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I've got myself a guitar and while I'm still trying to get an amp I was wondering about instructors. Are online guitar lessons worth anything at all or would it be much more beneficial to have lessons in person? I came across guitartricks.com and it looked alright but I'm a bit wary of websites with terrible names designed to take your money and be lovely.
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May 2, 2011 05:39
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SUBLIME! posted:I've got myself a guitar and while I'm still trying to get an amp I was wondering about instructors. Are online guitar lessons worth anything at all or would it be much more beneficial to have lessons in person? I came across guitartricks.com and it looked alright but I'm a bit wary of websites with terrible names designed to take your money and be lovely. My recommendations: http://www.justinguitar.com/ plus a decent instructor and maybe either the Mel Bay or Hal Leonord method books
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May 2, 2011 06:08
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The Fool posted:I would just like to comment that I picked up a slide yesterday. Tuning to Open G and everything I do sounds awesome. "Rollin' and tumblin'" Perfect song for open G slide.
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May 2, 2011 09:52
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The Fool posted:My recommendations: Seconding JustinGuitar, he really has so much work put into that, and lets us have it for free even!
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May 2, 2011 11:36
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coolbian57 posted:Hello everyone, I was wondering if an experienced guitar player could help me with some things I am a little confused about when it comes to mastering guitar. Most of my guitar playing career has been spent playing classical style guitars, or steel string acoustic guitars. For this reason, I do not have much experience with amplification, effects pedals, etc. However, I have a fairly nice guitar and amplifier. I have a Schecter Omen 6 guitar, and a Laney Hardcore Max 15w Amplifier. My question has to do with effects pedals. Basically, from what I have read online, I have learned that I have a Solid State amplifier, and that this alters my sound. I have read that the recommended pedal for me to buy now would be a distortion or overdrive pedal, so that I do not have to use the overdrive setting or way up the gain on my amplifier. This will result in a crunchy, yet still 'good' sound. It won't sound too 'bunched up', and there will be less useless noise in replace of crunch. Correct me if I am wrong here, or if you have other suggestions that would be awesome as well. I don't know much about Delay, Reverb, or other types of pedals, and a primer on those would be good as well. I know that I would love to be able to have a sweet Surf Rock type guitar tone, which means I will need some reverb. I guess this is a long winded question, but really my overall question is what guitar pedals should I get if I have $100-$200 to spend, and I want to have both a good clean guitar tone and a good distorted tone for metal. Not 'experienced' (although I really should be after this long) but let's see. Have a look a few posts up, there was a little discussion about delay vs reverb and I posted some videos to give an idea. Have a dig around on youtube and listen to some pedal demos, you'll get to know the basic sounds of different effects and might start noticing them in songs you like. In general single pedals are best, and you'll probably end up building a collection, but it might be worth looking at a multi-effects unit too - that's an all-in-one unit that simulates lots of different effects. I don't know what's good now but you could probably get something like a Pod used for cheap. Guitar amps traditionally used valves, which give a particular colour and character to the sound. More expensive amps still use them, but for small amps especially you're more likely to have solid-state technology (transistors basically). Some actually like this sound better, some amps have technology to make them sound and respond more like a valve amp... anyway an overdrive/distortion pedal will probably sound a lot better than the distortion on your amp, and you want to play metal your amp's distortion might not cut it at all. Try going to a music store (bring a guitarist friend if you like) and ask to try a few pedals out, get a feel for the noises you can make. coolbian57 posted:Another question I have is that the A-string on my guitar seems to be buzzing worse and worse every time I play it. How do I fix this? From my research, it is most likely that I will need to take it to a guitar luthier to have it 'set up'. What does 'set up' mean in laymen terms? And how much would this cost me? This buzzing is coming through the amp and it really pisses my guitar teacher off every time it comes through. You don't need to take it to an actual luthier, most guitar stores will do a basic set up. They basically restring it, adjust the neck and the action (the string height) to avoid buzzing while keeping it comfortable to play, and adjust the intonation to make sure it's in tune everywhere on the neck. They might do some other basic stuff too like filing the frets a little. Should cost around $45-60 or so? Read around on Yelp or something to find a local store with good reviews, Guitar Center probably isn't a good idea. It's possible there could be a bigger problem - my second-hand guitar had a really worn fret that buzzed like crazy and needed to be replaced. They can let you know what needs doing though, try bringing your guitar in and letting them see what they think.
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May 2, 2011 18:23
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I purchased a Boss ME-70 multi effects processor the other day to go with that new strat, and I'm totally in love with it so far. It has a lot of those things you sort of go "man, that would be cool to have" (especially the 38 sec phrase loop). I'd say check out that demo video, but for me my reasoning was really that I'd rather have one of these from a well known name than a collection of different pedals that would end up costing more.
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May 2, 2011 20:04
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SUBLIME! posted:I've got myself a guitar and while I'm still trying to get an amp I was wondering about instructors. Are online guitar lessons worth anything at all or would it be much more beneficial to have lessons in person? I came across guitartricks.com and it looked alright but I'm a bit wary of websites with terrible names designed to take your money and be lovely. I know http://www.creativeguitarstudio.com/ has helped me a lot. I recommend checking out all of his videos, especially the technique ones. A lot of them come with nice PDF handouts. Practice them with a metronome (which you can find on google for free, don't bother buying one yet) and you should start to see improvement in your playing accuracy, tone, finger placement, etc. And remember playing cleanly and slowly is the best way to practice, playing fast and sloppy is fun of course but not really that good. Thank you kaba for the info. I am going to check out how all of these pedals sound and see what I like. I probably will end up getting a multi-effects pedal like you suggested. Sounds pretty sweet. I don't know about getting a set-up though, considering I could get a Rondo Agile 2000 for like 3 times that much. Anyone have any experience with these? Are they gonna be better than my Schecter, cause to be honest I'm not feeling it much anymore. It doesn't suit me as a player and I play way better with my friends' guitars. coolbian57 fucked around with this message at 20:52 on May 2, 2011 |
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May 2, 2011 20:49
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Honestly people are gonna recommend you get a Rondo guitar set up too - if you buy a guitar from a reputable music store they'll probably have it set up when you buy it, not so much if it's a mail-order one. It could be fine, but the idea is you make sure it's as playable as possible - especially important if you're new, you want to know what a guitar should feel like and you don't want to start developing your technique around a badly set-up guitar. It's up to you if you think setting up your current guitar is worth it though. If it doesn't feel like something you want to sink any more money into you're probably better off putting it towards a guitar you really like. Here's a quick round-up of some of the current multi-fxes http://magazine.dv247.com/2010/11/12/which-guitar-multi-effect/ I have no idea what's good right now, and those are all probably pretty expensive but they have cheaper versions too. If you see anything in your price range have a read up or listen to some youtube demos and see if it looks good This seems like a pretty cool effects blog by the way: http://effectextra.blogspot.com/
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May 2, 2011 22:44
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baka kaba posted:Honestly people are gonna recommend you get a Rondo guitar set up too - if you buy a guitar from a reputable music store they'll probably have it set up when you buy it, not so much if it's a mail-order one. It could be fine, but the idea is you make sure it's as playable as possible - especially important if you're new, you want to know what a guitar should feel like and you don't want to start developing your technique around a badly set-up guitar. Thank you for your input. I'm going to go ahead and take my Schecter to the store and see what's up. I will get it set up and see if that makes it better to play with... if not I will sell it and go with the Rondo. Another question I have, and I fear that the answer may be simply that I have poor equipment, but why would my amplifier produce background static when I plug my guitar into it? There is a noticeable level of static occurring and I can hear it during recordings. It also crackles sometimes. What is going on here? coolbian57 fucked around with this message at 00:03 on May 3, 2011 |
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May 2, 2011 23:55
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Incredulous Dylan posted:I purchased a Boss ME-70 multi effects processor the other day to go with that new strat, and I'm totally in love with it so far. It has a lot of those things you sort of go "man, that would be cool to have" (especially the 38 sec phrase loop). I'd say check out that demo video, but for me my reasoning was really that I'd rather have one of these from a well known name than a collection of different pedals that would end up costing more. Seconding. This thing is great for beginners and even intermediate players I'd say. I mean, as far as I know, the ruling opinion among pros is that nothing beats the specialized stompboxes; but even then, this thing will give you an overview of so many of the different effects, that when it comes to getting your own set of stomp boxes, you'll know what you like/what to get. The only thing that unequivocally sucks on it is the Wah...
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May 3, 2011 00:04
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coolbian57 posted:Thank you for your input. I'm going to go ahead and take my Schecter to the store and see what's up. I will get it set up and see if that makes it better to play with... if not I will sell it and go with the Rondo. I don't really know! You should check out the Rondo thread http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=1937279 I think the basic deal is the cheap ones are decent for the price, and some of the more expensive ones are hella awesome for the price. So either way you're getting a good instrument. The reason I mention it is people might recommend some other Rondos as better than the one you want, but they might cost more too, but you're probably not losing out by getting a cheaper one, y'know? The one you mentioned might be one of the rad ones, I don't know. You could always take your Schecter down to the store and ask them to have a quick look at it - they should be able to tell what the problem after a quick play with it, and tell you if it can be fixed with a set up or if it's a bigger issue. Most indie stores won't mind at all. You could also pick up a Les Paul-style guitar (like your Agile) and see how it feels! Oh the crackling thing, it could be a crappy cord (jiggle it and see) or a bad jack connection or just bad shielding. Or it could be the amp too, if it's old and has dirty pots (the components behind the knobs). I think shielding issues are more obvious when you touch the strings and get a click - I get that with my bass but my practice amp runs on batteries so I just use those now, the problem's only there when I'm using mains power. baka kaba fucked around with this message at 00:12 on May 3, 2011 |
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May 3, 2011 00:07
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baka kaba posted:I don't really know! You should check out the Rondo thread Yes! It clicks and clacks around when I press down on the strings. I always thought this was normal, but I guess not. What does it mean that I have a shielding issue?
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May 3, 2011 00:22
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coolbian57 posted:Yes! It clicks and clacks around when I press down on the strings. I always thought this was normal, but I guess not. What does it mean that I have a shielding issue? Something like this? http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/sep04/articles/qa0904-8.htm It might be more of a grounding issue, but it's not really my area - I just ignored it on my bass since I use the batteries  It might be an internal wiring issue, like a loose ground connection on your volume control:http://www.guitarnuts.com/technical/noisebucket.php If you mention it when you go for a set up they'll probably be able to take a look at it for you
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May 3, 2011 00:32
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baka kaba posted:Something like this? http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/sep04/articles/qa0904-8.htm I'm really confused about it. It's really loud when the strings are open, but when I place my hand over them it goes away somewhat, and then if I place a finger on my metal volume knob it gets a little bit quieter. My volume knob is busted also, so I don't know... this guitar has so many problems it's frustrating!
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May 3, 2011 00:41
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Do you have single coil pickups? What happens if you walk closer to the computer? Closer to a light?
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May 3, 2011 02:41
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Warcabbit posted:Do you have single coil pickups? What happens if you walk closer to the computer? Closer to a light? I've tested that kind of interference, it doesn't seem to make much of a difference. I have humbuckers on mine. It must have something to do with my volume control. The knob doesn't have a stopping point (on either end) and by this I mean I can keep turning it forever. However, turning it doesn't change anything. That internal part must be completely busted or something.
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May 3, 2011 02:50
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Ok so my wife got me an Agile AL-2000 and it's set up except for one thing - the bridge pickup is sitting up REALLY REALLY high, especially when compared to the neck pickup. So it is extremely loud when going from rhythm -> treble How the hell do I lower that thing? edit: scratch that, figured it out Should I removed the plastic coating on these pickups? huh, seems the neck pickup is low volume. ugh. crm fucked around with this message at 03:59 on May 3, 2011 |
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May 3, 2011 03:18
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Plastic should not be covering the pickups, so yes.
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May 3, 2011 04:02
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burritonegro posted:Plastic should not be covering the pickups, so yes. To expand slightly on this, the plastic coating's just there to prevent damage/scratches before you take ownership of the instrument. Has no effect on playability or sound quality or anything like that. Also, throwing a suggestion for a low-end multiFX setup: Line 6 Toneport GX with Pod Farm2. Absolutely love this thing, got it for $110 after tax and I wouldn't part with it for the world, unless it was to upgrade.
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May 3, 2011 21:28
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Do you guys play with "wide" neck guitar or what seems to be "normal" (42mm?) - is it simply personal preference or is there a good rule of thumb to work with?
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May 4, 2011 02:26
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crm posted:Do you guys play with "wide" neck guitar or what seems to be "normal" (42mm?) - is it simply personal preference or is there a good rule of thumb to work with? The width of the neck and it's thickness is entirely personal preference.
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May 4, 2011 02:44
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you'll get used to whatever you play. I play a Yamaha with a somewhat skinny neck, just a little narrower at the nut than a Fender neck. There's no advantage to one or the other, though a wider neck may be a little more comfortable as a beginner. Watch out, though, because wide, thin necks are also a gimmick of "metal" guitars that you may find otherwise undesirable.
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May 4, 2011 05:02
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CalvinDooglas posted:wide, thin necks are also a gimmick this makes no sense 
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May 4, 2011 14:21
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He's talking about two different measurements.
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May 4, 2011 14:25
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crm posted:this makes no sense My first 'real' guitar was the budget model Petrucci signature series by OLP and it has just that. A thin, from fretboard to fingers, but very wide, from top to bottom string neck. It's great to play on and not just a gimmick.
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May 4, 2011 14:32
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Sorry if this is kind of a weird question, but I don't really have anywhere else to ask it. I've been playing guitar a couple of months now, mostly punk rock and some easier metal, so lots of power chords and the like. My hand on the neck of the guitar consistently gets muscle aches in the thumb muscle from where I'm pressing against the neck of the guitar, and has been for a while now. I originally thought it was just where that muscle was weak and the use was causing the ache, etc, but now that muscle is actually noticeably bigger than the same on on the other hand and yet I still get the aches after a moderate length of time playing. Do these ever go away, or am I doing something wrong?
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May 7, 2011 00:42
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you are squeezing way too hard. work on finger strength rather than thumb/forearm strength by playing your chords with the thumb off the neck entirely. It'll force you to use more precise and efficient technique with your fingers, which takes the stress of your thumb. If your fingers have poor angle, like they're laying too flat or something, it takes more thumb force to feel secure in the grip. Let your fingers find the best angle, and make sure you're not dropping your wrist too far or choking up too much like on a baseball bat.
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May 7, 2011 00:46
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How much should you cut/file down your finger nails to most effectively play?
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May 8, 2011 05:25
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Shimrra Jamaane posted:How much should you cut/file down your finger nails to most effectively play? As much as you need to? If they feel like they're getting in the way, then cut them. If you're talking about for fingerstyle, then you might want to leave the nails on you picking hand longer, but for your fretting hand, just do it when you feel like you're playings getting impaired. It won't make a huge difference, but it does help a little on the comfort side of things.
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May 8, 2011 05:36
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Epi Lepi posted:As much as you need to? If they feel like they're getting in the way, then cut them. If you're talking about for fingerstyle, then you might want to leave the nails on you picking hand longer, but for your fretting hand, just do it when you feel like you're playings getting impaired. It won't make a huge difference, but it does help a little on the comfort side of things. I guess I haven't quite figured out my positioning yet. I find my cut nails still do get in the way if I need my fingers to be fully vertical, but that might be because I am using them wrong.
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May 8, 2011 05:41
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Weatherproof posted:How should I go about choosing new strings? I have a Fender Squire and the strings that I have on it haven't been changed in more than a year and sound really horrible now and go out of tune super quick. Are there any brands/types of strings I should look at getting? Super Slinkys work great, and they're like five bucks a pack.
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May 10, 2011 21:27
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I'm picking up a low-end guitar and low-mid amp tomorrow or Thursday and was wondering if I can us my Boss Bass Overdrive (OBD-3) on my guitar without blowing poo poo. I won't be able to get a cool distortion pedal or anything for a while, so I'm curious if I can use this overdrive. And, for that matter, is there a good budget pedal for technical/death/thrash metal aside from the Digitech Death Metal?
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May 11, 2011 05:47
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Faffel posted:I'm picking up a low-end guitar and low-mid amp tomorrow or Thursday and was wondering if I can us my Boss Bass Overdrive (OBD-3) on my guitar without blowing poo poo. I won't be able to get a cool distortion pedal or anything for a while, so I'm curious if I can use this overdrive. Yeah the Bass Overdrive will be fine. Buzz from the Melvins uses them for guitar because he likes the eq on them more. And I haven't used one personally, but maybe check out the Boss MetalZone MT-2?
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May 11, 2011 05:57
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Dirtyhat posted:Yeah the Bass Overdrive will be fine. Buzz from the Melvins uses them for guitar because he likes the eq on them more. And I haven't used one personally, but maybe check out the Boss MetalZone MT-2? I've heard the MetalZone is a bit of a disaster, but it sounded nice enough from the demo vids on youtube. I really want the Metal Core pedal (it sounds AWESOME despite the name), but it is just way too expensive. I can't wait to get the guitar home tomorrow and play with it, though. I can't pick for poo poo and I've never really done much chording. It'll be a wonderful cacophany. E: Strangely enough, as I read your post I was listening to Houdini for the first time!
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May 11, 2011 06:09
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Faffel posted:And, for that matter, is there a good budget pedal for technical/death/thrash metal aside from the Digitech Death Metal? I can't recommend the Digitech DF-7 highly enough. Go try one out, you'll love it. meatcookie fucked around with this message at 09:16 on May 11, 2011 |
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May 11, 2011 09:13
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The dude from Justinguitar recommends the Yamaha Pacifica 112 as a good starter guitar. What do goons think about that guitar?
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May 11, 2011 10:12
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Yamaha makes good instruments. Go for it.
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May 11, 2011 11:56
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that's my main guitar. It's in the shop now, but I haven't come close to getting rid of it in like 7 years. If the shop quotes more than a 120 aussiebucks, I'll replace it, but It's solid piece of guitar. I like that it's inexpensive, fast and versatile. as an aside: are the Epiphonies generally reasonable quality? I see there's a few price points (290 - 1300) for the LP styled ones, is there much difference? well why not fucked around with this message at 12:56 on May 11, 2011 |
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May 11, 2011 12:02
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dolphins are gay posted:as an aside: are the Epiphonies generally reasonable quality? I see there's a few price points (290 - 1300) for the LP styled ones, is there much difference? I'm of the mind that the Epiphone LPs are pretty much one of the best deals available at their low- to mid-range price point. They cheap out on the pickups, essentially, which can easily be replaced to make a badass sounding guitar at a reasonable price point. I believe they also use lower quality wood, but I don't think this is much of a detriment. Though not an LP, my cousin has an Epi SG that he souped up, and that bitch can scream. Epiphone's QC is much, much better than Gibson's, and with an Epi LP you are guaranteed to be getting a good product, whereas with Gibson these days it's really hit or miss. As always though, it's good to play around on one and get a feel for it.
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May 11, 2011 15:44
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Faffel posted:I've heard the MetalZone is a bit of a disaster, but it sounded nice enough from the demo vids on youtube. I really want the Metal Core pedal (it sounds AWESOME despite the name), but it is just way too expensive. I can't wait to get the guitar home tomorrow and play with it, though. I can't pick for poo poo and I've never really done much chording. It'll be a wonderful cacophany. I have a good as new Boss Metalcore pedal that I've used like twice over the last 2 years. I bought it for slightly more than a hundred euros, you can have it for half that if you want it.  E: the little white specks on the bottom left part of the casing are white paint. Comes right off (from a recently re-done wall) Also, I just remembered this isn't the gear selling thread. Shall I (re)move this post? (apologies) SSJ2 Goku Wilders fucked around with this message at 16:32 on May 11, 2011 |
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May 11, 2011 16:28
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