Thanks guys. I muted the gtr in the first verse for a couple of reasons. If the essential elements are really happening, in this case the drums, bass, rhythm gtr, and lead vocal, you shouldn't need any secondary parts that early in the tune. Most people don't listen with the ears of an engineer and too many things happening can dilute the vibe. Waiting to bring a part in later also adds interest anmd makes a somewhat redundant sounding 2nd verse seem like the tune is going somewhere. In this case, the arpeggio didn't come in as I would have liked, so I moved it from the first verse. Of course all my fancy reasons don't mean squat if you just plain like the gtr where it originally was better. If that was the case in a real situation, I would have left it in and either de emphasized it in someway during the 1st verse and/or made something additional happen during the 2nd verse. I also edited out the repeat section on the end of the 1st chorus because I felt it wasn't taking us anywhere. laso if it had been a real gig, I would have tried to find a way to revisit the chorus in some way toward the end, I just didn't feel like spending any more time on it. Being sensitive to the 'shape' of the arrangement and enhancing that whenever possible, is one of the most important things a good mixer brings to the party.
Dave