Bump when you practice
dragonsanddemons
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Oof, yeah, exactly. Playing on a guitar with action that high is going to tear up your fingers a lot worse, too.
That's pretty common with acoustic guitars of that age. It can be fixed, but it's a matter of whether or not the cost/time/effort is worth it.
Are you planning on getting an electric guitar, or another acoustic?
I'd like to get an electric guitar, I think that would be really cool.
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Yet in my new wildness and freedom I almost welcome the bitterness of alienage. For although nepenthe has calmed me, I know always that I am an outsider; a stranger in this century and among those who are still men.
-H. P. Lovecraft, "The Outsider"
Yeah, I figured =)
Electric is really cool, but can also be more expensive, since you have to buy an amp or two, and effects pedals can be quite pricey as well (if you're into that kind of thing) @_@
But on the plus side, electric guitars are much quieter if you want to practice with headphones on, and they're a lot easier to fix if something goes wrong. Especially Fenders/Squiers, but I imagine you'd be more interested in something shorter scale with humbuckers, like a Gibson/Epiphone.
Every so often I have to browse eBay looking for a worn brown Gibson SG in my price range...
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funeralxempire
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Speaking of short scale guitars, there isn't a guitar made that's comfier to play than my Ibanez ORM. 24" scale neck that's about as slim as a Wizard neck, but with a rounder radius (like a Gibson) and a little 7/8ths scale Jet King (Jaguar/Jazzmaster knock-off) body. It would be perfect if it came with an EMG 89 instead of the mini-humbucker.
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I've just always wanted a Gibson SG, my screen name probably makes the reason quite obvious. Haven't decided if I want humbuckers or P-90s.
Love my Strat, though. I've probably had it for 16 years now.
...I really want to play it right now, but I should get cleaned up and jump in bed...I know if I say "just a song or two" it'll turn into "...two hours later..."
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I practiced briefly yesterday, but then decided to do some recording...Cool Edit Pro kept crashing my laptop, so I spent the rest of the day trying to put one of my desktops back together =|
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I practiced this morning, and ended up going to bed far too late...but it looks as if I'm going to be the only one posting in this thread... =|
I swear, if threadkilling were a profession, I would be very wealthy.
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dragonsanddemons
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I still haven't practiced I will be posting here once I do.
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Yet in my new wildness and freedom I almost welcome the bitterness of alienage. For although nepenthe has calmed me, I know always that I am an outsider; a stranger in this century and among those who are still men.
-H. P. Lovecraft, "The Outsider"
Even if you don't want anyone to hear you practicing (which I totally understand), you can still practice fairly quietly with your left hand (assuming you are playing a right-handed guitar). I know when I first started playing, it took a while to grow enough callous on my fingertips, to get to the point where holding down the strings with enough strength didn't hurt. Could just practice different chord shapes, the moveable ones like F and B take a lot to get used to. Practice transitioning quickly between different chords. Finger stretches. Things like that. Pinky strength is supposed to be pretty important, I know I always neglect the poor little guy, but now I'm stuck in the habit of using my other three fingers instead for a lot of things...which means I don't play bass guitar the way you're supposed to =P
BTW, slightly off topic, have you ever heard Porcupine Tree? I only have the Deadwing album, but I listen to it in my car constantly. It's a little poppier than TOOL, and the lyrics can be awkward in places, but the atmosphere and the production is amazing. Most of their music is essentially written, produced, and performed by Steven Wilson, and he's also produced albums for Opeth, and did the surround sound mixes for King Crimson and Jethro Tull.</rambling>
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dragonsanddemons
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BTW, slightly off topic, have you ever heard Porcupine Tree? I only have the Deadwing album, but I listen to it in my car constantly. It's a little poppier than TOOL, and the lyrics can be awkward in places, but the atmosphere and the production is amazing. Most of their music is essentially written, produced, and performed by Steven Wilson, and he's also produced albums for Opeth, and did the surround sound mixes for King Crimson and Jethro Tull.</rambling>
Thank you for the suggestions. I've been doing other things and haven't gotten around to playing my guitar. It's usually just me at home during the day on weekdays, so I have plenty of time I can play as loudly as I like without anyone hearing me. I did build callouses on my fingertips while I was taking my guitar class, but I'm still having trouble keeping enough pressure on all the strings at the same time for chords. We also didn't do much with the pinky finger for the class, so that's probably something I should work on. I haven't heard of Porcupine Tree, I'll look that up and have a listen.
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Yet in my new wildness and freedom I almost welcome the bitterness of alienage. For although nepenthe has calmed me, I know always that I am an outsider; a stranger in this century and among those who are still men.
-H. P. Lovecraft, "The Outsider"
Yeah, that was a problem for me for a long time...still is, sometimes >_< When I started, I played mostly Sabbath, with a lot of two-finger power chords, so it took me a while to transition to chords that used all six strings. They make finger exercisers and stuff, but I never bothered to get one, though I'm sure they would make a nice stim toy.
Arriving Somewhere (But Not Here) is a really good one. The whole album is good, but there are so many different styles going on, it took me a while to digest the entire thing.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WxIRFf-u_Bs
(and yes, he is a big fan of the EBow)
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funeralxempire
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Love my Strat, though. I've probably had it for 16 years now.
...I really want to play it right now, but I should get cleaned up and jump in bed...I know if I say "just a song or two" it'll turn into "...two hours later..."
Get humbuckers if you want to play with distortion, single coils and distortion don't go together well (regardless of the type of single coil).
An EMG 89 would be one option, they're able to be used as a single or with both coils. They might not give the right tone for older metal though, they'll sound very modern.
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there’s no both sidesing a genocide, either you're against it or you're condoning it
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IIRC, Tony Iommi used P-90s on all* of the '70s albums, and custom-wound humbuckers from 1980 onward, and I think you'd be hard pressed to find someone who thinks he had bad tone back then =)
I can't remember if he used Laney amps back then, but I'm pretty sure his distortion was all natural from tubes, not pedals. I think he did start using pedals when he switched to humbuckers...not sure though, I'd have to look it up.
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dragonsanddemons
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I finally practiced! I decided to go back to learning "46&2." I'm getting the hang of the very beginning.
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Yet in my new wildness and freedom I almost welcome the bitterness of alienage. For although nepenthe has calmed me, I know always that I am an outsider; a stranger in this century and among those who are still men.
-H. P. Lovecraft, "The Outsider"
funeralxempire
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Location: Right over your left shoulder
IIRC, Tony Iommi used P-90s on all* of the '70s albums, and custom-wound humbuckers from 1980 onward, and I think you'd be hard pressed to find someone who thinks he had bad tone back then =)
I can't remember if he used Laney amps back then, but I'm pretty sure his distortion was all natural from tubes, not pedals. I think he did start using pedals when he switched to humbuckers...not sure though, I'd have to look it up.
I'd call most early Sabbath a little flabby/loose sounding, personally; especially their songs in C#.
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there’s no both sidesing a genocide, either you're against it or you're condoning it
戦争ではなく戦争と戦う
I forgot how good CCR's Someday Never Comes was, until they played it on the radio the other night...so of course I had to learn it yesterday, jammed it for a while B) Really love the chords Fogerty chose.
*shrugs*
I don't know how he can play strings that light tuned that low...I know he has to because of his injury, but I bought a pack of his strings and I feel like I'm strumming angel hair pasta.
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For any drummers here: I highly recommend Gavin Harrison's paradiddle challenge. I came across it the other day and started practicing it almost immediately. It's challenging but ridiculously fun and satisfying.
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