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View Full Version : Thanks and hello..



grcsomd
December 28th, 2006, 11:22 PM
Folks,

I am glad I found this online forum and want to thank Robert for recomending it. I was recently online looking for reviews of the Squier '51 and found his site and very nice videos and review of the '51.

I have posted a clip or two and since a few have asked, I wanted to share with you something about my background and gear, what I am looking for out of playing, etc..

I had a neighbor who taught me some basic chords and a few songs on an acoustic about 10 years ago. My first guitar was a Vantage dreadnought with solid spuce top. I have always wanted to learn how to play Zappa and Rush style music. They don't do a whole lot with acoustic guitar, so in the last two years I finally broke down and bought a Carvin bolt kit. It took me a few weeks to put it together and get it all setup right. Shortly after I put the Carvin together I started using an RP50 Modeling processor pedal. I recently hooked up an expression pedal to the RP50 and aside from a Kustom 30 Watt solid state amp, thats pretty much my setup. I use Acoustica Mixcraft for recording. Most of the time I just play to relax and see what comes out, fool around with some Zappa or Rush inspired licks/progressions but I also free jam. Lately I have also started playing some classic Pink Floyd tunes... and maybe a little Grateful Dead, a little Hendrix. I am always concerned that something I play and think is original is really a rip-off of something I heard before... (There are only so many notes on the guitar).. I am not really too good at covering other folks material.. even if I do, I normally make up my own arrangement, which is usually pretty far off.. ;) I tend to use very heavy effects and mostly as a crutch since I don't like what I hear playing clean.. In that respect I admit I am lazy and have not put in the time to learn how to sound good clean on electric.. When I want to hear clean, I typically pick up an acoustic.. Some day I hope to improve so I can back off on the effects.. but for now I am having a lot of fun with the sound. Some of my guitar playing friends suggest getting a "real" tube amp which is more forgiving noise-gate wise (shrug) I am more inclined to try various patches on the RP50 and see if I can get some recognizable tone out of my setup.

In terms of music theory, terminology, reading music, etc. I can read most guitar tabs, but mostly play by ear. I am not sure I can even play a major scale, or know what it means that a song is played in the key of "x"... I put the guitar down for about a year and just picked it up again recently, hoping for a fresh start. I taught my two teenage kids to play guitar, enough to get them started and now they are taking "real" lessons; one is concentrating more on bass...but he borrows my Carvin electric often enough that he just got his own Squier '51 for Christmas.. ;) Some day I hope to be able to play Frank Zappa's "Sleep Dirt" clean through.. I am only about 1/4 of the way there, and I have been at it for more than five years now.. I have not seen any tabs for it.. so its a lot of heavy lifting..:)



Thanks for listening...!

Tone2TheBone
December 28th, 2006, 11:28 PM
Welcome to the board. I'm also a Zappa and Rush fan. Good to have you here. :)

sunvalleylaw
December 28th, 2006, 11:30 PM
Welcome! And way to start off by posting some cool sound!!

Janarm
December 29th, 2006, 05:05 AM
Now it's my time to say Welcome to the most friendly forum in universum:)

warren0728
December 29th, 2006, 05:16 AM
welcome....this is a great forum....i think you will like it here....

ww

tot_Ou_tard
December 29th, 2006, 07:35 AM
Welcome grcsomd, nice choice of music there. I hope you make up your own Zappaesque lyrics when you do your own arrangements. That's half the fun.

ted s
December 29th, 2006, 11:22 AM
Welcome Gr, nice introduction

Hogfullofblues
December 30th, 2006, 11:18 AM
Hi G
Anyone into Zappa is A-OK in my book! Maybe one of these tabs will help on your quest.

http://www.911tabs.com/tabs/f/frank_zappa/sleep_dirt_tab.htm

Welcome aboard!

M29
January 18th, 2007, 07:25 AM
Welcome grcsomd, good to have you with us.

Keep on strummin!

M29

grcsomd
May 7th, 2007, 05:49 PM
I recently got my hands on one of the new Ibanez Mikros.. Aside from having some issues with getting the intonation right.. and the closeness of the frets even near the nut, I am getting used to playing it. I am also the proud owner of a brand new Digitech RP350... I have not really tinkered around with making any of my own patches yet.. just fooling around with the 70 or so that come as factory settings, and getting my recording software (Acoustica Mixcraft) working right thru the USB.. I need to find more time to spend cruising this site..

zeusse
May 7th, 2007, 07:45 PM
Welcome and don't get too wired over tabs your ears are your best instrument anyways I've never used tabs and I'm still alive:D