Oh - I wanted to tell this story. Last week there was the following Craigslist ad here in Nashville:
I sent it to my sister who works for Fender. She contacted the guy to offer to help track it down, since it’s a custom shop guitar. He sent her back the following e-mail:
Only in Nashville do custom shop guitars end up on the side of hte highway.
StG
What a great story. Thanks for sharing! So funny about a Custom Shop by the side of the road. It’s Guitar Town.
And yeah, I have always said you can use a Tele to drive nails and gig with it that night.
Yeah, I think my sister sent him some Fender swag as a thank you.
StG
Great story. I enjoy stories about stand up guys that do the right thing. That’s class all the way.
I read a similar story about Pete Seger. He left his banjo in a cab. The cabbie tracked him down and gave it back.
There are a lot of good people out there.
New strap.
Buttons fit.
Happy Robot.
In haiku format:
New Strap for guitar
Buttons fit like lotus pod
Happy Robot Arm
StG
Nice! 
Anyone else struggle with rhythms that start and stop? I’ve been practicing these three measures for ten minutes, 4 times a day. For a couple days. Just full out concentration and focus with the metronome.
begins with a tied quarter note from the previous measure. then several rests until the 4 & beat. Then things briefly get intense with two eighth notes and a dotted quarter note. the dotted quarter means no more playing until the 3 beat.
1 2 3 4 & / 1 & 2 3 4 & / 1 2 3 4 &/ where nothing is played until the 4 & 1 & (don’t play on 4) (I do have to mute the string after the 1 and kill the tied note)
Not playing that 2 beat is tough. A lot of my practice is getting the finger memory to play this without thinking. I want to play that darn 2 beat so bad. 
Maybe its just me being inexperienced playing lead. But I struggle with those stops and starts. Same thing with abrupt rhythm changes. there were three measures in a row ending with 4 &. The next measure is 1 2 & 3 4. 
You can never get into a groove.
I’m remembering now why I never played lead 20 years ago. I much prefer a repetitive strumming pattern. Something I can lock into and focus on my accent beats.
also, do must people mute the string after playing a note? my two eighth notes are open d string and my dotted quarer note is C (on the A string).
I’ve noticed that open D string rings out for a couple beats unless I shut it up. I’ve started muting it with my pinky as I play my C note with my third finger. Ringing Open strings are the problem. A fretted note usually shuts up if I lift my finger just a little.
Lead is just a whole new guitar world. I want to play basic melodies. No shredding. LOL It definitely requires a learning curve.
I’m in the same boat as you, and the answer to the ringing notes is…sometimes. It depends on what I’m playing next and whether I want it to fade out vice a more abrupt stop. Also, put your guitar back on and give me 2 pentatonic runs starting on every fret! MOVEMOVEMOVE!
Its fun learning new guitar skills. I always played rhythm and enjoyed it. Now there’s a entirely new skill set to learn to play lead. Especially learning all the neck positions, scales and so on. Keeps me home and out of trouble.
I’m playing my 4 string bass too. Same strings (EADG) and same notes as a guitar. Just an octave lower.
I find that fascinating, because I’m the opposite. For me, lead is much easier than rhythm. My only guess is that it goes back to my orchestra days. My fretting fingers are okay doing one note at a time, but getting a whole chord is trickier.
I just watched a live performance of All That Glitters Is Not Gold. Didn’t realize Dan Seals was a leftie. I understand now why his high treble strings are so much louder. Since he’s playing upside down. They are the first thing he hits with his pick. Naturally they will be hit harder and be louder.
for us right handed guys. we hit the bass strings first. we get a different sound. Man, I’m sure glad I’m not a leftie. I prefer the stronger bass sound. That’s painful seeing him make chords backasswards. His strong high treble string sound in that song has puzzled me for over 20 years. Now I know.
at the end he does an **up strum **to get a normal strum sound. OMG thats just wrong. LOL
very interesting to see a leftie’s technique
great song and a lot of fun to learn, play and sing. I’ve always loved playing Bob McDill’s songs. I have an entire Bob McDill songbook that I’ve nearly worn out.
Well, they do make left-handed guitars that are strung bass-on-top 
Some lefties just learned on a rightie guitar.
I’ve said many times on this board, and probably a few times in this thread: you should spend 50% of the time getting the sounds you want to hear to play clean; and 50% of your effort getting the noises you DON’T want to hear to stop happening. I don’t care of you’re spot-damping with your fretting fingertips; dropping your full fretting fingers onto the strings for dry strumming; palm muting with your strum hand; smacking your strum hand down on the strings; using the Volume knob on an electric (shocking, I know); using noise gate effects - whatever; kill the fucking noise, you know?
As for lead work - hmm: just do it? Nothing beats a million repetitions 
Wordman’s posts are one reason that I listen for and try to correct bad sounds. I want to be like Wordman when I grow up and play cleanly.
Seriously. It does sound a lot better to play clean and mute as needed.
Yep, speaking as a lefty who plays lefty guitars, I hit my strings in the same order y’all do. But here are two guys who played righty guitars strung upside down and did/do not lack for low end in their sound:
Just got a Squier Classic Vibe Tele Custom (the brown sunburst one). Most expensive guitar I’ve ever purchased (I’ve only bought one other and it was $80 back in 88…two others were given to me)!
So far, I love the thing. It has a fairly small neck compared to the Harmony Rocket and Guild acoustic I typically play but it is about the same size as my old Hondo. The fit and finish is very nice. It stays in great tune. The PUPS are the most controversial thing on these guitars and I like them. Of course, this is my first Tele so I don’t have a lot to compare them to (the biggest complaint is they are thin but I was looking for thinner - why I picked a tele…I want that country’ish sound). The Rocket has single-coils and the two sound completely different. Both good but in different ways.
I bought the guitar from Sweetwater. Can’t say enough good about that company and I highly recommend them.
Years ago, a friend and I came up with what we agreed was the perfect description of the sound of a Fender Tele bridge pickup. We called it “the Fender Zang”. I still hate the sound of a Tele neck pickup. A mini-humbucker sounds great there.
My Hondo has humbuckers and I think I’ve used the neck PUP twice in the 27 years I’ve had it. Both times on accident. The sound of the single-coil neck PUP’s on both the Rocket and the tele is mucho better! On the tele, I love the sound of the neck PUP and the sound of the 2 combined! My biggest problem with either of those choices is I hit the PUP switch with my picking hand too much and it moves really easily. I need to learn to strum differently. Or, figure out a way to make the switch have a little more resistance.