Electric Guitar 101
 

What's up people? I'm planning on buying an electric guitar and was hoping you could give me a little lesson on everything I should know about them. Now I've done research on the internet but nothing beats personal experience and knowledge (and there are a lot of experienced musicians on this site who could offer me more as opposed to some guy I don't know writing some articles). So that's why I'm asking you! Please educate me. :shycouch:

It depends on the type of music your going for. What are you going to primarily be using it for?

If you dont know choices such as Strat and Les Paul styles would probably suit you best.

nice.

what have you come up with as early favourites? there has to be something out there that caught your eye. you can usually find a cheap version of just about any commercially produced model out there.


a few more questions to consider...

what's your rough budget or at least the minimum you plan on spending?

you have an amp already?

is this an upgrade from another electric? if so, what kind?

and like RezZ said, what do you plan on playing with it?

Well I want to play mostly jazz (funk) and rock. I would like to have a versatile guitar though so I could go out of my range. Would I be able to do that with a Strat or Les Paul?

Well I haven't done much research on actual guitars yet, I was learning more regarding guitar anatomy. I'm confused between single-coil and humbucker. How can I rate a guitar in terms of quality and sound. I've heard that there are many differences in sound with different guitars. I've also heard that the shape and fret/string size must suit the player's needs. Too many things to consider lol.

I'd say my budget is around a $1000 (Can). I'd rather buy a decent guitar now since I've already been practicing on a crappy one.

I don't have an amp so I'll need a little lesson on that lol. This will not be an upgrade from another electric, I was playing acoustic before.

Is there anything else I should consider when it comes to pickups?

a strat, yes, and i think you could do it with a paul, but its sound is much beefier and thicker becase of its humbuckers. (as opposed to the strat's single coil pickups)
i woudl say, if you leaning more toward jazz (funk) do strat and for rock go les paul. thats just personal preferance though, either guitar can do either.

When you've narrowed down your choices (so far it seems to be either a Strat or a Les Paul), go to a store and spend some time trying them out. That's the only way you can really get a feel of what the guitar has to offer. Sound and weight should be things you're thinking about as well. Are you going to be standing or sitting with this guitar? Probably sitting for the most part since you're a beginner, but you still need to take weight into consideration. IMO Les Pauls are heavy. I don't own either guitar (I have a Rick and a Gibson SG), and have rarely ever played a Strat or LP so I can't give you info on the sound of each guitar. Thankfully other posters have done that :)

The size of amp you get depends on where you're going to play your guitar. Most likely you'll be playing at home so you don't need anything like Marshall stacks :laughing:, you'll just need something simple. Talk to a store employee.

You're in Toronto like me, so I recommend buying from Steve's or Long & McQuade. I know L&M offers financing as I was able to finance a $3500 flute from them two years ago. Since your budget is $1K, you can probably get a low end Strat. Not sure about a Les Paul though, but if that's what you're looking for, you can probably finance it or get a lower-end Gibson SG. Good luck!

How about a guitar with mutiple pickups? Would you recommend that? Is there a guitar with multi pickups that I could use for both genres of music?

Hey Burning Down, long time no chat! How you been?

I was definitely considering financing and from the sounds of it, I think I'm going to have to drop more than a grand to get long-term investment decent guitar (I don't want to move my way up since I've been practicing for a while now and really feel like skipping the middle-man guitars lol). I've been given several brands so now it's time to pick. This is the hard part. If I'm going to go in debt for it, I might as well get something that is worth it.

Also, have you heard of Cosmo Music? They're suppose to have good prices too.

i THINK you mean one with humbuckers and single coils. try a fender (or squire) fat strat. the humbucker is in the bridge position. the pickup isnt really what makes your sound though, in the end. its having the right tone and distortion (i think). but yeah, go to a store and check out some crap. see what you like, tell them what you want and they should be able to whip it up for you. i would suggest guitar center =P

i think this is a mistake.

skipping the 'middle man' guitars is not going to make you sound better or improve any faster. last week i was having to explain to you how to finger chords for a relatively straight forward rock tune. if anything, someone with high end gear who's still learning how to play screams 'drama queen / attention whore'.

specifically what guitars have you used prior to this point. brand names and models. how long have you been playing guitar? based on your posts here it only seems to have been about two months.

you say you've done 'research' but don't have any preference on what kind of guitar you want and haven't been able to figure out the difference between a single coil and humbucker pickup? what sort of research have you done? i feel like i'm repeating myself from another thread when i asked you specifically why you wanted to play guitar / music. it still applies here, now more than ever. especially considering the amount of money you (or your parents) plan on dumping into this.


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as for the questions you came up with earlier...

single coils are generally brighter sounding, with more high end, but they create a noticeable amount of buzz when used individually. it's not overpowering or anything but it's there.

a humbucker is basically two single coil pickups put together in an alternating fashion so that they cancel out their buzzing sound. this also ends up cutting some of the high end though and results in a darker low end sound overall.

in terms of multiple pickups, the vast majority of electrics offer 2-3 pickups per model. you can get electrics with just 1 pickup but they're generally the lowest quality models available (or the Malcolm Young signature model). even if you get something with 3 single coils (like an old school strat), you can still toggle the selector to activate 2 of the pickups at the same time to somewhat emulate the humbucker sound.

rating a guitar on quality and sound. that's done with your eyes, hands and most importantly - your ears.

in 16 years of playing guitar i have never once considered fret size or talked to anyone who did. although stainless steel frets are apparently freaking awesome if you want to spend the extra cash for a custom shop job. no. you don't need stainless steel frets.

string size will affect your overall tone. bigger strings tuned to standard will be under increased tension and result in a brighter sound. generally speaking most people use bigger strings to tune lower and maintain a relatively constant tension in the strings on their guitars. the vast majority of guitarists use 0.09s or 0.10s unless you've got a 7 or 8 string or tune significantly lower than standard. ultimately irrelevant until you've experimented a bit and know what you want to be doing.

as for your amp situation a small combo amp (40-60 watts) is more than enough power for most small scale practice sessions and even small gigs if there's a PA present.


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for $1000 you can set yourself up with a decent little combo amp and a nice mid-range guitar that will last for as long as you want. it won't have Gibson or Fender (made in USA) on the headstock but that doesn't necessarily mean it's a bad thing either.

ultimately your sound comes from your hands, it doesn't matter how much money you dump into your gear. if you can't make a no name guitar sing at least a little bit then it won't matter how many thousands of dollars you spend on a 'professional' instrument. the same can be said about your instrument, having a bunch of strangers on the net tell you X model is what you need is worthless, only your hands and your ears can tell you what instrument is right for you.

Everything here is very true in more than just guitars. Any product (especially motorcycles) are cluttered with strong brand bias.

+1

i couldn't agree more. concerning guitars AND bikes. someone here recently said something to the effect of "a crappy guitar through a good amp will sound better than a nice guitar through a crappy amp"

i thought that was an important statement to understand. you'll always have the sweet amp, but learning on an epi or a squier, you can learn your preference and upgrade later when it will make the most difference, and allow you to begin shaping your individual tonal preference. besides, at least as far as epiphone is concerned, some of them are nearly as good as the real deal.

understanding the music your trying too play will help your guitar sound ten fold les paul or strat dont matter its in the hands not ears

Agreed! I love both rock and country and so an American Standard Telecaster fits me perfect.

Tele's sound way too thin for me to use them as a rock guitar, to be honest. I love how they sound clean, though.

Agree on the branding bias front. I've been playing for just under 20 years now and have been through a whole bunch of budget to pro guitars. Where a lot of people are anti squier and epiphone, then don't really understand that you're getting mostly the same instrument, built with largely comparable materials but in countries where the labour is so much cheaper.

I used to play an squier as a boy, the intonation was a bit off, but I was too young to adjust it - I learned my technique on that and a Jackson PS2 (which again was strat-like but with different pickups again). I now play a Parkery Niteflym - as its gorgeous to play, and is about half the weight of a Les Paul - so perfect for moving around the stage with! :yeah:

Also, will add that I believe your tone is mostly down to two things - your technique/ability, and your amp. I've heard a cheap squier played through an Orange Thunderverb head on tour, and it sounded gorgeous - the guitars are made to a standard, unless you spend sub 100 pounds here, you should be able to aquire an acceptable sounding and playing instrument. In the same way, I sometimes play my Parker through an old Line6 combo and the sound is barely acceptable (Im due an amp upgrade!)...

I personally would go with a Les Paul I love mine and would not be without it even if it is just an epiphone Zakk Wylde custom it still sounds amazing although I think it would be way to heavy for what you want it for.

Agreed, Les Paul's are very versatile guitars and sound great.

But, like anything else, it is all dependent on the make and the year. I mean most upper-end LP's have solid tone, but there are duds....and I have bought a few duds over the years. You're almost better off going with an Epiphone. Most Epiphone LP's have comparable tone for literally half the price.

I've always loved the classic Strat tone though. But when you're buying Fender products, you're taking a bigger risk than if you went with Gibson anymore....which really pisses me off.

If you get a Strat (which I highly reccomend you at least consider) make sure you buy American. The imports are extremely overpriced these days and the quality has been severly lacking over the last few years.

Also, Reverend Guitars is making some sweet stuff ....pretty evenly priced with killer tone to boot. I'd check them out.

i just need to get this off my chest because it just annoys the crap out of me

an epiphone les paul is NOT the same as a gibson les paul. would you let someone who drives a chevrolet cavalier call it a corvette because they're both 'sports' cars made by chevrolet? hell no.

while there are duds that get through gibson's QA, if you're really to the point of actually needing a gibson you 'should' be able to spot the duds before dropping the dollars.

Well enough of Electric Guitar 101, i miss RockGuitar101

http://i94.photobucket.com/albums/l9...WWilliams2.jpg

"On Easter morning......."

Yeah. (at least I hope) people aren't going to go drop $1500 on a LP if they have no idea what to expect out of it. But, speaking strictly from my own experience, some of the new Epiphones are comparable to a large portion of Gibsons product line. In fact, I bought an Epiphone LP a while back and I ended up far more satisfied with the tone than my Gibson.

I understand that they're not the same. And while your sports car analogy was appropriate and somewhat thought out, I will say that you can compare the performance of both cars, can't you? Just because the Corvette (or in this case the Gibson) is more expensive than other 'sports' cars made by Chevy, doesn't mean that it is the superior product. That's all I'm saying.

i hear ya MDB, and i've heard great things about the modern epiphone LPs, heck i still enjoy my epi special II every now and again. if i wanted the look of a classic LP i'd definitely consider an epi as well, but i wouldn't be telling anyone i played a les paul. you're right as well when you say they can still be compared but ultimately, whether you like it or not, there's a status symbol factor as well.

a les paul is not an entry level guitar, it's not made for beginners. personally if i see someone playing any sort of gibson or other high end gear i expect them to know their stuff because of the time and effort invested into becoming a musician of that caliber. unfortunately that isn't the case as much anymore with more and more spoiled idiots thinking they need pro gear to be good (but it's great for people keeping an eye on the 2nd hand market).

as for people spending serious cash and not really knowing what to expect, i point you back to the start of this thread, the OP never flat out said it but i'd bet my strat that was the situation.

my mom picked out my clothes and brushed my hair...



(we could turn this into a song writing thing :laughing:)

No you're right. There's definitely a class issue present when selecting a guitar. I remember when I was a kid and my dad offered to buy me a pretty nice Epi SG and I told him I'd rather save for a Gibson. I guarantee now that if I'd listened to both guitars through the same amp, I wouldn't have been able to tell you the difference. Not because they're the same guitar, but because I was young and inexperienced. I was more concerned about having "Gibson" on the headstock, which is really a foolish way to go about it.

I mean, I love Reverend guitars, but I never really considered buying one until I saw Billy Corgan playing one.

But yeah, I see people do it every day. I've had to literally hijack sales from people working the floor at GuitarCenter because I knew they were playing the class game with kids, trying to rip them off.

For instance, I saw a salesman try to sell a kid on a Taylor. Even low-end Taylors are expensive anymore, and the kid just wanted a decent starter guitar that would last him for a few years. I pointed out to him that a local shop was selling Seagul guitars and that they had a great sound to them, even for experienced players, and that he would be well advised to check them out before handing the guy his cash. The kid was way more concerned about having that "Taylor" name and forked over the money. I played the same guitar later that week and I still maintain that he was better off going for the Seagul.

But don't get me wrong....I'd go for a good ol' fashioned Gretsch White Falcon before I bought an Ibanez Hollow-body. ; )

i totally hear you on all points (just didn't want to make a long quote). i'm guilty of doing similar things, although when i finally decided to dump well over a grand on a guitar i was old enough to be able to walk away from that cash as if i lost it in a fire. then again i'm no pro so a guitar of that quality and price was pure ego.

on the other hand there is something to be said about actually saving up for a relatively nice piece of gear. by not financing it or dumping onto a credit card you force yourself to really consider all the options and whether or not you really want that piece. it's good for your self-discipline, especially if you're toiling away at the beater you learned on while saving up for your first real quality instrument. it might seem like a long time in the moment but saving up for 9 months for a guitar that is now a teenager doesn't seem that long anymore hahaha

can't say i'm familiar with reverend guitars, they look pretty cool from the site though. my offbeat guitar maker of choice is eastwood guitars, haven't actually tried one yet but they look awesome.

HELL YES. THAT GUY WAS AWESOME(ly, incredibly, unbelievably RETARDED)

I'll follow your lead and keep the quotes short....but I'll select the bits that pad my ego. /\/\/\ haha

Oh yeah dude, Eastwood guitars are sweet. I remember the first time I saw the White Stripes and Jack was playing what looked like an Eastwood. It could've been a different guitar, but it definitely had the look. I've been wanting to get ahold of one for a while. I played one (or at least my memory tells me that it was an Eastwood....again, it could've been a copy cat) at the Guitar Center on Sunset down in L.A. Their vintage room is beyond reproach....if you're planning on looking and not paying. lol.

Reverend guitars are just solid. They're not spectacular. They just have a good strat-like tone and they're usually pretty modestly priced.

But you're right. I remember when I finally saved enough to get my second strat...and I love walking out of a shop with a few new stomp boxes. For some reason I've never been able to bring myself to compromise on effects. If it's between an EHX pedal or a digitech....I'll always go with EHX even if it means spending $100 more.

i'm thinking it's the other way around. Eastwood makes replicas of old 60s 'freak' guitars. it's possible that White just chose to use a cheaper replica of his old school Airline guitars but i don't doubt that he owns some of those oldies as well.

as for effects i usually go for used stuff, pawn shops are great for cheap pedals, don't normally pay more than $50-70 for a stomp box unless i'm looking for something specific. as much as i've wanted one for years i just can't bring myself to paying damn near $500 for an EHX bass micro synth hahaha.

I tend to really like Mr. Dave's answers throughout this topic. My advice would be simply to narrow it down to 5 or six brands and then go in and hold them, play them, see how they feel. Do not consider the kind of music you are going to play - I don't believe anyone that says your style of music is important in picking a brand guitar. People who tell you this are not musicians. I promise you that if you go into a music store and try out several different guitars, then the instrument will choose you.

Also, get yourself a decent amp and develop your own sound, regardless of what brand of guitar you prefer. I've played them all, and have settled with Fenders, and PRS guitars for electric and Takamine and Taylor for acoustic - not because they are the brands I went looking for, but because they were comfortable for me, sounded better to my ear and made me excited to play them. I think that's the key. -- 20 years picking and shredding experience talking.

[QUOTE=mr dave;714561]i'm thinking it's the other way around. Eastwood makes replicas of old 60s 'freak' guitars. it's possible that White just chose to use a cheaper replica of his old school Airline guitars but i don't doubt that he owns some of those oldies as well.QUOTE]

I checked out the Eastwood site and they've got some contest running right now that allows participants to "Win an Airline just like Jack's!!!!". So, I'm assuming that Eastwood either saw Jack playing an Airline ripoff and started building JW signature Airline models, or he's been playing them all along. Either way I like the look and I definitely like White's tone.

Yeah I hear you on combing pawn shops. I do the same thing constantly. Most of the time you get some mediocre stomp boxes or just flat-out crap. But sometimes you'll find a gem and you end up paying half what you would pay in small shops. I found my '69 Fuzz in a pawn shop after trying to get Guitar Center to order it for months. It was $200 reguarly, but I got it for close to 1/4 of that. But there's this place out in Santa Monica called Truetone Music and they are one of the greatest shops around. I bought my EHX tubezipper from them for $100 and I almsot walked out with a G&L ASAT because it was priced so well.

nice. but i'm pretty much as far away from california as i could be while still being in the same continent haha. my local pawn shop of choice gets random vintage guitars often enough considering the area though, they had a sweet guild bluesbird bass from like '72 for about a year (like the one sheryl crow plays), asking $1400 was a bit much for most people out here though.

i've never seen an EHX pedal for sale used but getting BOSS boxes at $40-50 (canadian) a pop is a great deal.

[QUOTE=mr dave;715062]nice. but i'm pretty much as far away from california as i could be while still being in the same continentQUOTE]

But Mr. Dave, your location says that you are everywhere. How can you be an omnipresent being and be far away from any place at any given time? I had no idea that i was consorting with a categorical liar.

ha

Yeah I've got a boss tremelo pedal, and though some of the other, more expensive pedals may give you more tonal control, mine works great for what I need out of it. It's hard to justify dumping a few hundred bucks into something that you're going to be stomping on. As far as EHX and some of the more expensive companies, you should check out some of the online stores. Some even have of their stuff on ebay--brand new, original packaging, unplayed. And you can usually get them discounted, especially if you're bidding.

A buddy of mine actually got his Reverend guitar from a guy up in Canada through ebay. He loves it and the price was almost a steal. You should check out MXR and Lovetone. They make some sweet effects. And you can always get replicas online from guys who do mods and stuff. Might check into that. What's your setup....as far as guitar, amp, and pedal board??

well... i never said i was everywhere all the time hahaha. last time i was in CA was the summer of '91. haha

personally i'm not a huge fan of online shopping when it comes to gear. i'd much rather be able to try it out in person even if that means paying a few extra dollars, but if it's like the difference of $100+ then i'll reconsider hehe.

i've heard great things about MXR effects, can't say i've heard of lovetone before just now though.

as for my personal setup it's been discussed a few times here and hasn't changed in a while since i'm still waiting on a new jam room facility to open up in town.

effects - http://www.musicbanter.com/talk-inst...ect-pedal.html

guitars - http://www.musicbanter.com/talk-inst...-weaponry.html


basically i ran a wet / wetter setup, with one amp drenched in reverb and EQ-ed to be very dark and muddy sounding, the other amp had a dryer and brighter sound. mainly stuck to playing my old mexi-strat or ltd ec-1000. total improv all the time. absolutely no intentions on being a bar band or any sort of traditional musician either haha

what's your rig?

Oh definitely. I won't actually buy a guitar from an online store. That's way to big an investment to make on the off chance that it might be a lemon. But effects pedals I can usually stomach.

Nice, I used to run my set up pretty wet. Lots and lots of reverb. Lately I've been trying to brighten it up a bit, but when I'm in a Gilmour mood, I'll crank the reverb to 11.

Right now I've got two American Strats--one big apple with two seymour duncan humbuckers and the other a Delux v-neck with S1. I'm running them through my Fender Hotrod Delux right now, and I've got so many pedals floating around that my board is constantly being recast. My favorite effects: EHX tube zipper--such a versitile little box, even has a surprisingly satisfying overdrive channel; EHX memory man with hazzarai--great delay pedal and a pretty precise looping effect; my '69 fuzz--cool little fuzz box with great tonal control; my mxr distortion---plenty of dirt; and my mxr micro amp--great boost when you need that extra push. While other pedals are being swapped, rotated, and switched, those are generally the ones that never leave the board.

I'v been speckin the Vox AC 15 amps lately, and I'd like to get a Twin Reverb at some point.

My 2 cents here.
When it comes to buying guitars, theres nothing like going into a music shop and trying a few and noticing what feels best (and looks good too). Its a bit like buying good clothes really - you aint gonna buy the $100 shirt that looks good but you try it on and it feels like sh!t, right?

And remember - a decent amp can make an average guitar shine!