Nice! Just keep plugging away at it. The more chord changes you have to make the better and faster they will come to you. Work on the strumming pattern over a metronome or drum beat slower than the actual song, and speed up to real time after you have the pattern down cold.

Guess I need a new guitar tech. Noticed yesterday that my chords were sounding a little warbly the higher up the fretboard they were played, so checked the intonation and my A string was really flat. The G&L bridge has an allen screw on the side that locks all the saddles together once the positions and heights are set, so I went to unscrew that in order to work on the A string saddle and that screw was just totally loose ready to fall out.

Hard to believe that in 1 week since the set-up was performed that somehow the A string intonation went bad, and the allen screw on the bridge worked itself loose. (The saddles should stay in place without the allen screw. The reason for the allen screw design is only to keep the saddles squeezed together to increase the sustain.)

I fixed the intonation myself, but it makes me a little nervous about bringing my guitar back to that tech in the future.

thanks mang.

yeah, it shouldn't do that in that little time for sure. i don't know a lot about guitars, but i would think with normal use, a good set up should last. think the strings would wear out before it would need to be set up again. good luck mang.

Korg Pitchblack tuner for $40 at guitar center is a pretty good deal if anybody needs a pedal style electronic tuner. I just paid $70 for one a couple of weeks ago.

Not sure if this is today only or if it will last a few days. I think it's only the green and blue colored ones not the black one.

I've decided to return the Palmer Pocket Amp. I still think it's a pretty good unit for the money (~$100) and size but I'm going to get a Zoom G5 instead.

The Zoom is 3x the cost but has a lot of advantages. Many more amp models, plus you can switch up the cabs. If you're using it with a real amp you can skip the simulators and just use all the different stomp effects. Has delays and reverbs and overdrives and phase shifters and all that stuff plus a pedal for wah, volume, or tremolo and you can save your favorite patches. It also has a real analog tube preamp that you can use to warm up the sounds or just bypass if you don't want it.

It doesn't have a 3.5mm input for mp3 players, but it does have a USB interface. When plugged into the PC the PC's sound will come out of the units headphones, so I'll still be able to jam with tracks on my computer, with the added bonus of being able to record stuff if I choose to learn about that.

Oh yeah it also has a built in looper and drum machine.

Seems too good to be true, but I've read lots of reviews and most people are happy with it. It apparently takes time to learn how to tweak it and some people get frustrated, but it seems like it should be worth the effort.

You have an iphone or ipad? You can just buy a little iRig thing and a little software and mess around with that.

I can't say I do it that often since I moved to the new place and can crank the amp. When it comes to that computer stuff I'd say go cheap or go all-out. For a casual hobby guy Amplitube or some equivalent is okay.

PS - I remember learning that particular Tom Petty song many years ago. Both Petty and Campbell are great to learn from. It's almost like those songs were written for beginner guitar players.

PPS - I have the Korg Pitchblack also, that's all anybody really needs.

Fun fact: this shares same chord progression as Creep.

You can hear that the Gmaj is the tonic chord by how settled it is, that's definitely the key. The B major can be considered a chromatic mediant in the key of G, the Cmin is really just a borrowed iv chord from the related Gmin scale (instead of the IV)...more than you need to think about atm.

For now just understand chord progressions don't have to be completely made up using notes natural to the key you're in to be correct. You could say those are the safest chords & notes to work with, sort of like sticking to the basic 8-pack of Crayola crayons. Lots you can do with that but obv you want a little more spice than that.

The IV-to-iv (4 major chord followed by minor) thing is kind of neat, I've always like the sound of it, abrupt and darkens everything immediately but still fits and doesn't offend the everyday ear. Bowie used to do that sometimes which I think is where I first recognized it, but I've heard it in lots of things from Shadow's surf music to Rammstein. Tesla does it in Love Song. The Beatles do it in In My Life and others and I'm sure Radiohead has too in other places. It leads back to the root chord really well.

The Gmaj to Bmaj isn't that uncommon, but (in rock) it's typically at the end of a progression when you're on a Gmaj chord and looking to resolve back to Emin. You shove that B in between it sounds pretty big and fills the space. Also check out Moonage Daydream by Bowie.

These are things that I think a lot of young talented songwriters discovered by accident, just fumbling around for the next chord in the song until they found one that worked. Beatles, Bowie, Radiohead...maybe they were serious theory nerds but I doubt it. Probably trial and error, and I remember Paul McCartney saying something to the effect of "all Beatles songs have wrong chords in them somewhere."

By the way you'll definitely want to check this out

http://www.hooktheory.com/trends

No iStuff for me.

I think the Zoom G5 should work for my needs for now. Seems like plenty of musicians are actually gigging with it: either using the amp sims and going direct to the PA, or if using an amp just using the stomp effects in the fx loop or in front. Enough random hacks on youtube seem to be making good sounds with it that I should be able to once I get the fiddling down. I'm sure it won't be as good as one of those rack mounted super expensive fx processors, but hopefully it will suit my purposes for now.

Speaking of amps, I've always had tubes. (Played in a garage band with a 100 watt Marshall and full 2x4x12 stack lolz.) Do you have any suggestions for a low watt tube amp?

I'm leaning toward the Ibanez TSA15. It's 15 watt switchable to 5 watt and has a tube screamer channel that can be switched on with a footswitch. Also has an fx loop which is nice since there is no built in reverb and I like reverb/delay in the fx loop if not built into the amp. The clean channel is supposedly really nice and having a super nice clean channel is what I'm looking for. I'll build the dirt up from there myself. (About $450 to $500 depending on combo or mini stack model -- both have the same features.)

BTW I think it was you that mentioned G&L guitars somewhere upstream ITT. I had never heard of them, but after your mention started looking into them and decided to buy one. I'm stunned at how nice my tribute fallout is for $340 new, and I'm still not done tweaking to get it just like I want.

That's cool, thanks! Adding that to my list of helpful tools. The site also had some ear training tools that I'm going to check out.

Thanks for the comments on Creep too.

After a couple of hours fooling with it last night, first impressions of the Zoom G5 are very positive. There is a lot to learn about it though, so it's going to take some time and effort to really figure it out and get an informed idea of just how good or bad it is.

I was able to create my own patch using a Fender Twin Reverb mod for the amp and then just some reverb and delay with a little bit of the analog tube booster (low gain) to warm it, and it sounds just like the real deal.

Unfortunately, I have a term paper due Sunday night that I've barely started, so probably only going to have time for a couple of basic practice sessions this weekend before I can spend some quality time next week really digging into this thing. Can't wait to check out the interface to my laptop and the online editing tools which allow you to tweak the settings and create patches without having to use the settings on the device.

rocksmith update:
13 'days' in with 29 hrs played. still don't feel like i am getting very far, but am sure i have probably improved some. been doing quite a few exercises and scales off the game. most of the 'warm up' exercises are still a strength building for me, but that is ok. coordination of left hand and between hands is still horrible. still plugging along.

also, eventually my hand will stop cramping after about 3 min of playing any kind of barre chords. heh.

just learned my first song in rocksmith 2014 at both 100% difficulty and full speed all the way through. it was 'angela' by jarvis cocker. easy song, but first one ever. yay!!

Congrats!

thanks mang!!

So after about a month with the Zoom G5 I have to say I love it. So far I've only played around with a couple of amps, but I'm pretty happy with them. The rhythm machine and looper are both pretty cool for practicing, and it has tons of stomp type effects. The interface to my laptop works great and it's perfect for jamming to backing tracks either on the web or downloaded to my hard drive. It would be a bit of a pita switching between patches in a live gig, but I'll live with it considering all the other benefits and also the fact that I won't be gigging much at all.

I just ordered a powered monitor so I don't always have to play through headphones. Also, when I jam with my friends band, I'll be able to go direct through their PA and use the monitor for a floor wedge.

Well I got my powered speaker yesterday (Alto TS110A 600 w 10" speaker) and my Zoom G5 patches all sound horrible through it, lolz. So weird, because I have some patches sounding great through headphones, but they sound kind of fake -- almost like a toy -- through the speaker.

The rhythm machine still sounds great, and my backing tracks I've been using also sound great, so I don't think the problem is the speaker. I'll have to try building some new patches from scratch with the speaker and see if I can get them to sound realistic.

Hi, new here, hope this is the right space.

Getting back into guitar after a pretty long hiatus. One thing I think I need is some way to practice electric via headphones since I live in an apartment where I really can't make a lot of noise. I used to have a Pocket Rockit but I lost it and I never really loved the thing anyway. Also, my amp is ancient and doesn't have any sort of digital out.

Anyone have thoughts on a good option? Adapter for my headphones straight into 1/4in? Something similar to what I had before? Something I can pass through my laptop?

Thanks

Lots of multi-effects units have tolerable modeling capability built-in, large and small. You can go through an interface into a Mac or PC and let software do the work. Depends on how good you want it to sound and what you're willing to spend on it. And how portable you want it to be.

If your home situation makes staying quiet a 24/7 thing & you aren't gigging, maybe consider a few hundred in a somewhat recent ME floor unit. I used to have a Line 6 Pod X3 Live which was tolerable enough, and you could out into headphones or USB into a Mac/PC for direct recording. I just looked and they're only a couple hundred used on eBay now.

I can't say it was a true replacement for a great amp but you could dial in workable sounds to get by with. It was also very versatile with a ton of tools and features. You can program one tone to the left speaker and another to the right and things like that.

But there are $30 options out there if you just want something simple for the headphones. I've tried a couple in the past and they invariably wind up in a box though.

And when you eventually move to a place where it's not an issue you can dump it and start over, or use it as a regular ME pedal into a true guitar amp. I ditched mine and went back to my little corps of favorite pedals but YMMV.

Wow I totally forgot I bought a ME pedal a few years back that I never use, never even occurred to me I may be able to go through that. Will check later thanks.

And yeah, not really intending on gigging but will definitely consider overhauling all my gear if that ever happens.

finally took the plunge and am starting guitar lessons this tuesday. kind of nervous, but excited to finally get some direction.

first lesson went well. he kind of assessed where i am while we were talking and playing a little. gave me some chord changes based on going from 6th to 5th root barre chords. he def figured out quick what i really struggled with. heh. look forward to continuing on.

posted this in POG and hope I can get better advice here....

scrolling up from making my post, i mean i know i'm n00b at this whole guitar thing

but damn

overwhelming

of course if it was easy everyone would do it

i've climbed mountains before metaphorically speaking and creating music has been something that i've always wanted to do as far as i can remember... so i guess i'm trying to start and would appreciate any input