The guitar thread

The guitar thread


  • Total voters
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Awesome jeffy ! Any chance for a version of 'Jessica' ?
 
Awesome jeffy ! Any chance for a version of 'Jessica' ?

I appreciate it, man! I'm a big Allman bros fan, so 'Jessica' is one of my favorites. I'll take a shot at recording it sometime for sure.
 
I love Guitarsquid's weekly email newsletter!

This week, they shared these two links. Awesome guitarists!

This guy does some awesome stuff with the tuners:

 
Er...not REALLY related and probably a lame excuse to resurrect this thread, but I don't want it to die...:p

So, I just made myself a sig on another forum I frequent. I really wish I knew photoshop better... <_<
signature.jpg
 
Thinking about the Dunlop Cry Baby 95Q. Any thoughts?

Variable wah intensity
15dB boost
Spring-loaded auto-return and switching. Nor sure how to describe this....it turns on when you step on it, and then it automatically turns itself off, like a lot of Morley pedals, but unlike most Crybabys...

DV016_Jpg_Large_151097_V.jpg
 
If I were to decide I wanted to learn myself some guitar, would anyone have advice on an inexpensive beginner guitar to buy?
 
If I were to decide I wanted to learn myself some guitar, would anyone have advice on an inexpensive beginner guitar to buy?

I would reccomend that you shop with someone you know who's been playing for a while, and knows how to properly set up a guitar. Often times a seemingly-crap guitar can be made very playable with just a bit of set-up help.

The trick is with lower-priced instruments, you're more likely to find inconsistancy from guitar to guitar. Two of the same guitars will play/feel/sound completely different...which makes shopping online hard.

Honestly,, my advice would be to look at used gear. For the same money as a cheap new guitar, you'll get one that is maybe a few steps above when you could normally afford.

As long as you stick with a name brand, you'll at least get a guitar that has a baseline of playability. Ibanez, Fender (Squire) Washburn, Schecter, etc. They will all have guitars in your price rage, probably. Guitar Center sells Laguna which sem to be not entirely terrible.

You will likely want to stay away from most guitars with whammy bars. It's easy to make a cheap tremolo. It's not easy or cheap to make one that won't be frustrating as hell (hard-to-impossible to keep in tune, sharp saddles that break strings, etc).

I'd say to start with a fixed-bridge guitar with humbucker pickups (the larger, double-sized pickups) and a coil tap/coil splitting function so you can get a sound of single-coil pickups (the 1/2-sized "strat" pickups).

If you don't have a large-ish music store near you, check out either Musician's Friend or Guitar Center's website, and make sure to read reviews and comments. Get on their mailing lists as they send out discount coupons all the time, too.

I had crap guitars when I first started, and they were so frusrating that they almost made me give up!
 
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If I were to decide I wanted to learn myself some guitar, would anyone have advice on an inexpensive beginner guitar to buy?

My default answer to this question is usually : get a Yamaha. Whether you want to play acoustic or electric, they offer solid quality at basement prices.
Stay away from Stagg. For real.
 
And, to reply to the OP...
I've been playing the guitar since 1986. I play old school hard rock and heavy metal, and am currently in a metal coverband that should be ready to start gigging in the next couple of months.
I'm also a bit of a collector.

My biggest achievements (ahem) : opening for Y&T, playing Wacken Open Air, releasing a couple of CDs.
 
My default answer to this question is usually : get a Yamaha. Whether you want to play acoustic or electric, they offer solid quality at basement prices.
Stay away from Stagg. For real.

Troof, on both counts.


How about tuners? Korg stopped making their rackmounts (and I refuse to pay 100% list price for used gear. :p).

Korg Pitchblack, Boss TU-3 or Digitech Hardwire HT-2??
pitchblack_slant.jpg
boss-tu3.jpg
HardWireHT2_top_alt1.jpg


(kinda wish the Pitchblack came in chrome like the double-instrument pedal...)
 
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I have both the Tu2 and Pitchblack. Pitchblack wins by a long shot.
Smoother tuning, and it doesn't mess up your signal when bypassed. The Tu3 has smoother action as well, but still uses Boss' horrible bypass buffer.
 
My girlfriend got one of these a couple of weeks ago and is already shredding on it:

114147-12efc42132bd645d9b0b5cc8f99310fc.jpg


I think she's a natural bassist. And since she's 5'0" the tiny bass is perfect for her. :D
 
Chicks who play bass are hot. :p Does she sing?
 
I ended up buying the TU-3 over the Pitchblack for 2 reasons, one of them retarded.

1) Every guitarist I know, when asked, said the Boss, even if they had both. This included all the guys at two music stores.

2) I actually BOUGHT the Pitchblack, but then realized that I don't wear shoes in the house, and the little buttons hurt my feet. (See? I told you it was retarded). So, I returned it and bought the TU-3. In the store, I couldn't hear the difference in tone when it was taken out of the signal chain, so that was good enough for me. Since I don't generally use the effects loop, I could always park it there...or I could use my A/B switch to keep it out of the chain, and only switch to it when I needed to check tuning...:hmm:

I also ordered the Dunlop 95Q. The funny thing is that nobody has heard of it. I want to THREE music stores to see if they had it, and they all said "That sounds like the 535Q, but Dunlop doesn't make one that switches like a Morley." So, at my 3rd stop, a Guitar Center, they pulled it up on their own website and ordered it for me.
 
Most people say "buy Boss, it's reliable and everyone uses it so it can't be bad".
While that's partially true, IMO Boss are still trading on the reputation they gained up until the 80s when their stuff was indeed excellent.
I would never go to a music store for advice, BTW;)
Anyhoo, congrats on the new tuner. FWIW, I've had my Tu2 for ten+ years and it's served me fine. I just like the PB better...
 
If I were to decide I wanted to learn myself some guitar, would anyone have advice on an inexpensive beginner guitar to buy?

I'd get one of the cheap all in one kits from someplace like Walmart, hardly the best quality but it will set you up with everything you need to get started and if you like playing you can move onto something better.

My girlfriend got one of these a couple of weeks ago and is already shredding on it:

114147-12efc42132bd645d9b0b5cc8f99310fc.jpg


I think she's a natural bassist. And since she's 5'0" the tiny bass is perfect for her. :D

Every Ibanez bass I've ever played had some of the worst build quality I've ever seen, the ends of the frets were so sharp on one SoundGear that I nearly cut my fingers.
 
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I would never go to a music store for advice, BTW;)

It was only after asking all my guitar-playing friends and reading reviews to know they about came out even, anyways. :p Besides...there are a couple guys that work in specific music stores I trust. I've worked in the for-profit world long enough to know that the product most-likely to be suggested is the one that gets the salesperson something. It's the same reason I recomment specific produsts every chance I get. I get $10 for each one, and if I sell 200, I get a free TV.*laughs* I 'm kidding. I wouldn't recommend something if I didn't actually like it. The chair I'm referring to is the one I sit in every day at work. :)

Yup! :D Melts my heart when she sings and plays "The way I am" by Ingrid Michaelson.

Awesome. :) Are you going to her upcoming show on the 25th?

I'd get one of the cheap all in one kits from someplace like Walmart, hardly the best quality but it will set you up with everything you need to get started and if you like playing you can move onto something better.

Every Ibanez bass I've ever played had some of the worst build quality I've ever seen, the ends of the frets were so sharp on one SoundGear that I nearly cut my fingers.

While I would agree that Ibanez's quality isn't what it used to be (by a long shot) I still think the game of averages is greatly in your favor with Ibanez over the schlock they sell at Wal-Mart, Target or Best Buy. Ibanez is not as consistant in their quality as a Wal-Mart giutar...howver that's because the WalMart guitar will always be shit, where there are a few diamonds in the rough with Ibanez, Epiphone, ESP LTD, Jackson, etc. I'd rather have a guitar with sharp fret ends (which can happen to $5,000 guitars, too, if you don't take proper care of it and the environment it's in) than uber-crap tuning pegs that can't hold a string's tension, or bridge saddles and a nut made of butter.

Here are some guitar kits that start at $439. They are the exact same parts this company uses to assemble into their Fender American Standard Stratocaster-fighting bolt-on guitars. They use Jesco frets, good tuners, nice fixed bridges (avoid the Wilkinson trem) and great woods. They go together easily with all holds pre-drilled, and just need a wipe-on finish after a once-over final sanding. If you get the one with the pickguard, you don't even need any soldering. Just twist a couple wires together.

http://www.carvinguitars.com/kits/
 
Awesome. :) Are you going to her upcoming show on the 25th?
Can't say that I'm a fan, I just like when my gf sings the song. :)


The Ibanez seems like a quality instrument to me, at least for a beginner. Granted I'm no expert on guitars but it feels better than a Squier to me.
 
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