The Official Guitar Thread

L

Lemmiwinks_sl

shitlord
533
6
I have a shitty $300 steel string fender acoustic I fingerpick on, so I suppose I should invest in a nice nylon soon.

Thanks for the advice guys, Ill just get more strict with my practice.
 
C

crateandbarrel_sl

shitlord
29
0
McQueen_sl said:
I just took the plunge on my first guitar (Agile Al-3110m). What are some good learning materials that I can check out? I'm going to get Rocksmith to screw around with, but I'd like something to actually teach me to play music. I'd heard good things about GuitarIn60Seconds before, but the website seems out of date. Would something likeA Modern Method for Guitarbe worth checking out? Also, what should I look for in a good small practice amp?
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If Stevie Ray Vaughan/Texas Blues style interests you check outhttp://steviesnacks.com/free-lessonsweekly free lessons going back to 2007 that deconstruct different aspects of SRV and his songs and influences. Also, his paid lesson packs are quite good.
 
L

Lemmiwinks_sl

shitlord
533
6
This may seem like a dumb question but:

When learning new songs, how much do you refer to tablature? I try to pick some out by ear, but it can be tedious and frustrating. I really want to "feel" the notes playing and be able to pick stuff up by ear, but man, its tough. Sometimes I feel like playing straight off tabs is a crutch.
 
McQueen

McQueen

Ahn'Qiraj Raider
3,123
5,471
Pictures of the new guitar. Spoilered for size.

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rrr_img_712.jpg
 
D

Duppin_sl

shitlord
3,785
3
Looks really nice!

Any of you have a recommendation for ~$100 headphones to use with a guitar amp? I want to be able to play at 2am if I'm awake without blasting out my neighbors.
 
Kalaar kururuc

Kalaar kururuc

Grumpy old man
530
453
I recently bought these:

http://uk.akg.com/product-detail-2821/k-451.html

RRP is about 130quid (about $200) but they're on great deals everywhere here in the UK, not sure about over in the US of A. Did some research recently as my Schure's fell to pieces and for the price they cant be beat according to pretty much any reliable review site, with the current deals they're even better value. Really happy with them, fantastic sound, very comfy even for long periods and they come with the adapter to plug into the larger headphone socket most amps come with.

edit: forgot to say, great deal I got was 65 quid, so about $100..seems a pretty common price for them.
 
S

Seventh

Golden Squire
892
15
Duppin_sl said:
Looks really nice!

Any of you have a recommendation for ~$100 headphones to use with a guitar amp? I want to be able to play at 2am if I'm awake without blasting out my neighbors.
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I use these, and they are fantastic. $200 new but I'm sure you can snag a used set on the 'bay for closer to what you're looking to spend. Crazy comfortable ear cups, so they're awesome for long sessions.

http://www.amazon.com/Beyerdynamic-7.../dp/B0006NL5SM
 
Stosh

Stosh

Bronze Knight of the Realm
201
12
Anybody here a lefty? I've always wanted to buy and learn to play but the few times I started to back in my youth, dipshits tried to convince me to play right handed because it would be "easier". So any lefties here and any issue you may or may not have had because of it?
 
Alex

Alex

Still a Music Elitist
14,496
7,409
I'm a lefty but I learned how to play right-handed. Sometimes I wonder if that was a mistake and if I'd be much better if didn't go that route, but left-handed guitar availability is so limited and much more expensive that I just couldn't justify it when I bought my shitty Epiphone as my first guitar.
 
McQueen

McQueen

Ahn'Qiraj Raider
3,123
5,471
Would a small "dimple" on the binding near the pickup selector on the binding be anything to get pissy about? Or should I just count my blessings that the only blemish on it is so small that my camera couldn't focus on it?
 
Cutlery

Cutlery

Kill All the White People
<Gold Donor>
6,376
17,721
Well, from the reviews on that Agile website Tenks listed before, the feeling I got from it is that they're decent guitars for people who aren't up to spending $$ for an instrument, but they're not top quality by any stretch of the imagination. A lot of complaints about unfinished frets, rough edges, blemishes, etc. I'm trying to turn over a new leaf and not piss on everyone's parade all the time, but it seems you found out what I expected - there's going to be imperfections in them, and at the price point they're pushing them at, I don't really think the company cares enough to fix them. What are you gonna do, throw down $2k for a Les Paul because you didn't like theirs? Probably not. That's their market, passable guitars, decent price point.

That being said, if it's your first guitar, it's gonna play just fine, and it's nothing to worry about. And it'll either sit in the corner collecting dust in 6 months, or you'll be playing it every day and know what you really want in a guitar.
 
McQueen

McQueen

Ahn'Qiraj Raider
3,123
5,471
What are the chances that a new Gibson Studio would be 100% perfect, though? How about something like a Schecter or ESP? I know that the tiny dimple is there, and it still took me a minute to find it. Is 99.9% generally considered fine?
 
Cutlery

Cutlery

Kill All the White People
<Gold Donor>
6,376
17,721
My Schecter was perfect from what I could tell. So was my Dean. But there were a lot of complaints on that Rondo website about imperfections in the build quality, which is the only thing I can say about it. I don't know a fucking thing about Agile or what kind of products they make or anything, but it sure seemed to me like it's poor man's/entry level gear where people aren't going to be concerned with perfect, they're going to be concerned with having something that looks pretty good at a reasonable price.
 
D

Duppin_sl

shitlord
3,785
3
McQueen_sl said:
What are the chances that a new Gibson Studio would be 100% perfect, though? How about something like a Schecter or ESP? I know that the tiny dimple is there, and it still took me a minute to find it. Is 99.9% generally considered fine?
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I'm having a hard time figuring out why you're even worrying about this.

Does it play well for its price? That's really the only thing you should be concerned about, IMO.
 
Cutlery

Cutlery

Kill All the White People
<Gold Donor>
6,376
17,721
Next topic --

My wife (bless her heart) keeps pushing me to buy new gear. I loves having a sugar momma. As I already have 2 fixed bridge guitars, my obvious next step is to get one with a proper trem system to have around. I have absolutely no inclination or desire to be Steve Vai, but it seems like a tool to have at your disposal. That being said, there's an awful lot of really shitty bridges out there that don't stay in tune and tend to not function very well in the long term, so what kind of opinions do you long time guys (like Seventh) have on them? Floyd Rose? Kahler? My buddy's Floyd knockoff on his Jackson is a complete piece of trash, he bitches about it constantly and it doesn't do what he wants it to. I'm pretty sure Kahler actually uses the ball end of the string too, so that might be a consideration. And the fact that there's like 14 different kinds of them, some of which I assume are complete shit, and there's probably 2 or 3 that people actually use. Floyd Rose Original, FR Special, Kahler Hyrbid, Kahler X-Trem -- all that shit just reeks of "Hey, here's a budget device that looks like the professional one, but in reality is a complete piece of shit and will break in under a year," but I don't know how to translate it yet.
 
McQueen

McQueen

Ahn'Qiraj Raider
3,123
5,471
Duppin_sl said:
I'm having a hard time figuring out why you're even worrying about this.

Does it play well for its price? That's really the only thing you should be concerned about, IMO.
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It does play well. I'm just going to stop being retarded now.
 
Kithani

Kithani

Blackwing Lair Raider
1,045
1,305
Stosh_sl said:
Anybody here a lefty? I've always wanted to buy and learn to play but the few times I started to back in my youth, dipshits tried to convince me to play right handed because it would be "easier". So any lefties here and any issue you may or may not have had because of it?
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I'm a lefty and haven't had too much trouble playing right-handed although I play bass. When I play guitar I have what I feel is above-average trouble using a pick on individual strings, but that's probably all in my head. There have been plenty of great left handed players who played right handed (can google it if you're interested).
 
Alex

Alex

Still a Music Elitist
14,496
7,409
I'm a big fan of Wilkinson tremolo systems. I have them on two of my guitars and I can divebomb and bend up to my heart's content. The divebomb isn't as deep as what you can get on a Floyd Rose, but not much compares to that. Don't get a Bigsby. They are fucking awful.

As for Rondo guitars, I have a friend back in Ohio who has quite a few of them and he's only had one that wasn't a quality instrument. Of course, he buys the "higher" end guitars from their site. You know, the ones that are a whopping $250. I honestly can't tell much of a difference between them and a legit Gibson. And I'm completely serious. This guy's been playing for over 30 years too. I also convinced a friend here who wanted to pick up a decently priced guitar to get one and it plays like a dream as well. Sure, they might require a bit more initial setup as far as intonation and truss rod adjustments, but that's a small price to pay considering the quality.
 
Cutlery

Cutlery

Kill All the White People
<Gold Donor>
6,376
17,721
To hell with you guys for not having opinions in a timely manner!

I went Kahler after doing way more reading than anyone should ever have to do on bridges yesterday.

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E

Eduleuq_sl

shitlord
7
0
Been playing (poorly) 25 years now, and just bought my first tube amp. A line 6 DT25. What a game changer. Actually I have the whole Dream Rig now with the HD500 and JT 59 Variax. I'm also micing instead of DI + plug ins. I'm finally happy with guitar tones I'm recording.

My only gripe with he Dream rig is a total lack of reamping ability. My old Vetta spoiled me. I can live with it though for the tone I'm getting though. I know I'm only getting started with it too.

/converted tube snob.
 
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