours too, except for what looks like gluey fingermarks that stopped the stain taking, and I'd want to tape over the headstock badge.

I'd like to try one, but I have to admit, they don't visually live up to expectation. I did go on the website, and some colours look much better than others (especially that worn walnut) but putting out a bolt-neck Les Paul type is going to make everyone think Hondo/Satellite/Kay, and not in a good way.

The Cardinal series were great, and I fancied an Urchin, though by that time they were getting more 'budget' oriented. I'd like a late 70s PE Cardinal, but they are rare and expensive and probably no better than some guitars I already own.

Tube 30 combo amp plus Eminence and Celestion speakers These amps were apparently produced as a product prototype from a Chinese factory for a UK distributor, and a small number found their way onto UK Ebay. I bought this amp 3 or 4 years ago as a basis for modding, gave it a couple of tweaks and then loaned it to a friend who played it most weeks in church. He's now emigrated and I don't really have the space for it, plus I'd quite like to release a little cash. The amp itself looks quite nice, but the 'tweed' is really just a printed heavy duty vinyl and the cab is lightweight ply with floating Fender style baffle, which is obviously not enormously strong, but it IS lightweight. Inside is a steel U chassis with chassis mounted valve sockets taking 2 X 6L6 and 2 X 12AX7, but with lots of space for more if you were inclined to mod. I have schematics and a list of the tweeks I made (which were mostly in the preamp to give a more pleasing tone, plus a couple of diodes to drop heater voltage). The speaker is a no-name Chinese eminence-alike, with medium magnet and a pleasant tone without the harsher top end often found in ceramic celestions. Controls are the usual TMB + presence, gain and master + a 'boost' switch mounted in a 'classic style chrome top plate with white screen printing. 2 inputs but single channel. Tonewise it's fairly typical 6L6 with some snap at the top end and warm midrange. Loud enough for small gigs, it's rated at a conservative 30 clean watts, but probably puts out more like 45 if you hoof it, and is loud enough for small gigs un-mic'd. Overdrive tones are a bit fizzy, but it's loud enough to cope with running cleanish and taking a pedal. I'm probably doing the amp a dis-service, but don't want to mis-represent it either as something astonishingly wonderful. Why sell? I presently have 7 other guitar amps plus projects, 2 bass amps and a bunch of cabs sitting around, and one of my hobbies is amp building. It's very tempting as I'm writing this to build another amp in this chassis, but it's been sat in my livingroom since the end of May, and I've only plugged it in twice. I'd like