|
I've been playing for about 15 years, but I own only beater acoustics and electrics, nothing above the 300 dollar range. I'm looking now at getting good quality dreadnought acoustic (a/e is a plus) without spending an assload of cash. Any recommendations? edit: by assload I mean under 1000, I'd like to get some Gibson Songwriter Studio or Guild Jumbo, but being reasonable.
|
#
?
Mar 28, 2011 17:33
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 16, 2024 17:23 |
|
|
Foiltha posted:How good are MiM strats nowadays? I've been playing a pretty bad Tokai strat made in Korea for a couple years now and while I also have a decent acoustic, the strat is really starting to frustrate me and I want something new but on a budget. I believe MIM strats are among the best deals you can find, alongside Epiphone LPs. I'm told they can be hit or miss, but I know mine is a great sounding and great playing guitar. My only complaint is that the tuners are fairly awful, but with that being the worst thing about it, I think it's an awesome guitar for the price.
|
|
#
?
Mar 28, 2011 20:21
|
|
|
revolther posted:I've been playing for about 15 years, but I own only beater acoustics and electrics, nothing above the 300 dollar range. I'm looking now at getting good quality dreadnought acoustic (a/e is a plus) without spending an assload of cash. Any recommendations? I recently purchased an Epiphone Hummingbird which I think is am awesome guitar. The difference between it and a gibson is the wood, and to keep it fairly high end they come stocked with Grover tuners. I love mine. It cost me just under $400 for it and a hard case. When I posted about it in the new gear pics thread, it started a great discussion about Epiphone vs Gibson. I strongly recommend it, but it's not a/e. I might post a video of me sucking with it when I get home for a sound example.
|
|
#
?
Mar 28, 2011 20:33
|
|
|
revolther posted:I've been playing for about 15 years, but I own only beater acoustics and electrics, nothing above the 300 dollar range. I'm looking now at getting good quality dreadnought acoustic (a/e is a plus) without spending an assload of cash. Any recommendations? I've heard good things about the Epiphone Masterbilt series but I've never played one myself. I keep thinking about upgrading my Mitchell solid top entry level POS.
|
|
#
?
Mar 29, 2011 00:33
|
|
|
Paramemetic posted:I recently purchased an Epiphone Hummingbird which I think is am awesome guitar. The difference between it and a gibson is the wood, and to keep it fairly high end they come stocked with Grover tuners. I love mine. It cost me just under $400 for it and a hard case. When I posted about it in the new gear pics thread, it started a great discussion about Epiphone vs Gibson. I strongly recommend it, but it's not a/e. I might post a video of me sucking with it when I get home for a sound example. I posted some videos wherein I play my Hummingbird in the solo acoustic covers thread. I have not yet changed the strings on it, so this is more or less how it comes. I really dig the brightness of the sound.
|
|
#
?
Mar 29, 2011 06:49
|
|
|
revolther posted:I've been playing for about 15 years, but I own only beater acoustics and electrics, nothing above the 300 dollar range. I'm looking now at getting good quality dreadnought acoustic (a/e is a plus) without spending an assload of cash. Any recommendations? I have a Guild GAD-50. Its awesome because it sounds better and plays way better than it should for the cost. I paid $600 five years ago, so it seems the price has risen, but I also haggled with the local store I bought it from.
|
|
#
?
Mar 30, 2011 19:49
|
|
|
I'm trying to work on transitioning between chords, and I found that playing playing along with a song helped me - if not actually helped my technique, it certainly made practice more enjoyable. So I've been playing the hell out of Wish You Were Here. Any recommendations on songs I can play chords to that will that utilize a lot of C/G and specifically F? That's the big one, I can nail C/G/Am/A/E but F is kicking my tail all up and down.
|
|
#
?
Mar 30, 2011 20:32
|
|
|
crm posted:I'm trying to work on transitioning between chords, and I found that playing playing along with a song helped me - if not actually helped my technique, it certainly made practice more enjoyable. If you like Dylan then The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll has a bunch of relatively quick changes to practice with. Christy Moore does a great version of this song as well.
|
|
#
?
Mar 30, 2011 20:46
|
|
|
I inherited an old MIM Strat, and the bridge pickup was a little high so I took a screwdriver to it. After just one twist, however, the pickguard stopped sitting flat on the body, and I can't seem to get it back to normal. I'm not quite bold enough to take the whole thing apart--I don't even know how to restring a guitar yet--but would anybody happen to know what would be causing this? The screw doesn't seem to be biting into anything below, other than the pickup; is that normal? Edit: Looks like it's just the spring pressing against the pickguard and pushing it upward, without a nearby screw to keep the pickguard flat. I guess a sticky spot or something happened to hold the pickguard flat until I disturbed it with my meddling. It looks like some Strats have rubber tubes instead of springs for the pickup height adjustment. Are these less prone to apply excessive force to the pickguard like this? 404notfound fucked around with this message at 08:39 on Mar 31, 2011 |
|
#
?
Mar 31, 2011 07:45
|
|
|
Anyone know what deal is with Ultimate Guitar getting whipped and all their tabs taken down?
|
|
#
?
Mar 31, 2011 13:50
|
|
|
I just loaded up Ultimate Guitar, and all of their tabs still seem to be there?
|
|
#
?
Mar 31, 2011 14:01
|
|
|
Feh, learn by ear. Most tabs are wrong.
|
|
#
?
Mar 31, 2011 16:22
|
|
|
Download VLC and play your MP3's through it at 0.6x
|
|
#
?
Mar 31, 2011 16:28
|
|
|
Nuclear Spoon posted:If you're feeling confident, you could fret the bottom E-string with your thumb. I wish I could do the thumb trick. My left hand is the one with the toe-thumb, though, so it doesn't reach around. Also, as far as learning by ear: It's good to practice, but tabs are good for a jumping off point if you're just starting. At this point, I usually at least attempt to learn it by ear, and if I can't figure it out I'll skim a tab just to get an idea of where to start.
|
|
#
?
Mar 31, 2011 17:01
|
|
|
CalvinDooglas posted:Feh, learn by ear. I'm lucky if I hit one out of ten on Ultimate Guitar that is actually correct. This has had the effect of training my ear though, because whenever I want to quickly look something up I have to go through and add a 7 here or drop a 9 there to fix things.
|
|
#
?
Mar 31, 2011 18:33
|
|
|
I'm not new to guitar but I dunno where else I can ask this. Do all Parker guitars have 22 frets? I want a Parker really bad, but I also really love having 24 frets.
|
|
#
?
Apr 1, 2011 00:05
|
|
|
Are the necks on Squier Bullets super skinny or am I just an oaf? I can pretty much play whatever on my acoustic just the way I want, but baby's first guitar makes me feel like I'm a doped-up gorilla. Am I doomed to a life of specially-fattened guitar necks? Billy Bob FORTRAN fucked around with this message at 02:58 on Apr 1, 2011 |
|
#
?
Apr 1, 2011 02:50
|
|
|
Billy Bob FORTRAN posted:Am I doomed to a life of specially-fattened guitar necks? Les Pauls.
|
|
#
?
Apr 1, 2011 04:47
|
|
|
crm posted:I'm trying to work on transitioning between chords, and I found that playing playing along with a song helped me - if not actually helped my technique, it certainly made practice more enjoyable. You could try this trick too: http://www.justinguitar.com/en/BC-115-1MinuteChanges.php Basically it's a practice session challenge, trying to change chords as many times as you can in one minute, then trying to beat that target the next time. Even if it's not the funnest thing ever it's only a minute per session! You can do this kind of thing while you're doing other stuff (say watching TV), just sit there and fret different chords over and over. Building muscle memory's a huge part of it
|
|
#
?
Apr 1, 2011 19:49
|
|
|
My neck pickup on my strat stopped working, and I can't figure out why. To be more specific, as far as I can tell, it still kinda works but its just extremely quiet - I have to turn the volume up to insane levels to hear anything out of it. The electronics are setup in the normal strat configuration, and nothing seems wrong in any other switch position than neck-only, so I'm having a tough time figuring out what is wrong. Does anyone have any ideas?
|
|
#
?
Apr 1, 2011 23:35
|
|
|
Been playing the guitar off and on for about two years now, having picked up a Tanglewood acoustic guitar from a second hand store. I've got all the basic chords down, can do most of the bar chords, and change between them pretty smoothly. I can play fingerstyle pretty decently, but I wanna be the cool guy at the campfire playing the sing-a-long songs. The thing that's really killing me is smooth rhythmic strumming. Even though I play all the chords right, I don't sound quite right. Any advice would be much appreciated. I think I got heavy guitar picks, will getting thin ones make a difference in this? Maz fucked around with this message at 12:26 on Apr 2, 2011 |
|
#
?
Apr 2, 2011 12:15
|
|
|
Try strumming without a pick.
|
|
#
?
Apr 2, 2011 14:55
|
|
|
The intonation on my resonator is hosed - like a bit over 1/4 tone at the 12th fret. It's better I take this to a luthier right ? How much does this kind of thing run, like £50 ?
|
|
#
?
Apr 2, 2011 15:17
|
|
|
I switched to Tortex .60 picks (orange) for about three months, and worked on my strumming, and then switched back to Dunlop Mediums, and there's a notable improvement. (I can now strum with 1mm picks, which I couldn't before, but I decided I liked the Medium Gels better.) Try the lighter picks. But you'll need Tortex or nylons, because you'll need the extra grip.
|
|
#
?
Apr 2, 2011 16:32
|
|
|
An0 posted:The intonation on my resonator is hosed - like a bit over 1/4 tone at the 12th fret. It's better I take this to a luthier right ? Is the bridge adjustable? Doing the bridge adjustments is really easy.
|
|
#
?
Apr 2, 2011 18:03
|
|
|
no it's this weird elevated wooden bridge. you can vaguely see it here http://www.johaneliasson.com/resolianwebb/DSCN7233.jpg it may have something to do with it, but there's a small 1/2 mm space between the wood and metal here on mine http://www.johaneliasson.com/resolianwebb/DSCN7241.jpg An0 fucked around with this message at 18:16 on Apr 2, 2011 |
|
#
?
Apr 2, 2011 18:12
|
|
|
Warcabbit posted:I switched to Tortex .60 picks (orange) for about three months, and worked on my strumming, and then switched back to Dunlop Mediums, and there's a notable improvement. (I can now strum with 1mm picks, which I couldn't before, but I decided I liked the Medium Gels better.) Try the lighter picks. But you'll need Tortex or nylons, because you'll need the extra grip. I'll give that a try and pick up some thin tortex picks at the local music store on monday and see how that turns out. Thanks for the tip.
|
|
#
?
Apr 2, 2011 18:26
|
|
|
Paramemetic posted:Les Pauls. I can't even believe how right you were. I bought an Epiphone Les Paul because the local music store was going out of business, and playing this thing feels more or less perfect.
|
|
#
?
Apr 2, 2011 22:26
|
|
|
I'm curious why whenever someone mentions what pick they use they always mention the color as well. I myself seem to have a penchant for green and purple picks.
|
|
#
?
Apr 3, 2011 02:08
|
|
|
bromplicated posted:I'm curious why whenever someone mentions what pick they use they always mention the color as well. I myself seem to have a penchant for green and purple picks. With some brands (e.g., Tortex, Fender) the color denotes the thickness.
|
|
#
?
Apr 3, 2011 02:25
|
|
|
Paramemetic posted:With some brands (e.g., Tortex, Fender) the color denotes the thickness. For me, the orange Tortex is a good middle ground pick that's more strumming oriented because of its floppiness, but kind of stiff enough for some easy picking work. It's the .60 thickness one.
|
|
#
?
Apr 3, 2011 14:08
|
|
|
I'm buying this Parker PDF100 http://www.parkerguitars.com/PDF-Radial-Neck-Joint-Models/ What do all those acronyms stand for ("available in QVSB, QBB, FTSB", etc etc)? Is it color or what? I hope it's color because that default color is very ugly.
|
|
#
?
Apr 3, 2011 22:10
|
|
|
the Bunt posted:I'm buying this Parker PDF100 http://www.parkerguitars.com/PDF-Radial-Neck-Joint-Models/ Yeah, they're the colors. The ones that end in "SB" are most likely sunbursts. The Q might mean that the guitar has a quilted maple top or something. You can probably find a list of the different finishes somewhere on that site. Edit: I suspect that the PDF100 in the picture is QBB (quilted black burst), and the other option might be even worse. Pannus fucked around with this message at 22:49 on Apr 3, 2011 |
|
#
?
Apr 3, 2011 22:38
|
|
|
I read through pretty much all of the thread and I'd really like to get back into guitar to pick up babes and be an all-around cool dude. I had an Ibanez guitar before that came with the typical starter set stuff (came with a cheap little amp and dvds and all that crap), but is it worth looking for something like that again or am I better off finding a guitar/amp separately in terms of quality and money and all that? please tell me i need my answers fed to me like a baby Also I'd like to take the 'get the guitar in person rather than online' thing to heart but besides this one tiny local music shop the only kind of music store I have nearby is a Guitar Center and I've heard their prices are kind of inflated 
|
|
#
?
Apr 9, 2011 11:21
|
|
|
Craigslist is a real good place to get a guitar in person.
|
|
#
?
Apr 9, 2011 13:47
|
|
|
SUBLIME! posted:Also I'd like to take the 'get the guitar in person rather than online' thing to heart but besides this one tiny local music shop the only kind of music store I have nearby is a Guitar Center and I've heard their prices are kind of inflated I'd recommend using Guitar Center to try out a bunch of guitars and then buy your favorite/something similar online.
|
|
#
?
Apr 9, 2011 15:28
|
|
|
Manky posted:I'd recommend using Guitar Center to try out a bunch of guitars and then buy your favorite/something similar online. This is probably the best advice. I would never buy an instrument from Guitar Center, you're paying new prices for what's effectively a used instrument since so many people have picked it up and banged on it.
|
|
#
?
Apr 9, 2011 18:09
|
|
|
edit: I'm an idiot
oldy fucked around with this message at 03:24 on Apr 10, 2011 |
|
#
?
Apr 10, 2011 03:11
|
|
|
drat, I gotta thank this thread. I had originally tried to play the guitar some 12 years ago. Unfortunately I was stuck with the school music teachers, feebly twanging my unamplified electric guitar in a room full of acoustic players, one of whom actually had some great musical talent. Unsurprisingly it turned out to be quite the disheartening experience. Now though, with the help of this thread and those beginner song suggestions, I'm still terrible but I am enjoying it. Couldn't take the buying advice for budgetary reasons so I just have some Chinese Fender Stratocaster copy until finances clear up and I have the skill to justify the upgrade. Plays well enough to keep me going though.
|
|
#
?
Apr 11, 2011 12:45
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 16, 2024 17:23 |
|
|
Hey guitar goons, I too need help. I've recently been craving a creative pastime besides writing, and I think I'd like to get into the electric guitar. The thing is, in the distant past I've played keyboard and trombone so I have somewhat of a musical background, but know absolutely nothing about guitar. I went to Guitar Center and plucked around on a few guitars as per this thread's recommendation, and found that the thin neck of a Stratocaster feels pretty comfortable in my hands. I've gotten big into David Bowie recently and am hoping to play some Ziggy Stardust era music, is a Strat the right guitar for this? My big question though is this: what can I do to prepare myself for getting a guitar? I know literally zero about how to play them besides from being told by a friend that I know how to use a pick well. Should I just take the plunge and buy a guitar and amp, or should I review any music theory stuff beforehand?
|
|
#
?
Apr 11, 2011 20:33
|
|
