Dad3353

@ShawnE : Firstly : congratulations on taking on this video 'blog'; it's excellent, and well filmed. We can see and hear what you're doing, and some little snippets of advice may help. You're doing fine, though, so take it all as positive, not criticism. We all, every one of us, started out in the same way. Just a 'correction', if you will: the high 'E' is usually referred to as the 'top' string, the 1st string. This is because its note is higher than the other strings. Next to it is the 2nd string ('B'...), then the 3rd and so on. The thickest (6th...) string is the bottom string, the low 'E'. Now for the advice; make of it what you will... Take your time; the fastest way of getting anyway in this is to go slowly..! When doing the chord shape ('D', for instance...), don't try strumming it yet, just play, with your pick or your fingers, each string individually (for the 'D' chord, this means sounding only the top five strings, as the low 'E' on the 6th string is not, musically speaking, part of this 'D' chord, and should not sound. The idea here is to get the fingers on the fingerboard to hold down each string so that is sounds clearly, without muffling the neighbouring strings. Sorry, a little aside comes back to my mind. You seem to be having the strings hurt your fingertips. This, up to a point could be considered 'normal', but not after twenty seconds or so..! It appears to me that you are pressing down on the strings with great force, but I suspect that it's because, if you didn't, the guitar would fall to the floor..! Please consider getting a guitar strap, fitted to the guitar such that it holds itself from your shoulder without any need of your left arm and hand. You can then use very little force between thumb (on the back of the neck...) and any finger, to get the fretted note to ring out clearly. All the finger should be doing is just enough to get the note to sound, and not hold the guitar in place. OK, that being said, and once that's sorted, get each finger, on its own, to hold down each note for the 'D' chord, and get it to sound clearly (just that one note...). Start with the 'A' (3rd string, 2nd fret...), using the Index finger. Once it rings out clearly, with little finger pressure, take the finger off, and place the next finger in position on the 2nd string, 3rd fret ('D', using the 3rd (Ring...) finger. Get it to sound clearly, and remove the fingering Now the 1st string, 2nd fret, with the 2nd (Middle...) finger. If that rings out nice and clear, hold it down and put back the Ring finger on the 2nd string. Play each of these strings, and make sure that each rings out clearly. If there's any deadening of an adjacent string, take the fingers off the fingerboard and start again (3rd string and off, then 2nd string and off, then 1st string, then 2nd string put back. Do this, slowly, meticulously, until the 1st and 2nd string both sound cleanly, then hold them in place and put the 1st finger on the 3rd string. Make sure each string rings out clear. If not (no worries; it's normal at first...), just start again, adjusting the placing of each finger carefully until all three strings can be played individually, cleanly. Then , and only then, reward yourself with a slow 'sweep' of these three strings to hear the 'D' chord ring out. Don't do this exercise for very long; a few minutes at most, then rest your hands. A while later, do the same exercise, but for the 'A' chord, finger by finger at first, then adding a finger until it, too, rings out clear. Another rest. There is no need to time the changes between the chord fingerings until the chords themselves are ringing out clearly. T'will come, later (and all the sooner if you go through the laborious part first. Don't worry; things get to be far more interesting, very quickly, but only once the 'baby steps' have been gone though. It'll take a couple of days (less than a week...) doing this stuff two or three times a day for 15 minutes, and it lays the foundations for so much more. Patience, diligence and yet more patience, and you'll soon be up and running. Hope this helps. Douglas

That's excellent, and well filmed, for this purpose, so well done. There is, however, a problem with the tuning. The low 'E' (the sixth string...) is OK, but all the other strings are tuned too low. It may be easy to fix, if you do the following... Play the 6th string (the low 'E'...) at the fifth fret. This note will be 'A', and the 5th string should be tuned to that note. Tune up the 5th string, then, until the 6th string/5th fret and the 5th string 'open' sound the same note ('A'...). Once that is done, play the 5th string at the 5th fret (the note is 'D'...), and tune up the 4th string, open, until it is that same note. Once that's done, you can check you're on track by playing the 6th string 'open', followed by the 4th string, 2nd fret ('E', an octave higher in pitch...). Assuming it's all good, we continue by playing the 4th string at the 5th fret ('G'...), and tune up the 3rd string to that same pitch. Once again, we can check that the 'open' 5th string and the 3rd string, 2nd fret sound the same note ('A'...) an octave apart. Now for the tricky one (not really, but it changes slightly here...). Play the 3rd string at the 4th fret ('B'...) and tune up the second string to match that note. Now for the last one : play the 2nd string, 5th fret ('E'...) and tune up the 1st string to that same pitch (the high 'E'...). If you now play the 6th string 'open', followed by the 4th string, 2nd fret, then the 1st string 'open', you should hear a low 'E', and 'E' an octave higher, then the high 'E'. Read this through again carefully, and try it out; reply here once it's done, or if you have questions or issues. From there, once successful, we can start looking to chord shapes and how to finger them. Firstly, though, the guitar must be tuned as described above. Over to you, and well done, again. Douglas

For learning chord fingering we only want clean tones..!

Very good; thank you. Could you remove all of the effects from the amp, please, to have just a clear, bell-like tone of the string itself, amplified just enough to be audible, then post the same video, sounding each open string on its own, clearly. We're progressing...

From what I see on the video, you're doing nothing like the chord diagram with your fingers, which won't help. I don't know what you're plugged into, but it doesn't sound right, either. We're going to have to go back a few steps to find out how to help you. First things first, then. could you do a video, playing one string at a time, starting with the low 'E', then the 'A', the 'D', the 'G', 'B' and high 'E'. No fingers required on the fingerboard, just the open strings, one after the other. Let each one ring, then damp it, and play the next string. With this simple check, we can hear if the guitar is in tune, and what the amp sounds like. Can you do that for us, please..? Over to you ... Douglas

OK, the '1' indicates the first finger (the Index...), the '2' the second finger (the Middle one...) and the '3' the third finger (the Ring finger...). If the fingers are placed, pointing down towards the fingerboard, the string marked '0' is open, and should be sounded. The string between the '1' and the '2' should be noted with a '0', too, really, and should sound. The low 'E' is marked with an 'X', to not be sounded. The reason for that is rather academic; it may also sound as well, but the name of the chord is often taken from its lowest-sounding note (here, the 'C' on the fifth string, held down by the '3', Ring finger...). Ignore that stuff, and just get the fingertips onto those frets, and get each string to sound clearly. You'll want to avoid having any finger contact on the first and third strings that would tend to 'deaden' them. Try it, and come back with the result, please..? Douglas

You'll have to give an example, as I don't understand what you mean by 'a gap between two or one notes'. Over to you...

This is not an easy one. The EMG should have four insulated wires : Red, Black, White and Green. The non-insulated 'grey' wire' is the earth. The new pick-up is much more simple, with just one insulated Red wire for the signal, the White wire will be the earth. Without the fourth EMG wire, you'll have to try some experiments. In all cases, the new White wire connects to earth (usually a pot case, where you've put the black circle on the photo. The Red wire from the new pick-up may go to where you've drawn the green circle; try that, and try each of the selector positions to see if it works. If you know where any of the other EMG wires were connected, you could try the new Red wire to there, trying each time all selector positions. Sooner or later, one will work, and there's no risk of anything breaking elsewhere, if your soldering is up to the task. The EMG was conceived with coil-switching features (which the guitar may or may not have exploited...); the new pick-up only has one coil, so coil-switching doesn't apply, of course. The new pick-up is single coil, so will not sound the same as the EMG switched as a humbucker (double coil...); the result will be what it will be. Hope this helps. Douglas

I agree; that's a Good Place to start from.

Good call, well done. Now get practising..! (Well, not too hard..! A couple of 10-15 minute sessions, each and every day to start off with...).

Have a look here ... Hal Leonard Guitar Method Book (Left-handed edition...)... ... This will get you on the right track; it's very good. Here's another on the subject, but I've not looked into it very deeply; probably worth the minimal expense occasioned... How to Play the left-handed Guitar ... Another, based more on the electric guitar (although the ideas are the same for any guitar...)... Left-handed Guitar Method ... I usually buy books and methods of the sort second-hand, as they are almost always in 'new' condition, but cost far less. It would be a Good Idea to buy all three, second-hand, in my opinion, as there is always something to learn from all of these methods. The cost is very low. Have a look at these; if questions still remain, get back to us on here. Hope this helps Douglas

Can I just get some precision about answer 4, please..? For me, the thickest string is the low 'E', and, for your, 'lefty' guitar, I would expect it to be furthest from the floor, when in playing position. Is that the case..?

@Richards Guitars... I am one of several Moderators of this fine Forum; this task has been very simple for several years past, as the folk here are a great bunch. We enjoy the occasional bout of banter (whilst remaining civil, naturally...) between friends that are used to each other's little ways and foibles; nothing wicked or hurtful. If there is any doubt as to any posts here, there is, top right of every post, three little dots (...), from where it's easy to create a Report. Every Report is brought automatically to the attention of the Mods and Admin, and what rare issues that do crop up are handled with serious and diplomacy. Feel free to avail yourself of this function at anytime (this goes for all that read this, naturally...). This site is an extension of Basschat.co.uk, which has been active for many decades now. Here, things tend to be a little slower-paced, but there is a healthy cross-over from one Forum to the other (many here are members of both...). This leisurely pace suits us fine, so don't be surprised if some replies to posts come only after a few days. I'm usually here sporadically several times each day, but then again : I'm retired, so... Glad to have you aboard; meanwhile... Have a wonderful day. Douglas

We are very close to the incomprehensible, here. Can we try to un-weave some of the strands, please..? Please answer the questions below... 1 - Are you left-handed..? 2 - Is your guitar a left-hand guitar..? 3 - When holding your guitar, ready to play, is the neck of the guitar to your left, or to your right..? 4 - When holding your guitar, ready to play, is the thickest string at the top (furthest from the floor...)..? With the answers to these questions, we will have something from which to start explanations and assistance. Over to you...

@Richards Guitars ...

Mmm... Tea...

Unknown here, too, but at a guess I'd suggest that 'a guitar is a guitar is a guitar'. Nothing special, and probably just as good/bad/indifferent as all the others at that price point. I certainly wouldn't go out of my way to prove otherwise, when there are so many equivalent makes and models easily available (Harley Benton come to mind; others exist...). Sorry.

In my now-very-distant youth, I foolishly swapped my splendid Hofner President for a Burns Bison (yes, I know; idiot move I've regretted for decades...). The daft idea I had at the time was to dabble in Lead Guitar Playing. To this end, I knew that bending notes was The Name Of The Game, so what better than to have bendable strings, eh..? I cobbled up a set with a high 'E' '7'; the rest went from there (probably taking a set of 10-46 and moving 'em all over by one...). Yes, of course, it was unplayable, partly because I was, and have remained, a pitiful Lead Guitarist, but mostly because these strings were not strings, but cobwebs..! The slightest touch produced notes hitherto unknown to musicology, worthy of the best synth oscillators, wobbling about between [note played] and [note played plus several random half-tones]. It is not to be wondered at, why I chose to switch to drums. The Burns was traded in for a keyboard for my girlfriend at the time, which in turn became a Hohner Pianet for my parents (my father wanted to learn the piano...). The moral of this sad tale..? Use 'standard' strings unless there is a very, very good reason dictated by experience and wisdom; there's a reason why most folk do so. a set of 10-46 suit most folk playing most electric guitars, end of. OK, OK... I'll make an exception for those playing heavy metal riffs, that may evolve to 'top light-heavy bottom' sets, to go 'chunkachunkachunka' with for hours, but that's all. I'm off now to do a bit of drumming...

Just to suggest cooling down a tad. The fastest way to mastering the guitar is to go slowly. If your fingers hurt, you're playing too much, for too long at a time. This is holding you back. Play several short sessions, several times a day, rather than one long 'blitz'. Five minutes warming up, going over chord shapes, a few licks you're learning, then 10-15 minutes, no more. Do something else (have a look at Music Theory or Notation Reading if you must...), but leave the guitar alone. Rinse and repeat. Progress will be made by regularity, far faster than by 'bingeing'. Hope this helps.

Good evening, @Backonthehorse, and ... ... Plenty to read and amuse you here, and lots to learn and share.

OK for the above ^^^^, but the 'standard' string gauge is really those that were on it from new (typically 10-46...) Most brands are OK (I use Elixir... ... which cost a little more, but last a very long time, and play and sound good, to me; other brands are good, too...). If you're bending strings unintentionally, you're gripping too hard the neck. Is the guitar supported properly (not needing your left arm to hold the neck up...)..? If not, get a decent strap, adjusted so that the guitar stays in place 'arms off'. There's never any need to use much pressure on the strings, for solo work nor for chords. When pressing down on the fingerboard, try, as an exercise, to use only as much force as is needed to get the strings to sound out clearly, no more. Make each chord shape, and make a conscious point of using as little force as possible. Do this, as an exercise, before each session, and see if it helps. Are your fingers being applied directly downwards, and not at an angle, pushing the string 'sharp'..? Again, take care when playing to think and look at each finger, slowly, to make sure it's all good. Of course, a lesson or two with a competent tutor should sort out issues like this, so I'd recommend that course, if at all possible, just to get this technique issue sorted. Ye, heavier strings will be harder to push out of tune, but it won't correct errors being made, which will remain for decades to come if not jumped on early (No, I don't mean to suggest that you jump on your fingers; that would be silly, and would hurt ...). Hope this helps.

There is no protective layer; the finish will age as well (or as badly...) as any other nitro finish. Hope this helps.

Pristovnik 'Derri Air' artwork Dean guitar ... A better photo ...

Short answer : Yes, but largely dependant on the robustesse of the instrument, as well as the extremes encountered. Stuff riding in a hot car can easily reach the 40's; that's not good at all. It's the rapid swings of temperature and humidity that cause problems; instruments can handle heat and cold quite well, as long as they have the time to acclimatise. This won't be the case for a holiday trip, of course. I took my 12-string acoustic for a motorbike trip around France, camping, and it came to no harm, but it was a rather inexpensive Antoria 'humming bird' copy, not a vintage Gibson. I wouldn't recommend taking any valuable instrument; better to 'invest' in a budget-level equivalent that can take some punishment without risking coming apart at the seams or warping. Heat itself is not a problem; it's the abrupt changes that are to be avoided, but that's difficult when touring, and a hot car is a definite danger. Hope this helps.

My (Windows...) drumming laptop and my (Windows...) desktop PC have been 'doctored' so as to stay in 2015, except for AV updates, so there's no risk of this occurring. I have no need, still less want, any of the stuff that comes with later versions, and my drivers thank me for it.