Guitar Playing and gear thread

[redbreegull]

some of us are still using single coil pickups that buzz like hell even with everything turned off

[Cool As Ice Cream]

man, this fucking sucks and brings a tear of sadness to my eye.

[cork_soaker]

truly

[Cool As Ice Cream]

literally

[Disco King]

Anybody have tips on pinch harmonics? Like, doing them is easy, the hard part is mixing them in with regular picking so that you can regular-pick and pinch the notes you want with precision (like, getting that one squealy note in a riff, or, even harder, in a solo). I can't really move the pick in my hand to the pinch grip in the middle of playing, I can only do squealies if I'm holding the pick that way the whole way through.

I've read some people say that your fingers should always be really close to the tip of the pick anyway so that you can do squealies with your regular pick grip, but I find that holding the pick that way makes my knuckles have way too much contact with the strings, and I'm more likely to hit strings I don't want to or get snagged and slow down.

I've probably been holding my pick wrong this whole time. I tend to hold it between my thumb and index finger pads. I just found out recently that you should hold it on the side of your index finger rather than on the pad. Making this change hasn't been too difficult for me, and it still feels natural. But, the thing about letting very little of the pick peek through, I find that troublesome because it leads to the aforementioned problems.

Originally Posted by slunken

why would you have your fuzz pedal switched on when you're not playing through it?

>What are rests

Originally Posted by slunken

i mean, these foot switches were created for a reason. they can be turned on and off with ease.

if you're just standing there, resting for 14 bars, turn the goddam thing off or roll down your volume, something. or if you're recording, fade down the parts where you're not actually playing anything.

Is the idea of wanting to cut out unnecessary noise really foreign or something? I thought noise gates were used is more than just the genre of music I play, but it's not very often that I get out of my little bubble of electric neo-Joik/Yuefu-house fusion.

[teh b0lly!!1]

actually i experimented with noise gates back in the day and you can do really cool shit with it.

i fed a synth to the sidechain function of a noise gate plugin, and created loops with the patterns i wanted. you can control the length of each note, have it 'perform' patterns and the noise gate responds accordingly. i reckon that to use that in a song you would need to apply a good measure of good taste, as things could quickly plunge to cheap trance rave party territory (only with guitar) but it's cool shit.

this song features a pretty cool example of such noise gate usage around 2/3 through.

[Elphenor]

Porcupine tree ew

[Disco King]

It's not "a little noise" that I'm cutting out, it's noise that can be almost at the level of the actual playing. It sounds like shit. It's gone now. Why is that so scandalous.

No, I can't just turn up the amp, because then the noise goes up with it. Also, I live in an apartment.

Just because I like things to sound a little less like shit doesn't mean I listen to prog metal. In fact, it kind of implies the opposite.

And the Phrygian mode is pretty cool. I put that shit over everything.

[Elphenor]

What wah pedal do I get

Is that what they call it

Wah wicky Wah whicky Wah wicky Wah

That one.

[Elphenor]

I need to sound the least like RATM tho good god no

[Disco King]

Originally Posted by Poots

This sounds like your amp and/or guitar is fucked up. You need to stop buying more pedals to fix the problem and open up the amp and see if you can fix it. Leave the power on so that you'll know when you find the trouble spot. When you have located it, burn some solder over all the parts to shield them. If you can't find the problem, just start dropping solder all over the circuit board until it stops. If solder covers the entire board, it is safely shielded from interference.

There isn't bad noise if I play clean. It's the noise from the guitar amplified by the pedals that does it. Sometimes even get radio stations. I probably just need to shield the guitar.

Originally Posted by Elphenor

What wah pedal do I get

Is that what they call it

Wah wicky Wah whicky Wah wicky Wah

That one.

I don't have a wah, but Dunlop Crybaby and Box Wah are the most popular. I'm looking to get a mini Crybaby to save space.

I used to have a Boss wah that had presets to sound like other models, but I wasn't a big fan of it (no spring, and it weirdly came with built-in distortion).

Originally Posted by Elphenor

I need to sound the least like RATM tho good god no

That's DigiTech Whammy.

How you make these pedals sound is in how you play them, though. You won't sound like RATM unless you take your shirt off and draw anarchist symbol on your chest.

[run2pee]

Originally Posted by Elphenor

What wah pedal do I get

Is that what they call it

Wah wicky Wah whicky Wah wicky Wah

That one.

I got the Dunlop Hendrix Wah, it kicks ass for both leads and chords in my opinion, really versatile depending on where u put your gain, and as a bonus at its most extreme trebly position (all the way down) I can produce feedback at low volumes which I can then move around the fretboard in a pumpkinsy way...think the outro to porcelina for example

[slunken]

At disco king - have you tried the obvious method of unchaining everything and listening to the sounds one by one as you reintroduce each piece back into the chain? Does any of the noise stop when you touch the jack on your guitar or the strings or any other bit of metal?

I almost want to say whatever you are using for gain/distortion has a bad capacitor.

What is your chain?

At Elph - Dunlop for sure

[Elphenor]

I'm selling my car and getting a bike now that I've figured I can take the bus to school and with a bike it'd be about a 30 minute trip to work

I hate driving and mostly the car just sits outside my trailer

So I'm gonna have a few thousand that I want to put into music equipment the wah pedal is first on the list

[Elphenor]

I'm considering getting a keyboard I feel like I'd get a ton of use out of learning it, I'd play the Organ setting a lot underneath my guitar playing

can "and gear" mean non-guitar related music gear

[slunken]

Okay you just spent $60

At the wah comment

[Elphenor]

I'll probably get a legit amp as well I've noticed the amp you play through can make a world of difference

[redbreegull]

have none of you ever played a single coil pickup seriously they fucking howl on the clean channel if you turn your body the wrong way.

[run2pee]

Originally Posted by Elphenor

I'll probably get a legit amp as well I've noticed the amp you play through can make a world of difference

Elph oh holy sht you're gonna have fun auditioning tube amps. For your bright trebly thing there's a thing called a Fender Blues line of amps and some of em got the sparkliest crystalline tinglies

Also recommend shopping for a good head AFTER buying your cab and use same cab with each. There's cab makers online where u can customize the specs, looks, and speakers: I got an Avatar cab and I love it liked dealing with them

[Elphenor]

I have this thing against anything "Fender" where I feel like it's "playing teen spirit in Guitar Center poseur" brand tho I play a Fender Strat just because it happened to be the first thing that was given to me

Idk the way they market themselves as like "buy this and be a Rockstar!" do you know what I mean

[redbreegull]

Originally Posted by Elphenor

I have this thing against anything "Fender" where I feel like it's "playing teen spirit in Guitar Center poseur" brand tho I play a Fender Strat just because it happened to be the first thing that was given to me

Idk the way they market themselves as like "buy this and be a Rockstar!" do you know what I mean

but it's actually gibson who is in bed with guitar center.

[Elphenor]

Gibson as well really

Im not sure how to articulate what I mean other than it feels phony it doesn't feel like the tools of someone trying to make music the same way an author writes a book it feels like playing dress up

[run2pee]

Originally Posted by Elphenor

I have this thing against anything "Fender" where I feel like it's "playing teen spirit in Guitar Center poseur" brand tho I play a Fender Strat just because it happened to be the first thing that was given to me

Idk the way they market themselves as like "buy this and be a Rockstar!" do you know what I mean

By all means try everything, play old dirty tube amps from sears, it's just that line of amps struck me as fitting some of the sounds you're chasing

[Elphenor]

The made in Mexico black and white Strat feels right to me though because of the simplicity of it

I'm not trying to make any statement with the instrument I'm playing I'd rather no one notice it at all

[run2pee]

Originally Posted by Elphenor

The made in Mexico black and white Strat feels right to me though because of the simplicity of it

I'm not trying to make any statement with the instrument I'm playing I'd rather no one notice it at all

Been playing a Mexican strat for about 20 years, still haven't found a guitar as versatile or playable

[redbreegull]

tbh with a few exceptions I don't think "non-traditional" electric guitar makers have really succeeded in creating good alternatives to Fender and Gibson. There are makers who have captured significant attention in niche markets, but as versatile instruments with lots of unique character and sound, virtually nothing can touch the classic designs of the strat, the tele, the les paul, the sg.

[reprise85]

Gibson as well really

Im not sure how to articulate what I mean other than it feels phony it doesn't feel like the tools of someone trying to make music the same way an author writes a book it feels like playing dress up

just play your guitar you pretentious dork

[reprise85]

Originally Posted by Run To Me

Been playing a Mexican strat for about 20 years, still haven't found a guitar as versatile or playable

i have a mexi strat too. i havent played it in like 5 years and it has a short but it was my baby. i almost traded it for $100 in drugs once. the guy changed his mind, if not i wouldn't have it anymore

[reprise85]

Originally Posted by redbreegull

tbh with a few exceptions I don't think "non-traditional" electric guitar makers have really succeeded in creating good alternatives to Fender and Gibson. There are makers who have captured significant attention in niche markets, but as versatile instruments with lots of unique character and sound, virtually nothing can touch the classic designs of the strat, the tele, the les paul, the sg.

I like the feel of PRS guitars but they are stupid expensive and i hate carlos santana

[Elphenor]

why can't music be serious