the reason 3-6-5 (wat is this, even? frets? why did you skip 4?) is tough is because it's tough when you start, not because you have small-ish hands, don't make excuses.

its tough because you need to stretch your fingers out and make your pinky a little more independent from the ring finger. the way to do this is to use it a lot, do the chromatic scale (E string:1234 A string:1234 D string:1234 G string:1234 B string:1234 E string: 1234, and then backwards). If it's to hard for you to start at the first fret, start higher on the neck and work your way down until you can do it starting at the first fret.


also make sure your left hand posture is correct and the head of the guitar is angled upwards not down.

Right, frets. The reason I chose those was because it's part of the smoke on the water riff I've been (attempting/) playing 0-3-5 0-3-6-5 0-3-5-3-0. Thanks for the advice, I know basically everything will improve with time, but I just wanted to see if it was a commonish problem and if there were things I could do before my next lesson to start improving (like the things you mentioned).

Thanks again!

ya you can also do just pinky type stuff like just hammer on and off, ring finger on fret 3 (for example) and hammer on/pull off of fret 4 over and over again.

Now that I think about it instead of doing the chromatic scale (I think im going to start recommending that one) you might as well do a real scale that you can eventually use for improvising etc.

So this shape is a major scale - the key will be whatever the first note is:

Starting at the 5th fret of the low E string with your MIDDLE finger (this is key of A)

----------------------------------4-5-7-5-4
-----------------------------5-7--------------etc go back down
---------------------4-6-7--------------
-------------4-6-7----------------------
------4-5-7-----------------------------
5--7-------------------------------------

So if you move this whole pattern down 2 frets (starting on 3rd fret of low E) you're playing in G major.

Not necessarily the most versatile scale for soloing but it uses the pinky on every string and it sounds pretty

Hey guys,
Thanks to everyone who helped me choose what guitar and amp. No matter how long I looked at a guitar and amp on the net, it didn't mean anything till I got there and played.

I ended up going with:
Ibanez RG170 DX and Fender Mustang 2 40W

Sounds sick

Cool, I have the same amp and it's pretty great.

I am just learning it now and sometimes i feel some difficult at it but i love it so i won't give up!

Good for you

I like Epi's LPs a lot, once you get to the Standard line. I don't think the lower end ones are all that good. I like them a lot more once I've done some upgrades. The electronics and all that have to come out but if you're a good DIYer they're cheap & easy to replace other than the pickups.

It's really a question of what you can get the Epi for. Find a decent one used that plays well, put maybe $200 into it, and the sky's the limit. Or for beginners just leave it as is (I don't think they're that bad stock).





This one here is an Epi LP Custom in a discontinued color. Tried to sell, nobody wanted, so I threw in new tuners, new pickups, TonePros bridge, new electronics and had some good work done. Very good guitar and the total cost was about $700.

I have another one (Standard though) with a repaired neck I updated almost as much, '59 pickups and new tuners. Plays great and I was practically giving it away for $200 with the upgrades but nobody wanted it. I still play it fairly regularly for basic rock songs. It's definitely a buyer's market for used guitars right now.

But the beauty of upgrading these is you don't have to do it all at once, if you want to bother at all. If you can get past the name on the headstock it really doesn't take that much to turn one into a pro-level instrument.

I've spent a lot more money building Warmoths (for the longer scale), and ran through a couple Gibsons. I can split hairs and point out nitty things I like a little better with those. But if you basically just want a Les Paul sound/feel for cheap, a decent Epi gets the job done, no question about it.

Found this on youtube, I've seen it before. It sums it up pretty well.

Gonso,

Do you think there's any value to that video?

"Listen to how amazing my Les Paul sounds with pounds of effects on it"

You can't hear one bit of what that guitar actually sounds like. A Squier Telecaster would sound the same with the effects he's putting on it.

Would really need to hear it clean, playing some jazz chords maybe, to get an idea of how the Epiphone compares.

I just bit the bullet and ordered a Les Paul Studio 50's Tribute w/Humbuckers. Should ship tomorrow. It'll be my first American made guitar, has the pickups I want(490R and 498T), maple top, nitrocellulose finish(though supposedly thin) and seems like a bargain at $850 for a new USA Gibson LP with those features. I've seen close up pics of them and they don't quite look as finished as higher tier LPs but I actually kind of like the semi rough look.

Only comes with a gig bag though and I'm a little unsure about the thicker 50's style neck, but I'm more of a riffer and chord player, not much of a shredder so I think I can adapt.

Ordered it from Zzounds because they have a good 4 or 8 payment plan for a reasonable fee.



This vid pushed me into springing for this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5sugx...eature=related

I couldn't disagree more. Effects or no, that's your garden-variety big fat LP sound to a T. Even through some POS Line 6 amp and all the YouTube compression on top of it I can hear it clear as day. You'd never confuse that with a Squier Tele or some thin SC guitar, ever. Given the common use of an LP, having a distorted type sound is probably more rep of it's sound than without as you can hear the sustain a lot better. Hit a big chord on a tele and it's out of gas pretty quickly.

A clean sound would break it down more but you'd still have YouTube sound working against you. YT is good for a general comparison but if you want to dig in to the finer points of tonal differences between maple caps vs solid mahogany, or detailed pickup comparisons between Alnico this or that, you have to play them in person or get a really good recording.

Anyway the video was more a general vid comparing the two guitars overall beyond just sound. I think it's pretty fair to say that it takes a very discerning ear to tell a well equipped Epi from a Gibson in practice. I can see obvious differences in build quality and cosmetics, no question about that. And there's a little more bite that comes off the brighter cap on your typical GLP standard (usually), or the Studios that have one. Same with the case of ebony fretboards. That's harder to catch without a high quality sample.

But these guitars - people have told me for years that poly finishes vs nitro is a big deal, how much tuners affect tone, how Indian mahogany sounds nothing like African mahogany, etc. When I started with Warmoths I heard all that too, how a 25.5" scale LP wouldn't sound right. 95%+ of the sound is in the body shape, neck thickness, core wood, fretboard wood, pickup choice, and amp (besides the player himself). Most of the rest is way blown out of proportion.

(grunch)

I played for a few years, wasn't very good but enjoyed it. We've two decent guitars around our house and I'd like to pick it up again. A few random thoughts:

- I remember chords.
- Have a decent understanding of the fretboard.

(and know a bit about music theory).

My biggest weakness when I played was repertoire, and found myself getting bored and constantly switching what I was working on.

Has anyone picked up 'Rocksmith' for PS3/XBox? I've heard decent reviews, but wonder'ed if it might be a fun way to get back into playing and/or provide some motivation to work on stuff?

(definitely not interested in the bundle w/ a guitar included).

I received this today and decided to return it. I liked everything about it, even the fat 50's profile neck, but the baked maple fretboard had a chip and a crack in it. I didn't feel comfortable holding on to the product and hoping those defects would not worsen over time.

I also noticed two or three dings in the body and headstock that had been painted over and finished. That may be part of the reason this model is so cheap for a USA LP.

good for you. can't accept it in the hopes it will work. hold out for the right product imo. well done.