It's been a long time, but thanks, Bee-dubya-ell, for your post of November 18, 2004 ("Okay, gang, you heard the man. No more speculatin'. No more pokin' fun at each other...")

Somebody needs to deal with today's Great Panjandrums, and you did.
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For anybody reading this who is something of a beginner, I would like to say that keeping a guitar tuned to the frequencies it was designed for makes it louder. The first time I used an electronic tuner, my guitar suddenly became twice as loud.

I don't like triangular picks, but when I saw Martin Wyndham Read using a thumb pick for his bass notes, I went out and bought myself one. I am very pleased with the effect this has - makes the bass notes loud and rich. All for fifty cents.