Guitar
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Re: Guitar
Posted by satchmo on Sat Sep 17th at 4:40am 2005


My wife signed us up for some guitar lessons. She's quite excited about the whole thing. Her birthday is coming up next month, and I am thinking about buying her a guitar.

However, the problem is that I don't know anything about buying a guitar. So I am pleading for any helpful tips and guide in selecting one. If any of the SnarkPit member is a guitar aficianado, please drop me some hints.

It has to be a regular guitar (non-electric), and it doesn't have to be top-of-the-line. We're both beginners. But I don't want a cheap-o piece of junk either.

Thanks in advance.

[Edit]: How's this one?



"The greatest thing you'll ever learn is just to love and be loved in return." -- Toulouse-Lautre, Moulin Rouge



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Re: Guitar
Posted by Crono on Sat Sep 17th at 4:57am 2005


Acoustic. There is no "regular". I'd suggest an Ibanez acoustic. Like an AW100 or something, make sure it's a dreadnought (wishbones are nice too). It's the one I got! It sound great and should cost less then $200. Check your local guitar center (something as such)!

Something else that might be nice would be an acoustic adapter, the reason I don't suggest getting an electric acoustic is that they usually sound more dull and less full. However, you can find them. It's just ... you can't really suggest a guitar unless you've already played. You really have to go look around and play with them, see how they sound. Just try out chords to check the sound. Usually if they sound full and rich with the A and D chords, it should be pretty nice.

I kind of like the AW300, it's way more expensive, but it feels more "classical", kind of little more "tangy" sounding, which is nice if you like that sort of thing.

Anyway, hope that helps.

Oh, also, recently, insanely enough, I saw an ad for Guitar Center which showed a Takamine for about $130 ... I know, my jaw dropped too. Takamine sounds pretty. So do martin's. But they're usually way too expensive.

As for that Epiphone, I have no idea how it sounds. Usually Epiphone is good, but they're just cheaper Gibson guitars and I really think Gibson acoustics sound like mud covered in s**t. Fenders sound pretty bad too. Too deep, in my opinion.



Blame it on Microsoft, God does.



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Re: Guitar
Posted by Dr Brasso on Sat Sep 17th at 7:07am 2005


satch, the problem with acoustics, imho, is that unless ya wanna spend 1500 bucks on one, yer gonna have to compromise a bit.....what do you want to do?....play chords up and down the fretboard, or are you leaning towards learnig scales and modes and really learning how to "play"..? is it a hobby? goals man.....lol i say these things because all the variables make a decision sound. ive had cheap guitars that sounded great, with unique tones and feel, but only playable with correct intonation to the 7th fret.....lol ya see one ya like, run yer eyeball down it to check the neck area....looking for straightness, twist, stress cracking etc...intonation......the fact that the a at the open string should sound exactly one octive higher at the 12th fret.....yada yada yada......sorry, i ramble.

Doc B...:dodgy:





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Re: Guitar
Posted by Junkyard God on Sat Sep 17th at 3:33pm 2005


to be honsest ,don't ask for advice for this kind of stuff, everyone has other opinions and everyone plays otherstuff for their own reasons, just go to a store and try out all the guitars that look nice and are affordable and pick the nicest playing / sounding one.

If you ask for opinions some people will go for signatre models becouse it's played by a pro, some go for gibson, some for fender, it's all in what YOU like to play.

Personaly i would say a squire with a price of round 500-600 euros / dollars would be sufficient, it's affordable and it playes neat and sounds good, you can just have someone oil the next, lower action etc. if you want that, but as i said, it's all personal taste.




Hell, is an half-filled auditorium



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Re: Guitar
Posted by satchmo on Sat Sep 17th at 5:47pm 2005


Thanks guys. Now I have some decent ideas, and I have a place to start looking.

I have never played any musical instrument (including guitar), so I am just a n00b when it comes to that. My wife has played the violin before, but that was many decades ago.

Thanks again.



"The greatest thing you'll ever learn is just to love and be loved in return." -- Toulouse-Lautre, Moulin Rouge



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Re: Guitar
Posted by omegaslayer on Sat Sep 17th at 7:06pm 2005


What you do is you go into a store that sells them, then you walk through their selection. You pick up each one and mess around with it. What you want to look for is if it sounds good (to you), and when you look at it, it inspires you to pick it up and just mess around with it. These are the key things my instuctor told me to look for when picking one out (I ended up getting a Dean =P). It doesn't have to be electric, or acoustic (although it sounds much better IMO), but just something that matches the player.
Also some other things to consider when your planning on taking lessons:
A metrinome (electric) - baiscs is get rhythm down
Electric tuner - Just for beginers untill you learn how to tune a guitar by sound.








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