Just got my very first guitar! I'm ecstatic!

[WoundUp]

After spending the past 6 months learning all I could(setup, intonation, what's good & what isn't, etc...) and looking at possibly hundreds of guitars in that time, I finally picked up a Strat clone and an amp for the right price and got it from FedEx today. Been looking forward to this all week. Picked up some Super Slinkies, a few different thickness picks, and a string winder thing and have been unable to contain my excitement lol.

I've wanted a guitar since I was like 8 years old. It only took 30 years to finally get one Now on to learning how to play.

I found justinguitar.com and his YouTube channel so far. I'm not taking private lessons or anything so it's all on me to learn...and I'm going to. No question about it. I've got the fire burning inside. And it's burning brightly lol. Any suggestions? I assume most here probably learned to play well before the internet or through private lessons but I figure I'll ask anyway.

Thanks!

[OldStrummer]

Congratulations! I think we've all been there, and the excitement is second to none! Welcome to TFF!

[renderit]

As far as playing off the internet stuff all I can say is what a wonderful resource you have there that we never had back in the day.

There are also a bunch of idiots out there so be careful.

Learn your basic chord structures and shapes and barre chords, scales and such.

Then you might want to check out guitarmastery.net. The guy has some VERY interesting ideas and some GREAT techniques.

I (as many) learned originally from Mel Bay books then took private lessons and played for years before putting it up for years and getting back into it.

The stuff on guitarmastery gets me out of boredom and down times better than most.

[OldStrummer]

I wasn't familiar with guitarmastery.net, but I am with justinguitar.com, which I think is one of the top guitar instructions sites. I noticed a glaring typo on Guitar Mastery (I see these things). Do you see it?



CUTTING EGDE GUITAR COURSES

How to learn any guitar skill in the fastest way possible

Also, Marty Schwarz (who was featured in a recent Wood & Steel - Taylor Guitars' magazine), Steve Stine and "Papa `Stache" all have good, free lessons. Look for them on YouTube!

[DanTheBluesMan]

good for you. whatever you do, don't freak out about F barre chords in the first position. Nobody but nobody finds them easy at first. It will come. It could be more than a year of trying, just to give you fair warning. It's a journey, not a destination. There will be days, many of them, when you wonder "why am I bothering?" Do Not Panic and Despair.

In a way, I think getting an electric is an advantage for a beginner. You can play unplugged and not be a nuisance. An acoustic can still be pretty loud if people are tired of hearing you butcher "Greensleeves" or "All of You" for the 23rd time in a row.

If there was one thing I wished I had done better when I started, was learn to read music and know the notes on the fretboard, know them cold.

Welcome to calluses on your fretting fingers. It will hurt for a while. It takes time.

Have fun, you're living the dream. Last but not least, playing with other people and specifically people who play better than you is the best way to improve.

[WoundUp]

Thank you all for the replies. I was honestly surprised at how much my fingers didn't hurt after my first day. I guess being an auto tech/mechanic has its advantages as my hands aren't the softest lol. It wasn't any sort of organized lesson. I was basically just messing around, getting a feel for it all, trying different chords, and overall just making noise lol.

I put some good strings on it and got rid of the rattling in the tuners, which was godawful. They would buzz loudly on a low E. I couldn't imagine what was making that noise until I shook the headstock and it sounded like loose change lol. I tightened the nuts and locked the strings the best I could and it went away completely.

I can already tell it's going to be a heck of a journey. Thanks again yall!

[WoundUp]

If bumping my own thread is against the rules, I apologize. Wanted to update it.


Ran into my first issue this evening. My attempt at locking the strings in standard tuners didn't work so well on at least 1 string. While attempting to stretch my new strings, the B string pulled loose from the tuner and I had to trash it because I cut the string short after install and couldn't restring it. So obviously I did something wrong. Replaced it with a crappy string to get me by until I can pick up some more EB Super Slinkies.

Anyone tried that trick and can tell me a better way to do it? It doesn't seem to be locking anything. But again, I likely did something wrong. I tucked it under and folded it over exactly like the video showed but it didn't seem to work.


Thanks.

[DanTheBluesMan]

i know a lot of people seem to think locking tuners are the be all and end all, but I never really cottoned to them that much. Yes, I get that it is easier. Just put the string through, tighten the lock, bend the string and cut it off. Call me old-fashioned but I still think there should be at least 2-3 full wraps around the post even with the locking device. Or even at least one or one and a half wraps around give the string something to grip should the locking mechanism get worn or loosed by vibration. I had a strat plus back in the '80s that had locking tuners. My low E locker would constantly be loose, I ended up basically just doing the traditional through hole under, over, wind, bend up and cut. it also took me nearly 30 years before I learned the value of really stretching the snot out of my strings after installing them.

Grab the high E at the 12th fret with your right hand, with your left hand by the nut to keep the string from jumping out of the slot if you don't have a locking nut or roller nut. Yank upward on the string perpendicular to the neck about 2-3 inches 10 times in a row. Go to the next string. Repeat for all 6 strings. Retune the guitar. Repeat the stretching. Retune the guitar. Do this a minimum of 6 times. I've done it as often as 10-12 times. Eventually your strings will stay in tune, except maybe the G string.

Lubricate the nut slots with plain old pencil graphite before you put the new strings on. I just rub it a few times in the slot or just go back and for across the slot until some graphite dust is in the slot. If it smudges the nut, no biggie, wipe it if it bothers you.

I still think the majority of the guitars that people think have tuning 'instability' is just poor or non-existent string stretching after installation. I used to dread string changing, I had lousy tuning for about a month or more until the strings finally settled down, 15 minutes before they start getting notched and dull, LOL.

[Don]

If bumping my own thread is against the rules, I apologize. Wanted to update it.


Ran into my first issue this evening. My attempt at locking the strings in standard tuners didn't work so well on at least 1 string. While attempting to stretch my new strings, the B string pulled loose from the tuner and I had to trash it because I cut the string short after install and couldn't restring it. So obviously I did something wrong. Replaced it with a crappy string to get me by until I can pick up some more EB Super Slinkies.

Anyone tried that trick and can tell me a better way to do it? It doesn't seem to be locking anything. But again, I likely did something wrong. I tucked it under and folded it over exactly like the video showed but it didn't seem to work.


Thanks.

What are the tuners like? Through hole or slotted? We've got tricks, but they vary per type of tuner.

[jaxjaxon]

you should do the once over then 3 wraps under tecnique to lock the string down at the tuner, it works 98% of the time. when I stretch out my strings I do it by grabing the string between my thumb and index finger of bouth hands and move my thumbs down and my index fingers towards the thumbs going up and move up the string doing this then back down. I use to do it the easyer way buy pulling all the strings up at the same time or one at a time it works but the video I saw explaining how I do it now said doing it this way puts a more even amount of stretch across all of the string which shoud mean the string will last longer and have less breaking happen.

[WoundUp]

I have non-locking tuners with the holes in them and I now know exactly what I did wrong. It took me watching the video I got it from about 25 times before I realized it but I know, now. The video is from Darrell Braun Guitar. I believe it's the first thing in the list of 10 things in the vid. I'm pretty sure it's the same technique used in the 2nd link, also.

https://youtu.be/xS0xfrY9SiE - Darrell Braun Guitar

https://youtu.be/j0Rcs1BK3Dg - the other channel


As a preface, I just wanna say I'm an idiot lmao


After I tucked the string under and wrapped it over, I tightened the tuner. Except I didn't pay attention to the video completely and since no one is teaching me this stuff, no one was there to tell me that you turn the tuner knobs to the left to tighten the strings. D'OH! I turned them to the right so the strings never bound up properly with the tuck&wrap.

Being an automotive service tech, it's been ingrained into my head for 25+ years that "righty-tighty, lefty-loosy" is how you tighten and loosen things. So I automatically started turning to the right, and the locking action that was supposed to happen never happened. Had I tucked them the opposite way, it likely would've but I didn't lol. At least now I know for next time. I'm sure I'll have no issues on the next set.


But I screwed that first set up lol!

On a positive note, I've already learned 3 chords and the first position in one scale in 4 days so I'm making progress already. Super excited! Not that I can play them perfectly, obviously, but I can play them without looking at any sort of reference material

Come on muscle memory! Been working on that, also. Being able to pick & finger/fret the string I'm intending to every time. I know it comes with time so I'm doing & learning everything I can to help that move right along lol.

[FrankJohnson]

Can't wait to see what you learn, do and get to be part of next!!! Keep us posted!

[WoundUp]

Currently working on patterns on Em pentatonic so I can run the entire neck instead of just one position.

I actually feel like I'm making progress by learning that. I've read that it's an essential scale to learn so I figure why not. Right?

[DanTheBluesMan]

LOL, I got such a kick out of the righty tighty lefty loosy thing. I've been tuning guitars so long now that it never even occurs to me that it's the opposite of how everything else works. I'm approaching 50 years of playing (Yikes, how is that even possible? I still suck)

You're off to a good start. I shied away from scales when i was younger because I didn't want to get caught up in theory and lose my 'individuality'. Let me tell you that it is a load of hogwash. Learn them there scales. There's a bazillion of them so there's always something new to learn.

Em pentatonic is good. The root aka the first note of the Em scale, is the open low E string. Learn your notes from that. The minor pentatonic scale is good for about half of the rock blues solos out there. Once you learn those shapes, the fun begins. Get comfortable with it. Ask questions when you get stuck. Have fun and good picking.

[OldStrummer]

When you're comfortable with the Em pentatonic scale, you might want to investigate the CAGED system. In a nutshell, the initials represent the basic chords you can play in the open (at the nut) position. Once you've got them down, you'll find they are "transportable." In other words, the A chord (002220) is really a "barre" chord that can be played up the next by barring (index finger across all strings) the shape. So, 113331 is a B chord. And so on.

To make it easier, I toss out the C and G shapes for now, and just use the E, D, and A shapes to learn chords on the fretboard.

[WoundUp]

I was actually just reading about CAGED so it's good that you mention that. I was planning on checking it out soon. Learned my first riff a couple of days ago. I need to work on fretting with my ring and pinky fingers. I find myself wanting to use the index and middle more than anything else. Found some practice exercises that should help with that on the Fender Play app. I actually sort of like the Fender app. I'll definitely be paying for it monthly once my free trial is over. It seems well put together. Moreso than guitartricks.com

Just got done shielding the electronics in my guitar a little while ago with regular ol' aluminum foil tape used on ducting in HVAC systems. I wasn't expecting much in the way of results so I was floored when I plugged it back in. All of the buzzing is gone when not over driving the amp. I initially thought I broke something because I didn't hear anything at all when I plugged it in with no strings on it. When I got it, it buzzed pretty loudly until you touched something metal, and it still buzzed, just not as loud. Now, it doesn't buzz whatsoever. Good to know I sort of know what I'm doing.

On a side note, I put in an application for a repair tech position at the local Guitar Center about a week or 10 days ago. No experience necessary. The ad came up the day, after I bought my guitar, ironically.

Having multiple years of professional automotive repair experience, I'm hoping maybe that will give me a leg up on any other people that apply that may not have experience repairing guitars. If I can fix engines and transmissions, guitars shouldn't be that difficult.


I'm telling you now...i won't be one of those people that gives up in 3 months and never learns. I'm learning to play no matter how long it takes. Not that I expect it to take an unusually long time lol. But even if it does, I will not give up.

[WoundUp]

Update:

Replaced the plastic nut with a Graph Tech Black Tusq XL this weekend. That went almost as smooth as it possibly could. The only thing I ran into was that once I got done, high e sounded like a sitar. So I went and sat down at the table with it to look over the nut and saddle and started unwinding that string. About a half turn in, the string broke at the tuner. I know why it broke and it wasn't anything out of the ordinary, as far as I can tell.

When you tuck and wrap the strings, it kinks the string where you wrap it over. In my rounds of loosening and tightening strings to test fit the nut, it got overworked and broke. No problem. New strings and everything sounds great. TBH, it sounds better than it did with the plastic nut. Action is much better, also. Before, when fretting the 3rd fret and checking string height at the 1st, it had right at .001" where it should have had around .008" to .010", which it has now. It seems that I play(yes I can play some stuff already ) with a light touch but that was still too low.

Overall, it was a very simple procedure. I'm glad I didn't have to pay someone to do it as some at another forum tried recommending. Their reasoning was that I was new to guitars so I shouldn't try that, yet. Ok. But waiting 8 months before I attempt it won't change anything.

I won't have learned any sort of maintenance or repair stuff just by waiting. I'd still have the exact same skills I had 8 months prior, only my wallet would now be lighter because I paid someone an outrageous amount of money to do it for me. I dont understand the reasoning behind that one.

Anyway. Been practicing every day. Oddly enough, I never had any finger pain during this entire 3 weeks. I also found out that super glue on the fingertips works well as artificial calluses found that by accident after trying to wipe off excess on another project lol

[Bill Moore]

Being a mechanic myself, I understand you working on your guitars, soon, you may be building amps also!
I don't think I'll ever call myself a "real" guitar player, but I can play well enough to accompany my singing, with simple intros and turn a rounds.

[WoundUp]

Well I think I'm sick. I've got a bad case of GAS lmao. Currently waiting for the FedEx guy to deliver my 2nd guitar. I also bought a new-to-me, used Line 6 Spider IV 15 1x8" combo amp last Friday to upgrade from the crappy 1x6.5" Silvertone amp I was using. Fast forward to this past Tuesday and I bought my first Fender product, an old Mustang II 40w 1x12 combo amp. Waiting on the people to ship it now. They still haven't even dropped it off at the shipping company, yet.


So I'm pretty invested in this now. Thankfully I've actually been learning to play stuff. Not making very much progress with chords but Ive learned 8 or 10 different riffs so far. So I know I can learn to play. Just gotta keep practicing.

I can tell I'm getting better because I tried learning to play a riff yesterday that I also tried learning about 6 weeks ago. I got nowhere 6 weeks ago but when I tried yesterday, I had it down in less than 5 minutes. So that gives me hope and encouragement. I was soooo excited when I played it LOL! I was high-fiving everybody and screaming wwooooo!

I also rewired my guitar 2 weeks ago when I replaced the dime pots, switch, and jack with CTS pots, Oak Grigsby 5 way switch, and a Switchcraft jack socket. It was going to get HSH, also but I realized my pickguard isn't a standard Strat pickguard so I couldn't just buy another one. So that got put on hold until I could find a 2nd pickguard. Well I found one. Only thing is it has a guitar attached to it, still So my 1st guitar will get the hb's now and the 2nd will stay SSS.

This is what I'm waiting for. The one I have is almost the same, only with a maple fretboard. Notice how the lower horn of the pickguard has a curve to it? That's why I can't just buy another. Fenders don't curve like that.

[OldStrummer]

Did you break your B string?

Congratulations on your progress!

[phantomman]

You haven't struck out yet......stay in that batter's box and keep on swingin'!

[WoundUp]

Did you break your B string?

Congratulations on your progress!

Nope. Those are pics from the auction I was bidding on and won. Making that guitar #2. That string was broken by the previous owner or whoever strung it up. They did it wrong, also. They had it as follows:

G string in the high e position
B string in the G position
High e in the B position.

I can tell you they broke it while attempting to tune it and never got any further once it broke because they were out of the POS strings that came with the guitar. So they gave up and it never got picked up again.

The G string was wound so tight at the high e position that it bent the tuning machine. I finally understood why when I tried to tune the 5 strings on it. High e would only tune to an octave lower than it should've been. Once I realized it wasn't going to tune to the proper octave, I noticed it was the G string they used and that's why it wouldn't tune to the right note.

This thing is basically brand new except for the chipped paint from being dropped. Oh yeah. There is also this little issue of the fact that it's not black like I thought it was. It's dark blue! And I didn't realize it until after I had been holding it for 10 mins lol! It's actually a better guitar than what I had already, which I never even considered when bidding on it. Next time I change strings, I've got a Fender MIM big block bridge & trem block to install. It's all stock as of now and will stay SSS.

I also picked up a Fender Mustang II V1 1x12 combo amp last week. This thing is great! Exactly what I was looking for and it sounds good too! Much better than the Line 6 Spider IV I bought the week prior.

[DanTheBluesMan]

does the bent tuner still work?

[WoundUp]

does the bent tuner still work?

Yes it does fortunately. It just leans a little bit lol

[OldStrummer]

Just refer to it as "road worn!"

[phantomman]

The first step to becoming a "relic".

[FrankJohnson]

The first step to becoming a "relic".

Missed you big guy

[ch willie]

I'm afraid Rog has quietly left us again. It's a pity. He's a good man with a lot of knowledge.