(Part 2) Top products from r/guitars

Funny, I've all but completely started playing and I've been trying to learn theory because I'm very much afraid of being stuck in a rut for years on end. So a few months ago I purchased Desi Serna's Guitar Theory For Dummies and have read through about half of it. I bought the book, but maybe, perhaps, a PDF of the book is floating around somewhere. With a small amount of generic music theory knowledge already at hand, the book does well to explain some useful and interesting scales and chords in music, as well as how to apply them specifically to guitar. What I have read thus far has certainly enhanced my understanding of music, and it may help you as well, if you are willing to go this route. Also, I have acquired some great theory knowledge from one of my favorite YouTube instructor channels, Swiftlessons, if you want to check his stuff out. Rob, the channel owner, has recently covered the basics of jazz style, BTW. I really enjoy his videos. For some more obscure/advanced stuff, I watch videos from Eric Haugen, a professionally trained guitarist who likes to share interesting theory tips and apply them to the music he likes. Good luck!

Being in the Industrial Arts, you have a leg-up on most people. There isn't any reason that someone like you should be at all discouraged from moving your skills over to guitar repair--unless you desire to make a big pile of money.

In any case, there are so many free/cheap resources available these days, combine those with cheap used guitars on the market that can be purchased cheap--especially if there's something wrong with them, which is what you want.

The books of Dan Erlewine, specifically "Guitar Player's Guide to Guitar Repair", and "How to Make Your Guitar Play Great" are both very good. Erlewine is a consultant with the guitar tools and supply house Steward-Mac, and they produce many good videos on various topics (some which you can find on YouTube).

https://www.stewmac.com/

The book "The Player's Guide to Guitar Maintenance" is not super in-depth, but I do like it because of its well done illustrations and photos:

https://www.amazon.com/Players-Guide-Guitar-Maintenance/dp/0879305495

Any of the books or videos of John Carruthers are recommended (some of his videos are on YouTube). The YouTube channel for Crimson Guitars is a wealth of info:

https://www.youtube.com/user/CrimsonCustomGuitars

My favorite book on guitar electronics is a bit dated--you're not going to find the latest pickups mentioned--but it's a great primer on the subject, and you can read it free in your browswer (Craig Anderton's: "Guitar Electronics for Musicians")

https://www.scribd.com/doc/2154081/Craig-Anderton-Guitar-Electronics-for-Musicians

Also, many of the pickup makers have resources on their sites can be informative. And reading forums that are for specific makes of guitars--like the Rickenbacker forum, or the G&L forum--can often contain input from employees of those companies, so you can read what experts on the guitars have to say.

I'm not good with paint and finishes, so I'll let someone else cover that.

I recommend listening to "The Luthierist" podcast, if for no other reason than it can be encouraging to hear other's struggles in the industry:

https://theluthierist.podbean.com/

I recommend the various YouTube videos of Phillp McKnight for general guitar information:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEzJtFWNg7d7TZW7K9JyXmw

I could go on for quite a while because there are some many resources--in a way, one of your biggest challenges is to find the nuggets of wisdom among the vast ocean of opinions.

A nice looking guitar! Because these are entry-level guitars for beginners, there are a few things that can be upgraded for cheap that are totally worth it. For example, one of the first things I would do on that guitar for a beginner is to get some straplocks. These replace the strap buttons with ones that "lock" the strap onto the instrument, preventing it from falling off when you're playing. The next thing I'd upgrade would be the nut. That one is cheap plastic. A nut like this would make a world of difference. Last but not least, the tuning machine heads are low quality. Your guitar will need to be tuned way too often with the stock ones. Upgrading to something more stable would be a good idea in the long run. You can even upgrade the pickups for cheap. High end pickups cost hundersd of dollars, but cheap ones sound great too! Go to eBay or Amazon and check out some of the very cheap "single coil" guitar pickups. Basically all of them will fit in your guitar, and how-to videos are all over YouTube. Pickups change the way guitars sound. You can get them for as low as $10 and as high as $200. Experimentation is key!



However, when you do the math, once you start doing substantial upgrades, it becomes pointless. You can just buy a better intermediate guitar for nearly the same price as buying new high-end pickups (for example), which might be wiser than funnelling money into this one. But, upgrading this cheap guitar bit by bit will make you really appreciate the craft a lot more. It will open a door of possibilities for you.


I've been saving up to buy one of these. I've wanted one ever since they came out, but only recently decided to start saving. I want the black SL, but I plan on swapping the white pickguard for a black one. I've managed to save $50 thus far, which has taken an embarrassingly long time (money is tight for the foreseeable future). There are no guitar shops in my hometown, so I have to order one online which makes them a touch more expensive than I'd like. I'm certain I won't be owning one before the decade ends unless a handful of people buy my synth project's discography whilst it's still on sale (85% off).

I highly recommend watching this YouTube playlist about your guitar. It's about your exact guitar, and one man's journey with modding it - and destroying it!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w7FKqzVMbe4&list=PLR9ppQtzpJEvQVwK91ww572MWrMTAP7vX

Welcome to the electric family.

Really, you need to visit a couple local guitar shops and play a few guitars - even the ones outside your budget. The reason being is each guitar will fit you differently - the neck shape, width, thickness, the body depth and bout width, and of course, the sound you like to hear.

If you find a more expensive guitar that you like, then that company might have a similar, more economical brand and model that will fit your budget: Gibson owns Epiphone, Godin owns Seagull, Takamine owns Jasmine, etc.

Speaking personally, if I'm spending more than $100 I want to play it first. With that said, there is a Jasmine S35 on Amazon for $80 with an excellent review: https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/review/B0002F58TG/R3A0XMRVPGCB95/ref=cm_cr_dp_mb_rvw_2?ie=UTF8&cursor=2

I was shopping for a travel guitar, something I could take on the plane w/o worrying too much if it got crushed. I didn't buy one, yet.

I did buy an excellent Parlor, 0-size guitar last year for $350 - The Loar LO-216-NA. It's a small body with full length neck that joins at the 12th fret. It sounds awesome and I like the smaller body - I don't feel like I have stretch to fit around it.

I recently played a 00 sized Washburn that had an awesome sound, a slim C-shaped neck that joined the body at the 14th fret for about $300. I wish I had written down the model. That'll probably be my next guitar purchase.

Lap Steels are fairly simple, so you don't really have to spend that much to get a good one. But there are some accessories you will need.

For a first lap steel the SX Lap Steel is very well made and includes a stand and case. Its only $150.

You will also need a good tone bare. Dunlop chromed brass For $20.

Also I would get him a volume pedal Ernie Ball Volume pedal For $65.

Other little nice gifts, would be a clip on snark tuner, a couple of instrument cables, song book, and some extra strings.

Ignore what the other person said about fret wear and action height. You are not pushing the strings down to the frets, you are sliding on the string with a tone bar or a guitar slide. Higher is better in this case.

Does he have an amp? Any other effects pedals?

edit: Also a capo like this will be helpful if he is just playing along with random songs.

No, the saddles won't be even except under very rare circumstances. The saddles are individual adjustments for individual strings, and thus will have different set distances when everything is intonated correctly.

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I hope this doesn't come across as rude, but if you aren't willing to take your guitar to a shop that's 22 miles away to be setup, and you aren't willing to live with the buzz, then you're going to have to learn to do it yourself. There are some great resources online, but intonation can be confusing and it will take some time, some trial and error, and some effort to get down. Basically, each string saddle can be moved vertically (towards/away from the guitar body) to adjust string height, but can also be moved horizontally (closer/further from the neck) in order to change the effective length of the string (between the saddle and the nut at the other end of the neck). The length of the string is directly proportional to its fundamental frequency as it vibrates, so if the string is in tune at one part of the neck, but not at other parts of the neck you can reduce this problem by changing the effective string length (again, distance between the saddle and the nut) by adjusting the saddle towards/away from the neck. It is HIGHLY unlikely that you will have a situation where all of the saddles are lined up at the same distance and each string is also intonated correctly.

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The Guitar Player Repair Guide is a very inexpensive book that thoroughly covers proper guitar setup techniques and I highly recommend getting it if you are hoping to learn this skill on your own. It helped me a TON when I was learning guitar setups and you can usually pick up a copy for less than $10 if you are in the USA.

I wouldn't recommend buying a used guitar as your first, especially if its not a brand thats very common. Its going to be very difficult to determine if that guitar is actually any good, since you don't really have the experience to know what to look out for. I've never heard of that brand of guitar myself.


I definitely think its worth it for a beginner to get a decent guitar. I'd recommend this. Its a well known and trustable brand, and you shouldn't have to upgrade to anything better in a rush until you feel like you want to. Unfortunately, it doesn't come with any picks, tuner or strap though.

It really is a great book. My instructor about 10 years ago had me special order this to learn scales and modes. If you want another book that compliments this book I would suggest "Artful Arpeggios." Here is an amazon link if you're interested.

Headphones: http://www.amazon.com/Sony-MDRV6-Studio-Monitor-Headphones/dp/B00001WRSJ These headphones ROCK! I use them with recording, mixing, performance.

Now the amp part is where it gets tricky. I would recommend getting him a Marshall MG15CFX (I had an older version of that, it's what I learned on.) With headphones they sound pretty good! It also has an aux input for mp3/cd players, as well as a foot controller you can buy so he can turn on the distortion/fx without pressing the buttons on the amp.

http://www.amazon.com/Marshall-MG15CFX-Series-15-Watt-Guitar/dp/B005ODB4QW/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1413217495&sr=8-1&keywords=MG15CFX

Here's the optional footswitch:

http://www.amazon.com/Marshall-PEDL-90008-MG15FX-MG101FX-Footswitch/dp/B0028LDR68/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1413217507&sr=8-2&keywords=MG15CFX

I remember seeing these back in the early/mid- 90's, I think. The name was memorable because spelling America with a "K" has long been way to denote American fascism, something I don't think the Korean makers of this guitar knew. (I'm pretty sure it is Korean-made.)

Nothing valuable--just another Korean copy guitar of fair quality. If it plays well, then that's what matters. But if it were mine, I'd cover up that brand name.

EDIT:

I wonder if Tonio K's album title had anything to do with the guitar name:

https://www.amazon.com/Amerika-Tonio-K/dp/B000002015

Good album, but I prefer his "Life in the Food Chain". Harder to fit on a headstock, though.

Yes the Vintage Guitar Price Guide. https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/1884883370/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1527203272&sr=8-1&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&keywords=vintage+guitar+price+guide&dpPl=1&dpID=51W%2Bow0lNKL&ref=plSrch. I picked one up and it’s quite useful. It’s helped me identify guitars and their production years for people on here.

What’s the guitar? I can look it up.

This is the classic book on fingerstyle blues for beginners:

https://www.amazon.com/Beginning-Fingerstyle-Blues-Guitar-Books/dp/0825625564/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1480794244&sr=8-1&keywords=fingerstyle+blues

It helped me a ton when I was starting. Great technical advice too

I don't know of a big list o' designs, but this book is a good place to start. Most Japanese guitars from the '60s were sold under multiple brands or by multiple distributors.

Personally, my standard of guitar strap is to choose a strap with no less than this level of padding/cushion

as opposed to something like this where they tend to dig into your neck and grow super uncomfortable.

It looks like you might need an acoustic/headstock strap for the Yamaha AC3R because from pictures I have seen, it doesn't have a second strap holder.

Yeah, headphones are not going to work with that amp. If cost is no worry, you could buy him an amp or amp modeler with a headphone out and some nice headphones such as Sennheisers, Grados, AKGs, etc.

If you want to go cheap, you could buy a Vox amPlug 2 and some portable headphones such as the Koss Porta Pros. https://www.amazon.com/AP2AC-amPlug-Guitar-Headphone-Amplifier/dp/B06W5232QZ/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=amPlug%2B2&qid=1570088242&s=musical-instruments&sr=1-1&th=1

https://www.amazon.com/Koss-Porta-Headphones-Black-Silver/dp/B00001P4ZH/ref=sr_1_4?crid=3767NJXNW9Z9Y&keywords=koss+headphones&qid=1570088293&sprefix=koss+he%2Cmi%2C215&sr=8-4

Epi LP http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0002CZUU6/ref=pd_lpo_sbs_dp_ps_1?pf_rd_p=1944687582&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-1&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=B0002CZUTW&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=01D0YX9HKZYK92VZE5P8

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0002D02J4/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&th=1

http://www.amazon.com/Stagg-L320-CS-Translucent-Electric-Guitar/dp/B0002BNYO6

If his practice amp has a headphone jack, maybe this is all you need.

https://www.amazon.com/Hosa-GPM-103-3-5-inch-Adaptor/dp/B000068O3T/

I had the same problem and solved it with these carbon fiber Jazz IIIs.

If you insist on the picks you already have, get Gorilla Snot, a resin based gunk that keeps the pick in your fingers.