Anyone in here play electric guitars?

[CALL911]

(As if I really needed another hobby besides flying, shooting, photography, video editing, and like everyone else in here a passion for driving LTX's)

Since I was a kid and I saw Michael J Fox play "Johnny Be Good" in Back to the Future, I (like many) have wanted to learn to play the electric guitar. I have picked up a standard acustic guitar here and there, and I usually give up early as I just plain "suck" at it. However, after picking up an electric guitar, even though I still suck at playing, at least the sound of it sounds good (if that makes any sense). Anyways, with simple motivation of at least the sound is good, even if I don't know how to play, it is enough to make me want to learn.

Next problem; I know nearly nothing about electric guitars. I visited a local guitar shop and they reccomended a Fender American Standard Stratocaster (about $250 new). About five minutes later, a long haired tatood up dude came in and started rockin' it out hard core on a Schecter Omen Extreme FR ($449). After talking with the guy some, the Omen is capable of some things the American Standard Stratocaster is not. However, I keep having to remind myself that even with practice, this is something that will take years of practice at before I will be "good" at playing.

I already have an inexpensive amp picked out that has sounds I really like, I just don't know where to go on the guitar, and thought I would open this up to anyone with experience to help out.

It would be insane to learn to play as well as this guy

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hb5QaCfm7bg

But I'd be happy if I could put together sound like this guy

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BJOJDRayzQw

[Blubird]

the best advice i would give you is to go to your local music store and just try playing different ones.i cant really reccomend one to you...its more of a personal choice

[Fastbird]

Ben, you know I play right?

My recommendation would be as above. Go to the music store and find what you like. Look at how high the action on the strings is (I.E. how high they sit off the fretboard). You may find that you like a high or low action, and adjusting that can be a PITA if you don't know what you're doing vs certain brands like to set things up high or low (The Fender Strats seem to be pretty high, and the Ibanez stuff like mine will usually sit a lot lower). Just find what you want that works for you.

One thing I'd recommend. If you're looking to do high octave solo type stuff, make damn sure that the fretboard is a 2 octave (I.E. 24 fret) setup. You'll find yourself coming up short with a 22 fret short board. I made that mistake on my first electric guitar.

[CALL911]

How can you tell what kind of fret (or octave) it is?

I don't honeslty think I know enough about guitars to know what I want, vs what I don't want. Right now all I know is I don't want a junk guitar, but would prefer not to spend $500 either. I have seen guys who know how to play on certain guitars, and with the appropriate amp setup, they sound amazing, so instinctivly I want that guitar so that one day I could possibly make the same sound.

So for now, educate me. Until Fastbird said anything, I didn't even realize that they came in different frets (I still don't really know what fret is).

I really know nothing about this right now. I have never had a lesson past a buddy sitting down and teaching me 3-5 different cords (of which I have forgotten all of them). I don't have ANY experience in playing.

[CamaroZGuy]

i have tried to learn how to play guitar, but was never able to get some one to help me out and done have the music skills to self teach. but since i have picked up bass(and Still Suck at it) and have played a few different types and found that i like Ibanez the most, smaller thinner necks easier for me to play since i am a small person. you just have to find the one that feels most comfortable to you, and also depends on the type of music you want to play.

[CALL911]

Damn my impulse buying!

http://i26.tinypic.com/332a0zb.jpg
http://i29.tinypic.com/15zl8ch.jpg

So I went to another guitar store today, and talked a while with the associate. He told me what I had heard before as well, and thats that to learn, you don't have to get an expensive guitar, just as long as its one that you personally like the feel of, and prefer the action it comes in. I ended up getting this Laguna because it had a really low action (as seen in the below pic), and it was not expensive. I ended up picking it up barely used for $99. I really had not planned on getting one for a bit, but when I saw the one I liked and didn't seem as hard as others to play, it seemed hard to pass at the chance of picking it up at that price.

http://i25.tinypic.com/2hykk90.jpg


Now I just need to practice so I can sound decent.
http://i29.tinypic.com/nsylc.jpg

[Fastbird]

Impulse buyer. Beat me to it before I had the chance to explain the fretboard octave thing. You bought a 22 fret guitar.

If you look at the top of your fretboard (where the fingers go), you'll see about 2/3 of the way towards the guitar body, there's a fret that's marked with a set of double dots. That's the octave fret, I.E. that fret is one octave higher than the string as plucked open. That fret also happens to be 12 frets up the board. So, a 24 fretboard is a double octave fretboard. I was merely advising that if you were seeking to do the high note solo type of stuff, a 24 fret neck would be better suited. The one you got is certainly adequate.

Something I'd recommend just to get started and get used to finger movements. Start with songs you like and can pick out the guitar sounds to, and do an internet search for the tablature. It's not sheet music, merely an annotation of where each fret is held for each string to get the required sound.

Jeez dude, we need to get together. I could show you a TON of stuff to get you started.

[CALL911]

This is definatly a begginer guitar for me. Theres a really nice one I would like to get a while down the road if I can start playing decent, and then let my skillz go wild on (lol), but it is about $500. I just wanted to learn the basics on this and get a "grasp" on how to play. Again, I didn't really think I would pick one up, but it was cheep at $99 so I couldn't say no (after looking online, the average price seems to be around $275 new on them made me feel even better).

Thanks Sean for your input. Sorry I kind of jumped the gun on this, as I usually like doing a bit more research before jumping into stuff like this. I have seen more than a few great intro vids on youtube, and they are great for learning to play.

When we do meet up, this is just another thing we can do, besides shooting, breaking LTX's and telling drunken Boomhour stories. :metal:

[Fastbird]

Well.....not so sure the shooting will be able to happen at this point.........but the rest yeah, definitely. Talking bout that dang ol dang old turbo WOOSH! :laugh: I should post that video.

[CALL911]

Well, you can shoot one of mine if you don't have yours, or we can skip it all together.

Good golly! That was funny. I really don't know what possessed me to decide to describe a scene from Fast and the Furious in a Boomhour voice :shiner:

In any event, once things get settled down for the both of us, we'll have to make it a point to meet up. :claps:

[Cyanydem28]

Ive played guitar since I was 11. Im 22 now. I play classical, gypsy , heavy metal, all that shit. :P

You made a good decision not spending a grip of cash on a guitar. The only thing is that guitar is addictive and you will get sick of that guitar quick! Its only a matter of time before youre looking at guitars that cost 400+ dollars.

As for an amp, cant go wrong with a line 6 spider for some one who is just starting out.

Have fun with it.

PS: if you ever need input on stuff like this, go to maplifiers.net ( Im one of the mods there )

[CALL911]

Thanks for the info. My fingers are sore, and the progress is slow, but I really do enjoy my small investment, and look forward to the day I actually sound good. I already have another guitar picked out, but refuse to even really think about it until a few years down the road when I am actually decent at playing.