Members PRSnotPOS Posted September 6, 2006 Members Share Posted September 6, 2006 Hello there my fellow "musicians." I'm going to discuss the importance of understanding your guitar. When I first started playing guitar (about two years ago) I bought a Yamaha starter guitar and amp. My Yamaha and I never had a close relationship partly due to the fact that we didn't need to. It wasn't a very sensitive guitar (almost like a girl without any opinions) and didn't have much resonance so there was no understanding needed. After a year of playing this guitar I started to get bored with it. So, behind my Yamaha's back, I started saving up for my dream guitar, a PRS. I worked all Summer and finally got enough money for it. After 3 months of waiting for it to be built it finally came. I severed the ties with my Yamaha and never looked back. At first I was overwhelmed by my PRS. Every little movement I made was heard through my amp. That's when I realized that this really WAS a MUSICIANS guitar and would require much time and effort to get a good sound out of. After being very dissatified with the way my local music store setup my PRS I decided that I needed to learn to set it up myself. I knew I would need to get to know it better so I took it out to dinner a few times and then back to my place for some hot setups which usually lasted all night long. Let's just say I returned a changed man. My PRS has taught me control, accuracy, technique. I am now better at muting certain strings to prevent them from ringing out and muddying up my chords. I understand it, and it understands me. We are still together and will probably be for some time to come! Understanding your instrument and having a bond with it is very important. Instead of whoring yourself around with 20 different guitars, get to know just 1 REALLY WELL. It will pay out in the end, believe me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members 1001gear Posted September 6, 2006 Members Share Posted September 6, 2006 Too late for me. I have 9 cheap guitars of various types. Probably less in them than a PRS at that. All out of guitar bucks. Anyway now I know something about the various kinds of guitars, their tones, tone gear, why I suck, and what I want out of guitarring. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Eddie Posted September 6, 2006 Members Share Posted September 6, 2006 Originally posted by PRSnotPOS That's when I realized that this really WAS a MUSICIANS guitar and would require much time and effort to get a good sound out of. ...My PRS has taught me control, accuracy, technique. I am now better at muting certain strings to prevent them from ringing out and muddying up my chords. I understand it, and it understands me. We are still together and will probably be for some time to come!Understanding your instrument and having a bond with it is very important. Instead of whoring yourself around with 20 different guitars, get to know just 1 REALLY WELL. I disagree with most of what you said, and here are the reasons why: 1. Getting a good sound out of a "musician's guitar" should not require much time an effort. Sure, a guitar may sound better the more you play it, but if a guitar does not sound good by itself and then in combination with an amp, I look elsewhere. I do try a guitar with different amps, just in case it is not a good match for a particular amp. I've had 2 Yamaha guitars and a bass. I'm still looking for a Weddington Custom. Even though I don't have them anymore, Yamaha makes some great guitars. 2. You were motivated to practice and play more since you had your dream guitar. That can certainly help improve your playing. My playing improved by playing a Hondo ZX-1 an average of 8 hours a day when I was starting out. Many of rock and rolls finest classic moments have been recorded with "crappy" guitars, by the way. It's up to the player to improve. The guitar is an instrument. 3. What do you do when you want a semi-hollow sound? Or a Les Paul sound? Or a Strat sound? Or a Rickenbacker? And what about "feel" and not just sound? There's nothing wrong with having one guitar. There's nothing wrong with having 20 guitars (unless they're just hanging on a wall or stored in a vault). You can have 20 guitars, and get to know them pretty well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members PRSnotPOS Posted September 6, 2006 Author Members Share Posted September 6, 2006 Originally posted by Eddie I disagree with most of what you said, and here are the reasons why:1. Getting a good sound out of a "musician's guitar" should not require much time an effort. Sure, a guitar may sound better the more you play it, but if a guitar does not sound good by itself and then in combination with an amp, I look elsewhere. I do try a guitar with different amps, just in case it is not a good match for a particular amp. I've had 2 Yamaha guitars and a bass. I'm still looking for a Weddington Custom. Even though I don't have them anymore, Yamaha makes some great guitars.2. You were motivated to practice and play more since you had your dream guitar. That can certainly help improve your playing. My playing improved by playing a Hondo ZX-1 an average of 8 hours a day when I was starting out. Many of rock and rolls finest classic moments have been recorded with "crappy" guitars, by the way. It's up to the player to improve. The guitar is an instrument.3. What do you do when you want a semi-hollow sound? Or a Les Paul sound? Or a Strat sound? Or a Rickenbacker? And what about "feel" and not just sound? There's nothing wrong with having one guitar. There's nothing wrong with having 20 guitars (unless they're just hanging on a wall or stored in a vault). You can have 20 guitars, and get to know them pretty well. Actually I'm motivated to learn and practice by my passion of music. This WAS a semi-spoof thread. I thought that would have been made clear when I said I took my PRS out for dinner... but maybe not. BUT, I am mostly referring to people that will buy like 4 Ibanezs 7 Les Pauls 2 ESPs... you're not going to find that guitar that makes you sound like a guitar god just by plugging it into your amp. You have to learn how to use certain guitars. Some guitars have potential that can't be unleashed unless you have some dedication to it. Practice makes perfect. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members booher Posted September 6, 2006 Members Share Posted September 6, 2006 If you've been playing guitar for two years, then your journey has just begun, man. I still play on my Dead Tradition One GN for my acoustic. It sounds great with a new set of strings, but the action is too high as I'm more of an electric player, myself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Sqish Posted September 6, 2006 Members Share Posted September 6, 2006 OK OK, we get it, you have a PRS. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Knottyhed Posted September 7, 2006 Members Share Posted September 7, 2006 Originally posted by PRSnotPOS Some guitars have potential that can't be unleashed unless you have some dedication to it. Practice makes perfect. That's every guitar... I'd say 90% of the equation is the player. 5% guitar and 5% the amp. Getting to know your guitar isn't neccessary, you should be able to pick up any guitar and unleash it's potential - the guitar is only as good as the person playing it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members red|dragon Posted September 7, 2006 Members Share Posted September 7, 2006 *reads* *translates* -PRS is superior. Go out and buy a PRS so you can be a professional musician and unleash your full potential.- *Goes out and buys PRS* *falls into PRS's marketing scheme* *instantly becomes better guitarist/musician, gains more control, better accuracy and superb technique* *realizes that it's all in my head and that it doesn't matter what you play, it's the person behind the instrument* *feels like a sucker and makes post on hc about experience* Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members PRSnotPOS Posted September 7, 2006 Author Members Share Posted September 7, 2006 I'm getting pwned. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Knottyhed Posted September 7, 2006 Members Share Posted September 7, 2006 Originally posted by PRSnotPOS I'm getting pwned. Don't worry, it's only a matter of time before R/D makes a dumbass post that everyone can crap on Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members 1001gear Posted September 7, 2006 Members Share Posted September 7, 2006 Pasted With Negatively Energized Distortion ? Pummeled While Not Even Deserving ? Seriously, what is pwned? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members gennation Posted September 7, 2006 Members Share Posted September 7, 2006 A couple of other "must-know" things... Never tune a string "down" to pitch. Always tune "up" to pitch. You great string slack when tuning down, and it'll go out of tune on the first bend...it'll go lower in pitch...so tweek it down, give the string a little yank, then tune up. Think of you pickup selectors as an ear-saving switch. When you play down by the nut, use the bridge pup. When you play in the middle are (7-12 frets) use the middle position selection. When you play above the 12th fret use the neck pickup. You have sweet tone across the fretboard. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Virgman Posted September 7, 2006 Members Share Posted September 7, 2006 Your "old" Yamaha's heart is broken. It was last seen laying in a gutter outside a dirty, rundown bar on the westside of town. From the looks of it, this guitar has been drinking excessive amounts of alcohol, using hard drugs, and consorting with undesirables like gamblers, whores, small-time criminals, and hardcore Catholics. Don't you feel proud? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members booher Posted September 7, 2006 Members Share Posted September 7, 2006 Originally posted by 1001gear Pasted With Negatively Energized Distortion ? Pummeled While Not Even Deserving ? Seriously, what is pwned? if you're serious, it was an often typo for "owned," dubbed by the many gamer geeks out there, especially in games such as counter-strike and quake 3. p is next to o, and eventually pwned just took over owned. To the OP: It doesn't take a $1000+ guitar to get your guitar set up the right way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members 1001gear Posted September 8, 2006 Members Share Posted September 8, 2006 Of course I'm serious. Credibility is everything on this forum. Thanks for the info. No way I woulduh figgered. Now that you mentioned it, there are a bunch of typ (I ?) that are hystervical but I always edit them out. PR Snot POS (Just kidding dude ) should try some cheap guitars to appease us po folk. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Ben J Posted September 8, 2006 Members Share Posted September 8, 2006 Originally posted by gennation A couple of other "must-know" things... Never tune a string "down" to pitch. Always tune "up" to pitch. You great string slack when tuning down, and it'll go out of tune on the first bend...it'll go lower in pitch...so tweek it down, give the string a little yank, then tune up. I must be a musical genius. I've been doing that since day one, and nobody ever told me to. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members gennation Posted September 8, 2006 Members Share Posted September 8, 2006 Originally posted by Ben J I must be a musical genius. I've been doing that since day one, and nobody ever told me to. Well, "a genius"?, that's questionable But as far as being in tune? I'm sure you have been It's a physics/logical thing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members bardsley Posted September 8, 2006 Members Share Posted September 8, 2006 Hey Gennation, that's the first time I noticed it was you since you got that avatar. Funny. BTW, I remember reading once an article by some fat Fender man talking about how you should tune locking tuners down to pitch rather than up. It kind of makes sense to me, which is why I included that caveat on another post recently, but seeing as I only have one guitar with locking tuners I haven't really noticed. It doesn't go out of tune, but guitars that don't have bad nuts and saddles shouldn't really anyway IMO. Don't agree? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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