Musicians check in here. If you play, tell us about it!

[Oberon75]

I used to play guitar when I was younger but never really got good My musical tastes were pretty narrow and I was too busy learning metal riffs and playing highly distorted power chords to actually learn. Then when I was about to get serious, I suffered a really bad laceration to my wrist, couldn't play anymore and sold my gear. It took over a year for my wrist to heal right.

A few months ago, I had a decent guitar fall into my lap for almost nothing. It was tough to pass up for only $200. Its an EVH Wolfgang Special (Fender Japanese Model) which retails for $1200 to $1500+ depending on where you buy. Soon after I bought a Fender Mustang 3 V2 amp and a Boss RC3 loop station to practice with. I don't have time for real lessons but have been taking an online course for three months now and I'm doing pretty good. I've been studying a lot on playing blues guitar. I just wish it didn't take me 20 years to get back into it.

Sent from my LGLS991 using Tapatalk

 

[Pipeous]

That guitar is gorgeous. I have the same amp sitting here but rarely use it anymore...
So I recently bought a second bass for recording and am now a hired gun for Brent Braidwood. lol. I am playing bass and doing vocal harmonies for his shows... I played yesterday dressed up as Spiderman, man what a hoot. The kids high fiving me and screaming mom mom it's spiderman haha. I learned it's near impossible to play a harmonica through those masks, though I could sing..

for your entertainment, here is Tomy carving the top of my new octave mandolin..

 

[Lowgrade]

I currently play guitar in a metal band here in the Bloomington/Peoria IL area called Dwells Within. It started off as sort of a side project when I was a drummer in the band Low Twelve. Low Twelve broke up so now Dwells Within is my main project. Hard to believe it now but I've been playing in bands for almost 25 years now.

 

[DaveP]

Good to see some activity here. I'm still playing in the church praise band in the contemporary service and enjoying it. It's popular music with Christian lyrics and I get to rock out here and there and use all my effects. It's the most fun I've ever had in Church!

I get to stay on a slightly over-driven tube setting (think Warren Haynes sound) most of the time. With rehearsal and performance I get about 5 hours a week playing time with my Les Paul. After decades of rehearsals and late night gigs I'm right where I want to be at my age!

Here's a photo of the praise band. I'm the guy on the right with the Les Paul. We've since replaced the electronic drums you see in the center with a set of acoustic drums. About a year ago we got Shure backpack receivers for in ear monitoring. That made a lot of difference in being able to hear the mix. I have an Ipod sitting on my amp that allows me to tailor my own mix to hear what I want to hear and adjust volumes for each instrument.

 

[Pipeous]

Finally get to see what you look like Dave

I am playing at a Church Dec 10 for their annual craft fair thing. They raise money for the church. I am not paid but I can put the case out for tips. I did pick up a gig through a recommendation for Nov 27. Big craft fair downtown by the planetarium... in Olympic Village. They expect about 3000 people again this year to attend. I might end up doing the 26th as well

I am hating graveyards so much I am tempted to start busking outside liquor stores and such LOL

 

[DaveP]

Pipeous Wrote: Finally get to see what you look like Dave
I am playing at a Church Dec 10 for their annual craft fair thing. They raise money for the church. I am not paid but I can put the case out for tips. I did pick up a gig through a recommendation for Nov 27. Big craft fair downtown by the planetarium... in Olympic Village. They expect about 3000 people again this year to attend. I might end up doing the 26th as well

I am hating graveyards so much I am tempted to start busking outside liquor stores and such LOL

I spent a so many years playing back and forth at the local Air Force Base Officers and NCO clubs, Moose clubs, golf clubs, private parties, and an occasional bar that it's nice to have a gig where I can leave my amp in place for years.

I only take it home here and there when I need to change tubes or whatever. I keep the Peavey Vypyr Tube 60 at church and I use the Roland Cube 60 at home for practice.

I think the largest crowd I ever played for was the annual Robins Air Force Base picnic back in the late 70s. It was located on a huge acreage field on base. There were about 5000 people in attendance and we set up on a semi flatbed trailer about 35 feet long. I felt like I was at Woodstock!

The other high point was when we won the city wide Battle of the Bands and played on the stage at Macon City Auditorium, where the Allman Brothers Band used to stage their indoor concerts. We won that night after competing for 2 or 3 years in that contest. I think I was 18 or 19 at the time

I wouldn't take anything for the experiences I've had playing music. It's been a part time job that seemed like recreational fun (except for having to be our own roadie crew).

 

[Pipeous]

I have far too much fun playing music for people. Though doing 4 or 5 hrs is exhausting. My recording has taken a back seat because I am trying to play bass lately and learn tunes for another project. I've been playing the little Gold Tone M bass, even though I bought a Yamaha electric. My poor finger tips right hand take a beating now on bass strings LOL.... mandolin is always a pick so I have gotten lazy on guitar too. I only finger pick about 2 songs nowadays... funny only the musicians notice the music, most people want to hear the lyrics. as long as I strum something close, it's good enough

 

[DaveP]

I have far too much fun playing music for people. Though doing 4 or 5 hrs is exhausting. My recording has taken a back seat because I am trying to play bass lately and learn tunes for another project. I've been playing the little Gold Tone M bass, even though I bought a Yamaha electric. My poor finger tips right hand take a beating now on bass strings LOL.... mandolin is always a pick so I have gotten lazy on guitar too. I only finger pick about 2 songs nowadays... funny only the musicians notice the music, most people want to hear the lyrics. as long as I strum something close, it's good enough

My callouses have thinned a bit since I've neglected to get in my usual daily fret board time lately. I decided last week to start back with repetitive scales and runs to build my speed back up. That worked, but I have an invisible bruise on my left pointer fingertip and I can feel the callouses returning!

Most people listen to the mix as a whole or concentrate on the singer. As a guitar player you have to hit a significant lick here and there to get their attention.

I don't have a vocal role in this band and I'm good with that. The bands I was in during the 70's and 80's kept me involved in in 3 and 4 part harmony on just about every tune. It's nice these days to be able to lay back and pick and let four singers deal with the vocals!

 

[Pipeous]

My left hand is fine. I have to sand my fingers every few days or the callous lifts my fingernails. I refuse to play bass with a pick. I am a solo player but when I do need a full compliment, I know I need an actual guitar player to do the solos...

 

[markcfh]

Just saw this thread, I've been playing guitar for about 10 years. I used to play tenor sax up to a pretty high level, but got bored of it.
I have a Japanese epi lp with burst buckets in it. My metal guitar is a dean dime razorback. I have a vox ac4 modified heavily for my bedroom amp and a 6505 2x12. I have a fender whatever acoustic and a yari from the 70s.

 

[DaveP]

Just saw this thread, I've been playing guitar for about 10 years. I used to play tenor sax up to a pretty high level, but got bored of it.
I have a Japanese epi lp with burst buckets in it. My metal guitar is a dean dime razorback. I have a vox ac4 modified heavily for my bedroom amp and a 6505 2x12. I have a fender whatever acoustic and a yari from the 70s.

Welcome to the thread, Mark.

 

[DaveP]

My left hand is fine. I have to sand my fingers every few days or the callous lifts my fingernails. I refuse to play bass with a pick. I am a solo player but when I do need a full compliment, I know I need an actual guitar player to do the solos...

I'm haven't done much bass playing, but I have a Peavey Foundation bass that I bought from a friend so that he could buy a new Fender. I've played it a few times, but I'm partial to guitar. Playing bass is kind of like finger picking guitar, but on a higher strength level. My callouses are all on my left hand!

 

[DaveP]

I used to play guitar when I was younger but never really got good My musical tastes were pretty narrow and I was too busy learning metal riffs and playing highly distorted power chords to actually learn. Then when I was about to get serious, I suffered a really bad laceration to my wrist, couldn't play anymore and sold my gear. It took over a year for my wrist to heal right.

A few months ago, I had a decent guitar fall into my lap for almost nothing. It was tough to pass up for only $200. Its an EVH Wolfgang Special (Fender Japanese Model) which retails for $1200 to $1500+ depending on where you buy. Soon after I bought a Fender Mustang 3 V2 amp and a Boss RC3 loop station to practice with. I don't have time for real lessons but have been taking an online course for three months now and I'm doing pretty good. I've been studying a lot on playing blues guitar. I just wish it didn't take me 20 years to get back into it.

Sent from my LGLS991 using Tapatalk

Oberon, that's a nice guitar. Japan produces some really fine instruments.

YouTube is where I go to find out how guitarists play certain passages. There's always some one with a video for the song I want to learn that plays it just like the record and demonstrates the fingering.

 

[DaveP]

I ran across this video the other day and thought it was really cool. Two guys are alternating the same song in parts. One plays part of it on the Strat, then the Les Paul guy plays the same thing. They alternate throughout the song that way. There are a lot of songs that have YouTube videos doing the same thing if you look at the sidebar videos. Search YouTube for JAMMAN798 and he has a long list of similar videos.

 

[BreSha6869]

I have far too much fun playing music for people. Though doing 4 or 5 hrs is exhausting. My recording has taken a back seat because I am trying to play bass lately and learn tunes for another project. I've been playing the little Gold Tone M bass, even though I bought a Yamaha electric. My poor finger tips right hand take a beating now on bass strings LOL.... mandolin is always a pick so I have gotten lazy on guitar too. I only finger pick about 2 songs nowadays... funny only the musicians notice the music, most people want to hear the lyrics. as long as I strum something close, it's good enough

Have you looked at flatwound or tapewound strings? If you aren't used to new bass round wounds, they will eat your fingers pretty quickly. Even for mandolin/guitarists that play a lot. D'Addario flats are cheap and sound great and LaBalla tapes are expensive but amazing strings. Both will last years if not a lifetime.

My callouses are thick from over 30 years of regular bass playing but they go soft quickly if I don't play much for a couple of weeks.

I still do 2-3 bar gigs a month and love it after all these years. The getting home at 3am sucks, but I don't see myself stopping anytime soon.

 

[markcfh]

So, I was at the music store getting some strings for my geetars. The salesguy highly recommended Ernie ball cobalts. On my Les Paul I always use the standard eb 10s. The cobalt stings sounded very thin and tinny, low end gone and high end screech. Cut them off after a day.

I also found out my favorite Martin silk and steel acoustic strings have been changed. They finally have sealed packs! These strings definitely stay alive longer due to the packaging.

 

[Pipeous]

Man I haven't used a flatwound bass string since I tried them early 80's. I did experiment with flat top strings on the mandolin... I use Elixirs on my guitars and mandolins... the OM, banjo and mandola just d'addarios. Aquilla has a new nylon set of strings coming for mandolin. I want to string up one with those

so I picked up a La Patrie CW (cutaway) concert series guitar. nylon strings sure make life easy. I did 3 days in a row of Christmas shows. The Friday and Saturday I was there from 11am to 6pm in the city of Fort Langley. I played 2 hrs took a break, played 2 hrs, a break then another 2. Dressed up like an elf sharing a stage with santa. They wanted me to play the Sunday too but I was booked somewhere else.... after all said and done they booked me for all 3 days next Christmas... the nylon strings sure made life easy on the hands.

I got my busking license for Granville Island and I am now a full time musician... This month I have been doing my music courses because the weather has been crap (I played outside Dec 18th and we had a snowstorm... still recovering from the cold I caught LOL)... Jan 1-3 is sunny so I am going busking. I've been assured an increase in pay from some of the lower paying markets I do but I have added so many for this upcoming season...

 

[DaveP]

I'm playing much less than I used to back in the day when we were booked every Friday and Saturday night with a 2-3 hour rehearsal on Wednesday night. The callouses aren't quite what they used to be, but as long as I pick up the acoustic here and there I can maintain them.

Markcfh, I play Ernie Ball 10s on my Les Paul, Strat, SG, and all my electrics. For me, they just last so much longer than Diaddario. I was changing the Diaddario strings once every week or two. Ernie Balls last me 2 or three months playing twice a week and are still OK at that point, just not as twangy and they start to decay faster with less sustain.

Ernie Ball strings must be wound a little tighter and neater than the D's. Maybe it's the core design. If you read guitar forums there are people who say that Di'Addario lasts longer for them. Go figure. I bend a lot!

 

[James Hart]

I use super light stainless rounds on most my basses (Kalium Balanced String sets with .090 E strings on everything from 4 to 7 strings), but I keep one with 12 year old heavy LaBella flats (James Jamerson edition). What *KILLS* my hands is my Upright (set up with Dolce gauge Jargar strings)! I can play hours a day on an electric but 30 minutes on the upright has my fingers feeling like bloody stumps of macaroni! My 3 guitars wear Dean Markley Light Top Heavy Bottom, been using them since the 80s... though I'm not sold on them since they changed from round to hex core. I haven't switched yet since I had a few sets on hand... I might get a Kalium set to match the .052 - .010 gauge next time I order bass strings.

 

[Pipeous]

I recorded last night with the Gold Tone M bass. Those rubber strings are just so easy to play