I went the other way. Ditched my tube amp stuff and went full modeling. Axe-fx and Variax =)
Some great runs in there! 
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Wow almost a year gone, without playing any guitar. Sad, how time flies. Question though. I’m going through a busy period and construction costs have been doubled since last year in my country. If you would need to choose between keeping the Gibson Custom shop and my 7 string MusicMan JPX, which one would you keep? I’m just interested in personal opinions 
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I was just wondering how you’ve been doing lately. Sorry to hear you haven’t been playing but I hope you get back into it soon.
For me, the choice is simple. I have never had the need/want to play a 7 string (I just used drop tunings for heavy stuff) and I have always wanted a Les Paul.
Edit: actually when I do DSX I hate playing on my low E string because I can’t do rest strokes as I’ve reached the end of the line. If I had a 7 string, I’d always have something to make contact with. Hmmm…maybe I should get a 7 string and just use it for mechanical purposes, never actually play on the low B, 
I bet string bends where you need the thumb over the neck are a pain on 7 strings though.
I’m too new to have seen this thread when it happening, but great playing. And you don’t know how hard that is for me to say because you have an Ibanez Chrome guitar and I don’t and I hate that… LOL I knew every Satch song from the beginning up to Engines Of Creation and to see younger players learning older songs of his always makes me happy to see. Same with DT! I stopped paying attention after Falling To Infinity, but I do wish I’d have given Metropolis 2 a listen because some of that stuff sounds so much fun to play!
As for the 7 string thing…
I had a single opportunity to get a 7-string pre-Korn but got a Bradshaw switching system instead. I use my thumb too much and my hands aren’t huge so it would’ve been wasted on me. I still have little interest in an actual 7-string, but I’d love to get an 8 string to jam to some Meshuggah tunes. There also a couple of Infant Annihilator songs I want to learn. I’m am very curious about the multi-scale thing as well. I’ve never played one but I’ve heard that they’re pretty great.
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So back in business… the past year has been a really though period for me. Things were going downhills regarding private life, sold all my gear in the end and got into the booze.
I’m back though with new gear and no daily pubbing for a while.
I bought a JP15 2 weeks ago to start things over, and ordered a tube amp which I’ve been dreaming about for a while, it will arrive tomorrow, but the cab only next week. I’m practicing on the Neural Amp Modelling plugin in the meantime.
First few days were hard, picking speed was nowhere but let’s say it is okay now. Regarding the reverse dart video: for me these detailed explanations about different motions are super confusing and mysterious as I have no idea what the terms mean and how to imagine the motions, let alone replicating them. Maybe because I’m not a native speaker, it would be already difficult to understand these terms in my native language without someone demonstrating to me in person.
Also did a summary with my weaknesses:
- hand sync with single string stuff like the Yngwie sixes, going up-down on a single string, or even staying in one position: as soon as try speeding it up, it falls apart
- picking hand stamina: now I can sustain 200bpm tremolo on a single string for a few bars but we all know 240 is the new 180 and also the endurance is not there
- just out of curiosity I tried tremolo picking at 250 bpm, max was two bars, the cramp kicked in after…
- fast legato stuff with stretches and string skipping like the Play me solo feel extremely tiring for the left hand even on slower tempos (not even near the original speed)
The old question of mine still remains… if speed is there, how we work on endurance?
Sorry to hear about your troubles @gabrielthorn .
I also recently took a several-month layoff from guitar. I’ve resumed playing but am having difficulty playing things I played with ease less than a year ago. I know it can be incredibly frustrating. I’ve also been pondering the endurance question.
I’ve definitely noticed that simply playing consistently helps endurance (as well as max speed). I’ve also incorporated some very submaximal endurance training. For instance, my max alternate picking tremolo speed is about 250 for a few bars. I’ve been doing 3-minute sets at 170 bpm, just repeating simple licks across six strings like the Petrucci chromatics or something like that. After a set of that, my wrist is burning but also feels super loose and warmed up. Maybe something you should try incorporating into your routine.
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Guitar playing feels more and more like an elusive thing for me 
Today is new amp day by the way. Cab is still on it’s way, so I can’t enjoy the amp yet…
Oh yeah!!! Dream amp for sure. Congrats! Love to hear your amazing playing through it!
Sorry to hear about bad times but good to hear about the turn around. I’m not sure I have anything to say about the stamina thing. For me I needed a whole new motion but with that came a lot of lost control at lower tempos. So maybe keep your amazing picking motion for most playing and adding a new one for really over the top things.
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In the last few days I tried to crank up the metronome to speeds I can’t even imagine doing any picking at. I start at 280 bpm and can’t even pick 1 bar straight and keep lowering the tempo by 10s.
I obviously get tired and can’t do more than 3 bars at athis tempo (240 bpm), and it was also very hard to follow the beat as I couldn’t make my phone any louder and the guitar was too loud 
- no, turning the amp volume down is not an option -, anyways, it feels really strange, I was expecting something less audible. Turning the tempo down to 230 I can do 6-7 bars tremolo without feeling it will fall apart and following the beat without too much trouble, but getting tired in the end.
What do you think, is it something I should keep experimenting with?
My daily struggles as a DSX player with the 80’s stuff. I know there’s a different shape with the left hand at the second time but I need to memorize the shape first Also that watermark …
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Sounds pretty solid! What modulation are you using?
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Amp into Captor X, sometimes I turn on the twin tracker around 5% mix, maybe that’s what you can hear there. Load is coming from the 4x12.
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