ezbass

These would make me a suggest a dreadnought or maybe a folk sized acoustic.

One of the advantages of YouTube is the ability to slow down the playback, without affecting the pitch. So you can play along at a speed that you can manage, then up it until you're at full speed.

Ooh, you’ve asked the wrong question for me as I’m a Gretsch fanboy. Worst thing I ever did was let my old customised Streamliner. If it were me, I’d get a Electromatic 5420, with a Bigsby (well set up, they’re pretty stable and definitely add something to the sound of the guitar) you don’t have to use it, but it’ll be there if you fancy a wobble.

Taking up any musical instrument is a permanent learning journey, there’s always something new to take on board, be it a scale, chord, technique , whatever. However, as Dad says, it should be enjoyable. When I first picked up the guitar as a youngster, I was taught some chords and I had a book or two, but what I did most of all was learn tunes that I liked and wanted to play and I didn’t get too bogged down with scales and theory. This may not have been the wisest course with regard to musical proficiency but, 50 years on, I’m still playing and playing tunes that give me pleasure, not what some book, course or latest internet craze tells me to. What makes you smile, when you’re playing? Do that more and the other things you want to learn, but give you trouble at the moment, will become easier. You may not ever perfect everything to your personal standards (who does?), but you will perfect some things and that’s not bad.

Yep, sounds like a partially pinched harmonic to me. You may find that part of the thumb or finger, holding the pick, are choking off the note and creating a false/pinched harmonic. This can be used to good effect, if you want it and that’s your thing, Billy Gibbons and Zakk Wylde are noted exponents of the technique.

I’d go with the Tonemaster. In various head to heads with its valve equivalent, tested by valve lovers, it has fared very well. Does it sound exactly the same? No, but then neither do 2 Deluxe Reverbs from different eras. The TMs sound really, really good (the guitarist in the band band where I play bass has one), they’re light, reliable (valve amps can be cranky when carted around and shoved in and out of cars/vans/etc) and have the attenuator built in, something extra you’d have to buy with a valve amp. I’ve owned great sounding and very average sounding valve amps, I’ve also owned solid state ones that other players thought were valve (take a bow Tech21). I currently own a hybrid Fender, which is becoming cranky, because of one of the valves. If I were buying now, I’d look at the TMs, a Roland Blues Cube (if I could find one), or a Jazz Chorus. YMMV.

Ignore the fact that you’re tuning down, just think about the shapes at this point. For your example of B D & E, if you now put a capo on the 2nd fret, you would play A C & D ‘shapes’. If you moved the capo to the 4th fret, you’d play G Bb & C ‘shapes’.

Yes, by playing an open C shape with the capo on fret 3, you get D#/Eb. If you look at the note fingered on the A string, with an open chord, that note is C. Move it up 3 frets and that note is your D#/Eb. Knowing where the root note on your open shapes is, will help you figure out what the shape gives you further up the neck.

The guitarists are simply playing inversions of the same chord. For instance, player 1 plays A, D & G open shapes (no capo or barre). Player 2 can play inversions of those chords using a finger barre or a capo on the 5th fret and play E, G & D shapes. Same chords, different positions. If player 1 has downtuned to Eb, player 2 can either also downtune, or place the capo 1 fret lower to achieve the same effect. Check out the CAGED system for more info.

Never looked like a Gibson to me. Looked and still looks like a guitar designed by committee.

I have an Alvarez hybrid, which, although traditional in depth, has a cutaway and the neck joins the body at the 14th fret. I like it, YMMV. https://www.guitarguitar.co.uk/product/170306308317008--alvarez-artist-series-ac65ce-classical The tattooed guy, from Polyphia is Tim Henson. The music the band play may not be to be everyone’s taste, but man alive he has some serious chops.

Some sort of monetisation or just personal pride perhaps.

Unless you plan on also investing some time playing the guitar more and becoming more proficient, I’d just stick with what you have.

Hopefully, with a sizeable discount if you go for the repair.

Whichever will work best for you ergonomically, single cutaway vs double cut. The LP type might be heavier, if that's a potential issue.

Paging @Andyjr1515

Wise words and there’s no guarantee that another Zager will deliver the way you want it to. Such are the vagaries of acoustic instruments.

Fender really did well with developing guitars with definite personalities, different from their siblings, which doesn’t stop with the Tele (my preferred weapon of choice) and the Strat (of which I’ve had quite a few too). The Jazzmaster is different to the Jaguar and the Mustang was very different originally, with its short scale length. Gibson solid bodies, on the other hand, don’t seem so very different in tone IMO. The Les Paul, SG and Flying V (to name just 3) all cover very similar sonic ground; YMMV.

Could be the spring behind the saddle or a grub screw not fully in contact with baseplate, it could also be a faulty string.