Fighting Irish Forums

Well i do, and im wondering if anyone here does to. Im currently without one, because i sold both of mine to save up for this. Pretty, aint she . I mainly play hard rock and some metal, but i ocasionaly do some hendrix-like stuff (or at least try). My band plays some metal, punk and rock, altough we dont have a setlist yet. So, share your stories eg. how you started playing, what you play, and whats your main instrument. Bassists are welcome to.

Howdy, Gorky!

I LOVE well-written and performed Rock, but spend all my time on the Acoustic front.
Self-taught for 37 years, and still learning. Waited a VERY long time to get good quality instruments, but finally bit the bullet and invested in my first Taylor ( a 310 ) back in 2000. I've since added a Baby Rosewood, 355CE 12-string, AB-1 Custom Fretless Bass, and a Bodhran. Future aquisitions will be a Mandolin, Hurdy Gurdy, and (if I can find one in good condition) an old Pump Organ, but they may never materialize because the missus and I just bought a house and the accompanying wrecking ball called a mortgage.
Being an Acoustic fan, I concentrate on stuff you never hear on the radio, and have been playing around with alternate tunings...Drop D, Double Drop D, Open G, Orkney (EABEBB).

You may want to check in with our cell-mate Macca...
He is very into Jimmi, has a nice Fender Strat, a German Shepard, and (if you believe Falcon) an extensive collection of gay porno.


I do not know if he plays the dog, although we have our suspicions.

I'd love to play the guitar.
I have one here, given to me from a friend.

But it's for right handed people and as I am left handed, and lack of a teacher - the guitar still stands around.
Sad that is - but who knows - comes time, comes music

:FI:Airway wrote:
But it's for right handed people and as I am left handed

Just reverse the guitar Airway, Take the strings off and but them back on upside down (swap string 1 with 6, 2 with 5 ect.) And you hav a left handed guitar. may be a weird shape but it will work. Jimi Hendrix had the same problem when he started.

I play too. started bout 10 years ago with your average generic rock but got more into classical and latin as the years went on. But now I can only remember about three songs so hate it when someone asks me to play somethin!

Also playing guitar makes it more difficult to hold a beer

:FI:Airway wrote:I'd love to play the guitar.
I have one here, given to me from a friend.

But it's for right handed people and as I am left handed, and lack of a teacher - the guitar still stands around.
Sad that is - but who knows - comes time, comes music

You can swap the strings around you know? Being a lefty or 'Corriejukit' as we say here in Scotland, I've had to do that many times in the past, its never ideal but works ok.

Don't play much but the acoustic for an occasional jam these days but still have a lovely Lowden acoustic and a 1983 Yamaha SG1000 electric both lefty versions. The latters gathering dust and value

Ok, swapping is he magic word.

Can I do that on my own and tne it right?
I found a program for the computer to help it a bit. Is that useful or do I have to buy expensive hardware utilities.

I don't wanna be Jimmi Hendrix though

Yeah you could swap the strings yourself easily. just take them off and put them back on in the opposite order (fattest string on the bottom, thinnest on the top) and you have a left handed guitar.

The only hardware you might need is a tuner if you cant do it by ear yet. You could download some software and plug a mic into your comp as opposed to buying one

im actualy left handed, but i play guitar the normal way. It seems more natural to me. Also, if you reverse the strings, you might also want to set the intonation (If your bridge alows it)

If it's an acoustic guitar, switching the strings around can cause serious damage to the instrument, since the bracing will be set up to support more torque on one side of the bridge than the other. Also the nut and bridge bar will not be set up correctly and will cause intonation problems.
My main instrument is a German Fiddle, but we also have a Martin000 guitar, which is just starting to really break in after about ten years. My main thing is Irish traditional music and songs (sean nós).

Ever heard of Lasairfhíona Ní Chonaola?
She and her brother MacDara have some lovely sean-nós songs.
Her debut album "An Raicín Álainn" is my favourite one!

Yes, I have heard of her, I have both of her albums. My favorite young sean nós singer though is Róisín Elsafty.
I recorded a song I learned from Lasairfhíona's first album for an album I am working on.

You are working on an album?
Now that sounds great! Is music more for you than as a hobby? Are you musician in general then?

I haven't heard of Róisín Elsafty yet but I'm looking forward to listen to some tunes of her.
Thank's for the advice.

I also play guitar. Started on recorder, then moved on to keyboard, which I've played for quite some time. After that I really got into playing guitar. First accoustic, then electric. I own a Ibanez GRX 40. It's a cheap beginner's guitar and it's surprisingly good. I don't play much, but there are some periods in which I almost can't stop playing. Never had any guitar lessons, as I was a bit tired of the keyboard lessons and I like to figure stuff out myself. I would like to own a Fender Jaguar sometime, but they're very expensive and there are other things I have to save up for first...

On changing the strings around: it's not a very good idea to remove all the strings from any guitar at once. I think it would be best to swap them around two by two. Setting the bridge bar is pretty easy. However, it does recuire a good ear, or tuner device for that matter. I could give you a full explanation of how to do it, but I'm sure you'll find much better guides if you google or things like 'guitar bridge intonation'.

BTW, the guitar you're getting is very nice and I think just perfect for the kind of music you play. Have fun with it!

Bridge intonation is easily set on most electrics by adjusting individual bridge pieces . 12th fret harmonic/fingered tone should be equal. Make any adjustments to the action (height of strings from fretboard) first. Optimal is as low as you can get without fret buzz.

You would have to change the nut to a left handed version because of the grooves for the strings. There will be "buzz" otherwise .

It's fairly easy to make your own "nut" using a suitable piece of brass bar and some needle files or even a hacksaw blade ground down to a suitable thickness to cut the grooves.For wire strings top "E" string can be from 0.20mm to 0.35mm , depending on favoured gauge. I'd suggest medium gauge strings if you're a beginner using wire strings .


After that you could do worse-http://www.bertweedon.com/video.htm

:FI:Heloego wrote:
You may want to check in with our cell-mate Macca...
He is very into Jimmi, has a nice Fender Strat, a German Shepard, and (if you believe Falcon) an extensive collection of gay porno.


I do not know if he plays the dog, although we have our suspicions.

Well....

correction....

I do not posess gay porno;)

I'm into Jimi Hendrix indeed, bought myself a nice small VOX amplifier so I can easily change flats without having to carry my Marshall JCM 800 with me. It sounds nice with my Fender Stratocaster. I feel I need to get back to playing more often, recent months have been very intensive for me in different aspects and drawn my attention from playing music.

I love good rock, e.g. Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin and other bands, poprock, jazz, etc, a big variety of music appeals to me;) folk music too, very deep;)

damn, now you made me pick up the axe and move these rusty fingers;) wanna try out the nashville tuning (is it called this way?) -Honky Tonk Woman by the Rolling Stones;)

Cheers;)

Mac

my dog is named after Fender;)