It's 5pm here in very sunny Yorkshire, which as you may or may not know is the centre of the universe as we know it. And as I have been tidying the house for when she who must be obeyed arrives home from the surgery, I have been thinking about various guitar related stuff.

Since the arrival of my brand spanking new Tokai Les Paul, which I thoroughly believe to be better than the current Les Paul Standards I see in the shop, I haven't been able to put it down, and as a result, my playing is sharpening up, something which I am very pleased about. For Years I have had a book in my chest of drawers called Jam with Thin Lizzy, Eight songs tabbed for total accuracy plus a CD to play along to. Well, I didn't need the tabs to play Rosalie, but sometimes I use them like a road map, you know, look at which road I need to be on to get to where ever I am going, then just pick on reference points. So, this last week I have been learning 'Don't Believe a Word' which was about 1975 or 76, and one of my all time favourites.

I was playing what my ears were telling me what's right, but the tab was saying I should be playing the second half of the lead solo two frets up, and that just wasn't working. So, just how are accurate are these books and stuff we can download?

I am all for anything that helps us play better, but I think the more we can do for ourselves, the more accurate our own judgement becomes. I now have this solo and the rest of the song down spot on, and it ain't what the book tells me to play.

Happy playing to all......