So I bought a guitar

[frankiej]

Nice one.

I tend to only play budget guitars. I like forcing sounds from shitty equipment. It makes me work harder. Having a great guitar makes it too easy and I find that stifles creativity.

Out of my 9 guitars only 2 of them cost more than 200 quid. So, I guess my point is that you should be fine with your stuff. Especially when just starting out... I gig with budget equipment too.

You probably don't need to get a proper full set up and shit... a simple tuner will be enough for what you will be doing.

[popeyespappy]

Nice axe. American standard? Or is it one of the Mexican or Japanese models?

I've got pretty much the same thing (American standard) in cherry red.

Thanks and yea it's the American Standard.

[Jackalope]

Nice axe. American standard? Or is it one of the Mexican or Japanese models?

I've got pretty much the same thing (American standard) in cherry red.

Thanks and yea it's the American Standard.

Heh. If you're gonna learn to play guitar, at least you're doing it right.

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My friend suggested that the first thing I needed to do was take the guitar to a pro and get it setup properly. Well fuck that. I enjoy piddling with stuff too much for that and plan to learn how to set up my own guitar. Which brings me to this post. Anybody have any recommendations on resources for setting up and tuning a guitar?

Oh, I wanted to comment on this but never got around to it.

This is something you may find handy - http://www.fender.com/support/articles/s...tup-guide/

There's "setting up", and then there's "setting up". There are some things that certainly a beginner should do, and really MUST do, like learning how to tune properly. There's other things (like adjusting the neck truss rod) that have the potential to lead to ruinous mistakes that they are best left to experts.

Let me give you a little piece of advice - find strings you like (brand and gauge) and stick with them. The intonation, action, tremolo, etc are all dependent on the particular strings you are using. Set your axe up perfectly with factory strings, change strings, and you'll have to do it all over again if you want it to be right. This is particularly true with a floating bridge.

Sometimes two types of strings are close enough that you get lucky, but I find it's just easier to stick with one SKU.

By the way, guitars are known to reproduce in captivity. One turns into two, which eventually turns into ten. How they accomplish reproduction is unknown, but it has something to do with flattening your wallet.

Amps do the same thing.

[popeyespappy]

I tuned it last night and played around with it a little. I plan to take it down to the local shop to have it set up tomorrow. I picked up 6 sets of D'Addario Regular Light 10-46. I'll have it setup with those and see where they get me. Probably eventually put some 9-42 strings on it. And yea, I'm familiar with the reproduction via wallet thing. Just not with guitars.

[Baalzebutt]

I tuned it last night and played around with it a little. I plan to take it down to the local shop to have it set up tomorrow. I picked up 6 sets of D'Addario Regular Light 10-46. I'll have it setup with those and see where they get me. Probably eventually put some 9-42 strings on it. And yea, I'm familiar with the reproduction via wallet thing. Just not with guitars.

I have posted this before but I thought you might like to see the axe my guitarist plays and the sound he gets out of it. It is a PRS-SE. REALLY nice guitar.

I am the drummer, by the way.

[Jackalope]

I have posted this before but I thought you might like to see the axe my guitarist plays and the sound he gets out of it. It is a PRS-SE. REALLY nice guitar.

Heh, it's amazing what you can do with a wah pedal.

[Baalzebutt]

I have posted this before but I thought you might like to see the axe my guitarist plays and the sound he gets out of it. It is a PRS-SE. REALLY nice guitar.

Heh, it's amazing what you can do with a wah pedal.

That, and he has like 5 other pedals too. He does get some pretty cool sounds out of it.

[ManMachine]

One of my biggest regrets in life is I never learned to play a musical instrument. I have decided to remedy that situation. Never being one to go half assed on anything I bought a Fender Standard Stratocaster and Mustang I amp. Most of the music I like best is played on the Stratocaster so why not? On the recommendation of a friend that plays I also downloaded Fender’s Fuse software and plan to do most of my practicing using my computer and headphones. For the sake of the neighbors.

My friend suggested that the first thing I needed to do was take the guitar to a pro and get it setup properly. Well fuck that. I enjoy piddling with stuff too much for that and plan to learn how to set up my own guitar. Which brings me to this post. Anybody have any recommendations on resources for setting up and tuning a guitar?

Unless you know what you are doing, don't do it. Screwing around with the set up on a guitar when you don't know what you are doing is a very quick way to mess it up.

MM