Guitar Players

[CynadoAlley]

Saw the great conversation between the drummers on here and thought I'd ask something regarding guitar.

I've been playing guitar for about 9 years now. I was in a band in high school, mostly playing punk rock/alternative stuff. Since that ended I've basically been all acoustic playing stuff sort of similar to mumford and sons, frank turner, etc. I have a bit of a different style so its hard to define.

That said, the past couple months I've really been toying around with open-D tuning and having a ton of fun with it. Especially since teaching myself to finger pick. Problem is, going from open-D to standard tuning runs a high risk of breaking strings. Its a hassle to change strings all the time, so I'm looking into getting a second acoustic guitar, so I can have one permanently open-D and one permanently standard. I haven't purchased a new guitar for a few years now and was wondering what everyone has and what your favorite is (acoustic).

Currently I have a Dean TS2. Non-electric acoustic. I love the thing, but like I said, would really love a second, especially if I can find one that sounds better (while staying within a price range of $200-300). Also don't care if its acoustic-electric or just straight up acoustic. All of the recording I do is in my little closet studio with a mini-sound board and two microphones.

 

[Entropy]

A Washburn D10 fits what you're looking for. I've had mine for close to 20 years and it's a great guitar.

As far as strings go I used to be all about D'Addario but lately I've really enjoyed using Elixir strings.

 

[pourcyne]

I have a Takamine acoustic six-string. Beautiful sound. You could take one home for under $300.

 

[clone4life82]

Started off with a takamine g-series acoustic electric and played with that for the longest time. Then got a Taylor 310 and added an electric pickup to it, mostly play this one now. Have a breedlove 12 string acoustic electric that I mess around with on occasion. Next would be a baritone guitar.

 

[Pat]

Go play some insanely expensive guitars - Martin, Taylor, Larrivee, Gibson, etc. Figure out what you like and don't, and what a nice acoustic feels and sounds like. Then go to a pawn shop and play cheap guitar until you find one you can tolerate.
For $200-$300, there may be a diamond in the rough, but you're probably better off saving more money and going a step up to the $500-$600 range. Either way, brand is less important than finding the right guitar for you.

 

[cyrocksmypants]

I strictly play for myself, so nothing special. I've got a Gibson Epiphone and and Alvarez.

While sticking with stringed instruments, I also have a Kala ukulele.

 

[CynadoAlley]

Certainly not going to buy anything just because of the brand name. And I won't be buying anything online because I want to know for sure that I love the sound before I spend money on it. Where does everyone go for their guitars? Have a favorite pawn shop, music store, etc? I'm in Ames, so in Ames or Des Moines I guess.

 

[StratCY]

I strictly play for myself, so nothing special. I've got a Gibson Epiphone and and Alvarez.

While sticking with stringed instruments, I also have a Kala ukulele.

Just out of curiousity, does your Alvarez say "Alvarez" on the headstock? or is it just the symbol?

 

[cyrocksmypants]

Just out of curiousity, does your Alvarez say "Alvarez" on the headstock? or is it just the symbol?

Just the symbol. But the little plastic piece connecting it to the neck says Alvarez. But the actually headstock is just the symbol. I don't know, it's my dad's first guitar from like, the 70s.

 

[CyPlainsDrifter]

OK guitar players .... guitar noob question. I have always wanted to play and picked up a nice used Taylor 314CE a while back. What's the best way to go here ... formal lessons? Online course? Give me your thoughts/recommendations.

 

[MrOtter]

I got a takamine g-series many years ago for around $400 and haven't found a good enough reason to drop a bunch on money on anything else and I really do still love it. My girlfriend doesn't really play but she has a harmony that I'm really surprised how much I like. It doesn't resonate like my takamine but it is a solid guitar and really easy to play. In your price range I'd suggest looking into either of those. But of course, go play a bunch and see what fits ya.

 

[CynadoAlley]

OK guitar players .... guitar noob question. I have always wanted to play and picked up a nice used Taylor 314CE a while back. What's the best way to go here ... formal lessons? Online course? Give me your thoughts/recommendations.

It all depends how serious you are about it I guess. I started playing when I was 12. I got free lessons from a family friend. The lessons essentially just consisted of him telling me the basics of the guitar itself, along with some chords, and what each note is on the E string depending on the fret.

From there I taught myself everything. Probably 90% of what I know is self-taught. Between YouTube, ultimate-guitar.com, and a strong desire to learn, its definitely manageable to teach yourself. It helps that I'm (not bragging here) naturally pretty musically gifted and raised in a musical family. Again though, it just all depends on what you want out of it.

 

[CynadoAlley]

Here's something I was screwing around with the other night. Just recorded a simple riff of chords, then recorded a second riff from what I had been humming in my head. Just record stuff in my closet with a simple set up.

Feel free to post any of your creations.

 

[cyrocksmypants]

It all depends how serious you are about it I guess. I started playing when I was 12. I got free lessons from a family friend. The lessons essentially just consisted of him telling me the basics of the guitar itself, along with some chords, and what each note is on the E string depending on the fret.

From there I taught myself everything. Probably 90% of what I know is self-taught. Between YouTube, ultimate-guitar.com, and a strong desire to learn, its definitely manageable to teach yourself. It helps that I'm (not bragging here) naturally pretty musically gifted and raised in a musical family. Again though, it just all depends on what you want out of it.

Same here. Never took a single lesson and am self taught. I'll never be good enough to sell records, but that was never my intentions.

 

[MrOtter]

OK guitar players .... guitar noob question. I have always wanted to play and picked up a nice used Taylor 314CE a while back. What's the best way to go here ... formal lessons? Online course? Give me your thoughts/recommendations.

If you are as musically inept as I am/was then formal lessons are really the only way to go unless you are really patient and work your *** off. If you have some innate musical ability the hard part will be making your fingers work like you want and that just takes time. A good teacher will really help either way. You can find decent online lessons all over the place, I like www.ultimate-guitar.com. Mostly it just takes a lot of patience at first and then it's incredibly fun.

 

[Rabbuk]

You leaRn wonderwall and then get laid right?

 

[BBHMagic]

OK guitar players .... guitar noob question. I have always wanted to play and picked up a nice used Taylor 314CE a while back. What's the best way to go here ... formal lessons? Online course? Give me your thoughts/recommendations.

First suggestion: Get a tuner. They are cheap and nothing is less motivating than playing an untuned guitar and its also very difficult for a beginner to tune by ear. Another website I haven't seen anyone mention is http://www.justinguitar.com/. Just make sure that you are learning songs along the way. It can get real boring, real fast if you just go up and down scales or play chords.

 

[BBHMagic]

Here's something I was screwing around with the other night. Just recorded a simple riff of chords, then recorded a second riff from what I had been humming in my head. Just record stuff in my closet with a simple set up.

Feel free to post any of your creations.

What DAW did you use to record that with? If you use Reaper with Independence you can make drum tracks and bass lines to go along with it even if you don't have those instruments to record.

 

[AuH2O]

For acoustics Takamine, Alvarez and Fender are good guitars for the money. There are tons of great low cost electrics, but acoustics are a little tougher. Yamaha, Charvel, and Ibanez make some really great electric models for <$500, but not sure about their acoustics.

With all the resources online these days I think there is little need for actual lessons unless you are really serious.

 

[CynadoAlley]

What DAW did you use to record that with? If you use Reaper with Independence you can make drum tracks and bass lines to go along with it even if you don't have those instruments to record.

Basically my set-up is this:

-Audacity (free) on my computer
-Behringer audio interface to run from USB to the sound board

-Small Behringer sound board with two microphones on opposite sides of the closet


Doesn't get much simpler.. besides just recording everything right into the computer microphone.