I may be over compensating for something but...

[ailean]

I hope you've upgraded all the locks in your house, haha!

I have guard cats...

[Dmoney]

i want the cats!
seriously though, i mean its all up you, i back it though.
dude, as soon as you can play a few chords you are 'band' standard, just depends on what kind of band you want to do. I was in a band before i could even play! (no, not my current band  :D)

[Twinfan]

dude, as soon as you can play a few chords you are 'band' standard

I completely agree.  As long as you can keep time, you can play rhythm for someone  :)

Go on, get in a band Ailean.  You know you want to, and your playing will come on really quickly  :D

[Dmoney]

dude, as soon as you can play a few chords you are 'band' standard

I completely agree.  As long as you can keep time, you can play rhythm for someone  :)

Go on, get in a band Ailean.  You know you want to, and your playing will come on really quickly  :D

being in a band of even similar standard players could give you a big push man, even if you just meet up in a practice space once every 2 weeks to jam

[Roobubba]

I'm not up to band standard, but Sue is getting there so it's not beyond imagining that this gear will get used to gig. It will certainly find it's way into a rehersal room at some stage. I'd love to gig, but I'm cr@p, so I'm not sure it will happen.

Sorry, but this is the biggest pile of horse shite I've read in a while. Forget what you think you know about playing in a band. It's FAR more about how the band members interact and the type of music you write (and don't forget stage presence!) than it is about any one player's technical ability.
Look at me, I'm total sh!t but I a) really enjoy playing in a band and b) see people enthusiastic about our stuff when we play. Sure I'd like to get better (and I'm working on that, slowly), but frankly to write off even the possibility that you could set up a band, write music, and play it live/record it because you think you're not up to some predetermined, arbitrary standard is, frankly, a woeful misjudgement!!!

Stop overanalysing your playing, and start enjoying music. Find some like-minded people who primarily want to make music and have fun doing so, and... ooh wait! A Band! Then never look back at this silly, childish, self-deprecating view!

A truly great guitarist does not a truly great band make.

Roo

[MDV]

Pure fantasticness

And, yes the VH4 needs to be loud to sound its best

But at practice volumes it still sounds better than the vast majority of other amps - enjoy :D

[Twinfan]

A truly great guitarist does not a truly great band make.

Indeed.  Vai certainly didn't take Whitesnake or David Lee Roth to the upper heights of world domination........

[Dmoney]

A truly great guitarist does not a truly great band make.

Indeed.  Vai certainly didn't take Whitesnake or David Lee Roth to the upper heights of world domination........

exactly. and edge made U2 one of the biggest bands in the world. go figure

[Plexi Ken]

I'm sure I read in one of the guitar mags that Marshall had done some research showing 80% of their 100w heads were bought exclusively for home use.

I gig'd a 50w Marshall and 60w Fender, 1×12 valve combos for 12 years and rarely had the volume above 4-5. For home use I have a Cornell Plexi 7, volume is 2-4

IMHO, you only need a 100w stack if you play stadiums but we all have masses of 'stuff' we don't need.

I joined a band when I was 16, I didn't know much music theory. 22 Years latter, I don't know much more  :lol:
The rhythm guitarist  wrote all the songs and he could only play 5-6 cords. The audience didn't care, they want entertainment not a lecture. My experience (for what it's worth) the folks listening to you will be way more interested in your songs than your playing ability.

[LazyNinja]

I completely agree.  As long as you can keep time, you can play rhythm for someone  :)

This is true, but the opposite is true too. It's a bloody nightmare to play with guitarists/bassists with no sense of rhythm. There's absolutely no use trying to explain what's wrong to them. Drummers who speed up are annoying too but I can put up with that. Saying this, I'm hardly a great guitarist either though!

[Philly Q]

dude, as soon as you can play a few chords you are 'band' standard

I completely agree.  As long as you can keep time, you can play rhythm for someone  :)

Sh!t, just as I was starting to feel a bit more confident.... you go and throw that spanner in the works.  :(

[Ian Price]

being in a band of even similar standard players could give you a big push man, even if you just meet up in a practice space once every 2 weeks to jam

I'm in Hampshire Ailean - I think you are too. I'm always on the look out for someone to jam with and would be up for meeting up with you if you fancy it. I'm not a great gutarist so you can be guaranteed I wouldn't play any flashy stuff!!! PM me if you want to do something.

[noodleplugerine]

Nobody's assessing the point I made earlier.

He likes the sound of the Vh4 - That's the sound of an amp he actually wants. You CAN'T get a 5w Vh4. And he's happy with the sound the Vh4 gives at low volumes.

Ergo there's no problem with him owning it.

Same argument can be given for the stack... He likes it.. He likes how it sounds at low volumes... You can't get a 2x12 that sounds like it... He's perfectly justified in any position on this matter.

[Adam.M]

I'm sure I read in one of the guitar mags that Marshall had done some research showing 80% of their 100w heads were bought exclusively for home use.

Yeah, I think it was even higher than that, over 90%

But still... I much preferred the sound of my VH100R on whisper quiet over anything else.

[Denim n Leather]

A truly great guitarist does not a truly great band make.

Indeed.  Vai certainly didn't take Whitesnake or David Lee Roth to the upper heights of world domination........

Or Alcatrazz !!! (*tumbleweed*)  PDT_008