NickD

Thanks Douglas, your kind words are appreciated! I wrote that on Bandcamp, as the tax laws for shipping to the EU changed on the 1st, and I need to get some clarity on how things will happen so as not to risk anyone getting a nasty surprise. Absolutley gutted, as we've lots of friends in Europe from previous projects and tours, who've shown interest in our new venture. Rules are different for Basschatters though (and Guitarchatters obviously), and I'm sure I can find a way to make it work. I'll look into what can be done and drop you a line!

We finally got it over the line! This was supposed to be a band effort. We went in to record the rhythm tracks in January 2020, thinking we'd get that done while recruiting a singer and a guitarist.... then Covid hit! Rather than wait we decided to go ahead and do it all between the two of us, what we didn't know how to do, we'd figure out along the way... it's all about the bass and drums anyway, isn't it? Recorded between lockdowns, as and when restrictions, funds and work allowed, we finally got it together. If any Bandcamp users fancy giving us a follow, that would be much appreciated. I've only just put it all up there, and I'll not get chance to sort any social media stuff until the weekend, so no-one knows we exist and we're on a grand total of zero followers... the only way is up! https://isleofeverything.bandcamp.com/releases

That's so Art Deco! Classy as hell, but I wouldn't dare play it!

There you go! I've quit the pretending. I either know I will or know I won't, and if the item falls into the 'will' category I know that any internal debate/struggle is just some kind of mental fabrication to make me feel bad for wanting something, and just wastes time. The only real questions I ask myself now are 'can I afford it?', 'do I mind losing a few quid if it doesn't pan out and I move it on?', and 'have I got the space?'.... anything else is just noise. What the 'it won't make you play better' folks always miss is that every different instrument is full of different riffs and licks, and once discovered, you still have them in your arsenal whether on that instrument or on an instrument you've had around for years.... You're not buying a new guitar, you're exploring new approaches.

JFBI!

Pedaltrain Classic 1 - Softcase version. In generally great condition, with just a little gumming underneath (pictured), which you'll probably stick your power supply velcro over (cos that's what it's from!). Softcase in great condition, no nicks, tears or whatever, zips and strapmounts all fully intact. £50 collected from Bushey or thereabouts - £60 UK mainland if you make me find a box and lump it up to the post office!

Based on your imagined budget.... Definitely something like the Katana, most probably the actual Katana. Guitars around the £300 mark, I'm a big fan of Vintage. Nicely put together instruments based on the traditional designs, with useful features like Wilkinson hardware, EZ lock tuners, quality pickups, opposing wound single coils to cut hum, stagger drilled teams that stay in tune... Just practical touches that really make a difference.

One word.... Grunt! I bought one to finish some demos, figuring I could double some of the bass riffs more easily. As it turned out I ended up ditching the idea as that approach made the songs heavier than I wanted, I mean instantly 'bloody' heavy.... which is not what we're really after. It was fun though, and If I were a younger man, doing metal type stuff I'd be all over it. I'm moving the guitar on, as I can't imagine playing stuff that hardcore at my age, and I've established that it's not for our current project, but I had some fun. Really heavy, fast Low powerchord riffs, without the need to tune down would have been really handy over the years in some bands, and I can't imagine them disappearing for that reason. Oddly enough, it's believed that the first use of a 7 string guitar on a rock record was actually Steve Vai, on Whitesnake's Slip of the Tongue, with a prototype he subsequently toured with, and there's 7 string on his solo material as far back as Passion and Warfare... so as (phenomenally) adept as he is on 6 strings, he's not opposed to a bit of 7 here and there. As with the age old, incredibly dull, 'Jaco Pastorius only needed 4 strings' crap that keeps coming up in the bass world (to which the obvious retort is 'Bottesini only needed three strings, and everything he wrote makes Jaco's work look like a 5 year old painting by numbers')... It's art, and it depends entirely on the sound you want to make.

Can now Post!

Go by feel. Gary Moore was a sinistral who played right handed... I heard he was pretty decent!

Then I'd go with the Helix. Decades of sound chasing (although even the presets are quality). Its great having an approximation on the valve response at headphone volumes, the effects are great and it doubles as an interface (although I use it through a separate interface). Being able to do it all in Helix Edit, rather than on the unit is great.

Lordy that's handsome!

Repetition is the key for me. I've spent a long time looping solo sections of backing using common chord progressions, then indulging in focussed noodling.... like regular noodling, but concentrating on sounding good against the chords, phrasing in a meaningful way, and getting the whole section to feel complete, as if it's going somewhere, and making a statement within the chosen number of bars. I feel I'm just getting to the point where I can just go for my first choice and it sounds ok, then I can try and refine it.

As annoying as it is, I've found everything above to be true. It's just taken me about 4 weeks to get one 2 bar run up to tempo for a recording I need to do. I knew what I wanted to play, but could only manage it about half speed. I did try to take a shortcut, but all the way along I knew what was probably the only way... so I went for it, same run every time I picked up the guitar, increasing the metronome by a couple of BPM every few days when I could do it comfortably. It's probably not even that fast or complex for a proper guitarist, but there's a sense of achievement playing it right (almost) every time now.

I'm a big fan of the Wilkinson E Z Lock Tuners on my Vintage V6. The damn thing just won't go out of tune, no matter how much bending I do, or how much whammy action I give it.... They've been a bit of a revelation. As much as I love my old Westbury Standard, in the studio earlier this year I was having to tune between every take. No such problems with the V6 on the last session. Can't help with the second bit though, sorry!

Another shout for Vintage here! I'm a bass player as a rule, but I've ended up doing the guitar work on our latest recording. I had the heavy side covered, but needed a strat type for a couple of tunes. After ages going through reviews I ended up opting for a Vintage V6 Reissued. I bought through Richards Guitars as I know he's pretty vicious in terms of setup and quality control, It was maybe about 15 quid more than the cheapest I could find, but it arrived beautifully set up, and plays like a guitar at twice the price. I was prepared to swap out the pickups, and had budgeted for that, but the Wilkinsons that it came with use are really good, so I shan't bother. Hardware is all quality stuff, and overall build quality is excellent. Edit - Don't pay too much attention to the RRPs quoted on the Vintage website, most dealers carry them at a fair bit less.

I love the Uke, it's silly and simple and fun, but the shapes are different, and early on most people tend to think in terms of shapes. It's not insurmountable in terms of confusion, and I suspect in the long run there would be some kind of benefit, but I think it would be more beneficial for your early progress, to try and source a cheap/borrowed/ used guitar to play at home, and leave it there for when you visit in future if that's possible.

£150 Ibanez Gio 7221QA, 7 String in a rather fetching transparent blackburst over quilted maple. It's subtle, but really comes alive under lights. I bought it for a couple of studio days, so it's had that and a couple of weekends working out the parts at home. Plays lovely and sounds great. Typical thin, satin Ibby neck. Holds its tuning nicely too. No paint chips or anything like that, but some light swirling in the lacquer from pick/finger contact as is typical of mega shiny finishes. Strung with a brand new set of Slinkys (9-52), with an additional spare set of the same unopened. I now have an inner and outer box with packing material for in between. Happy to go halves on a courier. It's my first post here, I just popped in from Basschat as I thought it's an item more suited to here. Obviously I've no feedback here, but for members of both sites I'm easiliy checkable... if that's even a word.