HAI, Newb Guitarist needz Halp (and cookies).

[Bad Mofo]

^ You are kinda right.

I mean, I still struggle with certain things because I learnt to play a certain way. Things like putting your fretting-hand thumb in the middle of the back of the neck and using your pinky.

About Electric vs. Acoustic:

I think it's more of a preference to what kind of music you listen to and play. Someone into metal wouldn't really dig an acoustic, and a singer-songwriter type might not fully appreciate an electric.

Electrics are "easier" because of the string gauges used. Most electrics have 9 gauge strings (for the light E) in them, while most acoustics have at least an 11 or a 12. This translates to more tension and thus strings are harder to bend and fret.

@Blooby:

Strats for the win! I love them. Matter of fact, my own strat is coming back to me today after some much-needed repairs! Treat it good.

 

[Amar aka Cookie]

Close...It's an Aria Pro II Stagecaster. A Strat copy, made by "Matsumoko" and seems like they're good guitars. So...YAY

Aria Pro's are GREAT guitars. Great for the price.

Single coils? or does it have a Humbucker in it?

 

[Ghazanfar]

Visit www.zentao.com/guitar. You will not ask for anything else.

 

[theDarkDisciple]

Good thread. Ive been trying my hand at an acoustic since quite a while now, making very slow strides. Will be closely watching this thread.

@ OP: Try a search on youtube, tons of vids available for newbies like us. Here, to get you started, check some of these: http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=how+to+play+guitar&search_type=&aq=f

---------- Post added at 12:59 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:55 PM ----------

Oh yeah! I wanted to ask about your guitar too! pics or gtfo! xD



Yeah. same was teh case with me. when I was at my teething problems when I started with an acoustic guitar, it was very de-motivating and frustrating, but I carried on, and now I have the benefit of strong finger tips. That is pretty much why people recommend to start on acoustic, because of the strings which are harder to press on acoustic, will strengthen your fingers, and when you switch to electric, it'ill be all but smooth sailing.

Thats so true, I really dont have a prob with the strings on a friend's electric, but my fingers hurt after a 5 min session on my acoustic

Btw, I broke 2 of the strings last week while attempting to tune the damn thing. Anyone know if I can get 2 strings only or will I need to get all 6 in a pack? Price?

 

[Crow]

Btw, I broke 2 of the strings last week while attempting to tune the damn thing. Anyone know if I can get 2 strings only or will I need to get all 6 in a pack? Price?

No, you can get individual strings easily. I can't remember the exact price but I'm sure it was under 100 rs..

Get your technique down right guys. Honestly, it might sound like I'm being a bit of a twat and jumping on your asses preventing you from learning fun stuff, BUT GET YOUR TECHNIQUE DOWN RIGHT THE FIRST TIME AROUND.

The worst thing is when you're playing for ages and it hits you that your bends are too sloppy. Then you realize, "oh wait. If I'm using my third finger to bend, I can use my middle finger to mute the string above so that when I release the bend it doesn't sound like I've just unleashed a thunderous wet fart."

Learn to play in time also. It's very, very important.

PS: This all simple, straightforward stuff that matters a considerable deal. Don't ignore it.

This is a very good point to stress upon. No matter what technique you start with, you'll eventually have to learn guitar the 'right' way, so make sure you're doing it right from the beginning otherwise you'll have to work twice as hard to correct it.

 

[Blooby]

Single coils? or does it have a Humbucker in it?

When i read this I was absolutely stumped as to what these two were but...Wikipedia saved the day.
Ze pickups are Single Coils. I dunno if that's bad or good. XD

Strats for the win! I love them. Matter of fact, my own strat is coming back to me today after some much-needed repairs! Treat it good.

Thanks. Although i'd have loved a Les Paul. Still, you just made me feel even happier about my purchase. YAY!

 

[refnulf]

Single-coils and Humbuckers are again about taste. The only crap thing about single-coils is that they're a tad bit prone to humming - an annoying noise that arises out of electrical interference and all that. Usually you'll hear it stop the moment you fret the strings or touch any of the metallic components of your guitar (bridge, or the cable jack).

Humbuckers are essentially two single coils wound in reverse so they cancel out the hum. Plus, because they're "two single-coils", they tend to sound fatter. Sometimes, that fatness comes at the expense of less clarity. Usually you can play just about anything on either a humbucker guitar or a single-coil guitar - except metal (requires humbuckers, though you could use a single coil guitar and throw in a booster pedal) or country (very trebly sound, so humbuckers tend to be out of the question).

 

[Benighted]

I play the guitar "my way" and can play almost anything in it.

 

[R1CK]

^ You don't even have an electric =P

 

[Bad Mofo]

@Blooby:

Yes, I am probably the only Strat fan around here! I absolutely love the guitar.

Refnulf probably just said everything you need to know about them.

Yup, metal is a big no-no on a Strat. I do have another guitar for that. But even on a Strat, I can kinda get a fat humbucking sound by using the bridge and middle pickups and turning down the tone about 7/10 of the way. Sounds pretty sweet.

You don't get that "chug chug" palm-muted riffage from a Strat, that's for sure. But a Strats got more..... character I guess for lack of a proper word.

Plus, those bridge+middle/neck+middle clean sounds are to die for.

 

[fareedusmani]

lol i being a metal fan rushed to a shop and bought myself a strat accidentally (this happened an year ago), it sounds crap on distortion compared to my friend's jackson....but its clean tone owns the jackson's clean tone...

 

[R1CK]

I had less options on buying my guitar because I was on a seriously low budget so bought a beginner Washburn X9 with a tiny washburn 15w practice amp. I think it's good, but my friend's cream white Gibson Les Paul studio + Line 6 Spider IV 15w takes a shit on my guitar T_T

 

[Bad Mofo]

@Fareed:

You must be kicking yourself!

You do know that you can put a humbucker in the bridge position and it would be a pretty decent metal-machine, right? You don't have to spend money on a whole new guitar: just a decent humbucker (about $60 for a Seymour Duncan) and perhaps a new scratch-plate ($15 I guess).

The bridge humbucker is what counts for that metal riffage.

@Rick:

I think it might be your amp more than your guitar. But that's cool. You can upgrade later on. And whenever you can afford it; new humbuckers can make a world of a difference. I put new humbuckers on my first guitar (an Epiphone Les Paul) and it made it sound so beautiful.

 

[Benighted]

^ You don't even have an electric =P

Yes. And yet i play Metallica, Lamb Of God etc.... despite of having only an acoustic.

 

[Bad Mofo]

^ Heard of Rodrigo y Gabriela?

This is their version of "Orion":

 

[Benighted]

That was sweeeeet!

 

[Benighted]

I hate barre chords... <_<

 

[Benighted]

umm.... your picking hand is supposed to rest on the guitar, no?

 

[Bad Mofo]

^ for barring chords?

 

[Benighted]

^ No... for individual note picking.... its my habit to play almost everything with my hand resting on the bridge.... just want to know if its a bad technique?