Hello Everyone

My name is Gerrit,

I am almost 44 years old and live in Germany. I used to reside in the States for a few years in the 90s being on a Basketball scholarship at the time.

Still am a beginning guitar player. 7 years ago i had about one year of guitar lessons with a life teacher. After a year I was decent with the major chords and just started with a few barre chords. The teacher was strict and it was not always that much fun. The last years I did not play anymore, because I had many other life duties to tackle. Also we live in a compact environment, where basically the neighbors can hear everything. So my western guitar moved to the basement where it is probably covered in dust and spiderwebs by now. After seeing a cheap Yamaha Pacifica on ebay a few weeks ago, I thought electric guitar might not stress the neighbors and wife as much, so I spontaneously bought it. I play left-handed, so used guitars in that field are more scarce. So far I am having a blast with this guitar, it is great to play and would not have thought that playing electric is so much fun. I also bought a Layey Mini-ST amp which is also great. Since my skills have gotten really rusty, I decided to go through most of the beginners lessons again and am surprised how much there is to learn still.

Other then that I am a Neil Young addict and have just about everything there is on vinyl. Tried Black by Pearl Jam on the Songs section, but it is harder than I thought :(

I am really looking forward to exchanging ideas/thoughts and questions with everyone...

Willkommen bei Guitar Tricks forum Gerrit! 🙋‍♂️

Basketball scholarship worthy player sounds like you're gifted with a perfect build and capable coordination for guitar.

Left handed on a right handed guitar. Just a heads up. If the conventional handed Pacifica doesn't work out, look to Thomann, perfect if you're in Germany! They have a range of inexpensive left hand electric single and double cutaway models which are more than suitable for learning with.

Laney Mini ST perfect for "don't disturb the neighbours" playing. I have Blackstar's Fly 3 which is similar in both form and function. I use it a lot.

All the best with your goals for guitar!

Danke manXcat!!!

My pacifica that I bought used is actually a left-handed one, so I got lucky. Interesting that you are familiar with Thomann.;)

Heard good things about the Blackstar fly, but bought the Laney because of the tonebridge app and because it sounds nice as well. Have been using exclusively my headphones, because of the neighbors.

Thanks again for welcoming me and keep on rocking...;)

Nice home practise setup. 👍

Fortunately I'm not constrained to having to use the headsets during reasonable hours of the day, but inarguably it's a useful feature to have for when wanted. All of my amps have headset capability. It's pretty much become de rigueur on any contemporary amp.

Which model Pacifica do you have? TMK according to their website listings, Yamaha currently only do a single model Pacifica in the entire range in a left hand version, the PAC112J available in black or natural satin. I have a few Pacificas myself.

Better than merely familiar with Thomann. I shop there. 😍 Harley Benton FTW.

The Yamaha is a PAC112J in black and white. It is fun to play.

I live close to Cologne where there is a big shop called music store which is similar in size to Thomann. They also have a large selection and very good prices. (https://www.musicstore.de/de_DE/EUR) Maybe interesting for you when certain item at Thomann is unavailable.

All the available gear for electric guitar is quite overwhelming. Was looking at the big muff, because the Smashing Pumkins apparently use one and I like their sonics, but decided to to first learn more. The tonebridge app on the Laney actually does a decent job with simulating analog gear.

If you have any cool recommendations for a late beginner, kindly let me know. You seem quite experienced. Hendrix would have said ARE YOU...

Thanks for the heads up with that link.

The ceramic PUPS in the J series Pacificas have really appealing tone IMV.

Solid state amps today are incredibly versatile. Even my mighty-mini Fly 3 will take some pedals surprisingly well!

Amp sim pedals in particular can do a fair job of replicating close to any tone wanted, and inexpensively so today.

I wouldn't consider myself experienced at all Gerrit. Although no longer a raw beginner, I still consider my skills rank me a relative neophyte or 'Gumby' at guitar, albeit one immersed the metaphorical "110%" since my guitar 'Wiedergeburt', and inarguably, tending to a sustained motivated obsessive and very active hands on interest.

I have the time, so I suppose I do play 'a lot' in terms of hours on the instruments within any given time frame datum ever since I started, and pretty much every day. Hopefully I can increase that hands on time as I develop, but am aware of the importance of pacing myself to avoid fatigue and burn out. A soft objective, but am aiming for a conservative realistic average currently of about 650-700 hrs hands-on the instrument/year minimum, so around 2000 hrs over 3 years, doubt I'll achieve the arbitary 10,000 hr point at that rate (15 years)? in my time remaining unless I get lucky. NVM. Wherever I get to will suffice, as it's the journey to there which continues to be most precious to me.

🐾🐺