posted December 12, 2005 11:50 AM         

1. Most male guitarists get good at acoustic first, and then have an easy transition to electric. It's not as easy in reverse.

2. This is a big one. If he's going to be playing every day (which is a very good sign by the way), then it makes sense getting him something he can hold in his lap. By design, the Flying V is pretty difficult to hold in your lap as its bottom edge is a straight angled edge (which makes it slide out of place). It's tough to concentrate on learning and practicing when you're constantly dealing with your guitar slip-sliding around.

posted December 12, 2005 01:52 PM         

.. wrote a long post about the pros' and cons of it all .. squire versus flyingV (make??) .. but realy didn't want to dampen any enthusiasm .. but will leave this .. .. .. inthe uk .. used japanese made squires are fetching up to the equivalent of $700 .. ..
maybe check for hairline cracks around the headstock/neck/body joins on that V .. and maybe double check that it doesn't have any plywood in the construction .. $600 in the uk would probably only aquire one an instrument of far east manufacture .. new .. .. for $200 i'd be looking at why it is being sold .. flaws ??
.. maybe see if the seller will let you check it out for a few days .. see what its like for extended playing (timewise) ..
.. i get a hint of tinted glasses plus in-shop enthusiasm .. .. as in they always sound better at first in the shop ..
well most of the time then :-))

anyhowz ..

.. hope it works out .. ..
.. and it turns out to be a good one .. the flying V that is ..

posted December 12, 2005 02:01 PM         

******By design, the Flying V is pretty difficult to hold in your lap as its bottom edge is a straight angled edge (which makes it slide out of place). It's tough to concentrate on learning and practicing when you're constantly dealing with your guitar slip-sliding around.****

.. spot on .. didn't want to say 'owt .. but most V owners i've met usualy end up using it as a "once in a while " instrument .. even those that have early gibson models ...

posted December 12, 2005 03:22 PM         

.. well can i put a vote in for going the "acoustic" road .. pretty sure you could pick up a nice one for similar price .. and many acoustics these days have almost 'electric' action on the fretboard .. and should he pick up your gibson .. by then then he will have aquired respect for the fragility of hollow body laminated tops visa small accidents .. and you don't have to worry about an amp purchase ..

re used 'squires' and value : .. it's only the Japanese built ones that are sought after ( early ones used hardware from fender california .. alnico pickups 'n such ) .. ... the build quality went steeply downhill when the manufacturing process was moved to Korea then Indonesia ... .... ... (jap ones have 'jvc .. ' in the serial number .. on the neck backplate normaly)

.. on the other hand you want to make yer guy happy .. .. and you could always turn the V into a monster instrument for slide/bottleneck .. .. or play it upright with a violin bow ... ... take it out when your gibson would be safer at home .. (bar crowd damage .. etc )

.. i rekon a newbie should have an instrument that makes them Want to pick it up and play ..
.. and ... acoustics are pretty handy on outdoor excursions .. by a lake side for instance ..

posted December 13, 2005 09:21 AM         

.. this little black box is like a priceless gem ...
http://www.award-session.com/jd10.html

.. i think Morley (pedals) are their agent in the u.s. ....
.. extremely versatile bit of kit .. excellent response to playing input ..
.. tone controls are pure genius ... overdrive and distortion settings
are never tiring on the ears .. .. sounds cool on its own thru a hifi ..
.. hook it up to a valve (tube ) combo ... blues paradise in a small packet ..
.. if i were to go on about it .. well it would be pages and pages ..

.. small desirable candy bar .. http://www.epiphone.com/news.asp?NewsID=282

definitely worth reading .. http://www.award-session.com/award-session_geartalk.html

.. could not find original .. hope link works ..
subject: tone and solid body guitars .. good article .. http://www.happydragon.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/temp/s.bdy.html

posted December 13, 2005 09:40 AM         

web forum fer the blues .. http://www.bigroadblues.com

posted January 18, 2006 09:21 AM         

yeah ... that clapton song has pretty much the same effect on me

.. good to hear it all worked out !! ....

i keep meaning to do a sound clip with that JD-10 i mentioned ..
well i did one .. but not toooo happy with it ....
anyhow .. here is a chord progression which is quite fun to solo over ..
i think they are the chords from Hendrixs' "little wing"

E minor scale works over it .....

slow tempo

E minor / G / A minor / E minor
B minor / slide down to A minor / back up to C
G / F / C / D

be a progression that 'resolves' nicely ...
i.e once you reach the end D chord ... it feels like it
wants to go the E minor .. back at start ..

and ... it has two relative minors in it .. the Am (C) and the E minor (G)
.. as in RMs are used quite a bit in pop/rock ...

posted January 26, 2006 07:58 PM         

heard of a new CD out ...
was listening to bbc radio2 (audio availbe thru internet)
they have a blues session every thurs eve .. 7 to 9 gmt

caught some trax off that cd .. sounded interesting ..
sorry but i didn't note the publisher .. but it's called
"Blues Guitar Women" .. ..
actualy the details may be on the bbc web site ..

i've a tendency to rec off old tapes 'n such .. and post mp3s
once in a while ..
i'll probably use the following thread for the odd post ..
not too long in uploading a canadian trak with 'eastern' flavor http://www.linda-goodman.com/ubb/Forum10/HTML/001974.html