Playing The Guitar

PopIcon said:

I've been playing the guitar for 25 years and am probably the best song writer on Charlton Life. The best piece of advice I can give to aspiring musicians is, don't sit on budget gear for years. I did, when I upgraded, I grew exponentially in talent.

Rob7Lee said:

PopIcon said:

I've been playing the guitar for 25 years and am probably the best song writer on Charlton Life. The best piece of advice I can give to aspiring musicians is, don't sit on budget gear for years. I did, when I upgraded, I grew exponentially in talent.

Not sure I agree, with guitars it's generally about how they are set up than perceived quality (from a playability perspective). One of my best ever guitars to play was a £200 Yamaha acoustic, set up by a guitar tech in Denmark street (the set up was almost as much as the guitar was worth!), similarly my old Epiphany Dot which played better than a £5k Gibson 335 custom shop.

Sure, the sound of the Yamaha wasn't as good as say my J45 or even a Taylor I had, but playability was better, same with the DOT, despite all upgraded electronics the Gibson still sounded better but I much preferred the dot every time as it just fitted me perfectly.

Whatever guitar you have, get it properly set up by someone who knows what they are doing.

PopIcon said:

I've been playing the guitar for 25 years and am probably the best song writer on Charlton Life. The best piece of advice I can give to aspiring musicians is, don't sit on budget gear for years. I did, when I upgraded, I grew exponentially in talent.

Ha I've just got your username...have read the "I" as an "L" for years and couldn't fathom it.

Welcome Mika  :-) 

PopIcon said:

Rob7Lee said:

PopIcon said:

I've been playing the guitar for 25 years and am probably the best song writer on Charlton Life. The best piece of advice I can give to aspiring musicians is, don't sit on budget gear for years. I did, when I upgraded, I grew exponentially in talent.

Not sure I agree, with guitars it's generally about how they are set up than perceived quality (from a playability perspective). One of my best ever guitars to play was a £200 Yamaha acoustic, set up by a guitar tech in Denmark street (the set up was almost as much as the guitar was worth!), similarly my old Epiphany Dot which played better than a £5k Gibson 335 custom shop.

Sure, the sound of the Yamaha wasn't as good as say my J45 or even a Taylor I had, but playability was better, same with the DOT, despite all upgraded electronics the Gibson still sounded better but I much preferred the dot every time as it just fitted me perfectly.

Whatever guitar you have, get it properly set up by someone who knows what they are doing.

This is a valid point, however my experiences are different. I played a £100 Encore guitar for years, the action, inc neck and bridge were improved twice, once by a tech and once by a luthier. However, as well as its laminated body, it had lots of core flaws that could not be fixed. I got so used to playing it and because I had a sentimental attachment, was reluctant to change. 


I now play a solid top Martin now, i love it, best £500 I ever spent (secondhand) it sounds like a 2k guitar. I went from being flat to being enlightened overnight. Sure it sounded a lot better, but my playing got so much better too. I c

Your experience with the dot 335 is interesting. I'm assuming you didn't buy the Gibson? I would never buy a new US 335, silly money. You can pick a pucker one up for 2k at auction.



RodneyCharltonTrotta said:

PopIcon said:

I've been playing the guitar for 25 years and am probably the best song writer on Charlton Life. The best piece of advice I can give to aspiring musicians is, don't sit on budget gear for years. I did, when I upgraded, I grew exponentially in talent.

Ha I've just got your username...have read the "I" as an "L" for years and couldn't fathom it.

Welcome Mika  :-) 

Second best song writer on CL.. Sorry.

Athletico Charlton said:

thickandthin63 said:

Athletico Charlton said:

Anyone on here recommend a teacher for an 8 year old in Beckenham for guitar?  Seems likely we have missed out in the school lessons.

if you cant find a personal teacher,there are plenty of very good lessons to be found free on line,from basic beginners up to whatever level you wish.You can also buy some very good beginners books that usually come with dvds or cds.Usually,the first steps on a guitar are learning a few simple chords and being able to strum along to a favourite song,which in all honesty you dont need to pay a personal tutor tot do this.Wish you well,8 is a great age to start learning a musical instrument.

Thank you.  I think with my lad that lessons may capture his imagination more than virtual ones, but a good fall back.  I don't play any instrument and would love him and his sister to have that skill.

Stig said:

PopIcon said:

I've been playing the guitar for 25 years and am probably the best song writer on Charlton Life. The best piece of advice I can give to aspiring musicians is, don't sit on budget gear for years. I did, when I upgraded, I grew exponentially in talent.

A bold claim if ever there was one.

Rob7Lee said:

PopIcon said:

Rob7Lee said:

PopIcon said:

I've been playing the guitar for 25 years and am probably the best song writer on Charlton Life. The best piece of advice I can give to aspiring musicians is, don't sit on budget gear for years. I did, when I upgraded, I grew exponentially in talent.

Not sure I agree, with guitars it's generally about how they are set up than perceived quality (from a playability perspective). One of my best ever guitars to play was a £200 Yamaha acoustic, set up by a guitar tech in Denmark street (the set up was almost as much as the guitar was worth!), similarly my old Epiphany Dot which played better than a £5k Gibson 335 custom shop.

Sure, the sound of the Yamaha wasn't as good as say my J45 or even a Taylor I had, but playability was better, same with the DOT, despite all upgraded electronics the Gibson still sounded better but I much preferred the dot every time as it just fitted me perfectly.

Whatever guitar you have, get it properly set up by someone who knows what they are doing.

This is a valid point, however my experiences are different. I played a £100 Encore guitar for years, the action, inc neck and bridge were improved twice, once by a tech and once by a luthier. However, as well as its laminated body, it had lots of core flaws that could not be fixed. I got so used to playing it and because I had a sentimental attachment, was reluctant to change. 


I now play a solid top Martin now, i love it, best £500 I ever spent (secondhand) it sounds like a 2k guitar. I went from being flat to being enlightened overnight. Sure it sounded a lot better, but my playing got so much better too. I c

Your experience with the dot 335 is interesting. I'm assuming you didn't buy the Gibson? I would never buy a new US 335, silly money. You can pick a pucker one up for 2k at auction.



RodneyCharltonTrotta said:

PopIcon said:

I've been playing the guitar for 25 years and am probably the best song writer on Charlton Life. The best piece of advice I can give to aspiring musicians is, don't sit on budget gear for years. I did, when I upgraded, I grew exponentially in talent.

Ha I've just got your username...have read the "I" as an "L" for years and couldn't fathom it.

Welcome Mika  :-) 

Second best song writer on CL.. Sorry.

no, I never owned the Gibson CS. Back then me and a few mates were equally suffering GAS, so we used to swap all the time, one of them had the 335, from memory it came from Creation records so wasn't new to him, the sound was clearly better than the Dot, but honestly not by much. I always found the next a little too thick for me.

I dread to think how many guitars I've bought and sold over the years, an addiction I'm mostly in remission from at the moment  

Greenie said:

Stig said:

PopIcon said:

I've been playing the guitar for 25 years and am probably the best song writer on Charlton Life. The best piece of advice I can give to aspiring musicians is, don't sit on budget gear for years. I did, when I upgraded, I grew exponentially in talent.

A bold claim if ever there was one.

Indeed!

Oggy Red said:

North Lower Neil said:

Ended up getting her a second hand Makala Dolphin for her, cheers for the help!

Nice one, Neil. Good choice for her, at her age.

At least it should be playable, compared to a lot of the cheap rubbish around masquerading as a musical instrument.

Perhaps you should get yourself a decent secondhand ukulele and you can play along together. She may well like to do that and it will encourage her, strengthening your father/daughter bond.

If you're a guitarist, you already more or less know how to play a uke - it'll be a doddle for you.
Plenty of decent secondhand on eBay and the like.

Read the reviews first, of course - to separate the wheat from the chaff.

thickandthin63 said:

North Lower Neil said:

Oggy Red said:

North Lower Neil said:

Ended up getting her a second hand Makala Dolphin for her, cheers for the help!

Nice one, Neil. Good choice for her, at her age.

At least it should be playable, compared to a lot of the cheap rubbish around masquerading as a musical instrument.

Perhaps you should get yourself a decent secondhand ukulele and you can play along together. She may well like to do that and it will encourage her, strengthening your father/daughter bond.

If you're a guitarist, you already more or less know how to play a uke - it'll be a doddle for you.
Plenty of decent secondhand on eBay and the like.

Read the reviews first, of course - to separate the wheat from the chaff.

I'm not sadly!  Not a bad idea though, getting one too to help her out out, learn together etc.

She had a few class lessons at school and really enjoyed it which is why I'm keen to encourage it.

The Uke is really one of the easiest instruments to learn,and is great fun,I bought one on ebay "Vantage" cost me £35-00 and is excellent,never goes out of tune and sounds fine,give it a go,you will love it.

PopIcon said:

Rob7Lee said:

PopIcon said:

Rob7Lee said:

PopIcon said:

I've been playing the guitar for 25 years and am probably the best song writer on Charlton Life. The best piece of advice I can give to aspiring musicians is, don't sit on budget gear for years. I did, when I upgraded, I grew exponentially in talent.

Not sure I agree, with guitars it's generally about how they are set up than perceived quality (from a playability perspective). One of my best ever guitars to play was a £200 Yamaha acoustic, set up by a guitar tech in Denmark street (the set up was almost as much as the guitar was worth!), similarly my old Epiphany Dot which played better than a £5k Gibson 335 custom shop.

Sure, the sound of the Yamaha wasn't as good as say my J45 or even a Taylor I had, but playability was better, same with the DOT, despite all upgraded electronics the Gibson still sounded better but I much preferred the dot every time as it just fitted me perfectly.

Whatever guitar you have, get it properly set up by someone who knows what they are doing.

This is a valid point, however my experiences are different. I played a £100 Encore guitar for years, the action, inc neck and bridge were improved twice, once by a tech and once by a luthier. However, as well as its laminated body, it had lots of core flaws that could not be fixed. I got so used to playing it and because I had a sentimental attachment, was reluctant to change. 


I now play a solid top Martin now, i love it, best £500 I ever spent (secondhand) it sounds like a 2k guitar. I went from being flat to being enlightened overnight. Sure it sounded a lot better, but my playing got so much better too. I c

Your experience with the dot 335 is interesting. I'm assuming you didn't buy the Gibson? I would never buy a new US 335, silly money. You can pick a pucker one up for 2k at auction.



RodneyCharltonTrotta said:

PopIcon said:

I've been playing the guitar for 25 years and am probably the best song writer on Charlton Life. The best piece of advice I can give to aspiring musicians is, don't sit on budget gear for years. I did, when I upgraded, I grew exponentially in talent.

Ha I've just got your username...have read the "I" as an "L" for years and couldn't fathom it.

Welcome Mika  :-) 

Second best song writer on CL.. Sorry.

no, I never owned the Gibson CS. Back then me and a few mates were equally suffering GAS, so we used to swap all the time, one of them had the 335, from memory it came from Creation records so wasn't new to him, the sound was clearly better than the Dot, but honestly not by much. I always found the next a little too thick for me.

I dread to think how many guitars I've bought and sold over the years, an addiction I'm mostly in remission from at the moment  

It's interesting that Creation owned it, back in the 90s they had so many good artists signed up. I wonder if it was a dud, it's not unheard of to have US Strats or Les Pauls to miss quality control and come off the belt sounding shit.
I'm actually in the market for a semi hollow, more than likely a 335. I've already decided I don't want to buy an Epiphone, my budget ceiling is 2k.

What else else do you own? Any particular pedal combo? I has GAS with pedals a few years back. Whittled it down to a combo of Boss BD2, Dod Milkbox and a Boss CH1. I got an EHX Grand Canyon last year, but disappointingly it's not working as part of the chain.

Greenie said:

Stig said:

PopIcon said:

I've been playing the guitar for 25 years and am probably the best song writer on Charlton Life. The best piece of advice I can give to aspiring musicians is, don't sit on budget gear for years. I did, when I upgraded, I grew exponentially in talent.

A bold claim if ever there was one.

Indeed!

I don't mind, I'm neither the best guitarist or singer. 

bobmunro said:

thickandthin63 said:

North Lower Neil said:

Oggy Red said:

North Lower Neil said:

Ended up getting her a second hand Makala Dolphin for her, cheers for the help!

Nice one, Neil. Good choice for her, at her age.

At least it should be playable, compared to a lot of the cheap rubbish around masquerading as a musical instrument.

Perhaps you should get yourself a decent secondhand ukulele and you can play along together. She may well like to do that and it will encourage her, strengthening your father/daughter bond.

If you're a guitarist, you already more or less know how to play a uke - it'll be a doddle for you.
Plenty of decent secondhand on eBay and the like.

Read the reviews first, of course - to separate the wheat from the chaff.

I'm not sadly!  Not a bad idea though, getting one too to help her out out, learn together etc.

She had a few class lessons at school and really enjoyed it which is why I'm keen to encourage it.

The Uke is really one of the easiest instruments to learn,and is great fun,I bought one on ebay "Vantage" cost me £35-00 and is excellent,never goes out of tune and sounds fine,give it a go,you will love it.

If you can play guitar then a Uke is a doddle. If you can't play guitar but want to then I would not recommend a Uke as a starter - you would have to unlearn a lot!

Rob7Lee said:

PopIcon said:

Rob7Lee said:

PopIcon said:

Rob7Lee said:

PopIcon said:

I've been playing the guitar for 25 years and am probably the best song writer on Charlton Life. The best piece of advice I can give to aspiring musicians is, don't sit on budget gear for years. I did, when I upgraded, I grew exponentially in talent.

Not sure I agree, with guitars it's generally about how they are set up than perceived quality (from a playability perspective). One of my best ever guitars to play was a £200 Yamaha acoustic, set up by a guitar tech in Denmark street (the set up was almost as much as the guitar was worth!), similarly my old Epiphany Dot which played better than a £5k Gibson 335 custom shop.

Sure, the sound of the Yamaha wasn't as good as say my J45 or even a Taylor I had, but playability was better, same with the DOT, despite all upgraded electronics the Gibson still sounded better but I much preferred the dot every time as it just fitted me perfectly.

Whatever guitar you have, get it properly set up by someone who knows what they are doing.

This is a valid point, however my experiences are different. I played a £100 Encore guitar for years, the action, inc neck and bridge were improved twice, once by a tech and once by a luthier. However, as well as its laminated body, it had lots of core flaws that could not be fixed. I got so used to playing it and because I had a sentimental attachment, was reluctant to change. 


I now play a solid top Martin now, i love it, best £500 I ever spent (secondhand) it sounds like a 2k guitar. I went from being flat to being enlightened overnight. Sure it sounded a lot better, but my playing got so much better too. I c

Your experience with the dot 335 is interesting. I'm assuming you didn't buy the Gibson? I would never buy a new US 335, silly money. You can pick a pucker one up for 2k at auction.



RodneyCharltonTrotta said:

PopIcon said:

I've been playing the guitar for 25 years and am probably the best song writer on Charlton Life. The best piece of advice I can give to aspiring musicians is, don't sit on budget gear for years. I did, when I upgraded, I grew exponentially in talent.

Ha I've just got your username...have read the "I" as an "L" for years and couldn't fathom it.

Welcome Mika  :-) 

Second best song writer on CL.. Sorry.

no, I never owned the Gibson CS. Back then me and a few mates were equally suffering GAS, so we used to swap all the time, one of them had the 335, from memory it came from Creation records so wasn't new to him, the sound was clearly better than the Dot, but honestly not by much. I always found the next a little too thick for me.

I dread to think how many guitars I've bought and sold over the years, an addiction I'm mostly in remission from at the moment  

It's interesting that Creation owned it, back in the 90s they had so many good artists signed up. I wonder if it was a dud, it's not unheard of to have US Strats or Les Pauls to miss quality control and come off the belt sounding shit.
I'm actually in the market for a semi hollow, more than likely a 335. I've already decided I don't want to buy an Epiphone, my budget ceiling is 2k.

What else else do you own? Any particular pedal combo? I has GAS with pedals a few years back. Whittled it down to a combo of Boss BD2, Dod Milkbox and a Boss CH1. I got an EHX Grand Canyon last year, but disappointingly it's not working as part of the chain.

Greenie said:

Stig said:

PopIcon said:

I've been playing the guitar for 25 years and am probably the best song writer on Charlton Life. The best piece of advice I can give to aspiring musicians is, don't sit on budget gear for years. I did, when I upgraded, I grew exponentially in talent.

A bold claim if ever there was one.

Indeed!

I don't mind, I'm neither the best guitarist or singer. 

When creation went bust we bought up some of their stuff they had left, so it wasn't a dud, got a nice Fender Twin complete with wacky backy in the back! that amp pumped some air! If you believed the guy (which I didn't necessarily) it was used by Jesus & the Mary chain and Oasis amongst others for recording.

I rarely play now, all I have left is a Taylor Mini GS around the house and the Dot. I've lent out my Roland modelling amp (VGA-5) and pedal set up to a guy who worked for me, it had an old Jen wah pedal, Ibanez tube screamer that had something done to it I can't remember (came from Creation) and a distortion but can't remember now, was from the early 90's plus a Arbiter fuzz face. The delay, chorus and flange the amp did which had it's own pedal board.

PopIcon said:

I've been playing the guitar for 25 years and am probably the best song writer on Charlton Life. The best piece of advice I can give to aspiring musicians is, don't sit on budget gear for years. I did, when I upgraded, I grew exponentially in talent.

thickandthin63 said:

T_C_E said:

Oggy Red said:

bobmunro said:

thickandthin63 said:

North Lower Neil said:

Oggy Red said:

North Lower Neil said:

Ended up getting her a second hand Makala Dolphin for her, cheers for the help!

Nice one, Neil. Good choice for her, at her age.

At least it should be playable, compared to a lot of the cheap rubbish around masquerading as a musical instrument.

Perhaps you should get yourself a decent secondhand ukulele and you can play along together. She may well like to do that and it will encourage her, strengthening your father/daughter bond.

If you're a guitarist, you already more or less know how to play a uke - it'll be a doddle for you.
Plenty of decent secondhand on eBay and the like.

Read the reviews first, of course - to separate the wheat from the chaff.

I'm not sadly!  Not a bad idea though, getting one too to help her out out, learn together etc.

She had a few class lessons at school and really enjoyed it which is why I'm keen to encourage it.

The Uke is really one of the easiest instruments to learn,and is great fun,I bought one on ebay "Vantage" cost me £35-00 and is excellent,never goes out of tune and sounds fine,give it a go,you will love it.

If you can play guitar then a Uke is a doddle. If you can't play guitar but want to then I would not recommend a Uke as a starter - you would have to unlearn a lot!

I dunno, Bob. Guitars and ukes all use the same chord shapes or parts of them.

Nothing learned on the uke is wasted, if you learn guitar later.
It all works the same way.

On a guitar, put your capo across the 5th fret - and play your exact uke chords. Simples!
A uke is only a 4 string cut down guitar, after all.

There's plenty of pop/rock/folk stars out there who started on a uke before progressing to guitar.
Eric Clapton, George Harrison, etc

Oggy Red said:

bobmunro said:

thickandthin63 said:

North Lower Neil said:

Oggy Red said:

North Lower Neil said:

Ended up getting her a second hand Makala Dolphin for her, cheers for the help!

Nice one, Neil. Good choice for her, at her age.

At least it should be playable, compared to a lot of the cheap rubbish around masquerading as a musical instrument.

Perhaps you should get yourself a decent secondhand ukulele and you can play along together. She may well like to do that and it will encourage her, strengthening your father/daughter bond.

If you're a guitarist, you already more or less know how to play a uke - it'll be a doddle for you.
Plenty of decent secondhand on eBay and the like.

Read the reviews first, of course - to separate the wheat from the chaff.

I'm not sadly!  Not a bad idea though, getting one too to help her out out, learn together etc.

She had a few class lessons at school and really enjoyed it which is why I'm keen to encourage it.

The Uke is really one of the easiest instruments to learn,and is great fun,I bought one on ebay "Vantage" cost me £35-00 and is excellent,never goes out of tune and sounds fine,give it a go,you will love it.

If you can play guitar then a Uke is a doddle. If you can't play guitar but want to then I would not recommend a Uke as a starter - you would have to unlearn a lot!

I dunno, Bob. Guitars and ukes all use the same chord shapes or parts of them.

Nothing learned on the uke is wasted, if you learn guitar later.
It all works the same way.

On a guitar, put your capo across the 5th fret - and play your exact uke chords. Simples!
A uke is only a 4 string cut down guitar, after all.

There's plenty of pop/rock/folk stars out there who started on a uke before progressing to guitar.
Eric Clapton, George Harrison, etc

George Fornby!

I think George Benson also started on a Uke. Although the uke is a fun instrument,Check out a Japanese player,Jake,(I am not sure about his surname)play Bohemian Rhapsody, a bit of an eye opener what can be achieved on this little instrument.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IYhcN8p4yhg&ab_channel=JakeShimabukuroJakeShimabukuro

Oggy Red said:

thickandthin63 said:

T_C_E said:

Oggy Red said:

bobmunro said:

thickandthin63 said:

North Lower Neil said:

Oggy Red said:

North Lower Neil said:

Ended up getting her a second hand Makala Dolphin for her, cheers for the help!

Nice one, Neil. Good choice for her, at her age.

At least it should be playable, compared to a lot of the cheap rubbish around masquerading as a musical instrument.

Perhaps you should get yourself a decent secondhand ukulele and you can play along together. She may well like to do that and it will encourage her, strengthening your father/daughter bond.

If you're a guitarist, you already more or less know how to play a uke - it'll be a doddle for you.
Plenty of decent secondhand on eBay and the like.

Read the reviews first, of course - to separate the wheat from the chaff.

I'm not sadly!  Not a bad idea though, getting one too to help her out out, learn together etc.

She had a few class lessons at school and really enjoyed it which is why I'm keen to encourage it.

The Uke is really one of the easiest instruments to learn,and is great fun,I bought one on ebay "Vantage" cost me £35-00 and is excellent,never goes out of tune and sounds fine,give it a go,you will love it.

If you can play guitar then a Uke is a doddle. If you can't play guitar but want to then I would not recommend a Uke as a starter - you would have to unlearn a lot!

I dunno, Bob. Guitars and ukes all use the same chord shapes or parts of them.

Nothing learned on the uke is wasted, if you learn guitar later.
It all works the same way.

On a guitar, put your capo across the 5th fret - and play your exact uke chords. Simples!
A uke is only a 4 string cut down guitar, after all.

There's plenty of pop/rock/folk stars out there who started on a uke before progressing to guitar.
Eric Clapton, George Harrison, etc

Oggy Red said:

bobmunro said:

thickandthin63 said:

North Lower Neil said:

Oggy Red said:

North Lower Neil said:

Ended up getting her a second hand Makala Dolphin for her, cheers for the help!

Nice one, Neil. Good choice for her, at her age.

At least it should be playable, compared to a lot of the cheap rubbish around masquerading as a musical instrument.

Perhaps you should get yourself a decent secondhand ukulele and you can play along together. She may well like to do that and it will encourage her, strengthening your father/daughter bond.

If you're a guitarist, you already more or less know how to play a uke - it'll be a doddle for you.
Plenty of decent secondhand on eBay and the like.

Read the reviews first, of course - to separate the wheat from the chaff.

I'm not sadly!  Not a bad idea though, getting one too to help her out out, learn together etc.

She had a few class lessons at school and really enjoyed it which is why I'm keen to encourage it.

The Uke is really one of the easiest instruments to learn,and is great fun,I bought one on ebay "Vantage" cost me £35-00 and is excellent,never goes out of tune and sounds fine,give it a go,you will love it.

If you can play guitar then a Uke is a doddle. If you can't play guitar but want to then I would not recommend a Uke as a starter - you would have to unlearn a lot!

I dunno, Bob. Guitars and ukes all use the same chord shapes or parts of them.

Nothing learned on the uke is wasted, if you learn guitar later.
It all works the same way.

On a guitar, put your capo across the 5th fret - and play your exact uke chords. Simples!
A uke is only a 4 string cut down guitar, after all.

There's plenty of pop/rock/folk stars out there who started on a uke before progressing to guitar.
Eric Clapton, George Harrison, etc

George Fornby!

I think George Benson also started on a Uke. Although the uke is a fun instrument,Check out a Japanese player,Jake,(I am not sure about his surname)play Bohemian Rhapsody, a bit of an eye opener what can be achieved on this little instrument.

Jake Shimabukuro, do you mean? Like this: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IYhcN8p4yhg&ab_channel=JakeShimabukuroJakeShimabukuro

You just have to give it a listen. Amazing!