Santa's early ....left these today

Originally Posted by: manXcat

Originally Posted by: JohnGCFather Cristmas came early for me as well. I now have a Mystic Surf green Fender Professional 11 Strat. I think the whole family must have posted him early letters telling him I was a member of Guitar tricks.

Woohoo! Someone must have been an especially good boy this year.

Super excited for you. Fab guitar, & love your choice of colour. Can't beat any of the colour classics on a Strat. Pic?

Have you got a Fender amp John? If not, maybe drag in cousins, nieces and nephews to write more letters? = P

Can't praise enough how perfect a combo with that Strat for Blackface cleans Fender amps can be, and with Tweed tones 'to die for'.

Thank you very much, I think the family thought if they got me a nice fender I would dare not give up until I could play a few tunes hee he. I have to practice extra hard as I have to make up for my age, ( whispers 78 years ) but I do have the advantage of having played piano and can read music. The guitar sounds great and I have it combined with a Boss Katana 50 and a Mooer Reecho pedal. I might drop a hint next year for a Fender amp. Must thank you for the input you give on all your very helpful post I for one appreciate it. I must have a look to find out how to post a photo of the fender on GT.

Photo of my early Christmas present as requested and one showing my music study.

Lubbly jubbly. 🎄

I see the contrasting pickups & knobs are cream, but is that pickguard light mint green or white? Looks the former to me, but difficult to be sure from the pic exposure looking at the different shades the green takes on in the different lighting of two pictures.

Studio monitors too. 👍👍

Originally Posted by: manXcat

Lubbly jubbly. 🎄

I see the contrasting pickups & knobs are cream, but is that pickguard light mint green or white? Looks the former to me, but difficult to be sure from the pic exposure looking at the different shades the green takes on in the different lighting of two pictures.

Studio monitors too. 👍👍

The pickguard is as you first picked a light mint green. The color of the guitar being metalic is very interesting as the shades differ depending on the angle you look at it. When I first saw it on the net I was not all that struck by the color but when I saw it at the dealer I fell in love with it. Photographs do not do it justice. The music studio is very well set up for my needs with the Dehringer studio monitors / Komplete audio 11 interface / Guitar rig 5 / Garage Band and Boss studio app on the Apple computer . The piano is a Clavinova. The other guitars are a Squier CV Strat and a red Squier Affinity Strat that I started off with.

Originally Posted by: JohnGC

Photo of my early Christmas present as requested and one showing my music study.

Now that is a perty geetar, right there!

Enjoy that bad boy!

Originally Posted by: manXcat

Footprint, shape, bevel and attack technique notwithstanding, it's difficult to put into words, but the density/texture of the material they're made of for wont of a better description seems to impart a distinctive 'Jazz III tonal signature'. I've certainly questioned plausibility of that perception and whether it's psychosomatic or real in seeking some qualitative evidentiary basis for it. But in the end just have to go with intuition from ear and finger 'analysis' repeatedly informing me it isn't.

[/quote]

Having played using Jazz picks even prior to red Jazz III's (I started on black Jazz II's), I'd say the effect is real. And having worked on going back, for strumming, to standard sized picks, I've surmised that the Jazz III's small size makes them easier to keep grip on and with the minimal tip exposure, allows the user more control. When I was 'shreddy' guy back when, these were the only pick I'd use. I was reasonably fast and clean. This pick helped a lot. So, I endorse the idea that there is something to the shape and size.

[quote=manXcat]

Nice. Headstock cradle one of those must haves for own setups, and +1 for a mini-pedal tuner. Korg kit. Always reliable. Footprint is one of those things I found with hands on experience facilitates individual pedal use off pedalboard too. Although my pedal tuner is larger footprint with internal battery capability, I have on some of these for mine when I want to use it independently off the pedalboard or a DC PSU. Convenient, I prefer to use them, otherwise I always forget to disconnect the input TS cable and end up with a flat 9v battery the next day.

Those DC adapters are cool. I mean, now, the only pedal I actually have is the tuner and it takes 2 2032 watch-style 'wafer' batteries. I'm pretty dillegent with not keeping pedals on/engaged to kill batteries. I picked that up early on. Even now it's automatic for me. Since I've gone largely amp sim with the Bias FX 2 or my with my little Ibanez Tube Screamer amp (which, for my more classic rock, old scholl tone is shockingly good), I've found less need for pedals. Even in the 80's, I literally had 3 pedals. A wah, a Boss Turbo Overdrive and a really beat up DOD flanger. When everyone else was rolling in their refrigerator of rack effects, I'd plop down my little setup and on average sounded better than the refrigerator if stuff. So, not shocking I'm not out hunting the new pedal like I see with so many YouTubers...

But I digress.....

Originally Posted by: JeffS65

Originally Posted by: JohnGC

Photo of my early Christmas present as requested and one showing my music study.

Now that is a perty geetar, right there!

Enjoy that bad boy!

Thank you Jeff. I am thrilled to bits with it and enjoying it so much. Every time I go near it I just want to pick it up and practice. To be honest I had the same idea as many others that once I could play a few tunes I would reward myself with one of these. For me the family knowing what I planned and making my wish come true early, has made me more determined to achieve my goal. Regarding the Dunlop Jazz picks, after trying many others these are my favourite. I do find I can handle the large ones easier but maybe that is because I am learning and have to overcome the picks keep twisting. I am getting there so may try the smaller ones soon.

Originally Posted by: SusanMW

Faith, your setup sounds pretty cool. I love the Sweetwater Santa idea... :) I almost ordered my new ukulele from them but they were out of stock of the Cordoba I wanted so I had to look elsewhere. But they are awesome.. :)

I should also add, Santa is bringing me at least a couple months worth of 30 Day Singer lessons, too.....I didn't think I would ever sing and play guitar but now that I have the ukulele, my predictions were right...I AM singing more, regardless of my abilities so it's giving me a little more confidence that I might be able to sing even better someday...with the guitar, too. I recorded Little Drummer Boy (my youtube channel) on my ukulele yesterday and SANG my little heart out...haha.

Oh no, you don't get to say you put something up on YouTube without sharing the link. Fair's fair!!!! So.....?

Ha, oops!

Here you go...

That is my Little Drummer Boy song, but I have also posted a bunch of vids since then, including my ukulele version of Sound of Silence which I worked really hard on (it's still a work in progress but I have a decent verion so far.) I can't wait to dive into my 30 Day Singer lessons!

Originally Posted by: SusanMW

Ha, oops!

Here you go...

That is my Little Drummer Boy song, but I have also posted a bunch of vids since then, including my ukulele version of Sound of Silence which I worked really hard on (it's still a work in progress but I have a decent verion so far.) I can't wait to dive into my 30 Day Singer lessons!

I was smiling the whole way through! Someone on Twitter said recently, "We're getting really good at doing things together while we're apart." This is such a lovely example of that.

BTW, not that you asked, so unsolicited advice here... I think if you took the song down a couple of steps, your voice would sound really fabulous! You have a beautiful, warm tone in your lower range.

Thanks Faith! I'm anxious to learn all about tones and pitches and keys.. :D Too bad our church can't meet in person these days. When things go back to normal, I will finally join the choir. I live in a University Town so we always have the great benefit of vocalists and musicians helping out. So much to learn from them!

Originally Posted by: SusanMW

Thanks Faith! I'm anxious to learn all about tones and pitches and keys.. :D Too bad our church can't meet in person these days. When things go back to normal, I will finally join the choir. I live in a University Town so we always have the great benefit of vocalists and musicians helping out. So much to learn from them!

You're doing great! Transposing/changing keys is one of the easier things to do, esp these days when you can do it with a click of a button on the web. Then you just substitute in the new chords and you're good to go!

Originally Posted by: JeffS65Having played using Jazz picks even prior to red Jazz III's (I started on black Jazz II's), I'd say the effect is real. And having worked on going back, for strumming, to standard sized picks, I've surmised that the Jazz III's small size makes them easier to keep grip on and with the minimal tip exposure, allows the user more control. When I was 'shreddy' guy back when, these were the only pick I'd use. I was reasonably fast and clean. This pick helped a lot. So, I endorse the idea that there is something to the shape and size.[/quote]

Thanks for affirming it's not my imagination. Everything you say above (except commonality of starting on Jazz II blacks) , ditto. Notably the tip exposure and precision/control.

Originally Posted by: JeffS65Those DC adapters are cool. I mean, now, the only pedal I actually have is the tuner and it takes 2 2032 watch-style 'wafer' batteries. I'm pretty dillegent with not keeping pedals on/engaged to kill batteries. I picked that up early on. Even now it's automatic for me.

Procedure is my nature, but for some reason with pedals, unless powered by an external pedal PSU with their attention getter power state reminder LEDs, I still do forget regularly. I think it's attributable to mentally associating having 'switched them off' with their foot toggle switch reinforced visually by their active indicator LED going out even though intellectually I know that the real switching is in the TS input jack. So that albeit draining minimum current when toggled inactive, they are still switched on as long as there is a TS cable or patch cable plug inserted.

Typically it only occurs when I am using 1~3 pedals and don't bother with the (floater/spare) PSU (pictured), and never on the pedalboard with its own PSU slung under. I have a few of PSUs including a couple of wall warts, but find batteries convenient for ad hoc deployment. Although I buy my 9v batteries in bulk 20 packs, it gets expensive, along with inconvenient anywhere but home. Internal batteries without the visual reminder was my folly. With those 9v adapters, visual, independent & pocket portable in the same vein as my Blackstar Fly 3 amps, and also convenient in swapping between pedals quickly when desired.

Yer, other than those 3 seen in the pic above (Booster, Looper, Tuner), my pedals are for most frequently deployed in conjunction with my valve amp. The others have a wide range of onboard effects and their own proprietary footpedals for toggling channels and effects.

[quote=JeffS65]rolling in their refrigerator of rack effects, I'd plop down my little setup and on average sounded better than the refrigerator if stuff.

This rendered me a hearty laugh. Truth in humour.

Originally Posted by: JohnGCRegarding the Dunlop Jazz picks, after trying many others these are my favourite. I do find I can handle the large ones easier but maybe that is because I am learning and have to overcome the picks keep twisting. I am getting there so may try the smaller ones soon.

My own journey John. Trying many gauges, materials, shapes and sizes over the past three years, I love Dunlop nylon picks, but [u]initially[/u] I found their Jazz IIIs difficult to use. You might not if you are focusing upon Shadows instrumental melody.

Over time, my technique and preference have evolved so that now the Jazz III is my electric go to and I even use it on my e-acoustic.

For strummy stuff on acoustic I'll frequently choose a .38 or .46 Dunlop nylon both full size footprint, particularly when I want chords to ring out with a bright jangly tone. e.g. Mr. Tambourine Man (Byrds version). A celluloid .46 does well enough too, depending upon the tone one is looking for.

[br]I still use a variety of gauges and sizes. Dunlop .71 and .88 nylons are great all rounders on electric.

Originally Posted by: manXcat

Originally Posted by: JohnGCRegarding the Dunlop Jazz picks, after trying many others these are my favourite. I do find I can handle the large ones easier but maybe that is because I am learning and have to overcome the picks keep twisting. I am getting there so may try the smaller ones soon.

My own journey John. Trying many gauges, materials, shapes and sizes over the past three years, I love Dunlop nylon picks, but [u]initially[/u] I found their Jazz IIIs difficult to use. You might not if you are focusing upon Shadows instrumental melody.

Over time, my technique and preference have evolved so that now the Jazz III is my electric go to and I even use it on my e-acoustic.

For strummy stuff on acoustic I'll frequently choose a .38 or .46 Dunlop nylon both full size footprint, particularly when I want chords to ring out with a bright jangly tone. e.g. Mr. Tambourine Man (Byrds version). A celluloid .46 does well enough too, depending upon the tone one is looking for.

[br]I still use a variety of gauges and sizes. Dunlop .71 and .88 nylons are great all rounders on electric.

I must admit when I was using the small Jazz 111s on strumming that was when they were spinning on me. That was a while ago and maybe it is time to try them again. I have tried several picks and found the Dunlops are my favourite. I did find the .88 nylons gave me a nice bright sound for melody ( Shadows ) Have now got a reasonable Hank Marvin sound using the double delay with the Jazz 111 large size but will now try with the Small size. They might help me speed up the gallop on Apache. Thank you for the info, as usual your post are so helpful and as I am a very very mature beginner it is verymuch appreciated.