When To Do A Rec?

I believe the REC program at GMC is the best way to get feedback on our playing (even though I have only done one so far...shame on me). One can describe their questions & problems in the forum, of course, but if we are to really improve, it is important to get direct one-on-one critique's of our playing. It's difficult for an instructor to really help us if they can't actually see & hear our performance.

I was wondering when the best time to submit a REC video? Should we wait until it's as perfect as we can get it? Would it be a good idea to post it in the Practice forum or maybe even the Lesson Instructor's forum prior to submitting it on the REC board? Is it best to only submit to the REC board keeping all the takes in one place? I was thinking that even though I hadn't "nailed" the lesson yet, it might be good to submit a video of where I am at the moment to get advice from the instructors (& members too) for improvement before it's submitted to the REC board.

Guitar Tossed

I'm not sure how it would do if it landed on the neck, but still pretty impressive. Also would have been nice to plug into at least a battery powered amp after the drop.

Organizing Bookmarks

After reading MyHandyMan's post on How To Use Bookmarks, it got me thinking about my bookmark organizing. Like many of you, time to practice is limited. With GMC having around 2,700 lessons (at the moment), my bookmarks are getting larger in number & poorly organized. I certainly can't practice all of them everyday. Of course I have by the genres, styles, farvorite artists & techniques. But have you labeled any of your folders in your bookmarks by a more creative label?

I suppose my problem is not having them organized in a way to fine tune my practice time. I find myself working on a lesson for a while, then I get distracted by a new lesson introduced or just picking something else out randomly from my bookmarks.

Brainstorming a few ideas that popped in my head (these are just ideas & not currently in my bookmarks):

REC w/Sub Folders: Practicing, Completed, Future
Practice w/Sub Folders: Mon-Wed-Fri, Tue-Thur-Sat
5 Current Lessons (for each practice session)
Daily (what needs to be practiced daily)

I guess my point is that our bookmarks can get rather large & that maybe I need to have one main folder for daily practice time that I have not had before. I am curious if anyone else has run into this & how you have handled it?

Thanks for reading this.

Advice Please

I apologize that this is so long but felt details are needed.

I have an Aria LP copy that my mom bought me in the 70's. It sat in its case for many years & still looks like new. I never had it set up. I took it about a month ago to Guitar Center (I researched the tech & found he had a good reputation). He did the setup in front of me & he didn't mind me asking my stupid questions. Sadly my skills are only beginner to intermediate. But while he was setting it up, he was hesitant to do any mods to it since it was "vintage" (his word). I believe he did a good job on the set up. But lately while playing I noticed fret buzz on the A & D strings at the 6th fret. I took it back to him today to look at & he said the 6th fret is lower than the other frets. If it were higher, it would be an easier fix just to file it down. But being lower, the other frets need to be lowered to its level. When he played it, he seemed to feel it was fine. When I played it, I got the buzz. I do worry I press too hard & am trying to work on using a lighter touch. Anyways, the repair will cost about $80. Yes this is a "copy" & not a "real" Les Paul. I have no intentions of ever selling it due to sentimental reasons.

After setting up the Aria, I left an Ibanez RG370 that I bought last year off Craigslist for him to set up & finally had time to go pick it up today (it's almost 2 hours drive away). So I have another guitar to play & Todd's video chat today gave it a pretty good workout & noticed no issues . I did leave the Aria after picking up the RG & he said it will take a few days.

I am now having doubts on getting it repaired. I am now thinking rather than put $80 into the Aria, it might be better to just get another guitar. If... I mean... when I eventually gig with it, I'm sure something bad might happen to it. It's inevitable, right? It is still playable. I also have an interest in jazz fusion & would really love to get a hollow or semi hollow body. While at GC, I saw a Sunset Red Ibanez & fell in love with its beauty (but no I didn't try it). I know a guitar is like a girl, you can't just love how it looks cause you are going to "have" to listen it for a long time so you better love how it plays as well.

Now that I have written all this, I guess I have already made up my mind. But I am curious if any of you have any thoughts.

Thank you for taking time to read this.

Gary

Muting Strings

Steve Howe is leaving Asia to return to Yes & his trio work. His replacement is Sam Coulson. No disrespect intended, but Sam sounds like he could be from the movie Spinal Tap (which I love! ). Apparently Paul Gilbert caught notice of him & here is the video. What I found interesting was his comment that by practicing on a 10 watt solid state amp, help him perfect his technique of muting & controlling the strings. This vid is obviously prior to getting found by Asia.



It is amazing the power of youtube & helping to open doors for artists that may have never gotten noticed!