guitar NEWB thread

My feeling about most people debating the merits of pickups and the like is stfu and learn how to play. As long as a guitar is playable, holds its tuning and doesn't create horrible noise/interference you can change the sound quite a lot just through things like picking technique, messing with the knobs, etc. Even moreso if you're using pedals, although this is another area where people put too much focus. If you're a pro or a very experienced player you'll be more aware of how the tech can help improve your sound and solve your problems, but there's nothing more depressing than a shitty guitarist with an overly-thought-out customized guitar and rig.

edge.jpg

"but there's nothing more depressing than a shitty guitarist with an overly-thought-out customized guitar and rig"
OTM

'audio' people are the worst. Gearslutz steez = "yeah but I null tested it and there was something at -40db and I can't have that'
Sorry how many records have you mixed? Stop worrying and apply some art.

holds its tuning

Key as fuck. I feel like I would have advanced a lot more in my younger years as a guitar player if I a.) hadn't had shitty tuning heads and b.)actually knew how to tune a guitar.

speaking of tuning i can highly recommend this one

http://www.tcelectronic.com/media/polytune_persp_poly.jpg

sorry i couldn't find a bigger picture

I've heard those are great. They make a slightly smaller one now as well that costs about $10 bucks less.

xxpost btw it's not really the tuners that are responsible for holding tune. grease yer nutz people. and learn how to wrap your strings.

and cut this shit out we're scaring the NEWBs

I unquestioningly accept that I may have had nut problems as well.

In the past, I've had problems with my (truss) rod.

it's common for truss issues to cause problems with your rod

I wouldn't have even noticed the difference between humbuckers and single coils.

uhhhh

Guys, I already spend a regular pretty penny on film/video equipment, I don't want to go in the hole for another gear-heavy hobby! Hobby being the key word here, the video is my primary dayjob/creative outlet, I just to learn guitar so I can play in my garage and take my mind of the other stuff. I basically don't want to spend more than $300 on initial setup. Although the pedal Roger posted loooks sweeet.......

that's where everyone starts ;-)

you'll be hard-pressed to find a satisfying electric guitar/amp/pedals setup for under $300 but it can be done. Again the good news here is that LA craigslist is about as good as it gets for guitar stuff.

Starter guitars to look for imo:
- MIM telecasters or strats
- Epiphone 335s or Les Pauls (there are a couple on LA craigslist right now around $300 that look pretty promising)

Starter AMPS to look for imo:
- Fender Champion 600 (with single coils; not a lot of clean headroom with 'buckers)
- Vox AC4
- Vox Pathfinder
- dunno what the hot el cheapo modelers are these days, but these will let you play with effects without buying pedals yet. Vox Valvetronix? Roland Cube/MicroCube? Line 6 MicroSpider?
- Yamaha THR10 looks ideal but it's $300 and not yet on the used market

Starter PEDALS to look for imo:
- EH Big Muff or Little Big Muff
- Ibanez TS-9 Tubescreamer
- RAT
- MXR Distortion III - not a classic or anything but super handy and cheep
- Digitech Digidelay
- Line 6 Echo Park

Would love to hear other folks' thoughts on a good affordable NEWB rig. Wonder where DJP's got off to...

ugh, money

maybe I'll just learn the flute or go acoustic...

vox pathfinder is a perfectly fine little practice amp. can be had for under $100 on amazon.

I like this place, it near my house:

http://futuremusicstore.com/

xp - nice! thank you. I was hoping for like a $100 amp and a 200ish guitar. I realize that isn't much but for now...

i've heard some good things about the Mascis Squier Jazzmaster ($300)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kgVEtGXJRzo

MASCIS?

uh oh....

That sounds nice. I wanna be J too =(

it's CHEAP too

uhhhh

seriously do not worry about this crap at all ;-)

i think we can put together a totally sweet low-cost electric rig 4 u. esp. if you can stretch to like $500. it'll grow over time if you enjoy it, and you'll be able to ditch it all for more or less what it cost. zero risk!

and yeah Future Music is grebt. lotta oddball stuff, can get a little spendy. but a great place to dream, in a good way.

Dude, this is a nice guitar.

I'm fucked. This is the same thing that happened when I was a bike newb!

xxp

i have a mexijag : (

It sounds cool, whatever it is

By a strange chain of events I came to own a Johnson Solara. I believe they are around 150 new. I play it through a lower end tube amp, a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe, and I love the way it sounds and it plays great.

names of guitars and gear are great, huh?

Am I having an early midlife crisis?

wish i still lived in LA. would have happily just loaned u gear to start.

my vox da5 has intermittent sound from the speaker (sometimes it works, sometimes it's silent). i attached alligator clips to the leads and attached them to another speaker and it works OK, so it must be something inside the speaker itself, but can't imagine what it is. (bad capacitor?)

just based on this, i wouldn't get a vox, since even the worst of the worst crate practice amps have always at least worked, though this just could be a freakish defect.

awww thanks roger

Here is a thread all about cheap-ass guitars

Hey, hey, how are the slave labor guitars: Gibson-Baldwin Signatures and SX/Agiles

maybe I'll just learn the flute or go acoustic...

― www.gbokchoymail.com (admrl), Friday, May 18, 2012

welp one nice thing about acoustic is it definitely limits the variables so you can focus on just learning the instrument. iirc the first few months were tough for me. it's not like e.g. piano where on day one your touch might be a little lacking but you can at least produce an F or B chord that sounds like it came from a musical instrument.

Are there any really good slave labor amps? I would think it would be easier to build adequate amps than adequate guitars

acoustic is definitely a great way to learn and build hand strength. your hands and fingers will hurt and you will want to die

xpost hurting there are TONS tbh.

just listed a few of them on the low-cost/low-power side of things but there are also e.g the various new Voxes and Fenders, Jet City, Egnater, the lol Bugera Matchless knock-off, etc etc.

Re: speaker intermittent thing upthread - no caps in the speaker, prob either a tinsel lead or a slight voice coil rub. Short version - replace the speaker.

heres a $200 range guitar thats prob good for the price
http://www.musiciansfriend.com/guitars/squier-cyclone-electric-guitar/h77032000004000

UPDATE:

I still don't have a teacher. I'm a lazy SOB.

I can play the following chords: E/G/C/D/A/F (ps F sux) (I assume I'm doing F right anyway, I kind of figured it out instead of looking it up and ended up with XX3211)

I can't play anything in rhythm yet. Switching between chords is a 3-10 second "um okay my fingers go here no wait HERE dammit press harder ow my fingers" ordeal.

I have a newfound appreciation for anyone playing fast-strummed rhythm guitar parts because that shit is hard and hurts.

I need to get a teacher, it's stupid I haven't gotten one already.

full F chord is 133211, it's basically the E chord with everything pushed up a fret, but yeah it's a lot harder to play because you have a make a barre

yup, that's F

learning the barre chords is fun and good for hand strength

xp

like n/a said: the "E major" shape barre chord: 133211
the "e minor" shape barre chord: 133111

the "a major" shape barre chord: x13331 (people mostly play this as x1333x
the "a minor" shape barre chord: x13321

I looked at making F with all 6 strings and my hand basically went "you know what, that idea can go fuck itself"

sigh

wait, wouldn't x13331 be... B-flat, E, A, C#, F?

B-flat, F, B-flat, D, F

oh right, 3 not 2

i'm putting those chord names in quotes because that's the shape when played as an open chord.

i probably should have called it "e string root major and minor" and "a string root major and minro" which is more accurate.

no I got what you meant, I was just thinking A = fret 2 and being dumb about translating into notes

another good practice chord is the minor 11

111111

Yeah, that's a good way to practice the barre. Especially if you don't play the A string, making is just a minor 7th.

1x1111

I haven't really wrapped my head around how to skip a string in the middle of a chord