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[Krapitino]

Let's pretend, for a moment.  Let's pretend I have next to no money and have no idea what I'm doing, but I'm determined to get a guitar in spite of the former and learn how to play it in spite of the latter.  GIVEN ALL THAT:

1) I want to buy an electric guitar, six-string.  Entry level is fine.  The only criteria I have at this stage in the game are that it be cheap (in price, not in feel), and that it look nice.  To the latter point, I prefer single cutaway to dual cutaway to anything else.  And note, when I say "cheap," I mean CHEAP.  Like, garage sale or Best Buy cheap.  I expect trade-offs.  That's fine.

2) Say I wanted to skip buying an amp and effects things, and I have a capable sound card and set of speakers on my PC I'd like to use instead (for reasons of cost, space-saving and nerdiness factor).  Is there any software available that would let me simulate effects during playing (rather than just applying effects as post-production filters)?  I mean software designed for guitar/instrument playing rather than messing around with my entire sound hardware settings.  Open-source or otherwise free would rock, but if the only choice needs a purchase, I'll take a look.

3) In this age of YouTube and webbernets, I'm sure I could do okay by myself with How-To videos and tutorial sites.  Any recommendations?

Muchas thanks in advance.

[Spluff]

1) Check your local second hand stores, flea markets, and ads for a cheap guitar.

2) It's possible, but if you don't have a very good sound card designed for this type of thing, it tends to sound like arse. Even if you do have the sound card, it's still not great and the software you'll need costs a lot (or you could, erm, acquire it).

Honestly, I'd recommend getting a cheap nylon string - it'll sound so much better than an electric worth twice the price, it's cheap, and its easy on the ol' beginners fingers. Make the transition to something more expensive when you're sure you want to play guitar, and you have some money.

[voidSkipper]

I'm fairly happy with my Behringer Strat Copy. Extremely cheap. For computer software, get Amplitube (or GFX if you don't have money/don't like stealing). Self-taught is no problem.

[godinpants]

I'm fairly happy with my Behringer Strat Copy. Extremely cheap. For computer software, get Amplitube (or GFX if you don't have money/don't like stealing). Self-taught is no problem.

While on the topic of behringer, i will mention that usb guitar they made, allows much easier connection to a computer.

[IronOxide]

If you want to find a guitar and don't care about quality, go to craigslist. In my relatively small city, just yesterday there were about five or six put up from 65 to 300 dollars. It's hard to go wrong paying that little for an instrument.

[StaedlerMars]

The Yamaha starter set is pretty ace and it's about a hundred bucks.

It's what i have, it's lasted me a few years (8). but I don't know about how this works with sound cards. At all, Sorry.

[voidSkipper]

I'm fairly happy with my Behringer Strat Copy. Extremely cheap. For computer software, get Amplitube (or GFX if you don't have money/don't like stealing). Self-taught is no problem.

While on the topic of behringer, i will mention that usb guitar they made, allows much easier connection to a computer.

With respect, the pickups on their USB guitar are possibly the worst ever created. I would reccommend a line in port and 1/4 to 1/8 cable over that thing any day.

[bicostp]

I'm pretty sure all you need is the appropriate adapters to plug the guitar into the (usually) blue port, assuming they output a line-level signal.

If all you want is to record audio, and don't need any learning tools, get a copy of Audacity. It's a  completely free and surprisingly powerful audio tool. The only catch is that you have to add in a separate DLL to export MP3s, but it's a pretty simple procedure.

As for tutorial videos, this guy's YouTube channel is a good start.

I've thought about picking up guitar a few times, but I'm fairly sure anything I'll try to play will sound like the middle of Jimi Hendrix's rendition of the national anthem. Or maybe that's just me remembering the piano lessons I had in middle school with a really crappy, discouraging teacher. Around that time I also tried the violin (the only thing they offered besides piano), which I guess is kind of similar. I don't know; is it that hard to self-teach guitar?

[Jackie Blue]

is it that hard to self-teach guitar?

I found it really easy.  Some people find it really hard.  It's not a constant, it totally depends on the person.

[Thrillho]

Alright.



"I want to take up guitar."

This is the first thing I thought when I saw this thread. You have earned handjobs from me for life for this one post, tommy.

"Cigarette?"
"Yes, I know."

[pentaen]

i just got a crappy ibanez gio for 10$ a week for the next four weeks... time to learn!

[Ikrik]

My cousin is letting me teach myself with his electric guitar although I haven't touched it in a couple weeks.  But I have been on youtube to learn some stuff.....but watch out.  Some of the stuff on youtube is really good, they go slowly and they give some pretty decent advice.  But others teach you how to play a song but it's geared for people who already are comfortable playing so it goes pretty quickly.

[Jackie Blue]

Psh, learning to play "songs" is not how to teach oneself how to play guitar.   

Just bang on it until it sounds good, that was my policy.

[Krapitino]

Thanks for all the thoughts so far, everyone.  I'm going to check out some local music stores in the next few days (if I can, might be later if not) to do a search.

As for the PC thing, it would definitely be a line-in deal.  I'm confident it can handle what I throw at it, and given that space is at a premium, it would be a huge help to not need to store an amp, FX gear and etc.  I can move to that (or just stick whatever software I find on my laptop) when and if I move to performing.

As for software to do what I mean, Google throws up this: http://www.guitar-fxbox.com/  Anyone given it a shot?  It has a demo, I'd like to know it works before I actually make a purchase.  Also looking pretty good is Audiffex InTone or GTR 3.  By the by, I'm a PC user - so no Apple software for me.






Also I'm a huge nerd, and I'd love to drag my whole PC to a show and find crazy ways to use it.  Like... do Powerpoint presentations.  Yeah, Powerpoint.  I mean, Powerpoint rocks, right?

EDIT: Kinda liking the Gibson Maestro Single Cutaway in blue burst...

[jeph]

1) ebay

2) garageband

also be prepared for years of frustration.

[Krapitino]

1) ebay

2) garageband

also be prepared for years of frustration.

Any specific recommendations?  Or should I just type in "electric guitar" and get the first thing that comes up?

GarageBand?  Apple.  Me PC.  And I'm not worried about recording; I'm interested in real-time stuff.

[Ioden]

do you mean like http://www.guitarcenter.com/Line-6-TonePort-UX1-USB-Recording-Modeling-Interface-103373676-i1126366.gc?

[Krapitino]

No, I mean I have a Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi freaking monster damn sound card which has really good quality audio input, and I just want some software (like linked above) to simulate effects pedals while I let my hardware do the Amp work.  Saves space, and since I already have the PC hardware, money too.

[Ioden]

No, that's what the TonePort thingy is, it's the software that does just that AND a box to connect it to USB.

[Krapitino]

Oh, that's much different and very useful...

I'm probably going to get a starter kit and then test all the FX software via demos, I'm thinking...

[Spluff]

Creative X-Fi quality isn't all that good, be prepared for some frustration with tone further down the track.

[voidSkipper]

Guitar-fx box didn't like any of my recording software.

If you do choose to go Amplitube and REAPER, make sure to go to asio4all.com and get those drivers, or you'll experience hella latency, which is extremely offputting.

[Mars]

also be prepared for years of frustration.

You say that like it's a bad thing.

[MadassAlex]

Don't be a half-assed punk who is 30 years late to the party; make sure that you learn yourself some decent technique while learning songs. Actually, learning songs is probably the best way to learn technique, since it not only gets you pushing your boundaries but puts those techniques in perfect context.

Basically, sweep-picking

[Jackie Blue]

also be prepared for years of frustration.

Not necessarily true, I was able to write pretty good songs within a year of first playing guitar.  It all depends on what you're going for.  If you want to be able to play like Hendrix or Clapton, then yeah, it's gonna take you a while to get to that skill level.  If you want to sound more like Thurston Moore, as long as you have the creativity for it, the actual skill level required for that is not very high.  Or look at Peter Buck, he's made an entire career in REM out of playing only the most basic chords and chord progressions, pretty much never even plays leads or solos... ok, sure, he can play mandolin.  But that only came into play 10 years after REM started out.

[Spluff]

Are you kidding? You could play pretty much every Hendrix song after about half a year of decent practice.

[Jackie Blue]

I don't think you could play as well as Hendrix played live after half a year of practice.

Maybe I should have said Stevie Ray Vaughn instead.

[Spluff]

Oh, you probably wouldn't be able to improvise anywhere near as well as Hendrix, but if they were written out you'd stand a pretty good chance of getting it.

In my opinion, Vaughan is a better player than Hendrix anyway.

[MadassAlex]

There are so many players that are better than Hendrix out there that worshiping him like some people do is beyond ridiculous.

[Mars]

Hendrix is notable for being an innovator. A lot of the stuff he did (particularly his heavy effects-driven sound) were never done by any big names before. There were a lot of players who came before or after him that were better in a technical sense, and there have been a lot of acts since that have refined the techniques that made him famous.

Vaughan was totally the better player, though. Stevie Ray Vaughan is one of my guitar idols.

[Jackie Blue]

I don't worship Hendrix, I was just using a name that everyone is familiar with for the sake of the point I was making.

I agree that Stevie Ray was a batter live player.

What I really should have said is "If you want to be as good as Mark fucking Knopfler it's going to take you a while."

[Krapitino]

I'm not looking to make a career or anything, I just want to rock out.

Okay, here's the one question still unanswered for me:
I'm looking at the Gibson Maestro single cutaway, as I mentioned, but I noticed it only has one pickup.  If I went with the Epiphone Les Paul Special II, I would get two pickups, one near the bridge same as the Maestro and one near the neck.  How much of a difference in tone would I notice, and is it worth the extra versatility?

I guess a couple more:
Should I go up yet another step and look at the G310, or is the only difference between that and the Special II that the G310 is an SG body?  Should I be looking at something outside of Gibson?

[MadassAlex]

You should be looking at any guitar brand that isn't B.C. Rich.

Basically, it is definitely worth having more than one pickup. The tone alteration from bridge pickup to neck pickup can be staggering and can work really well as a tool of musical dynamics. When you figure out how to get really nice tones, you'll probably tend to use the neck pickup as a rhythm pup and the bridge pickup for leads, although this comes down to the player in question. The smooth sound of the neck pup is favoured in lead by guitarists like Dave Murray and, sometimes, Slash.
The bridge pup allows you to get the most out of harmonics and dissonance. Plus, it gives you more of a "crumbling" tone with a lot of distortion. That is, it'll help get you that super-sexy tone where the power chords feel like they collapse around your fingers as long as you dial in a fair amount of treble. I find that picking between the bridge pup and the highest frets fairly hard gives a really sweet, wailing tone with the bridge pup selected, too.

And that is why I love bridge pups. But neck pups are okay, too, I guess.

[Krapitino]

Thanks, everyone, for all your advice.  I ended up going to my local Sam Ash and picking up a Gibson Epiphone SG Special with the cherry finish.  So nice...  I spent more than I wanted to, but I get the feeling that that sorta defines being a guitar player.  So.. rokk rokk on.

[ImRonBurgundy?]

ok, sure, he can play mandolin.  But that only came into play 10 years after REM started out.

Um... he played the mandolin on The Replacements' "I Will Dare".

[Jackie Blue]

I spent more than I wanted to, but I get the feeling that that sorta defines being a guitar player.  So.. rokk rokk on.

Spending a lot of money makes you a guitar geek, maybe, not a guitar player.  A lot of good guitar players use old and/or cheap guitars.

[Mars]

Spending a lot of money may also be indicators of 'poser' or 'tool' status. Not saying you are those things, just that some people think buying an expensive guitar is a substitute for skill.

I'm just bitter because I saw a guy today with an ES-175 reissue who had no clue how to play it. It was terrible. It hurt my heart.

[Thrillho]

I spent more than I wanted to, but I get the feeling that that sorta defines being a guitar player.

Being in a guitar player is always more about the player than it is about a guitar. Honestly, I think that playing a shitty guitar is a useful experience to have. I still play my old Encore acoustic quite often because it plays like shit and it makes my grip stronger.

[Spluff]

Guys, I don't think he was being serious. He was referring to how if we go into a guitar shop with money, we tend to come out with less money - we can't resist.

[Nodaisho]

I built up a resistance taking lessons in the back of a shop while having no job. I could afford buying a bunch of picks, but I didn't need a bunch of picks.