GUITAR hero wannabe

[Gilligan]

At the end of the day this is just for my fun, my brother is a very accomplished sax palyer, he is a musician, I do not have that talent or desire.
I will never be a musician, I just want to learn some music and have some fun (and drive my wife nuts).

A sax scholarship paid for my college...was very close to majoring in jazz studies but being broke and wanting a large family made me head in another direction. I am glad to hear it sounds like your brother is making it work because it can be a tough life.  Wish I could help with the electric guitar question but I have only owned acoustics.

Uhh... And how is your degree any different/more useful? :-p

[ScreenPrinter123]

Haha...I started in Electrical Engineering but decided after two years that I did not want a desk job and made the money making switch to philosophy and theology.  Taught a year and then started a business so that I could hopefully one day actually support a family.

[Zelko-4-EVA]

Sorry to hijack the thread (not super sorry, but sorry)

What's everyone playing?!

I have (2) rickenbacker 360s, and my main guitar which is a custom built semi hollow Electrical guitar company guitar!

Gibson SG standard
Fender Stratocaster (early 90s mexican)
Roland G-707 with synth board
Guild D4 (pre fender)

late 70s Twin Reverb
Kustom K250-4 with matching cab - 1x15 and 2x10
Marshall Valvestate head
Marshall 4x10

early 70s crybaby
early 90s Big muff
70s Maestro MP1 Phaser


used to have a full marshall stack with two 4x12 cabs - i was in a band that thought volume was better than quality...  i stick to the acoustic now  - its safer for the ears

[Gilligan]

Sorry to hijack the thread (not super sorry, but sorry)

What's everyone playing?!

I have (2) rickenbacker 360s, and my main guitar which is a custom built semi hollow Electrical guitar company guitar!

Gibson SG standard
Fender Stratocaster (early 90s mexican)
Roland G-707 with synth board
Guild D4 (pre fender)

late 70s Twin Reverb
Kustom K250-4 with matching cab - 1x15 and 2x10
Marshall Valvestate head
Marshall 4x10

early 70s crybaby
early 90s Big muff
70s Maestro MP1 Phaser


used to have a full marshall stack with two 4x12 cabs - i was in a band that thought volume was better than quality...  i stick to the acoustic now  - its safer for the ears

Always wanted a Roland synth guitar.  I remember the first retro fits, used by such as Vernon Reid, they were such an awesome concept.  Even though they didn't work as well as you would like, still wanted one... Still do.

[Zelko-4-EVA]

Sorry to hijack the thread (not super sorry, but sorry)

What's everyone playing?!

I have (2) rickenbacker 360s, and my main guitar which is a custom built semi hollow Electrical guitar company guitar!

Gibson SG standard
Fender Stratocaster (early 90s mexican)
Roland G-707 with synth board
Guild D4 (pre fender)

late 70s Twin Reverb
Kustom K250-4 with matching cab - 1x15 and 2x10
Marshall Valvestate head
Marshall 4x10

early 70s crybaby
early 90s Big muff
70s Maestro MP1 Phaser


used to have a full marshall stack with two 4x12 cabs - i was in a band that thought volume was better than quality...  i stick to the acoustic now  - its safer for the ears

Always wanted a Roland synth guitar.  I remember the first retro fits, used by such as Vernon Reid, they were such an awesome concept.  Even though they didn't work as well as you would like, still wanted one... Still do.

honestly ive only got it to make a few notes through the synth.  i think the ribbon cable inside the body needs replacement.

i was passing by a music shop and had 10 minutes to kill, stopped in and saw it - played fine through the regular pickups.  sales guy said he had the other half of it in the back.  he came out with this monster of a pedal board - two feet wide and weighed a ton.  he didnt know if it worked - and he didnt seem to care.  sold me the guitar and pedal board for $150.  a new cable from roland cost about $70...

ive never seen anyone play one, and its the only roland guitar ive ever come across.

[Gilligan]

Awesome deal!

They say they are built pretty well.

This is the guy that I was referring to earlier.  I don't know how much better the 707 works but it's a cool concept.

[Sbrem]

Awesome deal!

They say they are built pretty well.

This is the guy that I was referring to earlier.  I don't know how much better the 707 works but it's a cool concept.

I have the exact same setup on my Strat, though I haven't employed it in a while. I do keep thinking about it though, I think when we're closed for the week between Christmas and New Year's Day I'll drag it out. I have the GR-33 synth. In the band I was in when I bought it, our keyboard player would be late on occasion, and I'd use it to play Organ sounds...

Steve

[Gilligan]

How's the tracking on that thing?

I remember it being iffy back in the day.

[ABuffington]

Oh this is much more fun than talking about emulsion.  It amazes me how many in our industry are musicians. 
I would go with the electric and a Roland Sound cube with the ability to plug in a drum machine or CD so you can play along.

Of the electrics, Strats are hard to beat, but I would look for a Mexican Strat (300), then replace the pick ups with some Seymour Duncans, Intonation, Action set up all done by a pro luthier, another 300.  That guitar is equal to a 2k-3k US Shop Strat.  Take a tuner with you.  Check how well it tunes up and how accurate the tone is at the double dots.  An open string in tune should read exactly the same at the double dots an octave above the open note.  Pawn shops and Craigslist this time of year are good sources.  The older the guitar the better.  Less moisture, may have been played a ton and intonated may times.  Avoid tremolo bars, fixed set tail pieces to begin with.

There are many good no brands out there, especially from Korea.  You do get what you pay for and to me a guitar that holds tune and is intonated well is worth the extra money.  Wait until after Christmas.  Goodwill stores in my area get all the unsold Target merchandise as well as a lot of Costco guitars.  I have bought First Act Acoustics and a first act 222 for 22 dollars, as well as a 72 Korean Strat for yep 22 bucks that is my slide guitar and all bought with my senior discount! yeah.  Also picked up an Epiphone practice tube amp that I haven't looked up, cause the wife will sell it if its worth more than a hundred.  I got it for 25, a tube amp no less. Screams the blues.  First Act is not a bad guitar for those still laughing.  My acoustic took a little TLC but with all Mahogany construction (All dark maroon, not the one with a spruce top) it has a less tiny sound and incredible sustain.  My 222 has almost the same fretboard shape as my Gibson.  I intonated it, set the action myself, (lots of You Tube stuff on this), put on some Blue Steel Electric 11-52's and a D Addario wound G 18.  To me that is key on any Electric except Fender type guitars.  A wound G is more forgiving if you are heavy handed, which is exactly what happens with too much acoustic playing.  Good string tuners are a must as well.  A highertuner ratio also helps, the more you have to turn the key the better, allows for finer tuning.  Low end Fenders have coarse tuning and fall out when played hard.

I have been playing in the same band with the same guys for 40 years now.  750 songs to date in memory, I hate sheet music.  That to me is key.  Start off with some friends, pick your poison and learn 2 chord jams.  Pull down some Tabliture and lyrics from the web and learn some basic blues, Stevie Ray Vaughn stuff, or songs like Red House or Stormy Monday that are simple 3 chord blues with standard blues song construction.

Our band all started with the same skill set and we grew together.  Having someone play the other parts makes life easy, especially if you can find a good drummer and bassist, usually precious commodities in any area. Bass, Drummer, and Rhythm in my band play by ear and by memory.  I can learn a song in one take watching the chords being played by my lead guitarist, whereas give me tab or Sheet music and my timing sucks.  Playing by memory has it's advantages, like when you play live, all you have to do is listen to good music being played instead of read, send message to brain to interpret, send message to hand to form chord or lead riff.  Screw all that.  Memorize the song in chords, close your eyes and listen to it and make it better.

My set up:
68 Gibson Standard (My other wife, and yes she is jealous of it)
72 Korean Strat - Set up in either open E or G tuning for slide
First Act Acoustic
222 Artist Series Adam Levine
72 Mexican Strat Modded with Seymour Duncans, fretwork, and intonation

Amps
Fender Chorus - I run a Line 6 through it for other Amp sounds, I play Rhythm
Epiphone 10" tube amp
Roland
Mackie PA

Wish List:
Mesa Boogie Lone Star
Lap Steel Guitar
Pedal Steel Guitar
QSC 1500 (2) power amps
In ear monitor system
Original JBL Voice of the Theater 15's 3 way.

For those wanting to get into slide guitar check out this guy from England:
https://www.youtube.com/user/NellySlideGuitar

Try open G tuning or look up his video on tuning it.  So easy to play Stones now!

My band wasnt going to play this  year at ISS Long Beach, but if there is enough interest
we will play at a local watering hole Friday night and we don't mind kaoroke or guests
but I would want to verify the song any would want to play so we can dial it in.

Al

[Gilligan]

Al... Do you guys do your own sound or PA everywhere you play (for the most part?)

If so... I HIGHLY recommend a presonus Studiolive board and in ear monitors.  You can call mix your own mixes from an ipad on stage (as well as the main mix if you guys mix from the stage).  If I were doing it all over again this would be a no brainer.  They aren't THAT expensive and you have one amazing (compact) setup that gives you ridiculous freedoms.

My Mex strat has EMG's in it.

[dirkdiggler]

Oh this is much more fun than talking about emulsion.  It amazes me how many in our industry are musicians. 
I would go with the electric and a Roland Sound cube with the ability to plug in a drum machine or CD so you can play along.

Of the electrics, Strats are hard to beat, but I would look for a Mexican Strat (300), then replace the pick ups with some Seymour Duncans, Intonation, Action set up all done by a pro luthier, another 300.  That guitar is equal to a 2k-3k US Shop Strat.  Take a tuner with you.  Check how well it tunes up and how accurate the tone is at the double dots.  An open string in tune should read exactly the same at the double dots an octave above the open note.  Pawn shops and Craigslist this time of year are good sources.  The older the guitar the better.  Less moisture, may have been played a ton and intonated may times.  Avoid tremolo bars, fixed set tail pieces to begin with.

There are many good no brands out there, especially from Korea.  You do get what you pay for and to me a guitar that holds tune and is intonated well is worth the extra money.  Wait until after Christmas.  Goodwill stores in my area get all the unsold Target merchandise as well as a lot of Costco guitars.  I have bought First Act Acoustics and a first act 222 for 22 dollars, as well as a 72 Korean Strat for yep 22 bucks that is my slide guitar and all bought with my senior discount! yeah.  Also picked up an Epiphone practice tube amp that I haven't looked up, cause the wife will sell it if its worth more than a hundred.  I got it for 25, a tube amp no less. Screams the blues.  First Act is not a bad guitar for those still laughing.  My acoustic took a little TLC but with all Mahogany construction (All dark maroon, not the one with a spruce top) it has a less tiny sound and incredible sustain.  My 222 has almost the same fretboard shape as my Gibson.  I intonated it, set the action myself, (lots of You Tube stuff on this), put on some Blue Steel Electric 11-52's and a D Addario wound G 18.  To me that is key on any Electric except Fender type guitars.  A wound G is more forgiving if you are heavy handed, which is exactly what happens with too much acoustic playing.  Good string tuners are a must as well.  A highertuner ratio also helps, the more you have to turn the key the better, allows for finer tuning.  Low end Fenders have coarse tuning and fall out when played hard.

I have been playing in the same band with the same guys for 40 years now.  750 songs to date in memory, I hate sheet music.  That to me is key.  Start off with some friends, pick your poison and learn 2 chord jams.  Pull down some Tabliture and lyrics from the web and learn some basic blues, Stevie Ray Vaughn stuff, or songs like Red House or Stormy Monday that are simple 3 chord blues with standard blues song construction.

Our band all started with the same skill set and we grew together.  Having someone play the other parts makes life easy, especially if you can find a good drummer and bassist, usually precious commodities in any area. Bass, Drummer, and Rhythm in my band play by ear and by memory.  I can learn a song in one take watching the chords being played by my lead guitarist, whereas give me tab or Sheet music and my timing sucks.  Playing by memory has it's advantages, like when you play live, all you have to do is listen to good music being played instead of read, send message to brain to interpret, send message to hand to form chord or lead riff.  Screw all that.  Memorize the song in chords, close your eyes and listen to it and make it better.

My set up:
68 Gibson Standard (My other wife, and yes she is jealous of it)
72 Korean Strat - Set up in either open E or G tuning for slide
First Act Acoustic
222 Artist Series Adam Levine
72 Mexican Strat Modded with Seymour Duncans, fretwork, and intonation

Amps
Fender Chorus - I run a Line 6 through it for other Amp sounds, I play Rhythm
Epiphone 10" tube amp
Roland
Mackie PA

Wish List:
Mesa Boogie Lone Star
Lap Steel Guitar
Pedal Steel Guitar
QSC 1500 (2) power amps
In ear monitor system
Original JBL Voice of the Theater 15's 3 way.

For those wanting to get into slide guitar check out this guy from England:
https://www.youtube.com/user/NellySlideGuitar

Try open G tuning or look up his video on tuning it.  So easy to play Stones now!

My band wasnt going to play this  year at ISS Long Beach, but if there is enough interest
we will play at a local watering hole Friday night and we don't mind kaoroke or guests
but I would want to verify the song any would want to play so we can dial it in.

Al

and all we talked about when we met in vegas was emulsion, wtf?

[ABuffington]

Yep, this is the only reason I work, to be able to play music.  When I had my shop it was 12-14 hour days and no time to jam.
Now with an 8-5 job we play Mon and Thursday and weekend gigs, which has been for the past 40 years!  It took that long to get the wife trained!

Seriously though this group needs to get together and play.  If anyone is in LA for the Long Beach Show and if we don't do the
gig at ISS, I can take a couple of guests in our studio on Thursday before the show or Monday after the show.  First come first served. The couch holds two people, but the studio is all set up and ready.

And as I said if we get enough interest the band will play at the ISS show Long Beach.  Eric from Action Engineering is quite the singer,
just got get up and do it Eric!  Close your eyes. James Ortalani from Naz Dar also has serious chops and I'd love to get the chance to play a few with him.

You will never see a Murakami Show shirt designed by me without a guitars, drums, or a sax!   

Al

[jvanick]

Al... Do you guys do your own sound or PA everywhere you play (for the most part?)

If so... I HIGHLY recommend a presonus Studiolive board and in ear monitors.  You can call mix your own mixes from an ipad on stage (as well as the main mix if you guys mix from the stage).  If I were doing it all over again this would be a no brainer.  They aren't THAT expensive and you have one amazing (compact) setup that gives you ridiculous freedoms.

also check out the Behringher X32 series... all digital board, designed by Midas engineers who Behringher bought a few years back... we've had one since the first rev, and I wouldn't hesitate to replace it again... I wouldn't own a board that doesn't have motorized faders ever again, it's that nice for saving and recalling settings... same mix from ipad, laptop, iphone features as the Presonus.

[3Deep]

Well I will hit the tail end of this and most likely be the last post LOL only guitar's I own  are a Lotus which I think is a Fender knock off, pretty heavy but sounds and plays nice and I bought a First Act after seeing the dude from Maroon 5 playing one. I had too many amps to mention which I've giving away or loan out never to see again.  You guys are going to have to get together and do a TSB jam session and post it up.

darryl

[Gilligan]

Al... Do you guys do your own sound or PA everywhere you play (for the most part?)

If so... I HIGHLY recommend a presonus Studiolive board and in ear monitors.  You can call mix your own mixes from an ipad on stage (as well as the main mix if you guys mix from the stage).  If I were doing it all over again this would be a no brainer.  They aren't THAT expensive and you have one amazing (compact) setup that gives you ridiculous freedoms.

also check out the Behringher X32 series... all digital board, designed by Midas engineers who Behringher bought a few years back... we've had one since the first rev, and I wouldn't hesitate to replace it again... I wouldn't own a board that doesn't have motorized faders ever again, it's that nice for saving and recalling settings... same mix from ipad, laptop, iphone features as the Presonus.

BOOOOO!!!

But seriously, the Presonus guys are amazing guys... they are literally an hour away from us and I know several of their employees (my old guitar teacher works for them)... they really do give back and they are uber helpful when you  need any assistance. 

Behringer is known for basically reverse engineering/bootlegging/cheap knock offs... and though not always bad, this one hits REAL close to home.  Hell, we've shared the stage with La Reoux who Jim Odom plays for and he is the founder of Presonus.

Buy Presonus!