RobBright 35 Posted March 9, 2012 Share Posted March 9, 2012 Interesting thread this has turned into..... ........ Link to post Share on other sites
Chriselle 158 Posted March 9, 2012 Share Posted March 9, 2012 I know this is probably too much of a silly open-ended question, but what sort of price are guitars. One that a beginner might buy. Not a silly question. Like with most things buy the best you can afford. That applies to both acoustic and electric guitars. You can pick up a beginner guitar for a few man yen but it will be something you will outgrow very quickly. For about 4~5 man you can buy a guitar that is literally twice as a good. After 6~7 man ..the law of diminishing returns starts to apply and is pretty much wasted on a beginners abilities. I would say 5 man yen is a good number to shoot for on a new starter guitar. Link to post Share on other sites
Chriselle 158 Posted March 9, 2012 Share Posted March 9, 2012 MIJ.....Not cerebral enough for you...?? Link to post Share on other sites
pie-eater 207 Posted March 9, 2012 Share Posted March 9, 2012 Not a silly question. Like with most things buy the best you can afford. Haha made me chuckle a bit that. My dad is like the opposite at times, bless him. Got tons of money, but always seems to go with the very basic after asking himself 'do I need this'? Sometimes I feel the need to tell him about the concept of enjoying his money.... but always give up before I start as I know it will be a waste of time. Older people set in their ways hey. Link to post Share on other sites
Chriselle 158 Posted March 9, 2012 Share Posted March 9, 2012 Interesting, my pop has always been a "Go big, or go home" kind of guy. Much more than I am. Every time he makes a major purchase he rubs it in....sorry kid, I'm spending your inheritance. Link to post Share on other sites
pie-eater 207 Posted March 9, 2012 Share Posted March 9, 2012 Our (offspring) theory is that our parents just grew up in circumstance without a whole lot of money -- and that way of doing things just doesn't change even now that they do. I don't know how much they have, but it's certainly enough to live in a lovely big house and do whatever they would want to do and buy whatever they want. They're by no means stingy, but it's definitely a case of 'do we need this' when out shopping. People get set in their ways and he is in his 70's so I'll forgive him! And they seem happy, and I doubt buying tons of stuff would make him any happier - so... don't suppose it matters! I'm different - while I never go into debt with anything, if I buy something I definitely want to get the best I can. Link to post Share on other sites
Chriselle 158 Posted March 9, 2012 Share Posted March 9, 2012 I'm probably more like your dad than my dad. Although I do have an excess of guitars and amps everything else is bought with the "do I really need this?" thought in mind. But, as big boy toys go....guitars and amps are pretty tame.. See how I justified that there....... Link to post Share on other sites
pie-eater 207 Posted March 9, 2012 Share Posted March 9, 2012 My main thing is I'll never buy something I can't afford. Never had a loan but never bought a house so that might change one day but for 'luxury' stuff I would never go into debt. Link to post Share on other sites
Chriselle 158 Posted March 9, 2012 Share Posted March 9, 2012 That is unfortunately a very rare mindset these days. Most peoples definition of "afford" is wildly twisted. Link to post Share on other sites
NoFakie 45 Posted March 10, 2012 Share Posted March 10, 2012 Not a silly question. Like with most things buy the best you can afford. A big thing here is that guitars are a very mature technology. What you're paying for is the quality of build, not r and d. Its quite surprising how good and complete the electric guitar was in 1960 given the comparatively limited use electric guitars were put to in the music at the time. Hendrix used the same tool as Buddy Holly. No-one who designed the Les Paul would have known what Jimmy Page was going to do with one, and Jimmy Page didn't need a newly designed guitar to do what he did. What seems (to my limited knowledge) to be relatively new in guitar design is body amplification of acoustics. The percussive fingerstyle guys all seem to use modern guitars. Link to post Share on other sites
big-will 7 Posted March 11, 2012 Share Posted March 11, 2012 Interesting that Mr Wiggles. I have never really properly considered getting one, but I would really like to try and learn. Link to post Share on other sites
Chriselle 158 Posted March 11, 2012 Share Posted March 11, 2012 Acoustic guitar design has ventured into alternative materials more that the electrics. And the pickup technology has really taken off. Electrics are like toasters.....nothing has changed in 50 years. As for instruments from 1960.......the '59 Les Paul will within a few years from now be a million dollar axe!! Link to post Share on other sites
NoFakie 45 Posted March 12, 2012 Share Posted March 12, 2012 My "toaster" turned up yesterday and it's smokin! Barely a mark on it and super easy to play. :party: The first thing I bashed out on it was this, because Ronnie Montrose died last week. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=loaxDYWPZ54 Barely a mention in the paper for the man behind one of the greatest straightahead hard rock albums ever made. 1973! That's six years before Van Halen I. The singer on the right there is the young Sammy Hagar. Link to post Share on other sites
r45 4 Posted March 12, 2012 Share Posted March 12, 2012 Sounds like we need a I started learning guitar a few years back. Still trying finding it hard, though I haven't spend as much time as I would like. Link to post Share on other sites
NoFakie 45 Posted March 15, 2012 Share Posted March 15, 2012 What kind of stuff are you trying to play r45? I'm still trying to find a comfortable way to hold my Les Paul sitting down. I might have to change chairs or get a strap. The action on it is really nice though and I can now play stuff I couldn't before. Link to post Share on other sites
Chriselle 158 Posted March 15, 2012 Share Posted March 15, 2012 Strap is a must....even for sitting down. Get strap locks, too. What are you playing through? Link to post Share on other sites
NoFakie 45 Posted March 15, 2012 Share Posted March 15, 2012 Hiya Chris I ordered it before you posted your advice about amps, but I just got a little practice amp, a Micro Cube RX. The distorted settings are noisy, but the clean end up to the Vox one sound pretty good to me. I don't know where they get 2.5W+2.5W from because its pretty loud. There's a basic rhythm box built in so its teaching me a bit of discipline. Link to post Share on other sites
cal 6 Posted March 17, 2012 Share Posted March 17, 2012 I play without an amp actually. Link to post Share on other sites
Chriselle 158 Posted March 19, 2012 Share Posted March 19, 2012 Hiya Chris I ordered it before you posted your advice about amps, but I just got a little practice amp, a Micro Cube RX. The distorted settings are noisy, but the clean end up to the Vox one sound pretty good to me. I don't know where they get 2.5W+2.5W from because its pretty loud. There's a basic rhythm box built in so its teaching me a bit of discipline. Guitar amp watts are different than other application (car audio, home audio etc) watts...... especially if you use tube amps like I do. It takes a 10 fold increase in watts to double the perceived volume. So your 2 watt little guy is theoretically only half as loud as my firebreathing 18 watt amps which are fricking gloriously loud amps. And my 50 watt or 100 watt Marshalls through a 4x12 cab cranked up will make your ears bleed and your heart beat skip.....not kidding. Link to post Share on other sites
NoFakie 45 Posted March 19, 2012 Share Posted March 19, 2012 Thanks for that. You've got some classic gear there. I hope you cranked it up to full when that Smap poseur was round your way! Back to the history thing, but I saw the Beatles Anthology the other day and (specially built) 100W amps are all they had in Shea Stadium. The main sound went through the little tannoys used to announce players during baseball games, and was completely drowned out by the screaming. Two years later, a big stacked system was used at Monterey and that's basically the way it's been ever since. Link to post Share on other sites
brit-gob 9 Posted March 20, 2012 Share Posted March 20, 2012 "No-one could hear them anyway", so it didn't matter.... was the old nugget brought out about The Beatles concerts hey. Link to post Share on other sites
Chriselle 158 Posted March 20, 2012 Share Posted March 20, 2012 Yes, its a well know fact the Beatles may as well have been playing air guitar at their concerts. The PA technology didn't arrive until the early 70's. I always dig watching the old Jimi Hendrix live footage when he was using 3 100 watt Marshall Super Leads and 6 4x12 cabs. ..... And actually stand in front of it. And no mic on any of the cabs. My tinnitus just got louder thinking about those SPL levels. I always get a tear in my eye when he starts bashing the shit out of the cabs. Burn the guitars...fine, just leave the amps alone. Link to post Share on other sites
NoFakie 45 Posted March 24, 2012 Share Posted March 24, 2012 I think it was the late 60s music festivals like Monterey, Woodstock and Isle of Wight that kind of nailed how to build a PA. With the Beatles, they were a very tight band, but their live shows seem to have been very managed and very limited compared to what they were capable of had they the freedom and/or desire to do it. For starters they only played about half an hour, and about half of that was old rock and roll standards like Twist and Shout and Roll Over Beethoven that they'd been belting out for years. The shows look more like commercial promotion than any display of what they could do. By 64/65 the Beatles were starting to make experimental music, but little or no effort was made to incorporate it into the shows. They just remained stuck at She Loves You. Its not as warts and all as any outside documentary would be, but the Beatles Anthology is still a great watch. Its the period when music went from the Ventures and Roy Orbison to Hendrix, the Stooges, Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Astral Weeks,.... and the Beatles were as central to it as anyone. Link to post Share on other sites
muikabochi 208 Posted March 24, 2012 Share Posted March 24, 2012 Yeah I'm not a huge fan but I enjoyed watching Anthology. Link to post Share on other sites
r45 4 Posted April 6, 2012 Share Posted April 6, 2012 In related news: Guitar amp pioneer Jim Marshall dies aged 88. Guitar amp innovator Jim Marshall - dubbed "the Father of Loud" for creating kit used by some of the biggest names in rock - has died aged 88. Link to post Share on other sites
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