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  • darthed1981darthed1981 Frets: 11670
    Alnico said:
    you're a great model for people to study.

    I now have a mental picture of @alnico painting @pmbomb in the buff.

    Don't know what that says about me... ;)
    We have to be so very careful, what we believe in...
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  • BridgehouseBridgehouse Frets: 24578
    Alnico said:
    you're a great model for people to study.

    I now have a mental picture of @alnico painting @pmbomb in the buff.

    Don't know what that says about me... ;)
    He'd need colours other than buff tho surely?
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  • pmbombpmbomb Frets: 1169
    you guys. 
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  • Alnico said:
    you're a great model for people to study.

    I now have a mental picture of @alnico painting @pmbomb in the buff.

    Don't know what that says about me... ;)
    I sincerely hope he's still got his flat cap on! 


    My Trading Feedback    |    You Bring The Band

    Just because you're paranoid, don't mean they're not after you
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  • AlnicoAlnico Frets: 4616
    Alnico said:
    you're a great model for people to study.

    I now have a mental picture of @alnico painting @pmbomb in the buff.

    Don't know what that says about me... ;)
    That clearly says a lot more about you than me.

     #officelife

    Lol.
    :)
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  • @Alnico ... paint me like one of your French girls! 

    My Trading Feedback    |    You Bring The Band

    Just because you're paranoid, don't mean they're not after you
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  • BridgehouseBridgehouse Frets: 24578
    @Alnico ... paint me like one of your French girls! 
    With a baguette and a string of onions?
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  • AlnicoAlnico Frets: 4616
    @Alnico ... paint me like one of your French girls! 
    I can't luv, 

    You're too posh! 
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  • jesonejesone Frets: 60
    Yep. I've been playing for about 18 years now and done lead/rhythm in bands but these jams will be the first time I get an acoustic out and sing................... I've no experience with the singing. Might try a few open mics in Edinburgh first if I can build up the courage!
    Holy crap! You're up in Edinburgh and you're coming down to Quad in Leicester? I actually live in Leicester & have rehearsed at Quad many times but still can't come along to the jam in November due to work. Massive kudos to you though.
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  • BlackjackBlackjack Frets: 227
    Hey @Alnico  would it be ok/appropriate or just unwanted or in the way if I took my Silver Bullet to the jam? Would love to be able to play it louder than I can at home but would also like to hear some good guitars in great hands through it too! 
    Its wasted as a living room amp but I love it too much!! 
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  • BridgehouseBridgehouse Frets: 24578
    Blackjack said:
    Hey @Alnico  would it be ok/appropriate or just unwanted or in the way if I took my Silver Bullet to the jam? Would love to be able to play it louder than I can at home but would also like to hear some good guitars in great hands through it too! 
    Its wasted as a living room amp but I love it too much!! 
    Bring it - it’s what the jams are all about ;)
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  • darthed1981darthed1981 Frets: 11670
    Blackjack said:
    Hey @Alnico  would it be ok/appropriate or just unwanted or in the way if I took my Silver Bullet to the jam? Would love to be able to play it louder than I can at home but would also like to hear some good guitars in great hands through it too! 
    Its wasted as a living room amp but I love it too much!! 
    Bring it - it’s what the jams are all about ;)
    Yeah "dime your amp like wot you can't do at home" has been an unofficial feature of the jams for some time! :)
    We have to be so very careful, what we believe in...
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  • BlackjackBlackjack Frets: 227
    Brilliant!! Thanks guys! 
    I will very much enjoy hearing it played through as it’s meant to be ! 
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  • AlnicoAlnico Frets: 4616
    Blackjack said:
    Hey @Alnico  would it be ok/appropriate or just unwanted or in the way if I took my Silver Bullet to the jam? Would love to be able to play it louder than I can at home but would also like to hear some good guitars in great hands through it too! 
    Its wasted as a living room amp but I love it too much!! 
    Bring it - it’s what the jams are all about ;)
    Yeah "dime your amp like wot you can't do at home" has been an unofficial feature of the jams for some time! :)
    What they said...

    A 40w HRD isn't an easy thing to play loud until you're in the right environment.
    As Ed says, the Jams are the perfect place to find out what it's like up loud and also the perfect place to use it in a band situation.

    Your amp is special and I'm sure that the Attendees would love to see and hear it themselves. We all know what an HRD is like but your 'Silver Bullet' edition with its V30 speaker and posh valves is sure to be of interest to those who know an HRD well and want to hear the difference that makes.

    I include myself in that group too.

    Bring it.
    It's where an amp like that belongs.
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  • BlackjackBlackjack Frets: 227
    Alnico said:
    Blackjack said:
    Hey @Alnico  would it be ok/appropriate or just unwanted or in the way if I took my Silver Bullet to the jam? Would love to be able to play it louder than I can at home but would also like to hear some good guitars in great hands through it too! 
    Its wasted as a living room amp but I love it too much!! 
    Bring it - it’s what the jams are all about ;)
    Yeah "dime your amp like wot you can't do at home" has been an unofficial feature of the jams for some time! :)
    What they said...

    A 40w HRD isn't an easy thing to play loud until you're in the right environment.
    As Ed says, the Jams are the perfect place to find out what it's like up loud and also the perfect place to use it in a band situation.

    Your amp is special and I'm sure that the Attendees would love to see and hear it themselves. We all know what an HRD is like but your 'Silver Bullet' edition with its V30 speaker and posh valves is sure to be of interest to those who know an HRD well and want to hear the difference that makes.

    I include myself in that group too.

    Bring it.
    It's where an amp like that belongs.
    Thank you @Alnico I will definately bring it then! It will be there for anyone that wants to give it a go.  As you know, I was just so lucky to get it! 
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  • adampeteradampeter Frets: 775
    Alnico said:
    adampeter said:
    Useful thread this, thanks @Alnico ;
    My problem will just be nerves, as i have got older i avoid people hearing me play, got no idea why
    Ask me to sing a song though and i have no problem whatsoever, 1 person or 1000 i would have no problem, so it ain't shyness
    This is common.
    When enough people have complained at you to turn it down and life has beaten your head up with work and other shit, you tend to feel self conscious and almost like anyone who can hear you play will laugh at you. 
    "Did you hear the awful racket that mid-life crisis idiot was making this morning?" Is usually the line that my imaginary neighbours never actually said that plays out in my head.

    Solution.
    Use headphones at home and find a local rehearsal studio to go to once a week or fortnight so you can make some noise without feeling self conscious. Most studios will do a deal for a small room that's big enough for just you and a guitar amp etc. If you want you can maybe ask for a small PA to play along to backing tracks. Everywhere charges different rates so shop around.
    Headphones at home builds confodence in private and regular studio volume will help you improve dynamics and get the hell over the imaginary hecklers.

    Practice at volume all the time and always standing up.

    In 30 days you'll be gagging for a stage.
    It's just a learned behaviour and it can be unlearned. 
    Stage fright is a different thing and that's crippling. This is something on it's own and something I've suffered with myself many times.

     @adampeter if this is similar or you want to discuss in prirate,  PM me anytime. 
    Yes this is similar to me, i'm gonna try the practice standing up stuff as i almost always practice sitting and unplugged.
    I don't have stagefright, in fact quite the opposite,  just have this block with the guitar.

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  • AlnicoAlnico Frets: 4616
    Chatting on Facebook this morning brought back something which I think is worth mentioning here.

    Guthrie is one of my personal favourite players and I've got a few Lick Library videos of his as well as watching almost everything he puts out on his YT channel.
    I've learned a lot from him but I got one piece of advice from him which is (To me) invaluable and stays with me every time I play, be it at home or on a stage.

    "Serve the song, not your Ego!"

    Sounds simple but it's (to me) like a core skill.
    I always, ALWAYS try to do this and it doesn't mean *copy* the song note for note, it simply means give the song what the song needs. It might be choosing whether to play in a Minor 3rd harmony instead of the normal melodic scale for the song. Let's use that as an example and it's simple a split second decision as to whether or not this would fit. Another example (albeit way more obvious) is sweep picking or that string scrape with the edge of the pick that ACDC used a lot (among many others).... Does it fit the song, does it serve the song?

    At the Jams, it's *very* easy to forget where you are in a song and suddenly have to "Wing it" until you either pick things back up and get back on track (I'm probably talking more about soloing now) or until the song is finished.
    When this happens or indeed if you go "Off Piste" on purpose, always try to think of what the song needs and serve the song accordingly.

    I once heard someone say these words about another player and they're both members here who played together at one of last years Jams (Sadly, one I couldn't go to but I did listen to some recordings and the comment is absolutely spot on) where the playing was exemplary...

    "Every note he played was considered and played beautifully".

    You know what? If someone said just that about my playing, I'd be on top of the world and I'm sure a few others would too.

    Flashy, high-speed playing is a thing and it has its place, like slap bass guitar does or whammy bar tricks etc. but it can be way overdone and fast is not what makes a "Good" player.

    A good player simply knows what to play to get the best out of a piece of music.

    Another quote which I'll finish this quoting thing off with is from Guy Pratt, remarking on David Gilmour's playing and this is something else that remains with me when I play because I would love for someone to say this about me one day...

    "David takes every single note, polishes it like a beautiful diamond and presents it to you on a red velvet cushion!"

    If we can all take something away from that and incorporate it into our own playing then it will only serve to make us all better players.

    Being a better player isn't always about learning to play new things or learning new skills.
    Often, being better is about learning restraint and not succumbing to "That'll do!", when what we really should be doing is polishing what we already know until it genuinely sounds as perfect as it can within the framework of that song.

    I've been lucky enough to hear some of our own players here and let me tell you, there are some really amazing players here who *really* have got this down.

     If you've heard @Adam_MD play you'll know what I mean. His touch and dynamics are beyond good but his note choices and style are fluid, considered and damn near perfect.  He's also got a great voice and decades of live experience. If you haven't heard him play, you should when you can. That man needs to be on stage again.

    There are loads more...
    We were all treated to a shred masterclass at "Huddstock 18" by @bloodandtears and that was a treat. Speed AND accuracy are hard to combine and he does that very well indeed, far better than I can.

     @TTony happens to be bloody good at chord inversions and on the occasions, I've Jammed with him, he's really surprised me with what he can embellish a song with and sound *really* big doing it.

     If you can, check out @littlegreenman 's own compositions and you'll find a masterclass on note choice and how to consider the effect that has on the song. His music takes me to another place, it's stunning.

    Drew isn't here anymore but he's a close friend of mine and I'm just about to buy all 6 of their albums after hearing the new release. WOW. Now, this is possibly the best example of what I mean, Drew is not a shredder by any means but the way he plays serves his music SO well. Tacoma Narrows Bridge Disaster is a bloody brilliant band because they've all got this theory down. Whether it's your style of music or not, it's undeniable how well Drew plays to serve the music he's playing with.

     Check out @digitalscream when he was in 'Closed Circuit'. They released their debut album 'Violet nights' in 2015. I bought that on week 1 when it was released when I was still a truck driver and on day 1 playing it in my cab, blasting it out of my open windows in a truck stop, I had more than one driver come over and ask "Who is THAT? That's awesome!!!"
    I couldn't agree more and still listen to it to this day. Lee is a great player when it comes to metal and again, it's all down to considering what works for a piece of music and what doesn't. One thing I will add is that he writes and plays an intro as good as ANY mainstream, signed band and that is often such a massively important part of any song. How many of us have hit "Next track" after hearing the first 20 seconds of a song?

    There are going to be lots more examples here on tFB and I'm sorry if I didn't tag you here, this is just what I can remember while I type based on what I've heard first hand from people I've been lucky enough to call friends.

    I'm sure there are many more of you I've yet to hear and hopefully yet to call a friend and I look forward to it all.

    "Serve the song, not your Ego".

    Thanks Guthrie.
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  • BridgehouseBridgehouse Frets: 24578
    ^ and that’s why we have a JamFather..
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  • digitalscreamdigitalscream Frets: 26451
    @Alnico - shucks, dude :)
    <space for hire>
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  • AlnicoAlnico Frets: 4616
    edited August 2018
    If we don't recognise our success', no matter how insignificant they may seem to the humble player within each one of us, we miss huge opportunities to build confidence and that's the key to progress. 

    EDIT:
    That's not directly related to what I've just posted or Lee's reply, it just damn good advice for all of us.
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