I need a good Ukulele instruction dvd?

Marley

Sometime within this week or next I plan on buying a Ukulele. This will be the first instrument I have evr owned and I want to make sure I have a good instructional Video. The only problem is I'm not sure what constitutes a good video. So I need recommendations. Keep in mind I need something that will start from the very very beginning because like I said I have never played an instrument before. If you know of any lessons that are uploaded online that contain this content that would also be great as it would save me money lol

Answer
I am not familiar with any Ukulele video but there are many publishers like Mel Bay and Alfred that have published various books ( some with CD's) that are very good for a beginner student of the Ukulele.

You should be aware that there are four sizes of Ukuleles.
From the smallest to the largest they are the Soprano, then Concert, then Tenor, and the Baritone. The three smallest are must often tuned G-C-E-A called "C" tuning and the larger Baritone is tuned D-G-B-E just like the first four strings of a standard guitar. If you have access to a guitar place a "capo" at the 5th fret of the guitar and strum the first four strings (starting a the capo) and you will hear how the three smallest Ukes will sound. If you remove the " capo" then play the first four open strings and you will hear how the Baritone Uke will sound.

Chords are easy to learn but be aware that the chords fingering for the three smallest Ukes is different that the fingering used for the Baritone Uke.
Many guitar players that play the Ukulele (like myself) like the Baritone for the reason that the chord formation are identical to the guitar chords except you only have four strings instead of the six in the guitar and in many cases you will only need two fingers instead of three to form a chord.

Another interesting note is that If you were to use the identical chord fingering you learn in the baritone (or guitar) in the smaller three Ukes you will actually be playing four notes higher in pitch but the sound will be OK just the note will be 4 notes apart. As an example a fingering for a "G" chord in the baritone when playing a small soprano will give you a "C" chord- Four notes higher ("G"-A-B-"C"). The reverse is also the same, playing the fingering for a "C" chord in the soprano in the baritone will sound four notes lower ("C"-B-A-"G") It will sound OK.

The Uke is one of the easiest string Instruments to learn as well as making it easy portable due to its small size. The largest Baritone is only approx. 30" long and some guitar players used them as their "travel" instrument that fit almost anywhere.

Go by your local music or book store and check out the section on instrumental instruction.See which one appeals to you the most and get it. When buying a Ukulele if you can afford it buy it with a solid wood top - not laminated- the extra $30 to $50 will be worth it in the sound projection. A solid-top smaller uke will start around $125. and a larger Baritone around $150. Laminated smaller Ukes that are not toys should start at around $60. and around $75. for a Baritone. Good Luck and Enjoy your Ukulele

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ideas for a teen christmas party 20-35 people?

ibe2hot4ud

i know its early but ive seen what happens when you wait until its to late and i want to make sure evry1 comes to my party not some1 else's. im renting a large comunity center with a kitchen and a fire place. the guests will be middle school age and im going to have a wii a few tvs to play like guitar hero face offs dance dance revolution dance offs and mabey a murder mystery and a christmas idol sing off with awards. i need ideas for food, decoration, party favors, raffle prizes, somthing to wear and other games. thnks in advance. (also anything else you can think of and no drugs alchohal or anything in apporpriate)
no white elephant or anything like that

Answer
I absolutly love Christmas parties but it sounds like you need a lot of help and I don't know your budget. Lets take it one thing at a time.

FOOD:
I'm not sure if you are having this party over a meal time but here are websites that should help you.
http://www.santas.net/recipes.htm

http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/et_hd_christmas/0,1972,FOOD_9832,00.html

http://www.christmas-joy.com/recipes/

http://www.saint-nick.com/recipes/

http://www.abc.net.au/backyard/recipes/christmas.htm

http://www.celebrating-christmas.com/recipes/index.shtml

http://www.santaswarehouse.com.au/favorite/christmas_recipes/

Remember, Christmas food is usually homecooked so be prepared to spend alot of time in the kitchen, it will be worth it! Also make sure that you check with all your guests for food allergies or dietary need (like vegetarians or vegans). You don't want any of your guests going hungry!
Make sure that you have alot of candy for snacks, especially candy canes. Hang these up around the room and you will be able to turn them into nice decorations aswell!

DECORATIONS:
http://www.theydeserveit.com/christmas-decorations/party-decorations.html

http://www.mykindaliving.com/celebrating/holidays/christmas.shtml

http://www.amazing-christmas-ideas.com/white-christmas-decorating.html

http://www.amazing-christmas-ideas.com/christmas-table-decorations.html

http://www.amazing-christmas-ideas.com/quick-and-easy-decorating-with-christmas-wreaths.html

http://www.make-stuff.com/hollidays/christmas.html

http://www.rollanet.org/~anderson/cdecorating.html

http://www.decorating4less.com/pages/cmas99.htm

http://www.home-decorating-made-easy.com/christmas-decorating.html

PARTY FAVORS:
The simplest and easiest party favors would obviously be ornaments. You could buy a buch of colourful Christmas balls and, with sparkly paint, paint each persons name onto their ornament. Everybody will love these and they will always have a reminder of your party.
You could also get a christmas hat or stocking for each persona and fill it with candy. Everyone with love these and they should be pretty cheap.
Another idea is to give everybody a cheap, disposable camera at the beginning of the party. This way evryone can take their own special pictures.
Scented christmas candles in cute holders are small, cheap and give lots of Christmas spirit. Get them in festive colours like red, green and white.
You could give each of them a burnt CD of Christmas songs. This idea is really cheap and suitable for evrybody.
You could get them all a festive photo frame, either store bought or a plain one you have decorated yourself. Put in it a little note telling them that they will be recieving lots of photos from the night (coz obviously you will have had someone taking them with a dgital camera!).
Small snow globes are always a cute idea. This will work best if most of your guests are female but even male guys will love them if you get the right ones.
Buy lots of small tins and fill them with homemade Christmas cookies. No one will be able to resist!

RAFFLE PRIZES:
Obviously you want this to be at least partially Christmas themed. For a group of that many people, I suggest that you have a first prize, second prize, third prize and 5 small consilation prizes. Usually I would make 1st, 2nd and 3rd about equal. The person who gets 1st gets to pick their prize first and so on. This mean people are more likely to get what they want and you don't have to bother with defingin three prizes.
Here are some ideas for your 1st, 2nd and 3rd prizes:
A Christmas hamper filled with Christmas food.
A pile of fancy Christmas ornaments and other decorations
A small Christmas tree with a few small Christmas decorations.
A set of Christmas DVDs (make sure they are appropriate for your age group)
A voucher for a specialised Christmas shop

Here are some ideas for the consilation prizes:
A Santa's Cookie Jar
A small Christmas stocking filled with candy
A Christmas Fruit cake
A stack of blank Christmas Cards
A Christmas stuffed toy

WHAT TO WEAR:
You are the host so how you act and look will set the whole tone of the party. I would suggest incorperating some Christmas theme into what you wear and asking everyone else to do the same. This will make your party really seem festive and get everybody in the right mood. Don't go to overboard though and from the sound of your game remind everybody to wear or bring leggings or pants. Maybe you could wear a cute red and white dress with leggings underneath. Or even just jeans and a top you love with some Christmasy accessories. You could supply everbody with a Santa hat to wear when the walk in the door. I don't know how formal o unformal your party is going to be but as long and you are comfortable and love what you are wearing anything will do fine.

GAMES:
There are lots of games that you could give a Christmas twist to. Definatly don't rule our kids games because they seem to young! Trust me, I am 15 and every party that me and my friends have we play Pass the Parcel. Here are some game ideas:

Christmas Charades (use Christmas songs, names, movies,etc)

The Chocolate game - if you don't know this, you all get in a circle and there is a block of chocolate in the middle with a fork and a knife. You each take turns throwing the dice and when someone gets the number you have decided on (usually 1 or 6) they get to start eating the chocolate. The trick is that before they start they have to put on certain items of clothing (baggy shirts, hats, gloves, scarves, etc). They can then start cutting the chocolate using the knife and fork (no hands) but they can only cut of one square at a time. When they have they can put this in their mouth and can't keep going untill they have completely fineshed it. Meanwhile, everybody else keeps on rolling the dice. When the next person get the decided number, no matter how far through the first person is, they must immediatly stop, take of the clothes and return to the middle. Make sure that the chocolate isn't too hard or soft. I would suggest having two sets of the same clothes so that noone is held up by the previous person. Also, with a group that big you might want to think about having two or three groups.Trust me, evryone loves this game.

The marshmallow game - this is basically like bobbing for apples except instead of apples their are marshmallow and instead of water their is icing suger. The marshmallows are hidden in the icing sugar to make it harder and the person bobbing has their hands tied behind their back. If you want, you can turn this into a race where there is more than one bowl set up and each person has to try and get all of their marshmallows out and onto the plate beside them first.

Christmas Balloon Battle - http://www.partygamecentral.com/pgcstandard/gametmpstd.asp?gn=CHRISTMAS+BALLOON+BATTLE

Reindeer Games - http://www.partygamecentral.com/pgcstandard/gametmpstd.asp?gn=REINDEER+GAMES

Santa Dress Up - http://www.partygamecentral.com/pgcstandard/gametmpstd.asp?gn=SANTA+DRESS+UP

Box Game -
http://www.partygamecentral.com/pgcstandard/gametmpstd.asp?gn=BOX+GAME

Pinata - http://www.partygamecentral.com/pgcstandard/gametmpstd.asp?gn=PINATA+PARTY

Sweet Spot - http://www.partygamecentral.com/pgcstandard/gametmpstd.asp?gn=SWEET+SPOT

Tape the Nose on Santa - http://www.partygamecentral.com/pgcstandard/gametmpstd.asp?gn=TAPE+THE+NOSE+ON+SANTA

I hope this has been a help. Good luck!

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wireless guitar system?

pupe dek

I am looking for a wireless guitar system to buy. dont say something that is like over 200 bucks. when u tell me about one,
tell me its
name and brand and make
a link of it to a music site or something where it has a description of it
how i can walk away from my amp while still working
how long it will last until it breaks.

please include all or most of those things asked above!

thanks

Answer
The answer to every single one of your questions is here...

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/Nady-DKW1-VHF-Wireless-Guitar-System?sku=277103

It will last for at least 5-8 years if you take care of it.

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Guitar picking help??!!?

Ledzepp

I just noticed that whenever i play, my pick scratches against my strings and it makes and awful clanging noise. i've heard others play, and it doesn't happen to them. it also happens when i stop my string from vibrating, u hear my hand hitting my strings. do i just have an over-sensitive amp, or it is something i'm doing? how do i stop it?

Answer
Match your guitar pick with the strings. If you are using super light gauge , don't use a 1.0mm pick or it will sound harsh. I use it sometimes but I know how NOT to apply to much pressure on the string. The best gague is around .60 to .75 for most strings.

You may also use economy picking which will help reduce the scratchy sound when playing. You will have to use the left hand more by using hammer-ons, pull-off which can emulate alternatie picking if done right.

Again, if you use a havier gauge string, use a heavier pick and vice - versa. Also, angle the pick so that it hits the string at a 45 deg. angle . This will help you pickup speed and cleanness.

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How to record professionally, electro-acoustic guitars?

RUSTIC_MAN

How do Great bands, record the acoustic guitar parts?
Do they connect the guitar to a interface? to an amplifier? to a mixing desk?
How to get the best performance?

Answer
Great bands will use lots of equipment - mics - mixers - computers - preamps - signal processors - on and on and on.

You don't need all that - all you need is a simple USB mic to make a great recording of your guitar:

http://www.amazon.com/Blue-Microphones-Yeti-USB-Microphone/dp/B002VA464S/ref=sr_1_2?s=gateway&ie=UTF8&qid=1285620765&sr=8-2

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I am looking for a looper for an acoustic guitar?

Becca

My Boyfriend mentioned that he would love a looper. Unfortunately I don't know much about music and all. So I am curious to know what I should get him... What the best is out there? I was looking at a Jamman, and I heard that the boss brand is good. Any suggestions?? I will be getting it for him for Christmas and I would like to keep it under $250

Answer
I've had three loopers and they all have their good & bad points. Right now I own the Boss RC20 loop station and it's really easy to use and the sound quality is almost perfect. It has some things I don't like, but for the money ($225.00 on ebay) it's pretty good. I had a Boomerang phrase sampler too, and it was amazing. Very easy and fun to use, but cost 400 bucks used. I ended up getting rid of it because setting it up live on unfamiliar sound systems was a total nightmare. Finally, I also had a Line 6 DL4, (300 dollar range) which was the best sound quality and easiest for me to use, but it blew up on a gig and I'm left with the Boss. KT Tunstall uses an Akai Headrush and it sounds perfect and looks easy to use. And from what I've seen, they are under the 250 dollar range too. That might be a good one to check out.

In short, there is no "best". But I'd check out the Akai Headrush, and the Boss is pretty decent for the money.

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Epiphone LP Junior Special Electric Guitar ?

Weap

Can anyone tell me if this would be a good buy for 120? lookin to replace my shitty washburn x10

Answer
Depends on how shitty your Washburn is. It is not in any way, shape or form a major step up (to put it mildly). These lower priced Epiphone guitars is usually bad stuff. The more expensive ones are usually good, but you'll get better value elsewhere.

Personally, I wouldn't play this Epiphone if you paid me good money to do it, but I'd gladly take a Washburn any day and upgrade/fix that.

I agree with the other poster that a Squier is a better instrument. Other options to look at would be Cort, Jay Turser, Ibanez or Samick. In general much, much better instruments than the lower end Epiphone.

Personally, I tend to recommend the Agile brand and the other ones found here: http://www.learnelectricguitarnow.net/agile-electrics - The Agiles will probably be a little too expensive for you, after all we're talking guitars here in the quality league of a good Gibson but for the fraction of the price.

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is there gloves for playing guitar?

rockman

well i have short fat fingers that cant reach accross the fret board,also i have several pieces of broken glass in my fretting hand ,after a few minutes my hand aches terribly.i figured till i get the pieces removed surgically,using a glove could help.

Answer
http://www.fingergloves.com/
i found this, maybe it could work out.

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Very inexpensive guitar?

LT Frizz

Well I'm learning to play guitar, but instead of getting a quality brand beginner acoustic like YAMAHA, my mom, being cheap ordered this $40 one: http://www.amazon.com/Beginner-Acoustic-Carrying-Accessories-Harmonica/dp/B001M4L796
I told her it was pretty cheap for a guitar and probably made out of cheap materials, but she does not listen. She says that since I'm a beginner and I'm just learning, it would be "perfect" for me. She says it can be a good as the higher priced guitars when I learn to play. Imo, it looks like a cheap toy guitar, like First Act. Were not poor trust me, but she just gets me angry when she always buy expensive stuff for herself but cheap crap for me. I haven't gotten the guitar yet, but I'm planning on either sending it back or just keeping it put up. Is this a guitar I can play on at the least or do I need to just hang it up?

Answer
Here's my answer as somebody who's played guitars for the past decade in gigging bands. Feel free to show this to your mother:

I'm fully supportive of buying cheap equipment for people who are just getting into music, but $40 is too cheap. Last Christmas one of my cousins bought a guitar very similar to this one for her son. I played around with it as did my father (a better musician than I am). Neither of us could even play it. We'd tune it and within 30 seconds it would be dreadfully out of tune. Even perfectly tuned the intonation on all the notes would be wrong and chords would sound completely out of tune. And it would only get worse the more we strummed and the further out of tune it went. It's not my first experience with $40 guitars. It's not just that they're bad guitars. They're not even playable for a pro, let alone a beginner. Send it back or it'll end up doing nothing more than being a wall ornament. It's very unlikely to be a playable instrument even if you are a pro.

Inexpensive playable guitars tend to run between $100-$200 new. You can sometimes find great deals on Craigslist, but I'd stay away from $100 Craigslist guitars. Too often that's somebody trying to get rid of a defective and unplayable guitar. A $200 used guitar is generally going to outplay a $200 new guitar substantially though. Cheap musical gear generally runs at nearly half the price used as it does new. (The expensive stuff is nearly as expensive, sometimes more, than it is new on the other hand). If you want to get your son a guitar that is actually playable, $100 is a bare minimum and even that will have defects so troublesome he won't actually be able to play in a band. Maybe around $200 for a used guitar he'll get something inexpensive that will be quality enough to use for awhile.

In music you really do get what you pay for. $40 gets you a wall ornament.

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Help with trying to get the right guitar effects pedal!?!?

redkirby01

I am getting an effects pedal for my guitar and im VERY new to effects pedals so i was wondering what brand would be the best to choose from?


btw im trying to get a paramore kind of sound if you know what i mean.


if you dont here are some of there videos (most of the guitar parts on all of their songs sound the same)

emergency:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JUdBXgDLhBc

Misery buisness:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VEGYgcRFKmc

pressure:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-2pOMAOf9KI

Answer
Okay, here's more information than you need.
Distortion is a sound caused by the electrical wave-form of a guitar signal "clipping," or hitting it's volume limit. Traditionally this came from turning up a vacuum tube amplifier until the signal going through the tubes was more than it could amplify. Today, it's often done with diodes, shorting the signal to ground when it reaches a certain volume. There are three types of distortion:
Overdrive is a "soft-clipped" sound most similar to a tube amp turned up loud. It has a smooth, full, midrange-heavy tone and is usually very sensitive to picking. Pedals for this include the Ibanez Tube Screamer and the Boss SD-1, but they're usually intended more to boost your amp and make the tubes distort than to use on their own.
Distortion is a hard-clipped sound similar to what you get when you really crank a high-gain amp. It makes your tone harsh and usually adds a lot of harmonics. Some examples are the Boss DS-1, Digitech Hot Head, and ProCo Rat.
Fuzz is when you clip the signal so hard it loses its dynamics, so the electrical pulse looks like a square wave. All fuzz pedals have distinct characteristics, but it usually weakens your midrange and emphasizes either bass or treble. It has a buzzy kind of chainsaw sound, normally. Some good fuzz pedals are the Electro-Harmonix Big Muff Pi, the Danelectro Cool Cat Fuzz, and the Dunlop Fuzz Face. Some old fuzz pedals are very rare and sought after, like the Mosrite Fuzzrite, the Univox Superfuzz, and the original Dallas-Arbiter Fuzz Face.
Paramore's guitar tone (like most all modern rock bands) is based on an amp called the Mesa Dual Rectifier. It's pretty much the king of high-gain amps; it can produce incredible amounts of distortion and still sound clear and defined. Assuming you can afford to go out and buy a Recto (which I assume you can't; they're expensive) the tone is still not hard to imitate.
First off, for that sound, you don't need an overdrive or fuzz pedal, you need distortion. And you need a full, bassy distortion. A lot of people will probably recommend the Boss DS-1; it's one of the world's most popular distortions. But it's a very trebly, bright sounding distortion. A lot of great guitarists have used them, but usually those guitarists also had a tube amp turned up to where the extra boost of the distortion would overdrive the tubes and fill in the pedal's lack of low-end richness. Kurt Cobain, for example, of Nirvana, used a DS-1 and later a DS-2 into a Mesa preamp, producing a very thick, harmonic-rich distortion. DS-1 is not what you need. The ProCo Rat comes closer; it was kind of the official distortion pedal of the 80s, but it has also been used a lot in metal. It has a tone control that lets you filter out the really high end of your signal, which keeps it smooth and full. But my personal recommendation is the Electro-Harmonix Big Muff Pi.
Now, I know what you're thinking: "Wow, this guy is seriously obsessed with distortion." No, not that. You were supposed to be thinking "Wait, you said I didn't need a fuzz pedal." And you're right. But the BMP is a very special fuzz; it actually sort of turns into a distortion when you roll of the gain and tone knobs a bit. It has a very dark, heavy sound with a lot of low end punch. For an example of its sound, listen to "Lithium" by Nirvana, or to any Smashing Pumpkins song with any distortion in it.
There are actually a ton of different versions of the Big Muff out there. You might want to check some of them out (like the Metal Muff) but the original pedal still comes in two versions: the New York one and the Russian one. They're easy to tell apart; the one they made in New York is silver, and the Russian one is black. The major difference is that the Russian model is smoother-sounding. I'd recommend it, because it sounds less like a fuzz and more like distortion. It usually sells for around $80 new, $30-50 used; you can get a very good copy, the Behringer VD-1 Vintage Distortion, for about $30 brand new, but it has more of the rough American quality.
If you don't like that, check out Digitech's line of analog distortions, mainly the Hot Head. Digitech makes excellent products, slightly better than Boss in sheer durability, and they tend to sell pretty cheap on ebay. The Hot Head is based on the sound of an overdriven Marshall stack, but it has high and low frequency controls that'll let you dial in a lot of different tones. It doesn't have as much pure gain as the Big Muff, but it should have enough.
Anyway, yeah. Electro-Harmonix, ProCo and Digitech are good ones to check out. The most important thing is to NOT get a digital distortion, it'll make any guitarist's ears fall off and die. YouTube has lots of demo videos.
Hope this helped!

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should i get a right or left handed guitar?

Jeremy

im left handed and im getting a guitar very soon and i don't know which to get. ive played on a friends guitar and lefty just feels so natural and better. i flips sides to see if that would be better but i didn't give it too much of a try cuz it didn't feel right. all the guitars ive seen are for righty and lefty costs too much. if i get a right handed guitar would i be able to learn to play it right handed

Answer
In the long run, you'll be doing yourself a favor by learning on a normal (right handed) guitar. I realize that there are people who feel that because they are left handed, there must be a need to get a left handed guitar. It simply isn't true. The fact is that playing guitar requires you to use both of your hands equally. No matter which hand you favor, the other one is going to feel clumsy for a while. When you're first learning to play, it's the left hand that's doing all the intricate fingering....that should actually give a lefty an advantage.

You might have noticed that there are no left handed pianos. No left handed flutes, saxes, or any other band instrument. Yet left handed people can and do excel at all these instruments. Guitar is no different, except that it is more likely to be self-taught. A self learner is more likely to make assumptions about the need to learn lefty.

As you have correctly noted, left handed guitars are harder to come by, and selection is limited. If you learn lefty, you'll never be able to try or play other guitars. All your instructional material will be backwards. There are a lot of disadvantages to playing lefty...and in my opinion, it's just unnecessary to learn that way. I don't know if there has ever been a poll, but I suspect that the vast majority of left handed people play normal guitars.....the few that don't are the vocal and visible ones. One of the best guitarists I know plays right handed. I've been playing with this guy for over 20 years and just found out he's left handed.

BTW, right handed guitars can be flipped over but unless you restring them your strumming will be strange...with the bass strings on the bottom. Restringing involves a little more than simply putting the strings on backwards....the slots in the nut have to be resized, and the intonation at the bridge has to be reset (almost impossible on an acoustic)

Bottom line is that there are a lot of good reasons to at least try to learn right handed. It can be done, and it is done all the time by left handed people. It's going to feel strange at first...but it does for everybody, left or right handed. At least give right hand guitars a fair try. Your life will be much easier if you do. Best of luck

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youtube guitar video

Jimmy V

could u watch rate and comment on my guitar video?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vcauKz2E6-g
im 13 and its me playing guitar

my other guitar video is
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cZCoAzENcyw

Answer
Hey I watched ur videos and they are good. Plus I love the Cubs(I just got back from Chicago to see their games yesterday) and Sammy Sosa used to be my favorite player. I have a guitar account too. You wanna do sub 4 sub? My account is

http://www.youtube.com/user/MetalMayhem11

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Best Guitar Lesson Book/DVD?

PunkChick

I need your help/opinions on which book/dvd guitar tutorial for beginners is best because there's so many to choose from and i have no idea which one is ideal...
HELP!
Please&&Thankyou :)

Answer
I had used Guitar for Dummies from the FOR DUMMIES series and I thought the introduction and everything was quite easy to understand.It depends on you but I really like that book.

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How to add veneer to a guitar?

Joshua

I have two solid blocks of wood for the body (which is what I'll begin tomorrow) and I don't know if I should apply the veneer at the very beginning. I still need to cut the body's shape out of the blocks and the route the holes for the pickups and wires, etc. so it seems like it would be a lot easier to just glue the veneer first. If I do, then I can treat the veneer and the wood blocks as one single entity and cut each hole a single time. If I don't, then I'll have to cut the holes out of the body and then replicate these holes on the veneer sheets. All the guitar making videos apply the veneer second, but it seems like this might be more efficient?

Answer
I've done a lot of work with veneers in the furniture industry, and in my opinion, it would be too easy to damage when doing the bulk of the work on the body. I would build the body, do the necessary work on it, including any large holes/cavities, then apply the veneer, trim it out around the body and any pockets already installed.... then at the very last, I'd do any tiny hole drilling, being very careful not to gouge the veneer.

Good Luck

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Can I fix a stripped volume knob on a guitar?

fredgarvin

The knob turns and turns but it's not catching, hence I cant turn the guitar up. Its got no volume at all. Can I take off the back of the guitar and fix it myself or should I take it to a pro?

Answer
The knob is stripped on the inside. I doubt it's the spindle that goes from the inside to fit the on the knob it is connected to. They are made of steel. The plastic knob has been stripped and just turns so you need to find out what the spindle looks like. Slide the knob off by pulling straight out. Usually the spindle looks like a half round with a flat side. You need to find a knob that will fit it. There are a lot on ebay. They are pretty standard. There are two types. One fits into the hole and one stays outside the hole. Get the one that matches the knob you have. It does not need to be exactly the same it just needs to have the same notch for the knob. They are pretty standard.
P.S. I have used a trick that sometimes works. Take a wooden match and break it off to fit into the hole in the knob and break it so it won't stick out. then slide the knob on with the match in it and it may take up the extra space so the know will turn again. Also you could take the knob off and use needle nose pliers to turn the spindle instead of a knob.

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What Guitar Lessons Video (maybe for beginners) would you recommend?

gunsnrocke

Answer
I would recommend Rock Guitar steps 1 and 2 distributed by Warner Brothers home video. The teacher is a guy named Nick Nolan. I believe these two videos will teach you more than months worth of lessons from an instructor. I've seen a good bit of videos and I thought the Rock Guitar series were some of the best. Just go to amazon.com and you can find them there on DVD or VHS. GOOD LUCK !

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Is there more than one guitar for Guitar Hero?

Jackie

My son purchased a GH guitar at a garage sale (w/o the game) and then purchased the game at Game Stop, but the guitar doesn't work (lights are on). I'm just wondering if the guitar is broken or if this guitar only works work certain version of Guitar Hero? Any suggestions?

Answer
if i remember right,rockband guitars dont work for guitar hero so that might be the problem

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What kind of electric guitar pickups are best for me?

Z

The second paragraph is my question, the first will be the situation; you can disregard the first half of this question if you don't need that much information.

I've played guitar a little over a year. Though I'm by no means great, I plan on starting lessons in the next few weeks (I've learned everything from time signatures to vibratos to scales to chords to hammer-ons/pull-offs, the circle of fifths, even a few licks on my own). I hope my lessons will take me a little higher in my guitar as I'd like to perform in front of family and friends before 2015. I have 5 guitars; 1 acoustic, 1 acoustic-electric, and 3 electrics. All my guitars have been used and bought rather cheaply, and I have taken them to stores for repairs and putting together some different things. There is a used guitar I would like to get soon, it's a Warbeast electric. Being concerned about spending a few hundred dollars online, I have taken the liberty of reading some reviews on the guitar. Most of which are positive, but have honest feedback about the pickups being terrible, and the headstock being a little weighted, making it no good to play sitting down. I plan on having the guitar shipped to Guitar Center and picking it up there.

Since the pickups are no good on the guitar I am buying, I would like to get pickups for the guitar that will, more or less, be my type. I enjoy a more thrash metal type of sound (my favorite band is Anthrax), but I want a little bit of versatility--not a lot, mind you, but just enough to where I can play it without distortion as well as with a pedal or two. I've never purchased pickups, nor do I know the first thing about them. I want to be able to play some really speedy licks, but also be able to tone down to, say, a nice slow opening like Metallica's "Welcome Home (Sanitarium)". What kind of pickups should I look for?

I will call ahead to a local guitar shop to get the pickups and some new strings put on the guitar the first day of having it, so I'm not too worried about price as long as it's between $1 - $200, I have time to save up and get the right option. What would you recommend?

PS. I would also like to change tunings on my guitar for things like "Walk" by Pantera (Drop D), though I will not go lower than a whole step down on all strings (DGCFAF)

If needed, the specifics of the guitar are (as provided by the website:)
"Construction: bolt on
Body wood: basswood
Top style: beveled
Headstock style: SOB 3 to a side
Headstock color: black
Tuners: sealed die cast
Neck wood: maple
Neck radius: 12"
Back of neck: satin
Neck binding: none
Nut width: 43mm
Fretboard: rosewood
Inlay: none
Frets: 22 jumbo 2.7mm
Factory strings: 9-42
Scale: 25-1/2"
Bridge type: tune-o-matic
Tailpiece type: string-through-body
Pickups: 2 black plastic covered BC Rich humbuckers
Controls: 1 volume, 1 tone and 1 three-way toggle
Hardware: chrome
Finish: glossy"
EDIT: Yes, I need to get the really good ones. But what pickups ARE really good for thrash metal type of music?
EDIT: Guitar is $500. All my other guitars are actually pretty nice, They've just been used (all of them are $300 or more brand new, but I saved about $50 by just buying them off friends and hooking them up with some new strings and a new nutstock etc.) I just want to add a Warbeast for design and to have some fun. It's not a bad guitar, just that it's not an extravagant $2000 one. I'm getting a $1300 Floyd Rose with a whammy soon. That's why I said I'd pay up to 200 in pick-ups. Because some nice pickups in a semi-nice guitar would be awesome to me.
EDIT: It says it's got 2 humbuckers, though I'm not exactly sure what those mean. I appreciate the help, I really do, I hope I don't come across as a bit of an ass, I've just been looking at the guitar and customer reviews are all very positive but mention that the pickups are a bit muddy and that the headstock is weighted (which isn't surprising because the guitar is a Warbeast so it has one of the ridiculously huge headstocks)
EDIT: Cnewshadow: 1) No, I'm not fluent in specifics of guitars, which is why I'm asking about different things first.
2) I'm bothering with this one because I'm not great with adjusting the tension of the bridge on a Floyd Rose. Yes, I know, the brand is not Floyd Rose, I've had one before, almost bought a second one and changed my mind because I was going to wait until I was better with swapping the strings on it. It's a Synyster Gates signature Schecter guitar, brand new could be upwards of $1300, I'm sure if you looked around you could get it for about $700 used, which is still more than I'm paying for it (friend likes drop tunings, was not smart when he bought the guitar for $1300, he wants to get rid of it and nobody wants to pay $500 for it).
3) I'm not dead set on the Warbeast, mainly because there's a few Explorer guitars I've been wanting, but I am still seriously considering the Warbeast simply because it'll be nice to have it,

Answer
You don't know much about guitars do you?

1) The Warbeast is a piece of junk. I wouldn't buy one at all if I were you. Low end BC Rich guitars are marketed toward people that don't know much about guitars and get them because they look cool. Getting better pickups will not help that guitar much.

Keep in mind that since it is marketed to people who don't know much about guitars, it is reviewed by people who don't know much about guitars. The reports you're reading about the pickups being bad are most likely being caused by the fact that the reviewers are playing through a little 15 watt practice amp and blame the thin, tinny sound on the guitar instead of the amp. Those same people probably have several guitars that have "terrible pickups" and it never dawns on them that maybe the amp they are playing through is the problem.

And in most cases, the people doing the review are comparing them to their first guitar, which was likely a Squier or a First Act or something similar. Naturally, it will be awesome compared to those guitars. If you can find even one professional musician who plays a Warbeast, I will be very surprised.

2) If you're getting a $1300 guitar soon, why are you bothering with this one? For the record, Floyd Rose is the name of the type of bridge the guitar has, most likely NOT the name of the company that made the guitar.

3 If you're dead set on buying the Warbeast despite my warning, look into the following brands and models of pickup:

Seymour Duncan: Duncan Distortion, Invader, Dimebucker, JB. The Invader and Dimebucker are a little thin sounding for my taste, but you might like them.

DiMarzio: Dominion, Crunch Lab, X2N, D-Activator, Super Distortion, Breed, Evolution. Of that group, I like the Dominion and D-Activator the best.

Bare Knuckle: Warpig, Aftermath, Painkiller, Cold Sweat (these are very expensive, I'm just including them for completeness)

All of those pickups are humbuckers, which is 2 pickups placed side by side so the magnetic fields cancel each other out and eliminate unwanted noise from the pickups.

4) You really should wait until you actually have the guitar and know what it sounds like before you plan to change the pickups. Doing it the way you are is like buying a car and getting a new engine for it before you've ever driven it.

EDIT:

I'd opt for something like this over the Warbeast: http://www.guitarcenter.com/In-Store-Used-USED-LTD-MH1000-DELUXE-TRANS-BLACK-QUILT-108832711-i3123533.gc

Goes for $800 new, Guitar Center has a used one for $549. And it already has an EMG 81/85 pickup set, so no changing of pickups will be necessary. So, you could buy the Warbeast for $500 and spend an additional $200 changing the pickups, or you could just buy the ESP for $549 and be set.

I actually kind of like the Synyster Gates signature model. It's not a bad guitar. I think it looks a little goofy, but it's a quality axe underneath the gaudiness. I have a Schecter Avenger myself, which is the body style his signature model is. It's surprisingly comfortable to play, even with the upper horn sticking out like that.

String swapping on a Floyd Rose isn't hard, but I can see how string tension would be a pain in the butt.

If you got one of these you wouldn't have to worry about that anymore, basically turns a Floyd Rose into a fixed bridge, and you can unlock it if you want to use the tremolo again: http://www.guitarcenter.com/Allparts-Tremol-No-Tremolo-Locking-Device---Pin-Type-H71947-i1820306.gc

Here's a video that might help: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dzBLysvmPy0

I change my strings one at a time so I don't have to block anything off, but the way he's doing it works just fine.

Note: If your friend is selling his Schecter cheap because he doesn't understand how to adjust the bridge on it.....JUMP ON IT NOW BEFORE HE FINDS ONE OF THESE VIDEOS!

You can drop tune just fine with a Floyd, you just have to make sure you adjust your spring tension to counteract the change in string tension and gauge.

Watch the video I linked you to, and when your friends are idiots and buy expensive guitars they don't know how to work on, you can get them cheap because you'll know what they don't :P

If you have questions about how to change tunings with a Floyd, ask here and either I'll try and walk you through it or someone else who knows about them will (Ask in Performing Arts, that's where the serious musicians hang out)

(I wasn't trying to be a jerk about my answer, I was just having a bad day so I was a little more sarcastic than usual)

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What should I do for a kill switch on guitar?

futbolboy2

I want to install a kill switch on my guitar, but at the same time, I am nervous about messing with all the electronics, because I don't really know what I'm doing with it. Currently, I imitate a kill switch by turning the bass tone knob on the guitar to 0, and the treble tone knob to 10. In order to kill the tone, I toggle back and forth between the pickup selectors. It works pretty well, but it doesn't completely cut out the bass tone, so I want a more effective solution.

Thanks

Answer
I did this to my guitar a while ago. The nice thing is it's incredibly easy to do and you don't need to mess with what's already there - you're just tacking something on to the end.

You can get the parts from any electronics supplier, like Radio Shack. You'll need a switch. This can be a toggle switch, but I much prefer a pushbutton. If you get a pushbutton, get a momentary push-to-make switch. You'll also need some 24 guage wire.

Solder two bits of wire (maybe like 10cm each) onto two legs of the switch (middle leg and one of the outside legs if it's a toggle switch). Drill a hole in your scratchplate and mount the switch in it. Now solder one of the switch wires to your signal wire, and the other to ground. The signal wire is the one that connects to the tip of the output jack.

Now when the switch is closed, you ground the signal, causing the output to fall silent.

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Guitar Recording Gear?

Robert

Ok i wanna know if theres any cheap device that i can record my music and singing on and if there is can you send the link to me and it needs to be simple please thanks

Answer
I highly recommend the Olympus WS-100 digital voice recorder. For personal recording it's fantastic. Sounds great, small, easy to use, plenty of capacity, and connects to your computer via USB as a flash drive.

I got this for my daughter to record her composition ideas. She loves it.

(This device probably wouldn't work too well for recording high volume levels, like a full band.)

Although Amazon sells it for $63, you can pick one up for a little over $30 from Amazon Marketplace sellers or eBay.

Hope this helps. Good luck!

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