For guitar players

[Asmoday]

I have seen a couple people in the past, Wes off the top of my head, post about interest in playing guitar and I am thinking about picking up a starter and need to know what to purchase. I have been told that different guitars are better for different sounds be it classic rock or metal. I am guessing how clean the sound is vs that distorted grinding sound of Slayer?

My only real goal is to play certain songs by Floyd, Alice in Chains and maybe some harder stuff like Slayer or Disturbed down the road when my picking skills get better. I know some of that will require effects pedals as well, but for the initial point of buying a guitar and amp to practice a bit, what should I get? Most of my friends in the past were fans of Ibanez, but they were focusing on a heavy metal sound.

Anyway, I am completely uneducated in this field and if you just look on Guitar Center's website almost everything has a good review so its hard to determine what is actually good for what I want. I also don't care if the guitar has a whammy bar since I have been told that good ones aren't cheap and bad ones will knock the guitar out of tune quickly. Don't know if I will get much of a reponse to this but thanks in advance to anyone who replies.

 

[SonGohan]

What price range are we talking about here? Ibanez guitars are extremely versatile. Your friends may use them for heavy metal, but you can use them for just about anything. Your main tone is going to come out of your amp configuration.

You name Floyd, AIC, and Slayer as bands you want to cover, and that's a wide variety of sounds. I think you would be able to find a good Ibanez guitar that would do the trick. Maybe one that has a single coil pickup in the neck for good, solid tones such as Pink Floyd leads and clean riffs. I would suggest a humbucker in the bridge for nice, fat distortions that you'll get for dirty AIC rock or heavy Slayer metal. I'm pretty sure there's an affordable Ibanez that has an original floyd rose out there, it's all about the range that you're willing to spend.

Second, I talked about your main sound going to come from your amp configuration. For probably the past 6 years I've recommended a Line 6 POD. It's by far the ultimate practice tool for guitarists. It's essentially a preamp, however you can plug your headphones in and jam/practice the night away. If you want to record, you can hook it up to your computer (it may be awhile before you do that). The main selling point is the fact that it EMULATES 32 different amplifier heads ranging from Fender, Marshall, to Mesa Boogie. I also emulates 16 speaker cabinets. The great thing about this, especially since you're starting out and haven't found your particular sound yet, is that you can mix and match and create a plethora of different sounds out of this little thing. It also has various different effects like phaser, compressor, reverb, wah (auto wah if you don't have the pedal hookup), flange, tremelo, delay, etc.

With fiddling with this contraption, you're bound to mold a sound that's unique to your own, and when you do, then you're set to begin your journey of buying a high quality amp configuration. I really wish I had something like this when I was starting out

 

[Asmoday]

Thanks for the advice. I have been looking at a couple Ibanez just from familiarity of brand and old friend's approval of them in the past. The two I was thinking about were http://www.guitarcenter.com/Ibanez-RG3EXQM1-Quilted-Maple-Top-Electric-Guitar-103382156-i1167869.gc or http://www.guitarcenter.com/Ibanez-RG5EX1-Electric-Guitar-103574026-i1167870.gc . And that Line 6 POD sounds like a good idea. I would mostly be playing at night and would be using headphones anyway.

 

[SonGohan]

I really like the RG5EX1 out of the two that you posted, mostly because it has locking nuts at the neck. Even if you don't use the tremelo (which you probably won't mess with for a while), the locking nuts at the neck will at least keep it in tune when you bend strings. The single coil pickup in the middle will give you an interesting dynamic in your tones, especially clean imo. I think that's a very solid guitar.

If there's anything I can ever recommend for a guitarist that's starting out, is at least get a guitar that will stay in tune. You want your ear to develop along with your technique and you don't want to get used to the sound of an out of tune guitar.

And for the POD thing, I strongly recommend getting the standard 2.0. You can usually find them on ebay (http://cgi.ebay.com/Line-6-POD-2-0_...ryZ41419QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem) for around $100 bucks, and it's the best money you'll ever spend imo.

 

[Asmoday]

That was actually the one I have been looking into more. I just noticed the other one hit a random sale price earlier this week so I popped it in there to see which you would pick. Again, thank you for the advice. I have been on the fence about shelling out the cash for this for about a month and a half now, but have always wanted to learn and found a site that gives what looks like pretty decent exercises for beginers to intermediate levels.

Checked out your myspace from your sig. I really like your remakes of the gaming tracks. How long have you been playing?

 

[SonGohan]

The good thing about your guitar is that down the road, if you want, you can always have an original floyd rose installed on your guitar. You could also put some nice DiMarzio pickups or EMGs as well. It's completely upgradable, yet it's solid straight out of the box to get you up and running.

You didn't ask, however I'd still recommend trying out http://metalmethod.com/ for lessons. I started playing seriously in '97 and got this guy's vhs tapes through the mail. Don't be fooled by the name, what he teaches can be applied to anything. It's not strictly heavy metal. There's tons of websites out there that have cool exercises and such, but when starting out you're going to want goals. If you aren't going to go to a teacher to help you set goals and the best way to achieve them, you should definitely check out some instructional videos that come in levels so you can advance, and advance correctly. I mean, you don't want to be some badass riffmaster or shredder and not even know the names of your notes (which I've come across many, many guitarists who don't know the names of their notes). Get something that will teach you the basics, and as you advance you can supplement your exercises with other videos from people such as Michael Angelo, John Petrucci, Zakk Wylde etc.

However, I digress. Who knows, you may have a teacher in mind, which is good. When I first started with those metal method tapes, I eventually went to a teacher, but only for in-depth music theory lessons. It all really depends on what you want to do, but you do want to at least master the basics correctly.

Thanks for your compliment on my gaming covers. Like I said before, I've played seriously since 97, so I guess that makes it 11 years (god, I sound awful for 11 years too). All of my stuff has been recorded with my POD (except for Rock Howard, which was done with a cheap V-AMP knockoff copy POD).

I really, really do <3 the POD

 

[not sonic]

wes will give me shit but im a gibson/marshall person. then again its because i want the overdriven, bridge humbucker, ac/dc sound.

ive got a flying v and its really pretty versatile. lots of different tones.

gibsons fit and finish on their base models is admittedly pretty shitty compared to the cost though.

epiphone has been really great lately though.

i wouldnt mind having one of those pods. i play through some head/cabinet that a friend gave me. i cant even recall the brands off the top of my head. i'd love some proper stuff some day.


anyway more useful information for you. youre just starting, a low end ibanez is a great first guitar. theyre not expensive and they shit all over the others in the same price range (im looking at you squire.)

marshall makes a solid state amp with an effects knob that simulates tube sound, and a bunch of other stuff. i forget the model number, but i know it comes in 15 or 30watt.

also, i'd suggest lessons early on. or have someone teach you some basics. you can pick up bad habits teaching yourself, and theyll be hard to unlearn in the future. i can vouch for that.

edit: i didnt realize you posted the guitars you're looking at. not low end at all. should be good, though admittedly i only have experience with the $150-300 range ibanez stuff.

 

[Asmoday]

I have only done some rudimentary searches for online lessons at this point since as I mentioned I debated even dropping the coin. I ran across some guy in the UK that seems to offer fairly easy entry level lessons and more advanced technical exercises to teach better picking, alt picking, chords and such. His stuff is on youtube and his site at Justinguitar.com.

I have already bookmarked the site you recommended and will look into it. I don't think the site I found helps much with reading actual music (all I have seen is tabs) and it doesn't really focus you much on specific goals as you mentioned, just gives lessons to work on and advance your speed in them.

 

[SonGohan]

I agree with sonic. I like Gibson too (I got a pretty sweet '89 explorer as a graduation gift), so it's all good. However, I don't think he's in the price range for a Gibson. Epiphone, maybe.

EDIT - Are you wanting to learn how to sigh-read music for guitar too?

 

[not sonic]

i've played a few epiphone les pauls, and the fit/finish is great. better than any mexican squire or fender.

but theyre heavy, and the neck is pretty big too. i like the small neck on my v.

 

[Asmoday]

Definately not trying to break to far out of the $400 range for the guitar alone. If I really love playing for a couple years and find I am interested in upgrading I can do that later, but I want something affordable with a decent enough set-up that I won't need to just go out and buy something better in 6 months to a year and like you said Wes something that stays in tune.

As for reading music; I would eventually like to learn to read sheet music as well as tabs because tabs you find online aren't always 100% accurate from what I have heard. I have noticed there are a lot of slight variations in places depending on how each individual plays a song. I have been told most freely available tabs are from guitarists who have learned to play the song either by ear or from someone else instead of from looking at the actual sheet music. One of my current associates at work is a dabbling bassist and has given me small tips here and there.

I will note that I have yet to really look too deeply into tab sites though. I have found ultimate-guitar.com and guitartab.com, but I figured really searching that stuff out at this point would just be premature. Its not like I will really be playing anything much for a little while anyway; mostly practicing technique I would guess.

If I were to find someone for lessons for the first year or so would it be worth it if I could only make twice a week in my schedule? I have a busy year ahead and while I can make time to practice on my own accord I won't have much availability during any sort of business hours for anything more than that. I am guessing I will be able to spare about 1 hr a day to practice during post work down time. I kinda like getting into things that require you to really focus and practice on them so that kind of stress I would find relaxing in the sense that it would get my mind off of other things.

Gaming just isn't providing that distraction the same way it used to. I blame EQ and WoW for truly showing me just how far one's mind can turn to putty while staring at a monitor. No other game can live up to that standard and I won't have time for any MMO after this month is up so I need a new hobby that I can wrap myself in. Ever since I was 16 (feels like ages ago) I have wanted to do this, but never put aside the time or desired to spend the start up cash. This year I want to start making a few strides to do things I would have passed on previously in my life and starting a hobby that teaches me a skill in return rather than just absorbing countless hours seems like a good start.

 

[Asmoday]

Oh, something else I figured might be helpful, but I don't know if anyone makes it... Is there any sort of PC program that you can run a line in to your PC and insert notes via tab and play the song with the computer running a metranome and the pc will shoot back if you are hitting the notes cleanly or in the right pace? I figure something like that would take some of the guess-work out of learning to play a new song rather than just sitting there playing it along with an album like my friends used to.

 

[SonGohan]

I'm not sure if there's a program that does what you're talking about. I wouldn't really recommend going by 80% of tabs that are online anyway. I would use them only as groundwork to figure out the song on your own, and that's only if you're having trouble figuring it out without any tab. Developing your ear is essential. Anybody can learn to read somebody else's tab and play it, but it takes somebody with a great ear to figure things out themselves. This also helps later on when you're writing your own stuff, and you're going to want to be able to play the music you hear in your head.

This is something I'm guilty of, and it took a bit of developing my ear to play what I composed in my head. I would buy a shitload of tab books and learn each song 100%, but I wasn't paying attention to the music itself. I was just memorizing numbers on lines, and when it came to deciphering what was going on in my head, it was a headache to bring it out of myself.

So yeah, some other pointers to consider as well. Sight-reading is a good idea if you want to be a studio musician, or play with a full band (and I don't mean you're traditional 3 or 4 piece, either).

EDIT - An hour a day is plenty when learning guitar. The thing with learning is that you MUST be consistant. Playing 3 hours one day, 1 the next, skipping a day, or doing 30 min one isn't good. Establish good practicing habits.

 

[Asmoday]

Well, I have no aspirations of ever playing in any sort of band at all, just playing as a hobby for myself. As for developement of a musical ear; at my rate that will take quite some time and probably some sort of formal training at the start. For the time being my only goals are to develope good technique and learn a few simple songs to practice that I enjoy. With the time constraints to come in my life I think that is about the loftiest ambition I can afford to make.

I do appreciate the input. As soon as I can afford to I will be buying that RG5EX1 and a POD 2 as suggested and I will be looking into either starter lessons or that DVD set you pointed out. The only other thing I think I would need at start up is a fairly inexpensive and easy to use tuner that preferably has the ability to plug into a wall socket as well as use battery power. Just to get it out of the way I would likely want to buy one that can be calibrated for different tuning styles and if possible includes a metronome. Have any advice on who makes a good starter that isn't over like $50 or so?

 

[SonGohan]

Your line 6 pod comes with a built in tuner As far as metronomes, you can find extremely cheap ones at pretty much any music store.

 

[Electric Grave]

I dunno if I am too late, but if this is somthing you're gonna stick with for a long time, then I suggest looking into Jackson, byt far the nicest neck and ease of handling ever. If you like the "spongy" bridge and such then this is your guitar.

Anything is allways good though, as long as you play then all is well, not to sound corny, but if you can and want to play; then any damn banjo will do.

Shine on!

Out of the subject...I think we should have a guitar thread, just for all them maniacs out there...you know who you are!

 

[Kiel]

I would recommend getting lessons with an instructor right off the bat, I tried to go about things by myself when I started out and felt like I was completely lost. I decided to start taking lessons one day a week for 30 minutes at a time and things have been great ever since. NOthing beats getting a question answered right away by somebody who knows what they are doing.

ANd that Ibanez that Wes recommended looks like a winner, its very close to the Ibanez that I got as my first guitar (RG470ti) I love it and the only thing that I wish it had was a thicker neck but thats all personal preference.

 

[WeinerDogSunglasses]

I know this is sort of unrelated, but has anyone played any of the Alexi Laiho ESPs? I have heard they are amazing

 

[Kiel]

I know this is sort of unrelated, but has anyone played any of the Alexi Laiho ESPs? I have heard they are amazing

American or japanese version?

 

[WeinerDogSunglasses]

American or japanese version?

Ha I didn't know there were 2. Either, I guess?

 

[SonGohan]

I know this is sort of unrelated, but has anyone played any of the Alexi Laiho ESPs? I have heard they are amazing

Yes and Jesus Christ they're good. Not a big fan of flying Vs, but this one was pretty good. I'm not down with only one humbucker pickup, but it still sounded real good for what it was.

 

[SonGohan]

Out of the subject...I think we should have a guitar thread, just for all them maniacs out there...you know who you are!

There's been a few like this particular one where a member is interested in learning. However, there was an all-purpose guitar thread done years ago here

 

[Kiel]

Ha I didn't know there were 2. Either, I guess?

Yup, here are the Japanese versions, as you can see they have a true Randy Rhoads shape to them but they come with an EMG HZ p.u. (and some with gain booster) which Alexi no longer uses.
http://www.espguitars.co.jp/artist/alexi_laiho/index.html

Here is the American versions, notice how its more of a V shape? Thats because some lawsuit with Jackson guitars so they cant use the true RR shape (Alexi used to play Jacksons until his custom was stolen in like...2002) But these do come with the Seymour Duncan Blackout actuive p.u. which Alexi has switched to and in my opinion is way better.
http://www.espguitars.com/guitars_alexi.html

Wes did you play the ESP version or the LTD one?

p.s. I'd stab an old woman for the Japanese Arrow head.

 

[rarehero]

i'm more of an acoustic geetar player.
but i'll pass on what my dad who's been playing
for years passed on to me.
spend some decent money on a guitar in the first place.
there's such a deal of finding a good guitar for
cheap, but it rarely happens.
earmark a good 2-3 hundred dollars and get something
good to begin with. it'll help foster the creative
process plus you won't have to put up with poor
craftsman ship, which in an insturment you don't want.
i've lucked into getting some good stuff cheap.
some cheap stuff free. and you get to learn the
difference in quality between brands.
elec wise i have a purple mexi strat i got for
fairly cheap from a friend. 3 coil machine.
pretty cool, but you get to learn the differences
between insturments. my dad loves gibsons and
i've played his les paul custom. that thing is sex.
but you can tell a difference in playing, weight,
and tone.
an ibanez doesnt sound like a bad deal.
guitar center is actually a decent place to pick up
a guitar, you get some knowledgable people there.
my experience is if you go to small shops they try
to press sales on you. they especially prey on
folks that don't know what they're doing.
but if you go. talk to the person. half the
people i see at guitar center at home i see are usually
in a local band.
awesome.

 

[Asmoday]

Yeah, I had an unexpected bill hit me yesterday, but I still plan to go check out a couple I have my eye on some time next week. I am really leaning toward the one Wes suggested, but I want to get it in my hands and compare it to a couple others before the purchase to see what the weight and feel is like. I know I could spend a little more if I wanted to, but I would like to avoid it. There is a difference in having the money and being willing to part with more of it than necessary, especially in economic times like these and what is being foreshadowed for the near future.

I also found out one of my friends has been playing off and on since high school and he wants to go up to guitar center with me. I am sure he will give me a few pointers of what to look for while there. He knows first hand what did and didn't work for him because he started playing on a really nice $1000+ guitar back in the day, ended up having to sell it during hard times and now jacks around with his girlfriend's $140 Fender clone when he can tolerate doing so.

Again, to all who have posted here, thank you for the advice. Getting your feet wet for the first time can be a daunting experience when there are so many options from which to choose.