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Posted: 8/24/2004 11:17:09 AM EDT
[#1]
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Posted: 8/24/2004 11:22:32 AM EDT
[#2]
Well, you don't want to get something just because it's cheap. A shitty neck that is uncomfortable to play will NOT help you want to practice.
You really should go to a local guitar shop and play some different guitars. Find something that fits your hand well. Guitar necks/fretboards are not all the same. Then, once you find something you like, price it online. www.musiciansfriend.com is also Guitar Center, so you can get the same price as online from a local Guitar Center. Try to find a non-chain guitar shop first as GC doesn't really bargan with you, but they do carry a large selection. Also, check your local paper for "starving joe" selling his axe to pay bills. You can find some good deals. You don't have to spend a wad to get a decent player. BTW - I just picked up a vintage Gibson off of ebay this week, it's not a bad place to find gear if you are familiar with using ebay and know who not to bid from. ~ s0ulzer0 |
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Posted: 8/24/2004 11:28:52 AM EDT
[#3]
I started the referenced thread and took the advice to get out and try some guitars. I found that for the most part, the acoustic-electrics were really lacking in sound when played acoustically. I didn't play any of them plugged in but I'm pretty sure they aren't going to sound like an "electric guitar" but rather an amplified acoustic. From what I found, you could buy a decent beginner acoustic for your wife and a decent beginner electric/amp for you for less than $1000.00. That way you both get what you want and you have the best of both worlds in that you have both. |
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Posted: 8/24/2004 11:42:26 AM EDT
[#4]
Soulzer, thanks for the link!!!
What do you guys think about this combo???? A Fender standard strat (whatever that means, I just know Fender is supposed to be good) www.musiciansfriend.com/srs7/g=guitar/search/detail/base_pid/515217/ Fender Frontman series II amp www.musiciansfriend.com/srs7/g=guitar/search/detail/base_pid/480669/ |
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Posted: 8/24/2004 11:54:40 AM EDT
[#5]
Both of those would service a beginner well.
The Strat is a Mexican strat (made in mexico), and I personally like the recent quality of that series. I have bought many things (guitars and accessories) from Musician's Friend with great success. They are a quality organization. The Amp should be fine for a beginner. You may find yourself buying a few stomp boxes to color your tone. Fuzz/Overdrive are pretty common kickers for a beginner and a reasonable clean tone setup like that will provide. Enjoy, and practice, a lot. Geoff |
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Posted: 8/24/2004 1:48:12 PM EDT
[#6]
Can't really go wrong there, to start. That's a good combo for the buck. What type of music would you like to play? |
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Posted: 8/24/2004 1:52:22 PM EDT
[#7]
Musicians friend is a good place to buy. I've also bought on Ebay, but watch the review ratings. An electric/acoustic is always an option. I got a nice Epiphone that plays well both ways. BC Rich makes a damn fine inexpensive electric. Buy low, see if you like it and trade up if you want.
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Posted: 8/24/2004 2:58:51 PM EDT
[#8]
I am a drummer, but I do know a little about guitars. I have heard good things about Epiphones. In a way, they are to a Les Paul what a Squire is to a Strat - only Epiphones are of much higher quality than any Squire. It almost hurts me to make that comparison.
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Posted: 8/24/2004 3:01:41 PM EDT
[#9]
 you and every other drummer I've had to deal with
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Posted: 8/24/2004 3:15:02 PM EDT
[#10]
I bought a Taylor 414CE several months ago. It's an acoustic/electric and sounds absolutely fantastic plugged in or not plugged in. It has a very warm and rich tone. I paid about $1400 for it and it comes with a cord an extra set of strings and the best guitar case I've ever seen.
I could not be happier with my purchase. Several things if I may..... I know $1400 is ALOT of money, BUT, every time I see this guitar I want to pick it up and play it. It's that beautiful. Two, every time I pick it up and play if I want to play it for a long time because it sounds so good and plays so well. It was set up so well right from the factory it's easy to play, no buzzing. The Elixer strings that come on the Taylors are really worth the extra $$ they charge for them. They have a thin polymer coating on them that resists corrosion and seals the string that keeps the acids from your fingertips off the strings, this keeps the srtings brighter sounding for MUCH longer than other strings I've tried in the past. Get a Taylor, You wont regret it. There are less expensive Taylors out there. One more thing...... Once you go into the room they keep the Taylors start with the least expensive one you see. Cuz once you pick one up you will not be able to put it down. American craftsmanship is still alive and well. Taylor |
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Posted: 8/24/2004 6:06:50 PM EDT
[#11]
Thanks for you input everyone, it helped a lot. I went ahead and bought a couple of guitars today from Guitar Center. "www.musiciansfriend.com" retail outlet. The salesman was very helpful especially considering how green my wife and I are when it comes to guitars. He was very cool to deal with and didn't try to intimidate us with lingo. He offered for me to try a few different guitars and since I barely know Smoke on the Water I asked him to play them for us. He did and it sounded great. I decided on the Fender Standard Strat (Mexican model) with a Fender Front Man 25W amp to power it with reverb. We picked up a smaller than standard size Olympia Parlor acoustic for my wife. It fits her better than the full size acoustics. I got a tuner too that I have no idea how to use.
Got the straps, stands, string winder, polish rag, extra strings, and a gig bag to protect my new baby.  |
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Posted: 8/24/2004 6:14:05 PM EDT
[#12]
If you have a microphone on your computer (and even if you don't, $9 at Wal Mart), download this program.
www.hitsquad.com/smm/programs/AP_Guitar_Tuner/ Very accurate tuner. |
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Posted: 8/24/2004 6:15:54 PM EDT
[#13]
Ok cool, but how do I use this Korg tuner I bought at the music shop??? |
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Posted: 8/24/2004 6:17:07 PM EDT
[#14]
Nice! Have fun! That looks alot like the same Fender Amp I have..... |
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Posted: 8/24/2004 6:17:42 PM EDT
[#15]
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Posted: 8/24/2004 6:18:08 PM EDT
[#16]
RTFM  ETA: www.harmony-central.com/Guitar/ Used to be my favorite site when I started learning |
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Posted: 8/24/2004 6:21:29 PM EDT
[#17]
The real question is how long before you realize that you cannot play like Steve Vai after 1 month of playing and put up all your stuff on ebay?
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Posted: 8/24/2004 6:21:31 PM EDT
[#18]
It has a manual, doesn't it?  I haven't used an analog tuner in a long time, but you want the needle in the center of the dial. For all pitches. The computer tuner I listed above is a little easier to use, but I don't know much about the tuner you have. Only time I used those was in band class to tune my euphonium. |
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Posted: 8/24/2004 6:21:37 PM EDT
[#19]
NEVERMIND!!! I just read the instructions, it is very simple, just play the note and get the meter in the middle. DUH!!!!!!!!!! |
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Posted: 8/24/2004 6:31:39 PM EDT
[#20]
You will love it, I'm planing to get the same setup in a few weeks.
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Posted: 8/24/2004 6:36:35 PM EDT
[#21]
If you believe that you're missing out on much better prices. I've had great luck haggling with guitar center, and can usually get out the door with prices below those advertised on musicians friend.com. The mexican strats are a good buy IMHO. I have one and it plays just as well for me as most USA made strats I've tried. Ya done good. |
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Posted: 8/24/2004 6:39:22 PM EDT
[#22]
If you have kazaa lite, or other file sharing things. Search the documents section for "guitar".
Kazaa has a metric crapload of method books, transcription books, etc. Download (or if you don't do piracy) the berklee "a modern method for guitar" by William Leavitt. That should keep you busy for a long time. |
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Posted: 8/24/2004 6:39:23 PM EDT
[#23]
Excellent!!
Although I love Les Pauls I've always been partial to the Fender Stratocaster. It bothers me that the most expensive production Strats are about equal in cost to the least expensive "real" Les Pauls. |
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Posted: 8/24/2004 6:46:39 PM EDT
[#24]
Damn, I am sorry I didnt catch yer thred in time to point you in the right direction
 If you ever want to UpGrade keep this in mind  LES PAULBest ever made hands down. Nutz..out...  ETA: corwin beat me to it... 
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Posted: 8/24/2004 6:56:49 PM EDT
[#25]
Another thing to remember is that a Fender is like the AR-15 of the guitar world. Another excellent way to upgrade is to replace the neck, body, etc. Here's a great place to do that:
Warmoth |
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Posted: 8/24/2004 7:27:30 PM EDT
[#26]
Congrats.... the best guitar teaching computer application I've found is emedia's products. I've noticed the tendency to overbuy on amp wattage... 25 watts is far more than enough for what you described. But what the heck, my long-time practice amp is a Peavey bandit with 65 watts.
One thing right off the bat, you will notice the lack of tone, or percepted lack of the kind of tone that pro's use. You should check out the Line6 POD. I believe there was a thread on that last week as well. |
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Posted: 8/25/2004 12:05:37 PM EDT
[#27]
Well, it's been my experience with GC. I've been in the Atlanta Music scene since the late 80's and know most of the guitar shop guys. Not many of them are left, thanks to the wal-mart like Guitar Centers & MARS music shitlets. MARS was the worst, but GC isn't much different around here. Not much "dealing" unless you know someone who works there. I like the local shops better, they do me right on trades and if I need something custom done, they are there for me. Guitar Center is great to grab strings an amp or stomp box, or if you're new to guitars. That's just my opinion of it, nothing personal. Congrats on the new Strat lvgunner777! ~ s0ulzer0 |
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Posted: 8/25/2004 12:21:44 PM EDT
[#28]
What, no whammy bar?
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Posted: 8/25/2004 12:27:06 PM EDT
[#29]
no argument there. I like to frequent a local shop too, and only go to gc when they've got something the other place doesn't have, or the prices are so much better that greed trumps the desire to support the local guy. |
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Posted: 8/25/2004 12:47:29 PM EDT
[#30]
Yeah, I guess my main beef are the local guys that have been serving the Atlanta scene for many years having to shut down because they can't compete with the HUGE volume of a national outlet like GC or MARS. Then the fact the GC & MARS rape you on used gear trades. Shit, when I was starting out, used was the way to go if you wanted a nice Gibson or other top shelf instrument. It seems the "new generation" of players turn their noses up at used gear, like a worn finish or chip is bad for them. I dunno, I guess I'm getting old and grumpy.
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Posted: 8/25/2004 12:56:13 PM EDT
[#31]
There is no locking nut on that guitar. The whammy would not be worth it with all the tuning you'd have to do after the slightest...wham. |
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Posted: 8/25/2004 1:36:47 PM EDT
[#32]
It came with one but I haven't put it on yet. So far I have learned the intro to "Daytripper" by the Beatles and some nifty simple licks. (I bought one of those books that comes with a DVD and CD to teach yourself) I have a lesson scheduled friday night with a guy that I found in the phone book. As far as GC goes, well, I gave one of the local guys a chance first, "Ed Roman Guitars". We wandered around for a half hour and no one even said hello to us. So we left and went to GC where this young fresh out of college guy was super nice and helpful. Spent about an hour and half making sure we got everything we needed and answering our stupid questions. The price, well, he cut 20% off one guitar's already marked down price and about 10% off the Fender. He gave us about 25% off on any of the accesories we picked out. Great place, I will go back if I ever need anything. By the way, I called Ed Roman's and talked to the manager today to let him know what happened and that we bought 2 rigs with all the accesories down the street because no one would help us in his store. He said to me, well, some people don't mind having a salesman in their face, that isn't "our style" here we like to sit back and wait to be asked for help. I told him a simple hello would have sufficed just like the guy at GC gave us. 
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Posted: 8/25/2004 3:08:02 PM EDT
[#33]
 SACRILEGE   |
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Posted: 8/25/2004 3:12:57 PM EDT
[#34]
That setup is great for metal and hard rock. But for a cleaner sound it is very hard to top a Strat combined with a Fender amp. Different tools for different jobs. |
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Posted: 8/25/2004 3:14:26 PM EDT
[#35]
Does it go to 11? That's one more louder... 
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Posted: 8/25/2004 3:38:49 PM EDT
[#36]
The Marshall shown in the picture is dual-channel. One click of the footswitch and it goes from dirty to a very clear and warm bright sound. |
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Posted: 8/25/2004 3:43:35 PM EDT
[#37]
I want one. |
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Posted: 8/25/2004 3:48:56 PM EDT
[#38]
Congrats man! I really like the color. And I also agree that the Mexican fenders are an excellent buy. I almost bought a Mex Tele a few months ago.
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Posted: 8/25/2004 3:58:30 PM EDT
[#39]
Congrats.
I will warn you however, that you have just entered a realm far more addictive than Black Rifle Syndrome. Good luck. I started on something similar and can tell you from experience that spending $1000 on a guitar will soon seem very reasonable! Have fun, and if/ when you decide to upgrade (very likely, whether you need it or not, it's like AR's) send me an IM and I'll be glad to help out with advice, and who knows, I may be in the middle of an unnessecary upgrade myself and be looking to sell! |
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Posted: 8/25/2004 4:12:35 PM EDT
[#40]
300watts for me!  
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Posted: 8/25/2004 4:40:46 PM EDT
[#41]
I wish I could go to Ed Roman's!! He does some of the BEST custom work around. I don't know anything about his service, but his prices aren't exactly what I would call "entry level". He's more for folks that are willing to spend $1500-$6500 on a one of a kind dream guitar. You did good at GC, I wasn't knocking it for you. 
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Posted: 8/25/2004 4:49:48 PM EDT
[#42]
Marshall JCM 800 100 watters, single channel, no reverb, tubed with Groove Tube EL34's
overdriven with a Boss SD-1 Super Overdrive and Boss Compressor, EQ'd and gated = The Shizzle! Funny, I used a Peavey Triple XXX before, was very impressed! I played it side by side with a MESA Dual Rectumfire in the shop, sounded near identical. They use the same power output configuration too. For those who like the Rectumfire sound but want to save money, the Tripple XXX is the way to go. I'll always be a Marshall guy, but I'm liking the Line 6 PODxt and Spider II HD head alot. ~ s0ulzer0 |
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Posted: 8/25/2004 4:58:00 PM EDT
[#43]
I second that. I had two Marshalls before. The first one I got was a small 25w park series amp, which was nice. Then I upgraded to the TSL 2000 2x12 combo, and it was a lemon, broke the first time I played it. A friend of mine got a JCM 800 combo around the same time as well and his also malfunctioned the first day he had it, he got rid of it right away. I kept mine around for a couple years and spent lots of money to have it constantly fixed and worked on but something always kept going wrong, radical tone shifts, dials and buttons failing, finally I got the Peavey and its treated me right since day 1. I use the TSL 2000 for parts now. Brian |
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Posted: 8/25/2004 7:00:05 PM EDT
[#44]
I have heard the Marshall combos sometimes have problems.
I've owned two Marshalls. The first one was a 100 watt 2203 full stack I bought in 1980. It was great when set between 7 and 10, but at low volumn it was kind of hollow. I sold it after 4 years and bought a GK combo, which had its own problems. The one in the picture is a 2210 half stack I bought in 1989. It still works great. I only had to replace the mains once and I have been banging the crap out of it for years. That bastard rocks. Carlos Santana's brother wanted to buy it from me back in 1991, but I said no way. He said it was the best 2210 he has ever heard. |
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Posted: 8/26/2004 4:04:46 AM EDT
[#45]
That place is famous around the net for being staffed by assholes ... I don't know if any of the stuff is true, but it's funny. edroman.aleclee.com/ |
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Posted: 8/26/2004 5:07:46 AM EDT
[#46]
Both of my Carvins have whammies, and no locking nut... they stay in tune just fine. But they do have locking TUNERS (and a graphite nut that is supposed to reduce/eliminate the "stickage" that exasperates the problem. My previous guitar an American-made Strat Plus, in addition to the locking tuners, had a "roller nut" (each slot in the nut had two little ball bearing thingies). I have no problem staying in tune during gigs, with occasional whammy bar action... but I suppose if I were doing some major whammying all the time, a locking nut would be a necessity. But for me, after owning several Floyd Rose-equipped guitars, the ease of changing strings now is a godsend. --Mike 
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Posted: 8/26/2004 9:32:19 AM EDT
[#47]
LMAO, thanks for the link!~ s0ulzer0 |
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Posted: 8/26/2004 10:49:46 AM EDT
[#48]
FUCK ED ROMAN .
Look his ass up on the BBB . That fucker has web page after web page of outright fraud agaisn't him . I don't care if he comes across GIbson and Fender #1 (Probably fakes if he has them . ) I would never spend a penny with that guy .
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Posted: 8/26/2004 12:00:50 PM EDT
[#49]
yeah, the stories in the "what Ed does" section are a riot. |
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Posted: 8/26/2004 12:10:58 PM EDT
[#50]
Did you ever figure out your tuner?
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