The urge to go gadget crazy, when getting a new hobby, or reviving an old one, is a real thing. Having recently bought the new guitar with a view to trying to learn to play properly, it's something I'm very mindful of and doing my best to avoid. However, in the middle of the week I did crack and buy one little extra thing:

As I said in the previous blog post about the guitar: I ended up getting something that could be played acoustic without being annoying for neighbours, which in turn meant I didn't need any sort of amp, or pedals, etc. This has been working out just fine. But early last week, in an idle moment, I was looking up what might be good options for a small amp for practising should I want to and I stumbled on the Mustang Micro.

Reading up on it and checking out some reviews, it sounded perfect for my setup. I enjoy living in a small space, so could do without a proper amp kicking about, so something that just plugs right into the guitar sounded ideal.

I added it to a list of things to keep in mind and then... a couple of days later I was working from home which meant I'd be about to receive a delivery if I was to place an order and... oops!

I've been using it every day since it turned up and I'm so damn impressed! This thing might be small, but it's pretty mighty! For a complete notice like me, to muck about, and fiddle and get some great sounds out of it, I couldn't have asked for anything more.

The range of amp styles is way more than I could possibly do justice right now, but what's important for me is it's got versions that are nice and clean, and versions that are dirty and distorted. The effects are pretty much spot on too; there's everything I could ever possibly want there.

My only real complaint about it is that the UI itself -- small lights that use colour to indicate their setting -- is terrible. I don't know how else they could have done it, but I know this is bad. I am at least grateful that it's standalone and doesn't require some app on a phone to control or something like that.

I know it's going to take a while for me to get the most out of this, but already it's giving me a bit more confidence to experiment and doodle away in idle moments. Also, the USB connection means it can be plugged into my Mac, presumably allowing me to record with GarageBand or similar software. While I wouldn't use it to subject anyone to my terrible playing, that will be something for me to explore in terms of keeping a record of my progress.

This one has been brewing for a year, more or less. Now that I commute into and back from Edinburgh most days of the working week, I find myself walking past a couple of music shops. Seeing these reminds me of the days, back in my 20s, when I mucked around in a couple of bands and had fun making noises on a bass guitar. Since that time I've also owned a cheap six string electric, which is currently in storage (and has been since 2016) and an acoustic, which I have with me but I live in an apartment building and I'm not an arsehole so I never play it.

So, yeah, walking past those shops has made me want to muck about on a guitar again. I've never properly learnt the guitar, I've just managed to learn enough chords to make some noises I like for my own amusement, but even then I've not picked one up since around 2016 and what little I do know is very rusty.

Add to the above: earlier this year I was at a friend's and admiring her collection of bass and six string guitars and picked a couple up and realised I could not play anything. It had been too long, I'd lost most muscle memory and coordination, and what little knowledge I had.

So this made me want to fix this even more.

Given the apartment thing I decided on a plan: how about I get an eclectic, and then some sort of amplification that would always rely on headphones? Given such a setup I could knuckle down and try and learn properly.

So, this week, being on holiday, I told myself I'd pop into Edinburgh one day and have a look at my options; perhaps even come home with something. Yesterday was that day.

It didn't quite go to plan, but the outcome was that I ended up with something to play.

So, on getting into the shop, and explaining what I was after and why to the chap in there, I tried the usual Stratocaster and Telecaster thing. Both were fine (I think I liked the feel of the Telecaster more in my hand). I had one eye on a Les Paul too, but never tried that. What I did see though was this rather lovely black Höfner.

Now, of course, it's hollow body, so sort of has that acoustic thing going on. This isn't what I wanted for playing in an apartment. But I had to try it anyway. As soon as I started dabbling I was sold. The sound was enough that it would be easy to pick up and play without having to faff with amplification of any sort, on the other hand it was nowhere near as loud as my acoustic. I felt like it bridged the gap between easy to pick up, and versatile enough should I ever want to plug it into something.

And... let's be honest: it was black. Sooooo black. I like black.

Long story short... it had to come home with me!

As mentioned earlier: most of my guitar stuff is still in storage, from when I moved to Scotland, but I did find my old tin of plectrums and the tuner.

(Yes, the tin was once mine and was once full; the early 90s were a different time)

I even found one of my old stands, that I've had since around 1991! So now it's set up in my living room, next to the PCVR rig, ready to go at a moment's notice.

This is my plan now: each weekend I aim to put in at least an hour a day of practice, to try and get my fingers up to strength again, and to build up the muscle memory of where the strings are, to get the coordination between both hands, etc. I'm also going to be working through beginner's lessons from a tutor application. I'm going to treat this like I'm the complete novice I am and slowly work on improving.

There's no end goal; other than just get proficient enough that I can muck about on my own and be happy that I can play the sorts of things I want to be able to play.

Also, it's good to learn new stuff, especially new stuff that isn't just more coding.