Today’s post is just an update on my “learning” guitar progress… Two years and counting… | |
I’m continuing to practice most every day for at least an hour. There have been quite a few more days in the last six weeks when it’s only been 30-45 minutes, but that’s life. Most of those times, I’ve been playing until fatigue / sleepiness and stopping when I start nodding out. LoL! I do most of my practicing between 11:30pm and 1am. I can sit out in the front room and not disturb anyone (our bedrooms are on the other side of the house). | |
I’m still alternating between my various guitars. I’m now up to 11, split mostly in favor of electric (7 to 4). I’ve had them in a rotation schedule of a couple of acoustics laying in the living room and bedroom (for quick access) and then the rest in a monthly rota, but I’ve recently shifted to a three week rota as I don’t feel like I’m actually touching each enough with now having so many. The perils of G.A.S. (Guitar Acquisition Syndrome)… If you’ve been counting, or reviewing my “Learning Guitar” page, you’ll see I don’t have all of my guitars accounted for (only eight reviews). My original intent was to do initial impression reviews and then subsequent updates as and when I “modded” them. “Life” and my procrastinating nature have more or less shot that plan down. It’s too late to do the initial impressions and I haven’t done very many mods, but I still plan to do reviews at some point. | |
I am still planning to get two more guitars to round out my collection – a full size nylon-string classical / acoustic and a single neck-humbucker telecaster style electric. After that, any additional purchases (quality upgrade) will necessitate a charitable donation to make room for the new toy.) The “Happy Wife” policy… | |
As far as “playing” goes, I’ve already forgotten more than I’ve learned. I’ve been skimming the odd book and watching a lot of guitar videos, but while they “teach” you a lot – it’s really more a case of “informing” you about motivation, techniques and concepts. The more I’m practicing, the more I’m realizing that if “it” (a given action) isn’t under your finger tips as muscle memory, you really haven’t learned it… And all of that muscle memory takes time and (more) practice – not more awareness / understanding. | |
Fortunately, for me (and not so fortunate for my family), my OCD allows me to be fairly content with just practicing things (scales, chords, spider walks, children’s songs) over and over and over again. I enjoy the repetitive action(s) and I feel like I’m finally starting to hear the notes. I mentioned in a prior post that I am “kind of” able to hear myself hum an “F#” and then tune the guitar from there. I’m continuing to get better at this. I’m also a little better at using a A400 tuning fork to tune the guitar. This is as opposed to using an electric tuner as a default tuner. I still (also) use the electric tuners, but I’m gaining confidence in my ear for relative pitch. Starting out, if ANYONE had said I’d be able to do this AT ALL, I’d have told them they were crazy and it’ll NEVER happen. LoL. The old dog is learning new tricks! | |
Most of the relatives feel I’m going about this “learning guitar” all wrong and that I should be learning songs. While I appreciate their viewpoint, I don’t find learning “songs” to be that interesting. I have two “songs” memorized (finger-style): “Taps” and “God Save the Queen“. I also have a couple more close to memory: “Ode to Joy” and “Drummer Boy”. On “Ode“…, no, not the full version – get serious… But enough so you can tell what the song is. Random people I discuss “learning guitar” with generally say: “As long as you’re having fun, who cares what you’re playing.” But I have a feeling they’re thinking, “TWO YEARS(!!!), and that’s all he can play?” (LoL) | |
So, I still haven’t settled on a single guitar I want to specialize with. I still haven’t decided if I want to concentrate on finger-style or plectrum-style. I still have very poor (almost none) rhythm – which makes leaning to strum problematic. I’m still SLOW at changing chords – even the few I know. And, I still haven’t decided what kind of music (rock, country, jazz, classical, blues, Spanish, folk, pop) I want to play. Slowly, slowly. | |
And, finally, other hardware… I’ve added a second “amp” and a “looper pedal” to my collection of kit. The second amp is a portable, super-mini (3 watt) battery operated job. It sounds slightly better than my original amp, but I don’t know enough about either to have the faintest idea of why – or if I should care. The looper allows me to record a few seconds of playing chord changes and then play it back in a loop to play lead over. The problem (of course) is my chord transitions are soooo bad, there is little point in trying to record / loop them – particularly when there are already hundreds of good background loops available on YouTube. Oh, well, another toy to play with… Slowly, slowly. | |
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On This Day In: | |
2022 | A Murmuring Note |
2021 | Satisfied If Not Fulfilled |
You Don’t Know | |
Urban Ballroom | |
2020 | R.I.P. Kobe |
2019 | Looks A Lot Like #45 |
2018 | Trying To Stay Young |
2017 | Seems Reasonable To Me |
2016 | We Can Get Through This Together (In Time) |
2015 | How Long Is A Piece Of String? |
2014 | Heathen, n. |
2013 | Wisdom’s Folly |
2012 | When The Student Is Ready |
Disconnected Leadership | |
2011 | The Complex Richness Of Life |
Archive for the ‘Music’ Category
Musical Notes
Posted in Guitar, Music, tagged A400, Chords, Drummer Boy, F#, God Save The Queen, Guitar, Guitar Amplifiers, Looper Pedals, Muscle Memory, Music, OCD, Ode To Joy, Taps on January 29, 2023| 2 Comments »
Feeling GAS* (Again)
Posted in Guitar, Humor, Philosophy, Quotes, tagged Frederic Chopin, GAS, Guitar, Guitar Acquisition Syndrome, Humor, Philosophy, Quotes on January 23, 2023| Leave a Comment »
Nothing is more beautiful than a guitar, save perhaps two. | |
— Frederic Chopin | |
[As in “Guitar Acquisition Syndrome“. (LoL) — kmab] | |
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On This Day In: | |
2022 | And Even Fewer Regrets |
2021 | Today Counts |
I Hope You’ll Understand | |
2020 | Maybe #IncompetentDonald Really Is A Great Manager |
2019 | Your Only Choice |
2018 | A Good Definition |
2017 | Getting It Done |
2016 | Getting To Know Me |
2015 | Why I Pay Taxes |
2014 | Inequality Of Sacrifice |
2013 | I Never Saw A Moor |
2012 | Fill In The Blank |
Not For Naught | |
Cliff Notes To Life? | |
2011 | Conference Games Sunday |
Getting Called
Posted in Included Video, Music, Music and Concerts, Videos, tagged Eddie And The Cruisers, Included Video, John Cafferty & The Beaver Brown Band, Music Video, On The Dark Side, Vevo, YouTube on January 2, 2023| 2 Comments »
On The Dark Side |
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On This Day In: | |
2021 | More New Year’s Exercises |
7 Done, 12 Down | |
2021 | Another Public Service Message |
Greetin’ The Sun | |
2020 | From The Mountains To The Shores |
2019 | Watering The Trees And Seeds |
1221 | |
2018 | Take Care Of Me… |
2017 | Make Some Difference |
2016 | Still 99% |
2015 | Adolescent Opinion |
2014 | In A Big World |
2013 | Vacancy For God |
2012 | Sweat Equity |
Try It… You’ll Like It | |
2011 | Still Incomplete |
2010 | Happy New Year – 2010 |
Caution Before Starting…
Posted in Music, Philosophy, Quotes, tagged Addiction, Miles Davis, Music, Philosophy, Quotes on December 15, 2022| Leave a Comment »
Music is an addiction. | |
– Miles Davis | |
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On This Day In: | |
2021 | Are You A Loner? |
I Got Work | |
2020 | I Wish Republicans Valued Democracy As Much As They Say They Value Freedom |
It Sure Does | |
2019 | Something Very Different |
2018 | For Most Of Us |
2017 | Stories We Need On Life’s Edge |
2016 | Heart Trouble |
2015 | From The Inside Out |
2014 | Alone And Free |
2013 | Superstition Is Your Way |
2012 | Escape Hatches |
2011 | Sing Like No One Is Listening |
Deadlines And Bills
Posted in Music, Philosophy, Quotes, tagged Composers, Frank Zappa, Music, Philosophy, Production Deadlines, Quotes, The Real Frank Zappa Book on November 24, 2022| 2 Comments »
A composer’s job involves the decoration of fragments of time. Without music to decorate it, time is just a bunch of boring production deadlines or dates by which bills must be paid. Living composers are entitle to proper compensation for the use of their works. (Dead guys don’t collect — one reason their music is chosen for performance.) | |
— Frank Zappa | |
From his book: “The Real Frank Zappa Book“ | |
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On This Day In: | |
2021 | Why We Protect The First Amendment |
When A Voice Can Make You Cry | |
The March Continues… | |
2020 | #45: And State Prison Waits When You Leave Office |
I Keep Getting Up | |
Difficult To Relax | |
2019 | Looking For A Republican With A Profile In Courage |
2018 | Hammers, Bells And Songs |
2017 | My Friends |
2016 | In Need Of Some Work |
2015 | Elections Have Consequences |
2014 | An Ear Of Happy Accidents |
2013 | Powerful Substitute |
2012 | Heroes Restored |
2011 | As You Should |
Discovering Humanity
Posted in Disclaimer, Guitar, Music, Other Blogs, Philosophy, Quotes, tagged Allen Mathews, Classical Guitar, Disclaimer, Guitar, https://classicalguitarshed.com/, Humanity, Music, Other Blogs, Personal Journeys, Philosophy, Quotes, Tuesday Quotes on November 12, 2022| Leave a Comment »
The joy of playing classical guitar extends beyond the prize (the perfect performance). It’s the daily journey and how we travel it. That’s where we find the gold. That’s where we discover the humanity, in both the music and in ourselves. | ||
— Allen Mathews | ||
Allen Mathews is a professional musician and classical guitar instructor who maintains a site located at: https://classicalguitarshed.com/ | ||
Every Tuesday, Allen posts a quote (which may or may not be specifically about music). He then goes on to tie the quote to a “teaching moment”. Allen’s “Quote page” is located at: https://classicalguitarshed.com/tuesday-quotes/ | ||
[Disclaimer: Although I have viewed many of Allen’s videos and subscribed to his emails for over a year, I have not personally purchased any of his packages of instruction as I am merely dabbling in “classical” guitar to see what it’s about. I have no other association with Allen or his site and have not requested permission to re-post this quote. If he requests it, I will remove or substantially edit this quote. — kmab] | ||
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On This Day In: | ||
2021 | Likely To Be Subtle | |
My Temp’s Pretty High | ||
Scratching A Persistent Itch | ||
2020 | A Word Of Assurance They Are Not Alone | |
Is #45 Still Crying? | ||
2019 | It’s Obvious | |
2018 | Passed Too Swiftly | |
2017 | On Our Wall (Part 1) | |
2016 | Or The Ripples From A Good Life | |
2015 | Titles And Reputations | |
2014 | Unfolding | |
2013 | Again | |
2012 | Needs | |
Damned | ||
2011 | Potter & Prejudice | |
Blink, Blink | ||
And Longer To Stay That Way
Posted in Music, Philosophy, Quotes, tagged Miles Davis, Music, Philosophy, Quotes, Time on October 22, 2022| Leave a Comment »
Man, sometimes you have to play a long time to be able to play like yourself. | |
— Miles Davis | |
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On This Day In: | |
2021 | Press On |
Mama Said There’d Be Days Like This | |
2020 | AMA |
Still Shiny | |
2019 | Things That Go Bump In The Night |
Hoping I’m Careful | |
2018 | I Must Be Truly Wise |
2017 | My Sensei |
2016 | The Worst Sin |
2015 | Rules Of Thumb |
2014 | A Prayer |
Orange October (IX) – Giants Lose Game 2 In Bullpen Collapse | |
2013 | Complacent Reality |
2012 | Two-minute Sex |
Just Staring, Why? | |
2011 | A World Of Difference |
On A Diet Of…
Posted in Diets, Music, Philosophy, Quotes, tagged American Radio Listeners, Diets, Frank Zappa, Music, Philosophy, Quotes, The Real Frank Zappa Book, The Ultimate Rule on October 4, 2022| Leave a Comment »
The Ulitimate Rule ought to be: “If it sounds GOOD to YOU, it’s bitchen; and if sounds BAD to YOU, it’s shitty.” The more varied your musical experience, the easier it is to define for yourself what you like and what you don’t like. American radio listeners, raised on a diet of ____ (fill in the blank), have experienced a musical universe so small they cannot begin to know what they like. | |
— Frank Zappa | |
From his book: “The Real Frank Zappa Book“ | |
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On This Day In: | |
2021 | A Model Democrat |
Listen Mister | |
2020 | The Main Thing: Vote! |
No Other Reason | |
2019 | A Big “IF” |
2018 | Committed To Thinking |
2017 | More Pictures From My (Family) Retirement Party |
A Fondness For Sins | |
2016 | Are You Waiting? |
2015 | The Future Myth |
2014 | Hands |
2013 | Because You Have Lived |
2012 | 47% |
2011 | Conservative Values: Low And Lax |
2010 | A Non-Zero Sum Game |
What If “c” Isn’t A Constant? | |
2009 | Pictures from UCLA trip… |
Fesley (Mostly) Full Scale (Electric) Strat Style Guitar (G.A.S. == 9)
Posted in Guitar, Guitar Stuff, Music, Pictures, Reviews, tagged Amazon.com, Fender Guitar Corporation, Fesley Guitars, Glarry Guitars, God Save The Queen, Guitar Review, H-S-S, Highly Recommended, Humbucker, Images, Jimi Hendrix, Ode To Joy, Pictures, Reviews, S-S-S, Stratocaster, Taps on August 6, 2022| Leave a Comment »
Warning: This is LONG post… It won’t hurt my feelings if you’re not interested in my guitar reviews and go now… (LoL) | |
[Disclaimer: I have not received as a promotion any guitar or music related product, nor am I mentioning anything in this post to secure compensation / income for myself or the manufacturer(s) of the products mentioned. I am only posting about this / these item(s) because I personally purchased it / them and am excited to be learning about music and playing guitar. — kmab] | |
* Guitar Acquisition Syndrome | |
Background: For the last 19 months, I’ve been trying to teach myself about music and playing guitar. To date I have now purchased nine “inexpensive / cheap” guitars. This is the review of my latest: a Fesley “Strat” style Electric Guitar (Sunset color)… What is a “Strat” style? If you’ve ever seen a picture of Jimi Hendrix playing guitar, it was probably a “Strat”. Strat is short for Stratocaster and is one of the two “main” styles of electric guitar. It is characterized by two “cutaways” (one on either side of the neck where it attaches to the guitar body); “horn” shapes which are more reminiscent of bulls horns than of devil’s horns; and, the guitar body is solid (not hollow) with six steel strings. The “horns” are usually of slightly different shape and are normally slightly offset (not mirror images) with the more forward horn on the base-string side of the guitar. The “Strat” was created in the 1950’s by the Fender corporation. The Strat usually comes with three single-coil pickups and may also come with a tremolo bridge. The “pickup” is what translates the steel string vibration in front of a magnet and converts it to electrical impulses which are amplified into the sounds you hear coming from the amplifier. | |
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Anyway, as stated in several prior reviews, I’m retired and I have a significant price point and life time (mine) limitation when making discretionary purchases. I haven’t found my music / guitar sound or style (or hero), so I’m playing around at the bottom of the market in search of one, both or all three. For those of you readers who are unfamiliar with the price of music instruments, a decent quality, name brand guitar “probably” runs near USD $1,000. (If you are lucky, you can find the same model used for half that.) At half that price (USD $500), you can also normally find the same name brand (or their subsidiary) selling a new entry-level model of substantially lower quality. You can also go (quickly) the other direction to many times that price before you even get to custom guitars. Specific historic guitars sell in the tens and hundreds of thousands of dollars! | |
I now have nine “cheap / inexpensive” guitars of various style / types, and, not counting books and accessories (tools, tuners, picks, cables, gig bags, straps, etc), I’m just over the $1,000 “all-in” mark. My wife believes I’m a hoarder and while she supports my trying to learn music / guitar, she does NOT approve of my continuing guitar purchases. I (on the other hand) still feel the need for one last guitar before pausing to concentrate on the “right” one – which I may never find / buy. I will probably get that “last” inexpensive one before the end of next year (2023). I actually have my eye on two types I don’t already have. After that, I will be playing them each, and, over time, upgrading the bits and pieces on them until I’m more or less happy with each. Some, like my three-quarter size acoustic are so minimalist it really can’t have much changed out. Of course, as my luthier skills improve, there is a seemingly endless pool of tools to spend (my wife would say “waste”) money on. And, there are also amplifiers. On the issue of amps, I only have my initial 20-watt amp from the purchase of my first electric guitar. I’m sure it’s “crap”, but I very rarely use it, so it may be some time before I get a second / replacement amp. At the moment, I play my acoustic guitars in the day and my electrics sans amp at night. The main time I use my amp is when I get a new guitar and want to verify the electric bits work. Because I just starting to gain an ear for electric sound, I still can’t tell if the electric guitars are good or not – only if they play at all. As an aside, in my prior reviews, I mistakenly said my amp was a 10-watt amp. It turns out it is a 20-watt. Not that it matters, as it is NEVER turned up, and still rarely used. | |
Start of review: | |
Ordering: I ordered the guitar on Amazon.com. The general price on Amazon varies from $169 to $119 (depending on the color chosen), not including tax or shipping. I have NO idea why the price varies by color!!?! But, of the colors available, the one I wanted was the least expensive anyway. I purchased the item via my daughter’s Amazon membership, so shipping was free. The price ended up: $131.54 (delivered). I “earn” $100 gift cards for Amazon about once every six months by answering questions on a marketing / polling / survey site. Although this is “real” money, it does not come out of my retirement money, and since I’d be answering the surveys anyway – it’s “free” money (to me, but not to the IRS). The price of a “moderately” decent padded guitar gig bag is $20-$30 on Amazon. So, basically, I got an electric guitar and gig bag for the price of a gig bag: $31.54!! (LoL) | |
Delivery: I ordered mine on Thursday 28 July 2022 (evening) and it arrived on 4 August, mid-afternoon. Amazon’s delivery estimate was spot-on. On delivery, the exterior box was slightly crumpled on several edges; the interior box had no damage at all. On opening the interior box, the guitar was inside the padded gig bag and there was no damage at all to the guitar. This is the first guitar I’ve received “double-boxed”. My only comment is the interior box was free-floating and slid around inside the larger exterior box. All-in-all, I am very happy with the delivery. | |
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What you get: (Specifications) | |
Brand: Fesley | |
Model: Fesley ST Electric Guitar Morandi Series | |
Style: “Strat” with tuners on one side of the headpiece | |
Price: $119.85 — my price was $32 including tax (out of pocket). | |
Orientation: Right handed | |
Guitar Color: Sunset (Front and back) | |
Weight: 9.73lbs | |
Number of frets: 20 | |
Number of strings: 6 | |
String Material Type : Nickel Steel | |
Guitar Pickup Configuration: H-S-S (humbucker / bridge, single / middle, single / neck) | |
Guitar Bridge System: Cold-rolled Steel Block Bridge with tremolo system (push-in “wammy” bar) | |
Controls: 4 – 1 switch (5 positions), 1 x Volume, 2 x Tone; the three knobs are black plastic with no numbers | |
Color – Black: Zinc Alloy Tuners, a Single String Guide, Cold-rolled Steel Block Bridge, Wammy Bar, Volume and Tone Controls, Inlaid Fret Dots | |
Body Material: Poplar | |
Neck Material Type: Poplar | |
Fretboard Material Type: Hard-maple Neck Info: C-shaped neck profile with satin finish; 20 frets, marks (dots) on the neck and top of the fingerboard help guide / play; 430mm radius |
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Tuning Peg Material: Metal, Kidney Bean shape | |
Nut Material: Unspecified (I think it’s plastic) | |
Pick Guard: None | |
(Package Includes) | |
1 x Guitar | |
1 x Wammy Bar (pop-in style, not screw-in style) | |
2 x Spanner Tool (for adjusting the neck / truss rod and one for setting intonation) | |
1 x Padded Gig Bag Double boxed for delivery |
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First impression: right out of the box, the guitar has a beautiful, dark, rich sunset (sunburst) front AND back. It is thin and feels small and light. I run my left hand up and down the neck. The edges of the fret board are smooth and fret sprout is non-existent! I could NOT feel the frets from the side of the neck. I had to slightly curl my fingers around the edge. They are not rounded on the ends – ball-bearing style – so you still have to be a bit careful running your fret hand up and down the neck, but this is among the best fret work I’ve ever gotten on any of my guitars. It remains to be seen if this continues after the guitar has had a chance to acclimate for a couple of weeks. I don’t think it will be an issue… The guitar was in a plastic bag with the wammy bar and tools rubber-banded to the neck. The strings were paper bound for their protection. There is a little card indicating the guitar was inspected and listing the action height at that time. I will compare this info later when (if) I do a full complete setup with action and intonation. It’s also a useful reference for future string changes… The frets are shiny and smooth and the fretboard looks moist without being shiny. NO crud comes off the frets on my fingers as I check them (sometimes you can get a bit of blackening on your fingertips) and there is no gritty sound on string bending at a few test points. (I’m laughing to myself!) This is the best looking first impression of a fretboard of any of my guitars!! | |
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Visual checklist: | |
• neck – straight, flat and not visibly warped or bent; | |
• nut – discolored plastic. Not white, so you almost think it’s bone. The string groove depth seems fine to great. | |
• strings – strum… not in tune, but string ends are not excessively long or wrapped around the tuning pegs. It tuned up very easily. | |
• body – again, beautiful color and shiny (matte NOT high gloss) finish. I don’t see ANY dents or faults!! | |
• pickups – are all magnetic. I can’t tell much else visually. The “visual test” is to hold something metal near the pickup and feel if it is pulled to the magnetic pickup. I would say there is an “unsightly” gap around the pickups. My other guitars’ with single pickup slots are covered by the pick guards, so you don’t see the gaps. | |
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• controls – the switch is responsive without being resistant, the volume and tone(s) both turn smoothly. I am able to hear the differences between the pickups on the switch (after it’s plugged in and the amp is turned on). One slightly disconcerting thing is the knobs seem to turn past “0”. I don’t know what that means. All of my other guitars fully stop at “0” and “10”… | |
• tuning pegs – all are smooth and don’t appear to have dead spots. They are the smallest tuners I have ever felt! They are functional, but they feel “tiny” between my fingers and thumb. | |
• action and intonation – the strings seem fine (eyeball test). I will measure them (for action) in the future. The intonation is WEIRD! The intonation is perfect open and at the 5th and at the 12th frets. All up and down the neck with no dead frets on any strings, but ALL of the other frets are slightly sharp. To me, this (probably) means Fesley took extra care to get the open, 5th and 12 frets exactly in the right place but were slightly less exact on the remaining frets. I should point out the difference is similar (if not exact) for all of the other frets and for all of the strings AND I can’t actually hear the difference – but the electronic tuner can. Just slightly… | |
Strum… the strings are all loose and there is no hope this is tuned “out of the box”. I attach my Snark tuner and tune the guitar. Nothing significant to report. (Except the intonation issue mentioned just above.) I’m a happy camper…!!! | |
I plug in the amplifier and plug the cable into it and into the guitar. Both connections seem solid enough. I turn on the amp and increase the volume on both the guitar and the amp. All the knobs on the amp and the guitar seem to work. The slippage on the knobs doesn’t seem to affect anything. When the knob gets to zero (unmarked), whatever is supposed to be changing stops changing. | |
Strum… I play for a few minutes – chords and scales. I spend a few minutes practicing “Ode To Joy“, “Taps” and “God Save the Queen” and then noodle a bit before deciding to pack it in for the evening. The main thing I notice is the guitar is VERY comfortable to play. The neck seems short, I don’t have to stretch to play open chords and the body (depth / width) seems to be made just for me. Mainly the thinner body means it’s easier to hold the guitar body under my strumming arm and against my body. This guitar has a slightly different cut out angle (from the Glarry) at the elbow which seems to make it even more comfortable for me. Now, a point of clarification: This is not a “Full Size” strat style guitar. At least judging by my Glarry 38.6 / 39in strat style it isn’t. Just eyeballing it, I’d say the Fesley is almost an inch (maybe only 3/4in) shorter. FYI: Glarry says their strat body size (38.6in) doesn’t include the strap button on the bottom of the guitar. Standing the Glarry and Fesley face to face, the bodies are the same length, yet, the tip of the head-piece is clearly shorter than the Glarry’s. The difference “seems” to be the bridge on the Fesley is larger than on the Glarry AND it is set farther down the body than the Glarry’s because the Glarry’s pickups are S-S-S while the Fesley’s are H-S-S. The double thickness of the humbucker requires the bridge to be set down the body. I also point out the Glarry is a 22 fret guitar. The Fesley is only 20 frets. Interestingly, this (moving the bridge back) makes it easier to right-hand strum mute the strings on the Fesley than it is on ANY of my other guitars – acoustic or electric! Go figure… | |
Next? | |
Nothing out of the ordinary… Just tune and noodle. | |
Check the fret sprout for about a week and do the light maintenance on it for playability. Then it’s add to the rotation and enjoy!! | |
Final Recommendation: LoL!! Are you kidding me? Very Highly! A beautiful, almost perfectly playable instrument for under $35!!! (Okay, $135 to you…) I’m laughing all the way to the bank. (And, still practicing about an hour a day…) | |
Thanks to anybody who made it all the way through this lengthy post!! | |
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On This Day In: | |
2021 | Born Again |
Begin Writing | |
2020 | Nah… I’m Still Chuckling |
Squeaking By With “C’s” | |
2019 | Consider Me A Phony |
2018 | Last |
Day 10: Double Digits | |
2017 | Could You Repeat The Question? |
2016 | Still Busy? |
2015 | Why, Just This Morning… |
2014 | Just Kindness |
2013 | Now Shaking |
2012 | Absurdity, n. |
2011 | Minor Changes |
Things I’ve Learned From Life – Nana Carter | |
Acting Out | |
Atmospheric Perturbations
Posted in Music, Philosophy, Quotes, tagged Atmospheric Perturbations, Frank Zappa, Music, Music Composition, Philosophy, Quotes, Sensations, Sound, The Real Frank Zappa Book, Wiggling Air Molecules on July 30, 2022| Leave a Comment »
A person with a feel for rhythm can walk into a factory and hear the machine noise as a composition. If we expand that concept to include light, behavior, weather factors, moon phases, anything (whether it’s a rhythm that can be heard or a rhythm that is perceived, i.e., a color change over time — or a season), it can be consumed as music. | |
If it can be conceived as music, it can be executed as music, and presented to an audience in such a way that they will perceive it as music… | |
When someone writes a piece of music, what he or she puts on the paper is roughly the equivalent of a recipe — in the sense that the recipe is not the food, only instructions for the preparation of the food. Unless you are very weird, you don’t eat the recipe. | |
If I write something on a piece of paper, I can’t actually ‘hear’ it. I can conjure up visions of what the symbols on the page mean, and imagine a piece of music as it might sound in performance, but that sensation is nontransferable; it can’t be shared or transmitted. | |
It doesn’t become a ‘musical experience’ in normal terms until ‘the recipe’ has been converted into wiggling air molecules. | |
Music, in performance, is a type of sculpture. The air in the performance space is sculpted into something. This ‘molecule-sculpture-over-time’ is then ‘looked at’ by the ears of the listeners — or a microphone. | |
SOUND is ‘ear-decoded data.’ Things which MAKE SOUND are things which are capable of creating perturbations. This perturbations modify (or sculpt) the raw material (the ‘static air’ in the room — the way it was ‘at rest’ before the musicians started fu**ing around with it). If you purposefully generate atmospheric perturbations (‘air shapes’), you are composing. | |
— Frank Zappa | |
From his book: “The Real Frank Zappa Book“ | |
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On This Day In: | |
2021 | An Afternoon Nap |
How Should I feel? | |
2020 | Magical Voices In My Head |
I Still Need Educating | |
2019 | And I’m Not Letting Go |
2018 | The Continuing Failure Of Speaker Paul Ryan |
Day 3: Approaching The Half Way Point | |
2017 | Orange Comb-Overs Unite! |
2016 | Speaking Of Which |
2015 | Complexity Has A Strict Architecture |
2014 | Just Support |
2013 | Wandering Free |
2012 | Contribute = Paying Taxes |
2011 | How Will You Be Judged? |
Happy 13th Anniversary Of Blogging
Posted in Guitar, Guitar Stuff, Health, Music, Pictures, Science and Learning, tagged Blog Anniversary, Guitar, Happy 13th Blogging Anniversary, Health, Images, Personal Goals, Pictures on July 29, 2022| 2 Comments »
This post marks the first day of my 14th year of blogging here on WordPress. A great deal of this post is a repetition of last year’s post… (And, yes, it’s a long one…) | |
With almost no change from last year… The number of countries who’ve visited this site continues to (slowly) grow and the number which haven’t continues to decrease. North Korea and Cuba are still among them (the latter…) I’m also still missing a belt across the middle of Africa (but it’s no longer coast-to-coast) and a few spots in Asia. (Slowly, slowly… Resistance is futile.) | |
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On reviewing my content over the past year, I’m mostly back to one post a day. They are almost entirely just quotes with occasional political opinions, infrequent film reviews and rarely book reviews. I haven’t added near as many posts about learning guitar or music as I thought I would. I’m not terribly sure why. | |
My blog is continuing to be part of my “normal” retired life (since 2017). I routinely receive about 20 to 60 emails (per day) from the roughly 300 blogs I follow. I say “roughly” because I don’t check how many I follow. I just looked, and I (still) have fewer than 2,000 followers myself. Every year there is a trade-off: you pick up a few steady followers and a few drop off. Those who actually post about leaving (their own sites) say they are simply moving on to other things. Most, don’t bother and just stop posting. A few come back after some period of time. Many do not. It doesn’t necessarily mean they’ve stopped blogging. Some just move to a hosted service to try to monetize their thoughts and don’t provide me a way to follow them. Or maybe they did and I simply missed the link… | |
I do have bone to pick with some (many?) of the posts I receive. Three bones, actually… First, I receive a large number of posts which don’t contain “Like” options. This means I have to click to your site and log into WordPress to give you a like. Most of the time, I will not do this. I’m just lazy and if you don’t want the feed back, I’m happy to not provide it. The second is an email with a title and five or six words from your post and then a “read more”. Again, sorry – PROBABLY 95% of the time, I no longer click through to your site. If you don’t give me at least a paragraph to hook me, you’ve lost me for that post. It’s different if you are running a visual / photo site, but not by much. If you give me one (or two) image(s) per post – fine. If you regularly have 10 – 15 – 20 images in a single post, I might view one post a week. And, lastly, in general I only view one post a day from a single source and it’s kind of random… Sometimes it’s the first. Sometimes it’s the last. Sometimes it’s just whatever… | |
At any rate, I easily spend an hour per day reviewing the posts I get (via email subscription) and sometimes that is simply overwhelming. It’s not always the average blogger’s fault. If you post something interesting, I (still) will go off and investigate it further: authors, artists, locations, books, movies, science / math / history topics – they will all lead me off down the rabbit hole. And that hole can be DEEP! There are a few (a handful) of sites which I know are visual and I more frequently click through to the actual site, because I’m interested in the bits which are not offered in the smaller / limited / text based emails I tend to receive. I apologize if my failure to click-thru affects your view stats negatively… | |
So, besides this blog, what am I up to? My health has been mixed. I’m still morbidly obese and none of my “lifestyle” changes (diets) have stuck. The problem I have is I’ve had some changes in my meds so I’m not sure if they are affecting me or if I’m just getting older and less motivated – or a combination. As always, one has to balance the good of the med versus the adverse (potential) effects. The two which seem the best (for me) are the juicing / blending and the “40hr water fast twice a week”. The former for losing and the latter for maintaining. If I can get my meds stable, I’ll probably go on an alternating schedule of these two for a prolonged period. | |
In January 2021, I purchased my first guitar and I’ve been practicing most every day since. (I miss about one day every other month.) I “know” my basic (C, A, G, E, D, F, Am, Em, Dm) open / “cowboy” chords and major / minor scales – single string and in first position. Strumming, finger-picking (Travis style) and chord changes are coming slowly (slower), but they are getting better now that I’m practicing them more consistently. I now own three acoustic guitars and five electrics, and I have another acoustic on loan from my brother. I had them on a monthly rotation calendar, but shifted to three weeks at the start of the year (2022). I’m planning to move to a weekly rotation. I’m looking into picking up a few (three) more inexpensive guitars and I’ve dropped the idea of basses (for at least a while). There is no time pressure. It’s all about my ability to save (here and there) until I can justify a purchase. [Wife: How many guitars do you NEED? Me: …One more.] At the moment, the plan is one more strat (type), one more tele (type) and a round-back acoustic. I didn’t really even think about round-backs before. I thought they were only over-sized guitars for Mariachi style music, but I’ve learned otherwise. Anyway, they “tend” to be plastic / fiberglass backs, and I’m interested in what that sounds like. I have a distinct memory of strumming an “Ovation” (round-back) guitar MANY years ago, but I don’t remember anything about it (sound or feel). We’ll see… I am also going to start looking into amps and pedals for the electrics. | |
The few things I’ve learned (mainly about myself) have truly been amazing (to me). I do seem to have a smidgen of musical ability (although it’s still buried under layers of doubt). I’m (still) finding the ability to concentrate on practice to be as relaxing as zoning out in computer programming used to be (in my youth). Sixty to ninety minutes can easily seem like five or ten minutes. There is also the complete exhaustion which results from prolonged concentration – however “relaxing” it may feel at the time. In a strange way, it feels good to be mentally tired at the end of a practice session. | |
But, am I getting any better at playing? An objective opinion would be: Yes! Am I any “good”? An objective opinion would be: No! Does it matter a whit? No. Why not? Because, like blogging, I’m doing it for the enjoyment of doing it and not for the expectation (mine or anyone else’s) of being any good at playing guitar. Again, like blogging, as long as it’s fun and interesting and fulfilling, I’ll just keep doing it… My not so secret goal remains to write a song (lyrics and music) for my wife. (LoL) | |
I posted a while back about my guitar goals for the remainder of 2022, but I can easily see them (the goals) extending into 2023. If I have ANY disappointments over guitars it’s that developing my luthier skills has definitely fallen by the wayside. I’m happy being able to change strings, round fret ends and play with action and intonation, but it turns out, if you buy inexpensive instruments, the decent quality luthier tools and better quality parts are almost as (or more) expensive as (than) a new instrument. | |
So, it’s guitar playing and blogging to keep me occupied (and mostly out of trouble). LoL!! | |
Other than that, we got one of our bathrooms remodeled back in February 2022 and we’re hoping to get our other one done in early fall. All things in their time (LoL – and with available funds!) | |
Once again… “Excelsior!!“ | |
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On This Day In: | |
2021 | Happy 12th Anniversary Of Blogging |
We ARE… | |
2020 | Happy 11th Anniversary Of Blogging |
2019 | Happy 10th Anniversary — Thoughts On My First Decade Of Blogging |
2018 | Happy 9th Anniversary — Three Thoughts |
Day 2 – Notes On Progress | |
2017 | Happy 8th Anniversary |
2016 | Happy 7th Anniversary |
2015 | Happy 6th Anniversary |
2014 | Happy 5th Anniversary |
2013 | I Resemble That Remark! |
2012 | Happy 3rd Anniversary |
2011 | Is America Safe Tonight? |
2009 | Hello world! (See how it all began…) |
Hope For Me, Yet
Posted in Music, Philosophy, Quotes, tagged Music, Nick Hornby, Philosophy, Quotes on July 5, 2022| 2 Comments »
Because music, like color, or a cloud, is neither intelligent nor unintelligent – it just is. The chord, the simplest building block for even the tritest, silliest chart song, is a beautiful, perfect, mysterious thing, and when an ill-read, uneducated, uncultured, emotionally illiterate boor puts a couple of them together, he has every chance of creating something wonderful and powerful. All I ask of music is that it sounds good. | |
— Nick Hornby | |
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On This Day In: | |
2021 | Would You Know How? |
Understand The Way I Feel | |
2020 | Learn To Forgive Yourself |
Violating Guidelines | |
2019 | I Walk Faster (Too) |
2018 | Modern Day Behaviour |
2017 | On Misogynist Tweets From #DumbDonald |
2016 | Cowboy Boots & Missing Teeth |
Or Electricity | |
2015 | Oh, To Be Vulnerable |
2014 | Neglected Horror |
2013 | The Price Of Illusions |
2012 | Once Again |
2011 | And The “Market” Isn’t Always Right |
Hanging On By My Fingertips…
Posted in General Comments, Guitar, Guitar Stuff, Music, Pictures, tagged Andrés Segovia, Anular, Finger Nails, Fingerpicking, General Comments, Guitar, Images, Indice, Medio, Merle Travis, Music, Pictures of Me, PIMA, Pulgar, Travis Picking on February 5, 2023| Leave a Comment »
“PIMA“: P = pulgar (thumb); I = indice (index finger); M = medio (middle finger); A = anular (ring finger)
1 – 2 mm past your finger / nail join point
Poorly shaped, but approaching the correct length
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