Guitar suggestions for a newbie...

[cmalak]

Congrats Cyril, have fun with it!

Sounds like you're approaching things right by gaining an understanding of the elementary pieces before you dive into paid-for lessons.

Mike...I hope so. There is a lot of stuff on YouTube but seems haphazardly organized. But I found a few channels on YouTube with free lessons that go over the basics so I will start there and see how it goes.

 

[cmalak]

Guys...after seeing Kev's mystery new guitar, I thought I would update this thread. I have naturally added to my Yamaha acoustic with a new electric guitar. I was going to go down the road of getting a Fender Strat but fell in love with Paul Reed Smith guitars. Beautifully made guitars and stunning to look at. I ended not getting his US Core line which starts at $3K because I am still in the early stages of learning how to play and won't spend that kind of money on a guitar until I can do it justice, so I went with his SE line which is made in Korea but still to very high exacting standards and at $760 not exactly an entry-level electric guitar, which many can be had in the $200 range. In any case, here are some pics:

I received this baby last week and I have been practicing on it (to call what I do playing is a stretch) non-stop

I bought it from the folks at Sweetwater and I have to say they are absolutely amazing. Great customer service. I must have asked the "sales engineer" assigned to me when I first contacted them a gazillion questions via countless emails and he always got back to me with very thorough and thoughtful answers. Great advice and always looking to tailor the right solution for the customer. Very highly recommended.

 

[Kuoppis]

Congrats, very nice axe. PRS is always a good choice.


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[cmalak]

Congrats, very nice axe. PRS is always a good choice.


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Thanks very much :thumbsup:

 

[Alpinist]

Congrats, very nice axe. PRS is always a good choice.


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Big +1, PRS would be my choice for a solid body electric. My choice for acoustic is Taylor due to its easy playability and nice tone. For archtops, Comins, Buscarino or vintage Gibson. Nice radius on the fretboard ensures that bar chords will be easily played.

Best of luck,
Ken

 

[Kuoppis]

I recently saw a nice Telestrat on offer from an English luthier and had it fitted with a Strat maple neck and locking tuners, two DiMarzio Area 51's in neck and middle positions, along with a DiMarzio Area 61 in bridge position. That's now my own custom-made Telestrat, driving it with a Mesa stack.

The inspiration for the Telestrat came from a YouTube video featuring Oleg Plastinkin. I think this guy has his prog-rock figured out or at least it is a good aspirational piece...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E1an50faJNU



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[bzr]

Cyril, great choice, I was looking very hard at the PRS range, there is just so much to like about them. But alas, too many of my favourite axe shredders have got me in a tizzy over these. This is my first that I will hot rod myself eventually, but for now, I just need to commit to it & listen to it's secrets & promises & return the love that it deserves. I am very pleased to introduce another passion, Gibson Les Paul Standard.......

 

[cmalak]

Big +1, PRS would be my choice for a solid body electric. My choice for acoustic is Taylor due to its easy playability and nice tone. For archtops, Comins, Buscarino or vintage Gibson. Nice radius on the fretboard ensures that bar chords will be easily played.

Best of luck,
Ken

Thanks Ken :thumbsup:

 

[cmalak]

I recently saw a nice Telestrat on offer from an English luthier and had it fitted with a Strat maple neck and locking tuners, two DiMarzio Area 51's in neck and middle positions, along with a DiMarzio Area 61 in bridge position. That's now my own custom-made Telestrat, driving it with a Mesa stack.

The inspiration for the Telestrat came from a YouTube video featuring Oleg Plastinkin. I think this guy has his prog-rock figured out or at least it is a good aspirational piece...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E1an50faJNU



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Kuoppis...wow! What a hot rodded Tele. Looks great too. Has more of a Strat style config in terms of the bridge and 3 p'ups. What's the body made of?

 

[cmalak]

Cyril, great choice, I was looking very hard at the PRS range, there is just so much to like about them. But alas, too many of my favourite axe shredders have got me in a tizzy over these. This is my first that I will hot rod myself eventually, but for now, I just need to commit to it & listen to it's secrets & promises & return the love that it deserves. I am very pleased to introduce another passion, Gibson Les Paul Standard.......

Kev...she's a beauty! Enjoy it in good health. I have a long way to go in terms of learning the instrument before i can do any of these axes justice but it's fun trying to learn. Have you been playing for a while?

 

[Kuoppis]

Kuoppis...wow! What a hot rodded Tele. Looks great too. Has more of a Strat style config in terms of the bridge and 3 p'ups. What's the body made of?

Hi Cyril, I think it is spruce with a wax finish to make it look more natural. It is a so called Telestrat, i.e. Tele body with Strat wiring and configuration.

As you noted, these are custom made not available as such from Fender. What comes closest is a Texas Tele with 3 pick up configuration.



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[cmalak]

Hi Cyril, I think it is spruce with a wax finish to make it look more natural. It is a so called Telestrat, i.e. Tele body with Strat wiring and configuration.

As you noted, these are custom made not available as such from Fender. What comes closest is a Texas Tele with 3 pick up configuration.



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Very cool. Looks great. I am sure sounds awesome [emoji869][emoji106]

 

[bzr]

Kev...she's a beauty! Enjoy it in good health. I have a long way to go in terms of learning the instrument before i can do any of these axes justice but it's fun trying to learn. Have you been playing for a while?

Thanks Cyril. I've been trying to learn since I was a young fella but to no avail. So this is my firm commitment to every music teacher that asked me to apply myself

 

[cmalak]

Thanks Cyril. I've been trying to learn since I was a young fella but to no avail. So this is my firm commitment to every music teacher that asked me to apply myself

Kev...best of luck. Enjoy the ride.

 

[madfloyd]

Just saw this thread. I'm a guitar fan and enjoy playing myself. How's the learning coming along, Cyril?

 

[cmalak]

Just saw this thread. I'm a guitar fan and enjoy playing myself. How's the learning coming along, Cyril?

Hi there. I took a few lessons with a teacher but that got derailed for various reasons, so ended up purchasing Gibson's Learn and Master the Guitar which is a 20 DVD/4CD instruction course and it's been ok. Each lesson takes about 2-3 weeks to master (at least that's there reco especially if you practice every day, which I end up doing every other day) but it's going. So I have just started chords which is lesson 5 (out of 20 lessons) so still early stages

I am enjoying it and to be honest, I have been distracted from listening to my stereo so that I am only firing it up 1-2x/week

How long have you played Madfloyd? Tell us about and show us your gear :thumbsup:

 

[madfloyd]

I started playing when I was 14... took lessons for a year or so, played with a few bands in my teens and ended up switching to bass when I was 20 or so.

Not too long afterwards I sort of gave it up... only to take it up again when I was 38 or so. I got back into it serious at that point and started composing and recording.

Now I am off and on. I will go on a kick where I learn favorite lead guitar solos and other times when I try to compose and record.

Here's some pics of my little studio:

 

[cmalak]

Madfloyd...holy moly! What a studio and what a collection of great gear. Do you ever have friends over to play with you or is it mostly playing/composing for yourself?

 

[Mike]

Ian - wow! I had no idea. Had I known, when you were here, I would have given you one of my guitars to play. Awesome collection. Do you have a favorite?

 

[madfloyd]

Cyril: I have a couple friends who are drummers so once in a blue moon or so we create some noise.

Mike: my top three guitars would be: yellow Strat, ES-335 & Les Paul