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With an electric, you also have to consider what you're playing through. A $2500 guitar is going to sound like garbage through a cheap amp. I've got an AL-3100 and it sounds pretty good to me through a VOX DA-5 (which is just a little practice thing). Maybe my ears aren't developed enough to tell the difference, especially on the acoustic side. For example, I've played $500 seagulls/breedloves and I'd be hard pressed to say that a $4k Taylor sounded 8x better. Once you get past a few hundred bucks the playability should be about equal anyway.
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Aug 31, 2010 22:23
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baka kaba posted:Don't pull them tight before you start to turn the tuner, I did that once and popped a brand new string too. I leave a fair amount of slack and let it wind around the tuning peg, seems to help seeing as I never break strings anymore :o 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. In case that description wasn't clear, basically pull the string 1 index finger's length at the 12th fret away from the fret board.
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Nov 26, 2010 22:41
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unpurposed posted:I just read this entire thread and I've got a question that I feel some of you guys could answer. I started with a Vox DA-5, which is the same idea as the microcube. I think it has a bigger speaker, though. It's great to start with and portable. If you want something with a bit more punch, the Vox VT-15 is in your price range and has similar effects and all that. If you want to give up the effects, but move to a tube amp instead of solid state, you can get a Vox AC4TV for that price if you look. It usually lists at $249, but I found mind through amazon for $180. It's a nice 4 watt tube amp with a built in switch to knock it down to 1 watt or 1/4 watt so you can play it inside and get it to overdrive without pissing off the neighbors. I didn't really intend for this to be a vox ad, so maybe someone else can chime in with other non-vox recommendations. I guess the first question should have been what type of music you play, as voxs are known more for cleans and warm overdrive rather than metal tones. A setup involves setting the action, tuning, setting the intonation, etc.
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Nov 30, 2010 14:57
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Tarnien posted:No I know how to figure out what the notes should be on paper - I'm saying in terms of finger arrangement. So if I know G is 320003 - from this, is there anyway to know G7 is 320001, without just knowing what G7 is? For instance "Oh, you want to make a major chord into a 7th? Just slide your highest pitch note down 2 frets!" or something similar (but obviously more complicated, I'd imagine). It's going to be different for each chord shape. You can figure them all out and memorize them though. The CAGED system talks about this some I think.
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Dec 13, 2010 01:47
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rt4 posted:It looks like ancient tape delay boxes aren't too hard to find on eBay for around $500. Is it a horrible idea to get one? You can get a Strymon El Capistan for $300 and have a very good simulation of one if you don't want to deal with the physical hardware. If this offends your analog/digital religious beliefs then please accept my apologies. Optimus Subprime posted:So I have been playing on my guild acoustic for the last couple years, and I have been thinking about expanding into the world of electric guitars. I would like to mostly be playing rock and blues on it, so I was thinking of a Les Paul body shape. If I had around $500 to spend on guitar and amp, what should I be looking at? The standard answer is an Agile from Rondo. My first electric was an AL-3100 and I love it. I got a Vox DA5 amp to go with it which I have since augmented with a Vox AC4TV. Some of the AL-3000 and 3100 (only difference is the color of inlays) are about $380 and a DA5 is about $120. havelock fucked around with this message at 01:27 on Feb 15, 2011 |
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Feb 15, 2011 01:25
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revolther posted:I've been playing for about 15 years, but I own only beater acoustics and electrics, nothing above the 300 dollar range. I'm looking now at getting good quality dreadnought acoustic (a/e is a plus) without spending an assload of cash. Any recommendations? I've heard good things about the Epiphone Masterbilt series but I've never played one myself. I keep thinking about upgrading my Mitchell solid top entry level POS.
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Mar 29, 2011 00:33
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Warcabbit posted:I love my Vox DA5, and the Mini 3 is a newer design, so the modeling should be even better. I started with a DA5, too, and it worked great. I moved up to an AC4 once it was clear I was going to stick with it.
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Apr 20, 2012 19:19
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Bazanga posted:Is it worth picking up a loop pedal as my first pedal? I have a Mustang modeling amp so I'm not too worried about getting a good tone so much as learning the guitar. I've got an extra $200ish bucks and was really looking at the Boss RC-3 loop pedal because I've heard people say that it really helped them become better guitarists. That's all I'm really looking for right now, something to help out in practice sessions. My first pedal was an RC-20XL and I think it was a good call. I had a DA-5 at the time so I could already hear some basic effects. It was nice to use the looper to lay down a backing track and then try to solo over it.
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Jul 9, 2012 18:50
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Warcabbit posted:Is there anything bad anyone can actually say about the DA-5? Seriously. It's not quite perfect, but beyond that, does it actually have any flaws? It is pretty great. I don't use mine much after I got a Vox AC4TV, though I've goofed around with some basic stereo setups.
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Jul 9, 2012 22:13
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burritonegro posted:Has anyone else tried Taylor's mini acoustic? That's the most enjoyable acoustic guitar I've played, and it's right around the $450 price. I tried it last time I was at GC. For a tiny guitar I guess it was ok, but it didn't sound as nice as my silly $200 beater Mitchell. I'm sure that was due to the size. I think there are nicer sounding full size guitars at that price point, so I'd avoid it unless you're specifically looking for something small.
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Oct 1, 2012 17:37
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RE90 posted:Thanks for the input, all....I went back and ended up bumping up my range to include a $650 seagull. Didn't snag it quite yet because I wanted to look it up online, and ask if anyone might have experience with this guitar? The S6 is a very commonly recommended beginner guitar in that price range. It's a good choice, especially if it feels good in your hands and you like the look of it.
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Oct 2, 2012 13:29
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rt4 posted:The Vox AC4 can be had for less than $200 on Ebay. It's great. I have this amp and like it a lot - for a 2nd amp. For a first ever amp you're probably better off with a micro cube or the vt20 since they have a bunch of built-in effects. That way you can play with them and figure out what you even like the sound of.
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Oct 31, 2012 19:37
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I just picked up the original a few weeks ago and I'm really enjoying it, especially compared to pro guitar mode on rb3. I've mostly just stuck to career mode and use the qualify portion to sight read and get the difficulty up and by the time it gets to the event it's at a decent level. It does a really good job of progressively ramping up the difficulty so it doesn't turn Not Fun all the sudden. The loading times suck and the interface needs some major work (I see Play Options and Event Manager at the top but still can't figure out how to even select those), but that's ok.
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Oct 3, 2013 16:19
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Zonekeeper posted:You're not helping goddamnit! But the butterscotch blonde looks so sexy... -- SHUT UP VOICE IN MY HEAD! I have the white one. It's great and you should get one.
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Oct 26, 2013 03:59
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I just broke the b string on my cv 50s tele. I think it's the first string I've ever broken (granted because of rocksmith I've played more bends than ever before in my life). It looks like it broke right at the saddle or something. I've only ever bought acoustic strings before. What brand/type should I buy to replace it? It looks like it comes with .09s stock, which were fine with me. I don't want to wait for shipping so I'll probably walk into guitar center tomorrow and get something.
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Oct 29, 2013 04:02
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jwh posted:If someone at the shop has a set of feeler gauges, they can check the width of the existing set. Replace with the same unless you also want to contemplate a set up. It's not necessary in all cases, but if you're changing string gauges it's a good idea. Tell me about the wound G. Zonekeeper posted:Everyone has their own preference on sizes and brands, so feel free to experiment. D'Addarios seem to get more love around here than Ernie Balls, but I use Slinkies on my Strat and I like them. I've changed acoustic strings before and I think I put d'addarios on that once or twice before switching to elixers and never changing them again, so it's not my first time changing them. I just watched a youtube about preventing the string from popping out of the vintage tuners, so hopefully I'll be fine. I'm mostly trying to head off standing there at GC looking at a wall of strings and not knowing what to get (though I suspect they are largely similar).
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Oct 29, 2013 04:31
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baka kaba posted:Well the reason I mentioned the wound G is that Tele has the vintage 3-barrel bridge, right? Just to be clear, the reasoning here is to get a wound G so intonation is easier since both strings on the saddle would be wound?
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Oct 29, 2013 14:46
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prom candy posted:Any recommendations for a simple looping pedal? I just want something that can let me work out melodies on top of chord progressions or two-guitar melodies without having to fire up Ableton and dick around with that. The TC Electronics Ditto looper is getting a tone of hype, partly because it's cheap. It might be worth checking out.
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Nov 25, 2013 20:01
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I think one of the new ehx drives (east river?) is TS-like for about $60.
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Dec 23, 2013 04:48
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DEO3 posted:Right, so, for someone just getting started, what're some bad habits to avoid learning right from the get go so that I don't have to relearn how to play ~properly~ further on down the road? I spent most of my youth skateboarding, so I'm used to practicing something every day, making little to no progress each day, for years on end - but I also know that with something like this it's easy to pick up bad habits early on which can hold you back in the long run. Relax. Use the minimum amount of muscle for everything (left and right hand). At first it's hard to know the difference between muscles that are sore because you've never really used them that way, and muscles that are sore because your squeezing everything to death, but try to pay attention. Loose arms, shoulders, etc. I'd also say start learning the notes on the fret board early, but depending on your goals that may not be as important. Those are the two I certainly struggle with now and wish someone had told me earlier.
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May 26, 2014 15:36
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Agrinja posted:
The arduino really won't let you do too much. The onboard ADCs are 12 bit, which is fine, but the system clock is only 20Mhz and there's not enough SRAM available to store many samples. You also only get PWM output without other components, so that limits the quality a bit. You can do some fun lo-fi stuff, though. I've used one as an LFO generator for a tremolo and that worked great. I'm playing with a TI stellaris launchpad (recently replaced by some Tiva connected thing). They are $13 each, run at 80 Mhz, still only have 12 bit ADCs, but are 32 bit and come with a basic ARM DSP library. I'm using a resistor ladder DAC over SPI and it seems to work ok. They're bigger and the microcontrollers themselves aren't available in DIP, but I'm planning on just buying launchpads to put into things.
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Jun 4, 2014 15:33
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Agreed posted:
Wow, those Quilter amps look neat. I'm happy to see someone trying to move things past obsessively trying to recreate the way things were 50+ years ago. I currently only fiddle around in my living room with an ac4 on an agile and a cv tele, so a $1k amp is probably not the right call, especially just to get some clean tones, but I will totally admit to spending the day reading all about them regardless.
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Jun 8, 2014 15:56
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I went out yesterday intending to buy a gs mini, but everything I picked up just sounded like the acoustic guitar I already have. Instead, I bought a Seagull Merlin and basically haven't put it down. It's a dulcimer inspired 4 string tuned to open D. For about $100 it's a stupid amount of fun. Then some 20% off sales forced me to buy a Ditto x2 and the Hardwire Supernatural Reverb. I won't have those to play with until they arrive, though.
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Jul 5, 2014 15:39
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Allen Wren posted:Does anyone use anything Digitech makes other than the Whammy? Like, I was just reading a terrible pulp monster-hunting novel and it had a gunfight at a rock concert, and it namedropped the destruction of "a whole bank of Digitech pedals," and it just sounded so incredibly awkward and forced. I just bought a hardwire supernatural reverb and after 1 hour I like it a lot.
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Jul 10, 2014 15:18
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Alleric posted:
I have an AL-3100 that I really like. There was a tiny bit of fret buzz on the low e out of the box (easily fixed) and other than that it's been flawless. I alternate between it and a cv50s tele.
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Sep 25, 2014 00:15
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Dirt posted:http://www.musiciansfriend.com/guitars/seagull-s6-entourage-acoustic-guitar They have big fat necks that I don't find comfortable at all. I was ready to love the S6 and it just feels wrong in my hands. My main acoustic is some super basic Mitchell with a solid top that probably cost $125 15 years ago and it's good enough to make it tough to justify spending more money on anything else. Maybe I just got lucky. YeahWhatevah posted:
I played a smaller entry level Recording King and thought it was pretty good, but the low end seemed boxy or closed off, likely due to the smaller size. Still a good deal, though.
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Oct 24, 2014 00:08
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I'm really liking my Hardware Supernatural. Someone on here recommended it a while back.
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Oct 27, 2014 17:55
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I have the white and the wood grain shows through a bit and I think it looks nice.
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Dec 20, 2014 23:52
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Xabi posted:I'm struggling with a proper first world problem: I think I've got too many guitars. It's not too bad, but I've got six electrics and one acoustic. Put one in a different tuning or something. I have the rockband 3 pro guitar and I never use it, but it seems like the midi capabilities might be fun to mess with in the future. I put it in open D and just mess with a slide and stuff on it and now it has a purpose. Also, get some wall hangers for them if you don't have them already. Now they are 'art', too.
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Dec 27, 2014 16:56
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Wow that is nice. I just listened to a ton of demos for the Warped Vinyl, too. I'm probably covered for warble, but both of those are great. I've used my ring thing to do tremolo via slight detune as well as chorus, but I can't ever get the LFO rate and mod depth exactly where I want it.
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Dec 28, 2014 17:00
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When I was first starting I couldn't really tell. Buy what feels nice in your hands. Alternatively, play a tele bridge only and then an LP anything.
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Dec 29, 2014 03:22
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I started looking at hollowbodies and played a few 5420s. Each one was different. The first was so bad that I nearly gave up on them. I've also looked at a Godin, which definitely felt different, but seemed better made. I still haven't decided.
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Jan 5, 2015 23:35
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Just be warned that my CV Tele is as heavy as my LP clone.
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Jan 7, 2015 16:24
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R.D. Mangles posted:I've had my CV tele for a little less than a month, but I've already got a loose input jack. I know this is a tele issue and I've looked up some stuff on tightening it, but anyone have any advice for a quick fix or is it better to just replace the cup? Mine got loose early on - I tightened it up and haven't had a problem since.
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Feb 8, 2015 19:13
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I'm still not great at this by any stretch, but what has helped me lately is to understand how the chord shapes and scales overlap, i.e., what finger is playing what scale degree and thus what other notes are nearby that are in the scale. Then you can turn basic arpeggio stuff into more interesting lines. You can just fall back to moving the chord shapes around with the accompaniment, too, to see how things are getting linked and where opportunities for transitions exist. I'm not sure if that made any sense. The other thing that seems to be helping me is just to play solos by other people to see what patterns they use that you can incorporate. Also if you hit something discordant, just pretend you meant to and bend it up into key.
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Mar 2, 2015 02:00
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I bought a CV50s tele and I think it ended up heavier than my agile. I use a reunion blues wool strap and it makes everything pretty comfortable. I'd also never listened to any buckethead before, so there's that.
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Mar 25, 2015 17:14
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I need string gauge advice. My CV50s tele feels pretty loose string-wise. When I do any significant bends my fretting finger ends up under 2 or 3 of the adjacent strings. With my Agile AL3100, though, I can bend whole steps while barely touching the adjacent string. I know the AL is supposed to have 10s and the CV50s comes with 9s and that the different scale lengths play into this as well. Is this as simple as putting 10s on the tele, or would I need to do a setup or something to make it work right? I'm really liking my tele tone through a big muff and then an mf drive, but I like the feel of the agile better. Edit: to be fair, I guess I have the wide neck version of the al 3100, so that certainly contributes.
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May 3, 2015 17:14
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Right now I've got my MF drive after my Muff, basically just to eq the sound. It adds some nice low end and sounds pretty great.
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May 21, 2015 23:24
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How hard are those things to apply? They look great.
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Jun 13, 2015 02:08
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umalt posted:Start with the amp clean, and play with the knobs. Volume is self-explanitory, Sustain is Gain, Tone is an interesting beast. Unlike a Tubescreamer it affects both high-end and bass; if you turn it down the bass is emphasized but the treble is attinuated, and turning it up does the opposite. Since the Muff is very, very, compressed in how it's distorted you don't want to run it into an already dirty amp (unlike almost every fuzz pedal out there), otherwise it sounds weird and muffled. Play with the EQ on your amp (after marking where you like the EQ settings normally), the Muff takes up a lot of sonic landscape and reacts to changes in EQ. Right now I've got mine before an MF drive and the combo is great. The drive can add some fullness back into the sound.
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Jul 8, 2015 18:19
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