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I have reported this to the relevant authorities.

I know a cabaret performer who had just completed a rehearsal at home of a new number, looked at his cat and said "What did you think?" Whereupon the cat vomited on the floor, and stalked off. Everyone's a critic...

I have absolutely NO favourites. What I like is to hit the Youtube logo and see what comes up. Once I watch something I go down wormholes and can get lost for ages. I have discovered tons of new music this way.

Well, there's your answer right there. Rehearse. S'what actors do for theatrical performance, or film répliques. It doesn't matter what you rehearse (the 'standard' would be a couple of jokes, usually cheesy, but could be any anecdote or flight of fancy, à la Peter Gabriel...). The important part is that it's not adlib, it's rehearsed, in front of a mirror, maybe. Take the opportunity during band rehearsal, while this 'tuning' goes on, to step up to your mic and 'speak to them' (the fictional audience in the rehearsal room...). S'no big deal once you're used to it; you'll see.

Aha! Thanks, that makes sense. I hear you about gigging with cheaper guitars. If I were playing out these days, I'd be the same. To be honest, though, with guitars like MIM Fender, the 5xxx series Gretsches, Vintage and Harley Benton around, I'm honestly increasingly questioning whether I could ever begin to justify the price of some big money guitars now. I mean, *sure* if money were no object I'd buy a 6210, but I'm honestly not convinced the price gap to the 5240 now is worth it - for one comparison. In particular, given that my main preferences tend to the more utilitarian Fender styles, there's a lot to be said for going cheap now. I remain of the opinion that the higher end Squiers are arguably the truest product line Fender now produce to Leo's original design intent of putting a giggable, workingman's instrument in the hands of as many players as possible... Those Vintage SGs are the ones that really got me to look at the brand. They're stupidly good for the money. Ironically, I also think they look better than the Epiphone option, a headstock thing mostly. Just looks nicer than the Epi, even the new one imo. The relic style Vintages are great fun too, especially considering the cost of any such thing from the big boys. Sure, they might look a little uniform if you study them, but the general vibe is there, and it must be so much nicer to gig with a guitar you can play in anger and not worry about damaging...

My brother in law is one because he can play any stringed instrument to a very high standard. He is left handed but learned right handed. He annoys me because he is that good. that him on the acoustic After that I would say Mark Tremonti because he is just amazing Lastly Slash purely for A- his sound and 2- his feeling!

The last time I was practising, I was starting to get speed up with playing the rolls that are prevalent in Bluegrass music. Next thing Mrs Ubits son came through and closed over the door. Talk about being shut down without a word.

I dabble with the banjo and use metal finger picks in a claw hammer style

Then again, I'm a bass player who plays with fingers so nails get in the way. If I finger pick on a guitar I still use the fleshy bit of my fingers rather than nails

Another one crosses over to the skinny stringed, chat, side.

Hi Ubit, you've doubled the traffic for the last 24 hours

Good evening, @ubit, and ... Plenty to read and amuse you here, and lots to learn and share.

so the JD wiring, starting at the bridge pickup, position 1. Position 2 gives the out of phase strat 'inbetween' sound Postion 3 both pickups in parallel (like a normal tele) Position 4 is the neck pickup plus some sort of capacitor which tries to make the neck pickup sound like a humbucker (roll the tone down a bit and it's not toobad) Position 5 is the neck pickup. I actually have 4 vintage guitars now, one is the Geoff Whitehorn signature from July 08. I keep this in my office and use it to learn songs on, during lunchtimes. I have an SG with vibrola and a 335 type, both used in my Paul Weller and Stereophonics tribute bands. They are all excellent guitars and hold their own against my other higher range stuff. (I have 3 Les Pauls, an SG jr, PRS signature form 1989) I am making it my goal to only gig with these cheaper instruments as taking 3 to 4 grands worth of guitars is starting to bother me

This is the most important part. Even more important than having a teacher. If you're not relaxed and engaged in what you're learning to the point where you forget time is passing then your learning isn't at it's most efficient. (Seriously.) So it's important to pick songs to practice that have some significance for you, either because you get a buzz from them or because the learning process is meaningful in some way. Whatever way works for you. It might be more logical to use a left handed instrument, although there are lefty players who play with the instrument strung for a right hander - low notes on the bottom edge and high notes on the top edge of the fingerboard. Having said that, I'm a lefty and I learned to play right handed mainly because I learned to play drums right handed. Sometimes I wonder what it might have been like to learn left handed but it's opened my world up to a much greater choice of instruments than I might otherwise have been able to access. For three and four above - a headphone amp is pretty cheap. Although you might want to invest in a cheap, secodhand multi effects unit like a Zoom G3 because not only will it have a headphone out but you can tinker with effects and see what each one does and how they mix. That'll get you even closer to sounding like the records you like and they're less than eighty quid secondhand.

Hi Riddler, I know your post is old-ish now so hopefully you're already on your journey! If not, I'll have a go at answering these. 1 - I'm also learning online. I currently have a subscription to Fender Play. It's really useful, the lessons are broken into bite-sized chunks and it has simplified versions of a lot of popular songs on there. For a while they had 3 months free in lockdown but even if that's expired they do a 1 month trial. Off the back of a trial I got a good deal on 12 months, it just took a little patience! There's also JustinGuitar which is completely free, mostly YouTube based. He's a great teacher and his lessons are really easy to follow. 2 - You can indeed buy left-handed guitars! I'm a righty so I've no experience on the matter, but I'd definitely suggest getting a left-handed guitar. In the past some lefties have forced themselves to learn on a right-handed guitar, but that seems a cruel and unusual punishment. 3 - An unplugged guitar is much quieter than an acoustic obviously. I have a semi-hollow electric which I do play unplugged sometimes but it's still nowhere near an acoustic in volume. If you do go the electric route, be sure to get something you can play through for sure. 4 - That brings us onto the amp! You can get headphone-only amps like the new Fender Mustang Micro or a VOX Amplug, and there are plenty of small "proper" amps out there which you can play with or without headphones. You might want to look at the home practise amps from Yamaha and Blackstar which you can play at low enough volume as to not disturb neighbours and even people in the next room, while still sounding good! A lot of small home amps have a headphone jack and an aux-in socket so they double as a music player, which I do a lot with my Yamaha THR10. Plus you can plug in your phone and play along to Spotify! One thing to note - you can't just plug normal headphones into a guitar. You will need an amp or headphone-amp. Some other poiners for anyone still with this. If you can, go to a music store and touch some guitars. Even if you can't play a chord, it's nice to get your hands on the neck and see how it feels. If something feels obviously too thick, thin or heavy then try something else! When buying, have a look at second hand stuff and buy what you can afford. Don't necassarily go for a 20-year old clunker just because it's cheap - it could put you off for life. Going second-hand you might find you can afford something of slighlty better quality, and still spend under £100 if you're strapped. Now away with you and buy some gear!