Guitar Discussion thread V5 - General

[QUOTE=TehKaboose;25978596]Sounds amazing. What kind of recording setup do you have?[/QUOTE] Well I use an [I]line 6[/I] Spider III 150 amp recorded through line in (having an sb audigy soundcard, onboard soundcards suck ass) put an mxr 10 band EQ after the amps signal transferred through an stereo to mono cable (spider III = no effects loop) and lots of REALLY small tweaking on the amp and EQ can make the big difference in overrall tone, I hit the golden spot :smile: or the brown spot... For the drums I use the drumsite demo recorded through wave (eats cpu) took me like 2 years to get such an sound, all samples are replaced by myself over the 2 years and adjusted and EQ'ued. Oh I nearly forgot the most important part haha! I am using an PRS MM 6 String Baritone (27.7 scale) equipped with 15-80 la bella strings and an Bareknuckle Painkiller pickup in the bridge (Lovely punchy pickup, upper mid boost) I have no DAW because all I really need so far is Audacity to record these things!

You should really invest into a Vetta II Dark. It would be amazing in your hands.

[QUOTE=Kab2tract;25982723][url]http://www.native-instruments.com/#/en/products/guitar/guitar-rig-mobile/[/url] This thing? Maybe I'll pick one of these up.[/QUOTE] Yeah, that, or anything in the price range really. I just really like NI as a brand, but the Steinberg I mentioned was also good, as was the Line 6. Hell, the plain A/D converter TS-USB cable is probably decent too, I'd just err on the side of flexible inputs and better components. And with the warranties everything seems to have these days you could probably return it and buy a new one on the spot if you dicked around with it for a week and decided you didn't like it.

[QUOTE=Nonikai;25983276]You should really invest into a Vetta II Dark. It would be amazing in your hands[/QUOTE] Thank you man! I know, I want something like the vetta in the future but at 130€ monthly avaible for this stuff it's nearly impossible! It took me 7-8 strict months of nearly no money spending to get my prs baritone! And I need to get some stuff for my drumset (band) too..

[QUOTE=Xenocidebot;25979665]If it's mono output just get something like this: [url]http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/GuitarLink/[/url] Try to avoid plugging anything directly into your soundcard, it can work but it's just ugly and in the age of $50-$200 interfaces there's no reason not to get something decent.[/QUOTE] Just to add on to that, if you have a decent amp you'll probably want to mic it rather than record it directly. It should give the sound a bit more room. If you wanted to go beyond that, you could record both at the same time and hard pan them in opposite direction. They are both going to sound the same (granted they are at the same level) but one will be slightly delayed and probably sound a bit less high. This will give the guitar track a lot more depth. You could even just mix them both with the same pan and adjust the mix. Like the acoustic guitar's tone may be captured a lot better with a mic, but there might be an issue with noise or a bad mic and sounds cleaner when recorded from its output jack. You could get the best of both by recording both of them and messing with the levels to find a good balance. Just as an example I recorded this quickly. The first one is mic, second is line, the last is both hard panned and I tried adjusted the levels of them to offset the volume increase. [URL=http://www.zshare.net/audio/825810726f5a6c7b/]Example.mp3 - 3.70MB[/URL] [QUOTE=Kab2tract;25982723][url]http://www.native-instruments.com/#/en/products/guitar/guitar-rig-mobile/[/url] This thing? Maybe I'll pick one of these up.[/QUOTE] Just think about if you're likely to expand and need more interfaces. I got an interface with more inputs than I needed simply because when the time comes when I need more than one input, I don't need to go out and buy something.

[url]http://www.mygear.com/items/view/25114?src=google_base[/url] this guitar ams my dream guitar. i dont care if its a 3/4 size or any of that shit! tina weymouth used one, and they only ever made 300. plus it looks badass who wants to buy me one?

[QUOTE=professor cool.;25986880][url]http://www.mygear.com/items/view/25114?src=google_base[/url] this guitar ams my dream guitar. i dont care if its a 3/4 size or any of that shit! tina weymouth used one, and they only ever made 300. plus it looks badass who wants to buy me one?[/QUOTE] I personally really dislike that guitar. At least look wise, I wouldn't know it's sound.

no accounting for taste, i guess

[QUOTE=professor cool.;25988087]no accounting for taste, i guess[/QUOTE] I understand that it is rare, or limited production, but you could get a way nicer guitar for that price. Like a really sweet PRS.

[media]http://soundcloud.com/xenocidebot/more-random-chugging[/media] [media]http://soundcloud.com/xenocidebot/random-chugging[/media] Aside from me sucking I kinda like the sound of that. Rammfire doesn't disappoint. Actually why don't I drop the RZK interview here as long as I'm posting shit nobody cares about: [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ApLHCbQ3gnw[/media] [editline]11th November 2010[/editline] [QUOTE=Pepin;25986845]Just to add on to that, if you have a decent amp you'll probably want to mic it rather than record it directly.[/QUOTE] Don't you mean cabinet? If he has a good cabinet there'd be something to mic. If he has a shitty cabinet, mic, or a poor room for recording, he'd be better off with free cab sims or studio convolution impulses applied to a take straight from the amp. But yeah, with Shure selling 57s and A/D converters in a $200 bundle that's not a terrible idea if the cab is good. Regarding the layering, yeah, that's a good idea for anything. Though I haven't heard of many people layering the sound from just their amp, AFAIK most people do it post-cabinet. I was playing around with the idea a while ago after I got used to EWQL Orchestral's weird three-sample combo reverb solution ("close" samples miced dead center with no verb or stereo placement, and then stage samples done at different distances from the player), it works kinda well having just the amp and close mic cab sound centered, and then different layers of reverb applied to takes with angled mics at different distances and panned out a bit. Makes everything sound really thick, but the close sample keeps the attack from feeling shitty.

[QUOTE=Xenocidebot;25989453]Don't you mean cabinet? If he has a good cabinet there'd be something to mic. If he has a shitty cabinet, mic, or a poor room for recording, he'd be better off with free cab sims or studio convolution impulses applied to a take straight from the amp. But yeah, with Shure selling 57s and A/D converters in a $200 bundle that's not a terrible idea if the cab is good. Regarding the layering, yeah, that's a good idea for anything. Though I haven't heard of many people layering the sound from just their amp, AFAIK most people do it post-cabinet. I was playing around with the idea a while ago after I got used to EWQL Orchestral's weird three-sample combo reverb solution ("close" samples miced dead center with no verb or stereo placement, and then stage samples done at different distances from the player), it works kinda well having just the amp and close mic cab sound centered, and then different layers of reverb applied to takes with angled mics at different distances and panned out a bit. Makes everything sound really thick, but the close sample keeps the attack from feeling shitty.[/QUOTE] Meh, when I say amp I usually just mean a combo or whatever. A good room would be best for recording, but any room would do for just adding a little bit of depth. In some sense, you could actually work with a bad room because the highs will likely diminish quickly and there'll be some weird phase cancellation. Hard pan them, and the non mic'd guitar should sound like it's over to that direction. You can do this with some equalization and stuff, but the slight differences in the mic recording will make it a lot stronger. Really, the chance of having a room that is good for recording is pretty slim, unless you go to a nice recording studio. I've heard about a lot of interesting techniques for trying to create certain effects. I guess on an Aerosmith song the recording engineer spun the mic around about his head when recording they were recording the solo. If I had more mics, I'd probably start experimenting with a lot of micing options.

[QUOTE=Kab2tract;25976998]Multi-scale/compensated/fanned fret guitars - Has anyone ever used one? [img_thumb]http://www.rondomusic.com/photos/electric/pendulum6flatblack1.jpg[/img_thumb] This if you are confused. [editline]10th November 2010[/editline] What about my avatar?[/QUOTE] I miss Dave :(

I have guitar lessons today, i'm gonna go for a couple hours to practice, And while i'm gone, Find me a decent guitar for under 125 bucks :v:

I cut my hair today. I can't play the guitar anymore. All of the skill was in my hair!!!

[QUOTE=Nonikai;25995016]I cut my hair today. I can't play the guitar anymore. All of the skill was in my hair!!![/QUOTE] Poor nonikai.

Batteries in my ME-70 died, stores are closed, don't have any batteries I can use. :saddowns:

[QUOTE=kitteh-nator;25996518]Batteries in my ME-70 died, stores are closed, don't have any batteries I can use. :saddowns:[/QUOTE] doesnt it have a power input?

[QUOTE=CheeserCrice;25996730]doesnt it have a power input?[/QUOTE] Don't have a proper transformer for it.

Hey guys I just got my first guitar and I have some issues. A. Harmonic Pinches. I have looked everysingle pinch tutorial in YouTube, but I don't hane any clue how to do it. ''Lightly touch the string with your thumb'' what the hell? Is it the side of the tumb or the back of it or the tip of it, and I do not see those in the video, and how hard do I have to touch it. I actually once got it (by mistake) work with the low E string, but how the heck would I supposed to do it on for exaple the high E string as it is for me (I think) impossible to ''gently touch the string with your thumb'' because there are so many obstacles on the way. B. Alternate picking. This is maybe the meaniest thing for me. I can strum downwards easily, but upwards not. Let me demonstrate [IMG]http://img574.imageshack.us/img574/8761/picking.png[/IMG] The dot is the string, the red triangle is the pick and the arrow indicates the direction of the strum. 1. I sweep with the pick downwards. Everything goes OK. 2. I sweep with the pick upwards. It doesn't go smooth, as the pick is in a position that it more like ''pushes'' the string and not going gently over it. The picks doesn't bend into the same form as in picture 1. It is kinda hard to explaint this, but I hope you understand me. You can always ask for further information. And the last issue now, is this: C. If I want to play a song, that goes pretty fast, like this [IMG]http://img18.imageshack.us/img18/9042/fastmelody.png[/IMG] Then do I have to pluck everysingle note on my guitar? Or just pluck the A and then with my fingers I tap all the notes that are on the A-string or what the fuck. Because that is hard, and I have always done it with plucking everything, but that is slow and makes my hand hurt, but that is also due to Issue B. Thanks very very much if anyone can help me out! Halahazam

For alternate picking, don't move your whole hand, but tilt your wrist in some sort of rotating movement. At least, that works for powerchords, for single string alternate picking only use the tip and just experiment with keeping the pick perfectly straight.

Holy shit, monster post! [QUOTE=Halahazam;25998425] A. Harmonic Pinches. I have looked everysingle pinch tutorial in YouTube, but I don't hane any clue how to do it. ''Lightly touch the string with your thumb'' what the hell? Is it the side of the tumb or the back of it or the tip of it, and I do not see those in the video, and how hard do I have to touch it. I actually once got it (by mistake) work with the low E string, but how the heck would I supposed to do it on for exaple the high E string as it is for me (I think) impossible to ''gently touch the string with your thumb'' because there are so many obstacles on the way.[/QUOTE] You should do it in [B]one single motion[/B]. You pick the string with the pick, and then touch it with the thumb. Make sure you hold the pick as illustrated below! It's hard to explain, so I would recommend that you just try it on your own. Imagine that you're picking, and then you want to shave off a layer of skin from your thumb (ouch!) by rubbing it against the string in one sweep. Now, try to shave off the thinnest layer of skin possible. Also, getting the harmonic depends on where you touch the string with your thumb. Try to do it on different places of the string if you think you got the technique down, but don't get that screeching sound. [QUOTE=Halahazam;25998425] B. Alternate picking. This is maybe the meaniest thing for me. I can strum downwards easily, but upwards not. Let me demonstrate [img_thumb]http://img574.imageshack.us/img574/8761/picking.png[/img_thumb][/QUOTE] It's hard to tell, but it seems you're holding the pick the wrong way (so you're getting the angle at the wrong direction). Hold it like this: [img]http://www.guitarlessonworld.com/lessons/images/l8_f1.jpg[/img][img]http://www.timscott.co.uk/images/misc/holding_your_pick_correctly.jpg[/img] People will tell you that you should just hold the pick the way you feel most comfortable with, but screw that. There's no coincidence that 99.9% of all the great guitarists of the world hold it the same way. [QUOTE=Halahazam;25998425] C. If I want to play a song, that goes pretty fast, like this Then do I have to pluck everysingle note on my guitar? Or just pluck the A and then with my fingers I tap all the notes that are on the A-string or what the fuck. Because that is hard, and I have always done it with plucking everything, but that is slow and makes my hand hurt, but that is also due to Issue B.[/QUOTE] Pick every single note. You will get a different (legato) sound by using hammer-ons and pull-offs, and it's not necessarily easier anyway. So since that piece show no indication of using the legato effect, just pick every note.

Thanks alot Kitteh and Rad for the quick and helpful answers! I just gotta now aim more carefully with my alternate picking, and rehearse my speed with the tune I showed. But the pinch part, could you once more clarify me some parts? (I am sorry for my stupidity) So if I hold the pick like in the picture from Rad, how hard to I have to touch it? What part of my thumb touches it? Is it the part that is directly up from the see-able pick when I hold it like in the picture provided? Or how? Thank you once more! Me

The side of the thumb. You should touch it very very lightly. What you're doing is that you're muting the lower frequencies of the string, leaving only the higher, weaker overtones vibrating. [img]http://i.ytimg.com/vi/5I5O8P-r5Rk/0.jpg[/img] Try plucking the string, then touch it and see if you can keep it vibrating after touching it to get the feel down. And again, make sure you though the string at the right point. This is very important!

[QUOTE=Halahazam;25998425]Big Post[/QUOTE] Practice more, and then when you're finished doing that, practice some more. The issues you are having are only going to be solved with practice. For example, you need a lot of practice to do pinch harmonics, a good explanation will help you understand how to do them, but really you need to put a lot of work into practicing them. It honestly could take more than a month to get them down well.

[QUOTE=Wyvers;25953056]Anyone have any experience with building their own guitar? I've been wanting to do this for a while, but would probably have to order a kit with the wood already cut since I don't have the tools to do it at home. Does anyone know somewhere where you can buy already cut kits but without the stock pickups/bridge etc. which are usually crap? edit: Forget to mention I can find plenty of strat/tele shaped bodies and necks, but can't find many of different shapes, like V's.[/QUOTE] [url]http://www.warmoth.com/[/url] I've heard the best things about Warmoth and it's pretty much exactly what you're looking for. It's a bit pricey though.

[QUOTE=Halahazam;25998425]Hey guys I just got my first guitar and I have some issues. A. Harmonic Pinches. I have looked everysingle pinch tutorial in YouTube, but I don't hane any clue how to do it. ''Lightly touch the string with your thumb'' what the hell? Is it the side of the tumb or the back of it or the tip of it, and I do not see those in the video, and how hard do I have to touch it. I actually once got it (by mistake) work with the low E string, but how the heck would I supposed to do it on for exaple the high E string as it is for me (I think) impossible to ''gently touch the string with your thumb'' because there are so many obstacles on the way. B. Alternate picking. This is maybe the meaniest thing for me. I can strum downwards easily, but upwards not. Let me demonstrate [img_thumb]http://img574.imageshack.us/img574/8761/picking.png[/img_thumb] The dot is the string, the red triangle is the pick and the arrow indicates the direction of the strum. [/QUOTE] To avoid this problem, what I do it angle my pick from the top down. So you maintain the angle you have in the direction of your strum, but add an angle from the top of the strings down: [code] -------------------- -------- ``-.. ------- -------------------- [/code] Doing this however, can sacrifice tone. So find a happy medium where it's angled just enough to make it easy to play but not so much that chugging on the low strings just makes a scratchy sound.

also this video helps with putting some images to what has already been posted [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CpJNUGHxC3M[/media]

[QUOTE=SepticSchizo;25991837]I miss Dave :([/QUOTE] There, new avatar of Dave.

I'm starting to care a whole lot less about playing fast. For a while I was trying to get just below a shred speed, but I'm not really caring about reaching that. I don't know, I feel like if I came up with solos that were mostly made of shred material that it really wouldn't be too impressive when compared to what I could do with some slower passages. I just kind of feel like the shred like solos would be more a showing off my technical skill than my ability to make music. I think a good balance would allow me to do both especially since really fast parts can add a lot to the music and they also can sound really good, but right now I feel like I could care less about getting to an extreme speed.

[QUOTE=Rad McCool;25998628]Holy shit, monster post![/QUOTE] Hey thanks for saying how to hold the pick properly. I had been holding it wrong all along and I just tried holding it this way. It made everything like ten times easier.