Just joined - My Introduction

[Peterplaysmusic]

Hello Forum members,

I hope I am doing this right ...got a prompt to introduce myself. Just transitioning into semi-retirement ( corporate guy, business consultant & hired gun professor in MBA programs) ..but my true love has been guitar playing for the past 50 years. I just toured the forum and there seems to be a great cooperative vibe among members and some excellent information. My main motivation is to sharpen my jazz skills and this site is content rich. I play solo guitar and have had working weekend trios for many years doing the usual casuals ...parties, dances, weddings, etc. Like one fellow who posted ..I too have a disorder ..FTAS ...short for Failure To Attach Syndrome ...always selling and replacing guitars except for my 1991 Strat Ultra which with Lace PUPs and ebony board is ok for jazz in a trio mix that covers oldies, Jazz standards, SRV, Classic rock, rockabilly, surf, blues, etc. But I want to deepen my knowledge of jazz ..particularly reharmonizing chord changes, comping, and improvisation that is more authentic ( lines, vocabulary ) to modern / bebop jazz. I also have a custom shop strat and an Ibanez Scofield which is a great guitar ..for a variety of genres and jazz too. An instrument that IMO is undervalued and under-appreciated. Jazz boxes? Yes, I have owned L-5s, Gretsches, Benedetto, Guild archtops ( Stuart A-500 ) which are more traditional jazz guitars but I favor the thin lines and faster actions, and lighter strings due to creeping arthritus in my fretting hand. That aging thing. An ok trade off to play without pain and play across various genres. Amps ...I LOVE my Roland Cube 60 ..after owning many FenderTube amps over the years. Well, enough about me. I am happy to become a member and join a community with a great bunch of guys and gals. Feel free to email me at peter.gutierrez@comcast.net

Cheers from Elk Grove, CA ( near Sacramento )

Peter Gutierrez

PS I have a website site on Bandmix.com for those interested ...click search and enter 201696 in the User Id box - pics, audio, equipment

[Johnny Z]

Wow you sound a lot like me. The change to lighter strings because of "creeping arthritus in my fretting hand". Also the prefrence for lighter strings. I used to play Flatwounds on my '66 335, and a few other guitars, did so for over 20 years. I had strong hands and could bend them like slinky's but not any more. Lighter strings is what kept me playing for the last 15 years, sure I gave up some tone but kept my playability. I went to Strats for a while selling off my 335 when I needed some cash and wished I hadn't, so now I'm back with a Guild X-170, lighter strings and working with a 4 piece part-time and soloing some jazz gigs. I do a few christmas gigs every year, solo christman jazz songs, hope to work it into the band this year if the boys will stick with me.


I can't make a living playing music, never could, tried for about 10 years, but the fun and a few extra bucks now and then sure makes it worth it.

Welcome: I'm new here too.

Johnny Z

[Peterplaysmusic]

Yes, we share a lot, solo guitar, band, arthritis, strats and 335's. As for the Arthritis i am suprised that this is not a common topic of discussion particularly for mature players with years of playing wear and tear. I am using 10-46's on my Strats and Scofield ...09-42 would be the next coping step..along with a bit of Vicodin & Tylenol to get through my three hour daily practice. ( retirement is great ) I am also considering another axe with a fast neck and shorter scale ...investigating the parker Fly( action ) ...and Byrdland ( scale ) that does have a shorter scale than most gibson and fender models...depressing the strings and holding barre chords is one pain trigger but the other is chord forms where I have to stretch. Maybe a custom job by my luthier buddy.

Well you seem to be a really good player ..IMO playing solo is the most demanding ( knowledge and facility ) and also a real advantage in a trio of guitar bass and drums to use chord melodies for a fatter sound presentation. I have heard great things about the Guild X-170, cool guitar for jazz...i will google it. Kudos to you for trying to make a go of music full time ...very tough even for very talented players. Speaking of talent I came across Robert Conti on YouTube and he is AMAZING...even bought one of his methods / DVDs. Jazz is the one genre that i feel lags the others i play as respects comping, re-harmonizing, and improvising over altered chords . I can play and improvise to the standards like Autumn Leaves for example but it just misses the jazz flavor --- i think I just have more vocabulary in the other styles ...Always more stuff to learn. Hope you are able to coax your band to play the X'mas tunes and keep them together. Well, thanks again for posting a response. Best of luck to you, and stay in touch!

Peter
peter.gutierrez@comcast.net

[Peterplaysmusic]

Yes, we share a lot, solo guitar, band, arthritis, strats and 335's. As for the Arthritis i am suprised that this is not a common topic of discussion particularly for mature players with years of playing wear and tear. I am using 10-46's on my Strats and Scofield ...09-42 would be the next coping step..along with a bit of Vicodin & Tylenol to get through my three hour daily practice. ( retirement is great ) I am also considering another axe with a fast neck and shorter scale ...investigating the parker Fly( action ) ...and Byrdland ( scale ) that does have a shorter scale than most gibson and fender models...depressing the strings and holding barre chords is one pain trigger but the other is chord forms where I have to stretch. Maybe a custom job by my luthier buddy.

Well you seem to be a really good player ..IMO playing solo is the most demanding ( knowledge and facility ) and also a real advantage in a trio of guitar bass and drums to use chord melodies for a fatter sound presentation. I have heard great things about the Guild X-170, cool guitar for jazz...i will google it. Kudos to you for trying to make a go of music full time ...very tough even for very talented players. Speaking of talent I came across Robert Conti on YouTube and he is AMAZING...even bought one of his methods / DVDs. Jazz is the one genre that i feel lags the others i play as respects comping, re-harmonizing, and improvising over altered chords . I can play and improvise to the standards like Autumn Leaves for example but it just misses the jazz flavor --- i think I just have more vocabulary in the other styles ...Always more stuff to learn. Hope you are able to coax your band to play the X'mas tunes and keep them together. Well, thanks again for posting a response. Best of luck to you, and stay in touch!

Peter
peter.gutierrez@comcast.net

[mississippi]

hi there and welcome