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ScienceAndMusic posted:So one more question then I'll stop being annoying and ruining this thread. Can anyone suggest a good cheap electric guitar. I literally know nothing about guitars. http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3341553 That should answer all your non-rocksmith related guitar questions.
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Dec 20, 2013 02:10
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You can buy a soundhole pickup for an acoustic but lead tricks like bends will shred your fingertips even after you build up proper callouses and can cause tendon injuries too. Electric guitars have a lot less tension on the strings usually and most of the easy stuff uses power chords that just don't feel the same on an acoustic. Also if you're buying a first guitar don't get one with a tremolo/vibrato unless you plan to learn how to do your own setup and complicated juggling of tension between multiple moving parts sounds appealing. Another reason to avoid acoustic is once you get into intermediate playing you'll want to play barre chords and they will wreck your hands even with light gauge electric strings, until you build up strength in muscles that you've never used before at least. Usual recommendations are Yamaha, Squier for Strat or tele style budget guitars or IbanezGio if you want to focus on metal. If you can bump that upto around £300 I prefer ESP/LTD's. There's also Epiphone who make licenced models of Gibson guitars for a budget, and if you buy a model with "Pro" in the name will sometimes have better QA than full blown Gibson guitars. In the US You've also got Rondomusic.com for a bunch of quality guitars while the UK has Rob Chapman's MonkeyLord range. Both are considered on par for quality vs cost but if you get serious about playing you'll want to upgrade the pickups. App13 posted:http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3341553 Or this.
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Dec 20, 2013 02:17
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ScienceAndMusic posted:Will acoustic electric not work as well as an electric? Part of what makes acoustic (and acoustic electric) instruments loud also makes them harder to play for basic mechanical reasons. The strings themselves are thicker (light gauge acoustic strings are as think as heavy gauge electric strings) and under more tension, which means they require more effort/strength from your hands to get the notes you want and it'll be rougher on your fingertips to start. The necks are usually thicker (to handle the extra string tension) which is a bit of a hassle unless you're a bigger dude. They're also usually not designed around the idea that you'll be playing really high up on the neck of the guitar, so they might have less cutaway than an electric (if they have a cutaway at all). These aren't insurmountable problems (see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UNVdXWdyq2I), but it's a bit rougher on a beginner.
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Dec 20, 2013 02:20
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To the above it's Squier's Vintage Modified line that gets all the praise. (And their Classic Vibe ones too but they cost a little more.) If you look around the big online sites like sweetwater and musician's friend and so on they start just under $200, but it depends what you want - YouTube videos are a big help for this. The cheaper Squiers, like Affinity and Bullet are generally considered crappy starter instruments to grow out of. Definitely go to the ML thread for some recommends, but I'm serious about the 'what you like the look of' thing - getting a guitar that makes you go  when you look at it is a big motivator. It'll help people narrow down the good choices in your budget too
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Dec 20, 2013 02:25
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Rocksmith has updated on PC. The standalone UPlay client has been removed and you now just log-in in-game. There is now an audio option to adjust the Real Tone Cable Gain. Bass arrangements now list if they are fingered or picked. Not sure what else has changed yet.
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Dec 20, 2013 04:22
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Fina posted:Rocksmith has updated on PC. The standalone UPlay client has been removed and you now just log-in in-game. There is now an audio option to adjust the Real Tone Cable Gain. Bass arrangements now list if they are fingered or picked. That sounds like it'll fix a lot of issues for people (hopefully).
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Dec 20, 2013 04:24
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Fina posted:Rocksmith has updated on PC. The standalone UPlay client has been removed and you now just log-in in-game. There is now an audio option to adjust the Real Tone Cable Gain. Bass arrangements now list if they are fingered or picked. Oh gently caress yes!
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Dec 20, 2013 04:32
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Hooray for the death of the uplay launcher! Boo that it opens up the website on close now. I mean, it's not as bad as the launcher, but still kind of annoying. Hopefully this means they've worked the bugs out of the site...
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Dec 20, 2013 04:40
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As long as I don't have to wait five minutes for the uplay launcher to log in and download 340kb every time I launch the game I am happy.
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Dec 20, 2013 04:45
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I'm guessing that this is related to the cable gain change but a bunch of tones sound much, much better for me. Song 2 still sounds like balls but hey you win some and you lose some.
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Dec 20, 2013 05:02
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Song 2 sounds better if you switch from neck to bridge humbucker when changing from power chords to that doublestop octave spam. also adjust your tone knob slightly.
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Dec 20, 2013 07:31
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I'm tempted to lower the action on my Epiphone Les Paul Junior because my fingers are killing me even after playing for a month. Is that reasonable or is my finger pain to be expected anyway?
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Dec 20, 2013 08:49
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Unless the guitar is horribly set up, action won't have much effect on the effort you exert. You probably just have poor endurance for doing stuff with your hands, keep at it and it'll eventually improve. Or find a way to develop your grip. You don't need hulk hands, but the muscles need to be able to function for longer periods.
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Dec 20, 2013 08:52
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Rapner posted:I'm tempted to lower the action on my Epiphone Les Paul Junior because my fingers are killing me even after playing for a month. Is that reasonable or is my finger pain to be expected anyway? Play an acoustic guitar for a month and when you go back to your electric it will feel like you are playing silk strings. 
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Dec 20, 2013 09:06
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Is anyone else having problems with bends? I literally cannot bend the strings enough to make Rocksmith happy. I really have bent the strings too, I get afraid of snapping them; so much that I am starting to just wonder if it is a guitar related problem.
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Dec 20, 2013 13:05
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unlawfulsoup posted:Is anyone else having problems with bends? I literally cannot bend the strings enough to make Rocksmith happy. I really have bent the strings too, I get afraid of snapping them; so much that I am starting to just wonder if it is a guitar related problem. It's not about how far you bend the strings, except in a purely secondary sense - it's the note that matters. If you're supposed to bend the note on a string at the 6th fret, and it's a half-step/semitone/half-tone bend, the pitch you hear at the end of it should be exactly the same as if you just played the 7th fret normally. A semitone is the difference in pitch between one fret and the next. A semitone bend is bending a note by that same amount, so it sounds like the note one fret up. Same deal for full-step/whole-tone/full-tone bends, except that's a two-fret difference, so you have to bend the 6th fret note so it sounds like the 8th fret. If you don't bend enough, your pitch will be lower than your target note - and obviously, bend too much and you'll overshoot. The best way to check is to play your target note (say the 7th fret), then play and bend your start note (6th in this case) and listen to it approaching that pitch you just checked. Once you think you're done, immediately play the 7th fret again and see if it sounds the same or if it's a bit janky. Then do it again and again and again, paying attention to the sound you're making and how 'in tune' it is. It'll become very fast and your ear will get more and more accurate, but in the beginning you need to start slow and find your feet. The actual distance you bend depends on a whole bunch of physical factors about the string and the way the guitar's set up and how you're tuned and so on. If you haven't already watched this, do it! http://www.justinguitar.com/en/IM-144-StringBending.php Make sure you have the right kind of technique, and watch how far he moves the strings as he bends the note - that should give you a rough idea of whether you're not pushing enough or if you're going way further. Unless you're doing crazy huge bends (like over a full tone, that's two frets remember) you shouldn't be going too far across the fretboard, and you shouldn't be breaking strings either. If you do it's probably a different issue, bending strings a semitone or two is basically 'normal use'
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Dec 20, 2013 13:35
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The new update is nice. I think note detection is better, as I'm getting more consistent credit for playing notes/chords properly. Also, Six AM Salvation is my new anthem. I love this song, and can play everything except the solo flawlessly. I've only been playing for a couple of months, so I'm really proud of this.
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Dec 20, 2013 13:38
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Okay, silly question time but I need to ask it. When should I be using the neck pickup? When should I use the bridge pickup? When should I use both? Also what about the tone dials for each, is there a generally recommended use or what's the deal? Baka, if you or anyone else want to do an idiot's guide to using the pickup selector I'd be grateful. I'd like to know more about it beyond pushing the switch and twiddling stuff to see if it sounds different.
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Dec 20, 2013 13:44
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Uhhhh well the basic deal is that the neck pickup is darker (more bassy/mellow) and the bridge pickup is more bright, because of the part of the string they 'listen' to - it's a bit like if you pick the string right next to the bridge, you get that harsh ping ping sound, and if you slowly move away from the bridge the characteristics change. They're often called the rhythm pickup (neck) and lead pickup (bridge) just because of that mellow/cutting difference, because some people prefer them in those roles. Using a split position (two pickups at once) gives another, quackier tone (good for funk or surf), and it will usually rein in any hum a bit because of cancellation mojo - this goes for humbuckers on their own, too (another kind of pickup, I got one in the bridge). Sometimes guitars will have different models of pickup in each position, which will cause another change in how they sound and behave. Sometimes they're chosen to emphasise those neck/bridge etc qualities, sometimes to negate them, sometimes just whatever! Tone knobs cause arguments apparently - personally I like them, they take a bit of the edge off when you have a jangly sound going, or if you want to go full on deep jazzy mellowness. I like them for stoner rock-style solo tones too - crank the gain, roll off the tone and you have that thick ooooo sound instead of a bright eeeeeeeeeeowww. Volume knobs also cause arguments - I never used to use mine except to mute my guitar, but these days I tend to keep my gain on high and use the volume knob as a sensitivity control, to tame the distortion and let me use really controlled picking dynamics (another thing I never used to do). It's worth a try anyway Having two pickups with dedicated tone and volume controls lets you dial in two different sounds that you can flick between instantly, so you could go from almost clean to distorted, or a really dark rhythm sound to a louder cutting lead tone, or roll the volume off one entirely and turn it into a kill switch (flick back and forth quickly to get a stuttering sound). Really the important thing is how they sound, and how they behave with the gear you're using. Some people ignore some or all of these things, to the point where you get a guitar with a single pickup and maybe nothing else at all. I'd recommend spending a bit of time with some amps and effects and just listening to how each one sounds when you strum and pick, when you hack away or strum super-lightly, when you roll off a knob a bit or a lot. You may end up not caring, or you might start getting some ideas about how you want to use whatcha got
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Dec 20, 2013 14:18
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That really helps a lot, thanks BK. It's good to have it all laid out like that, makes it something even a wazzock like me can understand.
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Dec 20, 2013 14:30
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where can I buy a goddamn guitar to magic machine cable in Australia? seems like the nationwide cable ban (they resemble snakes) has been reinstated or something cause I can't find poo poo
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Dec 20, 2013 14:33
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Skuto posted:I'd expect people who work in a music store to know it by now because of people coming in to buy guitars for it, but eh. As for not as popular, it's no Guitar Hero in its heyday but their sales were apparently quite well enough to do a sequel and market it a lot harder. I work at a Guitar Center. Nobody has ever mentioned Rocksmith. It's really not popular at all. The problem is that Rocksmith is marketed to people who don't already know how to play, to most people the game looks a Guitar Hero knockoff and why would a music store employee be interested in that when they could just play an actual instrument(with their massive employee discounts)?
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Dec 20, 2013 16:32
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You're a music store employee and are posting here so that feels like self-contradiction. The last sales guy I talked to did know about it. He said they sell a lot of Epi LP Special 2's for it. That said, if people aren't "gamers" in any sense of the word I wouldn't expect it to appeal to them much.
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Dec 20, 2013 17:42
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Skuto posted:You're a music store employee and are posting here so that feels like self-contradiction. I bought one of those because of RS alright.
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Dec 20, 2013 18:05
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Skuto posted:You're a music store employee and are posting here so that feels like self-contradiction I also read these forums which is where I originally heard about Rocksmith. I have nothing against Rocksmith, I'm enjoying it thoroughly and I have a blast playing it. My point was that people shouldn't get touchy when people assume it's another Guitar Hero, because it is under-marketed. Edit: I'm thinking about picking up a special II as well. Or getting a Thunderbird Pro. Whichever. Chimbley Sweep fucked around with this message at 18:26 on Dec 20, 2013 |
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Dec 20, 2013 18:24
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The Milkman Cometh posted:I bought one of those because of RS alright. I was trying to find a Special II when the first RS came out, but couldn't find it in the finish I wanted, so said "gently caress it" and got an LP Standard, which I think cost more than twice as much, but in theory would be more of an incentive to practice as a result. The theory didn't pan out too well, I think after 4 months with RS1 I only practiced enough until RS2014 for my skills to not degrade too much. It's amazing how much improvement a lack of loading times and an easy to use Riff Repeater makes.
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Dec 20, 2013 19:40
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Welp, they patched out the launcher, which is great, but now the in-game login refuses to recognize my CD Key. I've looked around, and it seems like the go-to solution is to enter it manually instead of copying it from the Steam CD Key thing, which i've tried, and it still doesn't work. Anyone got any other ideas?
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Dec 20, 2013 20:25
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Chimbley Sweep posted:it is under-marketed. Unless you watch Sunday Night Football.
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Dec 20, 2013 20:56
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baka kaba posted:It's not about how far you bend the strings, except in a purely secondary sense - it's the note that matters. If you're supposed to bend the note on a string at the 6th fret, and it's a half-step/semitone/half-tone bend, the pitch you hear at the end of it should be exactly the same as if you just played the 7th fret normally. A semitone is the difference in pitch between one fret and the next. A semitone bend is bending a note by that same amount, so it sounds like the note one fret up. Thanks. I watched that video and I am pretty sure I have the technique down, at least the wrist and use of fingers bending. I am just not sure how to tell if I am bending enough, because no matter how much or little I do Rocksmith always go 'almost there, but bend it a little more, don't be afraid to blah blah' so I try to go a little more but it is never happy. I am going to really try listening carefully to see if when I bend it the sound emulates the fret it is supposed to. I think what also kind of throws me for a loop is that in the mini game I can get a few bends to pick up, but in the lesson the program literally just tells me to bend it more, when it is almost physically impossible. Skuto posted:The last sales guy I talked to did know about it. He said they sell a lot of Epi LP Special 2's for it. I am not sure why, but I really want that LP Special 2 myself. I have a Mexican Strat from 2001 that I dearly love, but I just kind of want another guitar for some reason. That and I do not have the money or skill to justify a real gibson.
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Dec 20, 2013 21:35
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unlawfulsoup posted:Thanks. I watched that video and I am pretty sure I have the technique down, at least the wrist and use of fingers bending. I am just not sure how to tell if I am bending enough, because no matter how much or little I do Rocksmith always go 'almost there, but bend it a little more, don't be afraid to blah blah' so I try to go a little more but it is never happy. I am going to really try listening carefully to see if when I bend it the sound emulates the fret it is supposed to. I think what also kind of throws me for a loop is that in the mini game I can get a few bends to pick up, but in the lesson the program literally just tells me to bend it more, when it is almost physically impossible. Yeah, it could be that there are technical issues going on too, I just wanted to make sure you had the concept down since you're talking in terms of how far to bend across the fretboard, and not 'I'm hitting the right pitch what the gently caress!!' Do the target fret comparison thing, so you can make sure your mad bends are definitely going at least far enough, and then you'll know it's a recognition issue if it's always asking for more. (You can use a tuner to check if you like.) If you never manage to raise the pitch enough to hit your target note, no matter how hard you push, it's something with your guitar. Heavy gauge strings could be a cause (this is why you don't generally bend a lot on acoustic guitars, it's hard work), so could a tremolo system (the springs absorb some of the tension you're adding), and also things like the string angle behind the nut (posted a link about that not long ago). You probably can manage half and full step bends, but it's worth checking. Probably the best test would be to get a tuner, have rocksmith give you a target, bend it using the tuner as a reference so you know full well when you're right dammit, and hold it there. If it still isn't having it, technical issue. Try other pickup positions (including split positions to eliminate any hum), roll any tone knobs off, mess with your volume, basically try and give it a clean signal. I think someone had another fix like using another USB port, but yeah - good luck!
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Dec 20, 2013 23:34
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I just had problems with picking a note too early. If you bend too soon it thinks you are playing the wrong note. I had to go through the bending lesson a few times before I got it right.
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Dec 20, 2013 23:43
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One problem I had with rocksmith bends was I was doing them too slow try bending sooner after you play the note. Try bending as you pluck, sometimes it's finicky. Playing through "Smooth" a bunch helped me get used to RS's bend detection. /\ /\haha!!
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Dec 21, 2013 00:08
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Since we're talking about bends The detection of sustain in the game can be an issue. I can hear my guitar through the speakers but in the game the light goes out (telling me I've stopped playing the note). If this happens during a bend: how do you get back into it? Do you play with the string bent (doesn't seem to work) or do you release and play the straight note and bend it back afterwards (this hasn't worked for me either). At the end of the day I should be using my ears. If the note sounds good with what's currently playing then that's where I should be. Rocksmith can only take us so far.
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Dec 21, 2013 00:56
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John Cadaver posted:Since we're talking about bends If this is happening then you probably need to increase your input volume, either on the guitar itself or in the cable's properties. quote:One problem I had with rocksmith bends was I was doing them too slow try bending sooner after you play the note. Try bending as you pluck, sometimes it's finicky. Playing through "Smooth" a bunch helped me get used to RS's bend detection. Keep in mind that this varies greatly depending on the bend. Some bends are performed after sustaining the note for a while, others may be started with the note already bent. You really need to pay attention to the note trails. For example there are some songs where you do a bend, followed by playing it again at the top of the bend and holding it there, then playing the note again and releasing (the solo in Where Is My Mind does this). If it's fast and you're not looking closely then it could look like it's just three bends, but really it's one long bend that's picked three times at various points. Then there's also 1.5 step bends that have to be bent even further and are signified by 3 arrows. NuclearWinterUK fucked around with this message at 01:49 on Dec 21, 2013 |
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Dec 21, 2013 01:46
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Elenkis posted:If this is happening then you probably need to increase your input volume, either on the guitar itself or in the cable's properties. On that note, that problem the game was having with the volume resetting to 17 for the cable is back for me even with that "patch" .dll installed for customs, probably due to the the new way they're handling log-ins. The .dll is probably looking for the Ubisoft launcher program to be open before it activates the volume fix. Apparently customs still work though, so there's that.
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Dec 21, 2013 02:08
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I played rocksmith for the first time yesterday after working with justinguitar for a few days. They dont seeem to lend to working together very well initially. Justin teaches you chords and has you play songs with them. Rocmsmith at least initially has you flying all over the fretboard to pick individual strings. I am presuming they are probably the root notes for chords that will be added later or cherrypicked lines from a riff that makes up a variation of a scale. I ended up just continuing my justin exercises and using the game as a 60$ amp emulator. Does it even out eventually? While I understand what the game is trying to get you to do it seems like justin has a much better pedagogy than rocksmith in that songs are made up of chords and scales (with the former being made up of the later) so it makes more sense to me to practice that than trying to figure out what fret I am on to pluck a single string. I played trumpet (at a mediocre level) for 7 years (havent touched it in 5) so I might be jaded from my experience with a more classically minded musical education. jiffypop45 fucked around with this message at 16:05 on Dec 21, 2013 |
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Dec 21, 2013 16:03
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jiffypop45 posted:I played rocksmith for the first time yesterday after working with justinguitar for a few days. They dont seeem to lend to working together very well initially. Justin teaches you chords and has you play songs with them. Rocmsmith at least initially has you flying all over the fretboard to pick individual strings. I am presuming they are probably the root notes for chords that will be added later or cherrypicked lines from a riff that makes up a variation of a scale. There's two guitar paths in Rocksmith: A lead guitar one and a rhythm guitar one. The rhythm one is more along the lines of just learning some chords to play some songs.
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Dec 21, 2013 16:33
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jiffypop45 posted:I played rocksmith for the first time yesterday after working with justinguitar for a few days. They dont seeem to lend to working together very well initially. Justin teaches you chords and has you play songs with them. Rocmsmith at least initially has you flying all over the fretboard to pick individual strings. I am presuming they are probably the root notes for chords that will be added later or cherrypicked lines from a riff that makes up a variation of a scale. I stick to songs that also work on chords if that's my focus, so stuff like the Rhythm parts of Black (Pearl Jam) and Knocking on Heaven's Door (Dylan). I mess around with other ones for fun. I know others have listed songs that are good for that stuff, I asked earlier in the thread.
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Dec 21, 2013 16:33
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Bedurndurn posted:There's two guitar paths in Rocksmith: A lead guitar one and a rhythm guitar one. The rhythm one is more along the lines of just learning some chords to play some songs. It does build up to the chords though, so even if you have it selected as your path it doesn't generally throw you right into the chords. It also ins't just learning some chords to play the song cause it goes into hitting chords harder on certain beats, palm mutes, and other techniques at times. It really depends on the track, because some you repeat a riff in-between playing chords. Basically it emulates whatever the rhythm guy would be doing for that track so some more more complex then others.
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Dec 21, 2013 16:43
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| # ? Jun 2, 2024 10:41 |
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Bedurndurn posted:There's two guitar paths in Rocksmith: A lead guitar one and a rhythm guitar one. The rhythm one is more along the lines of just learning some chords to play some songs. When I picked up my cheapo Squier Telecaster to play regular guitar on the side, I was always afraid of chords, but I was interested in the play style of a rhythm guitar role. I also hate playing anything more involved than a power chord on a bass because it always feels so awkward to my hand. One thing that I love about RS2014 over RS2011 is the finger positions for each chord, which made learning chords on rhythm and even bass easier. jiffypop45 posted:I played trumpet (at a mediocre level) for 7 years (havent touched it in 5) so I might be jaded from my experience with a more classically minded musical education. I found this aggravating coming from a piano playing/music theory background. I wish there was more info regarding actual notes and traditional music theory rather than just tabs. I feel it would be another much needed facet in learning how to play not just a guitar/bass but any instrument. But this is really nitpicking.
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Dec 21, 2013 16:49
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