civgeek, thanks for going to the trouble of e-mailing me, I appreciate it. The geocities one is ok but only has the first position, ie. major scale position, of each mode.

update: I've just been looking through ibanez-guitar-players (man, I've not been there in aaaages) and it too, seems to only have the first position of each mode. Hmmm.

Also:

Waves gold edition Native instruents Komlepte bundle - Yes. I have platinum and diamond too which both rock
FM7, Yes, it's excellent
Pro-53, errrr, that rings a bell but I certainly couldn't claim to be "experienced" with it
Absynthe 2.0, Yep. Abysnthe is a hefty program and is best used by mega-systems only, but it is one mean instrument....possibly the meanest
Reacktor, I think I've used it briefly
Intakt, Yes but I've not used it enough to be able to have much of an opinion
Kontackt, as above
soundforge 6.0, I've not used it yet.....maybe I should give it a spin
SONAR, as above
Vegas, Aparrently it's very good....again, I should give it a try.
Reason, No, I'm not really interested in using reason, I'm happy with Cubase
Rebirth, No
ACID, No

All of those that I've said "yes" to are ones that I have run as plugins for Cubase SX2. if this is the way you'd be using them then I'm sure you would find them very useful indeed. if that's the case, try and get hold of REFX Vanguard, Ohmboyz Delay and Lexicon PSP Nitro.

Vanguard is a synth instrument. Ohmboyz and PSP Nitro are both plugin effects. PSP Nitro has some gorgeous choruses and some decent delays and other stuff. Ohmboyz has great delays. Both take a long time to really get used to but are well worth it. TC Native Bundle is great, especially the reverb plugin.

If not, let me know, so I can decide what stuff wil and won't be useful to you!

PhryDom, thanks but that's still not quite what I'm after. Spelling isn't a problem, cause I can work that out from position one of each mode. Thanks anyway though dude!

If anyone knows of any other sites where I might find box patterns for all positions of each mode, please share! I know the 7 modal positions of the major scale, but I've no longer got my book that has all the positions/inversions of each one of those 7 modes.

Still, I am very capable of doing accurate layout diagrams, so it's not impossible.

Ovation1, haha, it actually did go over everyone else's heads dude! And then everybody starts explaining about blue posts! hahaha. Give it a few days and then try again, hehe. Hope everything's cool in Japan!

I got a new student a few weeks ago who has been playing a year and has gone through 3 tutors. When I heard about that on the phone when his mum organised his first lesson, I wondered if he was just complacant, but he's been telling me about what wasn't good about his previous teachers, and it's really rather disappointing.

It makes me confident that people like ourselves are actually doing a pretty good job of teaching!

PhryDom/everyone who's been discussing modes with me, man I feel so stupid. I've just discovered how simple modal mathematics is, and why there is absolutely no point in drawing out each box-position of each mode, because i've only just realised that they're all exactly the same! haha. I drew out frets 0-17 of a fretboard on a piece of paper, and drew on the positions of all the notes of the dorian mode in the key of A.

Seeing it as a whole, and not split up, and then looking at where the 7 pieces of the mode puzzle fit in, I realised that each mode is a 1-step inversion of the one previous to it. It makes the whole modal concept seem much, much smaller.

So yeah, please excuse my stupidity! haha. one thing I did the other day was make a chart with all the notes of the major scale in every key, so with what I've just learned, it's a very useful tool cause it shows me every modal variation, ie, what modes I play in what key depending upon the dominant key and mode that I started with! Again, I can't express enough what a duhh moment this is for me!

Anyway, I took the box positions of all the ethnic scales off ibanez-guitar-players.com about a year ago. Do you think it's worth me looking at the intervallic structure of each one of those and then working out the different inversions/degrees/positions for those? Cause all I got was the root position for each one, and obviously you can play any scale in more than one place in a given key!

But if you refuse to use the net to buy stuff that's completely understandable, it's entirely your decision, of course!

Matt, thanks for the e-mail! hehe, yeah it all makes sense now. this morning I've written out the Spanish Gypsy scale as it appears and then worked out the 7 positions for playing it, in 3-notes-per-string form. It's a very cool scale, I love the sound of it, and I've noticed that in it's 4th inversion, you're just playing a harmonic minor. Writing all these different scales out in their intervallic formula really helps!

Writing out the Japanese pentatonics in 3-notes-per-string is going to be tricky, haha. I think I might do these differently...

Clarky, yeah with regards to most of the standard pentatonics I'd definitely agree. But with some of these wide-interval Japanese ones, like the Kokinjoshi and so on, it's a close call. most of them will still be 2-notes-per-string though.

Delfino, I noticed the X-Box360 spec sheet said it has three cores, all running at 3.2ghz. Does that mean it's still only 3.2 gig, or does that make it 9.6? I would presume it's just 3.2, but it uses processor-sharing so it can run triple the threads at one time that a single processor could. Any ideas?

Even if the PS3 is set to be more powerful than the 360, I can imagine X-Box making better use of what it's got.....I've never been too impressed by the way the PS2 works. Oh, and "Halo 3"......that's going to be amazing!

Do you know if the new console will be able to run the old games?

Delfino, damn straight man, free X-Box live shipping with all launch bundles is great news, it'll definitely pursuade me to get broadband. I'm speculating pre-christmas launch prices of 299.99, which should be around the 500 dollar mark. I'd almost put a wager on it, but I need that fiver! haha.

Backwards compatibility is good to hear.....even although the games themselves won't be any different, it'll still be nice for them not to become obsolete.

On another note - do you have a DVD drive on your PC? Thing is, the stuff I want to give you comes to just over 2.5 gig, and I'd rather shove it on a DVD than a load of CD's, mainly cause I only have 2 or 3 CD's left! hehe. If you don't have DVD don't worry though.....I'll need to get more CDR's anyway!

Delfino, what good news, a DVD it'll be then! Also, sweet, thanks mate, I like surprises! And I like Racer X too!

Delfino, excellent dude. Oh man, I remember what it was like on my last day at school. Everyone really dressed up....or should I say tarted up....for the occasion. There were some great photo opportunities then! haha. And yeah, it's really funny how the people who have always been absolute assholes suddenly start to squirm and look reaaallly uncomfortable as they realise nobody gives a sh*t about them! muahaha

Yoda, I concur, Epsidoe III is bloody brilliant. I want to see it again, can't wait for the DVD's!

Hmmm, real world.....going on holiday. Yeah The real world sucks man! haha. As it happens, I may be coming up to your neck of the woods kinda soon - my grannie, who is 86 and lives in Norwich, is very ill. she's been in hospital for a couple of weeks, but remarkably, she seems to be improving! She's very determined! My mum went up to norwish last weekend to see her and has gone again this weekend. I'm sure she'll do the same next weekend, and I would like to see my gran at some point in the next 3 or 4, if she keeps improving. If she deteriorates, I'm not sure I could hack it....it's still only not-quite-two-years since my dad died, so I'm not big on hospitals at the moment.

Anyway, yeah, I'll give you a heads up if I'm coming your way, it'd be great to meet up! Also, regards Behringer, a good word of warning I took from my sound-engineer mate is that they are very cheap with their wiring! It's all kinda cosmetic, like a Ferrari.....on face value and outside appearances they seem awesome, but when you actually look at the quality of the way they're built, it's pretty disappointing!

Hmm, I should have e-mailed that lot to you. Oh well! hehe. have a groovy weekend bro!

Mate, I'm sorry about this but it's gonna take a little while before I can get all this stuff to you. I tried putting it all on DVD, but my DVD writing software is so shit that it doesn't actually let you write files to a DVD.....you can only copy! Well...it was 7 quid! haha.

Anyway, I'm going to order Nero 6 (i think it's 6 anyway) and when I get that I'll be able to burn all the stuff for you! Sorry about the delay man, but I'd rather put it on DVD cause it's just under 4 gig of stuff!

Stevee T, yeah the Jem is an angled headstock, 2-piece with a normal scarf joint. Although I understand the new model Jem's are a 3 piece neck. the 02/03 model that I had was a single lump of maple for the neck, with another one scarf jointed for the headstock. The older jem's used to have a rosewood strip down the back.

Thanks for your input on making the right decisions. And you're right. As it happens, my sister called me tonight and asked if I'd go visit her next weekend.....she's the one living near Cambridge.....and I think I probably will. I need a break from living in this asshole of a county. The only good thing in Dorset is Bournemouth, but everybody there hates anyone who's not from there! haha.

Anyway, yeah, so assuming I do go see my sister (sally) I'll be paying my gran a visit too. I heard today that my granny is improving further....she's eating and talking and enjoying tea again, it's amazing, cause just a few days ago she was unconscious.

Thanks for the e-mail address...have saved it. Please excuse me having to ask, but what's your name?! haha, I have a feeling you're Paul, but I could be wrong. Anyway, maybe you could e-mail me both that and your post-code, to airman_siro@yahoo.co.uk so I can use the AA route-planner site to see how I might get to yours from cambridge if I was driving. I may well take the train though, but it's good to exhaust all the options!

Take it easy matey, hope your weekend was cool!

marimariSRV, no i didn't get the camera yet, but am trying to fight off the temptation to buy it right now, as it happens. I checked the amazon marketplace a few days ago and there were a few Nikon D70's at really good prices......like I said I'm trying to fight temptation, but I doubt I'll win.

jessegale, it depends on how much time you want to spend and how much work you want to do. You could sand it down and wire-wool it, but it would have to be relacquered otherwise it would last five minutes. But to relacquer you'd really want to take the neck off the guitar, and mask up the headstock and fretboard. This itself isn't too bad, but getting a decent finish with the lacquer and then getting the guitar set up when you put the neck back on....that's what takes ages!

A few months' wear shouldn't be too bad....maybe it just needs a good clean. Wipe it off with a hot, damp cloth then dry it thoroughly with a towel, and make sure you hands are always clean before you play.....oil from your hands could be what is making it rough.

Nola, everyone seems to want to see your pictures now, so if you want everyone to see them mail them to airman_siro@yahoo.co.uk and I'll host them for you.

Cliff, good to hear you got the Extreme DVD! It rocks, the "Get The Funk Out" video cracks me up.

I'm not a big fan of multi-effects processors so I can't make much comment, but I know a lot of people on here are very satisfied users of the Boss GT6 and GT8 models, I've not seen anyone say anything bad about it yet.

Clarky, oh, Igor! Yeah, he's a top bloke. I spent more time talking to him than anyone else after G3 last year, and he was very reluctant to add his signature to the strat scratchplate I took. He said "I can't put my name next to these guys" (joe, steve, jeff, billy). I finally pursuaded him to sign it and he said "okay, let me just practice on something", and he grabbed a folded napkin off the bar and wrote his name on that.

Damn....I should have kept the napkin too!

svk, no i didn't. I only have one of 'em anyway, and I won't host it unless she tells me it's okay.....I wouldn't do it without prior permission.

ka girl, Joe has never done any instructional videos, and has said (i think), or has at least implied, that he never will.

However, in the late 80's, or was it early 90's (?) he contributed a bunch of guest column parts in a monthly guitar magazine. Those articles were then compiled and revised and re-released in the Joe Satriani: Guitar Secrets book. You'll find the book on amazon.com, and it's always really cheap.

It's definitely useful, although I will say that it helps to build up a decent basic knowledge of guitar/music theory as a foundation before you really study the concepts that Joe shared. That said, a lot of it is easily accessible for players of any standard.

Also, although you say you're only really interested in tuitional stuff from Joe, I would actually advise looking at a whole bunch of different people's ideas. As much as it is useful to learn the things that Joe is doing, it's about as useful to learn what he isn't doing.

Guitar Secrets is a Cherry Lane publication and it's ISBN is 0895247380

The other book I thoroughly recommend is a Hal Leonard Publishing book - "Guitar World" Presents Private Lessons: With Steve Vai, Eric Johnson, Edward Van Halen, Kirk Hammett, Johnny Winter, Nuno Bettencourt and More Great Artists

It's well written and easy to work through with lots of useful info and insight. The Nuno bettencourt and Eric Johnson bits are particularly useful. It's ISBN is 0793517125