will def give this a try if i ever get time/energy to pick up my guitar again. appreciate the feedback mang

Not a problem. I've used that technique for a long time, and I'm sure there are other approaches. I'm currently working through Moonlight Sonata and that technique has been a life-saver for me. Every damn chord is funky, strange, and the transitions are logical but suck at the same time.

But as they day, YMMV (your mileage may vary)...

anyone checked Rocksmith out? it's kind of cool. Although there are definitely a lot of things I dislike about it and would change. It's like Guitar Hero, except you plug your actual guitar into your computer via a USB cable. One of the things that is cool is it matches the tone with the song. When you reach a certain score you unlock that tone, and you can mess with all the pedals and change each of their settings and stuff in "amp mode". You can even make your own custom ones and save them. I don't have many pedals, so being able to play around with wah, delay, reverb, and chorus is pretty fun. There's generally a few variations of each song too. Like there will be a chord only version, a single note, and then a combo of both. Here's a vid I found that shows it off a bit, it's one of the Christmas songs they gave away in a 3 pack free holiday DLC. The guy is playing mostly from memory and he plays the combo version in the intro before he starts playing along with the riff of the single note version:

yup. it has been discussed a bit itt. i played it a while ago, but haven't for some time now. should pick it up again i think. was fun.

Just ordered a Gibson 2013 LPJ. It's basically a low rent($700 new) USA Les Paul. Looks like it has all of the traditional specs of a good Les Paul without the aesthetic frills. The only thing that seems different from the more expensive LP's is that it has a maple instead of mahogany neck, and the tuners may or may not suck, they are Klusons.

As detailed in post 536 of this thread, I've tried purchasing a low rent LP last June(a studio 50's tribute) but sent it back because the fretboard had a chip and a crack in it, possibly because the fingerboard was baked maple. Hopefully this LPJ 2013 version is more satisfying.

Jr's also have a single P-90 pickup, which is a single coil. Way different than the Les Paul humbuckers.

I've always wanted to try a jr. Let me know how it is.

Actually this LPJ 2013 model has a 490R and 498T which I really like the sound of.

But then I saw this other new model and changed my order because it has a thinner 70's profile mahogany neck instead of the 50's maple neck of the LPJ, and it also has Grover tuners. The 70's Tribute also has the hotter 16 ohm or so Dirty Fingers pickups. Not sure if I'll like 'em but I think Jerry Cantrell(LOOOOVE his tone) uses hot pickups like that, and it's easier to change pickups than it is to change an LP neck and tuners. The only downsides are that it doesn't have speed knobs(easily remedied) and it doesn't come in white like the LPJ does. I really like white guitars but if aesthetics were really important to me then I'd save up more and get an all out custom anyway.

Here's a link to the LPJ 2013 for comparison. That really seems like an outstanding deal for a USA LP.

That's awesome Mexi! I want an honest to goodness Gibson Les Paul so badly I can taste it. The trouble is that I really don't need one. Maybe I'll get a huge tax refund and get one anyhow.

I have been looking at the LPJs. I haven't gotten my hands on one to try it yet. That '70s tribute looks sharp. You'll have to record something for us when you get it.

And just for the record: Blue>White lol

Haha, yeah white isn't my favorite color on anything except guitars. This will be my first USA made guitar so I'm really looking forward to it.

Not sure if I have a way to post a recording but I'll see what I can do. I'm nowhere near a serious musician, I just love banging out loud, thick, distorted chords on occasion, it's very therapeutic for me.

sweetwater.com has a 3 month payment plan and zzounds.com has 4 and 8 month payment plans and their credit requirements don't seem to be super stringent.

pics

I've only played rocksmith very very briefly and couldn't really follow it at all. I could play along with it with songs I knew, but I couldn't figure the **** out from the game. My friend, who has the game, plays it quite a bit though, and has been able to learn to play some stuff with it. I think it's a great resource for learning to play, but I wouldn't use it as a sole resource.

As far as media, I think people learning to play should take advantage of tab books, rocksmith is good (but there's a lag from latency), and videos. But the biggest thing people should be on the look out for is an actual teacher, someone you can get one on one feedback from, and someone who can help you make sense of what you're seeing in books, videos, and games, and who can tell you the pros and cons and all sorts of useful stuff like that.

There is just simply no replacement for a live guitar teacher.

I won't have my hands on it until Wednesday but the Sweetwater sales rep sent all the pics of the specific guitar I bought so here are a few of those. They're higher quality pics than what I'll take but I'll post my own too when I can.















I'll probably switch out the witch hats for speed knobs and replace that silly truss rod cover too.

Nice

Thinking of picking up guitar but my instrument attempts in the past have never really gone well (though I was much younger). Figure I can commit at least 30 min a day to it. Gonna read through the thread and try to pick up some tips. I was thinking I'd get an acoustic to start, not sure if that's common.

it's fine

acoustics are a bit harder to learn on because the strings are heavier and the necks are wider. but whatever is going to make you enthusiastic about picking up the instrument is what you should go with.

Re: the acoustic vs. electric question, I'd say it first depends on your budget, but also depends on what kind of music you want to play. When I started, I was into metal, so naturally, I got an electric. If I had gotten an acoustic first, I probably would not still be playing guitar.

Interesting, I think I'd actually prefer electric sound-wise, so maybe I'll look in to starting there. Guitar Center has a few starter packs that range from $130-$200 that include an amp and carrying case. Pretty cheap to get started.

Just make sure that you get something that's comfortable for you to play. I personally would never buy a guitar without trying it out first. Like you, I didn't think I had the dexterity to play guitar. My step-daughter left an old Wal-Mart special First Act when she moved out, so I figured I'd plunk around on that to see if I could figure it out. It was uncomfortable and hard to play, but I didn't know it until I tried out other guitars. A friend of mine bought his kid a starter acoustic set and it was also uncomfortable and hard to play. You just don't want to buy garbage and think that's the way all guitars are. It might ruin your fun before you even get started.

Once I decided I might be able to play a little I bought an Epiphone Les Paul 100 ($250 iirc) and a Peavey Vypyr 15 ($100). They're both decent for the price and good to start with. You can get something decent for not a great deal more than the starter sets you mentioned. Of course it wasn't too long before I got a severe case of GAS and started buying upgrades. lol

Just my two cents.

nothing wrong with fender squier for a beginner set.

all beginner sets sound bad because they come with awful amps.

one of the things though is that when you first start out nothing on the guitar is comfortable.

haha I remember trying to play with bandaids on my fingers to make it hurt less. Keep playing guys and girls, pretty soon you'll be able to bend a 15th fret on the g string to 1 1/2 steps and you'll think "**** yeah" instead of "owwwww!"

Thanks for the replies guys.

Yeah I'm definitely gonna go to a store and make sure I talk to someone knowledgeable. Whenever I've messed around with a friend's guitar it's always felt super unnatural so I definitely want the most comfortable thing possible lol.

Thanks for the heads up, I won't get discouraged if it sounds bad

welcome mang. gl with the guitar and keep us poasted as to how things are going. have fun.

Thanks, still not positive I'm gonna go through with it but I think I will. There's a place I can take lessons like 5 minutes from where I work, so I'm gonna go talk to them tomorrow, see if I can set something up for next month maybe.

Definitely gonna take LirvA's advice (I think) and take a few in person lessons, then maybe take to the internet once I've got the basics down.

I got Rocksmith for my birthday and have enjoyed it tremendously. It's not just a game like Guitar Hero. The minigames, the adaptive learning, the instructional videos, all of it have helped me out. I've learned more about playing and developing speed then I would have just using books and Youtube videos. The only criticisms I have are A) no tabulature or even real notation for progress from playing what is just on screen to the more real ability behind just shredding and B) there is no discussion of the theory behind the music or why you end up doing certain things and C) at times there seems to be no rhyme or reason for how new concepts are introduced or how those concepts fit in with what was already learned.

Rocksmith looks pretty fun. I think progressing through the game would motivate me to practice more than I normally would. Definitely gonna start with in person lessons, though.