Upgraded to an Ibanez RGEW521ZC - basically a hardtail super-strat shape, with a lovely natural ziricote finish. Roasted maple neck with a 12" radius is flat and so, so smooth. Rosewood 22-fret fingerboard and a couple of DiMarzio humbuckers. Easy to play and with a sweet clean tone. And the best-finished fret ends in its price range.
The Strat is still around, but I don't play it much. It's heavy, and the flat-wound strings on it aren't my thing - I slip and slide all over the place. I've given the Pacifica back to FiL, and I think the Strat will follow it.
Currently using a Vox Rhythm 5 Mini practice amp (nice at the £120-ish price), but considering an upgrade to an Orange Micro Terror and the funky little 8" cab that matches it. I've also got a horrid "Rockburn" practice amp which cost just £30, and sounds like it.
Now looking for a centre-block hollow-body for acoustic/bluesy noodlings - current prime candidate is an Epiphone Dot, which seems to strike the balance between cost and quality (and hoo boy, the law of diminishing returns applies - with a vengeance - to guitars). Also, I want a red one.
My playing is coming on. Open chords are pretty much sorted, barre chords are still kicking my arse (but less so) and I'm starting to work on my scales. I can murder simplified versions of a few songs now, including Brown Eyed Girl, Zombie, Born to Die. My next victim is going to be Folsom Prison Blues, because that'll force me to work on both my strumming (I'm a left-hooker playing right-handed, so my strumming is a bit clumsy) and getting into and out of the B7 chord, which I'm bad at.
The Strat is still around, but I don't play it much. It's heavy, and the flat-wound strings on it aren't my thing - I slip and slide all over the place. I've given the Pacifica back to FiL, and I think the Strat will follow it.
Currently using a Vox Rhythm 5 Mini practice amp (nice at the £120-ish price), but considering an upgrade to an Orange Micro Terror and the funky little 8" cab that matches it. I've also got a horrid "Rockburn" practice amp which cost just £30, and sounds like it.
Now looking for a centre-block hollow-body for acoustic/bluesy noodlings - current prime candidate is an Epiphone Dot, which seems to strike the balance between cost and quality (and hoo boy, the law of diminishing returns applies - with a vengeance - to guitars). Also, I want a red one.
My playing is coming on. Open chords are pretty much sorted, barre chords are still kicking my arse (but less so) and I'm starting to work on my scales. I can murder simplified versions of a few songs now, including Brown Eyed Girl, Zombie, Born to Die. My next victim is going to be Folsom Prison Blues, because that'll force me to work on both my strumming (I'm a left-hooker playing right-handed, so my strumming is a bit clumsy) and getting into and out of the B7 chord, which I'm bad at.