Electric Guitar

|Matt|

Banned
I'm thinking of starting to learn the electric guitar.

I'm almost 17, is it too late to learn from scratch?

Lessons aren't really an option, can't afford them and don't have time for them. Can I teach myself? Any books? Websites?

Whats a price for a half decent but not bank breaking electric guitar and amp? New? Second hand?

**EDIT** 12/08/08 - Guys please stop PMing me to buy your guitar. I've got a pretty decent guitar and amp now, thanks but please stop asking!
 
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Richo 18

Likes Bikes and Dirt
What sortof thing are you into.
Country, Blues, Rock, Jazz, Metal?

Jeez man we need more details, it's liike saying...

uh, I'm new to mountainbiking whats a bike I should get?

No offence
 

|Matt|

Banned
What sortof thing are you into.
Country, Blues, Rock, Jazz, Metal?

Jeez man we need more details, it's liike saying...

uh, I'm new to mountainbiking whats a bike I should get?

No offence
Sorry, I'm new to this!

I'm into hard metal and very hard rock.
 

Richo 18

Likes Bikes and Dirt
Ok, I'm going to bed soon, so I'll start this off.

What do you call bank breaking. Is bank breaking 500 or 2000

It's like mountain biking, you can start with something that costs $350, but soon enough you'll be looking to buy something a little bit better, and better, and better again untill you're staring at a fucking Les Paul.
 

Ham

Likes Bikes and Dirt
its never too late to learn.

you don't need lessons im self taught and have been playing for 10 years.
get a beginners book from any music shop and start with basic stuff its boring but if you have a solid foundation of correct technique the more technical stuff you willl try later on are much easier.

i goy lessons a few years ago and had to do some technique drill which i neglected when i started playing and it helped me immensely.

as for starter guitar, Yamaha and squire both do amp and guitar packs for around 300 dollars for that you get the guitar, picks, lead, amp and strap cant go wrong with that to begin, available at most music shops.

also always warm up try this link for a some good warm up tips http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LL-QD0kZqA8 and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wBpr9_XkXEA&mode=related&search=

i do these every time i play as i have done tendon damage before and it hurts.
 

Ham

Likes Bikes and Dirt
Ok, I'm going to bed soon, so I'll start this off.

What do you call bank breaking. Is bank breaking 500 or 2000

It's like mountain biking, you can start with something that costs $350, but soon enough you'll be looking to buy something a little bit better, and better, and better again untill you're staring at a fucking Les Paul.
don buy an expensive guitar straight away you wont notice the difference at all.
 

|Matt|

Banned
its never too late to learn.

you don't need lessons im self taught and have been playing for 10 years.
get a beginners book from any music shop and start with basic stuff its boring but if you have a solid foundation of correct technique the more technical stuff you willl try later on are much easier.

i goy lessons a few years ago and had to do some technique drill which i neglected when i started playing and it helped me immensely.

as for starter guitar, Yamaha and squire both do amp and guitar packs for around 300 dollars for that you get the guitar, picks, lead, amp and strap cant go wrong with that to begin, available at most music shops.

also always warm up try this link for a some good warm up tips http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LL-QD0kZqA8 and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wBpr9_XkXEA&mode=related&search=

i do these every time i play as i have done tendon damage before and it hurts.
Thanks a lot for that.

Plow King has a lot of stuff (stratocaster from Squire) that he is willing to sell me. Should I give that stuff a shot? $200 for a hardly used guitar, amp, strap, books, notes and leads.

If I can teach myself notes and chords, is that all I need to start playing charts and stuff?

Oh and Richo, $300-$400 is absolute tops.
 

Richo 18

Likes Bikes and Dirt
Thanks a lot for that.

Plow King has a lot of stuff (stratocaster from Squire) that he is willing to sell me. Should I give that stuff a shot? $200 for a hardly used guitar, amp, strap, books, notes and leads.

If I can teach myself notes and chords, is that all I need to start playing charts and stuff?

Oh and Richo, $300-$400 is absolute tops.
Ah k. You might be.. dissapointed with the squier for metal at first, but by the time you can actually play powerchords, riffs scales, arpegios, etc you will probably have committed enough to guitar to buy a decent-ish guitar.

Be prepared, it might be boring for a while. At least 3 months or so, then, shit kicks in and you can play around with whatever you want to.

Patience, persistence, perserverence.
 

Ham

Likes Bikes and Dirt
nothing wrong with the squire for what he intends to do i, started with a yamaha strat copy and that lasted me 2 years and by the time i got good enough for a new guitar i had saved up 1500 for my ibanez which i still use for recording and live shows.

the first thing to learn is fingering and also learning to hold the pick correctly, and strumming and picking excercises if your a complete beginner then that stuff is actually quite difficult.

when you start your finger also won have an callouses on the fingertips so build it up by pressing you finger tips against a bank card or something.

hand strength is another problem for a beginner i suggest using a tennis ball with a cut in it and just start squeezing ( i still do) when you develop more strength use one without a cut.

and with everything you wont get good quickly unless you play every day i play 1 - 3 hours a day including a decent warm up then scales and then i just jam, record or learn new songs at the moment i am learing classical stuff like paginini and its completely different to my musical background (thrash metal) and its like starting all over again.
 

|Matt|

Banned
nothing wrong with the squire for what he intends to do i, started with a yamaha strat copy and that lasted me 2 years and by the time i got good enough for a new guitar i had saved up 1500 for my ibanez which i still use for recording and live shows.

the first thing to learn is fingering and also learning to hold the pick correctly, and strumming and picking excercises if your a complete beginner then that stuff is actually quite difficult.

when you start your finger also won have an callouses on the fingertips so build it up by pressing you finger tips against a bank card or something.

hand strength is another problem for a beginner i suggest using a tennis ball with a cut in it and just start squeezing ( i still do) when you develop more strength use one without a cut.

and with everything you wont get good quickly unless you play every day i play 1 - 3 hours a day including a decent warm up then scales and then i just jam, record or learn new songs at the moment i am learing classical stuff like paginini and its completely different to my musical background (thrash metal) and its like starting all over again.
I don't think hand strength will be a problem, but picking and all that will be. If hand strength is a problem, I have one of those things that you squeeze that has a reverse spring thing in the middle.

So to put it simply, will the Squire be good enough to play stuff like Avenged Sevenfold or heavy metal style stuff like Parkway Drive or I Killed the Prom Queen...or am I dreaming.
 

LIAM?!

Banned
Im no guitar guru matt, but I can tell you that Avenged Sevenfold is not beginner and you would not be playing that anytime near when you start off, But i would give the 'Squire' a go!
 

Ham

Likes Bikes and Dirt
well yes but not until you can do the simple stuff, a good guitarist can make a crap guitar sound good a beginner however will sound crap on a good guitar.

a7x and parkway drive all use tunning that isnt standard ie droped d and even drop c i dont think you should worry about learning stuff like that as you have to change your tuning.

focus on the basics first even though that stuff sucks and all you want to do is shred, it will help in the long run. learn some metallica once you have learnt the basics early stuff is in standard tuning and is quite simple to learn plus you can show off your riffing skills
 

|Matt|

Banned
well yes but not until you can do the simple stuff, a good guitarist can make a crap guitar sound good a beginner however will sound crap on a good guitar.

a7x and parkway drive all use tunning that isnt standard ie droped d and even drop c i dont think you should worry about learning stuff like that as you have to change your tuning.

focus on the basics first even though that stuff sucks and all you want to do is shred, it will help in the long run. learn some metallica once you have learnt the basics early stuff is in standard tuning and is quite simple to learn plus you can show off your riffing skills
But once I get good, will this guitar cope with A7X and Parkway and not sound like a poorly tuned tissue-box and fishing line home made lute?

I'd love to learn Master of Puppets or Enter Sandman, mostly cos they are the only Metallica songs I like!
 

Ham

Likes Bikes and Dirt
But once I get good, will this guitar cope with A7X and Parkway?

I'd love to learn Master of Puppets or Enter Sandman, mostly cos they are the only Metallica songs I like!
it will cope fine, you would have to probably get better, thicker strings though.
master of puppets is the first song i ever learn't in its entirety including all the solos and i learnt the drums and bass for it i recorded a cover by myself doing all instuments and all vocals for an assignment at uni for my mate (he had to do the engineering and production on it). and enter the sandman such a simple riff but timeless and every one knows it, good choices.

it will be a while though before you have them cranking.
 

|Matt|

Banned
it will cope fine, you would have to probably get better, thicker strings though.
master of puppets is the first song i ever learn't in its entirety including all the solos and i learnt the drums and bass for it i recorded a cover by myself doing all instuments and all vocals for an assignment at uni for my mate (he had to do the engineering and production on it). and enter the sandman such a simple riff but timeless and every one knows it, good choices.

it will be a while though before you have them cranking.
Alright sweet. Thanks a lot for your help.

How long did it take you to like, teach yourself the notes and chords and stuff and to be confident to read them off a chart and to play them fluently?
 

Ham

Likes Bikes and Dirt
well i could read sheet music from learning piano and violin, but once i got my first guitar it took probably six months before i could learn song like puppets and sandman.

i had a mate who taught me how to read tabs and it just went from there i learned a song then moved on it helped me a lot.

fluidity in my playing took a long time to achieve it was probably 2 years before i could read the sheet music and play it back fluently then about another year before i could sing and play.

the time it will take you will depend on how often you practice, how coordinated are i have taught music lessons and some people pick it up straight away other people really struggle just like the drums you either have rhythm or you dont.
 

jamsta

Jamsta Grafix
GET LESSONS!!! at any cost!!! it's part of the "gig" mate... really, your band members will so appreciate that you "know" what's going on...

I can't stress enough, GET LESSONS... it's such a tough industry, get them, and get them today, before a guitar even, get them,,,,..... ;)
 

Ham

Likes Bikes and Dirt
GET LESSONS!!! at any cost!!! it's part of the "gig" mate... really, your band members will so appreciate that you "know" what's going on...

I can't stress enough, GET LESSONS... it's such a tough industry, get them, and get them today, before a guitar even, get them,,,,..... ;)
yeah if thats an option i totally agree i would be ten time better than i am if i did that at the start.

but if that isnt an option then it will be a long but fun time.
 

Garrath

Likes Dirt
Hey age is no problem, I started learning guitar a few years ago and I am about to take bass lessons. oh yeah I'm about to turn 41.

I agree with everyone else - go cheap.
 
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