1, 2, 3, 4. I declare a shredding war!
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Forum Name: Music and Musicians Exchange
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URL: http://www.progarchives.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=46419
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Topic: 1, 2, 3, 4. I declare a shredding war!
Posted By: Passionist
Subject: 1, 2, 3, 4. I declare a shredding war!
Date Posted: February 20 2008 at 17:08
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Yeah, inspired by the Petrucci thread here under, I hereby challenge all of us to practise your shredding and fast picking for 6 hours for the following month (March 2008). The goal is to first of all, be a lame excuse of a motivator for me, as I'm trying to get back to using the el guitar, and secondly, to show off at our skills. And while were there, we'll see if the drug we call copying the best of the best in fact is the ultimate answer of just something they tell us they do to seem cool. So if I can double up my speed, I'm going to write mr. Petrucci a letter with $5 in it for him to buy some new plectrums. And excluding this little action, I want you to follow my example. Our example if you like. Either way, show me, that you are men, not some sissies who claim they play the guitar just to get laid, even if it never works! |
Replies:
Posted By: SpaceMonkey
Date Posted: February 21 2008 at 03:18
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Ok, I'm in. How do we track each others' progress? Should we log in the hours here, along with a brief description of what was accomplished for the day, each day? |
Posted By: Petrovsk Mizinski
Date Posted: February 21 2008 at 06:12
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I need a reason to practice for more than I currently do, so at the moment, there is a high probability that I'm also in. As for doubling my speed, well i can currently alternate pick at 220bpm in 16th notes (which is approximately 14.66 notes per second), so I doubt I'll be able to play at DOUBLE that speed. But hey, my sweep picking needs some serious attention, as it's my main weak area in technique. ------------- 
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Posted By: Passionist
Date Posted: February 21 2008 at 06:26
| Hehe, glad you're in. Of course, this is something that is only for you alone, so we won't beat anyone up if they can't prove they did what they agreedto do. So basically I expect you to do it for yourselves, and perhaps post here everytime you feel like it. I think we can trust each other with this. Of course, cheating isn't cool, as it never is, so if you fail, make it up the next day or just let us know :) about doubling the speed again, well, I have no idea how fast (slow) I am , so basically I won't be able to check it either. |
Posted By: Petrovsk Mizinski
Date Posted: February 21 2008 at 06:55
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For checking how fast you are, use a metronome (it sounds like you don't already use one). For your March shredfest, you should start using one, not just in march, but as soon as possible, so you can accurately record your progress. -------------
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Posted By: SpaceMonkey
Date Posted: February 21 2008 at 07:42
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Well, how do you guys plan on spending your next 30 days or so? Which artists do you plan on focusing on for building your chops? I'll post my plans tomorrow. |
Posted By: Statutory-Mike
Date Posted: February 21 2008 at 14:41
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I'm in..I don't know how long I practice a day but it is deffinitley not 6 hours. I just got John Petrucci's instructional book and cd "Wild Stringdom" so that should help ------------- 
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Posted By: SpaceMonkey
Date Posted: February 23 2008 at 21:41
| I'm just using the music and/or instructional tools of John Petrucci, Rusty Cooley, Paul Gilbert, Jason Becker, and who ever else I can find. I want to break the categories of focus down just like Vai does for his program and spread each one out and give a large amount of time to each group. |
Posted By: Petrovsk Mizinski
Date Posted: February 24 2008 at 07:29
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Well now that I think of it, I'm not totally sure about this one. I'm in my final year of high school (in fact, I'm repeating after failing my final year last year), so I'm not so sure i've got 6 hours in a day to practice. I'd like to be in this, but March is actually around the time prior to our 2 week school holidays we have a few assessment tasks that count towards our final end of year score for school. At best, I may be able to do 4 hours a day from Monday to Thursday, 6 hours on Friday, and 8 hours a day on Saturday and Sunday, although that still only comes to 38 hours a week, 4 hours shy of the 6 hour a day regime. If I'm able to be exempted from the 42 hour practice week and use my 38 hour week, I'm willing to give up a significant chuck of social life on weekends in March and i will give the challenge a definite yes. -------------
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Posted By: Statutory-Mike
Date Posted: February 24 2008 at 21:41
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I'm going to make my workout over a two day period..here's how I will set it up:
DAY 1:
Hour 1: Warm up excercises and warm up songs.
Hour 2: Linear picking excercises (From Steve Vai's 10 hour workout Guitar World lesson)
Hour 3: Scale and Mode studies (From Steve Vai's 10 hour workout Guitar World lesson)
Hour 4: Excercises from John Petrucci's Wild Stringdom Instructional Book and CD
Hour 5: Learning new cover songs
Hour 6: One hour for creativity and songwriting
DAY 2:
Hour 1: Warm up excercises and warm up songs.
Hour 2: Streching excercises (From Steve Vai's 10 hour workout Guitar World lesson)
Hour 3: Angular Excercises (From Steve Vai's 10 hour workout Guitar World lesson)
Hour 4: Examples from Eric Johnson's "The Art of Electric Guitar" DVD
Hour 5: Learning new cover songs.
Hour 6: One hour for creativity and songwriting.
I'm of course not going to do 6 hours straight through..I'll give myself time to eat, do hw, and practice a little hockey. Also I will probably miss an hour on some days due to me having hockey games and practices and will make up for it by practicing 7 or 8 or however many hours on the weekends to make up for it..and of course I will note on the forum when that happens. -------------
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Posted By: Statutory-Mike
Date Posted: February 24 2008 at 21:59
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Also here are some more specifics:
MY WARM UP SONGS:
-Dream Theater - 'As I Am' (Solo not perfect) 7:47
-Eric Johnson - 'Cliffs of Dover' (I improv the end of the intro and some parts of the solo) 4:12
-Buckethead - 'Want some slaw?' 4:30
-Dream Theater - 'Constant Motion' (Mostly improv on that solo) 6:55
-Rush - 'The Spirit of the Radio' 4:59
-Rush - 'A Passage to Bangkok' 3:34
-Iron Maiden - 'The Trooper' 4:12
The total time that adds up to is 35:29 which will leave me a little less than 25 minutes for the warm up excercises.
SONGS I WILL BE LEARNING: (Under learning new cover songs, hour 5)
1. Joe Satriani - Satch Boogie (for fun, probably going to be difficult)
2. Joe Satriani - Crowd Chant (for fun)
3. Rush - Tom Sawyer (for fun, and because my Rush cover band is covering it)
4. Rush - Limelight (for fun, and Rush cover band)
5. Rush - Fly by Night (for fun, and Rush cover band)
6. Iron Maiden - The Wicker Man (for my actual band which is covering it)
7. Metallica - Master of Puppets (for my actual band which is covering it)
8. Dream Theater - Panic Attack (for fun, probably going to be difficult)
And, that's it for everything I'll be doing in the month of March...I kind of went crazy with this but I think it will be fun...although my social life outside of music and hockey will probably completley be gone
 One more thing I forgot to add is that on Friday's I take guitar lessons from 4:30 to 5:00..not that it will matter that much but it is another thing I will be learning from.
You don't have to be as specific as mine but I would like to know a couple of other people's plans for their workout. -------------
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Posted By: Passionist
Date Posted: February 25 2008 at 18:03
| yeah, I was just going to run through chromatic scales for 6 hours with a lunch break, but you took it way beyond that. I think I'm going to have to make a schedule too \:D/ |
Posted By: Petrovsk Mizinski
Date Posted: February 26 2008 at 06:13
Damn it, I'm going to be getting more homework than I realised . I might call it a 34 hour week now (only 3 hours a day from Monday through to Thursday).-------------
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Posted By: SpaceMonkey
Date Posted: February 26 2008 at 06:19
| Yeah, there's no way I'm going to log in many hours during the week. I am too tired after work to put that much focus into it. SO maybe 2-3 hours a weeknight. |
Posted By: Petrovsk Mizinski
Date Posted: February 26 2008 at 06:32
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But hey Brandon even if you can't fit much into the weekdays, would you be up for joining me on the 8 hour Saturdays and Sundays to make up for what we missed during the weekdays? -------------
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Posted By: Statutory-Mike
Date Posted: February 28 2008 at 21:08
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After tommorow starts the "war" -------------
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Posted By: Petrovsk Mizinski
Date Posted: February 28 2008 at 21:26
Yay, it starts tommorow! I've been told my school term actually ends about a week before the end of March Which means for that week of school holidays, I can make up for the lost hours from doing homework, by playing 7 hours a day on all weekdays . Hopefully by the end of this, my sweep picking will be a quarter as good as Jason Becker's, instead of it's current 1/20th as good -------------
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Posted By: Petrovsk Mizinski
Date Posted: February 28 2008 at 21:42
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Just wondering, what picks will people you guys be using? Last Sunday I got a 12 pack of Dunlop Tortex 1.14mm, hardly any flex and pretty good grip and so far, the best picks I've ever used. Prior to that I was using Fender Heavys, which were a little more flexible, so I guess they were about 0.95mm or something.
The Fender Heavys were $4.95 Aus for 12, while the Dunlop Tortex 1.14mm cost $7.95 Aus, but IMHO, it was well worth the extra cost. -------------
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Posted By: SpaceMonkey
Date Posted: February 28 2008 at 21:44
Oh of course, through out this week I may have put in maybe 2.5 each day. But the weekends are when it's all over. What are you working on specifically this weekend? Which songs for what techniques?
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HughesJB4 wrote:Posted By: SpaceMonkey
Date Posted: February 28 2008 at 21:48
I want to say the Dunlop Tortex also, I'm not too sure with the material. I guess the shiny kind
. BUt I religiously stick with the 1.5 mm. No give at all while I'm playing so I can keep it pretty fast. |
Posted By: Petrovsk Mizinski
Date Posted: February 28 2008 at 21:55
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Well this weekend, I was going to put some more work than I usually do, on 5 and 6 string sweep picking patterns. At current I'm working on Lucretia-Megadeth, specifically the Marty Friedman solo, mostly because it has great feeling, and gets you to work more on bending and vibrato (I'm one of those guys that loves his wide vibrato and Friedman is a master at it IMO), plus his licks in that solo just seem to go all over the fretboard (it's a really cool solo to watch it be done properly), so bending, vibrato, phrasing and there is a sweep picked lick in there as well. -------------
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Posted By: SpaceMonkey
Date Posted: February 28 2008 at 21:57
| I'll check out the song, haven't heard that particular one. |
Posted By: Passionist
Date Posted: February 29 2008 at 06:03
I'm afraid I've lost all my VoodooLab plectrums, which were the ones I ordered from abroad and constantly used. However, I found a replacement which is almost as good, and yellow. That is Ernie Ball (heavy). Strong but slim, just the way I like it. Also, the start will be painful. I cut my finger while chopping onions yesterday  Well, I'll just take the pain or use a plaster, which makes playing a lot harder. I was thinking I'd learn some of these songs that i've forgotten, like Moonlight Shadow of Mike Oldfield, Carry on Wayward Son by Kansas, YYZ by Rush, nothing too difficult for starters  Kind of like, 2 hours in the morning, then 4 hours studying, then 2 hours playing and then fingerpractise before bedtime! |
Posted By: Petrovsk Mizinski
Date Posted: February 29 2008 at 17:35
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9:19 am here in Melbourne, nice sunny day that makes me want to skateboard, but no time, cos the shred off starts today So today, it looks like legato practice will be the go, It's now 9:31 (yeah, it took me so long to type it cos I was on other forums and watching youtube
 ). I have to go out at 5:50pm, so including a lunch break, and the obligatory break periods to prevent injury anyway, I should have a little over 7 hours. That is, if the right arm doesn't give up the ghost even with just small downstrokes, in which case I'll stop before I injure my arm.-------------
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Posted By: Petrovsk Mizinski
Date Posted: February 29 2008 at 18:38
Damn it, my right arm is seriously too sore to play at all for now . Perhaps I wait either a few more hours, or perhaps until tommorow.-------------
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Posted By: SpaceMonkey
Date Posted: February 29 2008 at 22:10
| A friend of mine was promoted this morning and we had a nice breakfest shortly after. It noon now and plan on heading back to bed in about nowish so I'l get started in about 2 hours. |
Posted By: Petrovsk Mizinski
Date Posted: February 29 2008 at 22:28
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Well it seemed my arm got a bit better now, so I've been playing for the past hour. A little breakdown of what I've down so far: alternate picking in 16th note triplets (from 80bpm to 110bpm), in 16th notes (from 150bpm to 180bpm), playing the guitar solos from Ozzy Osbournes (or should I say Randy Rhoad's' -------------
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Posted By: Passionist
Date Posted: March 01 2008 at 06:10
| So I woke up at noon. Time to start shredding I guess. I wen't to a gig yesterday and now I'm hung over. I hope that won't affect my learning abilities :) |
Posted By: rileydog22
Date Posted: March 01 2008 at 20:41
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You guys have inspired me to practice more. Only about half an hour a night, but it's certainly better than nothing. Maybe I'll actually improve now!
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Posted By: Barla
Date Posted: March 01 2008 at 20:55
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You people have seen these ones?:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uea8k5sJ5qg - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uea8k5sJ5qg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=evTTHS9hwvU&feature=related - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=evTTHS9hwvU&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_pJ1ccnC1GI&feature=related - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_pJ1ccnC1GI&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hywld4xFHiM&feature=related - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hywld4xFHiM&feature=related
 Amazing!! ------------- http://www.last.fm/user/Barla/?chartstyle=LastfmMyspace">  
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Posted By: Petrovsk Mizinski
Date Posted: March 01 2008 at 21:42
Those videos are hilarious. They are still as funny today as they were the first time I saw them ages ago .-------------
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Posted By: SpaceMonkey
Date Posted: March 01 2008 at 22:01
They were extremely helpful in the past.
It helped me with my arpeggios of doom and my shredding of the face off technique. |
Posted By: Petrovsk Mizinski
Date Posted: March 01 2008 at 22:20
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As it is, last night was the last party I'm going to for a while (I went because I organised to go before the shred challenge had even seen light anyway). I had 4 hours sleep since then and well, I had a fair amount to drink as well, but again, last night was the last time I drink for a while, as I've decided I'm not drinking for the rest of the month. But enough rant.....
Today, well I've lost time again from sleeping from 9am till 12:30, and then just going on all the usual forums I go on until now.
Today, I gotta get my 16th note triplet alternate picking happening again, plus work on sweep arpeggios patterns with an added right hand tap. -------------
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Posted By: Petrovsk Mizinski
Date Posted: March 01 2008 at 22:24
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Oh and this looks really scary, but I really want to learn this lick http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Q_r8DD1GCE - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Q_r8DD1GCE . I've been a Shawn Lane fan for a little while now, and his inspired me a fair bit.
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Posted By: SpaceMonkey
Date Posted: March 01 2008 at 22:29
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I finally looked into Shawn Lane maybe about a week ago after seeing his name pop up a lot lately. I thought Rusty Cooley was the top guy whenit came to speed, but Shawn is just so much more innovative with it all. Truely amazing. I'm still trying track down as much info as I can from Mr. Lane. I plan on buying his cd's soon also. |
Posted By: Petrovsk Mizinski
Date Posted: March 01 2008 at 22:39
It's awesome your a Land and Cooley fan as well .
I've got a lot of homework for school over the next 4 days (I'm repeating the final year after failing last year from playing guitar too much and partying too hard and a whole range of other reasons), so I'll only be playing 3 hours a day until next friday, where I'll have the chance to play 6 or even more hours.
I've gotta head off now, to see if my friend with his Roland Cube 30 recording amp is available for me to record to some stuff today. Oh and btw, it's 2:39 here, just wondering what time it is where you are, to get a better idea of when you will be practicing when I'm at school or asleep etc. -------------
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Posted By: SpaceMonkey
Date Posted: March 01 2008 at 23:08
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The time isn't off by too much. You're down in Aust and I'm up here in Okinawa. So the time stamp for your last post is 12:40 PM, sweet, only a two hour difference between us. I'll only be here for another 4 months until I get stationed in San Diego, California. |
Posted By: Passionist
Date Posted: March 02 2008 at 08:42
| Feelings from Finland after the first day: I did do quite a few hours, though not sure how many because I was very drunk. Yeah, I think I might need to do it all again some other day. Saturday was pretty wild, and now I'm feeling like the day after at its best :P |
Posted By: Statutory-Mike
Date Posted: March 02 2008 at 13:21
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Yesterday's 6 hours went fine..but 3 of them were at a band practice...I started working on "Satch Boogie"...pretty fun song, we'll see how the rest of the month goes -------------
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Posted By: Petrovsk Mizinski
Date Posted: March 03 2008 at 18:24
Last night, I went to my friend's house, Billy (whom I've been trying to convince to join the forum too ) who's a bass player. I played guitar from 8:15 until 11:30. During that time, I was recording a song we were going to do for music class for school, and then over the main chord progression which I wrote specifically for improvising a solo over, so Billy set to work on bass guitar sweep picked arpeggio chops, which looks pretty cool to watch mind you. The song is in Bb minor, which is a fairly tricky key signature to work with on a standard tuned guitar (the only drop tunings I use is drop D), so I was also learning my way around Bb Aeolian at the same time as practicing my string skipping and sweep picking.-------------
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Posted By: Statutory-Mike
Date Posted: March 03 2008 at 18:56
 String skipping will be the death of me, I just can't get it right.-------------
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Posted By: Passionist
Date Posted: March 03 2008 at 19:03
| I was learning Carry On Wayward Son and Tom Sawyer today, they've got some tricky string skipping. So's some Marillion classics which i went through today. All in all it was a very productive day even though i did most my finger practise during the 10 episodes of Stargate that I watched :) |
Posted By: Petrovsk Mizinski
Date Posted: March 03 2008 at 22:40
Hey, don't worry, it's just like any technique, it will happen one day. For me, I personally started out with string skipping licks in Legato, then moving on to alternate picked licks.
If that's one of your weaknesses, make it part of your practice regime for March. -------------
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Posted By: SpaceMonkey
Date Posted: March 04 2008 at 03:17
Paul Gilbert is well known for his amazing string skipping abilities. Maybe he can shine some light on your troubles.
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Posted By: Petrovsk Mizinski
Date Posted: March 04 2008 at 05:44
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It's 9:45 pm now, I'm at Billy's house again, so I get to play his Jackson Pro Series DK2S, a pretty good guitar, but the fretboard is a tad slower than my Brian Moore I1 2000 series I have at home. Might set to work on our song again, improvising solos and continuing on my string skipping licks and sweep picking. -------------
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Posted By: SpaceMonkey
Date Posted: March 04 2008 at 15:37
| My Petrucci Signature should be coming in either today or tomorrow. That should add a few hours to my daily routine. |
Posted By: Statutory-Mike
Date Posted: March 04 2008 at 16:01
If I had a Petrucci Signature it would add a little more than a few hours to my daily routine! -------------
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Posted By: Petrovsk Mizinski
Date Posted: March 04 2008 at 19:33
That is awesome dude
My Brian Moore I1 2000 Series (got it in 2005 brand new) costs $2995 Aust, while a Petrucci Sig costs $3595, but your guitar has 2 more frets than mine and a better tremolo (makes me sad thinking about that
 ).Mike, I read that you have a Dinky, what exact model is it? -------------
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Posted By: SpaceMonkey
Date Posted: March 04 2008 at 21:20
No, I didn't get the family reserve (I think the newer model is called) it's just his older model. Roughly $1200 after a 20% rebate.
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Posted By: Statutory-Mike
Date Posted: March 04 2008 at 23:02
A Jackson DXMB, it's around $500, nothing compared to your Brian Moore Series or Space's Petrucci Signature but it does an alright job
. I'm actually hoping for my next guitar to be the Vai Jem (7 string)...I'll have to save my nickels and dimes though In other news, today didn't go so well, lots of hw and I had hockey so I got about 2 hours in at most, I'm gonna have to go 8 on Saturday and Sunday this weekend it looks like
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Posted By: SpaceMonkey
Date Posted: March 05 2008 at 03:53
It was actually between the JEM and the Petrucci Signature for me. I forget what my reason was to just go with the Petrucci, but the 7 string JEM doesn't sound like a bad idea at all. I may be selling my current 7 string (Ibanez) and will end up replacing it shortly after I move to San Diego. So the Vai may be at the top of the list.
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Posted By: Passionist
Date Posted: March 05 2008 at 06:49
| Mine's a Squier strat for $450, but I play the guitar, the guitar doesn't play me, so I'm more than satisfied with this one here. And poor. |
Posted By: Petrovsk Mizinski
Date Posted: March 05 2008 at 07:19
I'm a little confused, I've known of the DXMG model, but DXMB
 ? I checked out Audiozone.dk (A website dedicated to Jackson/Charvel guitar fans, like myself) and there didn't appear to be a DXMB model at all, so I'm guessing you made a typo. Models prior to the 2006 model, are equipped with EMG-HZ pickups, while the 2006 model upgrade introduced the 81/85 active set. If it is the case that is your guitar, don't feel embarrassed, they actually cost more than the Dinky DK2S my friend Billy has, and plays the same anyway.As for the Vai 7 string 'JEM', it's actually called a Universe, the current model being the UV777. To be honest, unless your planning on getting a second hand one from a few years back with some scratches and dings in it, if you want to buy brand new, go for the RG1527 Prestige, it's less than half the price of the UV, which means money left over for pickups of your choice instead of being stuck with an expensive guitar and no money to upgrade. Bear in mind the 1527 model has been around for a while, 3-5 years (Don't remember exactly off the top of my head, but I can research that for you if you want
), so you may even be able to get that second hand in good condition if you look carefully.Plus, if your used to your jumbo frets, bear in mind the UV's frets are actually smaller than the RG1527s as well, so there's another reason to get the 1527, so it still has a good feel for you. -------------
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Posted By: Petrovsk Mizinski
Date Posted: March 05 2008 at 07:24
Just in case your wondering, you can get an Ibanez RG321 MH model, for not much more than a Squier Strat, maybe 50-150 dollars more, and it plays much better than you expect for a guitar at that price point, it's a genuine shredder's axe for a good price. The pickups are admittedly, not great as you would expect from the price, but still, much better than the Squiers pickups IMO, and the overal quality of the guitar is also better from personal experience
So if that helps, consider selling the Squier, and save up a little money for something that will truly get you on the road to real shredding.
The neck is thinner, the fingerboard radius is 400mm compared to the squiers 241mm, and it has Jumbo frets too, so the RG is a lot easier to bend and vibrato on, as well as having a lower action. -------------
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Posted By: Statutory-Mike
Date Posted: March 05 2008 at 12:14
Sorry, that's my mistake there was a typing error
 . Also, thanks for the advice on the 7 string!
I don't know what I would rather get though (if I had the money yet of course )..I am used to the jumbo frets on my jackson but the frets on my sg are much smaller sort of like how you are describing the UV's. Before I get anything I'll have to try them both out and see which I like better of course -------------
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Posted By: Passionist
Date Posted: March 05 2008 at 15:03
Haha!  Not even in my wildest dreams and blackest nightmares would I ever change my beloved Squier tothis horror you call a guitar! My friend has one of those. I don't like the look at all. And when it comes to electric guitars, I'd never buy an Ibanez, I just don't like them. It's basically the way they feel to you. Personal preference. I like it how you're assuming I wanted to get rid of mine. To be honest, I've yet to find a guitar that would be better to play than this one. It's a ´95 annual celebration model and what I bought it was half off. Best guitar i've ever played, just after a real Fender Telecaster, given that the microphones might not be the best available, I've got no reason to complain about this great purchase. But I guess it's then time to admit, that doubling up my speed will not be such a problem than with some of you perhaps seeing as how I am a full time jazz guitarist and usually play on an acoustic, just quick chord progressions. So I've never been into playing too fast, now if I do for a while perhaps it could help me technique-wise, but nowadays, I'm slow, and more like a 2 hand, 10-finger player with classical pieces and notations. Having a shedder Ibanez in my corner would be almost blasphemy, and frankly, I couldn't play it without laughing till I choke.  |
Posted By: Statutory-Mike
Date Posted: March 05 2008 at 19:41
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I just broke a string on my dinky -------------
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Posted By: Petrovsk Mizinski
Date Posted: March 06 2008 at 01:12
SGs.........................
No offense, but I really dislike them things, but I will admit, it's better than a LP, and not blatantly over priced like a LP either.My friend Billy has an SG, (Epiphone SG), and a Jackson DK2S. When he got his DK2S shipped May last year, he pretty much stopped playing the SG (but Bass is his main instrument though).
The Jackson had much better tuning stability, the Seymour Duncan SH-4 sounded much clearer than the Epi's pickups, and the mids were much better for lead guitar sounds. The DK2S' neck was thinner as well (I found the neck on the SG too thick, to the point where playing lead guitar for long periods hurt my hand), and the general playability, a world ahead. Not to mention I can't stand playing anything that doesn't have jumbo frets.
The SG only gets use when I want to play in drop D at his house, cos obviously it's too much of a hassle to unlock the nut and intonate the floyd on the Jackson just to play in that tuning.
I guess I'm very much a Super strat kind of guy though, probably always will be. -------------
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Posted By: SpaceMonkey
Date Posted: March 06 2008 at 01:51
 You have to splurge once in a while. |
Posted By: Petrovsk Mizinski
Date Posted: March 06 2008 at 02:08
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No more rants about the technical side of the guitar itself from me, I've been known to get bogged down in that sort of thing, but if your like me, everyday I go on the ESP, Ibanez, JCF (Jackson/Charvel forum), Seymour Duncan forum, Dimarzio forum, plus reading reviews about gear, so basically if I'm not playing guitar or out being social, I'm at home on PA or reading about guitar stuff Last night, I only got in 90 minutes unfortunately, due to my dad hogging the computer, which is where I generally practice, cos I can listen to music, play along with it, use the metronome program etc. Hopefully I can fit more in tonight. -------------
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Posted By: Statutory-Mike
Date Posted: March 06 2008 at 22:17
I have picked up my guitar once for about 10 minutes today...very very bad for me  -------------
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Posted By: Petrovsk Mizinski
Date Posted: March 07 2008 at 01:33
^10 minutes Naughty! I had another blood test today and when the needle came out of my arm, I got a striking pain, so I have to go easy on alternate picking again today Might be heading over to Billy's house again, jam with him and then we have our Bass/Guitar war thing where we do a certain lick on our instrument and the other does something else really cool, but it's a bit hard to judge who wins though.-------------
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Posted By: SpaceMonkey
Date Posted: March 07 2008 at 04:43
| Ok, it's 6:36 PM right now, I just received the new guitar today, and I have the whole weekend ahead of me. It's time to put some serious time in. |
Posted By: sbooth
Date Posted: March 07 2008 at 20:27
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hmm.. let me check my schedule.
ahh!! It apears I have a 6 hour slot free!!! What luck!!! Im currently learning Bach's Cminor prelude, brilliant for getting alternate picking dexterity up. Hopefully by the end of the month, I will have doubled my speed. (not likely, lol) To he who started this thread. You have inspired me! Let the shred-fest commence! ------------- |
Posted By: SpaceMonkey
Date Posted: March 07 2008 at 22:26
| Anyone know of any good materials out there, instructionals/books/artists/whatever, I could get a hold of to work more on the sweeps. I could never perfect the technique. |
Posted By: Petrovsk Mizinski
Date Posted: March 07 2008 at 22:52
It's not against the rules to join the shred challenge a week after it began? I didn't make the rules though, but in good spirits, I guess it's ok as long as your truly up for the challenge
Never actually seen you around the forum before, how are you dude? -------------
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Posted By: Petrovsk Mizinski
Date Posted: March 07 2008 at 23:03
Perfection of the technique only comes with practice. I know the feeling, sweeping is one hard bugger to master, I would say it's my least natural technique, compared to my fairly advanced legato and alternate picking. Start on 3 string sweep patterns, is the best way to do it IMO, with the basic Major and Minor shape sweep patterns
E-------------12- 8 ---------8h 12-------------
B--------------------10 -10---------
G-----------------------9----------
Use an up stroke on the 12th fret, down stroke on the 8th, still using down on the 10th fret of the B string, but switch to an upstroke on the 9th fret of the G string, to make things economical, and use a hammer on with the pinky from the 8th fret to the 12th fret. This is the typical A minor 3 string arpeggio shape (you might already know that, but I figured I would put it here if it happens you don't or if the other shred wars dudes on here could use it)
Oh might I add, do it in 16th note triplets (6 notes per click), starting at a slow comfortable tempo of say, 60bpm, that's how I got my 3 string sweeps up to speed while still being clean and accurate.
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Posted By: Statutory-Mike
Date Posted: March 07 2008 at 23:24
This actually helps me a lot to, thanks!
Better day than yesterday....I learned Porcupine Tree's "Wedding Nails" which took me all of about 10 minutes . I'll be concentration a lot more on Vai's 10 hour workout this weekend.-------------
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Posted By: Statutory-Mike
Date Posted: March 07 2008 at 23:25
I think the rules should be if you join a week in, you have to continue a week after the month, to complete a full month that is -------------
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Posted By: Petrovsk Mizinski
Date Posted: March 08 2008 at 02:12
Go for the 30 hour workout! 10 hours spread out over each day Ever seen it, it was in a Guitar World Magazine issue from about 3-4 months ago.-------------
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Posted By: Atavachron
Date Posted: March 08 2008 at 02:30
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a subtlety about sweeping I noticed is that a lighter touch should be applied to the up-sweep in order to even out the attack, as the up-stroke is often more naturally pronounced.. the same is often true for alternate picking and chord phrasing, the up-stroke requiring less pressure ..when I started playing I was often too aggressive with my attack, and it took years to relax and not over-pick |
Posted By: Passionist
Date Posted: March 08 2008 at 04:32
That would do more than well, we're not nazis here. If you wish to join, welcome then :) and remember, it's all for you, what you decide to do in the end. |
Posted By: SpaceMonkey
Date Posted: March 08 2008 at 04:48
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I've been working with Jason Becker's "serrena arpeggios" for a few years now, among other pieces, and I'm probably screwing up somewhere, but I can't fly threw arpeggios like I can with everything else. I have no problem with shredding, legato, chords, finger picking, you name it. I guess I need to put some serious concentration on it. |
Posted By: Petrovsk Mizinski
Date Posted: March 08 2008 at 04:59
^Serrana is an awesome piece But I only have 22 frets!
I just remembered the song Eugene's Trick Bag, by Steve Vai, from that movie Crossroads (no, not the Brittney Spears movie, but the one from the 80s that had that dude from the Karate kid movies in it)
So far over the week, I've managed to nearly nail the solo from Tornado of Souls by Megadeth (Except for that one lick where you need 24 frets, so I improvise for that bar ), so perhaps I might make a Start on Eugene's trick bag, it's only 9pm here, so might play till 11pm.-------------
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Posted By: Petrovsk Mizinski
Date Posted: March 08 2008 at 06:05
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Oh poo, you need 24 frets for Eugene's Trick Bag. I really need to buy a 24 fret guitar......... -------------
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Posted By: Statutory-Mike
Date Posted: March 08 2008 at 14:49
Yeah I've got it, that's what I'll be working with....you are talking about the issue with satch and vai on the cover right? Where Satch is talking about the re-issue of Surfing with the Alien and vai's is talking about his signature? -------------
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Posted By: SpaceMonkey
Date Posted: March 08 2008 at 19:31
Alright, normally I wouldn't break back into a down stroke until I hit the 10. I've seen it done your way, the picking portion that is, a lot but never really incorporated it into my way. So I guess it's back to the drawing board. Time to start now.
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Posted By: Petrovsk Mizinski
Date Posted: March 09 2008 at 04:33
Yeah, that's the one. It was a pretty cool interview as well IMO, given those 2 guys are probably among my biggest influences. -------------
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Posted By: Petrovsk Mizinski
Date Posted: March 09 2008 at 05:46
I used to sweep pick that way too, to be honest. What made me change the down stroke on the lowest note of a sweep picked arpeggio, was that going from one pattern to another was made easier, cleaner and more economical this way. -------------
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Posted By: Petrovsk Mizinski
Date Posted: March 09 2008 at 22:16
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After my shower (I prefer to play my guitar after a shower and importantly with washed hands too, sounds kinda OCD, I know) I'll get right on to it. A bit steamy down in Melbourne today, so I've got the air conditioner on to prevent me from sweating too much and rusting out my strings. Going through my iTunes list, I'll play Mr Crowley-Ozzy Osbourne, which I've totally masted the second solo, but no the first one, Lucretia-Megadeth, the first guitar solo which has some damn hard phrasing and vibrato in there, Pull Me Under-Dream Theater, the guitar solo from just after 6 minutes, trying to pin down the alternate picked part, the legato parts were almost too easy, legato being the most natural technique to me. -------------
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Posted By: Statutory-Mike
Date Posted: March 09 2008 at 23:06
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I'm off to learning "Satch Boogie"
WIsh me luck -------------
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Posted By: Petrovsk Mizinski
Date Posted: March 10 2008 at 00:38
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^Hope it goes well
Luckily Satch only uses 22 frets, which is all I have.
But no locking trem on my guitar
.I'm currently burning through alternate picking licks, at 200bpm+ in 16th notes.
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Posted By: Petrovsk Mizinski
Date Posted: March 11 2008 at 01:43
I'm having a lot of fun with this, and I don't even want to stop this after a month. It would be so cool to actually just continue this, as I believe it will make as all better players in the end if we have greater reason to practice more than just after this month. -------------
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Posted By: Passionist
Date Posted: March 11 2008 at 06:45
| Uhm, I'm going to need to concentrate on something else for a while. I got this kind of a recording job, so I'm not going to be doing chromatic scales as much as these songs I'm supposed to play on tape. But I reckon it's only a weeks job. |
Posted By: Petrovsk Mizinski
Date Posted: March 11 2008 at 09:02
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Well for tonight, I started on this lick http://youtube.com/watch?v=-Q_r8DD1GCE - http://youtube.com/watch?v=-Q_r8DD1GCE No way will I learn to do that this month, think maybe umm, 2 years, but I'm seriously going to learn to play this lick full speed one day, if it takes me 2 months or 2 years to be able to do.-------------
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Posted By: Statutory-Mike
Date Posted: March 11 2008 at 12:03
agreed, I'm going to be doing this for at least 3 or 4 months after this if not longer -------------
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Posted By: Statutory-Mike
Date Posted: March 11 2008 at 15:04
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Friday is going to be tough, I have ice hockey all day after I come home from school...a school game, then a clinic, then a practice...I'll just have to double up on the weekend...also spring break is coming up soon so I'll be putting in a lot of practice then -------------
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Posted By: Petrovsk Mizinski
Date Posted: March 11 2008 at 23:28
No one is obliged to stay on after the month, but it seems Mike is in for longer, so I'm going to 100 per cent confirm that I'll keep going too
I'll play guitar later tonight, I've gotta do my Legal Studies homework first But I should be able to fit in at least 2 hours tonight.-------------
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Posted By: Statutory-Mike
Date Posted: March 12 2008 at 12:18
2 hours is better than none
.I'll probably only get in about 2-3 hours tonight as well, I'm going to the mall with my grandmother -------------
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Posted By: Petrovsk Mizinski
Date Posted: March 12 2008 at 22:37
so much ice hockey.... your probably way fitter than me then. At most I jog about once a week and ride my bike 3-4 times a week.
The last ice hockey rink I went too closed down due to insurance costs going through the roof. -------------
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Posted By: Petrovsk Mizinski
Date Posted: March 12 2008 at 22:40
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Woops, not a very guitar related post above, lol.
A dude I recently met, wants me to join his band, mainly thrash metal, which is perfect given that thrash is big influence on my rhythm guitar style. In fact, maybe i should work on some more thrash metal songs, Megadeth, particularly the album Rust In Peace, is a great rhythm and lead guitar workout -------------
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Posted By: Statutory-Mike
Date Posted: March 13 2008 at 15:09
my 2 loves are guitar and hockey, I try to put in a bit more on the guitar side though because you can never really over do it with guitar, on the other hand, If I played travel hockey I wouldn't have time to play at all, and that would be terrible for my guitar playing. -------------
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Posted By: Statutory-Mike
Date Posted: March 13 2008 at 15:10
Join the band! Anytime you play with people it's good for your playing all around. -------------
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Posted By: Passionist
Date Posted: March 13 2008 at 15:22
| Speaking of hockey, it's the playoffs in Finland at the moment, we're off to see my favourite team lose tomorrow. That's again some 3+ hours off from my shredding, but I should think it's worth it :) |
Posted By: Statutory-Mike
Date Posted: March 13 2008 at 15:28
the NHL playoffs are near as well...I wish I could get tickets to ANY playoff game for ANY NHL team, I've never been to an nhl playoff game -------------
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Posted By: Statutory-Mike
Date Posted: March 13 2008 at 15:31
I just found this about Finland playing an exhibition game with Pittsburg next year, check it out:
http://www.nhl.com/nhl/app/?service=page&page=NewsPage&articleid=356683 - http://www.nhl.com/nhl/app/?service=page&page=NewsPage&articleid=356683 -------------
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Posted By: Statutory-Mike
Date Posted: March 13 2008 at 15:32
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My last 2 posts barely had a thing to do about guitar, sorry
I'm off to learning some more Satch Boogie! -------------
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Posted By: Passionist
Date Posted: March 13 2008 at 16:53
| Oh, I'm almost as uninterested in Jokerit as I am in Pittsburg :P |
Posted By: Petrovsk Mizinski
Date Posted: March 13 2008 at 23:29
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Last night, I played guitar from 9:40pm till 11:50pm, and well, I've got some good news on the progress report. At the start of the month, my alternate picking was at 220bpm in 16th notes (which is approximately 14.67 notes per second) and 150bpm in 16th note triplets (15 notes per second), and already too weeks later, I'm hitting 235bpm in 16th notes (approx 15.67 notes per second) and 160bpm in 16th note triplets (16 notes per second). A whole note per second faster in two weeks, I have never improved so fast in such little time. Normally it would take more than a month, to improve this much. This shred war is really motivating me and I'm spending more time on my chops and the results are really showing. My alternate picking sucked even 12 months ago, now, it's finally really working, faster, and much cleaner than ever before.
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Posted By: Statutory-Mike
Date Posted: March 14 2008 at 12:35
I've got a question for you..when you alternate pick do you have your index finger AND middle finger (along with your thumb on the back end of course)or do you just have your index finger and thumb, someone told me you pick a lot cleaner with your middle finger and index finger (and thumb on the back end of course)..I personally just have my index finger along with my thumb on the back end, I want to know if this is stopping me from improving more than I can. -------------
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