GUITAR MEGATHREAD: Dan Erlewine is your huckleberry

The Something Awful Forums > The Finer Arts > No Music Discussion > Musician's Lounge > GUITAR MEGATHREAD: Dan Erlewine is your huckleberry

«‹›2 »

Epi Lepi: Oct 29, 2009; You can hear the voice
Telling you to Love
It's the voice of MK Ultra
And you're doing what it wants

seigfox posted:

Questions from a guitar buying newbie: When am I going to hit diminishing returns in terms of guitar quality as I move through the price brackets? Would an untrained ear be able to notice the difference between a $2500 Gibson ES-339 and the $500 Epiphone equivalent? Is it worth the extra money for a non-professional? Is that extra $2k just a status symbol?

Right now I'm playing on a starter strat so I'm assuming an improvement in either case, but I have no problems investing the money if it means I'll be able to grow in to a vastly superior instrument. Is it worth it?

With Gibson in particular that extra 2k is definitely a status symbol. If the Epiphone feels good run with it, you can always upgrade the electronics and all that jazz. The amp is definitely important though. Every guitar sounds lovely through a lovely amp. I'd upgrade that first if you don't have a decent one already.

# ¿ Sep 1, 2010 05:38

Adbot: ADBOT LOVES YOU

# ¿ May 2, 2024 12:21

Epi Lepi: Oct 29, 2009; You can hear the voice
Telling you to Love
It's the voice of MK Ultra
And you're doing what it wants

Just want to say that I am so psyched for the Rock Band 3 Pro Guitar mode.

# ¿ Sep 10, 2010 05:35

Epi Lepi: Oct 29, 2009; You can hear the voice
Telling you to Love
It's the voice of MK Ultra
And you're doing what it wants

You made an excellent choice on both amp and guitar in my opinion. I love my Blues Jr more than almost anything else I own(AVRI Jazzmaster being the only thing that beats it).

# ¿ Oct 20, 2010 19:10

Epi Lepi: Oct 29, 2009; You can hear the voice
Telling you to Love
It's the voice of MK Ultra
And you're doing what it wants

SuicideSnowman posted:

How long have you been playing? Sound, or tone is not something easily noticeable by a beginner. In fact, it takes years to really find the sound you're looking for.

Not to mention, a lot of it comes down to the amp and settings of the amp you're playing through. You can have a $4000 PRS Custom 24 and it'll probably sound like rear end through a cheap amp.

I'd argue that amp sound is more important than guitar sound especially for someone who doesn't have a well trained ear for tone. I tell everyone I know who starts getting into an instrument to upgrade their amp first before their guitar/bass.

# ¿ Nov 21, 2010 18:09

Epi Lepi: Oct 29, 2009; You can hear the voice
Telling you to Love
It's the voice of MK Ultra
And you're doing what it wants

Slide down from 2 to 4

# ¿ Nov 21, 2010 21:43

Epi Lepi: Oct 29, 2009; You can hear the voice
Telling you to Love
It's the voice of MK Ultra
And you're doing what it wants

So I've gotten a lot better at barre chords but when I play them for even a short time the fat part of my hand where the thumb is and the space between the thumb and forefinger start to hurt and cramp. This is mostly up around the top of the neck, it doesn't bother me as much further down. Am I just pressing too hard or something? I can't really get the notes to ring out if I don't though.

# ¿ Dec 5, 2010 04:15

Epi Lepi: Oct 29, 2009; You can hear the voice
Telling you to Love
It's the voice of MK Ultra
And you're doing what it wants

ChiliMac posted:

Certainly not an expert here (I've only been playing for MCM years) but I'd guess it's just you not being used to using that muscle for that yet. However, you mentioning that it's relative to the part of the neck is slightly confounding--do you have extra thick strings on your guitar? Or perhaps really high action (gap between strings and frets)? Brass string acoustic? Reaching here

I have the same problem on my stupidly cheap acoustic I keep at my mom's house that is mostly related to neck shape (i.e. convex vs. flat) and potentially some bow from the string tension.

Edit: it's usually harder to do barre chords nearest the nut but I don't generally identify it as being specifically harder--is what it is. i.e. that's why I raised the questions I did.

I've got .11s on my Jazzmaster I think, and .09s or .10s on my acoustic 12 string and those are my mains at the moment, the rest of my guitars aren't up at school with me. I just meant that I can go longer if I'm playing, say, I Wanna be Sedated instead of Chinese Rocks.

I'm pretty sure this all has a lot to do with thumb placement and how I hold my arm and wrist but I'm not sure how I'm supposed to be doing it. It's a little frustrating because though I am better at barre chords than I was a year ago, I'm still having a lot of trouble.

# ¿ Dec 5, 2010 07:48

Epi Lepi: Oct 29, 2009; You can hear the voice
Telling you to Love
It's the voice of MK Ultra
And you're doing what it wants

Tarnien posted:

No -- I assumed it was something that just came with having played for a while. What would you recommend in regards to practicing ear training?

I would appreciate this too, this whole discussion made me pop in The Ramones Road to Ruin album and I was able to figure out the first song myself which made me feel cool, but I couldn't figure out the next one which made me feel less cool...

# ¿ Dec 5, 2010 08:32

Epi Lepi: Oct 29, 2009; You can hear the voice
Telling you to Love
It's the voice of MK Ultra
And you're doing what it wants

Southern Heel posted:

Hi guys, I fully understand that this is the musical equivalent of a child drawing with crayons in the road, but here's a little intro and ditty that I made in the last few days that I like and would like some advice on:

http://www.tindeck.com/listen/zdru

It's just Em to D and I quite like the sound. I was looking at a G, D, C, Em progression for a verse section but nothing sounds correct - it's too chunky and loud in comparison to the reserved section I like.

Any suggestions?

I really like your rhythm part, you're right its simple, but it sounds nice. Not crazy about your lead part but I'm not sure if its the notes themselves or the lovely tone of the guitar.

# ¿ Jan 1, 2011 21:22

Epi Lepi: Oct 29, 2009; You can hear the voice
Telling you to Love
It's the voice of MK Ultra
And you're doing what it wants

The only other guitar forum I've really visited is Offset Guitars, but I don't know if I would recommend it. The build threads are usually interesting, but I really don't like the userbase on that site. Maybe its just my own personal hangup, but when I see forum users calling each other by their real life first names I tend to think its creepy and weird.

# ¿ Feb 5, 2011 08:28

Epi Lepi: Oct 29, 2009; You can hear the voice
Telling you to Love
It's the voice of MK Ultra
And you're doing what it wants

Manky posted:

I'd recommend using Guitar Center to try out a bunch of guitars and then buy your favorite/something similar online.

This is probably the best advice. I would never buy an instrument from Guitar Center, you're paying new prices for what's effectively a used instrument since so many people have picked it up and banged on it.

# ¿ Apr 9, 2011 18:09

Epi Lepi: Oct 29, 2009; You can hear the voice
Telling you to Love
It's the voice of MK Ultra
And you're doing what it wants

Shimrra Jamaane posted:

How much should you cut/file down your finger nails to most effectively play?

As much as you need to? If they feel like they're getting in the way, then cut them. If you're talking about for fingerstyle, then you might want to leave the nails on you picking hand longer, but for your fretting hand, just do it when you feel like you're playings getting impaired. It won't make a huge difference, but it does help a little on the comfort side of things.

# ¿ May 8, 2011 05:36

Epi Lepi: Oct 29, 2009; You can hear the voice
Telling you to Love
It's the voice of MK Ultra
And you're doing what it wants

Faffel posted:

There is way too much worry about how pretty your guitar looks in this thread.

An ugly guitar has to play really really nicely or be really really cheap for me to justify purchasing it. I know the cute musician thing to do is to be all "man it doesn't matter how it looks, its all about the MUZAK!" but gently caress that.

# ¿ May 20, 2011 23:11

Epi Lepi: Oct 29, 2009; You can hear the voice
Telling you to Love
It's the voice of MK Ultra
And you're doing what it wants

Faffel posted:

I guess. I'm pretty new to the instrument, but I bought one that I thought was hideous because it sounded really nice. I don't really ever look at it unless I'm playing it. What kind of rear end in a top hat puts gold tuning pegs on his guitar? I mean seriously.

Someone who likes the look of gold tuning pegs? The kind of guy who takes pride in their possessions?

The simple fact is, it's not that hard to find a guitar that sounds great and looks great, its not like you have to pick one or the other. Maybe if you had spent a little more time researching you wouldn't have bought a hideous instrument. I've got 5 guitars and they all look as good as they sound.

# ¿ May 21, 2011 05:47

Epi Lepi: Oct 29, 2009; You can hear the voice
Telling you to Love
It's the voice of MK Ultra
And you're doing what it wants

baka kaba posted:

Uhhh Billy Idol???
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1-pvtm-QNWk

The Vandals??
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VGPTxoKG-rY

Linkin Park?????
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nhZ3KWgMATA

Dude, I'm taking all of these guys HELLA seriously right now. And you don't get much more metal than Linkin Park

I didn't realize you were being sarcastic until the halfway through your post. I like Billy Idol.

# ¿ May 24, 2011 23:48

Epi Lepi: Oct 29, 2009; You can hear the voice
Telling you to Love
It's the voice of MK Ultra
And you're doing what it wants

Lackadaisical posted:

So I'm determined, after only an hour of playing, to learn this:

http://www.indieguitartabs.com/bands/neko_case/11_moon.html

But I'm struggling with the F. Any good videos or advice for doing it without killing my fingers?

Bookmarked that site to check later, but does it really have a better selection of indie tabs than Ultimate Guitar or is it redundant if UG is my prime source of tabs?

EDIT: Quoted the wrong dude.

# ¿ Jun 7, 2011 08:38

Epi Lepi: Oct 29, 2009; You can hear the voice
Telling you to Love
It's the voice of MK Ultra
And you're doing what it wants

CalvinDooglas posted:

I wouldn't pay a dime for tabs. Ears are free.

If you really want music written out, buy a book of transcriptions that are guaranteed accurate. And if you spend enough time and effort on tabs that paying cash for them is worth it, then you should probably just go ahead and learn to read the staff and have access to all the free music you'd ever want.

Except a lot of those books are almost as bad as tabs.

# ¿ Jul 1, 2011 01:49

Epi Lepi: Oct 29, 2009; You can hear the voice
Telling you to Love
It's the voice of MK Ultra
And you're doing what it wants

Koth posted:

I did this for the first time this year, and it was a really fun experience. I spent about $250 in total for all the parts. I went on the cheap side because it was my first build, and I just wanted to have fun with it. I didn't expect to end up with a high quality product.

The body I bought from Guitar Fetish. It's a decent body for the money ($50 or so). I went with eBay for some parts, and Guitar Fetish for others. I also picked up some custom parts from Greasy Groove: http://www.greasygroove.com/

Don't expect everything to fit together perfectly when you're mixing parts. You will need to do some sanding and maybe some Dremeling. I needed to Dremel out the jack hole on the body so the jack I bought would fit. You will probably also need to file down the end of the frets.

By far, the hardest part of the build is getting the guitar set up. If you plan on doing it yourself, I recommend buying a book, because it's not as easy as string it up and playing. You'll need to make a lot of adjustments, and it can get very tedious. But once you're finished, you will love the guitar because you build it yourself and there isn't another one like it.

Here is the guitar I built this year, minus the strings and tuners. I just realized I haven't taken any new photos of it since the initial build:

Oh wow, I remember when you first posted about building that! Love the pickguard!

# ¿ Dec 27, 2011 07:32

Epi Lepi: Oct 29, 2009; You can hear the voice
Telling you to Love
It's the voice of MK Ultra
And you're doing what it wants

Rolo posted:

My old roommate had an Alvarez electric acoustic and it sounded great on it's own, I actually don't think I ever saw him plug it in.

I own two electric acoustics and the biggest reason I own them is the built in tuner. I've had one for 2 years and still have never plugged it in.

# ¿ Jan 10, 2012 01:31

Epi Lepi: Oct 29, 2009; You can hear the voice
Telling you to Love
It's the voice of MK Ultra
And you're doing what it wants

Rolo posted:

From what I've read the best two options are to just play without a pick or to block the sound hole somehow, I don't know if that includes the rubber plug thing you were talking about.

I've only played solid body electrics but lately I've been practicing a lot of chord work and strumming, so I think I'm going to pick up a cheapo Ibanez or Epiphone acoustic. Am I wasting my money if I only drop like 130 bucks on one? It'll just be something to dick around with when I don't want to plug anything in.

With an acoustic there's no excuse not to go around to your local guitar stores and try them out till you find one that sounds good for that price. They exist, you just won't know until you play them.

# ¿ Jan 10, 2012 06:53

Epi Lepi: Oct 29, 2009; You can hear the voice
Telling you to Love
It's the voice of MK Ultra
And you're doing what it wants

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.

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?

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. :allears:

# ¿ Feb 9, 2012 06:35

Epi Lepi: Oct 29, 2009; You can hear the voice
Telling you to Love
It's the voice of MK Ultra
And you're doing what it wants

What's the general consensus on Warmoth? I realized that I make enough money now that its within my grasp to order a custom guitar body and neck from them and have my own sweet little instrument. Is it worth it?

On one hand, its a cool idea and it would be pretty sweet to have something unique, but on the other hand, I don't know if I have enough of a reference of say, different neck styles or pickup configurations to make good choices.

# ¿ Feb 15, 2012 18:00

Epi Lepi: Oct 29, 2009; You can hear the voice
Telling you to Love
It's the voice of MK Ultra
And you're doing what it wants

Vincent Valentine posted:

Anyone have any suggestions for places to get backing tracks? Either of more well-known songs to play the guitar parts over, or just random bits someone made in FruityLoops or whatever to jam over the top of. Most of the sites I'm finding for them are offering backing tracks as a like, mid-90s $50 Casio Keyboard playing electric piano. I'd obviously prefer free, of course(who wouldn't), but I wouldn't be opposed to dropping a little money either.

I was kind of hoping for a lot of variety, anything from rock to symphony, but because there's so many sites with such a terrible signal-to-noise ratio I'm willing to take what I can get.

By backing tracks what exactly do you mean? Are you looking for re-records of songs without the guitar parts or what? Is there a reason karaoke backing tracks aren't useful for what you're doing?

# ¿ Mar 19, 2012 04:20

Epi Lepi: Oct 29, 2009; You can hear the voice
Telling you to Love
It's the voice of MK Ultra
And you're doing what it wants

global tetrahedron posted:

Acoustic recommendations? Probably would buy used just to save a penny, looking to spend about 800 dollars. I think I am leaning towards a Taylor? I've been putting up with a kinda clunky Sigma for a number of years and just want to go the next step up in terms of quality.

I played a few new $800-900 range guitars at the store but actually wasn't measurably impressed with their difference in sound or playability compared to my Sigma. Unfortunately 800 dollars is about where I will cap out, I can't spare any more. I have seen a few used Taylor 214CEs on Craigslist in the area, would that be a good avenue to explore?

Any other recommendations about other avenues to approach would be appreciated. I play fingerpicking, Fahey/American Primitive/drone kinda stuff. Lots of alternate and open tunings, and I'd love a 'deep' sound.

My advice is to grab an Acoustic-Electric. Even if you don't plan to plug in, the built in tuners on those things make life a million times easier. I would have thrown my 12 string into a river if it wasn't for the built in tuner.

Brand-wise, I have a Takamine that I love dearly, but that might be too bright for you. I wouldn't bother looking at guitars that are over your price bracket. I've never really heard much of a difference in guitars over like 600 bucks, though sometimes I could feel a difference in playability.

# ¿ Mar 28, 2012 16:17

Epi Lepi: Oct 29, 2009; You can hear the voice
Telling you to Love
It's the voice of MK Ultra
And you're doing what it wants

global tetrahedron posted:

So it's all in the 'feel' and playability after a certain point in your mind? And you think the cutoff for sound is around my price point? Do you think the electronics could dampen or affect the sound in any way? I'm not really interested in acoustic/electric necessarily and I am pretty good at tuning by ear and rarely play with others so I dunno.

There are gonna be people who will tell you that they can hear the difference between a 2000 dollar Gibson and a 600 dollar Taylor or whatever. I personally can't, but I will admit, though, that I don't have as discerning an ear as other people. I do believe that there's no need to go up from your price bracket, there are plenty of really really good acoustics in the 500 to 900 range.

The electronics of an Electric/acoustic won't affect the natural sound in anyway. I just expected that even if you're good at tuning by ear, since you said you use a lot of alternate tunings that an electric tuner would make your life easier.

The best suggestion is to just go to a store and try as many as you can. I'm just advising you that there will almost definitely be a guitar you will fall in love with, just don't discount acoustic/electrics or sub 800 dollar guitars.

# ¿ Mar 28, 2012 17:46

Epi Lepi: Oct 29, 2009; You can hear the voice
Telling you to Love
It's the voice of MK Ultra
And you're doing what it wants

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=1MnylRaQC3w

Just saw this today, pretty cool. It's a time lapse video of a either one stratocaster or multiple being made at the Fender factory in Corona. It's kind of surprising how much is done by hand and not by machine.

# ¿ Apr 4, 2012 05:35

Epi Lepi: Oct 29, 2009; You can hear the voice
Telling you to Love
It's the voice of MK Ultra
And you're doing what it wants

Lovechop posted:

Can we get some clips of people playing in this thread?

This is me jamming to some 80's backing track thing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xYFa4kSGB7U

Here's a chord progression I really like to play with my friend playing bass along with it. I need to do a mic'd recording of it, this is just straight into an mbox with some amp modeler program.

# ¿ Apr 10, 2012 15:54

Epi Lepi: Oct 29, 2009; You can hear the voice
Telling you to Love
It's the voice of MK Ultra
And you're doing what it wants

GuitarBizarre posted:

You're a country mile out of tune dude.

Probably, I had a capo on the 5th fret. Another reason I want to re-record it. Some of the chords are dissonant as well but I like it. C chord with a high A, to a second inversion F chord with the G on the B string from the C chord hanging, to an A minor chord. I think that's correct terminology.

# ¿ Apr 10, 2012 16:54

Epi Lepi: Oct 29, 2009; You can hear the voice
Telling you to Love
It's the voice of MK Ultra
And you're doing what it wants

keyframe posted:

If you think you are "probably" out of tune in that recording you really need to focus on training your ears.

I'm saying probably because I only have 2 recordings of myself playing and both were recorded at least a year ago. I haven't really listened to this specific recording in a while.

EDIT: But yes I have a terrible ear for pitch and I really don't think it will ever improve much. I took music theory classes in both high school and college, and failed almost every listening test I ever took.

# ¿ Apr 10, 2012 18:13

Epi Lepi: Oct 29, 2009; You can hear the voice
Telling you to Love
It's the voice of MK Ultra
And you're doing what it wants

I probably should have just let that recording go and not bothered to post it, listening to it again, it makes me sound way worse than I actually am. Maybe this weekend I'll get a new version up to redeem myself. (Sans bass since my friend who played on the track is about 300 miles away.)

# ¿ Apr 10, 2012 18:32

Epi Lepi: Oct 29, 2009; You can hear the voice
Telling you to Love
It's the voice of MK Ultra
And you're doing what it wants

Butt Soup Barnes posted:

So I'm in the market for a new guitar. I only started playing about a month ago but Southwest destroyed my guitar/case tonight.

I had a Mitchell MD200SCE from guitar center that I bought because the dude recommended it, so I thought this time around I'd get goon advice.

My budget is around $500 for an acoustic-electric. I really don't know what I am looking for in a guitar since I'm so new to playing. Something that's good quality and good for a beginner I guess?

Only preference I have is that I like the cut away style a lot, but it certainly isn't a requirement.

I have a Takamine G Series EG463SC that ran me about five or six hundred with the case. I love mine, nice bright tone and pretty aesthetically. I recommend you try out some Takamines.

# ¿ Apr 12, 2012 15:29

Epi Lepi: Oct 29, 2009; You can hear the voice
Telling you to Love
It's the voice of MK Ultra
And you're doing what it wants

global tetrahedron posted:

Are you talking to me? It's definitely not me snapping anything. It's just coming from a normal strum/pluck.

He was talking to Cross_

# ¿ Apr 26, 2012 16:24

Epi Lepi: Oct 29, 2009; You can hear the voice
Telling you to Love
It's the voice of MK Ultra
And you're doing what it wants

Butt Soup Barnes posted:

So is there any downside to lighter strings?

I've been playing for about two months (acoustic) and I'm starting to get the hang of barre chords but I'm really struggling with the G string. I've read that lighter strings might make that easier (I'm currently using Elixir Nanoweb .12) but I don't want to end up using them as a crutch I guess.

It's all a matter of taste. If you like how they feel and you like how they sound go for it.

# ¿ Apr 27, 2012 20:18

Epi Lepi: Oct 29, 2009; You can hear the voice
Telling you to Love
It's the voice of MK Ultra
And you're doing what it wants

Weird thing happened with my Takamine Acoustic. I changed strings on Sunday after not having played it in a while and when I did I found I had some pretty gnarly fret buzz and the neck was obviously bowed. I was pretty upset that my $500 guitar that I only bought a year ago was so hosed up so I finished restringing it and then left it in the case till this morning. To my surprise, no fret buzz. At all.

I'm guessing that the old strings, (they might have even been the stock strings) had stopped being able to apply the right tension and so the neck bowed back but the new strings tightened it back into place? That doesn't seem like something that should happen and none of my other guitars have ever had something like that happen. Should I be worried? Should I take it to a tech or try to contact the manufacturer?

# ¿ May 31, 2012 16:53

Epi Lepi: Oct 29, 2009; You can hear the voice
Telling you to Love
It's the voice of MK Ultra
And you're doing what it wants

Can someone tell me the secret to getting a super creamy overdrive/distorted tone like in Death Cab for Cutie's "Cath" or even Hum's "Stars"? Both songs definitely have dirt to them but it's not crunchy or fuzzy, they're like smooth but with a bit of bite to them. I probably sound like a moron making up words, but I've always dreamed of getting those kind of tones and for whatever reason, I have a huge mental block about choosing equipment to get that sound or getting that sound to come out of my equipment. And then 9 times out of 10 when you listen to demos of anything guitar related the dude is playing lovely boring blues riffs and they're accentuating the crunchy kind of distortion.

# ¿ Jun 20, 2012 20:35

Epi Lepi: Oct 29, 2009; You can hear the voice
Telling you to Love
It's the voice of MK Ultra
And you're doing what it wants

rt4 posted:

I'm not very familiar with either song, but I just listened to them on Youtube and they don't sound very well comparable. As for the Death Cab song, I think you could get that tone pretty easily from a slightly overdriven tube amp.

They're not exactly the same but they both have a smoother quality than the kind of crunch you hear from Classic Rock acts, or alternative acts like Dinosaur Jr and Yuck.

# ¿ Jun 20, 2012 21:46

Epi Lepi: Oct 29, 2009; You can hear the voice
Telling you to Love
It's the voice of MK Ultra
And you're doing what it wants

CalvinDooglas posted:

The Death Cab song sounds like a generic Tube Screamer tone, and the Hum song sounds like a Marshall head or something similar.

Those are also studio recordings and you will never be able to replicate exactly, for a number of reasons.

A Tube Screamer is your best bet for getting the same kind of tone, especially one modded to original specs. Ideally, a modded Tube Screamer plugged into a tube amp. Use the middle or bridge pickup. Turn the Presence knob on your amp down for creamier tone, up for fuzzier/chunkier tone.

I have a Fender Blues Jr, but I never push the master volume past 2 which is probably part of the reason I can't get that tone I want in my head. Gotta do what you gotta do when you're a bedroom player though. Do I have any pedal options for a Marshall tone?

# ¿ Jun 21, 2012 21:08

Epi Lepi: Oct 29, 2009; You can hear the voice
Telling you to Love
It's the voice of MK Ultra
And you're doing what it wants

revolther posted:

I've experienced that problem, mostly with stringing new-to-me acoustics. Sometimes you will be winding a string and get it nearly in tune, then *THUNK* you lose the tension. When you put the string in the bridge-hole, and replace the bridge pin, the string's little circle anchor shouldn't necessarily be IN the pin groove but sort of overlapping it, so that the string fills the groove and the circle anchor gets pulled right up against the bone/wood of the pin/guitar acting as the choke point.

I typically do it all with finesse the first time lining the string up, pushing the pin down while pulling the string taught. Then I give it a really good yank/pull where I worry the ridges of the string might cut my hand while applying a somewhat equal amount of pressure to the pin, and call it a day.

The low-e is the trickiest one, I try to think of it as like a J shape or fishing hook, where all that grippy string is curving into the pin groove, then pull the string & press the pin in at the same time.
Awkward chart.

Is that really how you're supposed to string acoustics? I've been doing it wrong for like 7 years. :v:

# ¿ Jul 5, 2012 05:47

Epi Lepi: Oct 29, 2009; You can hear the voice
Telling you to Love
It's the voice of MK Ultra
And you're doing what it wants

muike posted:

How've you been doing it?

With the ball end at the end of the peg instead of making a J shape like that pic.

# ¿ Jul 5, 2012 06:29

Adbot: ADBOT LOVES YOU

# ¿ May 2, 2024 12:21

Epi Lepi: Oct 29, 2009; You can hear the voice
Telling you to Love
It's the voice of MK Ultra
And you're doing what it wants

RE90 posted:

Hate to barge in like this but I'm going to Guitar Center tomorrow with a $450 budget (think $400+), and have no clue how I will decide on an acoustic guitar (after my roommate's drunk friend ran off with my previous one).

Last time, the choice was easy. I didn't know how to play yet, so I just went to zzsounds, saw a $200 Washburn at the top of the 'popular' list...and that was it.

I only play in bursts lasting maybe a week every few months, and the extent of my skill is playing the chords for whatever song has been stuck in my head for the past few days, and then a ton of Jason Mraz. I can play barre chords, but wish to do more in the future (play from the heart, know what I mean?).

Where can I find some reputable sources online (perhaps your own expertise?) to guide me towards a particular guitar?

The best thing to do is just grab a bunch and play them until you find something that feels and sounds like you want it to.

Personally I'd recommend a Takamine, I love mine. Feels great to me, and has a nice bright tone to it which might appeal to you. Also if you're like me and are lazy/can't tune by ear, consider getting an electric/acoustic with an onboard tuner. Makes life way easier.

# ¿ Oct 1, 2012 16:03

The Something Awful Forums > The Finer Arts > No Music Discussion > Musician's Lounge > GUITAR MEGATHREAD: Dan Erlewine is your huckleberry

«‹›2 »