Larryz

Good call Winston! Using it much like a wood lathe to carve out table legs, decorative posts, etc. Making interesting sounds like the Theremin concept? 😎👍

The only thought that came to my mind is maybe the guy is building a player-guitar on the same concept as a player-piano. The thing rotates around and up to 5 picks pluck the strings. You have to put a dollar in the slot and pick one of the 250 greatest players on the Rolling Stone roster before it will start spinning. Much like my mind is still spinning trying to figure out what the guy is really up to!

@Rob C Welcome Aboard! I'll leave it to the other guys and gals to give their input on a good amp choice for you. I've always been a Fender tube kinda guy for many decades. I like a 112 combo with reverb weighing in at about 35lbs. I have switched to SS 112 Fender Tonemaster Deluxe Reverb weighing in around 22lbs. As we get older weight becomes a major factor LoL! I also like having an XLR output for running to a PA and using the amp as a monitor. I'm a clean player and seldom need dirt. If running a clean Fender tube amp like my Hot Rod DeVille and Hot Rod Deluxe with two channel clean and dirt, I don't really need pedals. If wanting some sophisticated dirt, I can always run distortion and OD pedals in front of the amp but as I said, I seldom use them anymore. I can do some leads and like the amp @Caevan O’Shite suggested with the clean boost footswitch as it sounds like a great amp in the demo. I'm mostly a rhythm and chords player using the guitar and amp to back my vocals. There are tons of demos on YouTube that will help you in your search. +1,000 on playing the Stones! Good luck in your hunt as it can be a lot of fun! 😎

Yes, we actually do agree quite a bit Kuru. As much as I appreciate the finger pickers anchor or no anchor, I don't want to spend time learning to be the bass player. I don't anchor and use a regular pick and 3 fingers hybrid style. It gets to sounding like finger picking at times. Normally I may just use the pick and one or two fingers but I do include the pinky when doing some 4note jazz cord style. I like using the pick for strumming and I like the floating hand concept for different techniques. I do throw in some bass runs and arpeggios as I play mostly solo and have to keep the cords going at all times to back up my vocals. I like playing country, rock and roll, pop, jump blues, being versatile etc., and jazzing things up. So Chet Style doesn't appeal to me (although I do admire it)...😎

@KuruPrionz I think we all know how great Chet could have been using his finger picking method anchoring his pinky. He has many players including Tommy Emmanuel who are proud to accomplish his "CGP" certified guitar player certificate and have it inlayed at the 12th fret on his guitars. They are both world renowned finger picking guitar players. There are many others who agree with the pinky anchor (Django is not involved LoL!). I think we have to agree to disagree. There is a perfectly good reason to anchor the pinky if you want to learn Chet's style. He is known as "Mr. Guitar" and there are tons of videos of him on YouTube. I remember one where Johnny Carson introduced him Paraphrasing "I would give up everything I ever wanted to have or do if I could just play the guitar like our next guest". Anyway, my comment is not to disagree with you as many players including myself share your opinion for the most part. Chet also used a pick and played as a studio musician at RCA backing Elvis and many other musicians so he didn't always anchor the pinky either...anyway here's Tommy showing how it's done for beginners who want to learn "Chet Style." Its not a recommendation for anyone, unless it's their choice: 😎👍

Black Magic Woman is one of my favorite tunes! Here's Carlos live back in '70: 😎👍

@KuruPrionz I think it depends on the style of picking that determines whether or not you anchor the pinky. If you go on YouTube and call up Chet Atkins and Tommy Emmanuel, you'll find your anchor men. They along with Jerry Reed use thumb picks and play finger style. Jerry really doesn't anchor the pinky and plays a similar style but with the thumb and 4 fingers while Chet and Tommy use the thumb and 3 fingers and anchor the pinky. Tommy lifts the pinky a lot more than Chet as he gets carried away with a lot of his other strumming and guitar bongo techniques LoL! 😎 +1 I too prefer not anchoring the pinky as it limits my strumming techniques. I can't stand using a thumb pick as it just doesn't work for me and pinches my thumb. I use a regular pick and 3 fingers hybrid style. But, if I could ever learn to play like Chet Atkins, I gladly anchor that pinky LoL! 😎👍 ps. How about those Strat players that wrap that pinky around the volume knob? LoL! Merle Travis anchors all 3 fingers and uses a thumb pick and just uses his index finger to pick with. He started Chet, Tommy and Jerry thinking about that thumb pick style! 😎

The ranking is rank and the omissions are still yet to be determined. +1,000 an alphabetical list would be a better way to go...😎

@CEB I agree with all of the above comments regarding the venue, crowd size, room size, outdoor/indoor, etc. Your question is whether or not it's you or the amp? You haven't touched the amp settings. In your last thread on volume boost pedals you showed a picture of your pedal board. Looks like 3 OD drive type pedals, a micro amp and a volume or expression pedal. You also have volume control knobs on your guitars. So, some of these things may be left engaged or set differently as the night rolls on and you get more excited with your set list... Anyway, one thing you could try is using your amp as your monitor. Make your settings and craft your sound. Then send a line out or a mic line out if there is not one on the amp, to the FOH let them control the sliders on what the audience will hear volume wise. You can control your stage volume level and know whether or not the amp is getting louder as the tubes warm up and make adjustments, or if it's your dynamics as you get excited, and the set list builds to an exciting end of the gig...just a thought. 😎

@KuruPrionz Great Project! I'm wondering how the neck mounted pickup sounds. My LP Jr. has a bridge mounted P90 and I wonder how an LP Jr. would sound with a neck mounted pickup? I think I could get a jazzier sound with a neck mounted pickup like the location used on your project. +1 on the Mahagony body. I think it's a great Tonewood for a solid body guitar. Keep us posted! 😎👍

@cayine, Welcome aboard! If you are interested in playing classical guitar and have the opportunity to take lessons from an experienced teacher, then have fun and go for it. There are many benefits to taking up guitar lessons in any style. +1 to what Kuru said, I believe that there are many great finger pickers out there that have never taken up classical guitar. 😎

I posted this Santana tune on another thread. It was so Smooth that I thought I better post it here too just in case some may have missed seeing it LoL! It's one of my favorite tunes: 😎👍

Welcome aboard Fox47! The funny thing about your question is that I was just looking for a backing track on YouTube this morning. It is a great resource for backing tracks. You may not be able to subtract instruments but you can always add them. I was discussing via email Santana with some buds and I brought up the song SMOOTH. Just for kicks I googled "Santana Smooth Backing Track" and up it popped. I have called up many blues, rock and roll, etc., backing tracks and played along several times. This is the 1st time I just through a specific song out there...Here's an example: Here's the actual song: 😎👍

@Caevan O’Shite and @KuruPrionz, I have a Strat with the David Gilmour drop-in pickguard Caevan mentioned with the EXG and SPC circuit. Just thinking about your comments about the boost and tone knob locations. David put the Volume on top, EXG in the middle and the SPC boost at the bottom. I like the location of the SPC and find it more useful than the EXG for some reason. The SPC would definitely do the job @CEB is asking about for a volume boost and use a single a tone pot like Kuru suggested. The Eric Clapton Strat boost knob is also located at the bottom with a tone pot in the middle. Both knobs say "tone" on them, but the bottom knob is really where the gain is located. The battery is routed sideways and located under the spring plate cover. I sold my Clapton to my brother but remember Claptons' secret setup along with his blocked-out tremolo. I'm pretty sure Eric's Strat uses an SPC and he just referred to it as his gain knob. I heard he kept bugging the Fender Custom Shop a lot for more and more gain LoL! I think it started out at 11db and he got it up to 14db's and eventually got it up to 25db gain IIRC...😎

I use a Boss CP-1X compressor for a clean boost. It has 4 knobs i.e., Level, Attack, Ratio and Compressor (so it won't be a 1 knobber LoL!). Set it and forget it and it does an excellent job as a clean boost. Silent switching kick it in and out for lead volume increases without touching any guitar settings and back down to my rhythm volume. It's the only pedal I run these days, but it can also be used to boost and sustain distortion and OD pedals. You can't really tell it's a compressor due to the way I set the controls for clean boosting. The only drawback is it eats batteries very quickly. I always run mine on a 9v power supply wart. 😎

Al Di Meola is a great guitarist and I know all of us who know of him, want to wish him a speedy recovery...😎

@KuruPrionz I also use the pinky to add the same G note (on and off) to the 1st string when using my suggested Dm triad fingering for a nice, suspended chord sound. Some beginners are very young and have small fingers and some old guys have fat fingers and/or arthritis. +1 on using whatever works... 😎

Rest in Peace Terry Kirkman...He's the founding member of the Association. He passed away yesterday 9/23/23 at the age of 83...He was a songwriter and penned one of the groups greatest hits: Cherish. It is a classic with lyrics 2nd to none IMHO. Here they are back in 1966, enjoy:

@ShawnE, You may find it easier to play that dreaded D minor chord with your index finger on the 1st string, your ring finger on the 2nd string (instead of the pinky), and your bird finger on the 3rd string. 😎

+1 I love playing different guitars too...Nylon strings, Steel string acoustics, Strats, LP's, Taylor T5 and T3B, Archtop semi and hollow bodies too. I find myself playing without the tremolos for the most part. I run 10-46 gauge on my Electric guitars and 10-48 gauge on the acoustic guitars. I like keeping the guitars with almost the same gauge for both acoustic and electric. I'm getting used to playing different guitars with different width fretboards too. I play mostly rhythm guitar to back my vocals so I'm not bending a lot. I appreciate the DR round core strings just in case I do have to take a lead and bend a few notes. I used Thomastik flat wounds for a few years until they just got too expensive. I get the DR's for about $7 bucks a set! 😎

+1 I'm not really a whammy guy unless I'm playing a few surf tunes with my old buds. I have one guitar with a Bigsby and I find myself using it on the last chord of just about every song. For some reason I like the subtle ending effect. I had an Eric Clapton Custom Shop Strat. They come with a block of wood just like Eric uses blocking the tremolo. It could be removed if one wishes, and they threw a spare whammy bar in the case. I sold it to my brother as I did not care for the "V" neck after playing it for an hour or so. I will buy it back if he ever wants to sell it. 😎

@KuruPrionz, Jeff Beck is truly one of the best. I can't pick a favorite player for electric guitar, but I like John Fogerty, Scotty Moore, Chet Atkins, Jerry Reed, Eric Clapton, BB King, Roy Clark, Roy Buchanan, Frank Vignola, Les Paul, Jimi, George Harrison, etc. For acoustic guitar, I can pick Tommy Emmanuel. 😎

@Caevan O’Shite, Thanks for remembering Jeff Beck and reminding me. He passed away last January 10, 2023. It was a sad day for all of us. In addition to my problem with the volume knob location, I don't care for the floating tremolo. Jeff was a master with both. My problem with the floating tremolo design (which is one of Leo's great accomplishments) is when I rest my palm on the bridge saddles it causes the guitar to go out of tune here and there. So, I lay my tremolo plates flat on the body so they do not move when I rest my palm on the saddles, and I can't use the upward whammy bar. They still work fine for the downward whammy and dive bombs. I like the way Jeff played using both up and down strokes, but I like resting my palm on the saddles and play further back most of the time. BTW, I tried the DR Blues strings that you recommend on my LP and LP jr. in 10-46 gauge. I liked them so well that I'm cutting off new sets of Magmas and replacing them with DR Blues on all of my electrics and DR Sunbeams on my 2 acoustics...The DR's really sound alive and I can put up with a little squeak here and there. The round cores are more flexible than the hex cores and they bend easier with less tension. 😎

@KuruPrionz, I would hate to see you lose that "Assassin" status symbol headstock logo by replacing it with a Warmoth neck! But I can understand the need to do so if it has to be LoL! 😎

I did find on the Fender site that Leo and his staff envisioned a steel guitar like sound using his new tremolo design (2nd design as the 1st one failed). I couldn't find anything on the volume knob placement for volume swells. I know Jeff Beck uses the whammy and the volume knob at the same time in his techniques, but he's well above most guitar players paygrade...😎