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Senso posted:
PocketPods are excellent for practicing and just generally dicking it about. It's got plenty of amp models and effects built in and they all sound like the real things (at least to me). Also, being able to plug directly into the Pod with earphones is a massive plus, expecially if you dont want to annoy your wife/husband/dog. Only bad points are that it eats batteries, and the dual function knobs can be a pain in the rear end. There's nothing worse than trying to adjust the reverb and accidentally turning the volume to maximum. Once you get it, make sure you download the Vyzex software. It allows you to mess about with amp/pedals on your computer, and is great fun. I've lost hours by just messing around with it.
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Jan 30, 2012 13:06
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I was wondering if anyone wanted to take a stab at identifying this Epiphone Les Paul for me. I got it 2 years ago for Christmas, and it's a joy to play. The person who got it for me told me they got it used at a local music store. I was wondering what model it is, what has likely been replaced, etc. Here are some pictures, and some things I found interesting about it.     First, the serial number is on a plate on the back of the top of the body. It reads: Hand-crafted in Korea by Epiphone The Epiphone Company Nashville, Tennessee USA C5050287 On the headstock, the only markings are the "Epiphone" logo on the top, and a truss rod cover reading "GIBSON" vertically (and slightly angled/off-center). There is no other logo or writing on it. The pickups are open-coil humbuckers. On the back of them is a brass-colored plate with "SAM" etched into it; I didn't remove the plate to look further. So what do you think? The Guitar Dater told me it was made in May of 1995, and that the factory code isn't in their database. I'm intrigued by the truss rod cover, headstock, factory code, and pickups. I read somewhere that Samsung made Epiphone pickups. Could that be what I have? Also, perhaps the truss rod cover was replaced with the "GIBSON" one? If you want any other pictures, let me know. These were quick and dirty but I can break out the real camera and get better photos of any part of it if it will help. dakana fucked around with this message at 01:54 on Jan 31, 2012 |
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Jan 31, 2012 01:12
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Senso posted:cheap Vietnamese guitars Looks like you could get some awesome bendy-string sounds out of those. quote:Line 6 PocketPod Well, as a testament to how good Line6's Pod line is in general, one of my favourite bands ONLY uses PodPros on-tour and in-studio because they're guaranteed exactly the sound they want exactly when they want it without having to worry about ensuring the knobs and dials on dozens of pedals, cabinets and heads are set just-so. I'd love to get one at one point, and I've heard nothing bad about the PocketPods either. Definitely worth it. I have a Fender Mustang I which does amp modelling too, and the sheer variety of sounds you can get out of it without even buying extra bits and bobs is amazing. The only things I'm missing are a switchbox and a wah pedal really, pretty much everything else can be done in-amp.
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Jan 31, 2012 03:46
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Senso posted:Most shops only carry Vietnamese guitars, which have weird necks like this: That's a scalloped neck. It's really weird to see it on what I assume is a production guitar as it's a pretty involved and expensive process. Basically, the scalloping allows you to fret a note without actually touching the fretboard so bends and really fast runs are easy to pull off once you get used to it. Yngwie Malmsteen is probably the most famous person to use a guitar with a fretboard like that.
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Jan 31, 2012 06:03
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Sadsack posted:PocketPods are excellent for practicing and just generally dicking it about. How does it compare with multi-effects pedals? I have an old Digitech RP-200 that I really like, but tonally it seems a little limited, so I've been thinking of replacing it with something a little newer. I have a separate wah pedal, so I'm not too broken up about losing the pedal control if I went with a Pocket Pod, I'm just curious how they stack up tonally.
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Jan 31, 2012 07:36
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Pocket Pod is a piece of poo poo. The tone is alright but the build quality is so bad. I would just save up a little more and get the Pod HD 300. It is an amazing unit.
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Jan 31, 2012 08:57
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MockingQuantum posted:How does it compare with multi-effects pedals? I have an old Digitech RP-200 that I really like, but tonally it seems a little limited, so I've been thinking of replacing it with something a little newer. I have a separate wah pedal, so I'm not too broken up about losing the pedal control if I went with a Pocket Pod, I'm just curious how they stack up tonally. The effects and emulations in the PocketPOD are exactly the same as the ones used in the normal POD 2.0 (not the HD ones, though) so they're pretty awesome. The only major limitation I can think of tone-wise is that, unless you use the Vyzex editor, effects dont stack. You will be stuck with just one amp model and one effect. If you use the Vyzex editor though you can set up whatever sound you like, with as many effects as your heart desires, and save it as a preset.
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Jan 31, 2012 14:56
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I recently played a cheap acoustic of a friend of mine, and the strings were so loose that made me play so effortless.. My problem is that my fender stratocaster(American model) is so hard to play, I got 0.11 strings on but they feel real hard on my fingers and I don't know if I need to practice more or I just need to find a way to loosen up my strings. Any suggestions?
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Feb 1, 2012 23:44
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You can get used to them, tune down, or go down a gauge. 9's and 10's are considered normal, whereas 11's, especially on Strats, start to get into the heavy string range.
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Feb 1, 2012 23:47
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Yeah I was gonna say I wouldn't go lower than 11's really until I realised you were talking about an electric. It's possible your action is set too high if you're finding it hard to play, but yeah lower tension strings will make it easier
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Feb 2, 2012 00:10
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Pretentious Turtle posted:You can get used to them, tune down, or go down a gauge. 9's and 10's are considered normal, whereas 11's, especially on Strats, start to get into the heavy string range. barre are a hell to play  I guess I will practice more or downtune them thanks!
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Feb 2, 2012 01:38
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Anybody know the purpose of the retaining wire on Gibson/Epi Tune-O-Matic bridges? Mine does a fine job of rattling all the time, but doesn't seem to do much else.
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Feb 2, 2012 03:05
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Wha? I don't know what you're talking about.
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Feb 2, 2012 03:49
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MockingQuantum posted:Anybody know the purpose of the retaining wire on Gibson/Epi Tune-O-Matic bridges? Mine does a fine job of rattling all the time, but doesn't seem to do much else. I think it was a revision to the bridge that kept the intonation set screws from falling out; that or it kept them in a snug fit against the bridge body. I can't see any harm in taking it out, honestly. e: just looked at my SG, it has one. It's pretty snug, though. Never noticed a problem with it. You could maybe take it off and bow it downwards a bit in the middle so that when it's reinstalled it fits snugly across the intonation screws. meatcookie fucked around with this message at 04:00 on Feb 2, 2012 |
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Feb 2, 2012 03:55
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Oh, like on the Tonepros poo poo? Just tighten it and it'll be fine.
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Feb 2, 2012 03:58
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meatcookie posted:I think it was a revision to the bridge that kept the intonation set screws from falling out; that or it kept them in a snug fit against the bridge body. Yeah, this is the typical fix. I also had some success getting rid of rattle when it was just the saddle for my D string, and put a drop or two of clear nail polish down on the saddle screw.
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Feb 2, 2012 17:08
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I really hope this is OK here, if not I apologize in advance. Ever since I heard the Iron Man 2 soundtrack I've really wanted to learn two of the songs on guitar: Sledgehammer Mk1 and Sledgehammer Mk2. I've taken a bit of time to try and tab it out myself, without asking for help, but I'm not having much luck. I swear it's in an alternate tuning and when it comes to that, I'm pretty much lost. I know Tom Morello was the one who did both songs so I'm guessing it's in Drop D (I know a lot of the RatM stuff is and standard doesn't seem "deep/low" enough). I hate to even ask for help, but at this point I'm frustrated and pretty much given up on ever being able to play these two songs without someone holding my hand (via tab). Anyone want to help out? Even if someone could get me started that would probably be a big help in me figuring out the rest.
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Feb 2, 2012 18:08
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Hey at least you tried! Nothing wrong with looking for a bit of help when you've given it a go yourself, it's all part of the learning process. Ok I just have my bass here so this will be a bit general, but the first song starts off messing around a B minor pentatonic, and it does sound low, so I'm guessing it's played on a 7-string guitar (they generally come with an extra low string tuned to B). You can still play it on a normal guitar, it won't have the same tone but dirty it up enough and it'll still sound good. The second one's in E with a lot of palm muting chugging away on the open low E string and I think octave shapes for the melody, with a bunch of vibrato. I think it's probably played in standard tuning, if your octaves sound too high you could go to drop D and play them on the 4th and 6th strings instead (since the first note in the melody is a D). If you want more specifics, the first song starts on B (E-string 7th fret) and messes around on the minor third (10th fret), fourth (A string 7th fret) and minor sixth (10th fret), and maybe the fifth later (9th fret). That pattern gets slid up to the D later (10th fret E string). The second song has that open E going on, with octave shapes for D, E, C#, G and A (5th, 7th, 4th, 10th and 12th frets respectively on the A string, along with the note two frets higher on the G string), and you kind of end on an E power chord (x799xx) that you slide down. There's actually a high B note in there too that sounds like another guitar, you can play x7999x or something and get that in there too. The solo-y bit's obviously a little more involved (doesn't sound too hard though), the lead's really just playing G and E with a bunch of bending to give it colour, I can try working out the rhythm chords later if you like - my bass isn't having it
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Feb 2, 2012 19:25
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Anybody have a recommendation for a guitar around $750-850? I have a decent Epi Les Paul, but I'd like to expand my arsenal, so to speak. I want a good lead guitar geared towards metal/hard rock, ideally with a Floyd Rose tremolo. I've been thinking a Schecter, Jackson, or ESP, but I'd love some input. I remember not liking Dean guitars at all when I was shopping for my last guitar, but that was some time ago. Also, I've seen a few in that price range that feature coil tapping. How useful is coil tapping? I'm going to try to track down a guitar with it today and try it out, but I'm curious if anybody else has made extensive use of it in their playing.
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Feb 2, 2012 19:35
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Used MIJ Ibanez. Ibanez makes the best trems imo, with my favorite being the Edge Lo-Pro. Alternatively you could go after an MIJ Jackson, and I'm not really a big fan of Schecter. Korean LTDs are really good guitars, but at that price point, unless you're getting one with an Original Floyd, you'd be getting a better trem with an MIJ Ibanez. The market often refers to coil splitting as coil tapping - they're two different things. You really only find actual coil tapping on boutique single coil pickups. Coil tapping basically turns a highly wound pickup into a lower wound version of itself. Coil splitting, which is what most guitar manufacturers are actually talking about, is a nice thing to have for a low output singlecoil-like sound. It won't sound like a true single coil due to the massive output drop and retained characteristics from humbucker operation, but it sounds quite nice for cleans and light gain.
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Feb 2, 2012 19:46
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baka kaba posted:stuff It's one thing to have how to play a song in front of you and you can't do it (due to low skill or whatever). It's entirely more frustrating to want to play something but have no idea where to even start. I'll muck around with the info you've given me and see if I can get it down myself. -edit- If you don't mind typing out the rhythm tabs, I'll take them. I'll just get them after I give it a nice shot of figuring it out myself first. Bloody Spike fucked around with this message at 20:37 on Feb 2, 2012 |
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Feb 2, 2012 20:02
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MockingQuantum posted:Anybody have a recommendation for a guitar around $750-850? I have a decent Epi Les Paul, but I'd like to expand my arsenal, so to speak. I want a good lead guitar geared towards metal/hard rock, ideally with a Floyd Rose tremolo. I've been thinking a Schecter, Jackson, or ESP, but I'd love some input. I remember not liking Dean guitars at all when I was shopping for my last guitar, but that was some time ago. I don't think you can get a ESP for $750 you are in LTD territory in that price range.
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Feb 2, 2012 20:16
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keyframe posted:I don't think you can get a ESP for $750 you are in LTD territory in that price range. Thanks for the info, all. I actually didn't know that's what separated LTD from ESP. I'm going to show my ignorance further and extend this question a little bit: How do price ranges vary in quality when it comes to guitars? At what point do you move away from Japanese and Korean-made models into American made ones? How does that affect quality? Here's my situation: I have an Epiphone Les Paul Extreme (give me some leeway, I was 13 when I bought it) that I payed $300 for. It listed for $1000. It's a good guitar, but I feel like it doesn't have all that fast of a neck, and I want a more lead-oriented guitar. How much am I going to have to spend to get an appreciable difference in playability over my Epi? Also, I'm not selling my old guitar, since it is a pretty good guitar for what I payed for it. How different of tone or usability am I going to get from a different brand?
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Feb 2, 2012 23:39
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It really varies by factory, model, etc. I wouldn't say American guitars outdo Japanese either, necessarily. I think the Japanese made guitars are the best you can do in a certain price bracket. And hell, there are some Gibsons you can get cheaper than some Epiphones, and there are some MiM Fenders more expensive than one or two of the most basic MiA models. The differences in quality come down to several factors ultimately: The quality of lumbers used (Korean, Chinese, and Indonesian guitars tend to use the cheapest, while American and Japanese will use higher quality) Labor (The more attention to detail and effort put into individual guitars - something that can be skimped on for imports) Quality control And finally, hardware. As far as what you're looking for, the idea of fast necks is kind've a mislead idea - you'll play faster on more comfortable necks, and what is more comfortable for you is subjective. Alan Holdsworth gravitates to much thicker necks and can play like a motherfucker. What is it about your neck that you find uncomfortable or not a right fit? Finish, shape, thickness, scale length, fret size? If you give us a better idea of what you're looking for as far as that, pointing you in the right direction will be a lot easier and effective. And again, getting a higher quality guitar than your Epiphone won't be something with a set price, it'll vary by factory, manufacturer specs, hardware, etc. Tonality isn't decided as much by brand as it is by construction and pickups.
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Feb 2, 2012 23:50
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American Made doesn't necessarily mean high quality so much as "not mass produced" and "not damaged from sailing through a typhoon". I'm sure there are plenty of high quality non-USA made guitars. That said, Made in USA does correlate to quality when it comes with the Hand Crafted thing, too. "Hand Crafted in the USA" is stamped on my guitar, and I take that to mean that an actual person was there to see that it came out "great" and not just "to spec". You're probably looking at $700 and above for what I'd consider a professional instrument - sounds good, reliable, durable. If you are going to drop $750, you could easily find a used American Fender or Gibson. And the "Fast neck" thing is a gimmick some guitar companies use for marketing. They want to target heavy genre players. The neck is just slightly wider, and the action is set low at the factory. The action makes the biggest difference in terms of your exertion*, and that's something you can get adjusted on any guitar. Plenty of extremely fast players use stock Fender and Gibson instruments. Hell, you could probably save up an extra $200 and get a used PRS with a nice wide neck if that's the feel you like. If you're going to shell out for a guitar made specially to play hard, fast music, put the money in places that make a real difference: pickups, workmanship, hardware, the right bridge... The neck width is just one part of the guitar. *aside from you technique!
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Feb 2, 2012 23:54
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MockingQuantum posted:Thanks for the info, all. I actually didn't know that's what separated LTD from ESP. I'm going to show my ignorance further and extend this question a little bit: How do price ranges vary in quality when it comes to guitars? At what point do you move away from Japanese and Korean-made models into American made ones? How does that affect quality? Honestly you need to go play it and see which one you like the most. I paid 1600$ on a ESP Eclipse two months ago and the LTD version of the same guitar was $700. On paper the guitars are almost exactly the same, uses the same pickups and same body shape but I found the ESP sounds way better and is the most comfortable guitar I have ever played. I would say go and test out guitars in your price range and buy the one that clicks with you. You will know it when you play it.
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Feb 3, 2012 00:01
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Tomorrow I have to go out of town on business, I'll be bringing a guitar with me. I'll be leaving at 7am, but can't check into the hotel until 3pm. It's around 30 degrees here. My guitar will be in one of those TSA approved strat hardshells, and my amp will just be laying there. Both in the trunk, parked outside. Should this be alright for half a day? I plan on letting both acclimate to the temperature in the hotel room before I take the guitar out of the case, and turn on the tube amp. Should this be alright?
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Feb 3, 2012 00:06
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Pretentious Turtle posted:What is it about your neck that you find uncomfortable or not a right fit? Finish, shape, thickness, scale length, fret size? If you give us a better idea of what you're looking for as far as that, pointing you in the right direction will be a lot easier and effective. It's really the thickness more than anything. It physically feels very blocky to me, which seems to make it easier for me to play rhythm parts, but a lot of fast lead playing is more difficult for me, especially when I get into lower frets. I'm not entirely sure this isn't a technique problem. On the other side of the coin, too, I have very long, slender fingers-- so logically speaking, I'd think that a thinner neck would be harder for me to play, as in I'd have to exert more pressure with my fingers and be more careful not to deaden strings. Does anybody else find this is the case?
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Feb 3, 2012 00:24
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You'll get used to any instrument you practice on. No matter your neck preferences, any properly adjusted guitar shouldn't require much more or less pressure than another. That has most to do with the action, anyway, which is adjustable on any guitar. You should definitely spend some time with other guitars so you can figure out how it affects your playing. No guitar can make you a better player, it only suit your preferences. If you have trouble with some techniques, try to tackle them in practice with your current guitar and see how you sound. You may find that making improvements to your technique opens up new guitar options. As your playing progresses, "comfort" will have less to do with ease/difficulty of playing the instrument and more to do with now "natural" the sound comes out.
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Feb 3, 2012 00:36
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CalvinDooglas posted:You'll get used to any instrument you practice on. No matter your neck preferences, any properly adjusted guitar shouldn't require much more or less pressure than another. That has most to do with the action, anyway, which is adjustable on any guitar. So I know both of these things have been said, but I just want to make sure I'm clear on the subject: The only really compelling reasons to pick up another guitar would be for the playing feel and the hardware? That is, if we put aside aesthetics, etc. I know this is a basic question, but I think it's really fundamental too. My playing has really improved in the past couple months (I've played for years but only recently really buckled down) and a friend suggested I might want a "nicer" guitar that reflected my improved playing. I'm just trying to feel out how much sense that suggestion makes, if any.
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Feb 3, 2012 00:59
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Yeah that's basically what it boils down to, in addition to how it sounds. There's a ton of factors that go into that though, and even guitars of the same model can sound vastly different. The inconsistencies in timbre between instruments will decrease as the quality and quality control increases. You might end up feeling more comfortable or inspired with a particular guitar, but it'll never be a replacement for techniques and practice. All that being said, it really is nice to move on to a higher quality guitar, and I have in the past found a huge increase in my motivation and enthusiasm when moving up.
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Feb 3, 2012 03:42
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Well... list prices are pretty ridiculous. Nobody charges that much, but having a huge list price and "marking it down" 40% makes it look like a really good deal. Your guitar looks like it sells for $300-$350 used, which in my opinion means it cost $500-600 new at Guitar Center. So it's a pretty good guitar. The reviews look fine on HarmonyCentral. Are you dissatisfied with it? As long as you aren't just miserable with your guitar, take your time and don't give into the temptation to buy something OMG SHINY right away. Continue to work on your technique and see if some things don't get easier. The better you get, the more guitars you'll find easily playable. Then you can really tell what their differences are. Get your fingers warmed up, take your own pick and go to the store once in a while. Play whatever you'd normally play and try guitars back-to-back without effects to see how the materials, dimensions, hardware, etc change the sound and feel. I prefer small stores because they are quieter and they keep newer strings on the instruments. As long as you've got $750 ready to go, take your time, build up a little war chest, and get to know some different guitars. $1000 will buy you some really new and used guitars you may not have considered otherwise: PRS, G&L, Heritage, high end Fender... Enjoy the process, it's fun to play new instruments. edit: Don't forget the other end of the electric guitar: the amplifier. What do you use now? A new guitar might not make a big difference if your tone is held back by the amplifier. Likewise, a decent guitar can sound great through a really nice amp. Your budget would buy some pretty sweet used 1x12 amps. CalvinDooglas fucked around with this message at 03:58 on Feb 3, 2012 |
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Feb 3, 2012 03:54
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CalvinDooglas posted:As long as you've got $750 ready to go, take your time, build up a little war chest, and get to know some different guitars. $1000 will buy you some really new and used guitars you may not have considered otherwise: PRS, G&L, Heritage, high end Fender... Enjoy the process, it's fun to play new instruments. While on the subject of brand, is any brand inherently geared towards one style or another, or is that sort of BS? I know fretboard radius has something to do with playability (and I know Fenders are way too curvy for me), but will I get more mileage out of an ESP or a Jackson than other brands if I'm focused on playing metal? As far as amps go, I recently picked up a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe III, and I'm extremely happy with it. I bought it kind of on the recommendation of a trusted guitarist, but after spending some time with it, I'm really happy with what I can get out of it. I use it and a Digitech Hardwire TL-2, and that's about it. I might like a different amp down the line, but for now that one does me fine.
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Feb 3, 2012 04:30
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You could play metal on a Telecaster, it all depends on the kind of sound you're looking for. Beefy, twangy, dark, bright, snarly, etc. Humbuckers are the way to go if you're not really sure though, given you'd be dealing with high gain.
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Feb 3, 2012 04:32
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MockingQuantum posted:While on the subject of brand, is any brand inherently geared towards one style or another, or is that sort of BS? I know fretboard radius has something to do with playability (and I know Fenders are way too curvy for me), but will I get more mileage out of an ESP or a Jackson than other brands if I'm focused on playing metal? If you want to play Metal take a look at ESP/LTD. The EMG 81/60 pick up combo is great for metal. Lemme tell you it sounds god drat amazing with the right amp/pedals. You can always go buy the pickups separately and have it installed in your guitar for much cheaper than buying a new guitar too.
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Feb 3, 2012 05:03
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keyframe posted:If you want to play Metal take a look at ESP/LTD. The EMG 81/60 pick up combo is great for metal. Lemme tell you it sounds god drat amazing with the right amp/pedals. You can always go buy the pickups separately and have it installed in your guitar for much cheaper than buying a new guitar too. I think I've got things sorted from the previous few answers-- I want a great metal tone, but definitely do not want to sacrifice the tone I have on my LP (I've never run into anything quite like the humbuckers on that, though I'm guessing their not unique). Thanks for clarifying this, guys. It's a really fundamental element of guitar playing, and it's rarely discussed in depth, or at least I've never really had it explained to me in 10 years of playing.
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Feb 3, 2012 05:08
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Yeah EMGs are great and the 85/60 combo is probably in my top 3 pickup combos, but EMGs aren't really versatile - you're always going to get that core EMG tone from them, and that's great when you want it, but you don't always want it. As far as for what pickups you'd be looking for in a new guitar - well, pickups are usually at least decent, and once you're in a certain price range you're guaranteed to get Duncans, Dimarzios (most prestige or MIJ Ibanez branded pickups are actually made at the DiMarzio factory), or EMGs.
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Feb 3, 2012 05:17
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There's a lot of metal lead parts done with single coils, too. Besides Yngwie. Singles can be really nice for lead parts because the tone is rich and smooth, contrasting with the gritty, trebly rhythm section. Check out guitars with an HSS setup - humbucker at the bridge and two single coils. If you want genuine tone, set some cash aside for good pedals, too. A good overdrive/distortion pedal between a nice guitar and amp will just scream.
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Feb 3, 2012 20:52
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CalvinDooglas posted:Besides Yngwie. Yngwie only appears to use single coils. They're stacked humbuckers.  Seņor Pablo Gilberto on the other hand has done some very interesting things with single coil pickups.
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Feb 3, 2012 21:37
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Blue Square posted:Yngwie only appears to use single coils. They're stacked humbuckers. I should have guessed - My guitar has two mini-buckers, too! SD Lil 59 and a Vintage Rails (called a single, but is technically a humbucker).
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Feb 3, 2012 21:53
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