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Guitar players thread.

GeekyDad

Member
The past 20 years I think I went in a more straightforward finger-style/folk approach to music (got a lot of inspiration from Bruce Cockburn), but when I was younger I focused more on lead guitar, inspired by Pat Metheny.





These were recorded quite a while back (2004?).
 

Fret Runner

Member
Finally got around to practicing this little tune for a few hours after hearing it years ago and loving it.
Don't be too harsh, it's my new work-in-progress lol
 
Been playing a lot more the past year than in the past 15, so I decided to sell my 3 guitars and a couple of amps and buy a new Martin HD-28. Now I just have one nice acoustic guitar that I want to play everyday. Hopefully I can get decent at a few tunes. Need some practice though.
 

Kev Kev

Member
Been playing a lot more the past year than in the past 15, so I decided to sell my 3 guitars and a couple of amps and buy a new Martin HD-28. Now I just have one nice acoustic guitar that I want to play everyday. Hopefully I can get decent at a few tunes. Need some practice though.

you sound great! good voice too

and for the classical guitar nerds, i came across this just now. really clean live performance. some of the chords these classical players are making with their fret hand are just so absurd lol. i mean i could see myself working on it for a long time and being able to do some of them, but not like these pros can lol, its just next level. the precision they do it with and how effortless it looks is just so fascinating to watch.
 
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GeekyDad

Member
Been playing a lot more the past year than in the past 15, so I decided to sell my 3 guitars and a couple of amps and buy a new Martin HD-28. Now I just have one nice acoustic guitar that I want to play everyday. Hopefully I can get decent at a few tunes. Need some practice though.

Really enjoyed that -- right up my alley. And aside from Lindsey Buckingham (who I think is perhaps the most underrated guitarist), I've never really seen anyone play fingerstyle with just two fingers :D . But you seem to make it work, and the music shines right on through. Good stuff.
 

Fret Runner

Member
Managed to snag this beaut today.
got it for £700, couldn't resist. Xmas present for myself. :messenger_grinning_sweat:
qbVvrja.jpg

Hope you all have a good rocking finger-picking holiday period, Guitar-GAF.:goog_horns:🎅
 

TTOOLL

Member
I haven't touched my acoustic guitar in ages...I love music but I can't get the motivation to start again, I don't know what happened. Any suggestions? I consider myself a beginner and I know Justin Guitar lol.
 

Kev Kev

Member
I haven't touched my acoustic guitar in ages...I love music but I can't get the motivation to start again, I don't know what happened. Any suggestions? I consider myself a beginner and I know Justin Guitar lol.
keep your guitar out of the case, near your couch, bed, or whatever place you like to chill. during loading screens, commercials (lol), and just whenever you have a minute and youre walking by it, pick it up and work on C chord and G chord )or whatever your currently working on). keep looking up justin guitar videos and stuff. they are organized, well laid out and good for beginners.

most important is to enjoy the process. the hardest guitar will ever be is right now (when your a beginner). it just keeps getting easier. so if your not enjoying it at first, keep going, it only keeps getting better. good luck!
 
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MastAndo

Gold Member
Can't believe I spent all this free time during the quarantine not even touching a guitar. It wasn't until The Beatles Get Back doc lit some sort of fire under me, and I've spent the last few weeks taking in all sorts of helpful information on music theory and technique. It's astonishing how much info is out there now compared to years back.

It's been a fun process. I'm admittedly a bit overwhelmed with all the information I'm attempting to take in and don't fully understand plenty of it, but it's coming along. I'm still trying to find out where I'm going with all this, and have been a bit all over the place. I'll be playing improved blues solos one minute, then see a tutorial video with some sweet sounding jazz chords and think I want to go that route. Then I'll remember some 90's alt rock song I like and end up spending time learning that. I have seen myself getting noticeably better and more knowledgeable in just a few weeks which is all that matters right now, I suppose.

So many years being the very definition of a casual/campfire player (see tab, play tab), I wish I had done this sooner.
 

Happosai

Hold onto your panties
Can't believe I spent all this free time during the quarantine not even touching a guitar. It wasn't until The Beatles Get Back doc lit some sort of fire under me, and I've spent the last few weeks taking in all sorts of helpful information on music theory and technique. It's astonishing how much info is out there now compared to years back.

It's been a fun process. I'm admittedly a bit overwhelmed with all the information I'm attempting to take in and don't fully understand plenty of it, but it's coming along. I'm still trying to find out where I'm going with all this, and have been a bit all over the place. I'll be playing improved blues solos one minute, then see a tutorial video with some sweet sounding jazz chords and think I want to go that route. Then I'll remember some 90's alt rock song I like and end up spending time learning that. I have seen myself getting noticeably better and more knowledgeable in just a few weeks which is all that matters right now, I suppose.

So many years being the very definition of a casual/campfire player (see tab, play tab), I wish I had done this sooner.
The Beatles are excellent for casual guitar players and advanced alike. Glad to hear you picked up your guitar again. Music documentaries tend to have the same effect on me the same. When I used to teach music over a decade ago, I'd use the chords and structure of Yellow Submarine (the song) to help students learn timing and accents in each measure. It's also important to know that certain Beatles like John and Paul learned guitar and piano from very basic chords and timing. As far as I know, none of them had formal lessons.
 

sankt-Antonio

:^)--?-<
Have (or had) so much guitar stuff it’s wicked. Settled on five guitars, one amp, cab, and a digital modeler.

Gibson Les Paul Custom BB
Nick Huber Krauster II
PRS Custom 24 10top
ESP KH-2
Hapas Kayzer-7

Diezel VH4
Mesa 2*12
Neural Quad Cortex

I know I should get rid of one of the single cuts and get a Tele or something similar to round out my collection. But I can’t.

Also found out the other day that guitars (high end ones) got more expensive. I could sell them now as used and get roughly what I payed new, for most of them.
 

Kev Kev

Member
more minor pentatonic shit, hammer ons and pull offs and some sweep picking stuff.

really neat videos that give you some easy to play but super cool sounding metal riffs, but las have a ton of depth forwhat you can do with it in your solos. check it out



 
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Ovech-King

Gold Member
For the (death) metal fans here... I do small 1 minute song each week or so to get the creative flow going since early 2020 now so check my channel for more 🤘


 
i'm gonna try get back into guitar this year. my guitars have been sitting in the cupboard for so long. i'll need to take them out and get them back into shape. my guitars:

1. gibson les paul junior - 2006 model - has a H90
2. gibson les paul junior - 2010 model - has a P100 but i want to put the P90 back in it
3. squier stratocaster - 2002 model - has a seymour duncan invader
4. knock off stratocaster - don't know year but at least 6 years old - has a seymour duncan detonator
5. knock off stratocaster - don't know year - found it in the trash a few months ago. needs a good tear down to clean it up. some parts are broken so will need replaced. like i did with the other strats i'm wanting to rip out the single coils and put in a humbucker. i thought about putting my spare P90 (or buying another) in it but i don't know if i can easily do that. will see what it's like when i take it apart and see if i can order a custom plate and a pick up that fits without any body modification.

i'm thinking about buying another les paul junior (my favourite guitar lol) in either black or yellow as the ones i have are white/sunburst. i used to have a black junior years ago (can't remember what happened to it) and also another stratocaster to mod. i want a blue one for a change. the ones i have are green and red.
 
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Kev Kev

Member
For the (death) metal fans here... I do small 1 minute song each week or so to get the creative flow going since early 2020 now so check my channel for more 🤘



Fuck yeah these are great dude! Very creative and groovy. It’s impressive how you find a way to come up with something original every week, plus writing out the other parts as well.

What kind of DAW are you using? Do you draw/program the drums by hand?

It sounds like you have really dialed in the patches/plug-ins in your newer videos too. The quality is consistent, proper dB levels and mixed very nicely (even sounds great on my phone). You must have worked hard to get everything so cohesive.

Can you give us more details on your writing, recording, editing and mixing process? Maybe even break down what kind of chords and techniques you like to use to create your sound?

Thanks buddy and great job once again! Thank you for sharing.

Also, I love your Slaughter To Prevail mask!! Great band 🔨⚒️💪🤘
 
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Ovech-King

Gold Member
Fuck yeah these are great dude! Very creative and groovy. It’s impressive how you find a way to come up with something original every week, plus writing out the other parts as well.

What kind of DAW are you using? Do you draw/program the drums by hand?

It sounds like you have really dialed in the patches/plug-ins in your newer videos too. The quality is consistent, proper dB levels and mixed very nicely (even sounds great on my phone). You must have worked hard to get everything so cohesive.

Can you give us more details on your writing, recording, editing and mixing process? Maybe even break down what kind of chords and techniques you like to use to create your sound?

Thanks buddy and great job once again! Thank you for sharing.

Also, I love your Slaughter To Prevail mask!! Great band 🔨⚒️💪🤘
Thanks a lot for your words. I think the best thing to keep the flow going is having fast tools to compose. For a while I was programming notes by notes MIDI style in cubase but eventually got back to my old ways of using the fruity loops sequencer to make Ez Drummer 2 work with it. Since then it's SO easy to just create patterns and then have a 50 seconds drum track in like 20 minutes or so.

The drums are from EZ Drummer 2 expansion called ''Metal!'' and it's the big crack kit preset. That preset is so mix ready it's a no brainer for the price in my book. The only thing I use on top of it is slate digital tape machine to give it some ''pro'' warmth but really that's it. See below at 1:03 ;



For guitar , I kinda worked my way up to great sound the harder way with a Line 6 Helix, with a Mesa V30 impulse I grabbed a while back on a forum somewhere and then I had a bunch of EQ on it in daw lol. For bass, it's a total hack in the way that I use my guitar and use the daw to drop the pitch then use VST bass plugins. For DAW i just use Reaper , this is a steal at around 60$ .

In the end I don't think it matters what you use but how it sounds so yeah I think this is a very solid mix which is why I haven't touched it in over a year. I worked on it for almost a month then just kept it as is; write , record, have fun! This being said the best tip I can give anyone to improve and test your mix is to check again and again how it sounds in multiple places. That's the way you can pin point the slightest details like too much or not enough bass, bass drum or snare too low \ too high, etc. The car stereo is a good easy place where you'll spot issues fast vs other things you listen too (pro stuff). Also , high end headphones can expose nitpick in your mix, etc. And that's all after a first serie of tests on mid range monitors studios well oriented at ears level !

As for writing I just go with the flow. I'm a big fan of anything tech death with some groove elements , dying fetus would be my main influence on that. I have zero lead guitar skills so I just go around the neck looking for catchy heavy parts mostly with power chords and that's pretty much it. It does have it's limitation in the sense that I see now in the last month I've played the same chords often but the way you use them makes it fresh so it's not too bad... just an auto nitpick haha!
 

MastAndo

Gold Member
I'm thinking of picking up this guitar;

EOGPs7S.jpg


Ibanez AS73

It sounds like a strange reason to get an electric guitar, but in trying to actually get decent at playing these things, I find myself doing a lot of noodling/playing scales, etc while sitting on the couch and unplugged. Of course, an acoustic would make sense there, but I'm not looking for something quite that loud (I play late at night and have thin walls), and am not really interested in something in an acoustic size either. I just want something a little fuller acoustically than my Strat.

I had been looking at the Casino, Casino Coupe and the smaller Ibanez AM93, but this seems like a happy medium/price point to fill my needs, and reviews are pretty good. It's a completely frivolous purchase as I don't need it to work on reaching my guitar playing goals, but damn it's pretty, and I have always wanted to try a hollow/semi-hollowbody.
 

MastAndo

Gold Member
Sorry to bombard this thread with noob posts, but I'm looking for a budget/entry-level multi effects pedal. I'm not looking to spend more than around $150, as I'm just trying to see what sticks at this point while possibly doing a little recording. I bought a cheap looper pedal (actually works surprisingly well for my needs) but without an effects pedal in front of it, changes to sound on the amp change the entire loop, so I'm looking to put another device in the chain to control all that.

I've been looking at the following pedals;

NUX MG-300
Valeton GP-100
Boss GT-1

I'm leaning towards the NUX, but thought I would post this here in case my GAF Guitar friendos had any thoughts or suggestions. The Boss is a little more expensive, but if it's worth the few extra bucks, I would consider it. It might be worth noting that I'm not a beginner, more like an intermediate maybe, but pedals are a new thing for me.

EDIT: Decided on the NUX MG-300 and ordered one.
 
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GeekyDad

Member
Sorry to bombard this thread with noob posts, but I'm looking for a budget/entry-level multi effects pedal. I'm not looking to spend more than around $150, as I'm just trying to see what sticks at this point while possibly doing a little recording. I bought a cheap looper pedal (actually works surprisingly well for my needs) but without an effects pedal in front of it, changes to sound on the amp change the entire loop, so I'm looking to put another device in the chain to control all that.

I've been looking at the following pedals;

NUX MG-300
Valeton GP-100
Boss GT-1

I'm leaning towards the NUX, but thought I would post this here in case my GAF Guitar friendos had any thoughts or suggestions. The Boss is a little more expensive, but if it's worth the few extra bucks, I would consider it. It might be worth noting that I'm not a beginner, more like an intermediate maybe, but pedals are a new thing for me.

EDIT: Decided on the NUX MG-300 and ordered one.
Well, glad you found something that works for you. I was gonna recommend bypassing any multi-effects board/pedal for a simple wah-wah pedal. I had a Crybaby years ago, and it is just a great pedal. You can use it as a subtle envelope filter by simply pushing down a bit on it and leaving it in that position, or do the actual wah with it. But I love that sound, and it rounds your notes so wonderfully. The other effects, eh, they get old pretty quick. You can produce distortion on your own with whatever amp you're using, and chorus and flange are not to my personal liking. They were fun in the 80s, but... A delay, of course, is still quite nice to have for achieving certain things.
 
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kalecsan

Banned
I haven't touched my acoustic guitar in ages...I love music but I can't get the motivation to start again, I don't know what happened. Any suggestions? I consider myself a beginner and I know Justin Guitar lol.
Get inspired. Hear your favorite songs.
There are times when I'm not playing for a while, but then I hear a special song and I'm running to get my guitar to start playing for like 8 hours in a row.

For acoustic + voice. These are some of my favs.




 

BigBooper

Member
Have any of you played Rocksmith and felt it improved your playing at all?

I've played, admittedly without much dedication, for about 20 years. I've put more into it at times, playing at church and such, but I've never gotten above what I'd consider a mediocre level of skill.

I picked up and played Rocksmith for years, mostly because it was fun and easy to use. I could play the hard songs really well in it, but the skills didn't really transfer over out of the game. I think my poor memory is part of it, but I couldn't play the same songs outside of the game nearly as well as in.

Makes me feel like I wasted my time and skills, because I also ended up hurting my fretting wrist because of that game and had to take a year off. I haven't ever gotten back into guitar as much since, but I recently picked up a decent acoustic and am working my way back in.
 

GeekyDad

Member
Have any of you played Rocksmith and felt it improved your playing at all?

I've played, admittedly without much dedication, for about 20 years. I've put more into it at times, playing at church and such, but I've never gotten above what I'd consider a mediocre level of skill.

I picked up and played Rocksmith for years, mostly because it was fun and easy to use. I could play the hard songs really well in it, but the skills didn't really transfer over out of the game. I think my poor memory is part of it, but I couldn't play the same songs outside of the game nearly as well as in.

Makes me feel like I wasted my time and skills, because I also ended up hurting my fretting wrist because of that game and had to take a year off. I haven't ever gotten back into guitar as much since, but I recently picked up a decent acoustic and am working my way back in.
So, this Rocksmith is a type of game that uses a guitar? Sorry, I'm not familiar with it.
 
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EviLore

Expansive Ellipses
Staff Member
Have any of you played Rocksmith and felt it improved your playing at all?

I've played, admittedly without much dedication, for about 20 years. I've put more into it at times, playing at church and such, but I've never gotten above what I'd consider a mediocre level of skill.

I picked up and played Rocksmith for years, mostly because it was fun and easy to use. I could play the hard songs really well in it, but the skills didn't really transfer over out of the game. I think my poor memory is part of it, but I couldn't play the same songs outside of the game nearly as well as in.

Makes me feel like I wasted my time and skills, because I also ended up hurting my fretting wrist because of that game and had to take a year off. I haven't ever gotten back into guitar as much since, but I recently picked up a decent acoustic and am working my way back in.
I find that traditional learning is way better than Rocksmith. The gamification is a crutch and you'll end up reliant on the visuals to play.

Learning chords, scales, riffs, and songs by committing them to memory and practicing regularly is the way to go. I've permanently retained every riff and song I've learned the old fashioned way, meanwhile I can't tell you the first thing about what I got out of Rocksmith.

Youtube teachers will guide you through any and every song out there for free, too.

If you've hit a wall, take lessons, that'll help you break through to the next level.
 

GeekyDad

Member
Yea, it's a game where you use real instruments, either guitar or bass to play a kind of tablature, but it looks similar to Rock Band or Guitar Hero.


Ahh...well, if it's fun.

But, anytime it hurts, you probably want to rethink your approach, either to how you're positioning your hands and/or fingers, etc. The only thing that should hurt when you first begin playing guitar is the tips of your fingers until callouses form. Though a game like this seems like it could be useful for exercising your "chops," my personal opinion is that a healthy way to become proficient with the actual mechanics of playing guitar is by utilizing generally accepted finger positioning, posturing and exercises that are meant to avoid those types of pains. It will take more time and dedication, but when it becomes muscle memory, the rewards are greater, I believe. Then you'll have the tools needed to use the instrument for its intended purpose: expression.
 

BigBooper

Member
I find that traditional learning is way better than Rocksmith. The gamification is a crutch and you'll end up reliant on the visuals to play.

Learning chords, scales, riffs, and songs by committing them to memory and practicing regularly is the way to go. I've permanently retained every riff and song I've learned the old fashioned way, meanwhile I can't tell you the first thing about what I got out of Rocksmith.

Youtube teachers will guide you through any and every song out there for free, too.

If you've hit a wall, take lessons, that'll help you break through to the next level.
I agree as a game, it's fun and makes it feel like you're accomplishing something, but it's still almost entirely just a game. I'm going back to the old fashioned way.
 

sedg87

Banned
I bought my first guitar in October 2020 (acoustic) and then bought my first electric guitar a month later. I loved playing it for the first few months despite making little very progress then I sorta stopped picking it up that much. Play around an hour a week. Tried to play mostly gaming related stuff; Aeris' theme from FF7 was the first thing I learned to play which was quite easy, followed by Price of Freedom from Crisis Core and then the Resident Evil 4 save theme.


sCElirz.jpg
 

Kev Kev

Member
I bought my first guitar in October 2020 (acoustic) and then bought my first electric guitar a month later. I loved playing it for the first few months despite making little very progress then I sorta stopped picking it up that much. Play around an hour a week. Tried to play mostly gaming related stuff; Aeris' theme from FF7 was the first thing I learned to play which was quite easy, followed by Price of Freedom from Crisis Core and then the Resident Evil 4 save theme.


sCElirz.jpg
thats crazy, thats the same epiphone im playing in the video above.
 

Kev Kev

Member
heres master of puppets slowed way down with tabs. this is a great learning song as its fun as hell, teaches a lot of basic metal guitar concepts, and its actually not that difficult for intermediate/advanced players
 

GeekyDad

Member
Since I'm on medical leave again, I started digging around in our garage for old masters. Found a couple of tunes I recorded at a friend's home studio years ago.



And the studio version of a tune I posted earlier.

 

GeekyDad

Member
My brother's been helping me revive an old DAW, and after months of trying to get one up and running when time would allow, I got his to work by swapping out his old HD with a new one. Still trying to re-learn the system's mechanics, which are surprisingly complicated for an almost 30-year-old machine. This is my first test recording:

 

Happosai

Hold onto your panties
My brother's been helping me revive an old DAW, and after months of trying to get one up and running when time would allow, I got his to work by swapping out his old HD with a new one. Still trying to re-learn the system's mechanics, which are surprisingly complicated for an almost 30-year-old machine. This is my first test recording:


You have something to work with since you started on a DAW. I have a track like this I converted some 16-years ago from the source track which goes back another 12-years before that. Until about 1999 I was this running condensor mics to a Vox pre-amp and running that out through my old Fostex X-15 multitracker. I have 7 takes of the track similar to the one you shared which now live in one of my old iOmega hard drives. I'll share one of the takes. I had a mudic video I shot for one of them too which has been lost. The X15 below gives you an idea how primitive my recording days were pre-digital.
WzYus05.jpg
 

GeekyDad

Member
You have something to work with since you started on a DAW. I have a track like this I converted some 16-years ago from the source track which goes back another 12-years before that. Until about 1999 I was this running condensor mics to a Vox pre-amp and running that out through my old Fostex X-15 multitracker. I have 7 takes of the track similar to the one you shared which now live in one of my old iOmega hard drives. I'll share one of the takes. I had a mudic video I shot for one of them too which has been lost. The X15 below gives you an idea how primitive my recording days were pre-digital.
WzYus05.jpg
Would love to hear it. Yeah, before the Roland, I was working with a Tascam cassette 4-track home workstation. Also a great, little amateur device.
 
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