Today I just put a guitar on order and it isn’t the Jackson JS32 Dinky that I was talking about. I ordered a different guitar instead which looks even better. Today,  I just ordered the Mitchell HD400:

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/guitars/mitchell-hd400-hard-rock-double-cutaway-electric-guitar#productDetail

The reason I ordered the Mitchell HD400 instead is that the Jackson JS32 looks like it ran out and more of those guitars won’t be available until May 12th. I didn’t want to wait that long so I ended up looking for a different guitar online and the Mitchell HD400 caught my eye.

The Mitchell guitar was priced at $399.99 but it was on sale for $279.99 so I ended up saying “yes” to that guitar and ended up getting that one instead. I should be able to get this guitar in a few days… probably either Wed. or Thursday, I would think. I might even get it tomorrow if I’m lucky enough ’cause sometimes guitar orders are pretty fast when you order them online.

Can’t wait to get this new guitar. I want an electric guitar with a whammy bar so I can learn how to do whammy tricks & stuff. Pretty soon,  I could play like Eddie Van Halen or Joe Satriani, haha.

When this guitar arrives here, I’ll post pics asap and maybe a video of me playing it some.

Kev

I just found out that I don’t really need to get a fuzz pedal ’cause I already have fuzz sound in one of my pedals that I have now. I already have fuzz on my Boss Distortion DS-1. The pedal came with a small instruction booklet and you can get various distortion sounds on this pedal whether from Hard Rock to British Punk to American Rock to Fuzz. I turned the knobs on the pedal to the fuzz sound and it sounded pretty cool. You can still get a good enough fuzz sound on this thing where you can sound like Nirvana or Hendrix. The fuzz sound on the DS-1 pedal sounds pretty badass.

I like the sound of fuzz when it comes to electric guitar ’cause it sounds really cool when you play lead guitar. Play lead guitar with fuzz gives you that 60’s and 70’s vibe which is the sound I’m looking for. I’ll still get the Fuzz Face pedal but I’ll get it sometime in the future. It’s cool that I just learned that I have fuzz ’cause it’s a cool sound.

So I’m gonna place that Jackson guitar and Delay pedal on order tomorrow and should get that stuff this week.

Kev

I think the simple answer to the title of this topic is that I’ve played acoustic guitar for most of my life. I want to switch to electric and I have been focusing on electric guitar mostly. I just simply want to rock, ya know? That’s pretty much the only reason. I want to try to write rock songs on electric guitar and I want to perform covers on electric guitar too.

Lately I’ve been messing around with riffs by Ac/Dc, Sabbath, Led Zep, Metallica and bands such as those. I’m going to try to learn the solos note for note for some of those songs too. I want to learn cover songs by my favorite bands & artists. Electric guitar covers… I also want to learn songs by Eric Clapton, KISS, Joe Satriani, Van Halen and possibly Dream Theater songs as well. I want to learn as much covers on electric guitar as much as possible.

I just find that electric guitar is way more fun than acoustic. I’ve played acoustic for most of my life and pretty much tired of it. Want to move on to something new. I’ll never give up acoustic, of course. I’ll always play that but I want to keep my most focus on electric guitar. Play both rhythm and lead guitar. I really love playing lead guitar so much and I want to do a lot of that. I’ve been studying and practicing on how to become a better lead guitarist as well learning theory, ear training and things like that.

I’m planning to put that new Jackson guitar on order next week which I can’t wait. For a long while I’ve stuck with Ibanez guitars but I want to try something different and always wanted to hear what Jackson guitars are like. If I want to be a rock and metal kind of guy, Jackson guitars are pretty much the way to go.

I would get myself a Gibson Les Paul someday and I’ve always wanted one but I gotta somehow come up with a couple of thousand. For now, I can’t afford guitars that much. I can only afford guitars around the $300 – $500 price range but one day I will get a Gibson Les Paul and that’s my dream guitar right there. I love buying new musicians gear when I can, though. I’m always looking for something new and different.

When I first started out playing guitar 20 years ago, I started off on electric but then I switched to acoustic for most of my life. Now I want to return to electric full time.

As far as guitar instruction and practicing goes, the music theory and ear training is going well. Getting good with both of those. I just want to become a better musician and trying all I can to get there.

Kev

This video by Joy Villa gives music artists like myself advice on how to deal with criticism when it comes to your music. Over the years of my life, I’ve always gotten negative criticism toward my original songs and covers. I used to have a big problem with being defensive toward negative criticism and I still have that problem a little bit but I’m getting better at ignoring negative criticism. Now after watching this video, I believe that I should ignore all criticism of all kinds even the positive criticism ’cause like Joy Villa says in this video, “criticism kills the creativity”.

I remember over the years when I would write original songs, I would ask musicians constructive criticism on how I could make my song better to make it sound more professional. After watching this video, I realized that it was a bad idea and I should have never done that. I’ll never do that again next time I write a new batch of original songs, though.

Write songs however you want to and make music that makes you happy. Make the music that you like. I’m gonna have that attitude from this point forward. Ignore all criticism whether it’s negative or positive.

I still get negative criticism to my music today but I need to ignore all criticism and keep moving forward. Sounds like a good idea to me!

This is a great video and I agree with all of it. I needed to hear something like this too so thanks, Joy! If you’re a music artist or if you play in a band, you need to see this yourself.

Kev

I’m real excited to get this guitar real soon, the Jackson JS32 dinky:

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/guitars/jackson-js32-dinky-dka-electric-guitar/j16658?pfm=item_page.rr2

I’ve been dying to get a new solid body electric guitar for a pretty long time, an electric guitar with a whammy bar (or tremolo bar whatever you want to call it) and I’m definitely getting one so I can get more of a hard rock & metal sound.

Some of you may ask, why am I going electric and going heavy? It’s because that’s how I wrote most of my songs on acoustic. Most of my originals I’ve written over the years were kind of hard rock & metal but I’ve written them on acoustic first. I want to start writing hard rock songs on electric guitar. Stuff that are kind of heavy. Not death metal heavy, I won’t go that far but maybe in the likes of Sabbath, Metallica, Megadeth, etc. That kind of sound I’m looking for.

So after I get my new electric guitar will I buy myself a new amp? So far I have two amps for electric guitar: the Fender Frontman 212R and the Crate GX-212. If I were to get a new guitar amplifier, I might have to sell both of these. If I were to get a new electric guitar amplifier someday, what would I go for? I would probably get one that would have a decent hard rock & metal sound.

I’ve always wanted an Orange amp though ’cause they sound pretty cool:

https://www.sweetwater.com/store/manufacturer/Orange

Maybe next year I’ll start saving up for an Orange Amp. Get rid of the two amps I have now for an even better amp. I’ll get an Orange amp with a cabinet and head instead of combo amps. I kind of always wanted a stack amp anyways. I don’t need to get a cabinet that’s super big, I’ll get a medium sized cabinet or a small one, I don’t know. I would love to get a better guitar amp someday. Maybe that’ll be the goal for next year. Orange amps are awesome, I’ve been interested in the Orange brand for a pretty long time. Someday.

Kev

I’ve always wanted to get an electric guitar with a whammy bar and I’m about to real soon. Another reason why is ’cause I want to learn how to play some shred & metal songs by Joe Satriani, Eddie Van Halen and Pantera. Songs by those three artists do a lot of whammy stuff. I want to learn how to play Satriani’s “Satch Boogie” and learn Van Halen’s “Eruption”. I also want to learn Eddie’s fretboard tapping technique as well.

I’m doing all I can to study rock & metal guitar. Learning how to shred too. I do want to learn how to play electric guitar like a virtuoso but it’ll take some time. Learning theory and ear training still as well.

I’m not necessarily trying to become the next guitar god or anything like that but I do want to be a way better player though and I feel I’m getting there. The whammy bar can be pretty useful for your songwriting especially for your soloing when playing lead.

I’ll be able to play a lot of Hendrix songs as well ’cause Jimi used the whammy bar quite a lot. Can’t wait to get an electric guitar with a whammy bar and I’ll be able to have fun with it and experiment. I want to try something new.

Kev

I thought about going to Parkway Music in Clifton Park to buy my next electric guitar but I think I’m gonna do it online instead. Honestly, buying music gear online is a lot better than buying in an actual music shop. These days most musicians have been buying their gear and instruments online than in the store.

Over the years I’ve bought most of my music gear online and I’ve been pretty happy with my online purchases.

This guitar here caught my interest and this is the one I’m probably gonna go for… the Jackson JS32 Dinky:

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/guitars/jackson-js32-dinky-dka-electric-guitar/j16658

If I want to get an electric guitar with a good metal sound, I thought I would go for a either a Jackson, Washburn or Ibanez and I think I’m gonna go for a Jackson. Soon I want to focus on playing hard rock & metal guitar.

When you want to play heavier rock music, you can’t pick any guitars at random ’cause some electric guitars out there weren’t made for playing metal… like for example a Fender Stratocaster. I love the Fender Strat but those guitars were made for rock n’ roll, blues or jazz. Hard rock & metal won’t sound good on Fender Strat after doing some researching about it.

The best guitar brands for metal would be Gibson Les Paul, Jackson, Washburn or Ibanez. I would love to get a Gibson Les Paul but if I can somehow come up with a couple of thousand, I would get one in a heartbeat but for now, I can only afford a guitar around the $300 – $500 price range.

I really want to play hard rock & metal ’cause those genres are what I grew up listening to. For many years of my life, I’ve written original songs on acoustic and now I want to try writing original songs on electric guitar. I want to try writing songs that are on more of a heavier side. Yep, I want to write songs with big riffs and headbanging rhythm inspired by my heroes like Led Zep, Hendrix, Sabbath, Maiden, Metallica, AC/DC, etc. I figure it’s time for me to finally rock and I want to rock hard.

I’ll have the cash ready pretty soon to buy the new guitar, definitely next month.

Along with the guitar I also plan on getting these and I’ll pick a strap to go along with it too:

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/accessories/jackson-multifit-electric-guitar-gig-bag-for-dinky-and-soloist

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/amplifiers-effects/dunlop-band-of-gypsys-fuzz-face-mini-guitar-effects-pedal?pdpSearchTerm=fuzz%20face

I’ve always wanted to get a Fuzz pedal and the Fuzz Face is something I’ve always wanted to get so I can get a bit of a Hendrixy sound when I’m playing lead.

I want to start a pedal collection. The next pedal I want to get is a Boss Delay pedal ’cause I want Delay for my lead playing too. Delay sounds very cool when you’re soloing. I’ll get the Delay pedal sometime in the future, I want to get the fuzz pedal first. Fuzz is awesome for rock n’ roll.

I must say it’s kind of hard to find an electric guitar with a whammy bar ’cause there aren’t many out there. I want to get a guitar with a whammy bar so I can experiment and learn whammy tricks like the dive bomb and things like that.

When I get the new guitar, I’ll post pics and videos of me playing it. It’ll probably end up being the Jackson JS32 Dinky ’cause I’m real interested in that one.

Kev

One of the reasons I got on board to support Donald Trump for the presidency was partly ’cause I felt kind of bad of how he was being treated by people: Trump being treated badly by the media, liberals, some conservatives and some independent voters. You get the deal. The way everybody gets all over Trump all the time like this reminds me of how people treated me online like through the local musicians forums as an example.

I’ll never forget those days. Back in the days when local musicians community got together through two local music message boards that should be nameless. Those two message boards that I speak of are no longer online, they’re dead and gone (good riddance, btw) but I’ll never forget how other musicians treated me back then.

People thought I brought it all upon myself, though. They kept saying it was the way I posted on them, they accused me of being negative, trolling and all that garbage. They believe what they want but I disagree. I just used those message boards to do what everyone else was doing to promote my music and get myself out there. I think most everybody in the music scene attacked me ’cause they all felt that my music and musicianship wasn’t talented or professional enough so they felt like I didn’t belong. I think they attacked the hell out of me ’cause they felt I wasn’t in their league musically. I’ve dealt with this shit for years. Dealt with a lot of huge egos trying to bring me down. Sure, I may have been a little negative and had some negative opinions and thoughts about things on those forums but there were musicians in those forums that were 10 x’s worse than me but admins in those forums didn’t do shit to them.

I’ll never forget those days, though… however, attacks at me by musicians just wouldn’t end even though those forums are now a thing of the past. All the attacks, trolling and online bullying against me shifted to the old myspace, then facebook, twitter, youtube, etc. It seems I get trolled by losers everywhere I went online. LOL…

That’s okay, though. Musicians hating on me don’t bother me anymore as I learned to stay above it over the years. I learned to ignore that stuff and thanks to Donald Trump, he has inspired me to get even stronger. Trump inspired me to have no feelings and not give a shit what anyone thinks of me. He inspired me to stay tough and strong over the haters. Even if I was positive a lot, they still attacked.

I still do get musicians in the music scene hating on me and criticizing me but I don’t let it all get to me anymore. Donald Trump has taught me not to change for anyone. Those musicians in this scene expected me to change my attitude and the way I post online but I don’t have to listen to them. There’s nothing wrong with being yourself and being who you are. If they don’t like it? Here’s a big middle finger to all of them.

You know that old saying, “Haters are gonna hate”? That quote that is popular on the web is true. People have no reason to hate you, they just hate for no reason. People tried all they can to make me look bad on the internet but I’m still here. Still enjoying life, still enjoying music and enjoying myself. No matter how good or how positive of a person you are, you will always have your share of haters. You just need to ignore them the best you can.

Trump is a hero to me for a lot of reasons and this is one of them. For him having to put up with so much negativity and ignoring it all, not giving a shit what people thinks… wow. He inspired me to have the same attitude. Trump is easy to be made fun of and get attacked by a lot of people and I’m in the same boat as him.

Kev