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I'm getting my first guitar this weekend. My uncle got it a year or so ago and barely played it, so now I get to have it! Woo freebies. Anyway, all I know about it is that it's electric, and it's been sitting in its case for a year, roughly. Is that a bad thing? What kind of stuff should I expect to have to fix besides getting new strings, if anything?
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Oct 5, 2010 02:06
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Thoren posted:Dust that baby off, string it, and plug it in! Have fun sucking for a few months Woo! So loving pumped for Saturday! I'll take pics once I actually have the thing.
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Oct 5, 2010 03:28
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So it turns out there's an off chance this might be a lefty guitar. How worth it would it be to just say gently caress it and take it and restring it to play right-handed?
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Oct 5, 2010 23:33
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dark_panda posted:Worked for Jimi and Kurt, although they went the opposite way 'round. You'll probably have to take it to a guitar shop and have someone else re-string it, though, as it's more than simply a matter of taking the strings off and reversing them. Yeah. Well, the other option is take it to Guitar Center and do a trade-in, and put what I was gonna spend on getting it serviced towards something that's righty. I dunno. I'll figure it out. It's http://www.silvertoneguitar.com/products/electric_ssl1/index.htm this bad boy by the way, just lefty (It is lefty). BENGHAZI 2 fucked around with this message at 01:37 on Oct 6, 2010 |
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Oct 6, 2010 01:15
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dark_panda posted:If it's just a beginners guitar like that and doesn't hold any sentimental value, then yeah, may as well. Already got it figured out. Buddy wants to get an acoustic, and I'm gonna give him the lefty and thirty bucks (depending) in exchange for a Squier Strat that he was gonna trade-in. Ownage.
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Oct 6, 2010 03:51
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So, I picked up the lefty guitar. I had to restring the G, and I'm pretty sure I tightened it backwards relative to the other strings because it's upside down but eh Point is, I taught myself to restring a guitar today, and I'm working on tuning it now. gently caress yeah. Day 1: Awesome.
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Oct 9, 2010 21:47
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I picked up the strat today. So loving pumped. I love this thing. I love it. e: Out of the last fifty minutes, I've been playing for forty of them. My fingers are sore. It hurts to type this right now. I couldn't be happier. BENGHAZI 2 fucked around with this message at 23:52 on Oct 11, 2010 |
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Oct 11, 2010 22:59
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I was about to come in here to say that I was working on the same song. I played for three hours last night, alternating between working on chords and working on the intro when I got too frustrated with that, and I've played for three hours today, and I've pretty much got the intro down. Need to work on my timing and playing it cleaner but it's there. So loving happy right now.
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Oct 12, 2010 21:11
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Hanpan posted:Yea it's keeping that drat intro clean that I'm having problems with. My biggest problem is going from the low e back to the d at the end of that riff. I can do the rest, but that one part keeps loving me up e: That's a lie, it's getting my index finger up to the low e. BENGHAZI 2 fucked around with this message at 21:40 on Oct 12, 2010 |
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Oct 12, 2010 21:37
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Hanpan posted:My biggest difficulty is most definitely going from the intro to the power chords and back in time with the song. It's so incredibly fast, and despite playing it endlessly I just can't seem to get anywhere close to being in time with the recording. This is my next step, as soon as I can get the end of that riff down.
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Oct 12, 2010 22:15
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So I've spent the last four days playing with no amp. Woo. Stupid dorms. Someone suggested I get headphones that I can plug into them. What do you call the adapter to go from the amp jack to a 3.5mm cord?
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Oct 14, 2010 00:44
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I'm just looking for something to plug into the amp so that I can hear what I sound like. I just started, so I'd really like to be able to plug it in. I'm gonna pick up the piece at Radioshack later....once I find one.
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Oct 14, 2010 01:09
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Roommate offered to tune my guitar for my tonight. A minute later I hear "What the hell?" My neck is bowed more than it should be, and the intonation is all hosed up. I go by a guitar place on my way home though, so I'll drop it off tomorrow and pick it up Saturday.
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Oct 15, 2010 03:03
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Zo posted:Got my index finger split open again via barres. Hurts like a giant papercut, ground away over a period of days. Last time this happened it took like 2 weeks for it to close back up Squier strats are the greatest thing ever invented I'm having a ton of trouble playing an F chord, because for whatever reason I just can't loving barre on the first fret. I can hit every string except the B, and if I managed to hit the B, it means I'm not pushing down on the low E enough. Any tips? I can play five or six "beginner' chords, but that one is just beyond me, despite being able to do it even one fret down.
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Oct 19, 2010 17:11
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baka kaba posted:Also I have a question (bolding this because people are going to skip all that) - https://www.studybass.com rules hard, it's a great beginner's resource and I think it would help guitarists too, but is there anything similar dedicated to guitar? Very structured with exercises (and MIDI playalongs). Someone posted justinguitar.com a couple pages back. It's kinda cool.
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Oct 19, 2010 17:13
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seigfox posted:I had this same problem. I think its just a matter of finger strength, when I started practicing barres all of them sucked, I was lucky to get 4 strings to ring in any one chord. I don't think there's any particular trick to it. I'm satisfied with it, I was just hoping maybe there was some trick i was missing. Like I said, I can play an F#, but moving up one fret just fucks me up bad. And this is after getting my neck straightened and my bridge fixed, so the tension on the first fret isn't retarded anymore.
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Oct 19, 2010 17:23
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This is a dumb question, but I've gotten two different answers so what the hell I'll ask When you play a power chord, do you only play those three strings, or do you play all six?
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Oct 21, 2010 16:48
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I love the Ramones For real, I am having way more fun learning Ramones songs than I was when I was working on Dammit
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Oct 25, 2010 23:20
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I have a question. Or a problem. Whatever I play a lot of power chords. A lot. Tons. In fact, that's pretty much all I play Anyway, when I go to play something with the root on the fifth string, and I'm strumming fast, I have a tendency to skip over the fifth string. What's something I could do to fix that, either technique-wise or just "hey slow down rear end in a top hat"
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Nov 13, 2010 18:45
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It's not fretting that's the problem, it's strumming. I have a tendency to, every third or fourth time, not strum the fifth string, and just play the fourth and third. I've actually gotten pretty good at switching between chords, especially because I really only use them in the same three combinations (Usually ADE, or DAG, or GCD. If a song is really wild, it might have like an F# in the prechorus). Thanks punk music!
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Nov 14, 2010 16:30
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baka kaba posted:You could try raking the strings - where you drag the pick over them so they sound individually, instead of basically hitting them all at the same time. Then just practice your attack slowly, making sure you hit them all, and you can speed up the raking (getting closer to a normal strum) as your aim improves. If it's obvious to you when you miss you could forget the raking and just work on your aim. Gonna try all dis' poo poo
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Nov 14, 2010 23:03
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baka kaba posted:I'll tell you what else as well, a lot of power chords (especially in metal) are actually just the two strings, root and fifth - practice those too, there's something about the compact feel of them that makes it easier to hit both strings. And practice upstrokes while you're at it, I definitely have more trouble with those because I never focused on learning them properly In punk you usually play the octave, too, and no upstrokes Honestly, there's part of me that's like "dude you should really learn to do *thing*" and the rest of me goes "I will literally never use it. gently caress that. Punk as a motherfucker"
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Nov 15, 2010 02:27
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baka kaba posted:Yeah but that's why I'm saying it's good to learn now - if you neglect the upstrokes you'll find it hard to do fast rhythmic things inbetween the downstrokes, and doing the two-string power chords will make sure you're hitting the root too. You don't have to do this stuff exclusively, just work it into your practice routine I was Then I realized Blink182 was too high-brow for me, and I started learning songs that only use D C and G And they all start by playing the D a million times Anyway, yeah I'm definitely gonna work some of this stuff in. Upstrokes are just ridiculously hard for me for some reason. They gently caress my rhythm sideways
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Nov 15, 2010 15:53
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Kaboobi posted:Sadly I think playing Guitar Hero/Rock Band for a billion hours trained me to play upstrums perfectly on rhythm For whatever reason, I literally cannot get the upstrokes. They don't even feel right.
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Nov 15, 2010 21:33
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I don't even use a pick, I just flail wildly around with an empty hand, eventually resorting to just punching the strings Am I doing it right?
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Nov 15, 2010 23:50
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Hey here's a question Where can I get a hardshell case for my Squier Strat for not a million bucks
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Nov 16, 2010 03:51
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Philthy posted:They will be after a billion hours of practice. But.....G is easy! Even I can do a G! F, on the other hand, can bite me. Thank god I only need to play F5 pretty much ever. Barre chords can suck me dry e: Also my local GC is awesome so there
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Nov 25, 2010 23:16
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Here's a question: How often should I change the strings on my Squier? I've asked a couple people and gotten wildly different answers
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Nov 26, 2010 15:49
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rt4 posted:Whenever they start to sound dull or look dirty or sound off-intonation. I do it about once a month. Good to know I'll do it once I'm back at school and have my wire-cutters to trim the strings e: Oh dear jesus I am so inept. I tried restringing my low E and broke it. I broke the new string. Oh well. Turns out GC has a sale, three packs of Super Slinkies for twelve bucks, and I needed a new tuner, too, so it worked out. BENGHAZI 2 fucked around with this message at 21:10 on Nov 26, 2010 |
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Nov 26, 2010 16:08
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havelock posted:I forget where I read it, but if you pull the string taught, and then put your pointer finger at the 12th fret perpendicular to the fretboard and pull the string up even to the base of your hand with your middle finger then that gives you just the right amount of slack. I have no idea what this means, but yeah the problem was that I strung it wrong and then tried to redo it and it just fell apart I threw the old one back on just to keep the tension on it, and got three packs of new strings, and I'm gonna have someone show me how to do it in a few hours. BENGHAZI 2 fucked around with this message at 16:47 on Nov 27, 2010 |
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Nov 27, 2010 16:43
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I'll try it next time As is, I drive within five minutes of Guitar Center at least twice every other week, and it's fifteen minutes from my house, so I just took it and a pack of strings over and handed it over to the repair dude. It'll even be a freebie, because I had the strings and was just to inept to use them myself.
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Nov 27, 2010 20:03
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Philthy posted:I usually just pull the strings through the peg, clip the string 3" past it, then push the 3" back so that only 1/2" is now sticking out, bend it 90 degrees. Then wind. Seems pretty easy. Oooh, this seems much easier than the "index finger at the 12th fret" bit. Gonna try this next time. I have extra strings now, so I can gently caress around till I get it right
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Nov 28, 2010 00:45
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Cold Day posted:Really can't go past the Peavey Vyper. It's got a large range of clean and distortion sounds. I paid $US 50, plus the cost of a pack of strings (part of setup was restringing) For that they restrung it (obviously), fixed the warping in my neck, and did a touch-up on my electronics, mainly my output jack (it was all hosed up and shorted out)
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Dec 1, 2010 19:50
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For all my bluster about "gently caress it I don't need to learn that punk as gently caress hell yeah" I really need to work on being able to play by ear more. As it is, if I know what chords are in it, I can pick them each out, and I can tell if a tab is wrong or not, but I can't tell just by listening Which is a problem, since I want to learn some songs that never have been and never will be tabbed gently caress
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Dec 4, 2010 23:25
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Falken posted:Well, I ordered a Vintage V100 in Flamed honeyburst from Dolphin Music. I had a go of one in my local music shop and fell in love with the thing. I'll be going into town on monday to get a tuner too. Is it new or is it used? If it's used, definitely go get it checked out. Most places will charge you $50 US or thereabouts and they'll go through the basics, unless you ask for something a little more specific (ie I had to tell the guy to straighten my neck, it was included in the price but wasn't an ordinary service). They'll check the electronics, restring/retune, that kinda poo poo If it's new, you could probably get away with just getting a tuner if you wanted, but feel free to take someone else's word on this over mine.
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Dec 4, 2010 23:53
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Tarnien posted:On this note -- is it possible to just be unable to play by ear? I haven't been playing terribly long, but cannot seem to even begin to tell what chord/note anyone is playing. Just about the only thing I can tell is what string/region the note is in, but without playing the notes individually, I can never tell exactly what it is. I'm in roughly the same boat, but it's a bit easier for me because everything is one of four combinations of chords, and they're all power chords Without a tab I can take a really general stab at it and be wrong, with a tab I know where to listen and I can be like NO THAT TAB IS WRONG IT'S NOT A G AT ALL
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Dec 5, 2010 00:48
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Falken posted:It's new. 15 bucks. Get a piece of patch cable if you don't already have one, too
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Dec 5, 2010 02:24
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SaucyPants posted:I was in the same boat and all it takes is practice. Play more and learn more songs you just need to keep practicing and training your ear. My ear still isn't great but I can tell it is improving and when you figure things out on your own they stick in your head better and I find it is a huge motivational boost to my playing. I...I don't know any scales. I can pick out notes on the last two strings, because I know my power chords, and I can push that a little further to knowing notes on the fourth string if I think about it. That's about it Oh dear jesus why did I do it the lovely way
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Dec 5, 2010 02:27
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Yeah, I know how a power chord is structured, just not what it means For example! This was the first time I knew that the octave was the root at a higher pitch. I know where the notes are on the bottom two strings, because I know where the roots are for power chords, but beyond that? Pfffft. Nothing Definitely gonna start running through my scales though
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Dec 5, 2010 02:42
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That's how the magnets on a Squier Strat are set. Mine is the exact same way and gently caress if I touched the pickups. I don't even touch the switch for cryin' out loud e: I hate how my amp sounds but I don't have the money to actually buy one (It was a freebie in a bundle that I've kept parts of and ditched others, like the actual guitar), so I just play unplugged gently caress cheap-rear end amps
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Dec 5, 2010 02:49
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