Buying a guitar

Arab Swordsman

Active member
Matinee Idyll said:
Oh! I completely missed this thread until now! Congratulations Mr. Swordsman, sorry again if my tone was alittle uncourteous in the other thread - but you've made a wonderful decision!

I teach guitar, and most of my students really enjoy working through the about.com Beginner Guitar Lessons...

http://guitar.about.com/library/blguitarlessonarchive.htm

Give them a go, and see how things develop! Good luck!

No problem! I got the Fender DVD on how to learn Electric guitar so I'll use that and the about.com lessons. Thanks for the info.
 

Arab Swordsman

Active member
Now I have another question...I'm pretty new to all of this so I hope this isn't a dumb question. I have a pickup switch and tone controls on the guitar but I'm not sure how they would effect the sound. I see that the switch changes the pickup from the bridge up to the neck but how does that make a difference in the sound produced? My controls also adjust for how much neck and middle pickup I get but I don't know what level I should put these at. Any help would be appreciated!
 

Stoo

Well-known member
The pickup closest to the neck will give you more bass and the one by
the bridge will give you more treble. Your tone control knob gives you
finer command over both bass & treble.

What setting? It all depends on what song you want to play. If you are
playing a song with a wide range of dynamics (soft verse & loud chorus)
then that is where the pickup switch comes into play. (Luckily, your Strat
has it in a convenient position - unlike the Les Paul.) I wouldn't worry about
this stuff right away. Learn your chord positions so you can play a song
and then figure out your tonal settings later.

Note: Your amp settings make a big difference! Experiment a little.
Turn up the bass on your amp so as to not make your treble pickup
sound so rinky-dink. If you have a reverb button on your amp, put it on
and you will be amazed at how cool it sounds. (Not too much, though.)
It's all about experimentation...

For you Epiphone Les Paul owners out there - Is it as heavy as the Gibson?
'Cause that thing is a real PIG in terms of weight!
 

Arab Swordsman

Active member
Thanks Stoo. Well, I just learned the first 3 major chords and I'm starting the 3 minor chords from the About.com lesson plan. I've also learned the notes of the string and why it's called a G chord even though you have your fingers on the E, A, and B strings. This is really fun!
 

monkey

Guest
Arab Sword, You have made a great decision, to buy a Fender Stratocaster! In my opinion, not only the greatest guitar ever designed, but truly an icon of Rock and Roll.

As I stated before here, I am a Strat man for life!

Congratulations my friend. You now embark on a musical adventure that will take you to places you've never been, and give you the greatest satisfaction and feeling of accomplishment.

Nothing satisfies the soul like playing music.

But let me also tell you that you will be frustrated. Do not be discouraged, frustration is part of the deal. You will never play as well as you want to play. And that is a good thing. There will be times where you just want to throw the damned thing across the room. ........Don't. Just keep practicing.

There is NO substitute for practice. The formula is simple. The more you practice, the better you will get.

I used to teach guitar lessons. I saw so many people get frustrated and give up too soon. Often times though it was because they had an inferior instrument. You on the other hand have purchased a Fender Stratocaster.

Good luck my friend.

PS, Stoo that's a great story about Yngwie. Yeah, I was pretty much scraping my jaw up off the floor the first time I heard Yngwie. I love that concert DVD of Yngwie in Russia.
 

No Ticket

New member
Stoo said:
For you Epiphone Les Paul owners out there - Is it as heavy as the Gibson?
'Cause that thing is a real PIG in terms of weight!

Nah, mine isn't really that heavy at all. Of course, it's still heavier than a Strat. I have an Epi LP Studio however, my friend's is a standard and it's much heavier. My dad has a Gibson Studio and it's EXTREMELY heavy. lol. Makes your neck hurt after awhile.
 

monkey

Guest
It's all about the wood.

(Yeah, that's what she said)

No, really, it's all about the wood.

Personally I like a heavy guitar. I like density in my wood. Crisper sound, more bite.

That's why for my latest home built strat I chose an Eastern Maple body. In the past I had purchased Ash, Basswood, and Swamp Ash. This time I wanted the most dense wood there was, which is Eastern Maple.

This is probably the heaviest Strat you will ever play. I love it.

Not too happy with my pickups though. I bought these "Golden Age", 'Vintage' pickups from Stewart Macdonald company. I am less than happy with them. I think I'm gonna trash them and put some Seymours in there.
 

No Ticket

New member
I want to get a new guitar soon, but I have no idea what kind to get. I was thinking of getting a Strat, but I'm still unsure. I have an Epi LP and a Gibson SG already.

What I'm considering is:

- A strat
- A Tele
- A gibson LP or LP Junior
- A Fender Jaguar

No idea which to get. lol. You might say, well what kind of sound do you want? Well, that's the thing, I play all kinds of styles so any of those would be nice to have. lol.
 

monkey

Guest
Sounds like you want ALL those guitars.

Who wouldn't?

Sounds like your style might require all of them too.

My advice. Buy a guitar that you are comfortable with, then modify the electronics to get the variety of sounds you want.

You can install switches that can split coils, go parallel, series, in phase, out of phase, etc. You can get a lot of different sounds. And if you know basic soldering, you can do a lot of it yourself.

Reccomendation: pick up the book Guitar Electronics for Musicians (can't remember the authors name right now). Lots of good stuff in there.
 

No Ticket

New member
monkey said:
Sounds like you want ALL those guitars.

Who wouldn't?

Sounds like your style might require all of them too.

My advice. Buy a guitar that you are comfortable with, then modify the electronics to get the variety of sounds you want.

You can install switches that can split coils, go parallel, series, in phase, out of phase, etc. You can get a lot of different sounds. And if you know basic soldering, you can do a lot of it yourself.

Reccomendation: pick up the book Guitar Electronics for Musicians (can't remember the authors name right now). Lots of good stuff in there.

*sigh* That's the truth. I want them all. LOL. I've been thinking about modifying the electronics in my Epi LP actually. Maybe installing some new Gibson pick-ups too.
 

monkey

Guest
No Ticket said:
*sigh* That's the truth. I want them all. LOL. I've been thinking about modifying the electronics in my Epi LP actually. Maybe installing some new Gibson pick-ups too.

Go for it!

New pickups can make a world of difference.

And really, the electronics, and the soldering is pretty basic.

You can do it.
 

Orellana

New member
It actually depends what type of music your into. I prefer Jackson.
Fenders....ehh
I hope you didnt buy it yet. If so, whadidja get?

Orellana said:
It actually depends what type of music your into. I prefer Jackson.
Fenders....ehh
I hope you didnt buy it yet. If so, whadidja get?

I take back the fender thing. partly. I like fender basses those are great. I have a bass like the one dave ellefson used at the "Big four" concert in bulgaria. (the white one) not fender though....

I have a Jackson Kelly guitar. I love it
 
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