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New to the forum and flicking through a few days and found this topic and thought I would chip my tuppence worth in for what it's worth. I appreciate it is very subjective there are so many and it changes with my mood and whatever I'm listening too so firstly mentioned in despatches has got to be Jeff Beck, Jill Jackson and George Benson. However the three I always come back to are: Frank Zappa - so underrated it's unbelievable, even if you don't like his music give it a listen just for his playing. Paul Kossoff - just a sublime guitar player IMO. Finally John Martyn what he did with a guitar was absolutely amazing, especially when he taped the pick up on his acoustic and used and ecoplex(?) In the 70s.

Quality work, Sir. Well done

Thanks for the advixe, have bought some lightweight Martin 10-47 strings so going to try them and a little clean up.

I flat refuse to name just 3, so why am I here? Was just watching a YT of Knopfler talking about Strats (cf Les Pauls) and he says "I'm trying to make the guitar speak". For me that's it - some players speak, sing... like from the street to the balcony. Many others play notes in succession - patterns, 'licks'. There be habits to be got right there. Sometimes a very lot of notes really quick. I do not give one single sh*t how many notes. Someone good once said 'knowing what notes NOT to play - that really matters'. Might have been Miles Davis, talking about the importance of space around notes. Hear (in your head) a worthwhile expressive statement, a sentence worth saying, the one-liner that stops the room... and play just that with real expression. That's a big ask but it'll do for me.

I've been trying to learn this for about a week and a half. I was having trouble with the little descending run in the chorus, so decided to use the metronome. The song is at 138bpm, so I decided to start at half speed and work my way up. It was going well and I was able to play the piece at almost full speed, but something still didn't seem right. I then realised that the notes I was playing were eighths but I needed to be playing sixteenths . Oh well, I'll just have to keep working at it.

Thanks Douglas. It was just when I thought that I had nailed it at full tempo, then realised I was only playing it at half speed, I could have cried. Then I laughed at myself.

Don't panic; help is here; see below... Yes, tell us what you are wanting to do (which chords..? Which song, if any..? Any particular style, such as folk, rock, red-hot jazz, or none of these..?). Maybe spend a short while looking through these introductory videos, made especially for absolute beginners, and FREE..! Come back to us with answers to our questions, and pose others if you wish. Over to you..? Beginner's Guitar Videos ... Douglas

I don't know if you're aware of it, but Guitar Pro 8 is an excellent tool for guitarists, for composing, recording and/or learning. I've just looked up this piece (I'd never heard it before...), and there's a GP version, which I've just run through with Guitar Pro 8. In standard notation and tab, the playback speed can be varied (I just played back the solo at 10%...) without pitch change, repeating any section at will. I've attached the GP3 file I downloaded from t'web; maybe it can help..? Yes, the secret is to do it slowly, in manageable chunks, and, with practise and Patience, it will all come together. That's how Randy Rhoads got to play that way, that's certain. Hope this helps... Douglas osbourne_ozzy-crazy_train.gp3

And she’s done! Strung with D’Addario 12-56. Just need to let the settle in and then add the dots to cover the bolts. It sounds lovely acoustic and plugged in.

Just got a Fender pedal from Daniel. Well known over on the dark side, but my priviledge to start a feedback thread here. Deal done friday, arrived saturday am, perfectly packed, original box, lights up like a Christmas tree when you plug it in. Probably sound OK too. Deal with absolute confidence. 5 Stars.

Got the top cut out just need to tidy it up a bit and glue it together Here's a mockup but it will have a black hardware, a standard telecaster bridge and control plate, all the wiring and pickups are out of a old Squier strat that i stripped for parts......

In the meantime, I decided to check bodies and necks for accuracy by drawing centre lines and checking alignment: 1) Neck pocket wall and end of neck heel didn't fit and the pocket was 1mm too wide. Reviews warned me of this so it wasn't a total surprise. I bought a black three ply HSH pickguard and checked the pocket on that against the body. It aligns surprisingly well although still too wide (58mm, rather than 56) but the fit issue must be the neck heel. Sure enough, the curve is asymmetrical. 2) The floor of the neck pocket is uneven. There's no excuse for this really, it's just sloppy paths in the milling software. 3) I did a quick check of neck alignment as best I could using cotton thread. The alignment might be out by 2-3mm but it needs checking with straight edges to be sure. 4) The trem cavity was unfinished along one long side and a trial fit of the bridge suggested it might need widening for full function. I bought a router bit specifically designed for under cutting the top rout by about 3mm. So with the bridge, neck, HSS pickguard for one of the bodies I did a trial fit just to give me a sense of what to expect.