Topic: I gonna learn me some geeitaar

[PyroMenace]

Yea, I talked to a bunch of friends from work and Im finding that a lot of them play some guitar. Then a guy who works in maintenance who is a father of one of my co workers and is like, "If your interested in learning I'll bring one of mine to let you borrow." So hey, Ive always been curious so why the hell not, plus he gave me some instructional stuff with it, w00t.

[TheOtherBelmont]

Cool, what kind of guitar is he going to let you borrow?  Also as I have stated several times I wish I could get a piano and someone to teach me how to play it.

[NatchDan]

The best way to learn guitar is to have something you don't want to do. I tried and failed to learn for years, but then exams came around, I didn't want to study and a guitar was right there...

[PyroMenace]

Cool, what kind of guitar is he going to let you borrow?  Also as I have stated several times I wish I could get a piano and someone to teach me how to play it.

Its an Applause acoustic guitar, its got a bowl shaped back, its sounds nice and its even tuned right. He also let me borrow one of those electronic tuners so I can tune it back if it gets out of tune.

Well so far its really been hand training, Im learning myself 3 notes. Obviously the hand positioning is super awkward and pressing down the right strings without muting others is nearly impossible at this point, so I do the best I can and really learn switching the positions. I'm hoping once calluses start forming I won't have to press as hard which will hopefully cause my fingers to not mute out other strings, that and hopefully I will be able to arch my fingers better.

[poomcgoo]

Good luck, man.  It's really frustrating at first -- REALLY frustrating.  Guitar is really all about practice so just keep playing.  There are points where you'll notice literally an overnight change in your playing if you're playing every day (or close to it).

I just picked up guitar last November.  I got a nice Takamine acoustic and a decent electric for Christmas this year and I just recently bought a nice Line 6 amp.  I feel like I'm doing well for having played less than a year and I don't even play close to every day.  Check out www.ultimate-guitar.com for tabs, tutorials and all kinds of other helpful articles.  I haven't taken lessons yet but that site has nearly everything I want for free.  I'd start by learning how to read tabs (if you haven't yet, it's really easy), and learning some of the basic chords (open chords are the easiest, followed by barre chords) since they sound great on an acoustic and are pretty easy to play.

Also, it's good that you're learning on an acoustic.  It does suck holding down the strings at first, but when you pick up an electric it'll be so much easier to handle the strings.

[NatchDan]

Man, I use Line6 everything.

By which I mean I had a Spider II amp, now I have a PODxt. Don't you judge me.

[Quemaqua]

Line6 is cool, I guess, but I've never been into the whole all-digital thing.  I far prefer micing my usual Mesa Boogie 2x12 cab / Crate Blue Voodoo head setup.  But living in a shitty apartment I have to use a POD for... well, anything and everything.  It's slightly aggravating.

[NatchDan]

Because I record so much, the digital route is pretty much the only way for me to go. If I was in a band, I'd get myself a nice big amp to noodle with.

[Quemaqua]

Pssh.  I'd so much rather mic my real setup and record that way.  Digital is vastly inferior in terms of overall sound (at least if you're better than I am at micing stuff), it's just way easier and allows for a lot less gear (at least space-wise).  Still, if I had a choice I wouldn't do it the way I'm forced to do it.  Though the POD does a pretty good job simulating different sounds.  It's definitely impressive how close to the real deal you can get.  I guess I'm just a purist.  My POD just never sounds warm enough to me until it gets muddy.

[NatchDan]

With me it's also a practicality issue. I'd love a studio with the best gear, amps, mics etc, but obviously things don't work like that. Because I move so much at the moment, a tiny studio-in-a-box is perfect for me. You can tell from the MP3s that I post that I can get a decent sound out of the thing.

[Quemaqua]

Well sure, I hear you.  It's roughly the same for me.  I don't know how the quality on my shit is (I'll let you judge that for yourself), but I get that on my POD and it's at least roughly comparable to what I get when I mic my stuff.  I think that's mostly just because I'm not that great at micing, though.

[NatchDan]

Micing's an art, and different mics give different sounds. An SM58 (Yer basic vocal mic) is roughly the standard, though.

[Raisa]

this is what i play

[Quemaqua]

I play an Ibanez SA160QM, though I own several guitars.



I also have an Ibanez PF10.



If you hadn't noticed, I like Ibanez.  I have a couple other acoustics and an (ooold, Korean) Fender Strat, but those two are my primaries.  I've got an Ibanez bass as well.

[Raisa]

hehe.. i can barely play mine, just a few tunes here and there and simple stuff.



this is what i used to be good at a long time ago.

ibanez is expensive yeah?

[Quemaqua]

Ah, piano.  My long lost love.  I still play when I get the chance but I don't even own a keyboard.  It makes me sad.

As for Ibanez, they're no more or less than anybody else, really.  They have some pretty well-priced lower end models.  Actually, the one that I have wasn't really all that expensive.  About $400-$475 when I bought it, I think.  I honestly can't remember exactly.  And it was a bit pricier because of the flamed maple over the stock models.  They've got some nicer, more expensive stuff, but you pay through the nose with high end models no matter who you buy from.  The PF10 wasn't too expensive, either.  It's really just a workhorse type... plays well, survives handling.  It wasn't too steep for an early guitar.

[Raisa]

Que, how long did you play?  I can still play, I tried to play my piano when I went home.. It still knows me, but I only did some exercises. No pieces for me at this point

[Quemaqua]

Only a few years.  I wrote a few songs, though, so I still try to play them when I go home so I don't forget them.