156 replies to this topic

[Muscle]

I have been playing for 7 months.

 

If you want to play Electric Guitar, get an electric guitar. Both of those guitars should last a long time as they aren't cheap copies, Squier are owned by fender, so they have to be made well,  else people wouldn't buy fenders as a second guitar.

[Em_the_Ghostie]

I've played for a while now (since I was about 10, now 34!).  I'm not great by any standard but I play a good solid rhythm guitar and sing with my band.  I started on acoustic, moved to electric late teens and then went back to acoustics for my last two bands.  I've got a few guitars (too many if you ask the hubby!!). My favourite at the moment is my Martin LXM.  Its tiny but I suffer from Carpel Tunnel quite a bit and the smaller size really helps!  I've got an Ibanez Jumbo, a Washburn festival, a Martin 12 string, and a vintage Gibson jumbo.  There are still plenty of guitars I'd love!  I tried mandolin for a bit but it wasn't for me!

 

Dependent on where you are in Wales Frailers guitars in Runcorn is well worth a look - you can check them out online but not all guitars are on their website.  Great shop with loads of guitars to suit all levels and really hepful staff. Lots better than any branch of Dawsons I've ever been in. 

 

Squires are great guitars but if you're getting an acoustic make sure its set up right.  They are generally harder to play than an electric because they're bigger.  You don't want to make it any harder by having the action too high.  It'll also affect your intonation meaning it'll sound out of tune higher up the fret board.  There is a fantastic place over on the Wirral called KGB which I use for any work on my guitars and have done for some time.  If your buying new it should be set up and right but if you go second hand then its worth the money for a set up as it'll make learning much easier.

 

Above all else - stick with it!  It'll be frustrating when you know what you should be doing but get it wrong.  Practice, practice practice is the key!  I still get annoyed with myself when I try something and it doesn't quite work out, I'm still learning and I'm still getting better even after all these years!  I'd recommend a teacher once you've got the basics.  You learn so much more from working with someone than you do from a video and you're less likely to pick up bad habits as you'll have someone showing you the correct way.

 

Cheers

Em x

[Teapot]

Many thanks to Element for mentioning Justin Sandercoe's tutor series. He has inspired me to dig out my old Cortez Spanish guitar, buy a thinner pick, download a tuning app and get practising from the ground up. Its wide fingerboard and high action will give me trouble making some of his fingering but hey, I used to manage ok, so it's only practice.

 

Seems like everything I ever played was pretty much wrong timing, wrong tunes and/or wrong fingering because I never did LISTEN. So now I'm starting again. A to D, D to E, E to A and don't lift the forefinger. First real song I'm aiming for is Blackbird, played right this time.

 

Thanks again and good luck to all strummers & twangers.

Edited by Teapot, 29 September 2013 - 08:15 PM.

[cradley-heathen]

i agree with whoever said if you want to play electric, get an electric. acoustics (generally) have thicker, wider necks, big action, and thick strings, it makes learning harder and may put you off in the early stages. plus the technique and style is pretty much completely different for electric and acoustic.

 

i have only been playing again for about 12 months, but in my school/college/uni days i was heavily into playing, infact the first time i played in a pub i was 13! i just stopped playing at about 21 when i started working full time and started speding all my time on my cars. since then about ten years had passed and its amazing what i forgot!

 

as regards learning to play, youtube is your best bet (and its free) i have never had a lesson in my life and most of the musicians i know havnt either. if there was youtube when i started playing (or even the internet for that matter) it would have made learning allot easier!

 

im a fender man through and through (i have got a custom shop strat now) infact so is my bass player, he even has a fender tattoo! a good while back i had a few squiers though and the tele your looking at is a nice guitar. the classic vibe and vintage modifed squiers are much better than just a "beginers guitar"

 

as regards your gear, if your fingers are really tacking a punishing, you can swap them to a lighter gauge that will be easier until your fingers get used to it all, i use really thick strings now as i find it effects the tone. as for an amp, i would advise getting one with reverb in it, not all small amps have it but it makes a huge difference to the sound and just makes the guitar sound that little bit sweeter. the little vox modelling amps look really good starter amps for the money and have loads of features to keep you entertained!

http://www.dawsons.c...black-combo-amp

Edited by cradley-heathen, 29 September 2013 - 04:51 PM.

[davej]

Thanks very much for the advice guys, I haven't had chance this weekend but this week I will go and have a look at a few guitars this week.

 

I'm just outside Chester Em so Runcorn is not too far away for me, anyone else had bad experiences with Dawsons? There is one just down the road from me so was going to go there.

 

What does the "action" of a guitar mean??

 

I am tempted to go straight for an electric due to it being a little easier die to thinner strings etc. I will have to really stick with it if I'm spending £300 on a guitar straight from the off.

 

Dave

[cradley-heathen]

if you think you may not stick at it dont go too mad, a standard series squier strat can be bought new for less than £100

http://www.guitargui...0&search=squier

 

i live not far from birmingham and there are quite a few good, big guitar shops there, but i have been up to liverpool and manchester trying stuff out before buying the ones i have now. i was under the impression that dawsons were pretty good to be honest.

 

the "action" refers to the distance between the back of the string and the frets. a high action means your fingers have to pull the string down a further dictance to finger it against the fret properly. generally speaking i think a beginer will find it easier to play with lighter (thinner) strings and a nice low action.

 

just for learning some stuff at home you will be ok without an amp, just sit down infront of youtube and get stuck in! as others have said, i wouldnt worry too much at first about learning all the scales and chords etc, just try to learn a few simple tunes first. i think you will find its more fun when you can knock out "smoke on the water" for the first time rather than knowing a load of scales etc.

 

incidentally, what kinda music do you like? what do you want to play?

[davej]

Ah I see, a low action sounds good then. 

 

I'm into a lot of classic rock stuff so playing smoke on the water would be cool. I have chosen that squier butterscotch blonde as I'm a big Bruce Springsteen fan, would love to be able to play some Status Quo stuff too.

 

My uncle tried to teach me some scales years ago when I was round at his place and yeah it did seem rather dull to be honest.

Edited by davej, 29 September 2013 - 06:09 PM.

[Em_the_Ghostie]

I've not necessarily had a "bad" experience at Dawsons and I've used them a fair few times.  I just find them a little impersonal compared to the likes of Frailers and other intendant shops and I'd rather give my money to the little guy than the big chain but thats true of a lot of things for me!  Frailers also have a really good range of 2nd hand gear thats not overpriced.  The electric guitarist in my band plays a Fender tele, a Squire strat or a Gibson Les Paul.  You can get some cracking guitars for not a lot of money these days and you won't go far wrong with a good Squire.  I had a couple of Squire teles when I was playing electric.  For your strings and smaller buys Dawsons have a great range and are generally cheaper (try strings direct though as they often have good deals).

 

Get going with some of the simpler Boss songs like Dancing in the Dark and you'll be away!  Quo songs will come once you get used to barre chords and moving your fingers about a bit on the fret board hand.  There are some good websites for tab or chord charts although they aren't always accurate - ultimate guitar is generally OK and there are usually a few rated versions of songs so you can get the right idea of what you should be playing.  It gives you the finger positions for the chords too so along with some YouTube vids it should all start to make sense.

 

I hate scales with a passion!  God knows how many years of learning piano, singing and brass and going through grades does that to you.  They do have there place and its worth knowing the structure of them and what notes go in each key but its not essential for getting started.  It'll come in much more useful if you're trying to work out songs by ear or it you end up writing anything yourself.

 

Cheers

Em x

[davej]

That's a good point on giving your money to the little man instead of the big chains.

 

I have found two guitar tab books but I suppose everything is online nowadays.

 

Quo stuff should only be three chords   

 

Is it worth restringing the guitar I get to lighter gauge strings?

[Em_the_Ghostie]

lol Quo is quite easy but you have to move around with hammer on's to get the feel right.  Most Oasis you can knock out with 3 chords and no tricky fingering.

 

As for stringsI would see how it feels. The humble string may be more complicated than you first think!!  From what I remember most electrics will come with 10s or 11s.  Dependent on your guitar and how its set up different gauge strings will suit it.  I have 12s on my full size guitars but my smaller guitar can't have anything less than 13s on it as the neck needs that amount of tension in it to play right and for a small scale guitar thats the only way to do it.  because its small you don't really notice the strings are a bit thicker.  Its all to do with truss rod tension.  This will have an affect on your action and changing the gauge of the strings can pull it up or down.  Its for stuff like this I think you're better going to somewhere like Frailers where they're not just trying to sell you something and get you out the door.  They want to give you the right advise and service so you'll go back next time you're looking for a guitar.  They'll be able to let you know what the recommended strings are.  Electrics generally have lighter strings.  There are loads of different brands of string and loads of varieties by each manufacturer.  As they're reasonably inexpensive its worth trying some out to see what suits you.  I don't like coated strings like Elixirs but many people do - and they say they last longer as you don't get dirt build up in the winding on the strings.  If you can cope with them though stick with whats on it to start with.

 

Cheers

Em x

[davej]

It is so complicated   Thanks Em for your help. Just had a look on your bands website, sounding really good. 

[cradley-heathen]

yes there is allot to be said for buying an instrument from a smaller outlet, i do like the personal touch i must admit.

 

it is true that changing the string gauge can effect the tension in the neck, but if you only go one size up or down it wont shift anything about too much if at all.

 

i think most electrics leave the factory with 9 gauge strings these days. they should be fine for a beginner really, and 9 gauge strings are very easy to bend when soloing etc. an electric with 11/12/13 gauge strings puts you in the stevie ray vaughan category and they are really hard to bend, even when you tune down to f-sharp like we do.

 

i think if you enjoy messing with your mini and like knowing how it all works, youll like playing guitar as there is always stuff you can modify with them too.

 

as for smoke on the water, youll nail it day one mate!

[Em_the_Ghostie]

Thanks mate :)  Its as complicated as you want to make it I suppose - a lot like minis!!!  You can pass it on to someone else to sort it out or you can learn about it yourself and get stuck in!  I don't mind re-stringing and basic maintainance on the guitars but I don't like doing anything major so I use KGB over on the Wirral (Pacific Road Arts Centre so probably really handy for you!).  They really know their stuff and have done a fantastic job of fitting pickups and setting up my guitars.

 

Glad you like the band :)  If you're on facebook pop onto the page and give us a like ;) www.facebook.com/jessicasghost.

 

Cheers

Em x

Edited by Em_the_Ghostie, 29 September 2013 - 08:17 PM.

[mini13]

Washburn ec29 and ec36 here, I have one of each, and my sis has a left handed one..... soooo rare!

 

apart from that Ive a bitza tele with thick strings and punchy pickups, great for screaming blues and slide,

 

used to have a great Epiphone SG thich I hocked and regreted ever since.... played better than any real SG Ive tried,

 

Amp wise, Ive got a 18watt single ended all tube combo I built myself, Thick and smooth like butter when cranked.... a marshal 8080 valvestate combo which is great for general stuff and metal, and for all out giging a 1979 100w marshall stack that ive hot rodded... puts out about 220w, has the front end rewired so the gain staged are all in series.

[davej]

Well I went and had a look at some guitars today, they have got a butterscotch squier on order for me to have a play around with, should hopefully be in on Thursday. I tried a squier just in a different colour and it felt lovely, nice and light and surprisingly small, for some reason I thought it would been of bigger and the neck longer. The only chord I remember is D and it sounded ok to my untrained ear, didn't need pressing too hard.

 

They did have a proper buttersctoch blonde tele there but I had to leave that alone as its a bit too expensive.