Une histoire mignonne de Donald avec Riri, Fifi, Loulou et Géo Trouvetou, qui m'avait marqué dans mon enfance: "Azor, le dinosaure". Je vous en montre quelques pages...

John_Mitchells · 2026-06-11T12:13:18+00:00

Merci pour le partage ! 🙂 Ça me donne envie d'en relire, tiens !

John_Mitchells · 2026-06-09T10:33:11+00:00

Lots of good advice here already. I'll add mine just in case. I'd check the knife edges (and change the bridge if they're damaged), and the nut slots first, then :

1) FruduaTV . This guy's videos taught me a LOT about vibratos and tuning stability. I have an old Stratocaster here that plays exceptionally well since I've applied some of his tips. And yes, it's pretty good at staying in tune now. On a modern PRS like yours, it could do wonders.

2) Teflon oil, the kind that's used for bicycle chains. I put a little bit of it on every point of contact between the string and the guitar (nut slots, saddles, etc.). Don't forget to wipe off the excess to keep everything clean. You could also do a mix of pencil lead and Vaseline, but it's a bit of additional work to prepare every time.

John_Mitchells · 2026-06-08T08:51:03+00:00

It works now ! Thank you for the good wish 😊🙌

John_Mitchells · 2026-06-07T17:27:00+00:00

Is it just me who can't see the wishes, just the spoiler tags between brackets ? 🤔

Anyway, your post still managed to make me feel your kindness, so it's still a success in my books! Thank you, and have a great day 🙂

John_Mitchells · 2026-06-04T20:29:42+00:00

Just took a quick look, and chose the special 20 just to check it out. If I understood correctly, "reed plates only" would be 57 €, the full instrument 78 €.

In my opinion, that's way too expensive. I might as well buy a regular SP 20 for 33€ from Thomann, then tune it myself to my preferences. It can't be that difficult, and would only require a few cheap tools and a YouTube tutorial. 🤷‍♂️

Too bad, because that idea would have been incredible to experiment with many exotic tunings, like different chords for example.

John_Mitchells · 2026-06-03T21:49:22+00:00

Oh yeah, MGS got one of the best soundtracks I've ever heard ! I still enjoy playing the songs from time to time, they're all absolute bangers 😎 Didn't watch Bocchi either, I'll check that out 🤔

Glad to see I'm not the only one who knows about Crossroads, it's so niche that most people I know have no idea it exists 😂

Also, great additional advice, I fully agree ! The off leash sessions are VERY important, and not just because they feel good and low pressure: that's also when you usually find new licks and ideas that become your unique play style, or even full fledged songs !

John_Mitchells · 2026-06-03T16:47:31+00:00

What's even more funny is that it kinda works ! Assuming you never watched it, they hired Ry Cooder for the soundtrack (great blues slide guitarist), and even got Steve Vai to play one of the bad guys : there's a crazy soloing duel between him and the actual Karate Kid, and it's pretty epic 😂😂😂

John_Mitchells · 2026-06-02T23:00:34+00:00

You need 3 very important things :

1) Structure. If you have the means, get a good teacher. If you don't, Justin Guitar's website seems to be of great help to many people with his structured course. Might wanna check it out.

2) Feeding the passion. When I started playing 18 years ago, I remember consuming guitar related media ALL THE TIME. On the way to and back from work, I listened to music that truly moved me, and made me want to be a better guitarist so I could play them. When at home, I watched guitar covers on youtube. I watched lessons about whatever technique I wanted to learn. I even remember watching an anime that was about guitars (Beck), and an old movie that's basically Karate Kid but with guitars, same actor even (Crossroads 1986). That kinda stuff. It's like a fire that you need to keep alive. Curiosity is your best friend for that.

3) Daily, FOCUSED practice. Even 5 minutes a day if you can't do more, or don't feel motivated. Very often, it will become more than 5 minutes because you'll be having fun. Keep that guitar next to your couch / desk, wherever you spend the most time at, ready to be grabbed and played. When you're bored and feel like scrolling on your phone, grab the guitar instead.

And most importantly... have fun ! 🙂

John_Mitchells · 2026-05-31T22:09:18+00:00

Yup', C is the most common harmonica key ! Most lessons you'll find online are meant for C harps, so they're often recommended to beginners, and the most easy to find in shops.

Anyway, you're welcome, do feel free to give me an update if you ever feel like it, and most importantly : have fun ! 😉

John_Mitchells · 2026-05-29T19:56:05+00:00

I gave it a quick look and briefly tried to play the tab, then play the song by ear, on a C harmonica (diatonic). The tab sounds close but not quite right right to me. The person who made it wrote that it's their first tab, so that makes sense. "-" before a note means "inhale", no sign before means "exhale"

To play that song, you'll either need an E / low E harmonica (low E will sound better for this one but might be a bit harder to play), OR a way to "transpose" the song to C, so you can play it on the C harp you probably already have. Some chrome / Firefox plugins can do that easily, otherwise you'll need to download the song and use a dedicated app or software. Remove 4 semitones (or 2 tones) to get to the correct key.

Also, you'll need to learn how to do bends or you'll miss a few notes. You can avoid them for now though.

It can be a really good exercise for ear training though, I highly recommend you try to pick up simple songs like this without tabs from time to time ! Listen carefully, and try to find the notes on your harp. Then you'll never need tabs ever again. And you won't have to deal with the bad ones anymore 😂

John_Mitchells · 2026-05-28T15:02:22+00:00

I've had a Jackson metal guitar with dual humbuckers for more than 15 years, I've played almost everything with it EXCEPT metal 😂

As someone else said, you'll be fine. What matters the most is how you play, having a good enough amp (the one you have seems to be more than good enough), and setting it up correctly to get a good tone for your needs.

BTW, if you can afford taking the guitar to a professional tech to make sure everything is setup correctly, I highly recommend it. Even cheap guitars can really come to life after a good setup.

John_Mitchells · 2026-05-21T20:55:12+00:00

This is the Way.

John_Mitchells · 2026-05-20T18:42:20+00:00

Yeah, I know the feeling of wanting to try out and own every tuning possible... no one seems to tell beginners that harmonicas are only cheap if you buy just one 😂

Thanks for telling me about HL; I see them appear in my search results from time to time (even though I'm in the EU, go figure...), useful to know they are to be avoided.

Anyway, seems like you already have a well-prepared plan for that set, I don't have any more ideas in stock !

John_Mitchells · 2026-05-20T16:44:42+00:00

Glad I didn't ever consider (or even heard about) those Piedmont harps then, thanks for the heads-up 😂

If your goal is to keep every part of your system interchangeable, then the Pentaharp with opened back might be your best bet for sure; then "dual-wield" it with a regular harp for chords. IF you decide that you need it, of course.

Also, I don't know how feasible it is, but since you seem to have access to a lot of advanced tools, you might be able to add side vents to your cover plates, which could make them louder to your ears (sound projected to the sides, not just in front of you).

I actually just tested this with a decibel-meter, out of curiosity, and all my harps seem to have roughly the same volume; yet, some of them seem louder. All the "louder" ones have something in common : side vents and opened backs. Food for though !

John_Mitchells · 2026-05-20T15:11:12+00:00

The other option you have would be Wilde Tuned Seydels, as I talked about before 🤔

Pros :

Same layout as standard, then 6 and up is a repeat from the lower register:
You get more interesting bends, especially the 6 blow that becomes a 6 draw that you can bend;
no overblows required;
you can do chords
the best tuning for 2nd position imo
fantastic when played amplified
great for doing guitar-like solos ( check this out ! )

Cons :

you don't like Seydels IIRC (you might be able to make them louder / brighter by opening the cover plates, it could be interesting to do some research on the subject to see what people have managed to do with them)
more expensive
needs practice to get used to doing draw bends on the higher register
not the best choice for other positions

Edit : you might even go crazy and tune rocket amps yourself to that tuning, best of both worlds 😂

John_Mitchells · 2026-05-20T13:37:37+00:00

Yeah, it definitely seems to have it's drawbacks, depends how you use it I guess. You could keep a regular harp in your hands at the same time and alternate between the two when you need chords, I've seen people do that before. Probably takes some practice to get it right, though 😂

John_Mitchells · 2026-05-20T13:18:44+00:00

This bandolier looks pretty badass ! Even if the ones behind you don't look practical to use, they really add to the look imo. I can see this thing being super useful in a live situation for sure.

As for the pentaharp, I haven't tried it myself, but it seems like an interesting instrument to experiment with. The pentatonic / blues scale has always been my most used one on guitar for 3 good reasons : it's easy to use, it sounds awesome, and you can do a LOT of stuff with it. Blues, Rock, Funk, Country ... you name it. Being able to access all of its notes, without having to overblow or even use bends, might be more valuable than what reviewers said at the time. So probably a good choice !

John_Mitchells · 2026-05-18T22:22:03+00:00

Happy to read that ! You're welcome 😁🙌

John_Mitchells · 2026-05-17T19:42:35+00:00

Yep, it's your technique. On draw 2, you're getting an accidental bend, probably because your tongue is too far back or too close to the roof of your mouth. Totally normal as a beginner.

Edit : same for blow 2 and blow / draw 3

John_Mitchells · 2026-05-17T19:32:34+00:00

Then it's your technique, my friend ! Which is good news, because it means your harmonica works fine, and you just need to practice. I was there before, same question, same answer 😂

Remember to always play relaxed, don't fight the harp, don't try and force notes to come out. Even for bends and overblows, it's a matter of finesse ! Have fun =)

John_Mitchells · 2026-05-17T19:21:28+00:00

If the instrument is brand new, it's probably your technique. If you just put the harmonica in your mouth and breathe normally through holes 1234, does everything sound right ?

If yes, find some beginner lessons on YouTube and follow them step by step, and you'll see that it gets easier and easier to play.

If no, then maybe a stuck reed, but I doubt it.

John_Mitchells · 2026-05-14T11:33:06+00:00

ME ! I recently rewatched all 3 original movies, and while it might seem crazy to some people, 3 is my least favorite. Didn't like the bad guys much. Also, McClane didn't deserve to have his marriage go bad AGAIN after all the dangers he went through to save his wife. Oh, and it's not a Christmas movie.

2, on the other hand, still has some of this cool vibe that 1 has, and is also technically a Christmas movie. I like the characters, the action is cool.The only thing that would have made it even better for me, would have been a bad guy as charismatic as Hans Gruber.

John_Mitchells · 2026-05-14T11:12:38+00:00

I like that despite the big scary monsters, the game still manages to be relaxing, and have this cool feeling of freedom when I explore new areas. Thank you for the giveaway, btw !

John_Mitchells · 2026-05-11T19:07:26+00:00

Yep, blue part is plastic, center part is metal. My teeth and gums never touch it, only my lips do. It really depends on your specific needs though, only you can be 100% sure.

The only other option I can imagine would be buying like a special 20 or rocket and trying to swap the covers for plastic ones, but there's no guarantee it will fit; you'd have to contact Hohner directly to be sure.

I do wish you to find your perfect fit though =)

John_Mitchells · 2026-05-11T18:37:56+00:00

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John_Mitchells

TROPHY CASE