OCPS470, yeah I'm not sure about these bad Gilbert reviews.....I know what Pablo's like and I'm well aware of his sense of humour. The lyrics to "I like rock" are great....I don't expect any deadly-serious lyrical content from Paul!

By the way, check that plural - it's "Burning Organ", not "Organs"! haha. The latter would be somewhat questionable!

Suzie, Logic 7? What are you using to record from guitar into computer? I mean, hardware.....do you have a sound card specially for the purpose of recording?

Also, if you would like a copy of Cubase SX2 and a whole bunch of plug-ins and instruments, just let me know.

Suzie, ah...sorry, your new computer is a mac. My mistake....I don't think I've got any Mac stuff, except for Logic Audio, which you've already got! Oh well! Also, cool, you're getting a proper sound card! I was worried you'd tell me you got Sound Blaster Audigy! haha. M-Audio stuff is cool. With both M-Audio cards I've used I have found I've had to download different drivers to those supplied, but with that done, both have performed very well.

I started off with an Audiosport Quattro USB, and now use a Firewire 410.

estrela, yeah when my mum/mom goes away I'll be cooking and cleaning for myself! I usually do my own laudry anyway so that's no problem, but I'm not very good at cooking. I'll probably be having mostly rice and pasta! haha. I'll also be going out shopping to get what I need to cook/eat, so I might be able to squeeze a mexican in one night! YES!! haha

I have to add though....I was told lots of horror stories about using a PC, when I talked to people about the new system I was building, and there was lots of sucking-of-air-through-teeth and saying "oh it's going to be very unstable, you'd find a mac much more useable".

I haven't had any issues yet. My PC was been running fine, out of the blocks.....it took me about an hour to get firewire connections working, but that's cause they were, by default, set up for use with video camera's.

Suzie, yeah Logic is good. It's complex but not too hard when you're familiar with it, much like Cubase.....it's a shame you guys don't have anyone around to teach you the program. I've learned Cubase really fast because of being taught it by my mate, although there's still things I have no idea about! haha

Cliff, I tried copying it but it wouldn't work, but it's just cause I have shite DVD copying software. When I upgrade I'll let you know!

Suzie, I don't think there's anything wrong with only being able to hack the company of your family for a short time. I don't know your family history and circumstances, so can't really offer much in the way of an opinion......I personally get on pretty well with all my family, apart from my brother-in-law who pisses me off within 10 minutes, but that's kinda different.

I dunno, it may be that you need to consider and resolve your own issues with them and discipline yourself to be more tolerant (as i need to do with my bro-in-law), but I certainly wouldn't say you're totally in the wrong.

What is it about them that bugs you?

Decadance Dance, Kid Ego, Get The Funk Out, Tragic Comic, Hip Today, Stop The World, More Than Words, Hole Hearted, Song For Love, Rest In Peace

alexandre, howdy bro! yeah things here are cool, how about you? Hope everything's good in Portugal! yeah man, the Extreme DVD is great! It cracks me up, it's very 80's/early 90's, but it's cool, and great fun!

Just so I can get a good idea, would you say Inner Galactic Fusion Experience is fairly exempliary of Richie's style and sound, or is the rest of his stuff quite different? You never really know about an artists's "style" until you've heard 2 or 3 different records!

Cheers bro, hope you're keepin cool!

cuthbert, what....you have what you think is Bil's phone number? I can't believe I was never aware of this....must have passed me by :-( dude you should call him, although if you really don't feel comfortable calling then that's fair enough. There are others here who knew him better when he was around, but if we really can't find anyone else who is willing to phone him I'm happy to.

VFR, howdy bro! how's it going? haha, fighting the temptation to get that Richie Kotzen CD huh? Well, if it helps with fighting the temptation, you can get Steve Morse's stuff on amazon! hehe. Mrse is cool, I'll be checking out more of his stuff.

Also, I have to disagree on Timmons and Lukather. Andy plays a lot of proper texan phrases.....there's a lot of natural blues-rock in him and it adds a twist of SRV. I can't really say I've heard anyone else who sounds quite like Andy, cause while he's playing the bluesy phrases he throws in something completely different.

Lukather uses mostly the jazzy scales. Do you like Luke/Toto much? I still thoroughly recommend Toto's 25th Anniversary: Live In Amsterdam DVD to everyone!

VFR, indeed, it is a lift to see a friendly post! Thanks for your kind words dude. Haha, that's great to hear you already got that Toto DVD! and I don't think it's coinsidence....it's intuitive! hehe. Yeah I keep telling myself "I can't afford that" but then buy stuff anyway. I must stop though, otherwise I'll miss out on things like Andy's new record and EJ's new record.

On Luke's cover of "While My Guitar gently Weeps". I was speechless the first time I watched that! It's such a classy cover.....my mum and sisters all say "oh it's not as good as the original" but I think it rocks. I sort of see what you mean, comparing that song performance with Andy's style, though I would probably attribute that to Luke playing some of it just like Eric Clapton does......it moulds his solo around the framework of the original, giving it the bluesy vibe that is the basis of Andy's playing.

Do you have Lukather & Carlton: No Substitutions (Live In Osaka)? not that I'm trying to tempt you into buying more music, but it's a good showcase for Luke's general style!

Life in general is cool thanks bro. I'm dead jealous of my mum and oldest sister....they're both in Florence at the moment! It sounds amazing, I really want to go. I'm glad they're having a cool timr though. I really miss my cat though, cause she's been put in the cattery while mum's away :-(

Aaaahhhh...I gotta run, got to teach in 10 minutes and need to have a super-fast shower first! haha.

Delfino, man don't go down the Line 6 route for a big amp! Please! My experience of Line 6 amps is that they work okay for about 2 months and then they start deciding to change things by themselves. If you're looking at relatively low-budget stuff, look no further than Laney. I swear man, a Laney rig would be great for you, I think you'd find it would suit your tastes and styles really well.

Just out of curiosity - did you watch the Grand Prix today?

VFR, as I write this you're just settling into your flight to Menorca! So you're reading this when you get back......Hope you had a fantastic time bro! Did you get some sun?

Yeah checkin out chicks when shopping works, but not around here - there's a lot of very strange, very local-looking people in dorset. We need some chlorene for the gene pool :-|

A single cab will easily fill any pub you're likely to play, and if you move onto some bigger venues it'll still be enough, especially if you get your cab mic'ed into the PA.

GODGUNSGUITARS, hmm, the whole thing about Joe's live rig is very curious indeed! You didn't see any THD Hotplates kicking around did you? hehe.

You've got me wondering now....I too would like to know what that live setup was/is.

Also, the real take on Mr Blair over here? I wish I knew.....you really can't make head or tail of it cause the f*ck*ng media puts their own spin on everything.

Even if Labour win the next election (2010), Blair would not be allowed to get re-elected 'cause, as I discovered a few days ago, a Prime Minister can serve a maximum of three terms in office. It seems likely that he will resign, but nobody knows when.

It would seem sensible for him to stay for a year at least, so they can work out what kind of replacement leader they want. As far as I can tell, it's the press who are more p*ss*d off at his re-election than the public......I don't think the public are as surprised as the newspapers make out.

Obviously all those a-holes who wanted a Conservative government are disappointed, but still, not too surprised.

I think it's cool.....in a "the lesser of two evils" kind of way. It was only ever a 2-horse race, so to speak, and I'd rather have "blair back" than have Michael Howard in charge. The Labour government has actually done a great deal for the British economy in the last four or five years - unemployment is lower than it's ever been.

Immigration isn't nearly as bad as the conservatives make out. The only major issue was the war-on-Iraq thing, because, of course, everybody has now forgotten the war-on-afghanistan, and as far as most people are concerned, osama Bin Laden and Saddam Hussein, or 9/11 and WMD's, come under the same sub-heading!

Sorry...I went off a bit there didn't I?! haha. Anyhow, I'm still not really sure....i think it's going to take a few weeks before anybody makes any educated, lucid comments about Blair's re-election, and what to epect!

dryan, regards production of the JS7 - I personally would be very surprised to see Ibanez producing and selling a 7-string JS. It would have to be sold as a competitor/alternative to the Universe, and the chances of taking sales away from the Vai range with one of the satch range are unlikely.

Most people into JS stuff are into it because of Joe's lead guitar style. The JS's are Joe's tool for creating his sound - few people are into Joe because of his 7-string playing.

On the flip-side, many Vai fans are into his stuff because of his crazy use of weird and whacky tools, be it an eventide harmoniser or a 7-string Ibanez. Vai makes a very obvious use of his 7-string and it is integral to the style in a lot of his music, especially the older stuff.

Basically, I'm doing a very bad job of trying to explain the principal that, if Ibanez were to manufacture the JS-7, they would have a hard time making any profit from it. And they can't afford to make another limited/collectors edition JS right now, cause that would take sales away from the new chrome JS!

It's all about the money :-( Which really blows cause I would love a JS7.

LucySorets, fair enough. I was just wondering if you were one of the many Spaniards totally in love with Fernando Alonso, but if not that's probably a good thing 'cause he only came 2nd at the barcelona Grand Prix on sunday! hehe. He's cool though, I'd still be happy to see him win the championship.

bahduh, the problem isn't Schumacher, it's Ferrari and the way they're coping with the rule changes. Ferrari have said themselves that their car is not fast enough, and it is undeniable that they are suffering with awful reliability. They are not currently on an interim car. This is it. They are using the F2005, and they have a lot of catching-up to do. Their other serious issue is the bridgestone tyre they're on. The bridgestones aren't coping well with the rule change where one set of tyres has to last for all of Sunday. They weren't too bad at Imola, but it was cool there - in the hot, dry places like Barcelona, they're suffering.

My guess is they'll find it hard going in Monaco, Turkey and Monza too, at least. I'm sure Schumacher will make a come-back, of sorts, later in the season, but it's going to take a lot of luck and lot of underhand paying off of the FIA for him and Ferrari to win this year.

haha, that's adorable.....I wonder what Rubina will say?! just kidding

Mr Nick, I presume you saw the race on Sunday? I had to laugh when Jim Rosenthal said he and ITV-F1 apologised for their coverage of Imola, and promised they would return to the normal service we are all used to!

Your complaint (and those of whoever else wrote in) about the poor timing with the ad break obviously paid off! Thanks for doing that, the Spanish GP was much nicer to watch!

I thought it was so harsh for Michael that both left tyres went. Even although I'm enjoying seeing different people battling for the lead, I still appreciate when someone gets unlucky!

Sorry for the multi-posts, but just had to say;

Steven Wilde, my thoughts are with you amigo. I'm so sad to hear you're in so much pain, it's just not justified.

Just do something for all your friends here in Joe-land: put all your soul and all your strength you have into beating this injustice, and come back and check in on us as soon as you're able to. I hope the doctors and nurses and surgeons are able to work magic with you Stevie, you are one of a handful of very special people who truly deserve it.

Yoda, that's okay, but I'm afraid I have to tell you that you've used up your full quota of "Simon-says" jokes for this month! Oh well, it'll be June in a few weeks! hehe

I don't know what actually is the lowest, but I know that the Line 6 "stacks" are pretty lame, and I've not tried an Ibanez amp, but I don't feel compelled to. You can pretty much tell what it's going to sound like! hehe.

Seriously, if you like Paul Gilbert/Andy Timmons' tone then definitely consider it. A good mate of mine from college, who's really into Paul Gilbert, got the same amp that Pablo uses. As far as I remember, it just has master volume and gain controls.....no channel switching. He's very happy with it. Again, as far as I remember, the VH100R is the one which does have channel switching. That would be my personal choice, although having one channel to do all the work does have it's benefits, especially if you have a guitar with reall wide, varied dynamics, like a fat strat or something.

Artanis I, oi you cheeky bugger! haha. Now everyone is gonna give Yoda their monthly quota.....there's almost 10,000 people who post on this board!

I also went looking for T-Ride last night. I actually found a T-Ride album on import on amazon USA....i was amazed!

basically, I'm having a few guitar lessons with a friend of mine just to clean up some of my major technical issues, and yesterday he played me some stuff off the T-Ride self-titled album. he only has a copy though, said he'd never seen an original anywhere, so I'm trying to find him an original!

mowlie, haha, I have to admit that was kinda funny, but still....you b*st*rd! hehehe. j/k

Anyway, yeah, I do actually really like Saraceno's stuff. I will, at some point, spend some money on getting his music, but I can't spend much right now. I reckon 2 CD's a month will be my limit!

DCK, do you know just how pleased I am to see you write that about PRS?! haha, it's amazing to discover that I'm not the only one completely won over by the whole "nothing else matters cause it's a PRS" thing. The only thing I like about them is their inlays.