Guitar |OT| If you stick with it, you're gonna be rewarded

BubbaMc · Aug 13, 2018

NaturalHigh said:
My goal as of last week was to actually learn guitar theory. But I cant decide the best way to approach it and would like to hear your thoughts. I have no formal training but have a general knowledge from playing for so long. Technically I am nothing special but I'd like to push myself and see how good I can get so as not to waste my natural inclination.

I'm open to free resources, books, videos or if you think it would be worth it to find a good teacher. I'm willing to spend money on this so I am open to anything.

Start with Wikipedia, it's free and pretty much everything is on there.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Major_scale
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Major_and_minor

Have a read of those and let us know how you get on. You can pretty much ignore the circle of fifths at this point btw.

What are your longer term goals, i.e. what are you hoping to achieve by studying theory? I'd strongly suggest working on training your ear also, being able to replicate what you hear on the instrument is a fundamental skill which will accelerate your playing big time.

Have you ever tried learning complete tunes by ear? The software Transcribe is worth every cent imo. You can open a song you'd like to learn, slow it down and learn it phrase by phrase. It'll take a while at first, but you might find that your playing has never progressed as much as it will by doing this.

NaturalHigh · Aug 13, 2018

BubbaMc said:
Start with Wikipedia, it's free and pretty much everything is on there.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Major_scale
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Major_and_minor

Have a read of those and let us know how you get on. You can pretty much ignore the circle of fifths at this point btw.

What are your longer term goals, i.e. what are you hoping to achieve by studying theory? I'd strongly suggest working on training your ear also, being able to replicate what you hear on the instrument is a fundamental skill which will accelerate you playing big time.

Have you ever tried learning complete tunes by ear? The software Transcribe is worth every cent imo. You can open a song you'd like to learn, slow it down and learn it phrase by phrase. It'll take a while at first, but you might find that your playing has never progressed as much as it will by doing this.

I dont know if I really have any goals. I'm mostly just wanting to do something productive with my time. I've always been interested in music and would love to be a studio musician or something along those lines. I'm really just looking to broaden my horizons by honing a skill.

So far I've only learned songs through tabs that we played in cover band. I'd learn the solo or just improvise something that was mostly in key. If I'm pretty familiar with a song and have good tabs I can pretty much read along and play.

As for training my ear; no not at all. I find myself recreating vocal or other simple one note melodies a lot. Usually very quickly. So I guess I use my ear for that. But when it comes to chords I'm terrible.

I'll take a look at Transcribe. Playing by ear was something I hadn't thought of. I appreciate the input.

Edit: I have Riffstation, I believe it has some of the same features but I think it actually transcribes audio files to chords. I haven't messed with it much though.

BubbaMc · Aug 14, 2018

NaturalHigh said:
Edit: I have Riffstation, I believe it has some of the same features but I think it actually transcribes audio files to chords. I haven't messed with it much though.

That'll do. Put a song you'd like to learn into it and have a crack at learning it by ear - solos are easier than chords so start there. Resist the temptation to use any automatic transcription feature. Feel free to check a TAB to verify the tuning if you're having problems, then put it away. Learn a few solos that are within your technical ability note for note, really strive to nail the phrasing and dynamics.

Your ear is the most important tool for your musical journey, by far :)

DarkDetective · Aug 14, 2018

Went with the Katana-50. Pretty versitile and good enough for home use.

Heynongman! · Aug 14, 2018

Just got a call from the luthier, and it's bad news :( I took my brand new Epi LP Prophecy in for a setup and the truss rod doesn't work. I'm fuckin crushed... it was a beautiful guitar and I only got to play it for a few hours before the buzz was too much. I need to return it to ZZounds now, which is cool, but I think I'll take a break from Epiphone for a little bit. The whole experience has soured me on them.

Chaosblade · Aug 14, 2018

Impatience got the better of me, will have my guitar by the end of the week. Decided on the white Pacifica 120H.

Found a good local luthier, so I'll see about getting it setup there. Apparently he's often backed up with a lot of work, but I'll just take that as a testament to his work.

Don't have Rocksmith yet so I don't know what it features, but I probably need to figure out simulated amps. Reading a lot about DAWs and VSTs and IRs and it's kind of making my head spin, but once I get the guitar I'll start messing with it and it should make more sense.

Neo0mj · Aug 14, 2018

Heynongman! said:
Just got a call from the luthier, and it's bad news :( I took my brand new Epi LP Prophecy in for a setup and the truss rod doesn't work. I'm fuckin crushed... it was a beautiful guitar and I only got to play it for a few hours before the buzz was too much. I need to return it to ZZounds now, which is cool, but I think I'll take a break from Epiphone for a little bit. The whole experience has soured me on them.

That's unfortunate to hear. I heard they made great stride in the last few years.

Fergus Mac Roich · Aug 14, 2018

That really does suck. I hope you get a replacement soon. Keep hearing things about Gibson and Fender sucking for QC now.

Someone was mentioning learning songs by ear, I use Audacity for this. You can alter the tempo on tracks dumped into it, and it stays reasonable in tune. I also use it for altering a tracks tuning. It has become a really good tool for me personally.

Heynongman! · Aug 14, 2018

Yeah I'm crushed, but it is what it is. I'm eyeing just doing a swap for a PRS SE Custom 24, either standard or the Mark Holcomb sig.

teruterubozu · Aug 14, 2018

What was wrong with the truss rod? Was it stripped? Anyway I would try to get a swap for another Epiphone Prophecy. Those are amazing guitars, especially with the EMGs (or Gibson Dirty Fingers). The pickups are way superior to the generic "G&B" pickups they put in the PRS SE series.

Heynongman! · Aug 14, 2018

teruterubozu said:
What was wrong with the truss rod? Was it stripped? Anyway I would try to get a swap for another Epiphone Prophecy. Those are amazing guitars, especially with the EMGs (or Gibson Dirty Fingers). The pickups are way superior to the generic "G&B" pickups they put in the PRS SE series.

Luthier said it wasn't adjusting, they had it for a week making adjustments and they weren't doing anything even after sitting. The pickups on the mark Holcomb sig are his Duncan Alpha and Omega set which sound absolutely killer. I'm gonna shop around some more before I make a decision but man, it's kinda like food poisoning where I know it isn't all epiphones but this experience makes me not want to touch them for a while.

Mine had the dirty fingers, I liked them well enough. Not a fan of EMGs

NaturalHigh · Aug 14, 2018

EMGs are okay but I prefer hot passive pickups like Seymour Duncans SH8 Invader for heavy stuff. Granted I never really play heavy stuff lol

Heynongman! · Aug 14, 2018

NaturalHigh said:
EMGs are okay but I prefer hot passive pickups like Seymour Duncans SH8 Invader for heavy stuff. Granted I never really play heavy stuff lol

Same here, I like a slightly less hot passive. The 498T was really close to what I like for sludge/doomy stuff, but didn't really have great clarity for more proggy/thrashy stuff - I know I know "EMGs dawg", but I think high output passives with extreme clarity are 10x better. I think I want to check out a Holcomb to see just how clear those Alpha/Omegas are. I'm a huge fan of his tone, and was even considering getting an Archon or the new Tremonti PRS amp at the very least, but living in an apartment is such a hassle with tube amps. Might be checking out that Bugera Attenuator that came out recently, and then just get whatever amp I want without worrying about noise.

teruterubozu · Aug 14, 2018

EMGs ain't that bad. It's not all metal centric. I do like the 490s though. I have a pair in one of my SGs.

Heynongman! · Aug 14, 2018

Sure EMGs are fine and a lot of people like them, but I'd rather get something I like the sound of - they're not my cup of tea at all.

My buddy has an SG faded with the 490s in it, and it sounds killer. Like I said, I liked the 498T so I"m not completely opposed to getting another GX, I just need to get my hands on some other guitars first.

teruterubozu · Aug 14, 2018

Yeah the 490s are in my Faded SG. My favorite though is Gibson Tony Iommi signature pickups that are in my Epiphone Iommi signature SG. Holy crap they're awesome! Clear and in your face.

Coolverine · Aug 14, 2018

speaking of pickups, i've acquired a number guitars through my horribly compulsive shopping behavior and i've now got such a crazy cool wide range that have taught me a lot about their differences. my biggest learning came from acquiring my 1980 Gibson Les Paul Heritage. It has the famous Tim Shaw pups and they're pretty low output which causes me to bump up my master volume on my amp a bit, but these lower outputs sound so amazing. i can still get a thick heavy distorted tone out of them when the amp is set right, and they just sound fucking killer. by comparison, my USA PRS Tremonti has insanely hot pickups, which also sound fucking amazing, but are loud as shit when swapping between the two guitars with the same amp setting. I also have an 82' Gibson Flying V with Dirty Fingers which are hot as fuck, possibly even moreso than the Tremonti bridge pickup.

BubbaMc · Aug 14, 2018

Coolverine said:
my biggest learning came from acquiring my 1980 Gibson Les Paul Heritage.

Got any photos of that? I really like the older LPs. Agreed on pickup output also, lower is nice if your amp is versatile.

Heynongman! · Aug 14, 2018

What's everyone using for amps these days, and what do you play? I'm still undecided if I should sell my HT-5R for a Katana for my apartment, or if I should get an attenuator and grab a 6505, Bugera Trirec, or a PRS MT 15.... hmmmmmmmm. I wish I had the budget for an Axe product, but I really can't justify dropping a grand on an Axe8. I'd like the versatility of the Katana, but after having a quasi-real tube amp, I dunno if I can go back.

BubbaMc · Aug 15, 2018

Heynongman! said:
What's everyone using for amps these days, and what do you play? I'm still undecided if I should sell my HT-5R for a Katana for my apartment, or if I should get an attenuator and grab a 6505, Bugera Trirec, or a PRS MT 15.... hmmmmmmmm. I wish I had the budget for an Axe product, but I really can't justify dropping a grand on an Axe8. I'd like the versatility of the Katana, but after having a quasi-real tube amp, I dunno if I can go back.

Axe Fx III, first Fractal product I've owned. Put my amps on ebay the day after I got it :)

If I lived in an apartment and was budget conscious, I'd get another Yamaha THR10.

Coolverine · Aug 15, 2018

BubbaMc said:
Got any photos of that? I really like the older LPs. Agreed on pickup output also, lower is nice if your amp is versatile.

Fergus Mac Roich · Aug 15, 2018

On pickups, I feel like I should give a shout out to Irongear. Cheap, but really good for the price. All my guitars have their pickups put in.

I have the Hot Slag in my bridge position of my Schecter and it's lovely for lead and rhythm. The Blues Engine and the Pig Iron ones are fantastic as well. I keep meaning to put up some videos of them, but I never get around to it.

teruterubozu · Aug 15, 2018

For amps I have a '75 Fender Super Reverb silverface. I used to gig with it but I got worried about wear and potential tube failure, especially up here in cold-ass Maine lugging the gear from negative zero temps into a warm venue and back out again. So I got a Orange CR120C solid state combo amp. It's about as tube-y of a solid state amp as you can get. Sounds incredibly warm and the reverb is almost just as good as my Super Reverb. The analog circuitry gives it a great gain tone that's not so digital sounding. My bandmates seem to like the Orange better than my Fender. lol. At home I mainly use the Yamaha THR10X - very easy to plug in and just go. I used to have a Vox VT100X but it wasn't cutting it at gigs. Generally I'm not too keen on "modeling" amps like the Vox Valvetronix series or the Katana. They're fun to play with but just don't have the punch to cut through the mix in my experience.

Rikalaus · Aug 15, 2018

Heynongman! said:
What's everyone using for amps these days, and what do you play? I'm still undecided if I should sell my HT-5R for a Katana for my apartment, or if I should get an attenuator and grab a 6505, Bugera Trirec, or a PRS MT 15.... hmmmmmmmm. I wish I had the budget for an Axe product, but I really can't justify dropping a grand on an Axe8. I'd like the versatility of the Katana, but after having a quasi-real tube amp, I dunno if I can go back.

A Laney 2x12 cab with a Orange Micro Dark Terror, but thinking about getting something 50W

CrudeDiatribe · Aug 15, 2018

Coolverine said:
It has the famous Tim Shaw pups and they're pretty low output which causes me to bump up my master volume on my amp a bit, but these lower outputs sound so amazing.

Yeah, I love my low output humbuckers and how articulate they sound.

Heynongman! said:
What's everyone using for amps these days, and what do you play?

Quilter Mini 101 Reverb head. Very blackface-y. It wasn't the magical headphone amp I was hoping, but I think the reason is that I hate playing at low volumes and not any fault of it; the air needs to hit the guitar. I also dislike playing plugged into the computer even if I do end up with recordings I like.

Heynongman! · Aug 15, 2018

Well I ended up going with the Katana 100, and I figure if I don't like it I can send it back. But I have a feeling I'm really going to like it. I got the return shipping label for the Prophecy tonight, so I guess I'll head to the ups store tomorrow and have them help me box it up. So sad that I have to do this :(

NaturalHigh · Aug 15, 2018

I just finished a little jam session with my Katana 100 and my G&L Tribute tele. This is the first modeling amp I've owned since the first gen Peavey Vypyr 75. I'm most impressed with how much of the guitars character comes through. Anything from low gain to medium on all of the amps sound great and is very close to what I can get out of my Peavey Classic 30. I would say it is very similar when dialed the same but the Katana is a bit more rounded on the high end and sounds fatter at way lower volumes which is great.

I haven't messed with the effects much or hooked it up to my computer but I am happy with it so far. Hopefully you feel the same.

Heynongman! · Aug 15, 2018

That sounds excellent, glad you're digging it. Did you get the 212 or the 112?

I also had zzounds go ahead and ship me the Holcomb PRS, so I'll have that Saturday and hopefully the Katana then too. Taking the busted Prophecy to the ups UPS tomorrow. Hopefully they can help me package it properly for the return

OldSocksAndShoes · Aug 15, 2018

Heynongman! said:
That sounds excellent, glad you're digging it. Did you get the 212 or the 112?

I also had zzounds go ahead and ship me the Holcomb PRS, so I'll have that Saturday and hopefully the Katana then too.

Those Holcomb signature PRSs feel and sound great. Satin neck + those pickups make a fantastic guitar.

Heynongman! · Aug 15, 2018

OldSocksAndShoes said:
Those Holcomb signature PRSs feel and sound great. Satin neck + those pickups make a fantastic guitar.

I can't wait, I love the custom 24 and the nice wide flat neck sounds like the perfect additional. The hardtail was a big selling point too. Plus those pickups... Man they sound so good

NaturalHigh · Aug 15, 2018

I got the 112. I doubt I will play at 100 watts very often, it is a lot louder than I expected. The 0.5 watt mode sounds pretty good, I haven't decided if I prefer cranking it or playing lower volumes on 50/100w.

Heynongman! · Aug 15, 2018

Same one I got, figured the 212 would be too loud for the apartment for sure lol

Hero_of_the_Day · Aug 16, 2018

An hour ago I saw a used Kemper on Guitar Centers site. Just got an email that they are offering 24 months of 0% interest on used gear. Went back to their site, shit is already gone. Fuckers move quick. Not that I needed to waste the money, especially since I seriously love my Line 6 Helix. But, damn, people. Let me be tempted for a minute!

teruterubozu · Aug 16, 2018

Hero_of_the_Day said:
An hour ago I saw a used Kemper on Guitar Centers site. Just got an email that they are offering 24 months of 0% interest on used gear. Went back to their site, shit is already gone. Fuckers move quick. Not that I needed to waste the money, especially since I seriously love my Line 6 Helix. But, damn, people. Let me be tempted for a minute!

Yeah you gotta move quick on GC's used section. Sometimes I'll have it in the cart then when I go to check out it's been snagged. I've gotten some unbelievable deals on there, way better than craigslist/ebay/reverb/FB Marketplace/letgo/etc. But you gotta know what you're looking for and be ready to commit as soon as you see it.

Heynongman! · Aug 16, 2018

oh man, what a bummer. Those Kempers are seriously cool.

Traxus · Aug 23, 2018

Wassup ya'll, I just ordered this Telecaster! Can't wait for it to arrive.

A tweed Fender Champ (or something similar) and Strymon Flint are next on the agenda. Classical guitar is my main jam but I've been wanting to get more into electric after listening to a lot of Julian Lage lately.

NaturalHigh · Aug 23, 2018

Traxus said:
Wassup ya'll, I just ordered this Telecaster! Can't wait for it to arrive.

A tweed Fender Champ (or something similar) and Strymon Flint are next on the agenda. Classical guitar is my main jam but I've been wanting to get more into electric after listening to a lot of Julian Lage lately.

Nice! I just got a G&L ASAT Tribute tele.

I saw a regular Fender Standard Tele on sale for $449 earlier today on adorama.com . I believe it could be either black or butterscotch. If you aren't too particular on the variation it may be be worth checking it out and cancelling that one.

https://slickdeals.net/f/11965311-f...e-or-black-449-free-s-h?src=SiteSearchV2Algo1

Deleted member 2474 · Aug 23, 2018

God, I wish I'd grabbed one of the Les Paul Studio Fadeds from 2016. The 2018 Fadeds look so much uglier and cheaper.

Traxus · Aug 23, 2018

NaturalHigh said:
Nice! I just got a G&L ASAT Tribute tele.

I saw a regular Fender Standard Tele on sale for $449 earlier today on adorama.com . I believe it could be either black or butterscotch. If you aren't too particular on the variation it may be be worth checking it out and cancelling that one.

https://slickdeals.net/f/11965311-f...e-or-black-449-free-s-h?src=SiteSearchV2Algo1

Ha! Thanks dude! I was actually up half the night researching the differences between those models but decided if I'm going for a Blonde Tele I may as well spend a little more for the Ash body and classic 3-barrel ashtray bridge. The Adorama standard is an Alder with the modern 6-barrel. I price-matched with Guitar Center and they brought it down to $500 for me so not a huge difference anyhow.

NaturalHigh · Aug 23, 2018

Oh okay, cool. Just wanted to make sure :)

This G&L was the first guitar I've ordered off MF. The only other guitar I've ever ordered without playing was a Cort X-Custom while I was in Iraq.

Anyone else ever owned or played Corts? I've owned 2; a Cort X2 and then the X-Custom. It had some great pickups for the price point but I had no idea how to use a locking nut and floyd rose style tremolo. There was no one there to teach me either, lol. For those unfamiliar: Corts are from the same factory as some Ibanezs in Indonesia or Korea I believe.

After pulling the trigger a little quick on this ASAT, I started reading some bad reviews about their G&Ls having intonation issues, rough necks, buzzing or uneven frets. It had me thinking I would immediately have to have it setup (which I'm still going to) but has been great out of the box. I'm not an expert or picky about guitar build quality but I've played enough to know when shit ain't right, lol.

Anyways the quality of this guitar from the factory had me pleased (even the strings are alright). I always feel bad for the unlucky people that get a turd and have to deal with the disappointment and the returning process.

Edit: dont mind the plastic I still haven't peeled off the pick guard;)

Heynongman! · Aug 23, 2018

NaturalHigh said:
I always feel bad for the unlucky people that get a turd and have to deal with the disappointment and the returning process.

I'll say my broken truss rod debacle was actually really smooth aside from me having to buy a guitar box. So not every bad egg has a bad ending :D

My new PRS SE Holcomb came in Saturday, and holy shit that thing is a proper guitar. I thought the LP Prophecy felt nice, but this one takes it to the next level, and for only $100 more, id swear I paid close to double when comparing the two.

Then my Katana came in Tuesday, and I've been having a blast with that thing. It's brilliant, I absolutely do not regret taking the plunge.

NaturalHigh · Aug 24, 2018

I started using the Boss software this past weekend. Holy shit was I impressed with the amount of tweaking you can do. It takes the amount of tones you can get out of the amp up a hundred fold.

I highly recommend you try it if you haven't.

Deleted member 10612 · Aug 24, 2018

Going to sell my Orange OR15 and 1*12 speaker after I kind of fell in love with the Waves PRS Supermodel plug ins. Cant really justify having a tube amp in a flat when I have perfectly fine virtual alternatives that I can then also use to record stuff.

And, I got a new guitar:

Hapas Kayzer 7FF. They are build by a guy in Berlin. My first seven string. Super low action, no fret buzz, love the neck... The logo and all neck markings glow in the dark lol

Love that thing.

As it turns out I feel much more comfortable with a 27"-25,5" scale neck then the short PRS/Gibson vintage variant that I have been playing for a decade now. I have all that space now, so I'am able to play everything a lot clearer etc. I do have long finders and really delighted to have more real estate to work with now.

Hero_of_the_Day · Aug 24, 2018

^
That is some fucking sweet looking wood.

Deleted member 10612 · Aug 24, 2018

These "burnt victim" , mate finished swamp ash bodies seem to be all the rage now. Ibanez, Schecter, Mayonese, etc. all have models in that look.

Ostinatto · Aug 24, 2018

Why some people say that fender Noiseless pickups are shit? what is this nonsense?

NaturalHigh · Aug 24, 2018

Beautiful guitar Sankt Ra.

Does anyone know if Guitar Pro ever goes on sale?

rObit · Aug 24, 2018

I've heard really nice things about Hapas, congrats on the new guitar!

I really like multiscale guitars too, I recently went in on a couple Ormsbys and absolutely love them.

Deleted member 10612 · Aug 25, 2018

Jup. I think multi scale fretboards should also be a thing on reg guitars. Having even tension on every string feels and sounds nice.

headspawn · Aug 25, 2018

Had to share this somewhere. Dude has insane chops in these covers, I figured someone here might appreciate it, he only has a handful of youtube subs:

He has a couple other videos on his twitter:

https://twitter.com/kataage_oishii

Guitar |OT| If you stick with it, you're gonna be rewarded

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