So now equipped with my new purchase the Yamaha F310, my
Vintage SG copy and amp it was time to knuckle down and learn more songs,
mainly easy stuff, Neil Young’s Heart of
gold and Old man were firm favourites along with a host of Bob
Seger tracks such as Like a rock, Main street and Hollywood nights. All sorts
of artists from Ac/Dc, The Stones, & Scorpions to Simon & Garfunkel, Willie
Nelson & Alan Jackson came under the spotlight.
As time went by I was temped into another purchase. I was
looking around my local music shop and was torn between a Fender acoustic and
an Ashbury. The Fender obviously had the name but the Ashbury played
beautifully. Hmmm! A difficult choice. This time it was the Ashbury electro
acoustic that won. It was smaller in the body than my F310 and it was great to
play. The fact that being smaller that made it more suitable to transport
around, something I could pick up and take with me to practice anywhere. It
sounded great through the amp as well. The controls consisted of volume,
presence, treble, middle and bass along with a battery check button for the 9v
battery.
A great price at £180. The beauty of this guitar was being
smaller I could take it away with me on my work trips, I could sit in the hotel
room and practice. Did I get anyone banging on the walls and shouting “shut that noise” well strangely I have
to say “No”. As well as this I could plug it into my amp too, a win win
situation, (well maybe not for the neighbours eh!) but yes I was
improving.
I was getting better and more confident all the time, the internet
had been a great asset with a wealth of sites offering guidance. It was easy to
look up chords for songs, looking up video on YouTube to learn songs and riffs.
I would listen to a song on the radio of on cd and think “Hey! That sounds cool” I would make a note and then go over to the
PC and look up the chords or riff in question and have a go at learning
something new. I got my self a folder, bought some clear plastic pockets and
printed songs off and learnt as I went.
My collection now consisted of a Yamaha F310 acoustic, an
Ashbury electro acoustic and my Vintage SG copy plus the Leem amplifier. Three
guitars and one amp. Loads of songs on paper, getting better and more confident with time.
Here is a few more videos to take in. Have fun
Back soon "keep a hummin' and a strummin all over gods world".
