I have owned 2 Seagull acoustics - 6 and 12 string - made in Canada - The wood they now use for construction is milled out of submerged logs that have been dredged up from the river beds - good for the environment (reduces logging and clears the river bed) Because the wood has been submerged it becomes very compressed and so has a deeper tone. I really liked both the guitars but they were sacrificed during the great kitchen renovation of 09.Just have a Takamine and a knockabout Tanglewood now. Way out of touch with electric guitars - always played Gibson electrics in the past - they just felt right to me.
Check out the Seagulls if you get the chance.
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This looks like an exciting thread. I’ll get my daughters guitar out and have another go at tuning it if I can find that tuning thingy she had … and of course join in.
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There are lots of tuners online - really easy to use and free.
I’m tone deaf, my daughter has one of those electronic thingys.Just turn the knob until a light comes on or something. 
I will add that I have the coordination of a new born girafe. Guitar is 2 weeks of great fun then a drastic downturn of enthusiasm and disallusion. 
But the enjoyment for a coupleof weeks is worth it.
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That’s just sound advice in general.
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I lernt the guitar as a kid, but never practised enough as I always was more tempted to go outside to play football/cricket/surf/ride bmx/fight with other kids/just generally be a little shit. My biggest issue looking back I think was finger dexterity and strength as I really struggled to get the cords right which lead to getting frustrated and losing motivation.
But looking around at varius types of guitars on and off for since the start of the first lockdown and tips for learning, I think something like this https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07Q4WBKKK/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?smid=A34KZM88YQQ4JL&psc=1 might be what I was missing as a kid - something that will help improve my finger strength and dexterity, so in theory should make the ability to play and change chords easier. Would those that have been playing for a while agree that s
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Yeah had that at 23, then didnt play until 38 properly. Its a step up in determination, a commitment to keep playing while you sound bad - but it will reward - the finger ligaments are painful to break in to get a grip, but it was the soreness of the finger ends i found the hardest. They need to develop callouses, so I used balm and made sure I kept playing even if its only for 10-15min, every day, every 4 hours, the balm helps the skin dry over, and if you keep at it the pain goes, then you are away, maybe 3-4 weeks of this. But fingering chords is a constant challenge as you tire of the easy Maj and Min ones, the finger shapes get more complicated, especially to change between. George Benson is the best Ive seen at this.
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Similar story to be honest.
Best advice I can give is play. Play a little but often and focus on music you enjoy. Play with the song and try to learn a little day. Then when things start to become a habit you can introduce exercises to improve strength and dexterity further.
You’ve reminded me that I’ve been trying to master the solo to Europe, Final Countdown for years. That’s full of a repeating lick played in different positions on the neck. Getting it smooth, accurate and at the right tempo has been a real mother. Must get back to it but it’s a great example of a learning tool made enjoyable (if you like the song and solo)
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I learnt Poisons Talk Dirty To Me last night.
My guitar needs a service and a new nut. I dont want to put new strings on (current ones are cheap and fucked - long story about my nut change that went wrong back in August and its still going on) then they take them off during service although it could be months until Guitar shops are open for things like that so might just put the new strings on.
RE Hunt for new guitar im down to 2…
or
https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/409197153415300/?ref=search&referral_code=undefined
Decisions…Im drawn to the Kramer as its pure 80s sound but that tuning system looks a real pain.
The ibanez - showed it to tutor last night and he said its a very good guitar but the pick ups let it down so over time would need to upgrade them.
Edit - just asked the guy with the Kramer is it still available and if so what price would he take. Its been listed for 12 weeks.
There’s a lot going on with the Tiger stripe finished one which is certainly attractive but I cant get past the finish on it. That is so 80’s it’s like
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Got to wonder if these people actually want to sell anything.
Tried buying a few bits lately (guitar, new turntable) and I get no reply.
So gay. Bowie formed Tin Machine because of antics like this, the video not you. Cringe.
Keep thy powder dry the fairies will send the right one.
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Still deliberating the choices above. We’ll see.
Anyhow just thought I’d add some thing a little different as last night’s practice session was a good little step forward for me.
Basically that little Spark amp I’ve bough has a load of presaved backing tracks for loads of stuff. Pretty sure they are Youtube vids but the advantage is you get the chord changes on your phone while playing.
I spent over an hour last night just working through several of them noodling, using pentatonic scales. The great part was that many of them were in different keys and I was sort of able to adapt to it. A lot of it was crap, but there were some good bits too and I was basically left with that good feeling that I’d achieved something last night.
Even started to dabble with Gary Moore’s version of the Roy Buchanan track The Messiah will come again. Long long way to go on that one, but a great example of a master at work.
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Desired effect then
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Was the key change a standard step and a half, maj or min, or something more difficult. Just asking because I was just at this stage (when all my gear went into storage, yeah I omitted to tell you all, its so distressing, not had my gear for 16mths!!) and didnt quite get the more complicated changes where you have to pick up a passing scale? Some wizards can of course take this in their stride but I always struggled, until I realised every great track actually has a key change!
Youre loving that spark, but the guitar acquisition distress is huge at times
Not quite there yet!! I was referring to different keys for different tracks and being able to cover them all with relative ease. Had you asked me to do that a few months ago I’d have struggled but it felt far more natural this time. I’d basically reminded myself of a couple of simple shortcuts between chord shapes and which scale shape fits around it. Long way to go but I can see the next step will be incorporating those chords in some form into the solos, be it double stops or whatever. Way down the line I’ll be looking to play the changes (Scale changes with the chord.)
That aside I did pick up a key change in the song “as the years go passing by”, Gary Moores version (again sorry). The song is in G from memory but the second solo appears to be in C minor. Dont ask me about Albert Kings versions though. There’s some hoodoo going on there. Along with his backward stringing, weird tuning which no one knows what it was, being left handed and pretty damn tasty on the guitar I haven’t the foggiest what he’s up to half the time. There’s a great video of him having a bit of a set to with his drummer in one gig though. Talk about giving the eyes.
yes and I know I’m a pain but I’ve got a bee in my bonnet about a new toy. I can get relentless.
You’re not a pain at all, far from it. Except Im now verging on new toy mode haha!
Albert is the highest rated of the blue legends outside Robert and BB, he is certainly my favourite, and perhaps the wildest of the old masters, my Dad knows more, but I think he was the first to break into a rock sort of sound, or at least, use more gain. (Have a live album I’ll have to dig out, but also in storage 
) Before Cream Bowie and Who came along and turned it right up. Yep heard Albert had a temper! Howling Wolf too?
I know its enjoyable learnign classics we all know, but I honestly find the best moments with the guitar are when I abandon previous tracks and shapes and just go total freestyle forgetting all the rules. Not quite at the stage of not making mistakes but can surprise myself. I use double stops a lot, and stripped down chords of just pairs of notes with open strings, thats where the interesting awkwardness is, but then I tend to alternative not blues traditional.
I do like Albert Kings stuff, it feels closer to “home” for me. I struggle a bit with the likes of Albert Collins and that Roy Buchanan stuff because I find their guitar tone too thin and abrupt which then spawned into my concerns with telecasters.
my ultimate aim would be able to simply join a full on jam session and be 100% at home. Perhaps surprise someone I know. I remember seeing Buddy Guy (another great) when I was in Uni and a concert by the Acoustics dept. trying to raise money after they trashed the uni mini bus. These were my first experience of seeing improvisation in a live setting. I’d seen glimpses previously and understood what it was before then but this was in your face and a light bulb moment that music is a fluid thing. Since then I’ve craved seeing more people do it, which is why I loved going to little blues concerts or festivals, just to see those moments. Sadly I cant handle the beer these days.
Damn I even love watching the Crossroads guitar duel. It’s naff but seeing Vai and hearing Ry Cooder trading licks and even the music leading up to it is fantastic.
Lucky your body is now rejecting the poison of alcohol for what it is. Improvisation is the pinnacle of the game indeed.