Thanks Sarge,

Why is it better to push a tube amp with a pedal instead of the gain knob?

The patch I used for TBC21 was in the Modern Metal bank and it is #8 called Metalcore, Aggressive

Just got THIS Rig library for £7.09 including tax from an offer I got from Overloud via email. €10 off any library even if it's already on sale. It was reduced from €29.00 down to €19.00 and I got another €10.00 off. BARGAIN

Cheers

Phil

Great question! In general, pushing a tube amp takes advantage of the tone of the amp while avoiding the problems you get with increasing the gain on the amp itself. This is why so many people use a "clean boost" like a tube screamer in front of a tube amp. The result is that the tone retains it's clarity and each note can be heard. If you turn up the gain on the amp itself, you run the risk of getting a bit too much fizz/fuzz/boominess going on which can cause notes to get muddy and blend together.

I liked the tone on 21! I'd say start with that patch as start tweaking. Save it to a new bank and then as you make changes, write it to the next slot over so you can always go back to your original patch and see how it changed along the way. I hope that makes sense?


I think you'll like that libarary. The CHOP TONES guys make some very cool stuff. I did one pack of 11 rack patches a long time ago for them. Very nice guys and killer tones.

Todd

Hello Sarge,

I'm still WIA Sarge, slowly getting better, it has times when it seems to get real good then the next day it's gone back two weeks.

I am still trying though.

Cheers

Phil

I am very sad to hear this phil as you are the steady pounding heart of bootcamp. Even when Missions are clearly making your head pop off and fingers and balls ache, you push through. It's inspiring which is why you probably have so many views on your bootcamp thread. I hope you get on the mend soon so you can inspire more people to earn it even when it seems impossible.

Sarge

I'm getting there slowly Sarge,

I explained it to Gab HERE, HERE and this has the chiropractors advise too, HERE, and finally HERE where I tell him of my discovery of what I think was the cause of this current issue..

Obviously you don't have to read it but as you've had spinal issues much worse than mine, you may find it interesting. Regarding the "discovery" of what I think the cause was, I'm not so sure about the angle now but more the lack of support as it's only a mesh fabric.

Anyway, sorry to bore you with details but it is what it is, let's just hope that there is no permanent damage.

Talking of hits, have you seen how many Matt's had?????? HUMUNGOUS!!!!!!!

Cheers

Phil

FIrst off, GET THE HELL OUT OF THAT DAMN CHAIR!!!! It sounds like it's making everything worse. Unless I'm reading the story completely wrong Second, GET THE HECK TO A DOCTOR!!! ASAP!!!! It sounds like you need to get yourself looked at my friend. If you can't even play the guitar something is SERIOUSLY wrong. I mean SERIOUS. Get to a doctor as soon as you can as in NOW. Risking not being able to play for the rest of your life is simply not worth waiting till all this crazy covid crap is over. Put on a mask and gloves and get to a back doctor!!! If you are having nerve damage from something you need to find out before it gets worse and you end up paralized. This is very concnerning. Please get to a doctor as soon as you can make an appointment. Unlike our country, you guys have good health care!!!! Please please please get to a doctor.

Thanks Sarge,

I'm not using the chair now, it is gradually getting better, I can pay guitar just not vibrato on chords at the moment or do right hand neck muting while tapping.

The chiropractor said he wouldn't manipulate while he thought there may be damage, this is the norm, the first time I had it bad, about 25 years ago, the physio only gave me gentle exercises.

For the record, the health service is good but if I went to my gp, he would refer me to physio, they don't use osteopaths or chiropractors in the NHS, that would be 4-6 weeks waiting. The only way to get this kinda thing sorted quickly is privately. This is why I have private health insurance. You have to go to your NHS gp to get referred,
this is a bit of a paradox, many NHS GP's say they don't agree with private health care, but they still charge you a private fee to do the referral letter for the insurance company., it's not a lot, around £40 but it's a bit hypocritical, not that that is stopping me,it has to be done to stop people typing off the insurance, it's just that this is a historic issue that I've had just as bad but not for so long so I kinda know how to manage it.

Previous incarnations of this issue I've had to use my right hand to help my left arm push certain buttons on the dash in my car, obviously when stationary and its okay to drive because those buttons are only heating /cooling and that kind of non essential thing. Last time I had it, too get my left hand to the ten o clock position of the steering wheel I had to use my fingers to kinda crawl up the wheel, once there I was fine, driving was fine because I could allow the wheel to support my arm, and I could still grip, it's always lifting the arm and rotating the palm of my hand towards my body that is the issue (playing guitar).

Regarding the chair, as I said, I'm not using it now but the reason I didn't realise at the time was because the chair is so comfortable, it says only when I was getting better with a week of bad weather, and then regressed when I used the chair in the garden again for a couple of hours when the good weather returned, that was when it dawned on me. I guess if its never had this issue before I would have realised immediately. As it is, I've had it for so long, and I can just wake up with it after not having it for a year I didn't think it was the chair because it is so comfortable.

I often get this issue for a few days when I go on holiday, change of bed and pillow but it's usually only a couple of days.

I appreciate your concern buddy but this morning I can lift my arm higher than yesterday so it is definitely improving, I spent an hour after dinner yesterday evening with my wife in the garden sitting in an uncomfortable upright deck chair but it didn't make my problem worse. I spent a few weeks using that chair for a couple hours here and there each day, even though my issue was there, thinking it was helping because of the comfort, so the issue isn't going to go away in a week. In fact the first time it took for weeks with two physio visits a week.

As I said, I appreciate your concern, I really do, but I think I've got this now, I'm not sitting in that chair again, though once my neck is fine, I might spend 30 minutes in it, just to see if I get a hint of an issue, just to prove the point to myself, or eliminate the chair from being the reason.

Cheers buddy, apologies for this none bishop related post in Bootcamp.

Speak soon.

I consider you a dear friend after all this time. I'm really worried here. Something is very wrong and it sounds like you are just too stubborn to go to a private doctor just for the principal of having to pay when you shouldn't ? My friend, you can be a stubborn human. I can appreciate that quality as I'm a stubbon human too. As you know it's the only reason I was able to learn guitar and learn to type despite being so dyslexic I can honestly barely read without switching some words around.

Please get to a doctor asap and find out what is causing all of this. You may have a pinched nerve, carpal tunnel, who knows. Whatever it is, it needs to be fixed by somebody who knows about these things. You may need and MRI / CAT SCAN etc. I want you to be healthy my friend. It pains me to know you are not well.

Thanks buddy, I feel the same,

I am stubborn, but trust me I have zero issues about paying, I'd rather pay than go to the NHS. I don't need to pay as I have private health insurance, I have paid many times as there is an excess amount on the insurance and most times the cost of treatment is less than the excess. I paid over £400 for some special insole to be made in California for my feet, the podiatrist cost me another £200, if I'd gone private it would have cost the same due to the excess. It's more about missing time off work while we are trying to get the business back on its feet which is a struggle at the moment.

When my appendix nearly burst, it was NHS op as it was an emergency, they said it was the worst appendix they've ever taken out of a living human, they normally only ever see them like that post mortem. It didn't go well, I had 9 infections of the blood including e coli, due to the infection my legs were solid red like they'd been painted, my entire groin had what looked like a green moss over it and my upper body had what looked like nettle rash. The wound didn't heal, every time I coughed I could feel my intestines pop out. Went private to get it sorted, paid the excess of a few hundred quid, doc thought it would be an hour operation, turning into a two and a half hour op. When he opened me up, there was a hole the size of his fist in my six pack, it had healed all around the edge like a crater so he had to cut around the edge and put two layers of gauze to allow the flesh to grow across. It's still not right, there is a six inch long hard lump that feels like there is a banana in there, could be scar tissue, but I'm functioning.

Most of that is information surplus to requirements but it tell a story, I honestly don’t have an issue with not wanting to pay “ for the principal of having to pay when you shouldn't”. I’d rather pay and let someone else use the NHS resources that isn’t as fortunate as I am financially.

I'm managing to do 8 hours manual work a day as it’s all below shoulder height, so I’m all good, it’s getting better each day. I’ll play it by ear.

Again, I appreciate your concern buddy, I really do, if I do decide to get it looked at I won't even go through my GP and insurance, I'll be able to get an MRI and 10 visits to the physio for the cost of the excess, then if I need more, I'll take the hit and go through the GP and insurance and pay the excess. I've paid for many visits to physios and osteopaths over the years

Thank you.

The good news is that it sounds like you have a plan in place and are taking care of it That's all I was really worried about. My Dad would just let things get very bad because he was so stubborn he would wait and wait to see a doctor. I do hope you get better asap. I really hate that you are having to endure this while working your butt off and that it's getting in the way of guitar! The most important thing in life

Todd

Thanks buddy,

The most important thing in life at the moment is keeping the business afloat and 19 people in jobs

Put the hybrid strings on my SRV tonight and for the first time in a long time I could tune using my left hand, I've been having to reach over with my right hand to turn the tuners.

It's all good buddy

Thank you

Phil

I hear ya! That's 19 families you gotta help get food on the table for.

If the SRV gets to be too much of a pain, hand it off to a luthier and save yourself the trouble and get it back ready to play with the strings stretched and tuned

I will give it to my mate if it's too much, they aren't open until July 4th anyway, it's nearly in tune, I think it's just a matter of balancing the trem springs and the strings. I've never changed string size before, only ever swapped like for like.

We'll get there, as I say, the strings are nearly in tune, some are spot on, I'd like to get experience at changing string sizes because it's something I've not done and presents a different challenge.

Cheers buddy.

I posted some advice in the other thread about this.
https://www.guitarmasterclass.net/guitar_fo...st&p=778574

Thanks Sarge I've replied and updated the reply

Hello Sarge,

I can now lift my hand above my head, it's still very hard to rotate my palm towards my body but I'm getting there.

I'll be back soon

Cheers

Phil

That's progress!! I hope you get the help you need to get better Soldier!!!

Sarge

Thanks sarge, I can even pinch my right ear lobe with my left hand with the thumb at the front now, I couldn't even get it to my nose a couple of weeks ago

Cheers

Progress!! The more the better I'm glad to hear it sounds like your getting closer to normal each day! Keep it up!!

Hello Todd,

As I haven't had much recovery progress I had a video consultation today, to get through this final stage of recovery as quickly as possible I have to stop as much movement with my hands supinated (palm turned upwards towards body) as possible. He feels that doing prolonged movements in that position is antagonising the injury and causing much slower recovery. Unfortunately that means no guitar. Hopefully it will only be a few days as I'm 95% recovered but this final 5% is still preventing chord vibrato so I need to get to 100%..

I'll keep you informed.

Cheers

Phil

Thanks for the update! I'm glad to hear you are getting close to recovery!!!!

Todd

Hello Sarge,

Update, I've just tried the SRV lesson and still can't vibrato the chords, I also still can't do the tapping drill in bootcamp with my right hand muting at the top of the neck, I didn't expect to as I still have weakness in my left arm but it is getting better. As always, the last 20% of recovery seems to take 80% of the time for the total recovery. If I flex my left bicep, a lot of it is still soft whereas my right bicep is very firm. This tells me, I think, that many of the muscle fibres aren't being triggered by the related nerves, this has likely caused parts of the bicep to wither. I'll report this finding to the consultant tomorrow, it may need some electro-stimulation which I can do at home at a certain level.

We'll get there.

Cheers

Phil

Soldier. Only the Noble of spirit fight on when pain besieges them. Take pride in you works and effort. Offer yourself the patience you have earned. We will all be here, anxious to hear your playing when the time is right.

Sage

Was your sign off a clever pun or a typo?

To be honest Sarge there isn't much pain, the left arm just isn't responding to nerve impulses at the moment, or rather the necessary nerves aren't being triggered.

We'll get there for sure.

I have great respect for anyone who fights through things and doesn't complain and you've have not winged one bit. I'm glad it's getting better Bootcamp and I will be here for ya!

Sarge

Hello Sarge,


I'm going to start working on strengthening this arm /shoulder for a few days, it's still not perfect but it could take months so I might as well try, the last few % always take the longest or cost the most in practically anything in life.

Hopefully I'll be back in Bootcamp very soon.

Speak soon buddy.

Hope you heal up and hair over as they say! Get strong Soldier!

Sarge


quote name='Phil66' date='Aug 3 2020, 04:42 PM' post='779309']
Hello Sarge,


I'm going to start working on strengthening this arm /shoulder for a few days, it's still not perfect but it could take months so I might as well try, the last few % always take the longest or cost the most in practically anything in life.

Hopefully I'll be back in Bootcamp very soon.

Speak soon buddy.
[/quote]

Hello Sarge,

I'm pretty disappointed, tried out my holiday home setup, my shoulder problem seemed much much better but if you watch this video you can see that I still can't slide down the neck whilst holding a chord, even a power chord. I suppose I'll have to get some more help from someone, I think I will need more than a video consultation now which I'm a little bit uneasy about to be honest.

I can try the Bootcamp stuff though as most of that is single note stuff.

https://youtu.be/OeXWGCcyiS8

Congats on getting back on the horse Soldier! I can see it's still painful. The good news is that like you say, bootcamp has a lot of single note stuff. I think you may need physical therapy which is hard via tele visit. Don't give up soldier!!

Thanks Sarge,

It's not painful to be honest, it just won't work, almost like when someone has had a stroke. That grimace on my face isn't from pain, it's from determination trying to get the hand to move. I can move down the neck easily with one finger but not holding a chord.

The physio that I use and trust is only doing face to face consultations for urgent cases so I'm going to arrange another video consultation with them. It's nearly there now, I just hope it needs specific exercises and not more leaving the guitar alone.

Cheers

Good news about the pain! I'm sure you will work through this soldier!!!

Sarge

One can only try eh Sarge?

Last night I could slide down the neck a couple of frets holding a power chord on my Ibby, I managed it quite a few times in succession, I was a little bit better than before on my MiM Strat (the white one) but it was a no go on my SRV so it is getting better.

I'm waiting for the physio to get back to me re a Skype consultation, they're having to juggle a lot of appointments as they have a couple off sick and there are only four of them in total so we'll see how it goes. Last night seemed promising though so maybe the whole neurological system is spurting back into life

Cheers

Phil

That's great news Soldier!!! keep calm and shred on!!! I look forward to your being back in the fight!

Sarge

Hello Sarge,

Okay, there is some improvement, I haven't managed to get a video consultation just yet, they still have two of the four physios off sick and aren't taking any more bookings until next week but after some email discussion, they think that over the months the muscle fibres that weren't getting the impulse to switch on from the nerve signal have atrophied a lot. They said if there's no pain to speak of, just to keep on working at the stuff they can't do and see if they strengthen. They said if I get any pain at all, to stop again. They still want to see me but I have to contact them next week as the two of them are trying to video conference with their own patients and the two physio's patients that are off sick.

I think there is some progress, if you watch this video, it's amazing how the different guitars give different results. Please ignore any tuning issues as I just pulled them off the wall for the demo. This is the 7#9 chord but I'm not really paying much attention to hitting all of the strings, just getting the left hand working. I couldn't do this last week on any of these three guitars. Apologies for the flash of stripey underpants to it's pretty hot and sticky here at the moment

https://youtu.be/RCweZUYq-HE

The docs are right, IF YOU FEEL PAIN STOP PLAYING!!!! You can permanently injure yourself like I've done in the past and it's just not worth it. Each axe will feel a bit different depending on how your body is doing and how thick the neck/strings are etc. Whichever one is the MOST comfy is probly the one to use til things smooth out

Strangely the SRV feels the most comfortable in my hands but I guess its not sitting the biomechanics at the moment. I'm not going to get the Ibby setup for my current lesson https://www.guitarmasterclass.net/ls/SRV-Chordal-Licks/ which is what I had the SRV setup for, I'll just have to work with the Ibby and practise it in the wrong key

Gotta use what's comfy!!!

Sarge

Tye SRV is comfy but I can't use it, the Ibby feels like I'm playing a credit card but I can use it, none of them give me pain though, just on the SRV it's harder for me to move towards the headstock without taking my fingers off the fretboard.

Feels like playing a credit card I got a good chuckle on that. I think they should make one with an American Express pain job. Would make a funny ad campaign I'm just glad that your not having pain when you play. I'm very sorry that this issue has gotten in your way, but I've been very impressed with how you have chosen to work through it. There is no QUIT in you Soldier!! You just don't know how, which is a good thing imho. Stay the course Solldier!! you will make it through this.

Todd

Back in action sarge, shoulder is still weak, for instance, I can lift a guitar at arm's length above my should with my right arm but with my left I can barely lift it, still some work to do but we're getting there and I'm having hardly any hassle playing now.

I'm trying BC22 again, I've been struggling to position my hand to pull off every note so I went and checked on how Adam managed and noticed that, for instance, in bar two, he slides from the 12th fret to the 11th. Is that okay or should I try to pull off every note?

Cheers

Phil

Just do what you can Soldier. It's about getting something out of each mission and understanding what's at the core of the drill. You always put in maximum effort and always seem to get something out of it so I say go for it Great to see you back in the fight!!! Merry Xmas Soldier!!


Sarge

Thanks Todd,

Merry Christmas to you too

It's just that I know Bootcamp is strict compared to QuickLicks but I didn't know how far you took the strictness in relation to the GP file.

Cheers

Phil

You always put in maximum effort soldier. Keep pushing ahead! you've been doing great work in bootcamp.


Sarge

Hello Sarge,

As suggested on Facebook, I've been trying thumbless for #22, it's going to take a lot of work to stop my thumb trying to go behind the neck when the tension sets in. I do think that my injury last year may have left some permanent damage, or at least weakened some deep deep areas that need some extreme rehabilitation.

Anyway, I'll give it another week for just 10-15 minutes a day and send a video up.

Cheers

Stay safe.

Peace

Shoot me a preview vid if you can and maybe I can offer some quick tips?

There you go Sarge,

I had to get a string mute wrap because doing the overhand thing at the moment gives a weird feeling in my left shoulder and makes my whole left arm and hand weaker, it must all be down to that injury last year.

Anyway, here is a video, I know there's a lot of unwanted string noise that needs working on as well as the rest. Any advice you can give is greatly appreciated.

Thanks

https://youtu.be/YlEJNAxLTkY

Further to the take above, here is this evening's take Sarge.

https://youtu.be/YPHQhdVvdBY

Welcome back to the fight Soldier!! Congrats on just being able to play this as it's a BEAR of a lick since it forces you to only use the left hand. the point of all this is to get your left hand powerful enough to not require the pick. Once the left hand power comes in to play, picking becomes a tone choice, not a requirement. You start off very strong here but start to drift a bit from the metronome about half way down. Maybe back off the speed just a pinch so you can synch better and add a palm mute at the bridge to reduce string noise. It's a noisey lick by it's very nature, so a bit of a palm mute really helps. You can use the fretting hand to mute to a degree, it just makes it all even that much more tricky.


Soldier, I love that IBBY and that's a very nice shirt!!!!!!


Once more in to the breach Soldier!!

Sarge

Thanks Sarge,

If I ever have to stop playing I'm shipping this Ibby and the shirt straight to you

https://youtu.be/AuNpKHvoyhU

it starts off well ! About 12 seconds in I start hearing a good bit of string bleed/noise and I notice I can't see where your palm mute hand is? if I could see your mute I
might be able to suggest something to sort out the issue soldier. The good news
is that your fret hand is doing a bang up job!! You are hitting the notes
and hitting them in time with the metronome which is GREAT! On playback, can you hear the string noise I'm talking about? I'm glad you are using a good amount of gain or I might not be able to hear it which isn't could as then we can't fix it!
I hate to have you go back in to breach soldier! But you gotta fight your way out!
Let me have one more where I can see you palm mute if possible. I remember
you injury may be causing this issue and if that's the case, and it can't
be adjusted, please let me know and we can move to the next one. your
fret hand clearly has this sorted out. If injury is creating an issue we can't fix
then there's not reason to keep pushing it.