Crusoe

I did a quick comparison and the 62 seems to sound a bit fuller than the 20. I'll maybe do a more comprehensive test tomorrow, if I have time.

I still hadn't heard back about this, so went down to the shop again and asked if it would be possible to get a different colour. The guy was very apologetic and said that would be no problem. They had a red one with a black scratch plate, so I asked if I could try it. He lifted it down and I had a quick look over it. Big chunk out of the body work in more or less the same spot as the black one. Like most guitar shops, they get a lot of kids going in at the weekend and lifting the guitars down to try. Obviously, they are less than careful when putting them back up again. Very unfair on the shop. I ended up trying a pale blue one and took it home. Her birthday is next week, so fingers crossed she likes it.

I do love the look of it. The slightly sharp fret ends are the only thing that annoy me, but you don't feel it if your finger is perpendicular to the neck. I'm torn between being a fret file and having a go at going it myself (I would tape of the neck and fretboard, obviously) and paying someone to do it. I think the caramel maple is just roast maple. The laurel really does look like rosewood. I don't buy into the whole tone wood debate, so I'm not worried about anything there. It has a tele sound, obviously. I'm going to have to compare it with the cheap TE-20 to see if there is much difference in the sound of the pickups. I'll probably change the strings. The website says they are d'Addario EXL 110 10-46s. I'm not fussed on the feel of them. I thought d'Addario strings had coloured ball ends, but these are just brass. I might go for Ernie Balls.

The downside is that you will end up wearing a black turtleneck and beret, and star smoking Gitanes.

New kid on the block

Oh my word! How can they churn out great guitars like this for the price? I haven't played it yet (will report back on that- I'm knackered after a 110 mile drive and there is someone else sleeping in the house). Out of the box it looks gorgeous. The finish on the body is great. I haven't found any flaws yet, other than a little bit of glue overspill om the back where I assume the string ferrules haven been glued in, and I was able to wipe that off with my finger. The neck looks to be straight as a die. Tuning was only out by maybe a half step, but I never worry about that on a new guitar that's been delivered. The neck and fretboard look beautiful. The neck is caramel maple and the neck is laurel. The bridge is the classic tele ashtray style and the tuners are kluson style, with the string ends going into the centre posts. The tuners feel nice and tight, but turn smoothly. The frets are reasonably well finished. They are all polished and there is no fret sprout. If you run a finger along them at an angle there are one or two that feel a little bit sharp, but I don't think it'll be noticeable when playing. Even the edges of the fretboard seem to have been rolled a bit.

I haven't much to add other than, when you start learning about modes it can seem very daunting, but it's not really. If you look at the example of the C major scale mentioned above, the chords in that scale are CM Dm Em FM GM Am Bdim. If you play the notes of the C major scale at the 6th note you will realise that you are playing the Am scale or the Aeolian mode - Am is the relative minor scale of C major. You can do the same for each of the notes in the scale and you will be playing the different modes. I really hope I've got that right. I've only been learning about it recently and I'm sure someone can correct me if I've made any mistakes.

Welcome to the forum, Claire

On the other hand... https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/314137684092

Excellent. I'm going to see SLF at Custom House Square next month, with Peter Hook & The Light and Glen Matlock on the bill.

Was that the gig with Blondie, Generation Sex and SLF?

Interesting. I did manage to guess which was which - I thought the SS frets were just a little brighter, but this could possibly be explained by slight differences in the pickups. It's hard to say if there is much of an actual difference. Have you every looked at Daisy Tempest's videos on YT? She is a luthier and makes some lovely looking acoustic guitars with not so lovely prices, but when you see the work that goes into them, you can see why they are so expensive.

I think he has watched a lot of YouTube videos and decided that you have to be annoyed about everything when making content.

I'm still waiting on this guitar to arrive. Apparently one came in but it was also damaged. I called in to the shop at the weekend and the guy said he'd get the boss on to it and will give me a call when it comes in. Her birthday is in two weeks time and I'm worried that the guitar won't arrive in time, so I have ordered a Harley Benton TE-62 DBBK, just in case. I was wanting one of these for myself anyway, so hopefully the Squier arrives in time. The alternative is that I call in to the shop and ask if I can take one of the othes colours.

I got a Positive Grid Spark Go. It's brilliant for this sort of thing. You can plug headphones into it and even use the attached loop to put it on your belt loop, allowing you to walk around the house with it.

He gets on my wick.

Stunning. I just want to run my hand over that finish. I'd love to gig it just to see the reaction it gets.

Paranoid is probably one of the easiest to begin with. If I can play it, anyone can.

Result! I wish you many happy times playing it.

I've never tried to sweep pick. Some day I'll give it a go.

I'm a bit late the party here, but instead of suggesting a guitar for an upgrade, I would ask "do you like the sound of your current guitar?" If the answer is yes, then I would ask what you want from an upgrade. If aren't sure of an answer to that, then you just want to buy a new guitar for the sake of it. There's nothing wrong with that. As for electrics, you could go for a second hand brand name guitar and get something good for the money, or you could try a new Harley Benton. You get a pretty decent guitar for not a lot of money.

I'll post an addendum that it sounds great through headphones!

Ace of Spades on the jukebox upstairs and condensation on the dance floor mirror, in the night club. Sadly no longer there. It burned down a few years ago. I have a couple of photos somewhere of a very drunk Darren Calwell in the 'Gate, on his 18th.

Really? Good grief. I remember friends having Marlin Sidewinders when I was younger. They weren't terribly good back then; comparable with Encores or maybe low end Squier (Squier would have been considered better quality, maybe just because of the Fender association). We didn't know much about guitars back then (I still don't ), so maybe it was better quality than I remember, but I do know that it was terrible for going out of tune. The hardware just wasn't very good.

It just made me think of Olde English Cider. I can't imagine that would be too good for your guitar... or your liver.