***The Official Guitar Thread***

I think as a first electric guitar it should be more than nice enough for the time being. Might be worth giving it a clean and/or setup depending on how well looked after it was prior to reaching you. You want something that feels nice to play above all else really while you're learning - you can become a tone snob and obsess over expensive guitars once you're a bit further along the journey
 
SexyGreyFox said:
Aria are cheap guitars so don't expect much however my Brother in Law had a lifetime trying to search for a guitar that played like his original 80s Aria that cost £20 out of a second hand shop.
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This was certainly as cheap as it gets and after some basic web searching it was interesting to look back at Aria. Not hoping for much and once i get some new strings on it i will see how it plays. The previous owner has not played it for 10 years :D
 
uncle_rufus said:
I think as a first electric guitar it should be more than nice enough for the time being. Might be worth giving it a clean and/or setup depending on how well looked after it was prior to reaching you. You want something that feels nice to play above all else really while you're learning - you can become a tone snob and obsess over expensive guitars once you're a bit further along the journey
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Thanks. I have two mates who are tone snobs, whereas i am a drummer and this is a new hobby for me. This guitar seems physically in good nick, even after being stored away for ten years. I will take to a local guitar shop for a service and hope it plays well.
 
SydDanube said:
Thanks. I have two mates who are tone snobs, whereas i am a drummer and this is a new hobby for me. This guitar seems physically in good nick, even after being stored away for ten years. I will take to a local guitar shop for a service and hope it plays well.
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Sounds like a good shout :) Sometimes the best playing guitars are the cheaper ones anyway tbh, a mate of mine had a Yamaha Pacifica which is a very basic cheap entry level guitar but man that thing was so perfectly setup and silky smooth to play. Of course once you've got your chops up then you can really play anything you like and treat yourself to something fancy, but I am a firm believer that a guitar has to be truly horrendous and absolutely awfully setup to really "hold you back" as it were
 
The phenolic pickguard on my Fender Broadcaster has warped badly. Can literally fit like 7 picks stacked down it, happened over night. I haven't subjected the guitar to any direct sunlight or rooms with heavy temp changes. Guess it's just the wood breathing. Have a read up on this and apparently it's very common to happen with single ply pickguards, and it's why Fender went on to use 3 ply pickguards with extra screw.

As the guitar is 10 months old and in warranty Andertons are sourcing a replacement phenolic pickguard from Fender. The replacement will probably end up warping again. If it happens again, so be it! I'd rather keep it period correct than swap out the pickguard for another design. When I get the replacement, I may try flattening out the first pickguard by using an iron, towels and heavy books. Apparently it can be quite successful.
 
I feel like I've hit a barrier in self-teaching and need to get myself some lessons going forward, I pick up and have no idea what to really do other than just running through some exercises and riffs that I've learned, so will be looking for a bit more guidance going forward I think.
 
Invertigo said:
I feel like I've hit a barrier in self-teaching and need to get myself some lessons going forward, I pick up and have no idea what to really do other than just running through some exercises and riffs that I've learned, so will be looking for a bit more guidance going forward I think.
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I feel the same lately. The free content online is amazing, and I'm really grateful for it. It can feel a bit overwhelming though on what you should be focusing on. I'm trying to focus on song riffs lately. Finding it to be rewarding and I'm putting in to practice things I've learn't, finger movements are starting to feel more fluid, with how often I've been running up and down scales. I do need to go back and refocus on intermediate method of JustinGuitar. Not sure why, I find the intermediate course not as approachable. I think as I see road blocks of "you need to know all the notes on the fretboard". I started out working on this, but yeah, it's pretty brain numbing, but I get I do need to come back to it at some point.

Having a teacher would be good I think, to correct poor technique which I'm sure I've developed.
 
Sometimes you also need to play with people.
Our guitarist has got to leave for several months so we've been trying to replace him.
This guitarist came down and we've now had to re-visit at least 5 songs where we're making major errors but the audience don't know.
So it was back to Ultimate Guitar to see how they really go.
 
I'd really like to be able to play with someone else. My friend plays and has for a long time but he hasn't learnt any of the fundamentals and he doesn't seem to know what he is playing.

We've met up before for a jam session. I was hyped to be able to take turns with playing rhythm and soloing for the first time. I quickly realised that it's not going to work. Really frustrating tbh, he is so against learning any kind of theory, for some weird reason. The mad thing is I'm already starting to surpass him in my playing after 3 years vs his 15+ years. I really don't understand him!
 
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My current project has been learning a bit more about recording, as I sold my amp and am replacing it with plugins (no regrets so far!)

But last night I found a YouTube channel with the stems for a load of RHCP songs so I've imported those into Reaper and can now have perfect backing tracks using the original audio but without the guitar or bass so I can play it myself. Going to try to recreate some of the tracks myself and see how close I can get
 
My mate who is one of Stoke's best guitarists for the last 30 years has just bought an amp that goes against everything he has ever argued about.
He's always been into separate pedals into proper valve amps but has fallen in love with a new combo, so much so he has just sold 4 classic tube amps/combos.
Got to admit I sat down playing through it while he punched in presets from his phone and it was bang on.

https://www.fender.com/en-GB/guitar-amplifiers/contemporary-digital/mustang-gtx100/2310706000.html
 
I’m just getting back into guitar. Starting from scratch as it’s been so long, and I want to form new good habits.

also have been wanting to build a PC for ages and ages but the chip/gpu supply probs have put paid to that for about a year now if not more.

anyway, is it possible to use a PC as an amp/amp modeller? Using headphones. Currently using an old pod v2.0 but would be nice to use something where I can play along to stuff. To be able to listen to the YouTube lesson at the same time as hearing my own playing etc.

i don’t currently have a PC, so if I were to build one with one of its purposes being “silent” guitar practice what would I need to consider hardware and software wise?

I read somewhere that lag kills the idea, but just reading a couple of pages of the this thread suggests otherwise.

what I want is to be able to play guitar, hear it in my headphones but also to be able to hear a backing track or YouTube vid at the same time. If the guitar goes into the pc I need some sort of amp modelling software. Or if the guitar doesn’t go into the pc I need some sort of mixer box that takes the pc audio and pod/amp audio into my headphones.

i know this problem is solved, I just don’t know the terms to Google!
 
SoggyBoggard said:
I’m just getting back into guitar. Starting from scratch as it’s been so long, and I want to form new good habits.

also have been wanting to build a PC for ages and ages but the chip/gpu supply probs have put paid to that for about a year now if not more.

anyway, is it possible to use a PC as an amp/amp modeller? Using headphones. Currently using an old pod v2.0 but would be nice to use something where I can play along to stuff. To be able to listen to the YouTube lesson at the same time as hearing my own playing etc.

i don’t currently have a PC, so if I were to build one with one of its purposes being “silent” guitar practice what would I need to consider hardware and software wise?

I read somewhere that lag kills the idea, but just reading a couple of pages of the this thread suggests otherwise.

what I want is to be able to play guitar, hear it in my headphones but also to be able to hear a backing track or YouTube vid at the same time. If the guitar goes into the pc I need some sort of amp modelling software. Or if the guitar doesn’t go into the pc I need some sort of mixer box that takes the pc audio and pod/amp audio into my headphones.

i know this problem is solved, I just don’t know the terms to Google!
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I've literally just switched to being fully ampless (as a new Dad unable to crank the beautiful class A valve amp I used to own - have now actually sold it!)

About to go to bed so light on detail but you would need:

An audio interface - essential to get good quality and low latency

A DAW program, I am using Reaper which has an unlimited trial version or is about 50 quid to buy for life

Then you use plugins to simulate your amp and effects, I've been using ones made by NeuralDSP and they sound great. They do 14 day free trials of each plugin they offer. But you can get completely free plugins online as well

Edit: as to the PC the main thing is CPU although I don't think it needs to be anything incredible - plenty of people running these things on little laptops etc.
 
Hi. Thanks for the reply. Seems like it’s very do-able, and I will when pc parts come down to a reasonable price, and if I stick at the guitar.

in the meantime I found out the fender mustang micro allows a Bluetooth connection to play a backing tack, YouTube vid etc, into your headphones along with your guitar.

so I bought one.

For a beginner it seems good to me. I had a pod v2.0 before, and it seems as good as that tone wise, if not as flexible. The clean toned amps sound great, I’m not so bothered about the 90s American (or whatever it’s called) or the metal (ditto).

But in the mustangs favour is the form factor, it’s the size of a matchbox really. No wires trailing around the place. And the Bluetooth connection so I can listen to the YouTube instruction and hear my guitar at the same time.
 
SexyGreyFox said:
My mate who is one of Stoke's best guitarists for the last 30 years has just bought an amp that goes against everything he has ever argued about.
He's always been into separate pedals into proper valve amps but has fallen in love with a new combo, so much so he has just sold 4 classic tube amps/combos.
Got to admit I sat down playing through it while he punched in presets from his phone and it was bang on.

https://www.fender.com/en-GB/guitar-amplifiers/contemporary-digital/mustang-gtx100/2310706000.html
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Modelling amps have just got better and better in recent times in a live environment most people simply won’t notice the difference anymore and they are so convenient!
 
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