JohnV
Forum Replies Created
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That is awesome! Especially when a comment doesn’t come from a salesperson trying to sell you a guitar. It shows true recognition for your efforts. Keep it going!
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WWow! That was fantastic!
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Yeah, you will need to clear the Safari history.
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This is awesome!
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A coated string such as Elixir nano Web have less squeak. I like Elixir myself. Some people don’t care for them. But if you like your current set of strings, make sure your hands are clean and barely touch your strings as you change positions. It’s a matter of finding the right technique.
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This is amazing and really special.
Thanks for sharing.
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This is an awesome small win!
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the debate about humidify the room vs humidify the guitar in the case goes on and on and on.
I don’t have recommendations about a room humidifier. I also do not know much about them other than what i’ve read on the forums. Seems like using distilled water is key and also the type (vapor, mist, evaporative) is also important. If memory serves me correctly, the evaporative is the one to get as it actually adds humidity and not water vapor. Water vapor is not a good thing. That being said, never keep your guitar in bathroom while showering. Despite what some may say, this is really a bad thing as that is water vapor and the wood will soak it up like a sponge.
What you need to do is 1) get a room hygrometer and a case hygrometer. You need to know what the RH is before you do anything. 2) you need to decide what is best for you and where you live. A lot of players humidify the room. Others the guitar in the case. Some neither. Tony does both. He has guitars on his walls in his home studio and humidipaks for the ones he keeps in his cases. Your local luthier will probably be your best source of information as they live in your area.
I have 1 good guitar and I keep it in it’s case with a hygrometer. Currently in my neck of the woods (Centralish North Carolina), the RH in my case is in the mid 40’s. So I don’t need to humidify it. Earlier this year I had to take the humidipaks out because they were not working correctly and the RH in my case was 60 and above. I also have a big bag of what feels like rice I got from Amazon to remove excess humidity in the case.
Hope this helps.
John
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So you want to learn something beyond strumming some campfire songs. Learning to use a pick will force you out of your comfort zone. You will always have your finger picking skills. A pick will be another tool that may take you places you never thought possible. It’s the learning that is the hard part .
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Hi Dave. A scale are the do re me fa so la to do notes. So for the E major scale, the notes are E F# G# A B C# D# the back to E. The A major scale notes are A B C# D E F# G# and back to A.
If you haven’t purchased it, I highly recommend the fretboard wizard course. It goes into scales, how they are constructed, how you can create basic chords using the notes of a scale. And a whole bunch of other stuff. Tony usually has 2 group sessions a year. It’s not live tutorials but that is when a lot of people start the program. He does have live workshops throughout the program for q and a and does a giveaway at the very end. It is a self paced course and really good for those with little or no theory knowledge. If you are really new, I say do the courses in the skills area first. The fretboard wizard course might be a bit too much early on your journey.
What is a lick? A lick is a short musical phrase that are mostly used in solos. A riff on the other hand is a repetitive pattern that makes you instantly recognize the song. Think intro to smoke on the water. 4 chords played in that pattern is a riff. It’s repeated throughout the song.
About your not seeing the connection with the daily lessons and and end goal. I agree. These lessons don’t really do that. What the do is slowly help you develop different skills that you can use elsewhere. Think of it almost as guitar exercise.
Tony did offer an “add on” you could purchase separately called the song vault that he would teach you step by step different parts of a song in bite size chunks. In the end you knew the song. Those were mostly bluegrass style songs. With the new website the song vault is no longer being offered.
Hope this helps.
John
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Well, in my teens I was in a rock and roll band. But that was in front of a bunch of drunk dancing people and it’s easier to hide in a group setting.
Acoustic is pretty new to me and the open mike setting is even newer. I hope to play something else this Friday. Not sure if I’ll have something in the Theme of the VOM. And prep time is not on my side this week.
Thanks for your response.
JohnV
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Yes, I had it since 2013. Got for my 50th birthday. I took a little time choosing it. Tried several at Guitar Center and even more than one of this model. I knew very little about acoustic guitars and strings then. The 2 – 314ce’s I tried had different strings (brighter bronze, and less bright phosphor bronze). I ended up choosing the one with the bronze but have since defaulted to phosphor bronze.
I’ve been on a string journey for over a year. I mostly played the Elixir nano web phosphor bronze strings. I still like those strings and consider them my default.
I’ve tried the Santa Cruz low tension strings and they lasted about 6 months before I decided to change them. They were a good string but felt a little rubbery under my fingers. I’ve also tried Straight Up strings (the developer of these helped design the Santa Cruz strings), D’Addario regular phosphor bronze, D’Addario XT’s, D’Addario Nickel Bronze, and Martin SP MA140, Lifespan 2.0, Monel Retro, and the current Flexible Core strings. There may be others I’ve tried but this is from memory. Oh, the GHS Authentic Bronze ones… My next set to try most likely will be the new D’Addario XS coated strings. I’m not a big fan of D’Addario strings. Probably because the first set I tried were regular uncoated strings and didn’t impress me in lifespan or feel under my fingers. But I will say D’Addario has top notch customer service. On more than 2 occasions they have sent me free replacement items when I had issues.
I was pleasantly surprised with the Martin SP MA140’s and Monel MM12’s. Two totally different strings but both sounded good and lasted a least 2 months on my guitar. The Lifespan 2.0 easily lasted 2 months and could have gone on for at least another month.
I try to keep them on at least 2 months so they don’t deaden too much between comparisons. Any new string will sound awesome compared to a dead string unless dead is the tone you are looking for. And yes, I agree about recording. I should have thought of that when I started my journey.
There are so many factors when it comes to tone. Guitar shape and size, woods used, solid, laminate, age of guitar, string material and gauge, playing style, and last but not least, pick shape, thickness, and material. All these things play a role in the tone.
String journeys are fun. But in all honestly, I can barely tell the difference between them…
JohnV
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2013 Taylor 314ce. I love it. Because it is a naturally bright guitar, I’m constantly looking for ways to mellow it out. The main 2 ways to mellow the tone is with string and pick experimentation.
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i’m interested in those strings as well. Where did you get them?
about the squeak, it comes a goes for me. Some days are worse than others.
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Ahhh. I agree.