A thought for newbies, teens and others with their first guitar

[sliding tom]

A recent thread about “My guitar sounds too muddy” made me think about this and start this thread and it’s up for discussion. I have only been around here since January this year but in even this short period of time I have already read a lot of posts by people fairly new to the guitar, Les Pauls in particular, who maybe just got their first (often Epi but also a lot of Gibson) LP and ask questions about what they should do about modding it - which ones are the best pickups to get this and that tone and which XX rewiring kit is the best and so on and they’ve only had the guitar for a couple weeks and haven’t spend any quality time with it.
Newbies to the electric guitar or to Les Pauls or any other guitar: don’t do a thing and don’t waste money on modding your guitar before you know what you are doing and before you get a good grasp of what tone and sound is all about!
I am sure there are a lot of folks around who ordered their rewiring kit, put it in their guitar and rave about how much better their guitar is now only because everybody’s raving about the improvement that the kit made to their guitar, without ever trying to find out what they really look for and want and how to achieve this by any other means.
I am not putting down the companies or individuals who put a lot of effort in developing and selling better components for electric guitars here, be it pickups that are closer to a real PAF or better pots or complete wiring harnesses - you guys know your shit and I’m sure you’re doing a great job!

But before anybody goes in there (the guitar) you should have a good idea of what’s going on between when you hit your string and what you hear what’s coming out of the speaker of your amp. If it’s not satisfying, don’t just go for the flavour of the month pickup or the most revered rewiring kit but take a look around and see what can be done without spending much (or any) money.
There’s a lot of expertise around here (and in other forums) to help you and if you don’t find what you’re looking for you can always ask. I haven’t yet seen a newbie’s innocent question here being turned down with “Do a search”. You might have spent all your hard earned or saved money to buy the best guitar that this kind of money could buy and now you’re playing through a cheapo practice amp and you don’t get that sound you’re after?

Well, an electric guitar and an amp are a unit - one doesn’t sound good by itself and a good guitar can sound crappy through a crappy amplifier. Better get a good amp and a cheap guitar - you might be better off. All the money you sink into a cheap guitar with new pickups and pots and caps might be better spent when saved up to buy a good amp.
And (and this is true): it takes years and years and a lot of experience to be able to tell a good sound / tone from a bad one so don’t jump the gun - try to work with what you’ve got!


Rant over…

 

[diceman]

Great post.

A cheap guitar can sound great through a decent amp, while a great guitar can sound terrible through a cheap amp.

I've modded the hell out of my Les Pauls, and been happy with the results. I also have a $200 Squire Tele with original guts which sounds amazing as it is.

Good advice - nice post.

 

[BluesLover]

Thanks for the advice!

 

[River]

Nothing to add, Tom, just "hear! hear!".

 

[guitarEd]

excellent post there Sliding T.....
many things effect tone. Epis, mim fenders, squires and even some low budget asian imports do not sound all that bad as is. Definatly gigable guitars for beginners and someone who just likes to jam with some buddies a couple times a month.
Digging into the guitar should be the last thing to do for beginners...
A new set of strings will do wonders and is cheap to do. Who knows how long those strings have been on the instrument, and how many people have had their greasy fingers on them...

ed

 

[dennistruckdriver]

....I haven’t yet seen a newbie’s innocent question here being turned down with “Do a search”.....try to work with what you’ve got!
Rant over….

I tell 'em to:

all the time, and I get told:

all the time.

I agree with you wholeheartedly! My Les Pauls are STOCK!!!!

 

[gmacdonnell]

+1

the problem with Tom's argument used to be that beginner guitars were often such poor instruments, that they would hold you back from advancing as a player.

My first guitar was an Epiphone acoustic with a bolt-on neck. The action was 9/16th's of a inch on the bass side, 1/2 an inch on the treble side.
You can imagine I lost quite a bit of blood learning how to play...

But nowadays, you can get a seriously decent instrument for under $200.
Unless you got your 1st guitar at Wal-Mart, you shouldn't need to upgrade right away.

I think one of the best ways to improve technique, tone and playing style, overall is to get a decent, very simple tube amp as soon as you can afford it, (worry about pedals and pickups, etc. later. (Volume and tone controls are all it needs.)

There are many, decent, very affordable tube amps now, from Fender, Epiphone, Crate, Gibson, Orange, Black Star, Peavey, etc. Some of these amps, like the Peavey Windsor Studio and the Blackheart HT-5, sound like amps that cost 3 or 4 times the price, and are very simple, so you really learn how to "play" the amp, the way you play your guitar. Tom's right: they're a unit, and without the other, an incomplete instrument. The sooner you understand that symbiotic relationship, the sooner you'll start to improve.

If you can figure out how to get a wide range of good sounds without any "tricks" from pedals or onboard effects, you'll learn to always have a good tone, rather than just being dependent on gear.


The bottom line is, as much fun as gear can be, it should only be a tool, and a means to an end. I understand and have experienced gear lust plenty of times, but when I remind myself that I'm a musician, not a guitar collector, I can get back to what's important: the music.

 

[lowe]

good post

 

[klohiq]

A cheap guitar can sound great through a decent amp, while a great guitar can sound terrible through a cheap amp.

I do agree with this statement [mostly].

My only question is how cheap and basically what sort of things you consider good in terms of tone. I had a cheap kustom practice amp and while it was alright, nearly every guitar sounded pretty decent through it. Not amazing, but good. Now if I played my ibanez with stock pickups through something with more clarity, I think I would have heard how bad those pickups were even sooner.

Just some random thoughts. I agree everything is a unit, the tone is in the fingers and the good amp/crap guitar vs crap amp/good guitar theory - just throwing some thoughts out there...

 

[leftylover]

if part of that was directed at me, i need new pots because all of them are scratchy and the solder is doming off on many of the connections.

 

[sliding tom]

if part of that was directed at me, i need new pots because all of them are scratchy and the solder is doming off on many of the connections.

Nothing (at least in my post) is intended to be directed at anybody in particular. I only fairly recently replaced pots for the very first time in my main guitar because two of them had gone scratchy, too and that was a 335, so having to go in there anyway I decided I might as well replace them instead of just give 'em a drink of pot cleaner.

 

[notjustdrew]

great post!

I think the same applys to pedals- I too only joned this year and there seem to be infinate posts based around the 'which pedal do I buy first' or 'I have this pedal- what does it do?'.

People need to realise that a pedal won't make you a great guitarist and you need to work out what sounds you are looking for and then find a pedal that does it not buy it because it looks cool or you want a bigger pedal board and then try and work out how to use it! And theres no point in buying a hugely expensive hand built boutique pedal to go with your 15 guitars when you have a rubbish solid-state amp and can hardly play anyway!!

sorry for the rant- just my opinion and whatever people want to do with their money is fine [obviously]!


p.s. sorry for the amount of exclamation marks in this post (I realise that is the sign of a mad man)

 

[gmacdonnell]

I've said it before, and I'll say it again:

Some of the best musical advice I've ever heard came from John Scofield. He told me to get a guitar that sounds great, (esp. unplugged, electronics can be changed,) and feels great, and stick with it.

Staying with 1 instrument and learning it intimately, gaining a deep connection with it and living with it will not only make you a better player, but you'll learn how to achieve a great tone without effects, etc.

He also said to get the best amp you can afford, but advised to keep it as simple as possible, and to focus on what you can do with your hands, rather than with knobs and controls.

He pointed out that a sax player like John Coltrane, knew his instrument like an extension of his body. It was a part of him.

Guitarists need to have the same connection to their guitar/amp, if they want to achieve that level of musical, spiritual and technical mastery of their instrument and music.

 

[sliding tom]

Good advice from Mr. Scofield!

 

[dennistruckdriver]

....'which pedal do I buy first' or 'I have this pedal- what does it do?'....People need to realise that a pedal won't make you a great guitarist....

Sweaty Teddy Nugent stated in an interview once, that all you need to learn to play is a good American-made guitar, a Fender amp, a pick, and your hands and ears.

 

[notjustdrew]

amen Mr. Gmac- quality over quantity!

(gotta say though that although I'd love to find one guitar that does it all for me I could never decide between tele and LP)

 

[dennistruckdriver]

....although I'd love to find one guitar that does it all for me I could never decide between tele and LP....

Okay, then.....one Telecaster AND one Les Paul.

 

[notjustdrew]

Okay, then.....one Telecaster AND one Les Paul.

now theres a philosophy I can believe in! (also plus one for fender amp and ears)

 

[gmacdonnell]

amen Mr. Gmac- quality over quantity!

(gotta say though that although I'd love to find one guitar that does it all for me I could never decide between tele and LP)

The Hamer Talladega, or Talladega Pro is for you

 

[notjustdrew]

that is nice, but kind of screems hybrid and part of the beauty in teles and les pauls is that they are what they are and you feel like your playing abit of history! -kind of a conservative outlook I know but for some reason newer designs just don't have the vibe!