Looking for advice on guitar

[Cito]

Tiny back story, was a music performance major in college, majored in french horn for couple years all nerdy lame blah blah, went on to play drums in a local bar 'country' band.

anyhow so I can read music and such, but the years have went by and I've sorta fallen out of my old musical ways so to speak.

So I got to thinking, I've never played guitar, and I'd like to learn. But I'm not committed to paying the thousands I did on my french horn (2,500 french horn) back when I bought it. Mainly because I'm not fully committed as of yet, but I'd like to give it a shot and try something totally new and see how well I can do with some simple basic stuff.


So I got to looking around, places like zzsound or guitarcenter.com, have some "value packs" for beginners randing from 79.99 for what I think is a noname guitar, to $199 for fender starcaster , epiphone les paul, ibanez starter packs that include replacement strings, bag, small amp, tuner, guitar, strap.

What would be the better quality or best purchase for a beginner, I've searched around and seen some demos on youtube and whatnot, I've seen the arguments about pickups, such as the starcaster doesn't have humbuckers and some people on some forums claim that it's a must have.


So you guitar players, if any wanna give some advice for a complete and total noob about guitars I'd appreciate it. I'm just looking for a nice little beginner electric guitar pack to get me started.

Thanks...

[The Jitterskull]

majored in french horn for couple years all nerdy lame blah blah
Whoever told you it's nerdy and lame to do french horn is a faggot.

So I got to thinking, I've never played guitar, and I'd like to learn. But I'm not committed to paying the thousands I did on my french horn (2,500 french horn) back when I bought it. Mainly because I'm not fully committed as of yet, but I'd like to give it a shot and try something totally new and see how well I can do with some simple basic stuff.

For a decent amp and guitar that you can solo off of properly, maybe 400$ guitar + 500$ amp


So you guitar players, if any wanna give some advice for a complete and total noob about guitars I'd appreciate it. I'm just looking for a nice little beginner electric guitar pack to get me started.

Thanks...
1) Humbuckers I haven't tried, but BE CAREFUL with recommendations on the net. Always try them out for yourself. I personally want an ESP, but I like lots of soloing (See Nevermore, Wintersun, Gamma Ray...etc)

2) What do you like listening to? Metal? Rock? You need basically an artist to inspire you. I hate saying this but you need to have a band that does really tricky stuff, because it drives you towards that. Listen to some Nevermore solos (See: This Godless Endeavor album) and I can play that. It took ~3-4 years to be able to sweep most things, and I can do any scale or almost any configuration.

3) Get lessons if you can, from a guy that LIKES your style of music. If you like jazz and take lessons from a metal guy (or vice-versa) you will be turned off your instrument.

[Cito]

Well in college as stated in my first post, I did major in french horn, but as a music performance major we were required to sorta branch out and since I had played drums for the high school jazz band I also did so in college Jazz ensemble.

I've always been a fan of jazz/blues guitar, my taste in music nowdays leads me to more ambient/trip hop type stuff but in rock I prefer the older stuff. Clapton, Hendrix, Vaughn, But I also enjoy stuff such as Nightwish.

There won't be a band really, just me learning a new instrument at home for personal enjoyment.

[Jukebox_Hero]

You majored in french horn? lol :P

The $80-$200 you're looking to spend on a new beginner guitar would be much better spent on a used one that's a step up.

[SexyWoodenSpoon]

Tiny back story, was a music performance major in college, majored in french horn for couple years all nerdy lame blah blah, went on to play drums in a local bar 'country' band.

anyhow so I can read music and such, but the years have went by and I've sorta fallen out of my old musical ways so to speak.

So I got to thinking, I've never played guitar, and I'd like to learn. But I'm not committed to paying the thousands I did on my french horn (2,500 french horn) back when I bought it. Mainly because I'm not fully committed as of yet, but I'd like to give it a shot and try something totally new and see how well I can do with some simple basic stuff.


So I got to looking around, places like zzsound or guitarcenter.com, have some "value packs" for beginners randing from 79.99 for what I think is a noname guitar, to $199 for fender starcaster , epiphone les paul, ibanez starter packs that include replacement strings, bag, small amp, tuner, guitar, strap.

What would be the better quality or best purchase for a beginner, I've searched around and seen some demos on youtube and whatnot, I've seen the arguments about pickups, such as the starcaster doesn't have humbuckers and some people on some forums claim that it's a must have.


So you guitar players, if any wanna give some advice for a complete and total noob about guitars I'd appreciate it. I'm just looking for a nice little beginner electric guitar pack to get me started.

Thanks...

I have a vast range of guitars both cheap and expensive and still have my starter guitar. My recent purchase was an Ibanez Jem which anyone can play and sound good - it is that easy. That being said there are a lot of starter guitars that are utter crap, high action, rubbish necks and the frets aint much better.

I've tried most of the starter packs here (in the UK) including the SOB from BC Rich, I wasn't impressed. My starter guitar was a Westfield E1000 (the strat style, not the les paul). It is - as far as learning guitars go - one of the best out there however the action on it is pretty poor. The fret's aint too bad, they're not going to cut your finger off any time soon and the sound is quite bluesy / harsh when needed.

As for epiphone les pauls and any guitar with a thicker neck - it is an absolute bitch to play on. I've been playing now almost 8 years and the weight of my lp AND the neck thickness start to grate on me at a gig however some people quite like the chunky feel of these guitars - I am simply not one of them.

So it all comes down to money, if you are going to go the cheap route here are my recommendations:
Westfield E1000 Strat.
If you have a little more money to throw into the pile look into getting an Ibanez with a Wizard neck, absolute dreams to play on and let's be frank - any instrument that is under $150 is going to sound like $150.

Whatever you do, try it out in the shop for weight, both on your leg and shoulder, thickness of the neck (it a strain on your thumb if its too thick) and the sound (if you're not confident then ask the clerk to play something on a clean amp to hear the tone).

And whatever you do - make sure that mother fucker is comfy on your leg - you're gonna be there a while with that thing!

[cheech]

I started with a squier fat strat beginners pack for 250 aussie dollars, so 220 us. reason i got the fat strat was cos it had a humbucker pickup, rather than just single coil pickups. its a great pack to get started. guitar wasnt that good, for example the tremolo would speak and break if i used it after the first time, but it was good enough for my first year of guitar. comes with amp, strap, picks, tuner, cables, headphones, everything.

in the second year i bought a schecter hellraiser avenger, hell yeah, but i still use my squier strat from time to time.

[optl]

Ebay. Don't spend only $200. If you can spend 300 you can get some decent used stuff.

[Cito]

ok I really appreciate it guys, and yea I was looking at a budget of perhaps 200-300 bucks Just to get me started that is, once start learning the ropes and I see that I will put time into it and enjoy it more I will of course upgrade, and addons/pedals etc...

Appreciate the info, none of the people around me play guitar so was looking for some player advice.

[cheech]

The only thing I'd recommend you do after getting a starter kit guitar is to replace the strings with better ones. Most starter packs come with shit strings. I recommend either Dean Markley Blue Steel or D'Addario EXL115-10P Nickel Blues/Jazz strings.

Strings will degrade in a month, so I reckon some cheap bullets will suffice, unless you really get serious with your playing.

[psycho_8b]

Nothing wrong with brass instruments dude. I loved playing trumpet when I was a kid. If I had the lungs for it now days I'd grab one!
Besides, you get strong lips and tongue from playing brass instruments...Any woman who thinks a strong mouth and stamina is nerdy is a fucking idiot! ;)

My first guitar was a Yamaha ERG121 starter pack with a little 10 watt amp, gig bag, instruction book. I used to play that all the time until I really got into it. Now I'm rocking a Gibson SG.

My advice would be to go with one of these starter packs. If you like playing guitar, you can spring for a better guitar and amp. If you decide it's not your instrument, you won't have wasted a shit load of money.

[Cito]

Any opinions on this starter pack, I found some cheaper Squier's but this one is the HSS i guess that means it comes with a humbucker.

http://guitars.musiciansfriend.com/product/Fender-Affinity-Strat-HSS-and-G-DEC-Junior-Amp-Value-Pack?sku=512577

the fender site about it
http://www.squierguitars.com/products/search.php?partno=0301620025

$350 bucks for that pretty much everywhere

or

I could cheap out and this one doesn't have the humbucker or the fancy amp

http://www.guitarcenter.com/Fender-SE-Special-Strat-with-Squier-SP-10-Amp-Value-Pack-104486238-i1177837.gc

$199

any thoughts between the 2?

[SexyWoodenSpoon]

Any opinions on this starter pack, I found some cheaper Squier's but this one is the HSS i guess that means it comes with a humbucker.

http://guitars.musiciansfriend.com/product/Fender-Affinity-Strat-HSS-and-G-DEC-Junior-Amp-Value-Pack?sku=512577

the fender site about it
http://www.squierguitars.com/products/search.php?partno=0301620025

$350 bucks for that pretty much everywhere

or

I could cheap out and this one doesn't have the humbucker or the fancy amp

http://www.guitarcenter.com/Fender-SE-Special-Strat-with-Squier-SP-10-Amp-Value-Pack-104486238-i1177837.gc

$199

any thoughts between the 2?

go for the one with the humbuckler. You'll thank me later (either if you go to sell / continue to play)

[ergoat]

Personally, I'd go with the second one. You're not going to get much of a difference in sound as a beginner, you don't really need a humbucker or a valve amp. Save the $150 and if you like guitar, put it towards something better if you want.

Shoot, I can't afford/don't want to buy a new guitar at the moment, so I'm still drilling away on my old squier strat.

[SexyWoodenSpoon]

Personally, I'd go with the second one. You're not going to get much of a difference in sound as a beginner, you don't really need a humbucker or a valve amp. Save the $150 and if you like guitar, put it towards something better if you want.

Shoot, I can't afford/don't want to buy a new guitar at the moment, so I'm still drilling away on my old squier strat.

Exactly why he should buy the better one, so he would be content with it for longer. With the valve amp thats a fantastic deal and from a reserved view point - better chance of getting most of your money back with the first package.

[ergoat]

Exactly why he should buy the better one, so he would be content with it for longer. With the valve amp thats a fantastic deal and from a reserved view point - better chance of getting most of your money back with the first package.
Eh, depends on his budget, level of interest, and I have no idea what the resale value is like in your country. Over here, you get pretty much dirt for any beginner gear. People see Squier and they don't care what model it is.

[optl]

Beginner gear has no resale value. If you buy something nicer you could even make a profit selling it back. I own a Lowden O10c cedar/magoheny acoustic guitar. I paid $1300 for it; it's used and the face is worn a bit. But this guitar sells for $3500 brand new. I've been playing the guitar for years and could sell it back whenever potentially for a profit. Buy something used from ebay, so you can atleast get some of your money back if you decide you don't want to play (most people quit or just play once a month).

[SexyWoodenSpoon]

Eh, depends on his budget, level of interest, and I have no idea what the resale value is like in your country. Over here, you get pretty much dirt for any beginner gear. People see Squier and they don't care what model it is.

Maybe so. I am biased though. Generally beginners stuff is cheap as chips over here unless its unused or special in some form.

The humbuckler would give a nice punch and the amp would give you a slightly warmer sound BUT as Wood said... is it worth $150 for an amp and a pickup?

My recommendation: try and get a shot of both, maybe get a clerk to play with the same guitar on both amps then the more expensive one (if this is an option) so you can hear the difference. Just remember it is $150 extra.

[SexyWoodenSpoon]

Beginner gear has no resale value. If you buy something nicer you could even make a profit selling it back. I own a Lowden O10c cedar/magoheny acoustic guitar. I paid $1300 for it; it's used and the face is worn a bit. But this guitar sells for $3500 brand new. I've been playing the guitar for years and could sell it back whenever potentially for a profit. Buy something used from ebay, so you can atleast get some of your money back if you decide you don't want to play (most people quit or just play once a month).

I think in this dudes case a budget is required. I did mention an ibanez that might softly break him into the swing but he needs to then get an amp too which could cost almost double.

The reason why most people quit is for the following reason: "WAAAAAAAH! My fingers hurt!!!"

[optl]

Maybe so. I am biased though. Generally beginners stuff is cheap as chips over here unless its unused or special in some form.

The humbuckler would give a nice punch and the amp would give you a slightly warmer sound BUT as Wood said... is it worth $150 for an amp and a pickup?

My recommendation: try and get a shot of both, maybe get a clerk to play with the same guitar on both amps then the more expensive one (if this is an option) so you can hear the difference. Just remember it is $150 extra.

Also remember at most stores, guitar center especially, all the guitars have dead strings on them and sound like shit. Strings make a huge impact on the sound, much more so than the wood the guitar is made out of.

[Cito]

Yea I'm on a tight budget, highest I could go would be 400 at this time, mainly was looking to get a pack.

I'm really leaning toward the
http://guitars.musiciansfriend.com/product/Fender-Affinity-Strat-HSS-and-G-DEC-Junior-Amp-Value-Pack?sku=512577


with that G dec amp I just saw 3 youtube vids tutorial showing off the $350 pack with Squier HSS
Pt1 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eZK-RQth0os
Pt 2 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=udL2NFpUC3k
Pt 3 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DMfcoKcGHKo

That amp seems pretty nice from a beginners perspective that is.

Just mainly looking to get started without breaking bank, and heck I'm not too worried about resale value, I have an 8 year old son, so If I decide to upgrade and go for it, I'll just give it to my son lol

I'm 33, so it's not like I'm going to be some great rock star, I'm just looking to enjoy a new instrument, and a new hobby to mess around with.

Of course I'd probably pick up some extra strings when I purchase.

This Squier HSS with Gdec amp pack for 350 most places, seems pretty cool for my budget. That 3 part youtube vid is pretty neat in parts 2 and 3 shows off the 16 effects and loops of the amp.

I dunno, just been reading and researching on it for about 2 weeks, and I've always like the strat look, but like I said I'm roughly on a $400 budget for this.

[SexyWoodenSpoon]

Also remember at most stores, guitar center especially, all the guitars have dead strings on them and sound like shit. Strings make a huge impact on the sound, much more so than the wood the guitar is made out of.
Absolutely, I use 10 - 52's Ernie balls skinny top heavy bottoms. They sound pretty decent indeed.
Yea I'm on a tight budget, highest I could go would be 400 at this time, mainly was looking to get a pack.

I'm really leaning toward the
http://guitars.musiciansfriend.com/product/Fender-Affinity-Strat-HSS-and-G-DEC-Junior-Amp-Value-Pack?sku=512577


with that G dec amp I just saw 3 youtube vids tutorial showing off the $350 pack with Squier HSS
Pt1 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eZK-RQth0os
Pt 2 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=udL2NFpUC3k
Pt 3 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DMfcoKcGHKo

That amp seems pretty nice from a beginners perspective that is.

Just mainly looking to get started without breaking bank, and heck I'm not too worried about resale value, I have an 8 year old son, so If I decide to upgrade and go for it, I'll just give it to my son lol

I'm 33, so it's not like I'm going to be some great rock star, I'm just looking to enjoy a new instrument, and a new hobby to mess around with.

Of course I'd probably pick up some extra strings when I purchase.

This Squier HSS with Gdec amp pack for 350 most places, seems pretty cool for my budget. That 3 part youtube vid is pretty neat in parts 2 and 3 shows off the 16 effects and loops of the amp.

I dunno, just been reading and researching on it for about 2 weeks, and I've always like the strat look, but like I said I'm roughly on a $400 budget for this.
See if they'll throw in a pack of strings, they should only be about a fiver or so. most definitely restring ASAP.

[Cito]

What strings do you recommend me get for that? not too hard on the noob fingers :)

[SexyWoodenSpoon]

What strings do you recommend me get for that? not too hard on the noob fingers :)

Problem is mate any strings apart from nylons are gonna hurt. Elixir have a good range, I swear by earnie ball.

[Cito]

yea, I remember back when I was 14 or 15, I had an old acoustic guitar my dad gave me, and yea it was sore fingers for while, but no pain no gain eh :)

I appreciate all the info, helps the confidence some when going into a music store, or reading online, couple music stores we have local when you walk in it feels like a car dealership they want to sell you something and sell it immediately even if it's just a kazoo :P

[CK-]

Don't even think about going near a guitar unless you've done 3-4 grams of cocaine.

[Cito]

Don't even think about going near a guitar unless you've done 3-4 grams of cocaine.

ROFL

So that is how guitars get expensive...

[Rocko]

ROFL

So that is how guitars get expensive...

"It's a party, man, just keep the bowls full." :thumbsup:

$30,000 bill the next morning. :eek:

I learned to play on an Aria Les Paul. I love humbuckers dearly, and it was all-around a decent guitar to learn on, even though the neck was a bit wimpy and the tuners sucked. IMO, pick out something you like from Epiphone or Ibanez. Schecter's base models are pretty good for the money as well. Don't be afraid to go used, you'll enjoy it more if you aren't playing on a $100 Squier piece of shit. I can't really help you on the amp, except to parrot the common opinion that Line 6 Spiders are fucking abhorrent.

You have any friends you could borrow a guitar from? You'll be able to make a much more informed decision after playing daily for a few months and doing some basic research. That Aria actually belongs to my dad, it was nice not to worry about picking out a first guitar or being under pressure to force myself to learn to justify spending money.

[optl]

I don't know much about electric strings, I play strictley acoustic and always have. I do own a mexican strat with some badass seymour duncan pickups. But for strings, for the acoustic I use elixer phosphorus bronze 80-20'ss. Elixer makes coated strings that last much longer. I play a 1-3 hours a day on average and I play hard with my fingers and a very thick thumbpick; ernie balls die in 2 playing sessions for me; elixers last much longer but cost almost twice as much but sound better IMO.

Also, I agree, definitely try to haggle a pack of strings when you pickup your guitar; they will negotiate a little at most music stores.

[Cito]

yea I will probably pull my old haggle line of "well if you toss in pack of xxx strings, I'll buy it all right now!" usually works on other stuff around here locally especially how the market is stores desperately want that sale, so getting a free pack of strings should be no problem.


Just figuring out what strings to get, looks like I have chosen

Fender Squier Affinity HSS
here's a pic of one
http://www.stevesmusic.com/images/attributes/Fender_Strat_HSS_Std.jpg

I read earlier mention of Daddario strings?
just curious what is a good size for this guitar? I don't want too heavy a gauge, and something easily replaced without having to adjust the truss bar I think it's called.

or whatever brand, just what's a nice replacement size for good action, not too much stress on this cheaper guitar and sounds pretty good.

[cheech]

Looking at your two options, I reckon get the cheap one. It's not worth an extra 150 dollars for a over-the-top amp with many features that you will never use, and a humbucker pickup.

And Daddario strings are good. I use 'em, lasts about a month before it goes mellow, but then you play jazz :P. A good gauge to start out would prolly be 9-42. That's standard on most strats imo. If you wanna up to 11-48 you'll have to get the guitar set up again, action and truss rod.

And when changing the strings, don't remove all the strings at once. Do it once at a time so the neck is still under some tension and doesn't bend too much.

And replacement size for action!?!?!?

[Cito]

Looking at your two options, I reckon get the cheap one. It's not worth an extra 150 dollars for a over-the-top amp with many features that you will never use, and a humbucker pickup.

And Daddario strings are good. I use 'em, lasts about a month before it goes mellow, but then you play jazz :P. A good gauge to start out would prolly be 9-42. That's standard on most strats imo. If you wanna up to 11-48 you'll have to get the guitar set up again, action and truss rod.

And when changing the strings, don't remove all the strings at once. Do it once at a time so the neck is still under some tension and doesn't bend too much.

And replacement size for action!?!?!?

ah ok, will do the lower gauge, so don't have to get it all set back up, and easier on the fingers I'd guess till I build them up. Thanks for the tip on changing 1 string at a time, although if I get the dealer to toss in a set of strings I may ask him to restring it before I walk out. But good to know in future about 1 string at a time.

Appreciate the info, looks like I will be picking everything up this monday.

[optl]

ah ok, will do the lower gauge, so don't have to get it all set back up, and easier on the fingers I'd guess till I build them up. Thanks for the tip on changing 1 string at a time, although if I get the dealer to toss in a set of strings I may ask him to restring it before I walk out. But good to know in future about 1 string at a time.

Appreciate the info, looks like I will be picking everything up this monday.

I've heard the 1 string at a time thing is a myth. But I know it's not good to leave a guitar unstrung for an extended period of time.

[SexyWoodenSpoon]

I've heard the 1 string at a time thing is a myth. But I know it's not good to leave a guitar unstrung for an extended period of time.

1 string at a time is a myth... UNLESS you have a floating trem (Cito this won't apply to you). My Ibanez is a bitch to restring with the floating trem (plus It's the only guitar my gauge goes funny - 46:12's).

Cito as optl states- its purely a myth. Restring the bastard by taking ALL strings off, clean the thing down with a wet wipe (stops any crap from it lying about interfering) pay particular attention to the fret board and remove all that plastic shite from the pick guard. Restring from new, there's thousands of youtube vids on how to restring a strat, look them up.

And another thing to note is that there are different thicknesses of plecta... thinner are better for shredding (and learning), thicker are better for block chords and could maybe hinder the learning process. Just something to think about mate.

[Cito]

Thanks! Appreciate the info

[cheech]

Oh I didn't know it was a myth. I was told to do that on my squier or not the neck will warp :o. meh.

[SexyWoodenSpoon]

Oh I didn't know it was a myth. I was told to do that on my squier or not the neck will warp :o. meh.

Those people are obviously not doing what they are supposed to. The neck will only warp if:

1. You haven't restrung it in a while (even this takes years)
2. Leaving it infront of a radiator (heat / cool every day expands and contracts too much)

I'm actually a fucking weirdo when it comes to my guitars, if I've gigged somewhere and bring my gear home I let them climatise in their cases for 24 hours before removing.

[optl]

Those people are obviously not doing what they are supposed to. The neck will only warp if:

1. You haven't restrung it in a while (even this takes years)
2. Leaving it infront of a radiator (heat / cool every day expands and contracts too much)

I'm actually a fucking weirdo when it comes to my guitars, if I've gigged somewhere and bring my gear home I let them climatise in their cases for 24 hours before removing.

SexyWoodenSpoon I definitely understand worrying about guitars warping. It's even scarier IMO for acoustics. I play this:
http://www.elderly.com/items/images/20U/20U-8717_front.jpg

The face is made of cedar which is so fragile you can scratch it with your nail.

I humidify the room it's in. I never keep it in it's case even though I probably should.

[SexyWoodenSpoon]

SexyWoodenSpoon I definitely understand worrying about guitars warping. It's even scarier IMO for acoustics. I play this:
http://www.elderly.com/items/images/20U/20U-8717_front.jpg

The face is made of cedar which is so fragile you can scratch it with your nail.

I humidify the room it's in. I never keep it in it's case even though I probably should.

Thats beautiful mate. In my experience the amount of players that don't bother with climatising their gear is atrocious. I once had a guy moan that his body cracked for "no apparent reason"... he kept them in front of a radiator, not only that the sun would hit them at certain peiods of the day causing them to heat up and cool down 3 or 4 times a day. Ridiculous.

[optl]

Thats beautiful mate. In my experience the amount of players that don't bother with climatising their gear is atrocious. I once had a guy moan that his body cracked for "no apparent reason"... he kept them in front of a radiator, not only that the sun would hit them at certain peiods of the day causing them to heat up and cool down 3 or 4 times a day. Ridiculous.

Wow. That's crazy. People who appreciate their instruments usually take better care them. I would rather something happen to me than me guitar honestly; I would cry like a baby if my guitar somehow got permanently damaged.

[SexyWoodenSpoon]

Wow. That's crazy. People who appreciate their instruments usually take better care them. I would rather something happen to me than me guitar honestly; I would cry like a baby if my guitar somehow got permanently damaged.

You should see my house insurance bill... I'm the same. There's something to be said about appreciation of your instruments. I would pretty much cry too if anyone stole or damaged my guitars.

Actually I put my Ibanez into a guitar store to restring it (floating trem and I forgot the gauge I used plus I wanted it set up 100% to my req's). They fucked up and didn't tighten the trem properly resulting in the scratch plate rubbing against the trem. You can hardly spot it but I was absolutely fucking raging. Ever since then nobody touches my gear.

[AdamSmokesCrack]

1) Humbuckers I haven't tried
I personally want an ESP, but I like lots of soloing (See Nevermore, Wintersun, Gamma Ray...etc)

and I can do any scale or almost any configuration.


Why does everyone turn giving simple advice like "Get a cheap used guitar for ~200 bucks instead of a shitty new one for the same price" into bragging on this forum.
You've played for 3-4 years and have never "tried" humbuckers? What the fuck?
And how are ESP's not good for soloing?
And fuck off with your "I can do this and this and everything and I'm the best ever" shit. Give some solid advice or get the fuck out.

OP, go to your local music shop and look for a used guitar that plays to your liking and fits your price range. Don't buy new, as most new guitars are horribly overpriced.
Bam. Done. And with no bragging, HOLY SHIT!

[Duelist]

buy an acoustic guitar first.

It will help you to build strength in your fingers and wrist so you will be able to rip when the time comes.

other advantages

no bothering the people around you. Face it, no one wants to hear you stumble your way through the opening bars of "stairway to heaven" for 45 minutes.

With an acoustic you can jam on your own terms.

you dont have to buy an amp. When the time comes to buy an electric set up, if it ever does come (you are really interested) then you will spend proper money on something that will last.

You can spend $150 on a used yamaha and get a phenomenal acoustic sound.

its nice to just have beside you on your bed or something so you can just pick it up and go, no fooling around with cables and whatever else needs to be unpacked.

[optl]

buy an acoustic guitar first.

It will help you to build strength in your fingers and wrist so you will be able to rip when the time comes.

other advantages

no bothering the people around you. Face it, no one wants to hear you stumble your way through the opening bars of "stairway to heaven" for 45 minutes.

With an acoustic you can jam on your own terms.

you dont have to buy an amp. When the time comes to buy an electric set up, if it ever does come (you are really interested) then you will spend proper money on something that will last.

You can spend $150 on a used yamaha and get a phenomenal acoustic sound.

its nice to just have beside you on your bed or something so you can just pick it up and go, no fooling around with cables and whatever else needs to be unpacked.

This. I play acoustic fingerstyle. When I first started I used an electric. Electric guitar is great but IMO by itself is boring, you really need a band and a bass player especially. I found myself trying to learn solos but feeling really disappointed how empty everything sounded. So I started playing acoustic fingerstyle which is playing a song's bass line, harmony, and melody together with your fingers. Essentially you're a one man band and I like that.

Also there is nothing like the sound of a wonderfully crafted acoustic guitar.

[The Jitterskull]

Why does everyone turn giving simple advice like "Get a cheap used guitar for ~200 bucks instead of a shitty new one for the same price" into bragging on this forum.
Because it makes sense, if you actually play an instrument, you know it's better to work on shitty stuff and work your way up.

You've played for 3-4 years and have never "tried" humbuckers? What the fuck?
I don't have time to try everything, I'm doing a university science degree... something you aren't capable of. You clearly have no idea how much dedication alone that takes. It's not my fault it's above your head, but your ignorance doesn't justify your stupidity.


And how are ESP's not good for soloing?
That was a typo on my part, remove the 'but'


And fuck off with your "I can do this and this and everything and I'm the best ever" shit. Give some solid advice or get the fuck out.
Quote me PLEASE where I said "I'm the best shit ever" and quote me exactly below that where I say "I can do everything on guitar including X, Y, Z", where the variables can be flamenco, jazz, classical...etc.
I gave solid advice, go actually read the thread :rolleyes:


OP, go to your local music shop and look for a used guitar that plays to your liking and fits your price range. Don't buy new, as most new guitars are horribly overpriced.
Bam. Done. And with no bragging, HOLY SHIT!
This is a great way when misinformed to burn money. Clearly he's starting out on guitar. Well, maybe he should just buy a pink 500 dollar Gibson. That sounds good.


While I usually ignore stupid posts from misinformed losers, this one had to be de-bunked because of how sad it was constructed and how little information was put forth. Probably a waste of my time, since it was clearly a troll post, but w/e.

[Cito]

Thought I'd update and show a cheesy pic of my new ultra noob guitar

I had it setup and it sounds great the guy that played it at the shop, Im currently in a motel cause murphy's law something had to fuck up and had a small electrical fire in my ceiling didn't do much damage but have electricians rewiring 1 side of the house so staying temporarily in a motel.

Anyhow sorry for shitty pic, only camera i got is like a 5 year old 3 megapixel walmart special that half the time is blurry hehe.

So I went with the Squier Affinity HSS setup (Excuse the shitty motel bed spread)
http://eclement.googlepages.com/guitar1.JPG

and the amp is a G-Dec Junior I didn't take pic of it, but here's a pic from the web.
http://cn1.kaboodle.com/hi/img/2/0/0/a8/5/AAAAAtN-crQAAAAAAKhYBA.jpg

and here are the controls on top of the amp
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2309/2247682834_13018b2fee.jpg


Btw thanks to all the suggestions I was able to get an extra pack of strings free :) told the guy "Well if you can also throw in an extra pack of strings in the package I'd get it" and he was more than happy to oblige, also gave me couple old lesson books for free as well, also checked intonation and other stuff I didn't know about.

So all in all im happy, no it's not perfect, but it sounds good, and I've been starting with learning scales forward and back and getting faster on them, then starting with a major and minor chord practice for each scale which makes it easier for me to memorize.

Thanks for all the advice guys

[Rocko]

You'll get bored and annoyed if you don't find actual songs to play.

Squier isn't perfect by any means, but it's good enough to learn on. At least you had the presence of mind to get something with a bridge humbucker, though I personally don't know what Strats sound like with humbuckers. A Strat isn't a bad choice, really, they show up in one form or another in almost every genre.

The only real advice I have to offer from here is A. Learn to play the stuff you listen to, and B. Play every day. Doesn't matter what you play, just play something daily.

[optl]

I agree with Rocko. You will probably get bored of just playing scales. IMO the only way to excel at an instrument is to become passionate about a type of music associated with the instrument. For the guitar:

Blues
Jazz
Fingerstyle/Country
Bluegrass
Metal
etc

Figure out what type of music you want to play. And start trying to learn songs. Also you should listen to as much music as you can of the stuff you are trying to learn to play. You need to develop an ear.

[Bobitis]

Squier strats are good starting guitars, I would probably have recommended one if I'd gotten here earlier :P

As for learning, you must already have a good knowledge of musical theory so just finding songs you like and learning to play them is a good place to start. The worst thing for me when I first started playing was just learning intros or other parts of songs and not the whole song, I kind of got stuck into that rut until I started taking proper lessons.

www.ultimate-guitar.com has lots of tabs and video tutorials arranged by difficulty and there's always youtube for tutorials.

Consider lessons too as you must know from learning French Horn that you can pick up all sorts of bad habits if you self teach yourself.

[Cito]

yea I was thinking of lessons, thanks for the website, I've got a bunch bookmarked, and last few days just to work on finger exercises and strengthening been mainly just learning scales, and then the major and minor chord for each scale so I'd do a c scale down the neck, then c major c minor chord, then move to d scale and so on.

but yea it's a lot of fun, I'll check out that site and get some tabs and learn to better read them and start trying some songs, at the moment just trying to speed up doing chord changes which I'm still a little slow on, but practice will help me speed that up.

[Nuclear Rape]

I agree with Rocko. You will probably get bored of just playing scales. IMO the only way to excel at an instrument is to become passionate about a type of music associated with the instrument. For the guitar:

Blues
Jazz
Fingerstyle/Country
Bluegrass
Metal
etc

Figure out what type of music you want to play. And start trying to learn songs. Also you should listen to as much music as you can of the stuff you are trying to learn to play. You need to develop an ear.

Most music is "scales" anyways, so you learn it by playing. All the great soloists, they are playing scales or parts of scales. Even chord progressions are based on the circle of 4th or 5ths. I think practicing scales with a metronome should not be overlooked though. You don't want to be one of those guys that can just play a song or two and never think for yourself with improvisation. Sometimes I'll just make a little beat on my drum machine and practice with it.

[optl]

Most music is "scales" anyways, so you learn it by playing. All the great soloists, they are playing scales or parts of scales. Even chord progressions are based on the circle of 4th or 5ths. I think practicing scales with a metronome should not be overlooked though. You don't want to be one of those guys that can just play a song or two and never think for yourself with improvisation. Sometimes I'll just make a little beat on my drum machine and practice with it.

I agree for the most part. For me though, scales came naturally as a I learned songs. I never spent much time learning them and I consider myself pretty decent with improv, As you learn songs you begin to realize the patterns. Before you know it you will be having oh shit moments like "omg there is a different G scale pattern for every G note on the neck!!"

[SexyWoodenSpoon]

I agree for the most part. For me though, scales came naturally as a I learned songs. I never spent much time learning them and I consider myself pretty decent with improv, As you learn songs you begin to realize the patterns. Before you know it you will be having oh shit moments like "omg there is a different G scale pattern for every G note on the neck!!"

How I managed with those moments (7 or 8 years self taught) was to just sit back and go "there are only 8 major notes, thats not that difficult, 16 including minors and its just repeated up to the dusty part of the board".

Don't worry too much though, just keep practising. Just for reference here's how I built up:

Simple chord song (leaving on a jet plane - Mammas and Pappas)
Riff / Power chord song (I predict a riot - Kaiser Chiefs)
Power chord song (Creep - Radio head)
Purely riff based song (Plug in baby - Muse)
Easy solos (Dani California - Chillis)
Harder Solos / Riff patterns -(Sweet Child Of Mine Intro - GnR)
Hard Solos - (Sweet Child Of Mine Solo - GNR)

Obviously this wont happen over night and likewise you cant expect to Sweet child of mine in a day. Give yourself some time and relax. Also I use Guitar Pro 5 which is great cause I can loop a riff or solo so I can practise it again and again and again and again and again... you get the picture.

[optl]

How I managed with those moments (7 or 8 years self taught) was to just sit back and go "there are only 8 major notes, thats not that difficult, 16 including minors and its just repeated up to the dusty part of the board".

Don't worry too much though, just keep practising. Just for reference here's how I built up:

Simple chord song (leaving on a jet plane - Mammas and Pappas)
Riff / Power chord song (I predict a riot - Kaiser Chiefs)
Power chord song (Creep - Radio head)
Purely riff based song (Plug in baby - Muse)
Easy solos (Dani California - Chillis)
Harder Solos / Riff patterns -(Sweet Child Of Mine Intro - GnR)
Hard Solos - (Sweet Child Of Mine Solo - GNR)

Obviously this wont happen over night and likewise you cant expect to Sweet child of mine in a day. Give yourself some time and relax. Also I use Guitar Pro 5 which is great cause I can loop a riff or solo so I can practise it again and again and again and again and again... you get the picture.

Yea. I'll show you some of my stuff via PM if you want. I actually perform quite often.

[AdamSmokesCrack]

Because it makes sense, if you actually play an instrument, you know it's better to work on shitty stuff and work your way up.
I don't have time to try everything, I'm doing a university science degree... something you aren't capable of. You clearly have no idea how much dedication alone that takes. It's not my fault it's above your head, but your ignorance doesn't justify your stupidity.
That was a typo on my part, remove the 'but'
Quote me PLEASE where I said "I'm the best shit ever" and quote me exactly below that where I say "I can do everything on guitar including X, Y, Z", where the variables can be flamenco, jazz, classical...etc.
I gave solid advice, go actually read the thread :rolleyes:
This is a great way when misinformed to burn money. Clearly he's starting out on guitar. Well, maybe he should just buy a pink 500 dollar Gibson. That sounds good.
While I usually ignore stupid posts from misinformed losers, this one had to be de-bunked because of how sad it was constructed and how little information was put forth. Probably a waste of my time, since it was clearly a troll post, but w/e.

While I'm not capable of completing a science degree at a university because of my lack of funds, my inability to even be accepted to a school, I can assure you your attitude is COMPLETELY misguided, even with my insults to you.
You're a complete fuckwad with a HUGE superiority complex, and you still try to stick your nose into every little thing without the slightest bit of useful knowledge on the matter.

Oh, and for the "I'm the best at everything" bullshit:


Listen to some Nevermore solos (See: This Godless Endeavor album) and I can play that. It took ~3-4 years to be able to sweep most things, and I can do any scale or almost any configuration.


Also, the color of a guitar doesn't affect it's quality. I'd honestly buy a pink Gibson that played and sounded well, provided it wasn't poorly built like every other Gibson out there.

I haven't the time to argue against every one of your shitty little ideas, but consider yourself served, good sir.

[Cito]

Also, the color of a guitar doesn't affect it's quality. I'd honestly buy a pink Gibson that played and sounded well, provided it wasn't poorly built like every other Gibson out there.

That made me laugh, cause while I was in the shop I swear I did a double take when I saw the hello kitty "strat"

here is a pic I found on the net
http://www.bananasmusic.com/multimedia/9171/MediumImage/9171_md.jpg

was labeled a squier hello kitty strat.

but what was funny the sales guy took it down plugged it in and fucking wailed on it, course I could tell he had been playing many years he made that thing sound like a million bucks. We had a few laughs about it though.

But yea I finished watching that docudrama titled it might get loud, with Jimmy Page, The Edge and Jack White
Here's the imdb page on it
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1229360/
here's link to the dvd
http://www.divxden.com/155pcfvsvx62/qfn-imgl.avi.html


Jack talks about this red all plastic JC penny's old electric guitar he still plays on stage, at one point even gets his kid to stomp on it several times then picks it up and haves at it.

I know they all give different sounds, and if I'm not mistaken that Les Pauls are more known for their sustain and warm sound compared to the brightness of a strat. But after seeing that movie as well as watching amateur's to pros on youtube, I would guess it's about 90% skill 10% guitar, of course thats from a noobs perspective soaking it all up and watching and listening to everything and just really enjoying the music of it.

Thanks again everyone for the tips, really helps keep the fire going so to speak. I learned my first easiest song today since I took break from the scales and learned the easiest riff I think there is in guitar. The opening riff to Nirvana Come as you are, and on this little G-Dec modeling amp I can damn near get a perfect match on the sound from the album hehe

[Iolite]

All that matters with any instrument is comfortability and playability.

[The Jitterskull]

While I'm not capable of completing a science degree at a university because of my lack of funds, my inability to even be accepted to a school, I can assure you your attitude is COMPLETELY misguided,
Your stupid ideas are misguided but I'm not complaining.
You're a complete fuckwad with a HUGE superiority complex, and you still try to stick your nose into every little thing without the slightest bit of useful knowledge on the matter.
That's basically be.

Oh, and for the "I'm the best at everything" bullshit:
I'm better than most people, not all-- but far superior to you.


Also, the color of a guitar doesn't affect it's quality. I'd honestly buy a pink Gibson that played and sounded well, provided it wasn't poorly built like every other Gibson out there.
Wrong.

I haven't the time to argue against every one of your shitty little ideas, but consider yourself served, good sir.
Usually people that say this can't handle the argument. Guess you know the door is hitting you on the way out. Hope you enjoy the red part on your ass once again :thumbsdown:

==========

Cito, you're an idiot. You didn't even read the post he posted.

[Cito]

I was only replying to his part about the color and thing, I didn't want to get into the rest of that argument.

I'm not an idiot, just I picked and chose which I wanted to reply to, and was funny seeing that hello kitty guitar

[Rocko]

U-G is a great site, it's worth having an account to ask the occasional question, and you can find a lot of really useful info there. They also have probably the most extensive tabs database on the net.

Guitar Pro 5 is worth pirating, being able to loop things and slow them down helps you get the rhythm fixed in your mind so you can play to it easier. You can also mute or isolate specific instrument parts in the song. The downside, as with all tabs, is that they're only as accurate as the guy that wrote them.

Youtube is also a great place to look for specific technique lessons. For example, when I first learned power chords I was having a real hard time just hitting those 3 strings and nothing else. Then, some dude on Youtube pointed out that it's a lot easier if you mute the other strings so they don't sound if you nick them. Video lessons are a convenient way to see and grasp various tricks that you'll find scattered through songs, like bending, harmonics, and hammers/pull-offs.

This is just my personal advice, but don't feel like you have to stick to a dogma when it comes it playing. This isn't piano or violin. If a way of holding the pick works out better for you than something else, go for it. Watch ten videos of ten famous guitarists playing, and you'll see ten different styles.

[SexyWoodenSpoon]

That made me laugh, cause while I was in the shop I swear I did a double take when I saw the hello kitty "strat"

here is a pic I found on the net
http://www.bananasmusic.com/multimedia/9171/MediumImage/9171_md.jpg

was labeled a squier hello kitty strat.

but what was funny the sales guy took it down plugged it in and fucking wailed on it, course I could tell he had been playing many years he made that thing sound like a million bucks. We had a few laughs about it though.

But yea I finished watching that docudrama titled it might get loud, with Jimmy Page, The Edge and Jack White
Here's the imdb page on it
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1229360/
here's link to the dvd
http://www.divxden.com/155pcfvsvx62/qfn-imgl.avi.html


Jack talks about this red all plastic JC penny's old electric guitar he still plays on stage, at one point even gets his kid to stomp on it several times then picks it up and haves at it.

I know they all give different sounds, and if I'm not mistaken that Les Pauls are more known for their sustain and warm sound compared to the brightness of a strat. But after seeing that movie as well as watching amateur's to pros on youtube, I would guess it's about 90% skill 10% guitar, of course thats from a noobs perspective soaking it all up and watching and listening to everything and just really enjoying the music of it.

Thanks again everyone for the tips, really helps keep the fire going so to speak. I learned my first easiest song today since I took break from the scales and learned the easiest riff I think there is in guitar. The opening riff to Nirvana Come as you are, and on this little G-Dec modeling amp I can damn near get a perfect match on the sound from the album hehe

I'd just like to say that that hello kitty guitar is awesome, although only one pickup (on the model I played) and no tone adjustment, it actually sounded quite good for what it was.

[The Jitterskull]

U-G is a great site, it's worth having an account to ask the occasional question, and you can find a lot of really useful info there. They also have probably the most extensive tabs database on the net.

Guitar Pro 5 is worth pirating, being able to loop things and slow them down helps you get the rhythm fixed in your mind so you can play to it easier. You can also mute or isolate specific instrument parts in the song. The downside, as with all tabs, is that they're only as accurate as the guy that wrote them.

Youtube is also a great place to look for specific technique lessons. For example, when I first learned power chords I was having a real hard time just hitting those 3 strings and nothing else. Then, some dude on Youtube pointed out that it's a lot easier if you mute the other strings so they don't sound if you nick them. Video lessons are a convenient way to see and grasp various tricks that you'll find scattered through songs, like bending, harmonics, and hammers/pull-offs.

This is just my personal advice, but don't feel like you have to stick to a dogma when it comes it playing. This isn't piano or violin. If a way of holding the pick works out better for you than something else, go for it. Watch ten videos of ten famous guitarists playing, and you'll see ten different styles.

Cito, read this. I did this and I'm doing every technique you can imagine.

[Raidek]

tl;dr: Guitarists want to tell you "get this, it's the best, it's got the best action and sound." but if you're just starting out, get something you can ruin first and don't buy an amp to play to an empty room, buy a sound board to hear your own work.

----------------------------

So there's a lot of information here about what guitar, how much, what to get with it, etc... It is all valid and worthwhile information.

However, I'm the king of niggerrigs. My advice to you is this:

Step 1. Go to walmart, get a POS guitar that you don't give a flying fuck about. This will allow you to pay next to nothing for something that's going to turn to dust underneath your heavy fender pick. This is actually okay, as I will explain in future steps.

Step 2. Buy 8 to 10 packs of strings. You're going to pop them all anyway, and if you manage to not pop them, the first 3 layers of your skin will be shredded off onto all of them within a matter of days rendering them useless. Yes, strings play a very large part on how a guitar sounds, but you're playing on a piece of shit guitar anyway (if you followed step #1) and you're going to pop them all anyway since it's going to take you 2-3 packs to understand the practice of basic tuning and playing for more than 10 minutes at a time as well as training your fingers not to hurt/bleed/cry/fray under the pressure of steel.

Step 3. At this stage in the game, I personally feel that an amp is useless. You're not playing live, you're not playing for anyone in particular. So get yourself a $40 sound board and some cables so that you can hook that directly to your computer. (Google: Behringer Eurorack UB802, or the model right below it.. I'm sure musician's friend will point you in the proper direction). You'll need 1x 1/4" male to male mono cable and 1x 1/8" male stereo to 2-1/4" mono (ring/tip) cables to hook the board to your computer. This will cost about as much as a personal amp would and at least gives you the benefit of pretending someone is listening and letting you hear what you just performed to an audience of zero.

Step 4. Rather than buying an AMP, you were smart and followed Step #3 which allowed you to record, playback, experiment, and understand the relationship to what you play vs what you hear. Do this a lot. What you just played 90 seconds before you hit "playback" probably sounded like an epic guiltar solo but now that you've heard yourself, it just sounds like slop. Take notes on where you fucked up.

Step 5. Repeat Step 4 until you feel comfortable with what you've taught yourself and are bored with strumming love ballads and/or thrash metal to yourself. Proceed to Step 6 or 7 based on your personal preference.

(Optional) Step 6. Get into mastering and mixing your guitar tracks. Perhaps at this stage, buy a microphone to go with that sound board and take that route.

Step 7. Buy better equipment. Something you now understand and appreciate the money you're spending for humbuckers and special finishes and collectors' edition Les Paul guitars or SRVs. Your price tag should directly reflect your level of interest after repeating the first 4 steps.

Step 8. Repeat Steps 4 thru 8 until you're God.



These steps only put you out about $160 and helps you determine if guitar is really something you're into or if guitar is just "not for you."

[Cito]

appreciate the info all,

downloaded guitar pro 5 pretty awesome program

Also found some sweet clips with Joe Satriani giving short lessons as well, trying to learn a few of his riffs, not a huge fan of satriani but browsing youtube finding him giving lessons is kinda neat, here's 1 it's a little bit advanced for me but i downloaded the vid so i can slow it down even more and sorta play copycat with it.

here is part 1 but it's like a 5 part lesson on playing surfing with the alien
part 1
Yp7MExJ454c
part 2
W9GAPfmares

if interested in all of it, here's the playlist link
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yp7MExJ454c&feature=PlayList&p=1101F2DCED0ECEDF&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=8

[optl]

Pretty much all the tabs on UG are wrong in my experience. I made the mistake of trusting a few that I shouldn't have and it fucked with my head. Youtube tutorial vidoes are the shit though.

[Rocko]

Pretty much all the tabs on UG are wrong in my experience. I made the mistake of trusting a few that I shouldn't have and it fucked with my head. Youtube tutorial vidoes are the shit though.

That is the one problem with tabs. A lot of the ones for popular songs have gone through enough revisions and updates to be reasonably accurate, but for a lot of other stuff there are tabs that don't even come close.

I wish there was a team of real professionals out there making tabs.

[The Jitterskull]

Pretty much all the tabs on UG are wrong in my experience. I made the mistake of trusting a few that I shouldn't have and it fucked with my head. Youtube tutorial vidoes are the shit though.

This, many tabs are actually wrong or don't play it right.
Some are good but they are designed to sound like the song rather than be the song.

[Cito]

I noticed that also, I found like 3 different videos on youtube all with 3 different ways to play 'nirvana come as you are' all 3 were super simple to learn as a noob, but then I tried to play along with the song and newp wasn't in the same key.

But I found an even simpler tab that just starts simply on the open E 6th string that is even easier than the 3 youtube vids, and it's in the same key as the original song :)

So I had a little fun jamming with the song, that software that was recommended, Guitar Pro is really fun

great program

[optl]

I noticed that also, I found like 3 different videos on youtube all with 3 different ways to play 'nirvana come as you are' all 3 were super simple to learn as a noob, but then I tried to play along with the song and newp wasn't in the same key.

But I found an even simpler tab that just starts simply on the open E 6th string that is even easier than the 3 youtube vids, and it's in the same key as the original song :)

So I had a little fun jamming with the song, that software that was recommended, Guitar Pro is really fun

great program

Just because someone's tab is in a different key doesn't make it wrong. I'm not too familiar with Nirvana, but they might play a 1/2 step down in that song? If not you can simply use a capo to correct the key.

[Cito]

Just because someone's tab is in a different key doesn't make it wrong. I'm not too familiar with Nirvana, but they might play a 1/2 step down in that song? If not you can simply use a capo to correct the key.

Ah ok I didn't even think about that, most remember the song but here's the youtube of the original video. From what I had read it has the simplest riff and easy solo to learn, good as a first song for noob which is why I was picking this one up hehe.

vabnZ9-ex7o

[Bobitis]

If you can, download/buy Guitar Rig (3 or 4, I have 3 but I'm pretty sure 4 is out by now) and get a 3.5mm to 1/4" cable so you can plug your guitar into your computer and use it.

It's got a lot of preloaded amp setups and you can also create your own setups using the components. There are standard distortion and clean setups but there's also some more exotic stuff that'll make your guitar sound more like a synth than a guitar.

A lot of people aren't fans of digital effects but it made my Squier sound a lot better than the amp I got with it did and you can use it for recording which is always useful.

[Cito]

If you can, download/buy Guitar Rig (3 or 4, I have 3 but I'm pretty sure 4 is out by now) and get a 3.5mm to 1/4" cable so you can plug your guitar into your computer and use it.

It's got a lot of preloaded amp setups and you can also create your own setups using the components. There are standard distortion and clean setups but there's also some more exotic stuff that'll make your guitar sound more like a synth than a guitar.

A lot of people aren't fans of digital effects but it made my Squier sound a lot better than the amp I got with it did and you can use it for recording which is always useful.


Alrighty that sounds like one of my next purchases. I was wanting to pick up a decent wah wah pedal and I was looking at ways to connect to pc for recording, and playing with effects, I got a little laptop should run it just fine and make it a little portable so i can run it seperate from the main pc

[im taller than you]

download powertab, and pirate guitar pro. FUCKING WORTH IT. it plays the song with midi sounds and tabs, you can slow it down, loop it, find scales, anything.

[The Jitterskull]

If you can, download/buy Guitar Rig (3 or 4, I have 3 but I'm pretty sure 4 is out by now) and get a 3.5mm to 1/4" cable so you can plug your guitar into your computer and use it.

It's got a lot of preloaded amp setups and you can also create your own setups using the components. There are standard distortion and clean setups but there's also some more exotic stuff that'll make your guitar sound more like a synth than a guitar.

A lot of people aren't fans of digital effects but it made my Squier sound a lot better than the amp I got with it did and you can use it for recording which is always useful.

IMPORTANT QUESTION:
How's the delay between playing and hearing it out hte speaker? Is it easy to set up? Do you highly recommend it? I want one soon... just need some more reviews.

[ergoat]

IMPORTANT QUESTION:
How's the delay between playing and hearing it out hte speaker? Is it easy to set up? Do you highly recommend it? I want one soon... just need some more reviews.
I dl'd v4 a couple of days ago. It's fairly responsive, I can adjust it to be <60ms latency, but I have a pretty old CPU, so it gets pretty distorted when I change it to like 30ms. If you have a fairly new system I doubt you'll have any problems. It's only like 250mb anyway.

Oh and it's a piece of piss to set up and use. It's pretty fun to play around with. I'd get it but I already did.

[Captain Falcon]

I personally roll on an awesome Fender Telecaster (The American ones roll MUCH, MUCH better than the mass-produced Chinese Squiers) and I HEAVILY, HEAVILY recommend Ernie Ball: Power Slinky strings, a sexy Laney tube amp that cost me $2500, I believe and never to anywhere except medium gauge Jim Dunlop picks. I recommend you buy a Fender Squier Stratocaster out of a package and an amp, lead, case and strap and a distortion or effects pedal separately within $200. Honestly, what they pack into those "starter deals" is mostly absolute crap.

I'm not a very good guitar player (maybe beginner-level, like you, and have never taken classes or anything and have trouble playing complex songs, but I had enough money, so I bought a good one.

[The Jitterskull]

I dl'd v4 a couple of days ago. It's fairly responsive, I can adjust it to be <60ms latency, but I have a pretty old CPU, so it gets pretty distorted when I change it to like 30ms. If you have a fairly new system I doubt you'll have any problems. It's only like 250mb anyway.

Oh and it's a piece of piss to set up and use. It's pretty fun to play around with. I'd get it but I already did.

Do you use the rig pedal or plug the guitar into (a pre-amp or M audio) or straight into the comp?

[ergoat]

Do you use the rig pedal or plug the guitar into (a pre-amp or M audio) or straight into the comp?
Just into my usb-interface, basically an M-box but different brand. I don't have the rig pedal, it seems like it would be fun to play with but it's pretty fun without it. It sounds better than Amplitube, which is the only other amp modelling software I've used.

[Bobitis]

IMPORTANT QUESTION:
How's the delay between playing and hearing it out hte speaker? Is it easy to set up? Do you highly recommend it? I want one soon... just need some more reviews.

My version 3 wasn't paid for so I don't have the hardware that comes with the retail version and I just plug my guitar straight into the mic port in my soundcard with no pre amp or anything like that. However, it is still worth using if you just have the software.

As for delay, yes there was a considerable delay when I first installed it but after a few google searches I got referred to http://www.asio4all.com/ which speeds up the communication between the soundcard and the processor (or something, I don't really know how it works but it does). It took little or no time to set up both programs to work together and now I play with no delay at all, although CPU usage is a little higher but that's negligable these days.

So yeah I'd recommend it :D