Guitarist Wankery Depository

Yeah, you have my number, Chris! I started out playing bass six years ago and it's still my main focus, but I've been playing guitar properly for four years, too. I'm in a rock band and have been in a few since my teens. Being more of a rhythm guitarist, I can't really relate to the lead question (I can't "solo" solo) but I am fascinated by the act of playing, be it plucking, strumming, fretting, etc. Even fairly standard performance-driven music videos work for me!

I've been thinking of starting this thread for ages. Kudos, Chris! You gave it a better title than I would have.

I've been playing guitar off/on for about 15 years or so. I'm really, really out of practice and I've lost almost all of my endurance, unfortunately.

I've never been in a real band, but I joined in for practice sessions with a buddy of mine who WAS in a band (this was years ago). They did ask me if I was actually interested in taking my playing to the next level and performing with them, but I declined; I didn't feel confident enough in my abilities at the time. I don't think that I've EVER been at a performance level.

In an attempt to prevent anyone quoting my "I'm in a rock band" admission from above and quipping "no kidding?", I was just being clear. My user title could be misinterpreted as a straightforward Pilgrim homage.

Chris:

THANK YOU for making this thread. For some reason, it's giving me the motivation to rip back into my guitar tonight after work.

I'll need to take a pic of my guitar and post it on here sometime. I've got a Guild Brian May (one of only 500 made) that's simply gorgeous.

I'm writing a bass-line for a new song right now and it's really got me in the mood for a practice! Anyone else got any songs on the go, at the minute? Does anyone write lyrics to accompany their fret fiddlings? I used to jot lyrics first, then try to arrange music for it later. Lately, though, I've been working the other way (and very much enjoying it.) The aforementioned song is quite a driving number and I'm torn between going for a very simple, Dealesque, punchy bass-line to back up the heavy chords or something a little busier.

I think Van Read is a guitarist. And a creep.

That's very much the way our guitarist is. I love sticking on the headphones for a blast now and again, but, for the most part, I keep it unplugged and try to do a little bit as much as possible. It's been a massive help in tightening up.

What sort of music did July play? My main teenage band was Moral-Panic (I've talked about this a little elsewhere, so I'll be brief.) We formed while studying for our A-Levels - our penultimate high school year, as it were - and played some very fast, very aggressive hardcore punk. The band started up just months after I got my first bass which forced me to up my game considerably. It was a lot of fun while it lasted, despite us never finding a regular drummer. That was where my admiration of Matt Freeman was at its highest.

I'm normally a bass player. Have been for about...*does math in head* Holy crap!...25 years! I started playing bass because I wanted to play in a band and the guys I was hanging out with needed a bass player. Simple as that.

I started as a strictly heavy metal play in the pocket type of player but soon found that I was bored out of my mind doing that. (It may have been my one hundredth go 'round of Autograph's Turn Up The Radio that did it). I switched gears after hearing Mark King from Level 42 play his bass as a lead instrument. I realized that the bass can be so much more then what I was playing. That started a whole love affair with pop, then prog, then straight up rock and roll.

More recently I've been switching to 12 Bar blues. I like the groove. I also like the interplay between drummer and bass player as they support the guitar. I've also started picking up the guitar as a rhythm player or playing Mississippi style blues.

I've been "playing" off and on for... fuck, don't feel like counting. Since I was in 6th grade (I'm 28 now).

Took about a six-seven year break where I was heavily into deejaying/electronic music production (still do that when I'm booked for gigs, just don't "pursue" it like I used to). Just picked up the six-string again about three years ago.

I'm really not all that great (I'm humble too, haha). I'm self taught, and in my early years, really only fucked about with "easy" type stuff (i.e. Nirvana, Face to Face, various punk stuff).

I've mainly learned everything through learning other band's songs. Never officially been in a band before, though the past year or so I've finally been jamming with various musical acquaintances.

Since picking it up again, I've been forcing myself to branch out and giving myself lessons through various DVDs, etc. Also trying to learn more "traditional" stuff like blues and all that in an effort to expand my previously non-existent lead qualities.

I'm a huge Tool fan, and their catalog was the first guitar stuff I learned after jumping back into everything. It's all quite easy in a way, but really helped me get a grasp on odd time signatures and structure, two things that interest the prog-geek in me far more than noodling away on fast lead rips.

I'm also a really big (ducks flying objects) effects guy. Love getting in there and creating odd sounds to compliment everything else. I jam with a guy who's got tons and tons of synths, and likes to create a kind of dub-based feel. It's fun.

When I'm not writing stuff myself, I've been trying to master a lot of Mastodon stuff, as well as Zeppelin and Floyd to further expand my horizons. That stuff is a bitch for me to play though.


I have an absolute rubbish amp that's going to get replaced come Xmas bonus time (looking at various Orange amps, the classic Marshall jcm800's, or possibly a VHT/Fryette Pitbull).

My main baby is a Les Paul Standard (Desert Burst). I also have a Mexi-strat and an Ibanez 7 string (can't remember the model). Bought an Ibanez soundgear bass for fiddling with as well.

I've had a decent electric guitar for probably ten years now, but never learned to play it. Since I'm recently single (divorced), I might start trying to teach myself how to play this year or next. I can't afford lessons and, being a dad with a full-time job, I probably couldn't squeeze them in anyway. So I'd like to ask you guys, do you think learning by watching videos is an insanely difficult and tedious way to go? I'm pretty sure YouTube will end up being one of my teachers. Hopefully there are some good guitar lesson DVDs out there as well.

If you DO watch any videos, make sure that they concentrate on the proper form. Get used to fretting the neck correctly vs the easy way; that's a bad habit to break later on, trust me.

Hints? I'm probably doing it so badly it'd make you puke.

I've seen many people GRAB the neck, putting their thumb over the top and angling their fingers down the fret board. If your hands are big enough, you can make this work by using your thumb as the top part of a barre chord (like Jimi Hendrix did). Most people can't do this, though.

I've been playing bass for about 16 years now, though I haven't been in a band in ages and I'm way out of practice. My old band mates and I jammed recently and it was great fun, but Christ did we sound awful. I taught myself and I can only play my own songs (I write lyrics as well) so I ended up with a fairly wonky style, a lot of odd times and weird scales. I'm left handed but I play right. I've also dabbled in electronics and engineering. I really want to get back into music, I've been contemplating an experimental 1 man band album for a while now.

Fucker. I wanted to get one of those so bad it hurt. Walked into the St Charles Guitar Exchange in St Charles, MO back in the early 90s with cash in my pocket and the guys wouldn't let me try the thing out. First time they asked me to wait until everyone else had left the store. Second time they let me try it out, but wouldn't allow me to use a pick lest I "damage" it.

I gave up on the BM model at that point and went on to Telecasters. Mostly.

My walnut partscaster put together with stuff I bought from the guys on the Telecaster Discussion Page Re-Issue.




My mainstays...the Dark Rose, the Red Queen (Custom Tele FMT) and the Terrycaster (my main axe...if I need it to sound *right* it gets played by the Terrycaster)




El Gato Loco...an Epi Wildkat with dog-ear P90s and a bigsby.



Tiger Lilly...another Epi Wildkat. Gold hardware and the prettiest flame top I've seen. This was a factory second...and dirt cheap.



I play weekly with a group for a local recovery meeting. In addition, I do songwriting and recording as I can find the time. Not HEAVY into it these days, but that's not for lack of desire. Also have a 5-string Peavey Grind and a 4-string Cort Curbow bass to make use of. I started off playing bass so that helps my timing and sense of taste on guitar.

I've been playing on and off since 15, taken lessons every now and then but mostly self taught. I have a Stratocaster copy (one of those guitars given to people who can't afford the real thing). When I was around 18 or so, I really wanted to become a musician but discovered I didn't have the discipline, I still pick it up every now and then just noodling around playing various riffs and chord patterns.

Which reminds me, I need to get some new strings and a new tuner, I could never get the hang of doing it by ear.

My parents gave me piano and drum lessons as a kid, and while I can still play those, I of course perversely chose to go my own way and teach myself to play guitar (I borrowed my sister's acoustic guitar one day when I was home sick from school, and took my Beatles piano book and learned the chords pictured above the scales).

Played in a few bands, some drums, some bass, but mostly rhythm guitar (I played some lead, but I have fairly clumsy fingers, and only a so-so ear, so I'm better slashing out power chords than shredding).

And although The Beatles inspired me to start playing, the guy that actually got me to seriously try to do more than strum along was John Fogerty: his bluesy style was so clean and simple that it was incredibly easy to pick up and start to learn riffs and lead parts (and unlike Keef, he didn't go in for those frustrating weird tunings: when you play "Green River" on a regularly-tuned guitar, it damn well sounds like "Green River.").

About six months ago, I took my guitar out of storage (where it had been for the better part of twenty years) and started practicing again. It's a pretty funky hollow-body electric: some no-name Chinese axe from the 70's that (apart from the string count) looks exactly like a Hofner Beatle bass. Has a really nice sound, particularly for the blues and rockabilly that I enjoy playing most.

Promised myself that if I keep to a regular practice regimen for the next few months, I will save up for a new guitar (probably a used Mexican Strat or Telecaster) for Christmas. So far, so good.

While my form isn't the best, I'm sure, I certainly don't grab the neck. Although, my hands certainly aren't big, so that was never really an option anyway.

I tend to keep my thumb sort of parallel to the length of the fretboard, roughly in the middle as a sort of "anchor."

I need everything I can get to make my fingers fret chords/strings without muting others. It's extremely hard for me to form certain chords because my fingers aren't quite long enough to totally arch them over the fretboard like most guitarists.

Hence... my love for dropped tunings. Ha. Trying to break out of that though.

Teledork: here it is, my pride and joy -


I bought it on April 30th, 1994 as a present to myself. The Guitar Center that I bought it from had THIS one and one of the green ones (which was pretty cool, too).

Chris: you'll be proud to know that I put in about an hour's worth of practice last night. My fingertips are killing me this morning...

I have a nice Fender Jaguar custom I'll post a pic of when I can find it. I had a bass pickup installed between the two guitar pickups, and had the bottom tone knob turned into a volume control for it's extra output. I put a DOD Classic Fuzz on it and plug the second output into a bass amp and its pure RAAAAAWWWWR when "ignited". It really fattened up the sound and adds a nice compliment to the guitar tone.

It'll only take a few weeks to get those calluses back Judas.

Bass Guitar here. I pick it back up again every once in awhile. I've been playing almost as long as Ryan (24 years). It was actually the 3rd instrument I learned (started out on Alto Saxaphone, then switched to Tuba and picked up Bass Guitar for Jazz). I've always had a passion for music; however, the pragmatic side of me realized that there wasn't a whole lot of money to be made being a musician so I put it to the side to follow other opportunities.

I'll post a pic of my Les Paul later.

Here's a level of geekdom we can mine: what picks do you all favor? I'm quite fond of the gray Dunlop .88's myself. A good bit of flex to them, but they're also stiff enough to really bite into the strings when you want.


After I get a new amp (first priority) and a couple of effects pedals I'm craving, I'm going on the hunt for an older Les Paul (have totally fallen in love with those guitars). I really want a mid-late 70s Les Paul Custom, preferably Tobacco Burst. Drooooooooooooooooool. Extra drool if someone never installed the pickguard. Not holding my breath on that one though.

You'll laugh, but I typically will use either the thickest picks that I can find OR quarters. I like the sound that I get.

Do yourself a favor and try to find an Ibanez Custom Agent. Same time period...maybe a little later...and WAY better than the Gibson product from that time period. The Ibanez "Tri-Sound" pickups are almost universally lauded. The only issue you may have with the custom agent is that they went a little overboard with the binding and inlay. And by "little" I mean OMFG. But you can't argue that anyone will mistake your guitar for his, y'know?

http://www.rockin-chair.ch/Pics/aarc...banez_CA73.jpg

JB, that's a sweet sweet looking instrument. I've not really *regretted* turning to teles, but one looks at that and wonders what might have been. Brian May is about my fave guitarist ever. And those are dynamite guitars. Thanks for sharing that.

ETA: I tend to use the dunlop tortex .88 green picks myself. Unless I can get me some of them Fender custom shop mediums in green mother of toilet seat. Then I use those.

Tele: if I ever decide to sell it, you've got first dibs.

I know a lot of people who really go for thick ass picks. I tend to use a harder attack (again, something I've been trying to get away from these last few years), so I like a little flex. I used to use picks that were damn near paper thin when I was stuck in the mire of overly-simply punk music back in the day.

I've used a quarter before just dicking around. Waaaaaaaay too hard for me, haha.

I know Ronald Jones (former Flaming Lips guitarist) used to love to use quarters.

I've been playing since I was in junior high, but I just finished selling off my guitars because I needed the money. My baby was a Les Paul silverburst custom. This thread makes me a sad panda.

By holiday time I'm hoping to have enough saved up to buy it back though.

Boy, Adam Jones (Tool) has really made those things popular now. It's hard to imagine how their rise in popularity isn't inextricably linked to the rise of silverbursts (of all kinds) popping up now, including reissues of the Les Paul Customs (was your an "original?").

Beautiful guitars, though. I'd want one myself, but I'm SUCH a Tool freak that I wouldn't want to look like I'm tracking down all their gear as well. Ha.


Speaking of picky pick users (god help me for that one...), read up on Robert Fripp. He has an interesting predilection for authentic tortoise shell picks.



ETA: In re: to Chris' string post...

I love the Ernie Ball Skinny Top/Heavy Bottoms. (.52-.10, I believe).

I've always used the ghs boomers, the thickest that I can get. If it's good enough for SRV, it's good enough for me. Yes, they're hard to bend, but that extra work creates a great tone.

It was an '85 original that my uncle gave me. I don't really know anything about Tool besides having heard of them, but it's a great guitar so I can see why they'd use them.

Given to you? You lucky so and so.

Adam Jones has raved at length about some special tone he hears due to the paint (which isn't used on the newer ones).

Those stories make me squirm and cringe more than ANY horror film I've ever seen.

SRV's fingers deserve an entry in a "non-lethal" version of a "Bad for them" list.

I've never heard that before. That's pretty hardcore.

I'm glad that I got to see SRV 3 weeks before he died. I still break out that concert shirt from time to time.

Yeah, that shit's tough to bend and it really wears you out to play, but that tone is just awesome.

D'Addario XL110 strings across the board, except for the Red Queen, which gets XL120s.

I saw SRV and Jeff Beck together back in the late 80s. Made me not want to pick up a guitar for weeks.

Playing a 7th barre is simply a matter of lifting your pinky off the D string, is it not? Assuming you're using the E chord shape for your barre.

Are you thinking about the barre 7th-add-5?

I own a Les Paul studio, jet black with silver accents. The best guitar I've ever played, save for my dad's original '67 Jag. Ernie Balls are my string of choice - I can't stand D'Addario's.

Ahh, yes, I had that problem for years. What I do is roll my index finger so the knuckles are facing the headstock slightly. For some reason, that gives me a better capo.

Or, you could just barre a d-7 shape chord. All depends on what phrasing you prefer.

Chris...didn't I read somewhere that you used to cover 'Bears' from Zebra? You went up a whole lotta points in my book for that.

It must have been someone else, then. As I recall, it was in a thread where we were all defending One Hit Wonders and I chimed in on Saga and Zebra. I'll see if I can dig that thread up to find out who the Chewer was who covered that song.

And you don't lose any points with me; we agree too much on guitarists.

Awesome. Thanks for the links. I'm checkin' them out now.

I think Flea did that superglue thing at one point also.