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[just-another-andy]

Yeah. I've bought myself a Custom telecaster. It's great fun. But now i've hit a block...I'm not very good at playing with it. I've downloaded a host of tabs, learned to play somewhat..but i need advice on what to learn to play as a beginner.

[valley_parade]

Learn songs that you like, man. If they're too challenging, just keep fuckin' at em, and you'll pick it up eventually.


Plan B: give ME the Telecaster.

[A Wet Helmet]

1) Buy some Copper Tape
2) Rip your new guitar apart and shield the control cavity
3) ?
4) PROFIT!

[sc13ntific]

Learn songs that you like, man. If they're too challenging, just keep fuckin' at em, and you'll pick it up eventually.


Plan B: give ME the Telecaster.

Thats the best way to go (not the give it to him part though).  Songs you like will be easier to learn.  For one you know the tempo and how they are supposed to sound and since you like them it may help you to actually want to learn.  Next I would try to learn some funk and regae, even if you don't like it they can come in handy.  After all of that perhaps some jazz or something else thats very technical. 

[jeph]

practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice

*10 years pass*

practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice

[Lummer]

You forgot "watch some 10 year old play better than you can even dream of on youtube and chuck your guitar in a corner where it will sit for the rest of your life".

Or watch Guthrie Govan play, and kill yourself because he's JUST THAT GODDAMNED GOOD.


Otherwise, I'm with Jeph, although a good deal of lessons REALLY help out!

[jeph]

You forgot "watch some 10 year old play better than you can even dream of on youtube and chuck your guitar in a corner where it will sit for the rest of your life".

Man if I got discouraged by seeing other people do stuff I like better than I can do it, I'd never get anything done.

[Thrillho]

You forgot "watch some 10 year old play better than you can even dream of on youtube and chuck your guitar in a corner where it will sit for the rest of your life".

Man if I got discouraged by seeing other people do stuff I like better than I can do it, I'd never get anything done.

Ditto.

[pinkpiche]

ZZ Top is better at playing the guitar than me, yet that discourages me.

[Spluff]

Honestly, just fuck around on it. Make some cool riffs, and remember what they were, and maybe revisit them later.

[jeph]

ZZ Top is better at playing the guitar than me, yet that discourages me.

ZZ top have better beards than me, yet I continue to grow mine

NEVER GIVE UP

[imagist42]

ZZ Top is better at playing the guitar than me, yet that discourages me.

ZZ top have better beards than me, yet I continue to grow mine

NEVER GIVE UP

NEVER SURRENDER

sorry

[Caspian]

Sell it and buy a les paul.

[greenMonkey]

...because Les Pauls cost the same as Telecasters, right.

[just-another-andy]

Thanks for the advice!  and the ill-advice too, I guess.

i do intend to practice my asse off for the next few weeks, months, years


...I won't buy a les paul.

[A Wet Helmet]

I'm serious about the copper tape.  You got to shield those control cavities on your single coils.  Makes a huge difference.




You might not be able to play worth a damn yet, but at least you won't hum like a freaking power station when you're plugged in.

Besides, nothing makes you learn more about something than breaking it and having to make it work again. 

[Caspian]

...because Les Pauls cost the same as Telecasters, right.

well, I'm sure he's got other things (cars, kidneys etc) that he could pawn off. Also: The copper shielding thing is a good idea, definitely worth looking into.

[dalconnsuch]

alot of people may not agree but learn music theory (highly recommend music theory for dummies if you don't have a music professor)

even if your not gonna use music theory for composition of songs (which you shouldn't do anyways outside the box is best)

learning the theory behind chords, scales, keys, time signatures etc etc etc is extremely beneficial for anyone

and the hard truth is, most people who don't use music theory, end up using music theory anyways becuase they don't even realize its theory


but mostly like everyone else is saying

practice till you bleed then practice till you die

[tommydski]

Sell it and buy a les paul.

Trade your cow for these magic beans whilst you are at it.

[Jackie Blue]

What now is that you consider that maybe you should learn to drive before you buy a Ferrari.

[imapiratearg]

I'm serious about the copper tape.  You got to shield those control cavities on your single coils.  Makes a huge difference.

[Really nice Strat and Tele bodies with copper shielding.]

You might not be able to play worth a damn yet, but at least you won't hum like a freaking power station when you're plugged in.

Besides, nothing makes you learn more about something than breaking it and having to make it work again. 

Besides reducing hum and getting an introduction to the electronics of the guitar, are there any other benefits from doing this?  I mean, I don't think it's going to change the sound of your pickups at all, is it?

[Patrick]

ZZ Top is better at playing the guitar than me, yet that discourages me.

Billy Gibbons is a goddamn monster and I wish he'd die already so it'd make me one step closer to being the god of guitar.

[jeph]

I'm serious about the copper tape.  You got to shield those control cavities on your single coils.  Makes a huge difference.

[Really ugly Strat and Tele bodies with copper shielding.]

You might not be able to play worth a damn yet, but at least you won't hum like a freaking power station when you're plugged in.

Besides, nothing makes you learn more about something than breaking it and having to make it work again. 

Besides reducing hum and getting an introduction to the electronics of the guitar, are there any other benefits from doing this?  I mean, I don't think it's going to change the sound of your pickups at all, is it?

Nope. And if you're not confident about taking apart your guitar, don't do it.

[A Wet Helmet]

Besides reducing hum and getting an introduction to the electronics of the guitar, are there any other benefits from doing this?  I mean, I don't think it's going to change the sound of your pickups at all, is it?

I've heard it said that shielded guitars aren't as "bright", but I can't tell the difference.  I personally believe that is an excuse used by a luddite er, vintage purist to keep his flag planted in doing things the "old" way.  What I can tell you is that the amount of single coil microphonic hum is drastically reduced.    If you want to change the sound of your pickups, change your pickups. 

[Nodaisho]

ZZ Top is better at playing the guitar than me, yet that discourages me.

Billy Gibbons is a goddamn monster and I wish he'd die already so it'd make me one step closer to being the god of guitar.

You are going to need to get a fuzzy Xplorer to get as good as him.

[Patrick]

Nope. And if you're not confident about taking apart your guitar, don't do it.

Just do it on a guitar you don't rightly give a damn about for your first time. I honestly believe that guitars are like living organisms in the fact that the best way to see what's going on inside is to open up a dead one and poke at all the fun little bits inside. If you have the disposable income, seriously consider getting one of those shitty Strat copies that everybody always makes. If the jack on my Johnson Strat (the Bo Diddley one) hadn't shat out on me, I'd have never seen what was really going on inside that thing.

If I can figure out how to fuzz out a guitar without ever having to worry about fuzz fucking up my control knobs, you have got yourself a deal, sir.

[Beastmouth]

I'd recommend tearing up something without a tremolo first, certainly not a strat-style one at that. 


Also, finding someone with a woodshop and making yr own is a highly rewarding experience.

[Nodaisho]

The fuzz problem would be it jamming into the little gaps, right? I think I know how that would work. I wonder what that would do to the sound though.

[sc13ntific]

DO NOT take apart a guitar before you learn how to play on first. Crawl----------Walk----------------Run.  After you learn to play, and you have reached the limits of what you can do with your current set up, then consider modding a guitar.  I do agree with others that making your own/changing thing to make one sound better is a rewarding experiance, if you do not even know how to play then how do you know what you guitar can and cannot do.  Also I would consider try a few different models before you modify the one you have to sound different.  It's like cars I guess.  Some people spend ton's of money to make a honda civic go a little bit faster, when they should have just saved up and bought a 'vette or a porsche.  If your strat doesn't do what you want it to do, try a Les Paul or a Jackson Dinky Reverse.

[E. Spaceman]

If your telecaster doesn't do what you want to do, reconsider what you are trying to do.

[valley_parade]

That was deep, Emilio.

[Misereatur]

What now is that you consider that maybe you should learn to drive before you buy a Ferrari.

[Thrillho]

ZZ Top is better at playing the guitar than me, yet that discourages me.

ZZ top have better beards than me, yet I continue to grow mine

NEVER GIVE UP

NEVER SURRENDER

sorry

That film has one of my favourite lines in the history of cinema:

'Can you fashion some sort of rudimentary lathe?'

[onewheelwizzard]

You should learn from scratch in this style:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l4MnCrUoPHU&feature=related

Of course, this would mean buying a second Telecaster.

[Spluff]

That's pretty cool. Kinda reminds me of playing piano.

[Patrick]

I want to buy a new MIM standard Telecaster, temp-remove all hardware (including the neck), and do some fancy woodworkin' to turn it into a semi-hollow. I would do it much like the Gibson CS-356 is made. The whole semi-hollow body (hollow wings, center block, electronics routing and all) is all carved from one solid piece of mahogany and a bookmatched, AAAA maple top is slapped on.

[Noff]

You should learn from scratch in this style:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l4MnCrUoPHU&feature=related

Of course, this would mean buying a second Telecaster.

That would be entirely more badass if he could figure out a way to do it with a double neck.

[onewheelwizzard]

You mean like this guy?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mm8nbGzN3us&feature=related

[Beastmouth]

You should learn from scratch in this style:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l4MnCrUoPHU&feature=related

Of course, this would mean buying a second Telecaster.

Stanley Jordan ftw!

[pentaen]

i know my way around a synth and reason 4.0, but ive always felt something missing in my life...

all guitar players, is it really worth it?

[roulettescars]

its a very interesting tactile experience. Its where I began my musical life, thought I've mostly evolved to the world of electronic music, starting with fruity loops, then working up to reason, then ableton and reason rewired with some logic as well.

[jeph]

I want to buy a new MIM standard Telecaster, temp-remove all hardware (including the neck), and do some fancy woodworkin' to turn it into a semi-hollow. I would do it much like the Gibson CS-356 is made. The whole semi-hollow body (hollow wings, center block, electronics routing and all) is all carved from one solid piece of mahogany and a bookmatched, AAAA maple top is slapped on.

This is how all the PRS hollowbodies are made, too.

I hope you like buying new router bits!

[pentaen]

alright then all you guys start up these threads when you buy your first guitars, i'm convinced its time for me to start

should i get a cheapo Taiwanese ripoff one or a decent sturdy one (what brand/make/model) {i am struggling through school with minimum funds}

im assuming that getting a reallly cheap amp is comon for begining?

[Beastmouth]

I want to buy a new MIM standard Telecaster, temp-remove all hardware (including the neck), and do some fancy woodworkin' to turn it into a semi-hollow. I would do it much like the Gibson CS-356 is made. The whole semi-hollow body (hollow wings, center block, electronics routing and all) is all carved from one solid piece of mahogany and a bookmatched, AAAA maple top is slapped on.

This is how all the PRS hollowbodies are made, too.

I hope you like buying new router bits!

Actually, a drill press should be used to remove the vast majority of the wood, and you'd only need different router bits for fitting into the different crevices

[jeph]

alright then all you guys start up these threads when you buy your first guitars, i'm convinced its time for me to start

should i get a cheapo Taiwanese ripoff one or a decent sturdy one (what brand/make/model) {i am struggling through school with minimum funds}

im assuming that getting a reallly cheap amp is comon for begining?

It doesn't really matter what you buy, prepare for years of frustration

[Nodaisho]

So it is like dating?

pentaen, what kinds are you looking at? I am sure the people here know some good cheap guitars, cheap amps aren't as likely though. I like my 15 watt Behringer and all, but it can't even get the matchbox open to light the match to light the candle it dreams of holding to the Marshall I have used.

[Beastmouth]

So it is like dating?

pentaen, what kinds are you looking at? I am sure the people here know some good cheap guitars, cheap amps aren't as likely though. I like my 15 watt Behringer and all, but it can't even get the matchbox open to light the match to light the candle it dreams of holding to the Marshall I have used.

I keep hearing things about the Epi Valve Jr.  $150 for tube preamp and output is pretty damn cheap, as a matter of fact.  That's less than twice floor price for a shitty practice amp.  Of course, someone paying floor price for a shitty practice amp has bigger problems...

[Patrick]

I want to buy a new MIM standard Telecaster, temp-remove all hardware (including the neck), and do some fancy woodworkin' to turn it into a semi-hollow. (blah blah snip)

(snip) I hope you like buying new router bits!

Actually, a drill press should be used to remove the vast majority of the wood, and you'd only need different router bits for fitting into the different crevices

This is good information to know, thanks!

Kindof a delicate operation though, heh. Gotta slice the top off with a bandsaw and leave a good 1/4" of top on the sucker so your pickguard screws have something to hold on to.

What I'm mostly worried about with the whole process is the fact that when you saw the face off (OOC quote here we go) you have to do some very precise compensation for the wood that's lost in the sawing. You could minimize your losses by using the bandsaw I mentioned, but even then you are going to have a difference of about 1/32", and while that may not be much on paper, it's a hell of a lot of difference in an instrument that requires precision to avoid fret buzz.

I guess I could just measure the neck pocket rout and go 1/32" deeper in there, but I'd be afraid of compromising the neck joint.