The Guitar Pron Thread

[sidis 9827]

46 minutes ago, AnotherUTFan said:

3 hours ago, Bogeywon said:

Some more recording 

Pretty sure that's a Mackie ProFX16 mixer in the foreground. I own the same unit. No idea what I was thinking when I bought it, way overkill for my needs, but it used regularly and I appreciate the onboard effects.

that's definitely the mackie onyx series.

i want to start hearing some shit.  post it here.

 

[Buzzrock 14920]

Sweet sex chair

[jimmyjazz 45912]

Yeah, I have no knowledge of their current products but that board just screams "Mackie".

[Bogeywon 2519]

7 hours ago, AnotherUTFan said:

9 hours ago, Bogeywon said:

Some more recording 

Pretty sure that's a Mackie ProFX16 mixer in the foreground. I own the same unit. No idea what I was thinking when I bought it, way overkill for my needs, but it used regularly and I appreciate the onboard effects.

This. We aren’t running through it to record we go through the interface. I was recording solo to a click. Song idea 

[Celery Man 20943]

Josh Smith is a solid insta follow and just bought a ‘55 duo jet

https://www.instagram.com/reel/CpOdN87ITOK/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

[Celery Man 20943]

And apologies for missing the Norlin era discussion, here’s an ‘86

[noharleyyet 2838]

Tremolo or Vibrato pedal? Which maker? 2 bills & under. 

[Celery Man 20943]

stry.. oh nevermind

 

[Goredho 17401]

…Mon Mob… fuck it.

Edited March 2, 2023 by Goredho

[dcbc 14480]

51 minutes ago, noharleyyet said:

Tremolo or Vibrato pedal? Which maker? 2 bills & under. 

Which one?  Or does it have to do both?  What flavor of tremolo?  I've got a few.  Also, when you say vibrato, do you mean pitch shifting vibrato or univibe style, wet-signal only, opto-vibe?  There's a vibrato feature on the old TC Electronics SCF that was a true pitch shifter vibrato, and it was so good at what it did that it was unpleasant sounding.  That's what I think of when I think of "true vibrato"---a cycling whammy bar in a pedal.

 

The Black Cat mini trem will do the Fender amp opto-trem thing to my ears every bit as well as the Fulltone Supa-Trem in a normal sized pedal enclosure.  It has a speed change switch and can be used as a clean boost with the depth turned to zero.  The price has gone up (I don't think they make them anymore), but they're still under $200.

 

 

They also have gone up in price, but the BearfootFX Mint Green Mini Vibe is sort of a cross between a bias tremolo and a univibe, but it isn't really either of those things.  It's mostly just extremely cool.  I'd say more usable than a Univibe because it can be made to sound less distinctive, even though it can throb.

 

 

Edited March 2, 2023 by dcbc

[G650 14254]

2 minutes ago, noharleyyet said:

Tremolo or Vibrato pedal? Which maker? 2 bills & under. 

 

Tbh I think an old Boss TR-2 is still the most useful trem.

 

This is an ancient crappy mp3 demo, but you can really hear the trem in the second half. It's a Telecaster, Dynacomp, TR-2 into a Peavey Classic 50 2x12

 

 

[dcbc 14480]

8 minutes ago, G650 said:

 

Tbh I think an old Boss TR-2 is still the most useful trem.

 

This is an ancient crappy mp3 demo, but you can really hear the trem in the second half. It's a Telecaster, Dynacomp, TR-2 into a Peavey Classic 50 2x12

 

 

Those Boss tremolos are great pedals.  The newer ones can benefit from a $45 trip to Analogman for mods, which include a volume knob.

[G650 14254]

11 minutes ago, dcbc said:

The newer ones can benefit from a $45 trip to Analogman for mods, which include a volume knob.

Totally

[noharleyyet 2838]

48 minutes ago, G650 said:

 

Tbh I think an old Boss TR-2 is still the most useful trem.

 

This is an ancient crappy mp3 demo, but you can really hear the trem in the second half. It's a Telecaster, Dynacomp, TR-2 into a Peavey Classic 50 2x12

 

 

Yea, fist blip on the radar. 

[noharleyyet 2838]

1 hour ago, Celery Man said:

stry.. oh nevermind

 

Listened...shouldn't have. 

[Buzzrock 14920]

I have this one and it’s just OK. But it was probably cheap knowing me.

Merge the threads!

[noharleyyet 2838]

Incoming...dcbc spends my money again

[dcbc 14480]

10 hours ago, noharleyyet said:

Incoming...dcbc spends my money again

Damn right!  These things have unsung mojo!

[Celery Man 20943]

I think mine doesn’t sound like this because it has filtertrons?

https://www.instagram.com/reel/CpWJj_dI21s/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

[Goredho 17401]

When a Murphy Labs 1959 Les Paul with dandruff just isn’t enough…

 

 

[Bogeywon 2519]

 

Just raw no mix. Me and the drummer. Bass player not yet recorded

[G650 14254]

Nice. Sounds very Rage ish

[Bogeywon 2519]

3 hours ago, G650 said:

Nice. Sounds very Rage ish

Check this one…

 

 

[sidis 9827]

6 hours ago, G650 said:

Nice. Sounds very Rage ish

Definitely thought it was a cover of Bombtrack at first. 

[sidis 9827]

2 hours ago, Bogeywon said:

Check this one…

 

3 amigos db end_2.mp3 8.39 MB · 30 downloads

 

 

I think you got something to work with here for sure. 

[G650 14254]

3 hours ago, Bogeywon said:

Check this one…

 

3 amigos db end_2.mp3 8.39 MB · 95 downloads

 

Hell yeah. You have a good kick and snare to work with which is a big leg up. One thing to consider is when the bass is added you are probably going to have to clear out a little sonic space in the low mids to fit it in. You may end up needing to cut a little of the bottom of the guitar.

 

Super tight though man, really nice.

[Bogeywon 2519]

12 hours ago, G650 said:

Nice. Sounds very Rage ish

Def not the intent but I see what you are saying 

[tbone_ 14118]

I’ve been trying to figure out a way to video our gigs to be able to watch and see what stupid shit I’m doing that I’m not aware of that I need to stop doing. I also want it to sound good if possible. The sound quality from cell phone videos always blows.

So I got this zoom camera with a supposedly decent mic built in and a micro sd card that can hold several hours of video, depending on resolution.

Here’s the first test clip from the other night. For some reason the batteries only lasted 7 min so have to figure that out. It’s horrifying watching this shit but I welcome any and all criticisms. That’s the point of this exercise.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/l9ufogxytf264op/2023.02.24%20WD.MOV?dl=0

Many kinks on the video logistics to be worked out but for a complete first pass, I was generally pleased with the quality of the video and sound (much better on computer speakers than phone speakers).

[G650 14254]

1 hour ago, tbone_ said:

I’ve been trying to figure out a way to video our gigs to be able to watch and see what stupid shit I’m doing that I’m not aware of that I need to stop doing. I also want it to sound good if possible. The sound quality from cell phone videos always blows.

So I got this zoom camera with a supposedly decent mic built in and a micro sd card that can hold several hours of video, depending on resolution.

Here’s the first test clip from the other night. For some reason the batteries only lasted 7 min so have to figure that out. It’s horrifying watching this shit but I welcome any and all criticisms. That’s the point of this exercise.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/l9ufogxytf264op/2023.02.24%20WD.MOV?dl=0

Many kinks on the video logistics to be worked out but for a complete first pass, I was generally pleased with the quality of the video and sound (much better on computer speakers than phone speakers).

 

Firstly, I am disappoint no Boston.

 

But moving on, for analysis purposes I don't think you need anything better than this, that is totally passable sound. I am wearing headphones right now because I was mixing something else, so I may be getting a good bit more bass than over open speakers, but it sounds pretty sweet for what it is. I'm not sure if you can EQ at all, maybe could tailor more mids in, but really I wouldn't even bother.

 

As far as the playing, shit man, you know the songs and sound good. I don't have much to offer! Paying barre chords and such is good move without a bassist to keep full range. Also, the lady has a great voice for Gold Dust Woman. And you can sing a lot better than I can.

One thing on EQ, if you could move camera more in front would probably help

[jimmyjazz 45912]

It's pretty damn good.  My monitors are a little bass heavy, so I can't quite tell if the bass is just a little hot or if it's appropriately balanced.

Y'all are really good at this.  You play well, and she has terrific tone and pitch control.  Good job.

Now if the fucking barflies would shut up.

[G650 14254]

13 minutes ago, jimmyjazz said:

Now if the fucking barflies would shut up.

 

Shit man, if we could figure out how to make that happen we could retire.

[sidis 9827]

2 hours ago, tbone_ said:

I’ve been trying to figure out a way to video our gigs to be able to watch and see what stupid shit I’m doing that I’m not aware of that I need to stop doing. I also want it to sound good if possible. The sound quality from cell phone videos always blows.

So I got this zoom camera with a supposedly decent mic built in and a micro sd card that can hold several hours of video, depending on resolution.

Here’s the first test clip from the other night. For some reason the batteries only lasted 7 min so have to figure that out. It’s horrifying watching this shit but I welcome any and all criticisms. That’s the point of this exercise.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/l9ufogxytf264op/2023.02.24%20WD.MOV?dl=0

Many kinks on the video logistics to be worked out but for a complete first pass, I was generally pleased with the quality of the video and sound (much better on computer speakers than phone speakers).

Good stuff tbone, thanks for sharing. 

[tbone_ 14118]

Thanks for the feedback. Much appreciated.

Boston - I do a little instrumental Smokin sometimes between sets. I’ll try to get that worked in for you.

On the bass - I do think the Zoom recorded a little bass heavy. It’s tricky because we use a EV30M tower array (along with a second QSC slave) so the sub is right next to us. To get it to sound full enough out in the crowd it needs to sound muddy where we’re standing. I can never bring myself to dial it in where it probably should be though so I think it usually sounds thinner than it should. I need to get someone with sound expertise to help me dial it in live one of these days. Also I get feedback on the A string if there’s too much bass up close and I’ve never been able to get it dialed out with the notch. I could also probably use some compression but I’ve never been able to make that work myself either.

Yes - lots of barre chords. Been fun learning how to be guitar player, percussionist, and bass player all at the same time. And I’m a shitty drummer. But the thing I try to do mostly for what we’re doing is set a groove. Everything else after that is academic. But no groove = no good. That will forever be a work in process.

Barflies - it’s a love hate thing. But our job is to keep them there and keep them ordering. So it’s all good. The guy that literally pushed me out off the way while I was singing the other night to yell into the mic nearly got fucking pummeled though. But he did tip $50 later and I think he got the message so I got over it. Some of the shit I’ve heard doing this in bars the last 3 years is just full on looney tunes though. but highly entertaining.

[Celery Man 20943]

Sounds great tbone

 

carved top junior …

[tbone_ 14118]

Oooh. Wow.

[Deej 76767]

Like a Jared James Nichols Les Paul.

[Buzzrock 14920]

Nice work tbone. Watching that video gives me anxiety though, stagefright-by-proxy. I’ve played for a long time but always been too chickenshit to do much of it in front of other people. I feel like I have to be absolutely perfect and I’m far from that. I even had a live band for my 50th birthday last year and when I talked to them about sitting in for a song or two I got this overwhelming feeling of inadequacy like “stop being stupid, they don’t want to play with you” so I didn’t pursue it. And I’d been coaching baseball with the guitar player for a year. It’s a big shortcoming on my part.

But my daughter will graduate from high school next year and be gone, and we’ve played for neighbors once to positive feedback. I should make it a point to do it more before she’s gone.

[Buzzrock 14920]

Sounds great tbone
 
carved top junior …

Per the IG post they call that a “Senior”

https://www.instagram.com/p/CpaIfyRu94j/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

[Chad Fuck 17673]

2 minutes ago, Buzzrock said:

Nice work tbone. Watching that video gives me anxiety though, stagefright-by-proxy. I’ve played for a long time but always been too chickenshit to do much of it in front of other people. I feel like I have to be absolutely perfect and I’m far from that. I even had a live band for my 50th birthday last year and when I talked to them about sitting in for a song or two I got this overwhelming feeling of inadequacy like “stop being stupid, they don’t want to play with you” so I didn’t pursue it. And I’d been coaching baseball with the guitar player for a year. It’s a big shortcoming on my part.

But my daughter will graduate from high school next year and be gone, and we’ve played for neighbors once to positive feedback. I should make it a point to do it more before she’s gone.

You hear all those people chatting in the background?  They don't care if you missed that 7th chord, or flubbed a note in the solo. As long as the boy is buying drinks and the girls are dancing, you're doing what you came to do.  

[Deej 76767]

4 minutes ago, Buzzrock said:

Per the IG post they call that a “Senior”

https://www.instagram.com/p/CpaIfyRu94j/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

https://youtu.be/ASPAjUHmWMM 

[tbone_ 14118]

Nice work tbone. Watching that video gives me anxiety though, stagefright-by-proxy. I’ve played for a long time but always been too chickenshit to do much of it in front of other people. I feel like I have to be absolutely perfect and I’m far from that. I even had a live band for my 50th birthday last year and when I talked to them about sitting in for a song or two I got this overwhelming feeling of inadequacy like “stop being stupid, they don’t want to play with you” so I didn’t pursue it. And I’d been coaching baseball with the guitar player for a year. It’s a big shortcoming on my part.

But my daughter will graduate from high school next year and be gone, and we’ve played for neighbors once to positive feedback. I should make it a point to do it more before she’s gone.

Thank you. And as usual, mr fuck has good insight. And they definitely don’t care if you miss things here and there. What they do care about though imo is are you delivering the song with confidence. If you are fumbling around and letting the song sing you instead of you singing the song they will pick up on it. And it will not be good for the vibe.

I was in exactly your same boat. For decades. Always played. Always wanted to play live. Never had the confidence. Never had the right situation blah blah blah whatever. And it always bugged me. Gnawed at me. Never really went away. I would see people playing all the time, some who were very good and would blow me away. But many who honestly were just meh, but getting paid and playing, and I’d think man I think I could at least be that good.

So about 5-6 years ago I set a goal to try to get paid to make music. Long tall mountain to climb. But who gives a fuck. The climb is fun. If I make it I make it. If not, we’ll at least I tried. But every day I tried to take a few steps up the hill. My rationale with trying to get paid is that no one will tell you the truth if you suck. But if they pay you, and even better invite you back, well then there’s your answer.

It was a commitment. And has taken a ton of work. And priorities. It was a catalyst in my divorce. (Not to digress, but not saying it was the cause, but just shed light on an already problematic situation. What good is a supposed life partner who can’t support someone chasing a lifelong dream? Happy to have this longer discussion elsewhere if anyone is interested).

I couldn’t sing for shit. Found a really good and cool voice coach. Spent a bunch of time with her. She was as much of a performance coach as just a voice coach. But she was amazing at both. Berklee degree, legit bonafides. She’s the one that really helped me understand the confidence concept. Her line was, if you haven’t practiced a song so much you are completely sick of it, you aren’t ready to perform it. It will sing you and people will pick up on it. So practice. A lot.

The first day I went in for a lesson, I had stalled all I could stall and finally had to sing. She stopped me about half way through and said yea, no, that really just isn’t working at all. Holy fuck that was horrifying. But she was great about it and we kept going. She was like my goal is to get you playing out if that what you want to do. I said fine but you have to tell me the truth, because no one else will. If you won’t tell me it sucks if it sucks, then I can never believe you when you say it’s good and I’m ready. That was our deal. I still wasn’t sure I believed her.

I did this for about six months. Then ventured to some open mics. Didn’t tell anyone where or when. Also holy fucking shit. That’s eye opening. But I did it. And the dudes there were great. Totally welcoming and understanding. Did a dozen or so of those but they get old pretty quick. Lots of waiting around for 2/3/4 tunes. No warm up, no time to get into a groove, pa always sucks etc etc. But they serve their purpose - they will get you over your stage fright. If you bust through that wall just once, when you are done it will feel pretty damn cool after.

The lady singer was part of our larger band. After an offhand comment one time we ended up doing so couple tunes at a couple open mics. After trying for a year to get the other guitarist to do it with me. (He’s really really good, but acoustic shit is for fags, Def Leppard man!). Anyway, we just sort of liked doing it and it grew from there. It definitely helps to play with someone who can sing like that. May will be our 3 year anniversary of getting paid to make music. We’ve probably done 200 paid gigs. Have about 250 songs we can do. We’ve done clubs, bars, private parties, corporate gigs, charity events, etc etc. We get invited back all the time from places we play. We’re booked as much as we want to play. Probably made close to $50k so far. But beyond the money it’s far and away the most fun I’ve had in a long time. Probably ever.

The point of this long story is that I am nothing special. I’m a hack guitar player and an even worse hack singer. But I found someone to help me, and just worked at it. I firmly believe that anyone who can play even a little can do at least what I’ve done if they want to. And probably be much better.

The mountain is climbable for anyone who wants to get up there.

/end of sermon

[noharleyyet 2838]

That is an effing great read, thanks . . .

[G650 14254]

18 minutes ago, tbone_ said:

Thank you. And as usual, mr fuck has good insight. And they definitely don’t care if you miss things here and there. What they do care about though imo is are you delivering the song with confidence. If you are fumbling around and letting the song sing you instead of you singing the song they will pick up on it. And it will not be good for the vibe.

I was in exactly your same boat. For decades. Always played. Always wanted to play live. Never had the confidence. Never had the right situation blah blah blah whatever. And it always bugged me. Gnawed at me. Never really went away. I would see people playing all the time, some who were very good and would blow me away. But many who honestly were just meh, but getting paid and playing, and I’d think man I think I could at least be that good.

So about 5-6 years ago I set a goal to try to get paid to make music. Long tall mountain to climb. But who gives a fuck. The climb is fun. If I make it I make it. If not, we’ll at least I tried. But every day I tried to take a few steps up the hill. My rationale with trying to get paid is that no one will tell you the truth if you suck. But if they pay you, and even better invite you back, well then there’s your answer.

It was a commitment. And has taken a ton of work. And priorities. It was a catalyst in my divorce. (Not to digress, but not saying it was the cause, but just shed light on an already problematic situation. What good is a supposed life partner who can’t support someone chasing a lifelong dream? Happy to have this longer discussion elsewhere if anyone is interested).

I couldn’t sing for shit. Found a really good and cool voice coach. Spent a bunch of time with her. She was as much of a performance coach as just a voice coach. But she was amazing at both. Berklee degree, legit bonafides. She’s the one that really helped me understand the confidence concept. Her line was, if you haven’t practiced a song so much you are completely sick of it, you aren’t ready to perform it. It will sing you and people will pick up on it. So practice. A lot.

The first day I went in for a lesson, I had stalled all I could stall and finally had to sing. She stopped me about half way through and said yea, no, that really just isn’t working at all. Holy fuck that was horrifying. But she was great about it and we kept going. She was like my goal is to get you playing out if that what you want to do. I said fine but you have to tell me the truth, because no one else will. If you won’t tell me it sucks if it sucks, then I can never believe you when you say it’s good and I’m ready. That was our deal. I still wasn’t sure I believed her.

I did this for about six months. Then ventured to some open mics. Didn’t tell anyone where or when. Also holy fucking shit. That’s eye opening. But I did it. And the dudes there were great. Totally welcoming and understanding. Did a dozen or so of those but they get old pretty quick. Lots of waiting around for 2/3/4 tunes. No warm up, no time to get into a groove, pa always sucks etc etc. But they serve their purpose - they will get you over your stage fright. If you bust through that wall just once, when you are done it will feel pretty damn cool after.

The lady singer was part of our larger band. After an offhand comment one time we ended up doing so couple tunes at a couple open mics. After trying for a year to get the other guitarist to do it with me. (He’s really really good, but acoustic shit is for fags, Def Leppard man!). Anyway, we just sort of liked doing it and it grew from there. It definitely helps to play with someone who can sing like that. May will be our 3 year anniversary of getting paid to make music. We’ve probably done 200 paid gigs. Have about 250 songs we can do. We’ve done clubs, bars, private parties, corporate gigs, charity events, etc etc. We get invited back all the time from places we play. We’re booked as much as we want to play. Probably made close to $50k so far. But beyond the money it’s far and away the most fun I’ve had in a long time. Probably ever.

The point of this long story is that I am nothing special. I’m a hack guitar player and an even worse hack singer. But I found someone to help me, and just worked at it. I firmly believe that anyone who can play even a little can do at least what I’ve done if they want to. And probably be much better.

The mountain is climbable for anyone who wants to get up there.

/end of sermon

 

Well firstly, you play guitar well, so hush with that stuff. And as I said you sing a damn sight better than I do. Not a high bar as I kill small animals with my voice, but still.

 

But honestly, this a great story. I like this almost as much as seeing our brethrens kids get their first guitars or play shows. Over the years I've never really felt like I could say anything that helped people get over the fear of performing, because everyone has different psychology, but the one commonality is that to get over it, you really have to want to. If you want it bad enough, you will do it. And it seems to me the older you are, the harder it is to get over that hump for many reasons, and you have to want it even more. I feel like I had it easy in a way because I segued right from band to orchestra, which let's you blend into a crowd, to doing bands in a very supportive environment. I think the second show we played in high school had like 1,000 people, so you kind of get over the crowd thing pretty quick. My parents would come to my shows, so you know there was always at least one motherfucker in the audience that thought you were ok. By the time we were playing clubs in our 20s it was not a big thing, where as when you start straight off, that shit can be intense just from the unknown, even on an open mic night with everyone out there strangling notes. So all the work you put in is pretty fucking awesome and it's easy to see.

 

@Buzzrock you can do it as well man. And if I read right you and your daughter jam together? All the more reason!

 

One thing I can 100% attest to, which @Chad Fucknoted, is absolutely no one is going to know if you are playing the right shit. As long as it's got the right general feel and a good rhythm, people don't have a clue. This isn't just for bar bands either, any show is like this. Down at the club watching whoever, as long as they are tight and grooving it sounds good. Probably the biggest mistake people make is getting uptight trying to hit every note. Flow and be loose. 

[tbone_ 14118]

 
Flow and be loose. 

100% this. For me, this took tons practice and tons of reps to get comfortable with.

[AnotherUTFan 9740]

Thank you. And as usual, mr fuck has good insight. And they definitely don’t care if you miss things here and there. What they do care about though imo is are you delivering the song with confidence. If you are fumbling around and letting the song sing you instead of you singing the song they will pick up on it. And it will not be good for the vibe.

I was in exactly your same boat. For decades. Always played. Always wanted to play live. Never had the confidence. Never had the right situation blah blah blah whatever. And it always bugged me. Gnawed at me. Never really went away. I would see people playing all the time, some who were very good and would blow me away. But many who honestly were just meh, but getting paid and playing, and I’d think man I think I could at least be that good.

So about 5-6 years ago I set a goal to try to get paid to make music. Long tall mountain to climb. But who gives a fuck. The climb is fun. If I make it I make it. If not, we’ll at least I tried. But every day I tried to take a few steps up the hill. My rationale with trying to get paid is that no one will tell you the truth if you suck. But if they pay you, and even better invite you back, well then there’s your answer.

It was a commitment. And has taken a ton of work. And priorities. It was a catalyst in my divorce. (Not to digress, but not saying it was the cause, but just shed light on an already problematic situation. What good is a supposed life partner who can’t support someone chasing a lifelong dream? Happy to have this longer discussion elsewhere if anyone is interested).

I couldn’t sing for shit. Found a really good and cool voice coach. Spent a bunch of time with her. She was as much of a performance coach as just a voice coach. But she was amazing at both. Berklee degree, legit bonafides. She’s the one that really helped me understand the confidence concept. Her line was, if you haven’t practiced a song so much you are completely sick of it, you aren’t ready to perform it. It will sing you and people will pick up on it. So practice. A lot.

The first day I went in for a lesson, I had stalled all I could stall and finally had to sing. She stopped me about half way through and said yea, no, that really just isn’t working at all. Holy fuck that was horrifying. But she was great about it and we kept going. She was like my goal is to get you playing out if that what you want to do. I said fine but you have to tell me the truth, because no one else will. If you won’t tell me it sucks if it sucks, then I can never believe you when you say it’s good and I’m ready. That was our deal. I still wasn’t sure I believed her.

I did this for about six months. Then ventured to some open mics. Didn’t tell anyone where or when. Also holy fucking shit. That’s eye opening. But I did it. And the dudes there were great. Totally welcoming and understanding. Did a dozen or so of those but they get old pretty quick. Lots of waiting around for 2/3/4 tunes. No warm up, no time to get into a groove, pa always sucks etc etc. But they serve their purpose - they will get you over your stage fright. If you bust through that wall just once, when you are done it will feel pretty damn cool after.

The lady singer was part of our larger band. After an offhand comment one time we ended up doing so couple tunes at a couple open mics. After trying for a year to get the other guitarist to do it with me. (He’s really really good, but acoustic shit is for fags, Def Leppard man!). Anyway, we just sort of liked doing it and it grew from there. It definitely helps to play with someone who can sing like that. May will be our 3 year anniversary of getting paid to make music. We’ve probably done 200 paid gigs. Have about 250 songs we can do. We’ve done clubs, bars, private parties, corporate gigs, charity events, etc etc. We get invited back all the time from places we play. We’re booked as much as we want to play. Probably made close to $50k so far. But beyond the money it’s far and away the most fun I’ve had in a long time. Probably ever.

The point of this long story is that I am nothing special. I’m a hack guitar player and an even worse hack singer. But I found someone to help me, and just worked at it. I firmly believe that anyone who can play even a little can do at least what I’ve done if they want to. And probably be much better.

The mountain is climbable for anyone who wants to get up there.

/end of sermon

Good story, tbone. I had my kids early and spent my 20s/30s raising them, so it was my late 30s before i was ready to take my guitar playing beyond the sofa. I started attending some really shitty, and some pretty decent, blues jams around San Diego where I met a lot of really cool and super supportive people who got me going, wich soon turned into a couple cover bands.

I moved to San Francisco and played a few jams around here, but I didn't really click with them - maybe because I'd already been down that road. I did fall in with a bunch of people who were in various original bands and figured I could do that. I couldn't find one to join, but my friend Rocky said, "If you start writing songs, you will have a band!". So i did and he was right. Now I have 3 or 4 bands depending how you count them, and have no problem finding talented people to make music with outside that.

I wouldn't count jamming among the reasons for my divorce, but I definitely feel you on that on, tbone. Early on I'd get a lot of shit for it and she never came out or showed any interest. I had a friend who followed my footsteps in attending jams back in SD and his wife would always come with him to support. I thought that was cool and they're still married.

@Buzzrock find a low attendance open mic or open jam, get a feel for it, then show up w a guitar when you're up to it. I think find a supportive community. I guess just don't do it if you want to stay married!

[G650 14254]

I will say my girlfriends, fiancees and my wife have all been supportive along the way. Then I took about a decade off so it was not much of an issue. It would be a problem to have a partner that didn't support your interest and passion, music or not.

 

If I told my wife I was quitting work to go in tour out of a van right now though I could see some difficulties...

[Chad Fuck 17673]

1 hour ago, tbone_ said:

Thank you. And as usual, mr fuck has good insight. And they definitely don’t care if you miss things here and there. What they do care about though imo is are you delivering the song with confidence. If you are fumbling around and letting the song sing you instead of you singing the song they will pick up on it. And it will not be good for the vibe.

I was in exactly your same boat. For decades. Always played. Always wanted to play live. Never had the confidence. Never had the right situation blah blah blah whatever. And it always bugged me. Gnawed at me. Never really went away. I would see people playing all the time, some who were very good and would blow me away. But many who honestly were just meh, but getting paid and playing, and I’d think man I think I could at least be that good.

So about 5-6 years ago I set a goal to try to get paid to make music. Long tall mountain to climb. But who gives a fuck. The climb is fun. If I make it I make it. If not, we’ll at least I tried. But every day I tried to take a few steps up the hill. My rationale with trying to get paid is that no one will tell you the truth if you suck. But if they pay you, and even better invite you back, well then there’s your answer.

It was a commitment. And has taken a ton of work. And priorities. It was a catalyst in my divorce. (Not to digress, but not saying it was the cause, but just shed light on an already problematic situation. What good is a supposed life partner who can’t support someone chasing a lifelong dream? Happy to have this longer discussion elsewhere if anyone is interested).

I couldn’t sing for shit. Found a really good and cool voice coach. Spent a bunch of time with her. She was as much of a performance coach as just a voice coach. But she was amazing at both. Berklee degree, legit bonafides. She’s the one that really helped me understand the confidence concept. Her line was, if you haven’t practiced a song so much you are completely sick of it, you aren’t ready to perform it. It will sing you and people will pick up on it. So practice. A lot.

The first day I went in for a lesson, I had stalled all I could stall and finally had to sing. She stopped me about half way through and said yea, no, that really just isn’t working at all. Holy fuck that was horrifying. But she was great about it and we kept going. She was like my goal is to get you playing out if that what you want to do. I said fine but you have to tell me the truth, because no one else will. If you won’t tell me it sucks if it sucks, then I can never believe you when you say it’s good and I’m ready. That was our deal. I still wasn’t sure I believed her.

I did this for about six months. Then ventured to some open mics. Didn’t tell anyone where or when. Also holy fucking shit. That’s eye opening. But I did it. And the dudes there were great. Totally welcoming and understanding. Did a dozen or so of those but they get old pretty quick. Lots of waiting around for 2/3/4 tunes. No warm up, no time to get into a groove, pa always sucks etc etc. But they serve their purpose - they will get you over your stage fright. If you bust through that wall just once, when you are done it will feel pretty damn cool after.

The lady singer was part of our larger band. After an offhand comment one time we ended up doing so couple tunes at a couple open mics. After trying for a year to get the other guitarist to do it with me. (He’s really really good, but acoustic shit is for fags, Def Leppard man!). Anyway, we just sort of liked doing it and it grew from there. It definitely helps to play with someone who can sing like that. May will be our 3 year anniversary of getting paid to make music. We’ve probably done 200 paid gigs. Have about 250 songs we can do. We’ve done clubs, bars, private parties, corporate gigs, charity events, etc etc. We get invited back all the time from places we play. We’re booked as much as we want to play. Probably made close to $50k so far. But beyond the money it’s far and away the most fun I’ve had in a long time. Probably ever.

The point of this long story is that I am nothing special. I’m a hack guitar player and an even worse hack singer. But I found someone to help me, and just worked at it. I firmly believe that anyone who can play even a little can do at least what I’ve done if they want to. And probably be much better.

The mountain is climbable for anyone who wants to get up there.

/end of sermon

I love all this.  Having someone else to play with is huge.  It helps if they're better than you, but if not, you can still make it work.  

You'll notice the key point here is just to start doing it.  You'll suck on some stuff and do better on others.  The more you get out there and do it, the less you'll suck.  You may still feel like you suck, but trust me, you'll suck less each time.  Once that count off goes and you're in the tune, all those butterflies sail away.  At least they do for me.  

[tbone_ 14118]

Autf - also a great story man. Always loved following your travails on here. Just great stuff.

And I know you meant it in jest, but just fwiw, I am in no way suggesting one would have to get divorced to do what I did. In my case, frankly, it was just the catalyst to do something I should have done a long time before.

I knew what the outcome would be the minute I made the commitment. Didn’t fit the unilateral agenda. I had an office/practice room upstairs. I would be up there practicing and she would just walk by and slam the door closed. This probably happened 100 times. The one open mic she attended her body language suggested she’d rather be at a root canal appointment.

C’est la vie. Willie got it right - “The life I love is making music with my friends”

[G650 14254]

9 minutes ago, Chad Fuck said:

You'll notice the key point here is just to start doing it.

Yeah you beat me to it. I was going to say the only way to do it is to do it. Not terribly deep, but true.

[AnotherUTFan 9740]

And I know you meant it in jest, but just fwiw, I am in no way suggesting one would have to get divorced to do what I did. In my case, frankly, it was just the catalyst to do something I should have done a long time before.

I knew what the outcome would be the minute I made the commitment. Didn’t fit the unilateral agenda. I had an office/practice room upstairs. I would be up there practicing and she would just walk by and slam the door closed. This probably happened 100 times. The one open mic she attended her body language suggested she’d rather be at a root canal appointment.

Absolutely agreed. Just exposes a crack that's already there IF it's already there. My current girlfriend of a few years now is super supportive. I'm usually off making music with somebody 3 nights a week and she's not only cool with that, but when we play a show she's always there and into the scene.