The Official Guitar Thread

While you may disagree with my half-hearted racist rants, I at least try to provide some insight in this thread. We all were noobs, and unfortunately for some of us there wasn't an internet when we were noobs. I used to get my information hanging around music stores, going to shows, and basically trial and error. Tabs in the back of guitarworld were the best I got heh.

I'm not as accomplished of a home recording expert as some, but I did dabble a little bit in it a few years ago. The hardest thing for me to do when starting out was doubling tracks. I apparently am the most sloppy and worst-timed guitarist of all time because as soon as you start trying to double track riffs you realize you aren't half as good as you thought you were. I had real trouble with that, and I still do.

I really want to plan on my next amp soon. I think my favorite of all time was my ENGL Fireball, with the ENGL Blackmore being a close second. The 5150 was incredible too, but it's a very generic sound for me - Arch Enemy basically. The Fireball just really hit you in the sack. I remember unboxing that thing, turning it on, and melting in my chair to nothing. I traded a Mesa Triple Rectifier that I bought off some douchebag for $1000 for it, so it all worked out.

Well, Cutlery, I clarified and apologized. I'm still concerned about the direction these boards overall are heading, but people in this thread have been good. I'm not sure what else you want me to do.

I did record a track with two guitar parts and vocals last night, but I'm terrified to show it here.

For all intents and purposes, all of us are on the same level here - unprofessional guitar diddlers. I would suggest showing it for the sake of constructive criticism.. but that's just me.

When I started guitar at 13 - my dad played and got me into it - I wouldn't play in front of anyone, even him. He told me "you can only get famous if you play in front of people".. I never made it famous, but I try to live by that. Get your sound out!

Does Jamplay ever run a summer sale? I'm looking to sub back up for a year. Wish they had a mobile app as well but it appears they don't; at least not for Android.

Duppin_sl said:

Well, Cutlery, I clarified and apologized. I'm still concerned about the direction these boards overall are heading, but people in this thread have been good. I'm not sure what else you want me to do.

I did record a track with two guitar parts and vocals last night, but I'm terrified to show it here.

Click to expand...

If you want pointers or tips, post it bro.

Alright, works for me.

Here's the clip I was talking about. You fuckers get to find out my RL name because I'm too lazy to set up a different soundcloud with that information obscured.

Just a snippet of a song, and very very rough obviously, but here it is:
soundcloud with my RL name removed, I'll readd another one later when I'm feeling less lazy

One thing I can add at the moment is watch your clipping, it feels like that sound byte clips a lot so I would watch your levels.

I don't know if the song is a cover or original, but it sounds like you're getting the idea pretty good.

It's an old blues tune, covered by just about everybody. And yeah, that was pretty much just open up the software and figure out how to glom a couple of tracks together. I need to mess around with the controls and figure out how to set them up right.

The soloing work was also too busy in the context of the song, but I mostly just wanted to see how it'd sound over the rhythm part.

My buddy Lee is going through the original Transformers movie (the awesome cartoon, not the Michael Bay abominations) and covering the soundtrack. Check this out:

I am getting some more Ibanez GAS. The RG550 is not enough!

What string gauges do you guys use on your electric guitars? My Strat has 10s on it right now, but I'm sortof thinking about going down to 9s to make bending easier. As I understand it, the tradeoff is losing some sustain?

You might get a better tone from higher gauge strings, but it is mostly negligible. I've always been an avid supporter of playing with a gauge that feels comfortable to you. I think SRV used 13's on his strats in standard tuning, and I can't imagine how hard it is to play like that.

I typically run with 10s on my standard tuned guitars now, I just find them to be the right amount of stiffness and I like the tone. For the first 8-10 years of my playing I strictly used 9s as that is what my dad used so I figured they were the best. You'll find the bending so much easier if you go from 10->9.

I also ran some guitars tuned to B standard and had to use 12/13s depending on the scale. The strings were definitely stiffer and thicker feeling, but the bending was about the same because of the lower tension. At that point I had to use a wound third string though, which felt a little uncomfortable for awhile.

Also, try out different string brands! I stuck to just a single brand for a long time (GHS Boomers) and found that they kept breaking so easily. Tried a shitload of brands and found my sweet spot with Ernie Balls, the fact that they had 7 string versions I could buy in the stores really swayed me as well. Sorry for the long-winded post.

I'm all about wound G's. Use them on all of my electrics. Bending is tough at first but the sustain and tone can't be beat. I'm a pretty hard hitter and you can really get that funk guitar punch with high gauge strings. I feel like I'll break 9's when I play them now.

Noodleface_sl said:

You might get a better tone from higher gauge strings, but it is mostly negligible. I've always been an avid supporter of playing with a gauge that feels comfortable to you. I think SRV used 13's on his strats in standard tuning, and I can't imagine how hard it is to play like that.

I typically run with 10s on my standard tuned guitars now, I just find them to be the right amount of stiffness and I like the tone. For the first 8-10 years of my playing I strictly used 9s as that is what my dad used so I figured they were the best. You'll find the bending so much easier if you go from 10->9.

I also ran some guitars tuned to B standard and had to use 12/13s depending on the scale. The strings were definitely stiffer and thicker feeling, but the bending was about the same because of the lower tension. At that point I had to use a wound third string though, which felt a little uncomfortable for awhile.

Also, try out different string brands! I stuck to just a single brand for a long time (GHS Boomers) and found that they kept breaking so easily. Tried a shitload of brands and found my sweet spot with Ernie Balls, the fact that they had 7 string versions I could buy in the stores really swayed me as well. Sorry for the long-winded post.

Click to expand...

Don't be sorry, that was a great post.

I found a string brand I like, I think (DR Pure Blues) so it's a question of finding the right gauge.

I cannot imagine trying to play standard tuning with 13s. But then again, I'm not SRV.

I think I read that some people convinced him to use 11s. I wonder if the tension of 13s in standard or even Eb would cause some problems with the neck.

My singing face is better than my guitar face:

Not sure, but that guy's quite good, aside from the fact that he wants to solo a bit too much. My teacher's the guy in the middle, it was the first time I've gotten to play with him on stage.