The Madman's Learning Log

So this was originally started on my 60th birthday back in 2016 under the title TOBY JENNER’S CAS DE LA ROUTE / ROADCASE to mark 20 years of guitar ownership.

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March 30, 2016, 09:33:00 pm »

I’ve been meaning to post a Roadcase entry for a while, so I can come back in a few years from now and see if I’ve made any progress. Probably more than the normal Roadcase inaugural entry but at my age if you don’t note things down you forget.

So put the kettle on, make a brew, open a beer or roll a big one, let see who’s here at the end.

Today seems an appropriate day as it’s my 60th birthday and I got my first guitar – a Fender Squier Strat – 20 years ago for my 40th. I should therefore be celebrating being a guitar player for 2 decades but that would be far from the truth, so today marks 20 years of guitar ownership……………….big difference, And apart from lots of consolidating I can happily say I’ve now completed the Intermediate Modules, my 60th being the target I set when starting April last year.

So where did it all go wrong? Well I was one of those beginners who thought they could learn everything from a few books and playing songs from tabs in the early days of the internet. Yes I could play bits of songs but really didn’t have a clue what I was doing. None of the books I used really covered to fundamentals of rhythm guitar, despite showing strumming patterns and all seemed to end up with an expectation of the student reading music, so I never really go it. Add to that the year before my 40th I’d just restarted martial arts, after a short break and went back to the beginning so I could train with my daughter. This consumed most of my leisure time and we ended up running our own Karate School for 6 years. Despite this I’d pick up the Strat or my Encore acoustic now and then and noodled a few songs I could remember but it was really just stagnation…

Fast forward to 2011 early retirement at 55 and a move from the UK to France………………

To kick start my guitar ‘career’ I got hold of a set of Dummies books (Guitar, Rock and Blues) and my retirement present from work was my Washburn HB30 (Tabaco sunburst ) but.2011 was a hectic year - as not only did I retire but my father passed away, the house sold quicker than we expected and by October we were renting an old French presbytery in Lower Normandie as a base for house hunting, whilst all our belongings including the guitars, were back in storage in the UK.

Mid winter and bored my wife bought me a cheap (35 euros) ‘classic’ guitar from Lidl of all places and I started learning again as I had the Dummies books as pdfs on my laptop. After a few weeks of nylon strings I bought a cheapo Rock Star Academy acoustic from Amazon for £60 but hey it sounded good. Playing wise I rushed through the books to refresh what I thought I knew but more importantly to see if I was capable of playing things, especially specific licks and thought I just might be able to finally play!! We moved into our own French home Feb 2012 and that then became the priority. Playing resumed late autumn.

Then late 2012 I found Justin’s website and got stuck into the Beginner’s Course early 2013. The rest as they say is history. I’ve learnt more in the last 3 and a bit years, than in any of the previous 17 and feel I’m on my way to finally becoming a guitarist. Still not sure what I would call myself at the moment…………not quite good enough to say Intermediate so maybe Advanced Beginner if there is such a thing. Who knows who cares as I can now play a good few songs and been known to record the odd one. Just need to get over the singing hurdle but when you’ve a voice like mine……………….

So I’m here 20 years on and moving into proper Intermediate territory. I just hope that I develop at the rate at which I’ve done in the last 3 years or more while I’ve still some time on this planet.

Strange things started happening last year, when I became sort of creative. Where that sprung from I ain’t a clue but I’ve got 4/5 projects at various stages that I can now take another look at now I’ve ‘finished’ the IM. So watch this space. I’ll list these here in the not so distant future so I can track their progress.

I would like to say that the forum has been a great help and support since I first logged on – never really did forums much before and was getting peeved with Facebook. I’d like to think I’ve made some good friends here and hope I’ve not asked too many inane questions along the way. But it’s been fantastic to have folk to share things with, people to seek assistance from and a kind of peer group/contemporises who started around the same time as me, who I can measure my progress. Some have gotten ahead of me as I stumbled through the BC and have made great progress. Rossco springs to mind as we’ve kinda been parallel for a while and you’ve always been supported and “Hey \m/ Joe” Jesper as well. Good to see them and others making great progress. And thanks to all those who’ve provided feedback on the recording I’ve posted over the last year. Oh yeah and a few fellow bikers to boot.

Apart from Justin I’ve got to add a special thanks to 4 of the people that I’ve found the most helpful and who given me inspiration to try different things.

Stitch – For showing me the world of yellow boxes and the fretjam website. My world is now full of intervals and my eyes are now open to so many things. Seeing those little yellow patterns have really help my impros and awareness of notes around fretboard and a new appreciation of Julie Andrews !! |Doe A Deer with max gain and chorus / flanger anyone ?

Shadowscott – For always being there with constructive and in depth comprehensive answers to not only my questions but others, who in turn help me learn and understand more than I ever could by following the courses alone. May your mileage always vary.

Close – My go to guy in the early days when I needed to navigate the forum and another knowledgeable member always willing to help and share what he knows. Take his harmonising scales post the other day, top stuff. Now if only I abided to his mantra. Plays songs, play songs, play songs, play songs, play songs, play songs, play songs, play songs and the play more songs!!

TB-AV – Man I used to think this guy was talking Swahili ! None of his replies made sense and then things started to slowly sink in. His suggestions to try certain things and think about why or how they work, of leaving more answers to find, made me think outside the box. Or he’d lead you out of the box – like he did with some chromatic patterns and a few other pointers – leave you there so you could find you way back in. Truly inspirational, so thanks TB. Our own musical Yoda.

So where next ?

Ambitions
Complete the following :
Consolidate the IM
Transcribing – must get my ‘stuff’ together with ear training…………pants at the moment!
CAGED
Blues Rhythm and Lead Courses
Fingerstyle Courses
Rock and Awesome Licks Modules

Find a jam buddy here in Normandie/Bretange

Ultimately to hear something, transcribe it, play it – but reincarnation may have to be a factor in this one!

Play all the songs on my bucket list and more.

My Gear (in order of acquisition - pics to follow)

Fender Squier Strat Black
Marshal Lead 12 Amp
Encore W265 acoustic
Zoom GFX707 multi effect pedal
Behringer GX110 Ultraroc Amp
Washburn HB30 TSB
RSA cutaway acoustic
Washburn HB32 DM
Fender Deluxe Roadhouse Strat TSB (MiM)
Fender Mustang III V.2 and 2 & 4 way footswitch
DAW – Reaper

Oh and an old Banjo up the loft which I must dig out one day.

Bucket List – Songs To Learn/Play – so many many more than these but guess you need to start somewhere. Ok was going to list 20 but could cut these down any further! Too many songs not enough years.

Those marked * I’ve dabbled with in a previous life, way back in Tab World

Lynyrd Skynyrd
Freebird *
Sweet Home Alabama
Born To Run
The Last Rebel plus many more

Fleetwood Mac/Pete Green
Man Of The World *
Albatros
Oh Well Parts 1 and 2
Green Manalishi
Black Magic Woman

Deep Purple
Strange Kind Of Woman (MiJ)*
Smoke On The Water (MiJ) *
Highway Star
Child In Time – replace keys/organ with guitar piece

Pink Floyd
Wish You Were Here
Shine On You Crazy Diamond

Hendrix
Red House *
All Along The Watchtower
Hey Joe (full version)

Led Zeppelin
Stairway To Heaven
Ramble On so many I just had to start somewhere.

Iron Maiden
Afraid To Shoot Strangers *
Clansman *
Fear Of The Dark *
Holy Smoke *
Seventh Son of A Seventh Son plus way too many to list here!!!

Metalica
One
Nothing Else Matters
Mama Said *
Unforgiven

ACDC
Back In Black
Thunderstruck
Whole Lotta Rosie
Highway To Hell a starter for 4.

James Taylor
Fire and Rain
You’ve Got A Friend

Robin Trower
Bridge Of Sighs *
Long Misty Days *

Gary Moore
Parisienne Walkways * oh and the changed name version
Still Got The Blues

Groundhogs
Cherry Red

Iron Butterfly
In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida – yes all 17 minutes worth !

Staind
Its Been A While
Outside

Black Crowes
She Talks To Angels
Twice As Hard

I could go on and on.

Well If you still here, thanks for listening to the ramblings of an old man and see you again soon.

Cheers

Toby

:sunglasses:

March 31, 2016, 09:00:08 pm

Ok pics as promised. My Gear ! :smiley:

My trusty 20 year old Squier Strat Affinity - never been set up and always played brill.

Encore W265 which I’ve had for about 15 years. Set up last year now plays like butter - even barres !

Washburn HB30 - My retirement present from work after 38 years service. Nice ES335 clone.

Cheap and cheerful Rock Star Academy acoustic. Kept me ticking while house hunting in
France and way better than the LIDL Nylon Classic which does not grace a picture!

Washburn HB32 Dark Mahogany - a xmas pressie from my wife 2014. Its grown on me and feels great.

Fender Deluxe Roadhouse Strat (MiM). TSB finish with pearl effect guard and ‘antique’ knobs. Lusted after a proper TSB strat for an eternity and now its mine, all mine. Ha Ha Ha Ha (fiendish lafter). !

Fender Mustang III V2 - additional 4 way switch to go with the stock 2 way (still in box) !

Behringer GX110 Ultraroc Amp 30W 99 effects, owned for about 12 years I think ?

Behringer Xenyx Q802 USB AI. Nice piece of kit, two mic and jack inputs and dovetails with Reaper on the PC.

My trusty old Marshal 12 Lead practice amp that I’ve had for 20 years and it was old then. Still sounds good and gets dusted off now and then…but now sitting behind the Behringer but accessible.
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Zoom GFX707 effect pedal. Loads fun with this puppy !nner/12_zpsbbevbmdh.jpg)
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New ‘studio’ set up with everything accessible from my desk. Ain’t I one happy bunny ? Oh yes !

And that’s about it for the interesting stuff. Bye for now

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September 03, 2017, 05:47:17 pm

Been a while since I updated my Roadcase but after a rainy day in Normandy I finally started some initial work on upgrading my 21 year old Squier Affinity. So here’s some pics. Soldering to be done later this year when I’m more confident.

Project Affinity & Beyond

Nervously took a hand drill to the scratch plate for mounting the coil splitting mini toggles :

Mini Toggles in place :

Pots and 5 way added next :

Then finally the HSH Pups - Iron Gear Hammerhead HBs & Smoke Stack II single

Next step - dismantle the Affinity and offer up the new plate to check clearances, before soldering. Going to use the old wiring rig for experimenting and testing. Once that’s been de-solder and re-solder to a good standard, I’ll wire this all up.

Forgot to add, the bottom Tone knob will be a dummy and used as a blend pot, so both HBs can be used at the same time.

Big thanks to TB and Dan, for advice and answers to all the dumb questions I was asking a couple of months back. Without their input I don’t think I’d would have the confidence to take this on. Cheers guys

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Sometime later
January 26, 2018, 07:22:55

Thought I’d let folks know that I’m finally making some progress on the ancient Squier upgrade. Its been a few months now but every time I reach for the soldering kit, I start bricking it (quaint English colloquialism) and decide to put it to one side for a bit. Mind you I’ve been busy with other things but the French Monsoon season has kinda forced my hand, so I’ve made a start on a few connections and am typing while the iron heats up for round two !!

If there’s an award for neatest wiring and soldering, I’d be asked “are you kidding?” but hopefuly function over form will win the day. Biggest ball ache was soldering the micro switch to split all 3 pups but now that’s done I’m hoping its plain sailing from here.

If this guitar picks up a signal when I’m done, I’ll be friggin amazed but you live in hope. As I seem to be on a roll, I’ll keep you posted.

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January 27, 2018, 02:07:26 pm

Thanks guys. Looking more like Spaghetti Junction now !

Just need to solder new jack to vol pot and add grounds for it. Then its strip and shield the “strat” solder the grounds and test. All being well if I get sounds it will just be a case of reassembly, restring, adjust and play. Or if it goes to rat’s pooh, back to the beginning.

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Well another step nearer to completing this project. Body needs a good clean before shielding and I may need to trim a small section - neck pup to 2way etc a bit tight.

Pic below is just temporary to see everything went in.

Good news is I have sound after plugging in and taping the pups with a screwdriver blade, even the 2 way coil spliters seem to be working ! Bad news I attached the jack before realising the wires needed threading through the body first. Doh, first boob so far.

Anyway more testing tomorrow and I’ll take my time on the last few stages. How the pro’s knock this work out in a few hours I’ll never know. But can’t wait to play the damn thing now.

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January 30, 2018, 08:47:58 pm

Finally the last few steps.

Shielding completed though maybe unnecessary.

After replacing the jack plug leads again and lacing them through, then putting the scratch plate rig back in position, I found the height adjusters for the HB pups were too long.

Some tentative hand drilling for the HB pup screws …

And everything slotted nicely into place … although back plate and scratch holes where slightly off, so the bradl came out.

So just a case of resoldering the jack plug leads.

And then restringing.

And a well earned beer

So after nearly 22 years of ownership there’s life in the old dog. HB sound great and the split coils and may just need some height adjustments. Middle pup sounding a bit weak but maybe just over awed but as my first wiring project I’m pretty made up - surprised it plays - but made up all the same.

So after messing around for what seems an eternity but likely two weeks, its time to get back to playing.

Big thanks to TB-AV and Dan Graves. Without their input and advice this project would probably never got off the ground. Cheers guys!

Toby

Well everything is now cooking on gas !!

The Hammerhead HBs are hammering and the Smoke Stack II is now smoking hot.

After much thinking about the lack of SSII volume, I sacrificed the new strings to check connections again and found the ground had disconnected. Re-soldered to the volume pot, put everything back together and checked out with a spare Super Slinky 42 - and the mid pup was screaming like a stuck pigs. Relaced a full set of strings and set all three pups to about 4mm.

Sounding good and ready for Justin’s latest ACDC lessons. Cushty

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December 28, 2018, 12:20:58 am
Well Santa has come, so I must have been good and admittedly this has been sitting in the loft for 5/6 weeks but … my sweet little Gibson Les Paul Studio Custom is out of the case and ready to rock.

Lighting doesn’t do it justice so maybe more pics to follow.

Just a Tele and Bass missing perhaps, a difficult sell to the missus me thinks !

Just in time for the solo for the project I’m working on … and on and on and on. Soon peeps.

Finally unfudged the grey matter and managed to post the image below, which is a bit better quality than the first.

And the original photo …

Hoping to plug it in this evening, as its been a crazy few days prepping for the family who arrive tomorrow morning.

Cheers

Toby

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So I’d forgot I had replaced all the old photobucket pics with IMGUR links, just spent 30 minutes adding the old pics in for the Community update…could have gone straight here!

August 19, 2020, 02:59:42 pm
Hiya Folks

With all the recent NGD activity and new Roadcases, I realised that I had not added my Gibson SG to mine and looking back also my Fender T-Bucket 300. So time to rectify that. Then going back over this thread I noticed that all my previous pictures are no longer visible as they were hosted by money grabbing photobucket. So here’s a quick recap of those earlier posts and the recent acquisitions.

My original Affinity, my first guitar in 1996 then hardly used for the next 15 years !!

Pimped Affinity after HSH make over - story in thread

My old Encore W265 acquired about 20 years ago

Washburn HB30 - retirement present from HSBC when I jacked it all in in 2011

Washburn HB32 that my lovely wife bought around 2015 not knowing its a clone of the HB30 but looks cool all the same.

This cheap old RSA was bought as a stop gap when everything was in storage while we were house hunting in France. POS but kept me sane and ultimately led me to Justin while trying to relearn from Guitars and Blues Guitars for Dummies.

RSA has its rightful place in the loft, when it was nudge off the rack by my Fender T=Bucket 100CE

But before the T-Bucket my MiM Fender Roadhouse Strat arrived for my 60th

Back in 2018 my wife did not know what to get me for Xmas, I suggested a Gibson LP…she said ok !!!
Picture does not capture the depth of that dark cherry red.

Latest acquisition is my Gibson SG, that went up as an NGD post. A thank you from the missus for caring for her after this years 2 MIs. Funny though I recall paying for both Gibsons…and all the others for that matter.

And that’s the current stable. I won’t include pics of all the other gear but its listed at the start of the thread but hey that’s where we are in 2020…simples

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Get out the tissues for this one peeps. There was a separate thread that led to this but for all newbies reading this, get STRAPLOCKS and get them now !!

April 26, 2021, 10:41:30 pm
Well as promised the much needed update to this Roadcase.

So some of you may recall back in January, after a wonderful 2 years together, my beloved Wine Red LP Studio aka Cherry had what I thought to be a fatal accident and with all the restrictions and limitations arising from the Covid pandemic, was pretty much consigned to history.

As the Red Queen said “Off with their heads”

On that day the world fell out of my bottom, or so it felt. But every cloud has at least one silver lining.

As it was my 65th this year, my good lady had been constantly asking what I wanted, for what was once a milestone UK birthday (but my state pension now starts next year). So browsing on the Thomann website and loitering on the image of a complete Cherry in all her splendour, such was the disappointment ;) when a few clicks later revealed a gorgeous Smokehouse Burst Studio LP and my heart melted. It did not take much persuading from my wife, for me to agree it would make a fine birthday present. So although the brown box arrived long before the big day, I waited patiently until the 30th of March before fully welcoming Smokey into my life.


Now in the midst of all the chaos and joy Stitch had said Cherry could be repaired if I found a good luthier. I’d had a look around and made some enquiries but my shop in Rennes was in the middle of a covid hotspot zone and Thomann’s repair centre seemed to have gone awol since mid January.

So the day after my birthday, with lockdown 3 quickly approaching I decided to look again for a local luthier and blow me down found a Geordie 7 minutes up the road !! https://www.srb-guitars.com/
Having gone round to SRB on April 1st (!!) the day before lockdown kicked off again, the fix was discussed, prices and timescales confirmed and Cherry was left with Doctor Steve.

Today she came home and I am blown way by the job he has done and I am sure if you had not known what had happened, you would be none the wiser, despite some very very minor hairline markers, that were to be expected due to the vagaries of nitro and the nature of the break. So here she is

The damaged headstock veneer is as good as new, it was sheared off right on the top truss rod cover screw

The paint work has been blended in and could be the original finish



With the headstock repaired and a new set up done, she now plays like butter and the action is silky smooth.

I am really impressed with the overall work and the set up on Cherry, so will return soon. A set up on its own actually works out cheaper, when I add the fuel and parking costs for visiting Rennes. Plus to be honest Steve’s work and care seems to be a few hundred percent better, so at 50 euros a pop, I will slowly introduce him the other six electrics, cos I am pretty ok with the two acoustics. He also runs a couple of guitar maintenance courses each year (he’s been building for 40 years and a tech in various UK and French shops), so I might check that out as well, when the corona dust settles, as the man is a mind of information and genuinely good geezer !!

So all is well with the world once more. :)

So after a nightmare start to my guitar year and the apparent existence of a second silver lining, I can now present my new
Gibson Double Album

because of course with a double album you always got 2 LPs !!

And now one family photo for the album, before I manage to break anything else.

So that’s it folks apart from this years Open Mic performance and the continued saga of the Madman’s Diaries

Now what was I saying about Schecters …oh and some one mentioned pedal boards…

Cheers

Toby

07, 2021, 09:59:55 am

Hi peeps

Time for an update as I just got some new kit - you can’t beat a bit of GAS.

For some time now I was perplexed as to why I could not split my Audio Interface output into separate tracks in my DAW of choice Reaper. Over the last few years I have owned a Behringer Xenyx Q802USB and recently upgraded to a Q1202USB. The track splitting was never an issue, as I was normally just recording one track at a time but my forage into singing and playing brought the issue up again. The Q1202 was fine for recording “live” video performances and for our online Open Mics but with only one, apparent, merged output (ie vocals and guitar) meant I was limited on what I could do FX wise to enhance the tracks !

This came up again recently in a conversation I was having with Mr Preece (DavidP) when we were looking into combing DAW, OBS and Zoom connectivity for an enhanced “audio experience” - more on that later this week as I am knocking up a video to support a guide David and I have tailored and tested.

So going back over the Xenyx specs, I confirmed that although it was multi track in, it was only stereo out. I guess the numbering of the Xenyx range could have given that away - 502, 802, 1202 etc etc with the first number being the inputs and the 2 being the outputs.

And further investigation revealed there were two types of Audio Interfaces (news to me !!!).
Those for multi track recording, (which I thought I was getting) and those for mixing multiple input and passing the “mixed” result to the main output.

So with the way projects have been developing over the last year, it was time to get the correct type of AI. So I opted for a rack style Behringer UMC 1820 and with the single “strip” rack/cabinet needed, paid out less than £200 and that’s a lot of bang for your bucks ! If you paid attention to the numbers up top, you may figure it’s 18 in 20 out !!

Now there’s a few inputs I’ll never use but the 8 x TLS/XLRs are perfect for my needs (and their lineouts). As I am lucky enough not to have to put my toys away everyday, that means I can have all my inputs hooked up ready to go.

So my Mustang III v2 stereo line outs are plugged into inputs 7 & 8, my old Behringer GX110 FX Amp into input 6 and my Mackie condenser mic that I will use as a studio mic (no one could hear me at the last OM) into input 5. Inputs 1 and 2 on the front panel will be used for Dynamic mic input and Guitar DI or my Zoom GFX707 multi FX pedal when the mood takes and inputs 3 and 4 used to support the TC Helicon PlayAcoustic (which could also be plugged into 1 and 2).

Just need to hook up the main out (TLS/RCA cables needed) to the speaker bar that sits over the PC monitor and job done. Had a wee dabble with Reaper yesterday evening setting things up and all is good. It will take a few days to get used to optimum levels but each project needs its fine tuning anyway.

So all sorted and a nice tidy environment to play in.

Xenyx Q1202 still plumbed in but moved to the side desk, so available for back up and other uses, such as direct Zoom input if needed.

And the moral of this tale ? Buyer beware, do your research before hitting the checkout.

Cheers

Toby

And that just about brings things up to date but one last entry to follow for now. But I am not sure how it will transpose to the new environments, so I’ll stop here just in case.

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In May this year I finally collated my recording catalogue, since I have been here. So decided to add the updated version which I planed to post after Open Mic 5.

LONG LONG TIME AGO…………………….

Been meaning to do this for quite a while now but it seems more significant, given how 2021 has started.

So, after 25 years of owning a guitar and many years of pathless wandering before finding JustinGuitar back in late 2012 and starting the BC in March the next year, I have now just completed my third “live” performance!!

The Open Mic initiatives, instigated by Rossco1/Jason have really given me the opportunity to look back and see how far I’ve come. Realistically, I need to discount all those years I was going round in circles, so I’ll measure this from March 2013 when I first started the “Classic” Beginners Course.

If you had asked me back then, if I would ever play to an audience, even an online one, I would have laughed in your face, heck six months ago? Same answer, no way Jose!!

But I have just completed the JGC Open Mic 2 (May 15 2021), which was proceeded by our very first JGC Open Mic Trial (April 23 2021) and just a week ago, the very first JustinGuitar Showcase trial, livestreamed to an in-house YouTube audience (7 May 2021) playing in front of the man himself. Cool!! And the timing is perfect.

Over the last few days, I have gone back over the recordings I have made, since being here and have finally compiled a catalogue of my efforts.

Boy there are some rough ones right at the start and I’m glad to say it gradually got better, well at least in my opinion. There is still a long way to go and I have so much more to learn but this year and the last couple of months, draws a huge line in the sand. I feel I can call myself a guitarist……………kind of !!

So, this is where my recording “career” started back in September 2014 using Audacity and about three quarters of the way through the old “classic” Beginners Course. Things have changed a hell of a lot since then but here is that first little acorn.

https://justinguitarcommunity.com/index.php?topic=35469.msg301863#msg301863

AOVYP Recordings Since 2014

  1. Tears Of The Dragon ( September 25, 2014)
    Stream Tears Of The Dragon by tobyjenner | Listen online for free on SoundCloud

  2. Tears Of The Dragon Overdub
    Stream 3 Min Tears Of The Dragon Overdub by tobyjenner | Listen online for free on SoundCloud

  3. Power Chord Abuse - Basket Case
    Stream Power Chord Abuse - Basket Case by tobyjenner | Listen online for free on SoundCloud

  4. What’s Up 4NB
    Stream episode What's Up 4NB by tobyjenner podcast | Listen online for free on SoundCloud

  5. Whats Up Recording 2
    Stream episode Whats Up Recording 2 by tobyjenner podcast | Listen online for free on SoundCloud

  6. Call Me The Breeze First Cut ADE
    Stream episode Call Me The Breeze First Cut ADE by tobyjenner podcast | Listen online for free on SoundCloud

  7. The Cranberries - Zombie
    Stream The Cranberries - Zombie by tobyjenner | Listen online for free on SoundCloud

  8. Wear Did You Lose It Stitch (a very bad Zombie)
    Stream Wear Did You Lose It Stitch by tobyjenner | Listen online for free on SoundCloud

  9. Fly Away
    Stream Fly Away by tobyjenner | Listen online for free on SoundCloud

  10. Another Man’s Cause
    Another Man's Cause - YouTube

  11. Murder By The Seine (Parisienne Walkways first cut, no Backing Track)
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  12. Murder By The Seine (Parisienne Walkways mash up)
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  13. Holy Smoke
    Stream Holy Smoke by tobyjenner | Listen online for free on SoundCloud

  14. Funky Tears Of The Dragon
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  15. Normandie Noddle (Impro In D)
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  16. Malice Aforethought - Delay Driven
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  17. Hotel California Speaker ReMix
    Stream Hotel California Speaker ReMix by tobyjenner | Listen online for free on SoundCloud

  18. Like These Times
    Stream Like These Times by tobyjenner | Listen online for free on SoundCloud

  19. Like These Times Take 3
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  20. I’ll Be There - PR & C
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  21. Inside - A Schlaffenwagen Production
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  22. Schlaffenwagen The French Connecton Aka Ascension Day (First ever singing recording)
    Ascension Day The Movie - YouTube
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  23. House Of The Rising Sun - Schlaffenwagen Mix
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  24. An Irish Pub Song Cover
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  25. Bridge Of Sighs Final Mix
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  26. Hey You Get Out Of That CAGE(D) - Justin Guitar G Major Impro
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  27. Beautiful Soft E Minor Impro (that was the name of the backing track not my playing)
    Stream Beautilful Soft E Minor Impro by tobyjenner | Listen online for free on SoundCloud

  28. The Reaper (Original) Lots of musicians passed either side of Christmas 2016, Lemmy, Bowie etc. So a reflection on life
    Stream The Reaper by tobyjenner | Listen online for free on SoundCloud

  29. Turn The Page Hybrid
    Stream Turn The Page Hybrid 090320 TJ by tobyjenner | Listen online for free on SoundCloud

  30. Born To Be Wild (Vocals Only Cagn and Roman did the hard work)
    Stream Born To Be Wild by tobyjenner | Listen online for free on SoundCloud

  31. Behind Blue Eyes Hybrid
    Stream Behind Blue Eyes Hybrid by tobyjenner | Listen online for free on SoundCloud

  32. Attestation Blues (Original)
    Attestation Blues - YouTube
    Stream Attestation Blues by tobyjenner | Listen online for free on SoundCloud

  33. Investigating Private Noodles (January 2021)
    Stream Investigating Private Noodles by tobyjenner | Listen online for free on SoundCloud

  34. Maiden Voyage [Rough n ready snippets - a taste of the future] (January 2021)
    Dropbox - MV I.mp3 - Simplify your life
    Dropbox - MV II.mp3 - Simplify your life
    Dropbox - MV III.mp3 - Simplify your life

  35. C2U Modes Master Class A Ionian Madman Melody (June 2021)
    Modes - an adventure, an exploration ...
    Stream C2U Modes Master Class An Ionian Madman Melody by tobyjenner | Listen online for free on SoundCloud

  36. C2U Modes Master Class A Lydian Madman Melody (June 2021)
    Stream C2U Modes Master Class A Lydian Madman Melody by tobyjenner | Listen online for free on SoundCloud

  37. C2U Modes Master Class A Mixolydian Madman Melody (June 2021)
    Stream C2U Modes Master Class A Mixolydian Madman Melody by tobyjenner | Listen online for free on SoundCloud

  38. C2U Modes Master Class An Aeolian Madman Melody (June 2021)
    Stream C2U Modes Master Class An Aeolian Madman Melody by tobyjenner | Listen online for free on SoundCloud

  39. C2U Modes Master Class A Dorian Madman Melody (June 2021)
    Stream C2U Modes Master Class A Dorian Madman Melody by tobyjenner | Listen online for free on SoundCloud

  40. C2U Modes Master Class A Phrygian Madman Melody (June 2021)
    Stream C2U Modes Master Class A Phrygian Madman Melody by tobyjenner | Listen online for free on SoundCloud

  41. C2U Modes Master Class A Locrian Madman Melody (June 2021)
    Stream C2U Modes Master Class A Locrian Madman Melody by tobyjenner | Listen online for free on SoundCloud

  42. C2U Modes Master Class A Locrian Madman Cellar Production (June 2021)
    Stream C2U Modes Master Class A Locrian Madman Cellar Production by tobyjenner | Listen online for free on SoundCloud

  43. Borrowed Chord Experiments – A Switch In Time (in G Major) September 2021
    https://drive.google.com/file/d/1yhfP22oypm83eOIgKNr5HTc8qzVTFnnJ/view?usp=sharing
    YouTube re-edited in stereo.

  44. Borrowed Chord Experiments – A Minor Inconvenience (in G minor) October 2021
    https://studio.youtube.com/video/uSLF_cwIxjg/edit

  45. Borrowed Chord Experiments – Power Chords on Loan / Lets Ride (in G minor) October 2021
    https://youtu.be/nC3EzLRRqCg

  46. Borrowed Chord Experiments (Non Diatonic Progressions) – La Toussaint in E minor November 2021
    https://youtu.be/nPLQH8zB3gA

Christmas Colabs with the Kookaburra Krew
2019- Schools Out - Alice Cooper (part of the “Kookaburra choir”)
https://soundcloud.com/schlaffenwagen/schools-out
2020 – Merry Christmas Everybody - Slade (vocals only)
https://soundcloud.com/schlaffenwagen/merry-christmas-everybody

Pre-Madman’s Diary/Dipping Into Singing/Playing and Recording on Video

  1. Streets Of Pain (First trial of singing and playing)
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y5rOMlKo4fM

  2. Waiting For A Friend The Pretty Reckless Cover (first full song sung and played.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GTzOpP0xRbk
    https://soundcloud.com/tobyjenner/waiting-for-a-friend-the-pretty-reckless-cover

JGC Open Mic/LiveStreams

  1. Knockin On Heavens Door (OM 1 Trial 23 April 2021)
  2. Feel Like I’m Fixin To Die (OM 1 Trial 23 April 2021)
  3. Waiting For A Friend (OM 00 LiveStream Trial 7 May 2021)
  4. Behind Blue Eyes (OM 2 15 May 2021)
  5. Times Like These (OM2 15 May 2021)
  6. Seagull (OM3 14 August 2021)
  7. Feel Like Makin Love (OM3 14 August 2021)
  8. Turn The Page (OM4 16 October 2021)
  9. The Rambler (OM4 16 October 2021)

https://justinguitarcommunity.com/index.php?topic=49041.0

Madman’s Diary Series
Which all started with this tale of woe, which could have been called The Death of a Mustang.

https://justinguitarcommunity.com/index.php?topic=48043.msg432767#msg432767

In short Diaries are an AOVYP post with a short(ish) video intro, as it saves me typing !! Plus 2020 was a year in which folks needed a little humour and fun.

  1. Streets Of London Cover (Chapter 1 Nov 2020)
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UNhHGl1D7y8 Intro & Performance
    https://soundcloud.com/tobyjenner/streets-of-london-cover

  2. Tears Of The Dragon Acoustic Cover (Chapter 2 Dec 2020)
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LKZu_p54ibo Intro & Performance
    https://soundcloud.com/tobyjenner/tears-of-the-dragon-acoustic-cover

  3. Rock N Roll Suicide Madman Cover (Chapter 3 Jan 2021)
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dMJr-qZIbos Intro Only
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TgaQlxxFZXw Performance Only
    https://soundcloud.com/tobyjenner/rock-n-roll-suicide-madman-cover_0

  4. Madman White Rabbit Cover (Chapter 4 Feb 2021)
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-p0Z6JhifAk Intro Only
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3OvyeTzkQWo Performance Only
    https://soundcloud.com/tobyjenner/madman-white-rabbit-cover

  5. Smokey And The Mixo Kid (Chapter 5 April 2021)
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HZd9NGChCSs
    https://soundcloud.com/tobyjenner/smokey-and-the-mixo-kid

  6. The Madman’s Diaries – Bon Jovi Blaze Of Glory (Chapter 6 May 2021)
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y3qV41Lb9so&t=7s Full Show https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=trploZ-fWNM Performance Only
    https://soundcloud.com/tobyjenner/blaze-of-glory-bon-jovi-cover-single-guitar

  7. The Madman’s Diaries – Bad Company Seagull (Chapter 7 July 2021)
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w_DqUShhFdc Full Show
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E-8Uu7K0PKk Intro Only
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8bec1I4rX_8 Performance Only
    https://soundcloud.com/tobyjenner/madmans-does-bad-company-seagull

  8. The Madman’s Diaries – Bad Company Feel Like Makin Love (OM3 Footnote)
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=74AnUHxby58

  9. The Madman’s Diaries – The Who Behind Blues Eyes (Chapter 8 September 2021)
    https://youtu.be/rfxPIOrzqKY Full Show
    https://youtu.be/fx2OgSrL6jU Intro Only
    https://youtu.be/Hu1-Mqqo5kI Performance Only

  10. The Madman’s Diaries – Easy Rider in B Minor (Chapter 9 October 2021)
    https://youtu.be/bOrFk7mV5Jg
    No video diary for this one just write up in AOVYP

  11. The Madman’s Diaries – Madman Goes Swampy (Chapter 10 October 2021)
    https://youtu.be/cCd3gk3_PEo
    No video diary for this one just write up in AOVYP

  12. The Madman’s Diaries - The Rambler Black Stone Cherry Rehearsal (OM 4 Footnote)
    https://youtu.be/MDT9MYdViEY

  13. The Madman’s Diaries – Wanted Dead or Alive (Chapter 11 November 2021)
    https://youtu.be/CGA1IP75vFU
    Chapter 11 Footnote – DOA Intro Fingerstyle (December 2021)
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0y5mRqoupIA

“Madman’s Diary Series” YouTube Playlist
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLL3Ur4AkmxhbSguH4vkGWT9gsy3BbyBkz

The Madman’s Diaries Series will be back soon, watch this space.

@ 3rd December 2021 : To date 61 recordings and 5 “live” performances *.
*JustinGuitar Livestream and JGC Open Mics x 4 – 9 songs in total).

It’s been a long 25 years but glad I never gave up.

Last Updated 3 December 2021

OK might have to do some editing but posting for continuity.

5 Likes

@tobyjenner

Good job, Toby … I am falling behind in getting my RC episodes all migrated.

Thanks David. I left some of the stuff out and concentrated more on the gear side bar the last section which I had updated recently ready to post. The preview flagged some errors on the links, which I was worried that they may not all be included but seems to be ok.

I did get a maximum character breach though, which is why I split the first section into two.
Think it was 32k and I’d put 40k in !! Always running off at the mouth. :joy:

I also need to look at font adjustment. There are a few entries where that was changed but the original forum text was consistent. I may go back and change them but its not urgent. But will flag here in case folks think I am shouting !

Ah, interesting. When I hover over the bold larger entries, it displays a link emblem. Its possible I left some spurious characters in there when I copied it across. All the emojis had a url directed to the live forum, so I deleted them off, as that will obviously go at some stage. Off to have another look in edit mode. :sunglasses:

Yup, I noticed the same issue with emojis copied in from the original Forum post.

Got to the bottom of the text changes. I separated sections with a line of =====

But if they followed directly after a line it did this

But if they followed directly after a line it did this

So I just put a space/new line in to correct the font change. Will look at shortcuts as there will likely be something there.

Be good if we have the to opportunity to remove these type of posts before the hard launch.

Did a quick walk through and seeing Cherry laying there
beheaded made me feel ill. I’m so glad you got her fixed
Good as new ready to rock and roll.
You’ve come a long way

Think I shuddered as I saw it again !

Think I’d still be in a ditch somewhere without help from the folks who I mentioned somewhere in the start of that thread ! :+1:

1 Like

I don’t know how I missed this, great read Toby.

1 Like

Nice to have all this history, including AVOYP. I think I’ve deleted most of mine, I should see if I can find any of them. You’ve progressed a lot over the years - you going to re-visit Parisienne Walkways one day? The song is beautiful just for the melodic progressions, but that super-fast-impossible-to-play lead bit at one point is going to keep it on my ‘dreamer’ list for awhile. Just started learning it though, I’m generally trying to learn something a few steps beyond me! :slight_smile:

@batwoman Maggie thank you !

@mari jeepers you haven’t been listening have you :scream: as you can see I changed many of the names to protect the reputation of the original artists, Murder by the Seine will certainly have a return visit one day I think I could do better now but that fast bit ? Nooooo but never say never.
There are quite a few on the dreamer list and now I have the singing playing cracked after way too long I can go back to a more technical development. Thanks for the compliments. :sunglasses:

1 Like

Big Log

4 Likes

Hello again folks.

I was tempted to make this entry a new Madman’s Diary Chapter but think its sits better here, as it is definitely work in progress. So it will do for now.

Just around the time of the last Open Mic I got an itching to go back a learn some fingerstyle, as I had not done any since completing the Intermediate a few years back. It was more a case of, having focused the last year on singing and playing, looking to extend my “setlist” and quite a few of the songs were/are folk fingerstyle based. So I dialled up Justin’s module and dusted down my old PDFs and started to work on patterns 1 to 4. Dylan et all here we come but hey not right yet !

Then @RadekSiechowicz Radek posted that beautiful Spanish Romance and I was off to see what the man Marco was up to. Long story short I have been working through his 7 day mini course and for some reason decided to film a couple of exercises this evening.

Ain’t it funny, been recording for years and now with a new style feel like a newbie, with shaky hands and palpations all over again, hence nooo way a MDC is warranted.

They are short but would not say sweet but hey we all gotta start somewhere.

Day 1 Alternate Fingering Pattern 1

Day 1 Alternate Fingering Pattern 2

Day 3 First Melody

I had planned to record the Day 2 exercises but I am an emotional wreck at the moment and desperately need an emergency Grimbergen !!

Its certainly early days with this and at the moment I am not sure about picking hand placement and experimenting a bit. Got some good info from one of Justin Johnson’s video and finding what suits me best, pinkie anchor/rest, floating or using the bridge. Undecided, so working all three at present, tonight I was floating.

Anyway its a fun new adventure and a nice change to switch to this along side working on new Blues licks. It never stops does it.

Madman out :sunglasses:

9 Likes

Hello Toby,

I enjoyed your videos and explanation behind them.

For me, I prefer the anchor finger, but its which method is more comfortable for you.

Look forwatd to the next instalment😀

Love it Toby and you are off to a good start. Hand looks to be sitting in a correct position to me, didn’t hear any wrong notes anywhere you were very careful while playing didn’t invite any unwanted guests :grin:

First three songs I learnt without a pick were Hey there Delilah - this one is not really fingerstyle, but nor strumming either and is a nice way to mentally brace yourself for fingerstyle.

Second was Fast Car by Tracey Chapman and if you like the song I strongly recommend learning this one first as the pattern is quite easy and speed is not a killer.

The other was good old Blackbird by The Beatles - really nice one however thinking of it I would leave it as last to learn from my quick list as there were some tricky bits and bobs!

Wherever your journey leads you - I am all buckled up! :sunglasses:

2 Likes

Thanks Rob, you could call it a mini Diary but could not justify going full Madman as its just practice.
Find the finger really awkward at the moment but I have relatively small hands, which is why I am experimenting with alternatives. I am happy floating but feel the guitar is not settled. Resting on the bridge feel settled but at the moment limits movement (in my mind anyway) so changes dynamics.
So I am literally feeling my way right now.:sunglasses:

1 Like

Thanks Adi.

The tempo of the pieces are somewhat slower than they need to be but not by much. However, I am happy to work on accuracy right now. I seemed a bit heavy handed pinching but my gut is getting in the way of things at the moment using the acoustic, so need to get my head around that or lose some kilos! I fluffed some fingering on the melody and landed the wrong finger, so it was amateur hours as I did a last minute switch to prep for the final D !

Thanks for the song recommendation. I played Fast Car going through the old BC and was quite happy with it, so maybe worth a revisit. There are quite a few on the to do list but I have BSB 1 and 2 so should really look at them again for some good practice songs. You can do too much House and Everybody Hurts but Street Spirt is calling again (not touched that in years!).

Thanks for the feedback.

Cheers

Toby
:sunglasses:

1 Like

Nice start there Toby, and it will be great to see your progress videos. Agreed with you on the newbie feeling when starting out something new! If you’re taking requests …. How about Dust in the Wind??? :smiley: