New UK member

[steevc]

I've been visiting this site for a while and thought I ought to join.

I'm a Steve (any others here?) who's been playing guitar for around 30 years, but not done much performing. I did classical to grade 5 in my teens, but have messed around with blues and rock over the years. I joined a rock covers band last year playing rhythm, but that has ground to a halt before we did any shows. Recently I've been concentrating on acoustic and fingerpicking some Pink Floyd for fun. I like the idea of forming a duo to play that sort of thing, but I wouldn't mind joining another band if the old one doesn't start again.

I'm thinking of taking some lessons to expand my technique and fix some bad habits. Any recommendations for teachers in the Mid-Beds, North Herts area?

My small gear collection consists of a Gordon Smith GS2 electric, Dean Performer electro-acoustic, Roland Cube 80x and my old Peavey Backstage. I've also got an old Korg Pandora 2 and a Zoom H4, which has been great for recording the band and my kids. My son is learning guitar, so I get to help him.

--
Steve

 

[Robert]

Another Steve!

But welcome! We let all Steves stay, as a policy.

Glad to have you here, enjoy our castle.

 

[mrmudcat]

Welcome.....Steve ............

 

[Brian Krashpad]

Welcome laddie!

Let's see a pic of that Gordon-Smith, hardly see them in the States (I assume the same is true of Canadia).

 

[mjk123]

...welcome.

 

[evenkeel]

Welcome Steve! :beer: :beer:

 

[steevc]

Pic of my guitars at

http://steevc.multiply.com/photos/album/101#photo=3

The GS is a very simple guitar. I've had it over 20 years and it's still going strong.

 

[guitartango]

Hi Steve
Good to see you have joined up, you are not too far from me (Cambridge/Bedford border!). :rockon:

 

[peachhead]

Hiya Steve, welcome to the Fret!

 

[sunvalleylaw]

Hi Steve! Welcome from one of the other Steves!

 

[markb]

Hi, Steve!

 

[Brian Krashpad]

Pic of my guitars at

http://steevc.multiply.com/photos/album/101#photo=3

The GS is a very simple guitar. I've had it over 20 years and it's still going strong.

Looks good, I am a fan of both simple workmanlike guitars and of doublecuts, so it fits my bill.

Ta.

 

[Rampant]

Greetings Steev

A veteran of 30 years, eh? Looking forward to your input...

Cheerz

Mark H

 

[birv2]

Welcome to the Fret, Steve! Nice looking guitars, too.

Bob

 

[steevc]

Thanks for the warm welcome. Although I've been playing for 30 years I do not consider myself to be a very experienced guitarist. There have been some long breaks and lots of playing at home without making much progress. I've not owned much gear either.

I'm here to learn. Joining the band gave me an incentive to learn a load of new songs and has inspired me to learn more in other areas. We've come a long way since I started when there were a couple of guitar magazines that had tab, but no audio media. Now you have a choice of magazines with DVDs and a mass of on-line tutorials, many for free. Plus you can find tab on-line for just about any song. I used the on-line videos and tab a lot for learning songs. I keep trying to find more video tutorials to improve my playing. There's plenty out there to keep me going.

It's a shame the band stopped rehearing, but people had work commitments. I've spent too much time playing alone and need some collaboration to inspire me to play. I'm keeping an eye on several sites for opportunities.

BTW I meant to mention that I use Linux on my computer. I've done some recording with Audacity, but it's limited. I want to have more of a play with Ardour, but intend to set up another PC just for audio work. That's top of my todo list.

Later

Steve

 

[Algonquin]

Welcome to the Fret Steve
Cheers :beer:

 

[MAXIFUNK]

Welcome to the Fret Steve
Cheers :beer:

Welcome aboard Steve.............

Maxi

 

[duhvoodooman]

Welcome to the Fret, Steve! Get ready to expand your collection--that just seems to happen around here! :rockon:

 

[luvmyshiner]

Welcome aboard!

 

[bigG]

Welcome aboard, Steve! :beer:

 

[steevc]

People are certainly friendly around here.

Here's some tracks my band recorded a while back. For various reasons we haven't played since, but I hope we'll get back together again.

http://soundcloud.com/steevc/sets/the-barking-spiders-open-rehearsal-14-07-09

I'm on rhythm guitar and a bit low in the mix. Our other guitarist is more keen than me on whacking up the volume, but I'm in there somewhere.

 

[Brian Krashpad]

People are certainly friendly around here.

Here's some tracks my band recorded a while back. For various reasons we haven't played since, but I hope we'll get back together again.

http://soundcloud.com/steevc/sets/the-barking-spiders-open-rehearsal-14-07-09

I'm on rhythm guitar and a bit low in the mix. Our other guitarist is more keen than me on whacking up the volume, but I'm in there somewhere.

That's quite an eclectic mix-- blues/Southern rock plus classic power pop/punk (2-4-6-8 and Buzzcocks).

More people should cover the Buzzcocks. In fact, everyone should, haha!

 

[steevc]

That's quite an eclectic mix-- blues/Southern rock plus classic power pop/punk (2-4-6-8 and Buzzcocks).

More people should cover the Buzzcocks. In fact, everyone should, haha!

Before I joined the band there was more of a classic rock bias, but we started mixing it up a bit and adding some modern stuff like Blur (Song 2), Green Day (Basket Case), Kaiser Chiefs etc. We didn't rehearse more than once a week, so we picked songs that were easy to learn, but would also get an audience going. I'd like to have done some more complicated songs, but there just wasn't the time.

The Buzzcocks song was one of our favourites to play.

I don't know how it is in the USA, but a lot of British cover bands that play pubs will play a wide range of material. I suppose there's a better chance that people in the audience like at least some of it.