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Anyone looking for a good distortion pedal should definitely check out the sansamp gt2. Nice distortion on the tube amps I've put it through, regardless of their quality. Solid states were a bit iffy though usually better than whatever they had standard.
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# ? Feb 4, 2012 09:55 |
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# ? May 22, 2024 05:32 |
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I asked about this ages ago (maybe in another thread) and never got a reply. I'm looking to develop my fingerpicking technique. I want to be able to play faster arpeggios. Right now I'm fingerpicking by keeping my little finger anchored on the guitar body and my thumb and first two fingers picking (I don't use my fourth finger at all). It lets me play stuff like this really well, but I want to be much faster. Are there any good tutorials for other techniques I could study?
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# ? Feb 5, 2012 21:40 |
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I've been having some pain in my right arm when playing my acoustic for the last few weeks. It feels like the guitar is pressing down on my ulnar nerve or I'm somehow cutting off circulation in my forearm. Should my arm be fully resting on the guitar or sort of delicately floating on it? When I adjust it feels like it's going to fly out, whereas when I hold it how I usually do (the way that makes it hurt) it has a totally snug fit.
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# ? Feb 8, 2012 03:24 |
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I wouldn't rely on resting your arm there. Your arm hurts because its motion is restricted. With practice your right hand will be coordinated without having to rest on anything.
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# ? Feb 8, 2012 03:59 |
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Popcorn posted:I asked about this ages ago (maybe in another thread) and never got a reply. I haven't read any tutorials or anything, but some things that have helped me: I don't recommend leaving your pinkie on the guitar body. Try resting your thumb on the low E or the A string, and removing it when you need that string to sound. I also find myself resting my ring finger on one of the higher notes. Resting your fingers on the strings you are not playing, gives you faster access to them, deadens unnecessary strings, frees your pinkie finger up for use on high notes, and from restricting your movement due to it's placement on the guitar body. Use your ring finger and pinkie to pluck occasional high notes. You'll start to use them instinctively so that you can maneuver your first two fingers into an advantageous placement. If you can, play your songs on a bass. the thicker strings will help build finger strength. Also learn to take advantage of mistakes. If I miss a string, I can often kind of reverse pluck it instead by pulling my finger off of it in an upwards motion and save my rear end.
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# ? Feb 8, 2012 07:17 |
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mastur posted:
I would disagree on using a bass. Right hand technique for bass is completely different than guitar. While the bass is almost entirely rest stroke, you rarely use rest stroke for acoustic fingerstyle playing. Your fingers are plenty strong before you ever pick up the guitar; efforts should be towards coordination and focusing the pressure. Bass may help a beginner to build basic coordination, but if playing bass were the easiest way to pick up guitar, why play guitar? The best practice for guitar music is on the guitar.
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# ? Feb 8, 2012 20:56 |
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I put an ad on craigslist asking if anyone wanted to jam for fun. This is the only response I've gotten. quote:would you be interested in playing stuff like thousand foot krutch, burn halo, papa roach, rise against, puddle of mudd, and such?
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# ? Feb 9, 2012 00:34 |
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"no" Then send another email telling them you will if they provide sufficient amounts of alcohol.
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# ? Feb 9, 2012 00:36 |
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At least whoever that is wants to jam for fun
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# ? Feb 9, 2012 01:51 |
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CalvinDooglas posted:I wouldn't rely on resting your arm there. Your arm hurts because its motion is restricted. With practice your right hand will be coordinated without having to rest on anything. I meant more in terms of the guitar feeling like it's going to fly away. It doesn't feel like I have a steady hold on it in terms of my body, not just in terms of my hand needing a place to rest.
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# ? Feb 9, 2012 02:33 |
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See if this helps any http://www.justinguitar.com/en/BC-106-PostureFingerPlacement.php Really your guitar shouldn't be all that free to move around, so you can rest your arm on it to keep it steady but it shouldn't take much. When I play my arm's on there, but it's lightly touching rather than laying on it - like when your fingers are resting on the keyboard ready to type, instead of actually being collapsed on there mashing the keys down. Don't put your full weight on it - it'll make your playing hand less agile as well
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# ? Feb 9, 2012 02:45 |
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Someone school me on pedals - I've been playing a lot of Pearl Jam / Temple of the Dog stuff of late and it seems Mike McCready heavily uses the Ibanez Tube Screamer and the Dunlop Wah Wah pedal. I'm a cheap bastard - are there cheap replicas of these? Any recommendations? Also, would something like a Pod HD give me these options along with others? Oh, and one more thing - I've been using a Fender Mustang amp with all the fancy modeling, but it doesn't sound that great (especially next to my teacher's old school Twin Reverb. Any recommendations on a decent practice tube amp?
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# ? Feb 9, 2012 06:24 |
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crm posted:Someone school me on pedals - I've been playing a lot of Pearl Jam / Temple of the Dog stuff of late and it seems Mike McCready heavily uses the Ibanez Tube Screamer and the Dunlop Wah Wah pedal. Dunlops are pretty cheap as far as pedals go anyway, any cheaper and I wouldn't trust the quality. The Ibanez Tube Screamer is just an overdrive pedal, just look at video demos of overdrives till you find one you like. Again, its really not that expensive a pedal anyway. For small tube amps, I have a Fender Blues Jr that I bought off a goon a couple years ago and I love that thing to death. You can find them used for like 400 bucks I think. When it comes to gear reviews I put my trust in ProGuitarShop demos on youtube. Andy makes everything sound good.
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# ? Feb 9, 2012 06:35 |
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Are the POD HD's as awesome as they appear? With the questionable quality of this Mustang Amp (yeah I know it was like $99) I'm a little hesitant on digital modeling.
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# ? Feb 9, 2012 16:47 |
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Does anyone know if a Mighty Mite Strat neck would fit in a Jazzmaster neck pocket without any real problems? I'm thinking of picking up the Squier J. Mascis JM and the neck is one of the first things I intend to replace, but I'd rather not have to go through Warmoth if at all possible.
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# ? Feb 9, 2012 17:17 |
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crm posted:Are the POD HD's as awesome as they appear? With the questionable quality of this Mustang Amp (yeah I know it was like $99) I'm a little hesitant on digital modeling. Yes the pod hd is amazing. It sounds incredible.
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# ? Feb 9, 2012 17:42 |
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Feeling mildly obsessed with Teisco / Japanese weirdness instruments. Please convince me that I'm dumb. I know it's not exactly an original interest, but there's something about those guitars... Just so cool.
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# ? Feb 9, 2012 18:57 |
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Buy them... buy them all! I've never played them but as far as I'm concerned there's a lot to be said for having an instrument you just connect with. Sound and playability are obviously the main thing but it's nice to have a guitar that actually excites you on some other level, where just looking at it makes you want to pick it up
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# ? Feb 9, 2012 19:01 |
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Awhile ago I had the bridge on my guitar replaced. The new bridge however does not have grooves for the string to rest in so occasionally the string will slip off the saddle entirely. Its a gotoh bridge for an ltd dv8. Is there anything I can do to make the grooves myself or do I have to send it back in?
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# ? Feb 9, 2012 20:21 |
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Uh, it definitely should've had the grooves filed.
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# ? Feb 9, 2012 20:22 |
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Pretentious Turtle posted:Uh, it definitely should've had the grooves filed. Not always, some replacement bridges come like that so you can set the string spacing to your preference. It's also really easy to do it yourself. To create the grooves you'll just need some metal files that are the same width as the string, as well as some burr remover to make sure that there aren't any sharp bits that could break the string. StewMac sells some dedicated nut and saddle files, but you could probably find them way cheaper at Home Depot or Lowes or something.
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# ? Feb 9, 2012 21:56 |
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Side Effects posted:Not always, some replacement bridges come like that so you can set the string spacing to your preference. It's also really easy to do it yourself. To create the grooves you'll just need some metal files that are the same width as the string, as well as some burr remover to make sure that there aren't any sharp bits that could break the string. StewMac sells some dedicated nut and saddle files, but you could probably find them way cheaper at Home Depot or Lowes or something. Thanks alot! Im guessing at a HD or Lowes I would be searching for just plain "files" right?
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# ? Feb 9, 2012 22:49 |
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Manky posted:Feeling mildly obsessed with Teisco / Japanese weirdness instruments. Please convince me that I'm dumb. I know it's not exactly an original interest, but there's something about those guitars... Just so cool. Most Teiscos are terrible, but if you can find one of the higher end Spectrum models with a billion switches I'd take it. If you want something weird but definitely decent I'd look for a Yamaha SGV 3/7/800, I own a 300 and it's my favorite guitar I've ever played and I got it for $180.
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# ? Feb 9, 2012 23:11 |
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Side Effects posted:Not always, some replacement bridges come like that so you can set the string spacing to your preference. It's also really easy to do it yourself. To create the grooves you'll just need some metal files that are the same width as the string, as well as some burr remover to make sure that there aren't any sharp bits that could break the string. StewMac sells some dedicated nut and saddle files, but you could probably find them way cheaper at Home Depot or Lowes or something. I mean that the people that installed it should've filed it for his strings. Unless he replaced himself v:):v
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# ? Feb 10, 2012 00:16 |
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^^^Oh, ok, yeah then the bridge should have had the grooves in it. I had just assumed he put the bridge in himself.blackshreds posted:Thanks alot! Im guessing at a HD or Lowes I would be searching for just plain "files" right? Pretty much, just look for thin flat files that have a cutting edge on the edge of the file as well as the sides. I bought some Husky brand files from Home Depot a couple years back when I started making my own nuts and saddles and they've lasted me a good long time.
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# ? Feb 10, 2012 00:41 |
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Look for needle files. They usually are sold in a pack of 6 or 8 with a few different shapes/sizes. Sometimes depending on what the saddle is made of you can give the string that goes over it a whack with a hammer and it will dent a groove into it, but it will wreck that string so change it after.
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# ? Feb 10, 2012 00:53 |
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Yeah, I had a bunch of stuff done to it at the time, I don't know why the hell he didnt do it. Went to Lowes tonight and they didnt have anything small enough so I'll check Home Depot tomorrow, really appreciate the help.
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# ? Feb 10, 2012 02:46 |
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Get rid of your current saddles and get some graphtech ones while you're at it
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# ? Feb 10, 2012 04:14 |
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keyframe posted:Yes the pod hd is amazing. It sounds incredible. A dumb question - do you need an amp in addition to the pod hd? Or can you run it straight into some studio speakers?
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# ? Feb 10, 2012 04:15 |
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Well I sort of lucked out and misspelled my ebay search for "Tiesco" guitars, throwing out some lowballs, I'll see what happens. That Yamaha sgv looks really cool. Too Cool for ebay apparently, can't find any listings! I think this is what happens the first guitar you give a kid is a Danelectro reissue. Seems all I want to play with are weird, cheapish knockoffs/derivations/abominations. Speaking of, I really want to slap a p90 in the neck of my LP knockoff. What should I be looking at that'll give a pretty solid, classic rock, I'm-in-love-with-John-Fogerty-even-if-he's-kind-of-a-dick sound? Preferably something, well, definitely under $100, and will fit a humbucker hole nicely.
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# ? Feb 10, 2012 05:28 |
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You have a few choices - in increasing order of expensiveness: http://www.guitarfetish.com/Humbucker-Sized-Guitar-Pickups_c_26.html GFS http://www.seymourduncan.com/products/electric/specialized/specialized-instruments/sph901_phat_cat/ Duncan Phat Cat http://www.seymourduncan.com/products/electric/humbucker/medium-output/prails_shpr1/ Duncan P Rails
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# ? Feb 10, 2012 05:35 |
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Ooh, thanks! Actually, I have a very important and potential divisive questions for the thread - let's say you've got your ideal guitar, in terms of body, neck, and finish/paint/trim. But it's not quite perfect - you want to change some hardware. A pickup or two. Maybe add a tremolo? Coil-tap something? New tuners? Do you: 1) make everything match, as close to consistent stock as possible. Don't mess with the aesthetic, she is a thing of beauty 2) try to make your modifications stand out, at least a little. You want your baby to stand out, and build your cred as a person who knows what he wants and makes it happen 3) Frankenstein that sucker. Who cares about looks, man? Obviously I'm deeply insecure and will go with 2, but I'm curious E: oh man that p-rails looks really, really cool. Manky fucked around with this message at 05:59 on Feb 10, 2012 |
# ? Feb 10, 2012 05:44 |
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If I absolutely had to add a trem to something, I'd rather buy a new guitar than irrevocably change something that was designed for something else. As far as pickups and tuners go, I just go with whatever the guitar's theme is. I spent an extra 40 or so dollars just to get the pickups I put in my guitar match the black/gold colors of my bridge and tuners. Unless you're talking about, like, off the shelf stuff, instead of custom built, in which case I'm not going to be finding my ideal anyway. vv
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# ? Feb 10, 2012 05:50 |
How much does it affect your tone if you have drastically "mismatched" pickups? I have an Epi LP with 2000-era Ultra Hot humbuckers, and while I really like the tone of the neck pickup, the bridge one sounds pretty hollow, and I rarely if ever use it. I'd love to have a guitar with an EMG pickup, but from messing around with them, I feel like they have a drastically different tone. Would I get a bizarre, unusable sound if I had, say, an EMG 81 at the bridge?
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# ? Feb 10, 2012 06:40 |
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As a rule, you don't mix active and passive pickups. It CAN be done, but the results are generally less than desirable. Your neck pickup will end up sounding very quiet compared to the 81.
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# ? Feb 10, 2012 06:41 |
Pretentious Turtle posted:As a rule, you don't mix active and passive pickups. It CAN be done, but the results are generally less than desirable. Your neck pickup will end up sounding very quiet compared to the 81. How about just "mismatching" passive pickups in general? I don't know pickups well enough to think of two drastically different humbuckers, if that's even a real thing.
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# ? Feb 10, 2012 06:43 |
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Two passives with very different output ratings can be used together for sure, it just runs into the same problem mixing active and passives do (excepting, of course, that they're both wired with normal passive electronics. Say you mix a DiMarzio X2N (one of the hottest passives I can recall off-hand) and a vintage output 'bucker, the vintage spec is going to sound quiet compared to the hot one, and this isn't really a problem as long as you're not playing live - you can readjust your volume when switching pickups at your leisure. The trick is, though, it isn't a universal kind of thing, and pickups with high DC resistances won't always be as hot as other pickups with the exact same resistance rating, so it ultimately comes down to the individual pickups, you can't really math it out. It's still good to keep centered around the idea of matching outputs somewhat closely for balanced volume levels. If you want an EMG sound, I'm not sure if EMG is offering their preamp you could install in your guitar, but Seymour Duncan offers a separate Blackout preamp that can be used with passive pickups. I don't actually know how Blackouts feel compared to EMGs (this is kinda stupid of me given I own a guitar with one installed!) but they'll both have the "active feel." Also shoutout to calvin dooglas for helping me figure out a practice plan like six months ago or something? It's been really helpful to have an actual regimen, so thanks dude muike fucked around with this message at 06:55 on Feb 10, 2012 |
# ? Feb 10, 2012 06:50 |
Pretentious Turtle posted:If you want an EMG sound, I'm not sure if EMG is offering their preamp you could install in your guitar, but Seymour Duncan offers a separate Blackout preamp that can be used with passive pickups. Pardon me for being the newbie idiot, but I'm not sure I get quite what the preamp is doing. Is it just shaping the tone to replicate an active pickup without increasing the output level? I realize this might be a stupid question, but I'm not well versed on guitar electronics, and in my industry, "preamps" usually do increase the voltage of a signal.
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# ? Feb 10, 2012 06:59 |
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MockingQuantum posted:Pardon me for being the newbie idiot, but I'm not sure I get quite what the preamp is doing. Is it just shaping the tone to replicate an active pickup without increasing the output level? It's essentially an EQ system, and it probably does boost the output level a bit. It's basically the internals of the Blackout pickups, minus the actual magnetic pickup bit. So when you're turning it on, you're basically turning your pickups into Blackouts, but instead of the little wimpy pickup inside the plastic casing of a Blackout, you're using your higher output, non-neutrally voiced pickups. I'm not quite the term "preamp" is quite right to use for what they are, but it's just the terminology that's been used for actives ever since EMG's been around and likely before. Here's the marketing-speak for it: http://www.seymourduncan.com/blackouts/
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# ? Feb 10, 2012 07:04 |
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# ? May 22, 2024 05:32 |
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I play drums at a pretty high level, but I'm now wanting to pick up guitar just to play for me. I have thorough understanding of drum-related music theory (odd time signatures, beats, rhythm, syncopation, and so on), but I don't really know where I should start with stringed instruments. Obviously I've started working out scales (major/minor/pentatonic) and I've been working on learning the notes, their order, where they fall on the frets, etc. Mostly stole that from the OP. I won't be getting an instructor soon, but I'll certainly have the guys who play guitar in bands I'm in sit down with me and go over a few things, so I have guidance. Any advice?
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# ? Feb 10, 2012 19:24 |