Nickname: theoldman66
Real (full) name: Ian Lumb
Age and birthday: 60 in August 2021
Habitat: Barrow in Furness

Which guitar(s) do you own? Vintage V100 (Les Paul style), Marlin S-style (c. 1980s), Fazley T-style (DIY kit), Tanglewood TND CE Nashville IV (electro-acoustic), Aria AGPS-001 (incredibly loud Dreadnaught)

Which guitar do you currently play on? all of them

Which amp(s) do you own? Blackstar ID:CORE 20, and an ancient B.B. Blaster 10W

How long have you been playing guitar? Since 1976, on and off, mostly off until 2020. My first guitar was a Woolworth’s electric, I think the brand name was “Zenta” or something similar. I bought it off a classmate at school when I was 15, and it sabotaged all my efforts to play until I was in my 30’s and had learned enough to recognise that the neck was twisted. I’d picked up a fairly decent acoustic by then so I binned the Zenta. I’d learned most of the open chords by then, and had even got the hang of the E and A shape Barre chords, so from there kind of coasted along, in the same old pattern of playing tunes from tab books for about 6 months, then putting the guitar down and not picking it up for months, sometimes years, at a time. I must have come across Justin fairly early in the life of the website, maybe around 2008- 2010 and started the original beginners course, but still at that time had full-time shift work and the demands of a family competing for my time, so I still played on and off, mostly off. Over time, though I did get through most of the original beginners course. Starting in 2016, I had some turmoil in my life, but by late in 2019 the dust had settled and I found myself living alone and working part time, with time to play guitar. I started again from scratch with the new beginners course, which amazingly seems more comprehensive and better structured than the original, and I completed grade 2 at the end of 2021. As of December 2023 I’m consolidating module 19, a little over halfway through Grade 3. My progress through the earlier parts of Grade 3 was slowed by an injury sustained in a motorcycle crash early in 2022 which left me with a metal plate in my much-stiffened left (fretting) wrist, however I’ve now got back to, and surpassed, where I was before the accident, which happened the week before I took early retirement! I’m anticipating that I’ll finish Grade 3 in 2024. Rather than continue to update this I’m thinking I’ll start a learning log which, if I ever get round to it, I’ll link in this profile

I have an eclectic taste in music, with a heavy bias towards Blues, from BB King to Led Zeppelin. In 2023 bands on my playlist are: When Rivers Meet, Samantha Fish, Larkin Poe, Otis Grand, Mötley Crue, Stevie Wonder (Songs in the Key of Life - absolute classic), Hawkwind, Willie and the Bandits, Liz Jones, and The Rolling Stones.