Members - Tony's Acoustic Challenge

DiscostewLA

Member

February 10, 2026 at 9:26 am in reply to: Guitars 4 Vets

New Guitar Day for Charles! My second Guitars4Vets student graduated last week. Charles is a marine at the Los Angeles VA. Charles is meticulous about getting good, clean tones and we played Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door about a thousand times. Here he is unboxing his new guitar. Check out the great form on that C chord, you can almost hear it! Rock on Charles!

This reply was modified 9 months ago by DiscostewLA.

DiscostewLA

Member

February 10, 2026 at 9:19 am in reply to: When The Levee Breaks (Memphis Minnie to Led Zeppelin)

Great job Phil! Love the harmonica – putting all that together is no joke. Nice work – great to see (and hear) you!

DiscostewLA

Member

January 22, 2026 at 10:05 am in reply to: Electric Guitar Tech advice

Hey there – if you have a macbook then you can definitely just into your mac and use GarageBand or any other software to get different tones. And you can listen either through headphones or you can get nice speakers. In order to do that you need an interface – the most popular one is the Focusrite 2i2 https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/Scar2i2G4–focusrite-scarlett-2i2-4th-gen-usb-audio-interface but you can fine less expensive alternatives. The 2i2 is nice because you can input 2 instruments/mics at the same time and have them show up on your computer as different audio inputs.

Another option is to get something like the Fender Mustang Micro which is a headphone/practice amp and modeler that lets you get a bunch of different tones via an app: https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/MustMicro–fender-mustang-micro-headphone-amp

Another great option if you want to have a good speaker is something like the Positive Grid Spark 2 modeling amp which has a bunch of modeling capabilities and a big nice sounding speaker: https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/PGSpark2–positive-grid-spark-2-50-watt-2-by-4-inch-combo-amp-black

I think starting with modelers is a great way to learn what different types of pedals do and how they work before investing money and floor space. The only real pedal I have is a Boss Looper and then I also have a positive grid spark 2 for when I play electric and it’s been great/

Hope this helps!

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DiscostewLA

Member

January 16, 2026 at 9:10 am in reply to: Guitars 4 Vets

Hey there – I just wanted to circle back and share that after reading your post I started the journey to get registered as a G4V teacher and as a volunteer at the Los Angeles VA. Earlier this week my first student ‘graduated’ and received his new guitar. These heroes are struggling with all sorts of things, and I can’t thank you enough for your inspiration to get involved. I’m not sure who was happier, him or me.

Rock on and hope you have an awesome year ahead.

DiscostewLA

Member

December 19, 2025 at 3:09 pm in reply to: Question

You can look through the ‘Skill Courses’ and pick some of those to go through on the weekends. Also check out this jam-along section: https://tonypolecastro.com/courses/jam-along-song-library/

There’s a ton of content to explore!

tonypolecastro.com

Tony's Acoustic Challenge

DiscostewLA

Member

August 22, 2025 at 5:14 pm in reply to: Big Small Win!!!

Congrats and thanks for sharing your win!

You could try using a lighter gauge pick (e.g. less than 1mm)

You could try using a soundhole cover / feedback buster https://www.amazon.com/feedback-buster/s?k=feedback+buster

DiscostewLA

Member

August 12, 2025 at 4:54 pm in reply to: Ain’t No Sunshine

CHeck out Day 5 for the full tab.

Found in this thread https://tonypolecastro.com/family-forums/topic/aint-no-sunshine-4/

Day 1: https://tonypolecastro.com/lessons/cloudy-day-3-2/

Day 2: https://tonypolecastro.com/lessons/gone-too-long-3-2/

Day 3: https://tonypolecastro.com/lessons/i-know-i-know-i-know-3-2/

Day 4: https://tonypolecastro.com/lessons/wither-away-3-2/

Day 5: https://tonypolecastro.com/lessons/every-time-she-goes-away-3-2/\

This reply was modified 1 year, 2 months ago by DiscostewLA.

tonypolecastro.com

Just a moment...

DiscostewLA

Member

February 10, 2026 at 9:30 am in reply to: Guitars 4 Vets

Thank you for your service. As a free American I am grateful for those that have served and sacrificed and I’m glad to have found a small way to give something back to those who have given so much.

DiscostewLA

Member

January 20, 2026 at 9:55 am in reply to: Guitars 4 Vets

Hey sorry to hear about your shoulder and hope you are back in strumming shape soon! We also had a shortage of available guitars in LA. The one we just got is a Yamaha Keith Urban which came with a tuner and extra set of strings, but no gig bag and no t-shirt! I’m not the coordinator for our region (there’s one other teacher and he manages everything) but I think we get 4 total guitars allotted for the first quarter, so we each have 2 students and then can take on others if they already have a guitar. With breaks and things it tends to take 12-14 weeks to get through the 10 lessons so the timing works out that our allotment resets at about the right time.

All my best and sending you good thoughts for your shoulder!