Hello From California!

[lildisturbed1]

Hey everyone, I'm new here and have been doing much research on threads only to find out I know virtually nothing technical on this instrument, which to me is the greatest possible thing.

I have been playing for a few years, but was only really motivated to play when i bought my Taylor 114 about a year ago (cheap guitar i know, but got me motivated.)

My dad raised me on classic rock, but since i was a young "all about appearances" kid when i started playing it was all metal and how fast i could play. My friend gave me the best advice saying "a guitar will reward you on how patiently you can play it."

So now I've come to really enjoy artists with melody rather than speed. I have a wide array of guitarist and genres i like, but recently i have been addicted to John Mayer (which as i have seen on this forum saying that name is like a ticking bomb exploding with hate or love.) That tone and the style really captures me though it may not be the most difficult tune to play.

I took piano classes for many years when i was younger, but I have forgotten all my theory unfortunately. I've been an ear player, but I am now convinced that I can't delay learning scales and theory any longer.

My gear: (I'm a 18 year old college kid so I'm poor.)
Vox VT30 combo
My dad's hand me down Yamaha electric (which i just got set up and is suprisingly decent sounding.)
and my Taylor

Current favorite songs to play:
Little wing/Bold as love - by Jimmeh for electric
Heart of life/Stop this train by Mayer for acoustic

One last thing and I'll end the ridiculously long introduction. I finally got a job and an 800 dollar paycheck. I bought a Boss RC-20XL and a tascam dr-07 recorder so I can listen to myself and work on my timing, I have work and school so not much time jam with friends. The tascam is quite expensive, in your opinion is it worth keeping? I will also be practicing my horrible voice on it. And at the end of summer i will have 2000 dollars in spending cash, I'm looking into buying a Strat and possibly some pedals. My #1 question, what would be a wise way to spend that 2k?

Thanks for reading and I hope to learn much from this site!

[Ken I]

Welcome aboard!

[Pa'ani]

Hey Lildisturbed1,


Welcome to The Gear Page!

[Marty DiBergi]

Welcome aboard... I'm new from California too...

Just saw your intro and it struck me to say, no, don't spend your 2k on gear. If I could do it all over again, I'd start out with one good guitar, one good amp, and one good pedal and play, play, play, play... especially in college. I wish when I was 18 someone once told me "don't turn your cash into trash."

Sure get some gear, but don't spend all of that just because you have it all to spend.

Good news for you is that being in Cali, you have an ample supply of used Strats on the market for not a lot of cash through your local Craigslist. Don't buy anything new. It's a waste of money.

Good luck!

[archtopjazz]

Hi,

Welcome to TGP.

Jim

[Scott Peterson]

Welcome to TGP!