Any Guitar player here ?

[Sofiene]

Hi,

so i wanted to ask, is there any Guitar player here ? as for me, im playing for almost a year now and kinda proud of my progression so far and recently bought my first Electric guitar  

so if anyone plays guitar ? electric or acoustic ? which genres do you like/play ? etc..... 

[MissingNoL]

I've been playing for about four years.  I play electric mainly, along with every genre besides country.  I'm just starting out in a band too, and our focus for covers is mainly Red Hot Chili Peppers.
I have a Mexican Standard Fender Stratocaster paired with a MI Audio Pollyanna Octave Pedal, but I'm looking into that NES guitar at the moment.
What guitar do you have?  Do you have any equipment?  What kind of music do you like to play?  How are you learning to play?

[fdrjk]

i play the air guitar

im into mostly air guitar music and its subgenres. its pretty obscure, youve probably never heard it.

[|iR|Focalor]

Been playing for about 15 or 20 years. I play both acoustic and electric, but I prefer electric. Mainly play metal, but when I'm just farting around I'll play southern rock, blues, country, jazz, pretty much anything.

I finally got a new electric a couple months ago. It's a 2013 Ibanez RG421QM. Mahogany body with a quilted maple top, bolt-on maple neck, rosewood fingerboard, fixed bridge, 2 humbucker pickups w/ 5-way blade switch. Sounds as tush as any of those $1000+ guitars at a fraction of the price. (pictured below)


My other main guitar is an old 1996 Ibanez JS100 Joe Satriani signature series. Basswood body, bolt-on maple neck, rosewood fingerboard, double-locking tremolo bridge 2 coil-tap humbuckers with 3-way toggle switch and pull toggle switch on the volume knob for the coil-tap function.

I've modified it a little from stock though. I never really used the double locking tremolo system on it. When I did, locking down the nut at the headstock would always deaden the hell out of the strings when you'd play them open, so I got to where I'd just leave the nut locks and tremolo arm completely off. But then that would always make it a total pain in the ass to keep it perfectly in tune with the bridge flexing up and down slightly when bending notes... so I finally stuck a custom cut block of maple between the back of the bridge and the inner body and then loaded the back of the bridge up with tremolo springs all the way across to keep the bridge from moving, so it pretty much stays completely in tune now. I also replaced the stock neck position pickup with a Seymour Duncan Pearly Gates pickup. Sounds a lot smoother and warmer than the stock pickup ever did.


Still experimenting a bit with string sizes on the RG, but so far my favorite has been the Ernie Ball Skinny Top Heavy Bottom 10's. The higher strings are thinner for sparkly screaming solos while the lower strings are a lot thicker than normal for some heavier sounding metal riffs.

On the JS, I always play Ernie Ball Super Slinky 9's. They're pretty thin and bright sounding and make any kind of soloing with lots of bends pretty effortless.

My other guitar is an old ugly 1984 B.C. Mockingbird. I still play it occasionally but mainly only use it for rhythm guitar purposes. I always string it with some jazz flatwound 11 or 12's (13's if I can find them - the thicker the better) to get a nice dark, warm, and smooth tone without a ton of sustain. Having a smooth surface on the strings also removes most of the squeak sounds from moving chords up and down the neck.

As for pedals, I have a few, but the only one I really use is my old Vox wah-wah. Vox is the ONLY wah as far I'm concerned. A lot of people like the newer Dunlop wah pedals, but I've always been a more of a fan of the old British wah pedals that always had a much more dynamic sweep with a sizzling top-end to them.

For amplifiers, I prefer rackmount component systems. I've added a couple things to my setup lately. First, I run into an old Aphex Easyrider compressor. Next, I run a single into my Marshall JMP-1 tube preamp, then I run that single out into a Rocktron Gainiac2 preamp to dial in a tad more tube scream to the distortion. From there, I run single out into my Digitech GSP2101. This thing has EVERYTHING on it and can do just about anything you can dream up and then some. And this is precisely WHY I don't use pedals, because I really don't have a need for any after this thing. And this unit is actually where most of my tone shaping comes from despite the fact that I'm using 2 different preamps before it. The EQ capabilities of the DigiTech unit far surpass what the Marshall and Rocktron can do on their own, so I just use basic generic settings that I never touch on both of those and then do all my major EQ shifting with the 10-band active EQ on the DigiTech unit. From there, I run 2 lines back up to the Marshall JMP-1, and then another 2 lines out to my Peavey Classic Series 120/120 dual mono tube poweramp. This motherfuckers a BEAST. Weighs about 60 pounds (due to the 4 massive transformers), loaded with 6L6 tubes, and runs 120 watts per independent channel. So if I wanted to, I could easily drive four 4x12 cabinets, but since I don't wanna be DEAF, I just run into two 1x12 combo amps that I've rigged up to use as speaker cabinets only with the head electronics removed.

[yahoo]

Been inactive for several years since Ive been quite busy in work.
Started out when my sis bought an acoustic and doing a self learning through several song books (since the internet was still aint invented during that time).

Got me self a Kramer bass and a Gibson batman. Learned the riffs and bass lines old school. Purely by ear. Never tried using Tabs. Grew my hair long( bout way below my shoulder).Went to do some band playing doing covers of metal songs.

Later, gave my batman to some friend and kept the Kramer( have it on storage). Disassembled the body from the neck since I was planning to have it repainted. Later, when I went on searching, I later found out that my mom had thrown out the neck coz she thought it was junk (sucks).

Now, don't have any electric, just an ovation. Went back to where I started playing some good ole blues.

I always want to learn some classic Spanish guitar, but guess Im a bit too old and my fingers are bit damn sticked solid now.

[yahoo]

i play the air guitar

im into mostly air guitar music and its subgenres. its pretty obscure, youve probably never heard it.

Nice 

[Sofiene]

I've been playing for about four years.  I play electric mainly, along with every genre besides country.  I'm just starting out in a band too, and our focus for covers is mainly Red Hot Chili Peppers.
I have a Mexican Standard Fender Stratocaster paired with a MI Audio Pollyanna Octave Pedal, but I'm looking into that NES guitar at the moment.
What guitar do you have?  Do you have any equipment?  What kind of music do you like to play?  How are you learning to play?

i bought my first guitar last year as far as i remember, it was a semi-acoustic MEG guitar ( kinda look like this one )

it's a good guitar for beginners and it sounds average/good, during that time, i didn't knew how to play guitar or even how to hold it, im a metalhead and been fan of the genre for several years and just decided to learn how to play so i bought that one ( was cheap, costed me like 50 euros or less ) i use mainly tabs from the internet since taking lessons from a teacher costs alot in here. 

i listen to lots of bands, from Metallica and Megadeth to Pink Floyd and led zepplin, my favorite band is still Megadeth but i had to listen to alot of songs and read alot of tabs from Metallica cause their songs are "easier" than Megadeth ones.

i bought my Electric guitar few weeks ago, it's my first electric guitar and it is an Ibanez GSA-60 ( ) it sounds really great, i had some problems at first when switching from that semi-acoustic to the Electric since the neck is smaller and the strings are closer to each other in the Ibanez, been practicing on it still lots to work on like my speed and my pinky.

as i said, the way i learn is tabs, i just follow the tabs and try to play the song using them but there are some songs/tabs that i don't want to play cause i don't even know how to play them, it drives me crazy sometimes ( like the middle of stairway to heaven ) 

Been playing for about 15 or 20 years. I play both acoustic and electric, but I prefer electric. Mainly play metal, but when I'm just farting around I'll play southern rock, blues, country, jazz, pretty much anything.

As for pedals, I have a few, but the only one I really use is my old Vox wah-wah. Vox is the ONLY wah as far I'm concerned. A lot of people like the newer Dunlop wah pedals, but I've always been a more of a fan of the old British wah pedals that always had a much more dynamic sweep with a sizzling top-end to them.

For amplifiers, I prefer rackmount component systems. I've added a couple things to my setup lately. First, I run into an old Aphex Easyrider compressor. Next, I run a single into my Marshall JMP-1 tube preamp, then I run that single out into a Rocktron Gainiac2 preamp to dial in a tad more tube scream to the distortion. From there, I run single out into my Digitech GSP2101. This thing has EVERYTHING on it and can do just about anything you can dream up and then some. And this is precisely WHY I don't use pedals, because I really don't have a need for any after this thing. And this unit is actually where most of my tone shaping comes from despite the fact that I'm using 2 different preamps before it. The EQ capabilities of the DigiTech unit far surpass what the Marshall and Rocktron can do on their own, so I just use basic generic settings that I never touch on both of those and then do all my major EQ shifting with the 10-band active EQ on the DigiTech unit. From there, I run 2 lines back up to the Marshall JMP-1, and then another 2 lines out to my Peavey Classic Series 120/120 dual mono tube poweramp. This motherfuckers a BEAST. Weighs about 60 pounds (due to the 4 massive transformers), loaded with 6L6 tubes, and runs 120 watts per independent channel. So if I wanted to, I could easily drive four 4x12 cabinets, but since I don't wanna be DEAF, I just run into two 1x12 combo amps that I've rigged up to use as speaker cabinets only with the head electronics removed.

you are quite an expert when it comes to guitars, i bet that you can play most songs with no problem, are/were you in some bands ? what are your favorite songs/solos that you like the most to play or to hear ?

also, i didn't bought an Amplifier yet cause they are so expencive in here  but will get one during the summer hopefully, maybe a Marshall or a VOX one.

as for the Wahh pedal, i don't really like it, dunno it always sounded weird and just ruin the original guitar sound, it's just my opinion, the Wah works good on some songs or solos indeed but mostly not, since i listen to lots of Metallica songs lately, Kirk Hammet uses the Wahh in a good way at least on the studio albums but when it comes to live concerts, his " improvisations" using that pedal just ruin the song for me. so i have to ask, why do you like that pedal ? and in which songs do you use them ?

[|iR|Focalor]

Most people probably don't use wah quite as much as they used to, but I tend to use it quite a bit. Mostly I use it in solo portions of songs, rocking back and forth on the pedal to create the wah sound. But occasionally I'll just engage it and sweep the pedal to one position and keep it there to act as a bit of an EQ filter. When I want a good bright Stevie Ray Vaughan kinda Texas blues sound, I'll toggle my single coil pickups on the guitar, then click the wah pedal and keep the toe all the way down to add tons of brittle crisp treble to the tone. If I want a good buzzy fuzz tone, I'll use only the neck pickup with the guitars tone knob cranked all the way down, then dial in some heavy distortion on the preamp, then engage the wah pedal and rock it to some place in the middle to accentuate and pronounce the hell out of the midrange. So a good sounding well made wah pedal has more uses than just making your guitar squonk like a duck, you just gotta play around with it enough to FIND those uses.

Reason "why" I like it? I guess mainly it reminds me of all the old psychadelic classic rock bands. I tend to use a good bit of chorus and flange effects in lead parts to add a thick wavy watery sound to things. I just get bored hearing dry guitar sounds when I write stuff. To my ear, my playing really isn't all that interesting, and some liberal usage of different effects helps to create a more otherworldly environment in the sound.

Here's a few instances in which I've used wah in some songs.

Focalor - War of Words
*Intro lead part containing auto-wah (not with a wah pedal, with an effect from the DigiTech rack unit) - starting at 0:06 and ending at 0:31
*Outro solo containing wah starting at 3:44

Focalor - Darkness Shines
*Wah held at one position to act as EQ filter starting at 3:04 and ending at 3:28 (I think, can't really remember)
*mutliple track solo, each track containing wah starting at 3:52 and ending at 4:16 (one track is played using a glass slide to create a bit of a siren effect)

Focalor - Paranoid (Black Sabbath cover)
*Solo containing wah starting at 1:33 and ending at 1:56

Focalor - Nocturnal Emissions
*Solo lead-in containing wah starting at 2:51 and ending at 3:18

Focalor - Inner Voice
*Intro portion containing wah as well as 4 or 8-voice stereo chorus starting at 0:22 and ending at 0:37
*two track harmonized solo, each track panned left or right about 10% to give a wider stereo sound and let each track be heard more independently, both tracks featuring heavy usage of wah - starting at 3:29 and ending at 4:28

[yahoo]

as i said, the way i learn is tabs, i just follow the tabs and try to play the song using them but there are some songs/tabs that i don't want to play cause i don't even know how to play them, it drives me crazy sometimes ( like the middle of stairway to heaven ) 

Im kinda old school. When I try to follow a riff, I would listen to the scaling they use and do not rely on tabs. I think it would be very much helpful if you would study and be familiarize with the different Major and Minor scales. Also the Pentatonic. This can also serve as a good finger exercise. Once you got familiar with these, it would be much easier for you to copy the guitar solos of your fav music since you can easily identify the notes or finger runs they are using.

Most importantly, you can easily play by ear. Do impromptu melodic guitar jams. Relying only tabs would be kinda sucky IMHO.

PS. see this http://www.guitarorb.com/guitar-scales/

[|iR|Focalor]

Im kinda old school. When I try to follow a riff, I would listen to the scaling they use and do not rely on tabs. I think it would be very much helpful if you would study and be familiarize with the different Major and Minor scales. Also the Pentatonic. This can also serve as a good finger exercise. Once you got familiar with these, it would be much easier for you to copy the guitar solos of your fav music since you can easily identify the notes or finger runs they are using.

Most importantly, you can easily play by ear. Do impromptu melodic guitar jams. Relying only tabs would be kinda sucky IMHO.

PS. see this http://www.guitarorb.com/guitar-scales/

Yeah, I've always told people that I was self-taught, but that's not 100% accurate. I think back in 7th grade, I took a guitar elective course in middle school. I didn't really learn anything from it though. All I learned was a couple of basic chords, and since there was like 40 other kids in the class, it's not like anyone really had an opportunity to excel at it. And basically all the class really taught me was that I'd need to work at it if I really wanted to learn how to play. Probably a few months after the course ended, I was roaming around at Kmart with my mom shopping one day and was flipping through the posters they had in one of those display racks kinda like they have at Spencer Gifts at the mall. I saw a poster that was a chart of all the basic guitar chords, major, minor, etc. I actually still have the poster and have it taped to the door in the spare bedroom I use as my studio and junk room. But that poster is really where I started learning from. A year or two later, I ended up getting this big fat book called The Guitar Grimoire containing probably every scale known to man. I really never dove too deep into it, but it helped me to learn a couple of the basic scales that I use now, mostly major pentatonic, minor pentatonic for blues, and maybe one or two others. After repeating the scales several times, I'd go back and listen to some of my favorite songs and recognize the scales, and then try to improvise along with the song. So I never really had a rigid lesson plan for myself, which I'd attribute as the one and only reason I ever learned how to pick shit out of songs by ear and play it back. I imagine that if I had actually gone and had 1 on 1 guitar lessons with some teacher, I probably would've been turned off by the rigid structure of it, lost interest in playing, and quit before I really learned anything useful. That's kinda what kept me going at it, the amazement at discovering shit on my own and finding out that I had the ability to do it for myself.

And while I spent basically very little time at all actually studying and understanding the book, it made a world of difference and created a pathway for me to learn how to play lead guitar and write complete songs rather than just hammering away with rhythm guitar chords for the rest of eternity. I'd HIGHLY recommend it to anyone learning guitar. Some of the stuff in it you may not understand, and a lot of it I still don't, but the scale charts are as comprehensive as it can possibly get, and the book contains EVERY LAST SCALE you could ever hope to learn plus a few you'll probably never have a chance to even use due to how utterly weird they are (lydian, mixolydian, locrian, a ton of others with even weirder names), but it's still nice to know you have them at your fingertips for when you might wanna try to learn something new.

http://www.guitargrimoire.com/gt01.htm



They offer a bunch of other books too, basically one stop shopping for everything you could possibly ever want to know about guitar playing. Chords, progressions, intervals, you name it, they have one book dedicated to it containing so much info that it'll make your fucking head explode.

[QuakeDuke]

I'm the one playing slide with the butter knife    My dad standing and my brother that's 2 1/2 years younger than me with the harmonica. I'm the only one of 6 kids that still plays anything though I have grandkids, nieces & nephews that all play / sing. I don't do much any more outside church or an occasional jam at the festivals around here.

QD

[yahoo]

nice wallpaper btw 

[Sofiene]

sorry been away due to exams, so ehhh, my main problem with the guitar right now is, i can't synchronize my left and my right arm, i pick fast and im quite good at the alternate picking, im really fast with down strokes ( not that much with up strokes but im working on it ) sometimes i pick but my left arm do not synchronize with that, especially during the solos which is really annoying, how can i make them synchronized ? any exercices to take ?

also, was watching youtube and they talked about economy picking, can anyone explain to me the use of it ? ( dump question i know ) i tried it today and seems like picking the strings is "easier and faster" than economiy picking.

[yahoo]

since I never had any formal training in guitar playing, I don't have any idea bout what "economy picking" is. Maybe if I see how its done I would be able to share some tips etc w/e.

It takes time to learn. You should try doing some guitar folk songs since it will help a lot regarding finger control, keys and rythym. It would also make your guitar playing a lot smoother.

Maybe you should upload an audio sample of your problem so we can listen and help you with some pointers.

[quadz]

sometimes i pick but my left arm do not synchronize with that, especially during the solos which is really annoying, how can i make them synchronized ? any exercices to take ?

Metronome definitely, if you aren't already: http://www.sevenstring.org/forum/2671103-post12.html

There are some useful-looking left hand stretching and right hand alternate picking exercises in this video:
Guitar Lesson - John Petrucci - Rock Discipline (Part2)

Also, Jeff Loomis mentions a particular Paul Gilbert exercise in several of his interviews: http://www.guitarworld.com/art-shredding-jeff-loomis

also, was watching youtube and they talked about economy picking, can anyone explain to me the use of it ? ( dump question i know ) i tried it today and seems like picking the strings is "easier and faster" than economiy picking.

It's essentially alternate picking except with the notes arranged so that when you need to change strings you can do a mini sweep to get to the next string.

While working on an Yngwie Malmsteen song a few years ago, it used economy picking in so many places I was surprised when there would sometimes be a part where alternate picking was required over a string crossing. (It made me wonder if I was playing those notes on the wrong part of the fretboard. )