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I can sorta play piano, got a keyboard a couple years ago for Christmas and it mostly just sat in the basement where I would play a little here and there, but I finally started learning in earnest 6 months ago. I can mess around and play chords and make a lot of pop/rock sound pretty good. Still nowhere near playing for anything other than myself though.

 

This week I also checked out a guitar from the library. I get it for 28 days, and I’m using the Simply Guitar app to learn as much as I can.  I’d love to be able to take a guitar on a camp out or lead my family in some praise and worship songs at home. So my needs are pretty small - I don’t want to be a guitar god. My brother already is one. I just want to be able to mess around. But we’ll see how it goes. If I’ve made progress after a month, I’ll try to find an inexpensive acoustic guitar, probably through my brother’s connections through one of his many bands or guitar forums. 

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I have a set up for making electronic music. I do very minimalistic John Carpenter style things. I mostly just do it for fun and never share it. My music knowledge is pretty limited  outside of knowing the basics of keys and BPMs. My little device has preprogrammed chords so I cheat a lot.

In college I played bass and keyboards, but neither very well.

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I played guitar since I was 12. Admittedly I practically never practice my scales or anything like that so I was never a shredder solo kind of guy. I like using a lot of open tunings and getting the sound like there are more than one guitar playing, or otherwise making a nice full sound. I really want to get a 12 string acoustic cause my dad always had one and I loved the sound. 

I haven't picked up the guitar for a while now, but it would only take a month or so of playing it to refamiliarise myself with it and get back to a fairly high level of competencey. I've been playing my son's ukelele a fair bit cause it's such a throwaway instrument you can just pick it up and bash out something fun while supervising the little guy, walking from room to room. My wife is starting to get annoyed by the uke though so not sure how long it'll last. Should probably seriously look at getting the 12 string.

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  • 2 months later...

I love the libraries! God bless'em for helping us with comics, guitars and story time!

There's a guy who wants to start up a band in my complex who is teaching ppl guitar. I think my sister would like it but when I ask she doesn't show any interest.

For me I play flute and some piano but I am rusty and sing in a choir when Covid is done. Right now I sing assisting minister and the psalm responsively at my church.

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I played a trumpet from 5th grade to 11th grade. The band people really weren't my crowd, and once the cool people I knew (in band) were gone, I bailed.

We had a 5 piece drum kit in our house. My brother was the real drummer, but I would practice playing along with rock songs that I liked.

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On 8/10/2021 at 8:23 PM, Zathras said:

I was going through some old pics here are my guitars past and present. I only wish I could play them as well as I collect them lol!

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Twenty years ago i thought i would have a wall of guitars by now. I think my wife works have shut that down, but the fact that i might pick up my guitars once a week makes it a tough buy. Maybe if i do buy a new one i might be tried to okay now because I'll "upgrade" my amp, test out new pedals. 

My stepson has a guitar he never plays. It's a cheapo metal V. I correctly guessed he doesn't just it because it's uncomfortable for him to sit down and play. 

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2 hours ago, Metropolis said:

Twenty years ago i thought i would have a wall of guitars by now. I think my wife works have shut that down, but the fact that i might pick up my guitars once a week makes it a tough buy. Maybe if i do buy a new one i might be tried to okay now because I'll "upgrade" my amp, test out new pedals. 

My stepson has a guitar he never plays. It's a cheapo metal V. I correctly guessed he doesn't just it because it's uncomfortable for him to sit down and play. 

I don't have 3 of those guitars anymore, so I am down to 5, and my fiance has 1.   I keep mine packed except for 1, and change out when I need, so things are kept tidy and out of site.  When I get into a bigger house, I'd love to hang them all in my man cave LOL!  I will be straight up, I only know a handful of 3 and 4 chord songs and I am OK at a blues lead.  That's it.  But I try to play at least a half hour a day, and it is mostly to destress.  I firmly believe playing music touches a part of the brain that helps memory and reasoning skills.  Even if you are not good at playing an instrument, it helps you.  

As for your stepson, maybe the Metal V needs a professional set up?  I have a couple squiers that I love to play now, that were horrible before I had them set up.  

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On 8/11/2021 at 1:23 AM, Zathras said:

I was going through some old pics here are my guitars past and present. I only wish I could play them as well as I collect them lol!

00J0J_l8OIrojNSD_600x450_zps383ebde7.jpg.c1f84786fa976f9390800ce257d44417.jpg

10151757_745737872135608_8304946855452182826_n_zps70987715.jpg.fb53452211dbee11d3b2d91ca879f11f.jpg

00D0D_c8uRyy5uUn7_600x450_zpszniehoi1.jpg.8eedea882bb4a42a6c79543be13ddadf.jpg

20170722_160345.thumb.jpg.3e15e0154ed2999ae6ada0d8718f708d.jpg

20170722_160645.thumb.jpg.08b29acfdae40d185592483455ef0164.jpg

darthguitar.thumb.jpg.c3063be25bf2d09ab28a661fd0fe5ab0.jpg

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He's a strat-man! Bada bee bap ba dah dup. 

I had you pegged for a Gibson guy for some reason. But then I also got a hunch you might be a Stevie Ray Vaughan guy too? In which case it all makes sense! 

I really like your gunmetal/metallic strat with the black pick guard. 

I have a Mexican made Jazzmaster in black with a red and white mottled looking pickguard. 

I wish I could justify spending money on electric guitars. But it's not a thing for me these days 

I've also got a 70s fender bassman 50 head and cab with 2x15" speakers. So not exactly a setup to play quietly in the living room in Victorian terrace houses. Lol. You'd hear me a mile away. So my amp is relegated to being an museum piece in the living room on a shelf  and I use the cab as a shelf for the record player and stereo. 

Fuck. I want to make music again sometimes 

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8 hours ago, Metropolis said:

Twenty years ago i thought i would have a wall of guitars by now. I think my wife works have shut that down, but the fact that i might pick up my guitars once a week makes it a tough buy. Maybe if i do buy a new one i might be tried to okay now because I'll "upgrade" my amp, test out new pedals. 

My stepson has a guitar he never plays. It's a cheapo metal V. I correctly guessed he doesn't just it because it's uncomfortable for him to sit down and play. 

There is only one way to play a flying V. That's standing up, with one foot on a monitor (or practice amp) with the widest stance possible.

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I've never owned a Gibson, though they are sweet guitars.  I would love to get an SG some day.  

SRV is cool, though my favorite guitarists are all over the place.  I am not exactly sure what drew me to strats, really, other than just being a comfortable guitar to play (for me).  That, and I think they look beautiful.   

I dig Jazzmasters and Jags, too.  Do you have a pic? I'd love to see it. 

As for buying guitars, I only get them used and on the cheap. The silver and black guitar is a MIM Fender Floyd Rose H-H Blacktop, which I actually bought from Pong Messiah years ago (I paid him, and he shipped it).  It is the most expensive and nicest of what I own.  It plays like butter.  I feel unworthy of it, actually!   I paid $60 for the stripped wood strat, and traded it off for the red strat, which was also $60.  The Black and purple was $70.  The white strat was bought for $95, but I sunk almost 1.5 times that in upgrades and sold at a loss (note to self, don't upgrade Squiers.  Just appreciate them as they are).   The red Ibanez Artcore AS 73 (semihollow) was $250, but that included a Roland Cube amp.  The sunburst/tortoise strat is a Squier Classic Vibe 60s, and the quality is close to a MIM strat, and got it for $175.  I gave that one to my brother as a gift, after owning for 4 years.  The other sunburst/white strat is a Squier 51 (sort of a cross between a strat and a tele), which was upgraded by the previous owner.  I paid $150 for that one, and it is pretty sweet, actually.

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I really wish I had pictures of my brother's guitars, but he wouldn't want me posting them online anyway. He's been burgled more than once, but he has that wall of guitars that Met envisioned owning. He also plays in multiple bands and uses them all. 

I've gotten two guitars of my own - one was a Fender acoustic-electric that I got a great deal on because some guy's credit card got declined  It's great, I love playing it. I reached a point where I was struggling a lot, and I thought an electric might be easier, so I got a cheap Squier strat that helped a little, but overall I'm looking to get rid of it soon. I have a nicer Fender Mexican strat coming from my brother, that I used to own when I thought I would learn guitar 20 years ago and never did. 

I had a friend come over and give me an hour long in person lesson where he taught me a couple songs to lead my family in for our family prayer, and that was what I needed to cross over from someone wanting to learn how to play guitar to someone who can play guitar. I'm not great by any means, and I only know basic chords, and no barre chords, but I've made significant progress in what I want to be able to do with a guitar. Barre chords are probably the next thing to work on, and then within a year I'll be where I really want to be.  Plus it's really soothing to be able to play.

Overall, one of the best hobbies I've ever picked up.

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Thankfully it's still August. All this talk has me looking at the Sam Ash and Guitar Center's websites for a beginner's model for my sub for Christmas. That way i can sneak in a new one for myself. Our tastes in metal are similar enough to where i could show him a few things.

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On 8/13/2021 at 9:41 PM, Zathras said:

I've never owned a Gibson, though they are sweet guitars.  I would love to get an SG some day.  

SRV is cool, though my favorite guitarists are all over the place.  I am not exactly sure what drew me to strats, really, other than just being a comfortable guitar to play (for me).  That, and I think they look beautiful.   

I dig Jazzmasters and Jags, too.  Do you have a pic? I'd love to see it. 

As for buying guitars, I only get them used and on the cheap. The silver and black guitar is a MIM Fender Floyd Rose H-H Blacktop, which I actually bought from Pong Messiah years ago (I paid him, and he shipped it).  It is the most expensive and nicest of what I own.  It plays like butter.  I feel unworthy of it, actually!   I paid $60 for the stripped wood strat, and traded it off for the red strat, which was also $60.  The Black and purple was $70.  The white strat was bought for $95, but I sunk almost 1.5 times that in upgrades and sold at a loss (note to self, don't upgrade Squiers.  Just appreciate them as they are).   The red Ibanez Artcore AS 73 (semihollow) was $250, but that included a Roland Cube amp.  The sunburst/tortoise strat is a Squier Classic Vibe 60s, and the quality is close to a MIM strat, and got it for $175.  I gave that one to my brother as a gift, after owning for 4 years.  The other sunburst/white strat is a Squier 51 (sort of a cross between a strat and a tele), which was upgraded by the previous owner.  I paid $150 for that one, and it is pretty sweet, actually.

This is my Jazzmaster.IMG_20210815_125150994.thumb.jpg.f8d9ad20a22ea5619948fb680bfe544b.jpg

I switched the bridge pickup at some point for a Seymour Duncan 2x single coil I think. Was meant to overdrive the hell out of it. 

We seen some things and done some stuff.

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