To carry on where my last post left off:

His Toniness really annoys me. To all Americans out there, don't let him enter your country!! I mean, he wants to get 50% of school leavers into university, so he cuts back the funding and then decides to scrap the school exams system and introduce a new one where loads of people do GCSEs in car mechanics. Now I'm not going to get annoyed with any of these three policies in particular, but surely education policy is like a triangle, with these three ideas at each corner of it, and putting them all together makes no sense at all.............. And then when he finds out that because of all the money they now pay to go, poorer students don't want to study, he tells the universities to discriminate against middle class applicants, that really gets me het-up. How come Oxford let such a plonker in (okay, I admit that I've actually got an axe to grind on that issue, since they turned me down.) On this Sheffield school thing, I also saw David Blunkett playing one half of the drums (he only had one stick (a pupil had the other stick (since Blunkett's blind, he can be excused.))) A couple of years ago, Radio 4's Any Questions took place at my school, and he was one of the panellists, and this was when he was Secretary for Education. I went along, and actually got to ask a question, it was about this head teacher who was being sued for supposedly beating up a kid, and the answer he gave was just political rubbish, no substance to it at all! Secretary for Education!

I'm still ill, and I hope that tomorrow's front pages don't give me as much to stress about as today's, or else I may never get my work done.

I really wanted to thank everyone on here for all of the support and honest answers to my question posed before. At 19, I find myself with many decisions that have to be made relatively soon...do I push forward and keep trying at a career in music? Or do I stop it as my main, and prepare for a normal life so to speak. Letting go my dreams...

I really don't want to let go, and I don't think I ever will. Despite some things that I am called...quote..."wanttobesatch"...that is just not a true statement. When I picked up guitar as a serious thing, even after hearing joe, I never saught out to be like joe. Or to sound like him...his influence is on me, and comes out natrually. It's not an effort on my half to sound like joe. However, music becomes a chore when you have to "force" yourself to play other stuff. It's no longer fun. If I can't do it with what comes out natrually in my voice...then it means I'm not delivering good music all together. No matter who you are, you will sound like someone else. Everyone is open to be pigeon holed...we all learn from what came before us...

PHRYDOM - thanks for the help but I have tried the line in and i get no sound whatsoever. i have checked the mute etc and its not that. it seems like it needs some kind of amplified sound that my amp isnt giving? I dunno.

The steve vai guitar at ebay is only available to the US again. im gutted!!

Go60: Your names list is an interesting one. I recognise all the names, but haven't heard many of them. yes, people can have a very narrow, secluded point of view about what is good and what isn't, but that is their opinion.

Anybody else heard of Igor Bellsky? Didn't think so. better than Malmsteen, in my opinion.

Hey all... I've updated my website once again.. with a new guitar i call shells. The design is completely done freehand, i only used photoshop to give it a believable 3d clearcoat. If youve got 15 seconds, check it out. Ive also added a guestbook so you can leave your comments with me at the site. Thanks for time

Justin

hey joe,

i have your devils slide song, and i have the live in sanfransico video, and u play the song live, but the record verson i alot different, i was just wondering why they are different

thanks

greg m -

the education system is thoroughly ridiculous, I agree. There is ABSOLUTELY NO POINT WHATSOEVER in going to a university to study "hair care and beauty" or anything of the sort.

University is only useful for things that require full time study etc. I mean, things like ACM (I'm not dissing it) are not a university in themselves and other people accredit (sp) any degree courses. Performing is something that people can learn fairly on their own. Other music courses less so. I don't have a problem with that, I think it's right as it is.

Interesting you have a bone to pick with Oxford - all my parents, uncles and sisters went to Oxford (as well as some grandparents etc. My great uncle is a world expert on Latin, and a professor of Cambridge). So I don't have any problem with them personally- they have very high requirements, particularly for high demand courses and some of the cleverest people I know have been turned down by Oxbridge.

They need to discourage people going to uni for the sake of it, give the people who want to go (i mean to study something that they couldnt' study to that depth anywhere else) an easier time.

I think it's actually the stronger universities (particularly bristol) not expecting as high grades from state school pupils, rather than higher grades for public school peeps. With these universities, most of it goes on interviews/references, since they are being applied to by the creme de la creme (in theory). So I don't think that's too bad as long as it doesn't turn into reverse discrimination (eg. when an employer employs a disabled female ethnic minority for the pure reason of keeping his/her tally up. when there are more suitable other applicants).

That really was a ramble...

How can I get in touch (maybe via email) with the guy who was the opening act for Joe during the latest part of his tour? (Reno, NV). Ned Evans, I believe. I can't find him on the internet. I am very, very interested to learn what types of delay and looping units he used live on stage to create the looped backgrounds for his show.

Please help.

Phrydom,

Nuff said on the lessons. That wasn't my objective, but will either scan/e-mail or take pictures with my quick cam and e-mail. Hopefully that works. Don't have a scanner yet. Alot of the stuff will seem pretty damn basic, but this was decades ago. Some of the lessons were abstract progressions, but I think Joe was just bored watching me struggle to play the simple stuff, so he got creative to keep himself intersted. I'll say this, he was the nicest guy you would ever want to meet. He was a real friend. That's the great thing about Joe... he's not out to beat another guitarists brains in with his awesome skills, he thinks of us as all one big guitarist brotherhood!

Anyway, I'm a real novice with the recording end of it. I bought this FOSTEX 280 4 track/8 channel, back in 91' and screwed around with it a little bit, but really didn't know how to work with it. I was miking the Fender with a cheap Audio Technica, and never got around to a Master Mix Down #1, and #2 didn't run it thru any reverb device, so everything I recorded sounded real tinny. I couldn't find any help, so I put it back in the box. Also, thought I what I was playing was crap, so I thought I'd better practice some more before coming back to it. Well a decade later, I pulled it out of the box again. Funny thing was, when listening to the tape I had laid a few tracks on, it sounded better than I originally thought.

Now I'm playing around with a Digitech RP14D Integrated Tube Processor and the Fender Deville 212 (which really is kick ass by itself). And was planning on miking the amp again, but not sure if just plugging the RP14D directly into the Fostex would produce better sound. Also, with the new CD burners out, can you do a Master Mix Down fromtape to CD? The Fostex records @ 3 3/4 ips and I don't know how that would translate to CD.

I figured the drum machine would suffice for percussion, but I haven't decided which one to buy, and then I've got to figure out how to use it to.

Any suggestions and tips on recording would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers! And your right, nobody knows what your thinking, so I won't make anymore presumptions.

BluesGuitarPlayer - The EOC version was created using a guitar and keyboards. The LISF version has actual bass and drums on it. That's where the difference is.

Hey Joe, will you be palying Turkey Man on your next tour? I really think this song rocks! Love to hear it on tour one time! I still have one question left... What will your new cd be like? Thanks for your comments!

Alright everybody... Ga60, downloading the stuff now... didn't notice the first link : )

ALSOALSOALSO!!!! Everybody remembers when I was raving about that bass camp in L.A. I went to last year right? Well, CURRENTLY, VAI AND SATCH ARE SCHEDULED TO PLAY AT THE L.A. CLINIC!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Invigor - You forgot New Day. You..... FORGOT.... New Day. Where have you been lately anyhoo?

OCP - Picking from the elbow is actually less refined and more painful. The reason some people do it is because it's the easiest way to pick rapidly. Look at Paul Gilbert. All wrist, only wrist. It's all in the wrist. My pickshred video was elbow, which was bad. My picking has improved since then, but, meh.

EVERYONE - Open up kazaa and search for Don Hertzfeldt - Rejected. It is a video clip. It is almost 7mb. Tell me what you think.

Ga6o - I've already heard of Marcel and seen many of his videos. I find him a little on the shred side. He does have some really nice melodies, great metal riffs and a bit of originality.

hey joe

i am wondering, with rubina you have the girl of you dreams, what would you say to guys who want to get the girl that they want?????????

all the best