# guitar players unite!



## caguaswolf (Jun 6, 2007)

i love playing guitar and i love enven more the fact that i can play bat country on my guitar

what Famous song can you play on you guitar?


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## Aden (Jun 6, 2007)

I don't know many covers...hm.

_Fade to Black_ and _Master of Puppets_ by Metallica
_Come Clarity_ by In Flames
_Bat Country_ and _Beast and the Harlot_ by Avenged Sevenfold
Tons of stuff by Tool
_Over the Hills and Far Away_ by Nightwish

And a few others that I forget right now are all I know. I mostly just tinker around and make up stuff.


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## Starburst (Jun 7, 2007)

Uhm...I can play "Adam's Song" by Blink-182 on my guitar...

I'm just a beginner ^^;;


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## TwilightFox (Jun 7, 2007)

I can playHeart-Shaped Box by Nirvana fairly good.


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## DavidN (Jun 7, 2007)

I know just about enough guitar to form a nu-metal band (four chords or so). But I'm looking to improve - it's going a bit slowly seeing as I left my guitar at my parents' 3000 miles across the Atlantic.

As for what I can play - the start of Gamma Ray's Rebellion in Dreamland, Helloween's Keeper of the Seven Keys (about a minute of it. Just fourteen more to go) and the ones that everyone knows within about five minutes of picking one up, such as Stairway to Heaven and Smoke on the Water.


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## Aden (Jun 7, 2007)

How long has everyone here been playing?

1 year, 4 months here.


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## Esplender (Jun 7, 2007)

I started playing two months back, so far I can play along to the intro of Helloween's "I Want Out".


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## Starburst (Jun 7, 2007)

I've been playing for about six months now ^^;  It'd work better if I'd actually practice more 

But my guitar brokeded last night and I can't hook it up to the amp D:


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## Alex Cross (Jun 8, 2007)

I've been playing the guitar for 10 years and now I do it professionally.

You could probably name a classic rock song for me to cover (besides Journey and the crappy 80s metal bands) and I can post up an acoustic cover on my FA account. :wink:


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## Starburst (Jun 8, 2007)

Alex Cross said:
			
		

> I've been playing the guitar for 10 years and now I do it professionally.
> 
> You could probably name a classic rock song for me to cover (besides Journey and the crappy 80s metal bands) and I can post up an acoustic cover on my FA account. :wink:



Ok...How about...Baba O'Reily by The Who?


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## Yok (Jun 8, 2007)

I play bass actually... yeahyeah, but I have been playing near on 8 years. What kind of gear does everyone have?
I has a SX Cobra (pile of shit but fun to play)
Stagg 300XB, sounds great, thats about it
Epiphone Explorer bass, matte black & neck-thru, rare.

wanna get another Epi at the end of the month, a Les Paul bass, sounds awesome.


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## Starburst (Jun 8, 2007)

I have a cheap offbrand guitar, amp, and cable >>  But my guitar is red!  And covered in stickers!  And my cable is pink :3

So, what's everyone's FAVORITE brand of guitar?  Personally, I like gibson |3~


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## Aden (Jun 8, 2007)

Schecter C-1 Elite. Naturally, my favorite brand is Schecter. ^..^

For ampage I use a really old Fender 140W or a kinda old Crate 15W hooked up to my speaker system. Generic cables all around, no pedals or effects yet.


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## Starburst (Jun 8, 2007)

I wanna get a techno distortion pedal (woo for me, get this bright idea for a punk band >>)


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## evil_ed667 (Jun 13, 2007)

I've been playing the axe for two years now and play in a local deathrock band. I can play loads of gothic rock and deathrock riffs, from Bauhaus, Christian Death, Alien Sex Fiend, Virgin Prunes, Adam and the Ants... most of them I learned by ear because tabs for these bands are rare.
I also play a lot of stoner rock; tons of riffs from Spirit Caravan, a few from Goatsnake, Brant Bjork, Atomic Bitchwax... and those influences really shine through in my guitar playing.

Recently, I've been learning "(Bang a Gong) Get It On" and "20th Century Boy" by T. Rex.


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## caguaswolf (Jun 16, 2007)

kool well ive been playing for about 3 years now and i have a black jonnson guitar it sounds good but there are better out in the world


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## Tomo (Jun 16, 2007)

Actually, I'm a bass player, but I can play on a guitar also. On a bass, I can play pretty much anything from my favorite bands, such as The Offspring, Iron Maiden, Linkin Park, Limp Bizkit, Static-X, Murderdolls, Godsmack, Blink 182, Sum 41, and many other songs by many other bands. =)

Oh yeah, I play a Fender Standard Precission Bass RW (brown sunburst body, white pickguard, rosewood neck), and I hope that one day I'll own my dream bass - Ernie Ball MusicMan StingRay 2EQ (black body, black pickguard, maple neck). <3


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## artdecade (Jul 20, 2007)

I can play mostly Bach and some Aguado without notation, for other things I need the sheet music.
I don't know any pop stuff, sry :[


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## lellow (Jul 20, 2007)

I can play some Opeth metal riffs. I can play Benighted and Still Day Beneath the Sun all the way through. Benighted sounds like crap, but I've got Still Day Beneath the Sun down pretty well.


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## Rhainor (Jul 21, 2007)

I can play "Taps" (yeah, I know, stupid-simple), and I can kinda play the main part of the Top Gun Anthem.

I know the sequence for the signature riff from Black Sabbath's "Iron Man", but I can't get my fret fingers to stop where they're supposed to.


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## garra (Jul 21, 2007)

As I've been playing guitar for almost two years now focused on metal..well, I can play almost ever metal-anthem you can imagine, and from time to time I really take my time with a song and learn the solo. Favourites are pretty generic..Metallica (+ Solos), In Flames (+ Solos), Ska-P (uh..well, Ska, so never mind the "solos"^^) and some Slayer.

I also play in some bands and a duo, we're re-arranging songs for piano and distorted guitar.


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## Tiarhlu (Jul 21, 2007)

I've been playing bass for about a year, and picked up guitar a few months ago. I can't play much at all.  

The bass is coming along well though and I really want to start a band when I move back to Florida in December. It's sad that it's so hard to find transcriptions of popular music with all of the parts so I can see what the bass is doing. Being trained to just read music and not have to figure it out by ear all my musical life has kind of left me handicapped. 

Now i've been playing tuba for almost 15 years. I can play a lot more on that!


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## Kaku (Jul 21, 2007)

Uhh, pretty much, "Polly" by Nirvana.
That's the only famous song I can really play. It's very easy, too.

...Well, maybe I could think of a few more.

Although I'm more of a rhythm guitarist as opposed to lead, which means that all that complicated soloing just isn't for me.


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## Nollix (Jul 24, 2007)

Well, I can play Master of Puppets at about 75% tempo, does that count? (Minus the finger raping solo of course) n.n


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## garra (Jul 24, 2007)

Nollix said:
			
		

> Well, I can play Master of Puppets at about 75% tempo, does that count? (Minus the finger raping solo of course) n.n


Exercise xD
My downstrokes used to suck, I couldn't keep up with MoP myself (at least not longer than till the second verse or so, no stamina ftw), so I started learning some mid-fast-paced songs, mainly Iron Maiden, which were played with downstrokes. Shouldn't take you too long ;P


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## Nyte the Kingcheetah (Jul 28, 2007)

I've been playing lead guitar for about six months now and in that time I've learnt a fair bit. I had a few lessons but decided to teach myself with the help of books and whatnot. I use a modified Dean ML-X, fitted with an EMG H4A in the neck pickup slot, and a Dimarzio X2N in the Bridge slot, with a tigerstripe finish.

In perfect tempo, I can play:
"Master of Puppets" in its entirety
"Fire It Up" by Black Label Society in full
"Of Sins And Shadows" by Symphony X (Of course, minus the solos)
"Out of the Ashes" by Symphony X (without the solos)
"Bark At The Moon" (Minus both solos)
"Iron Man" by Black Sabbath, 
"An Elegy of Icaros" by Emperor 
"Angel of Death" by Slayer (without the solo)
"Crazy Train" by Ozzy Osbourne (minus the solo)
"Cowboys From Hell" by Pantera
"Walk" by Pantera
"She Wolf" by MegaDeath (minus the solos)
"Thunder Kiss '65" by Rob 'White' Zombie
"You Got Another Thing Comin'" by Judas Priest
"Valley of The Damned" by DragonForce (Riffs only)
"Curse You All Men!" By Emperor
"The Preacher" by Testament (Minus the solo)
The theme song for Tetris
"Dragonstei Tin Dei" by O-Zone (Yes, I can play it on guitar)
"Madhouse" by Anthrax.

And along with that, I can also perform harmonics (tapped, artificial, pinch, and a combination of the three I've been working on), tapping segments, alternate picking, economy picking and I'm somewhat okay in the shredding areas as well...Although I'm trying to focus more on scales now, rather than learning covers.

..=P..


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## Nollix (Jul 28, 2007)

Nyte the Kingcheetah said:
			
		

> I've been playing lead guitar for about six months now...


I don't understand. Do you mean you've been playing lead guitar in your band for six months or have you been playing guitar in general for six months?


			
				Nyte the Kingcheetah said:
			
		

> "She Wolf" by MegaDeath


Why does everyone spell it Megadeath >.< It's MegaDETH D:<


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## Nyte the Kingcheetah (Jul 28, 2007)

No, I've been playing overall for six months, but I'm studying lead guitar mainly, not rhythm.


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## Nollix (Jul 28, 2007)

And you can play the MoP fast solo? (The one that Kirk plays) Impressive.


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## Nyte the Kingcheetah (Jul 28, 2007)

Thankies ^.^...Eh, what can I say, people tell me I'm a quick learner.


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## FreerideFox (Jul 29, 2007)

been playing for a really long time here. I've played bass for about 10 years. I started learning guitar 4 years ago, found it to be way too easy..not even a challenge. then I went back to bass.


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## Option7 (Jul 30, 2007)

I love my guitars. I've been playing for nigh on 6 years now, and I have never got bored. 
I don't really know that many songs, and I very rarely learn them in full.
I can play (parts of);
Battery - Metallica
Enter Sandman - Metallica
Master of Puppets - Metallica
The Unforgiven - Metallica
Of Wolf And Man - Metallica
Sonne - Rammstein
Tribute - Tenacious D
Paranoid - Black Sabbath
Paint It Black - Rolling Stones... And that's pretty much all I can remember...

And to Freeride - Did you try some of the more advanced stuff, such as sweep picking?
(Although, I actually feel the same way about bass guitar...)


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## Nyte the Kingcheetah (Jul 31, 2007)

Sweep-Tapping would probably be the toughest guitar technique..=P..A good example of a sweep-tapper would be Michael Romeo of Symphony X. Man I'd wanna be able to do it as easy as he makes it look..>.<


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## Nollix (Jul 31, 2007)

Michael Angelo > Michael Romeo


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## Horrorshow (Jul 31, 2007)

lol power chords. :]


Erm, but I try to play as many styles as I can (or at least give 'em a shot.) I like playing mathcore the most though. c:


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## Nollix (Aug 1, 2007)

^ What in the fuck is mathcore?


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## Nyte the Kingcheetah (Aug 1, 2007)

Nollix said:
			
		

> Michael Angelo > Michael Romeo



Yngwie Malmsteen > Michael Angelo

=P


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## Option7 (Aug 1, 2007)

Nollix said:
			
		

> ^ What in the fuck is mathcore?



O_O


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## Tiarhlu (Aug 3, 2007)

Can anyone help me with barre chords? I seem to have a string or two muted no matter how I position my index finger. I've been working at it since January, and I'm still having troubles. I can kind of do them on my electric, but on my dad's accoustic with heavier strings it seems impossible, and I keep getting bad thumb cramps. Sometimes I wonder if my fingers are too long.


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## Rhainor (Aug 3, 2007)

Tiarhlu said:
			
		

> Can anyone help me with barre chords? I seem to have a string or two muted no matter how I position my index finger. I've been working at it since January, and I'm still having troubles. I can kind of do them on my electric, but on my dad's accoustic with heavier strings it seems impossible, and I keep getting bad thumb cramps. Sometimes I wonder if my fingers are too long.



Hmm...how are you holding the neck?  In my experience, the best way is to hyperextend your thumb joint, and brace the thumb opposite the middle finger, just above the middle of the neck.

Assuming your grip is good, try just flattening you finger across the fretboard.  For example, if your chord is on strings A, D, G, and B (regardless of what fret each string is on), flatten the finger across all the strings except the low-E (since you're not using it) and either make sure you don't strum the high-E or mute it with another finger.

Keep in mind, I'm very much a beginner myself.  This is just paraphrased and semi-translated from advice I've seen elsewhere.


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## FreerideFox (Aug 4, 2007)

Option7 said:
			
		

> And to Freeride - Did you try some of the more advanced stuff



Yes, I went into understanding most of the theory. I play everything, but mostly play jazz which is some of the hardest in my opinion, you can play on a guitar. every technique was super easy for me. 

Now, I would love for an extremely advanced guitar player to try to understand bass theory.


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## Gios (Aug 4, 2007)

I play mostly Metallica, The Unforgiven is my favourite song to play lately 

A lot of green day (gotta love power chords lol)

~Gios


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## greg-the-fox (Aug 4, 2007)

I play the bass, can I partake in this thread? >:U
I play along to Green Day, Alkaline Trio, some Foo Fighters... I'm thinking of expanding my horizons past punk and learning to play along to Lamb Of God >:3, but I only have a 4 string so I'll have to tune down which is annoying. Should I get a 5 string? I'm considering taking lessons for accoustic guitar, since most bass players know that too, and it would be good to know for when I go to college. There's also the option of an acoustic bass, which also plugs into an amp, but they're really expensive. (There was a fretless acoustic 5 string I was drooling over, but it was like $800.)
Here's what I mean: (This wasn't it, something like it though)





Edit: I decided Lamb of God is way too hard, and I settled on Atreyu. I just learned how to play Bleeding Mascara m/ but I'm not that good at it yet. My bass sounds crappy tuned down, I really need a 5 string. Am I in the right club? D:

I also forgot to mention that I play jazz and blues too. (wide taste in music lol)


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## Rhainor (Aug 5, 2007)

greg-the-fox said:
			
		

> Should I get a 5 string?
> ...
> (There was a fretless acoustic 5 string I was drooling over, but it was like $800.)



My dad plays bass, he's got an old Vox semi-acoustic (partially hollow body, but still has electric pickups), a Carvin 5-string, and a generic off-brand fretless that he got just to mess around with.

I can't personally vouch as to how much harder it is to play a 5-string than a regular bass, but that Carvin is the one my dad uses most.



			
				greg-the-fox said:
			
		

> There's also the option of an acoustic bass, which also plugs into an amp, but they're really expensive.



Ah, an electric-acoustic.  Friend of mine has a regular guitar like that.


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## greg-the-fox (Aug 5, 2007)

Rhainor said:
			
		

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My brother has one of them, but I was wondering if I'd have to be gentler with an acousic bass?


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## Rhainor (Aug 5, 2007)

greg-the-fox said:
			
		

> My brother has one of them, but I was wondering if I'd have to be gentler with an acousic bass?



I don't see why you would.

'course, I don't play bass...


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## greg-the-fox (Aug 5, 2007)

Rhainor said:
			
		

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Well, an electric bass (or electric guitar) has a hard plastic pick guard. Some of the acoustics do too, but some don't, and I wouln't want to mess up the wood. A standard electric could take more of a beating. Also the strings look thinner on the acoustic, but I guess they're still too thick to snap. I think I'll just get an electric 5-string.


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## greg-the-fox (Aug 5, 2007)

Oh and the bass I have now is a cheap immitation of a Fender (WTF is Austin, I've never heard of it)




It does its job though, I'm happy with it.
Oh and mine has a natural wood color, rather than red.


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## Rhainor (Aug 5, 2007)

greg-the-fox said:
			
		

> Well, an electric bass (or electric guitar) has a hard plastic pick guard. Some of the acoustics do too, but some don't, and I wouln't want to mess up the wood.



Most do.  It shouldn't be hard to find one that has a pick guard.



			
				greg-the-fox said:
			
		

> A standard electric could take more of a beating. Also the strings look thinner on the acoustic, but I guess they're still too thick to snap.



AFAIK, Electrics and acoustics use the same strings.  They will snap with enough wear and/or torture, but it ain't easy.


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## greg-the-fox (Aug 5, 2007)

My problem is strumming to the beat. I just learned a song where I have to do it pretty fast and it's really frustrating me >:U (It's metal :3)

Oh and I'm getting pretty good at hammer-ons, but I suck doing it with my pinky. Especially when I go from my index to my pinky 3 frets over. My pinky is WEAK! I need one of those hand strengtheners. Do they work that well? Also, my fingers lock up at the joints. It's annoying.


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## Rhainor (Aug 5, 2007)

greg-the-fox said:
			
		

> My problem is strumming to the beat. I just learned a song where I have to do it pretty fast and it's really frustrating me >:U (It's metal :3)



I know that feeling.  If you're only strumming with down-strokes, try alternating down- and up-strokes.  Takes some getting used to, but it both doubles (or just about doubles) your maximum speed, and slightly reduces the strain on your strumming arm.



			
				greg-the-fox said:
			
		

> Oh and I'm getting pretty good at hammer-ons, but I suck doing it with my pinky. Especially when I go from my index to my pinky 3 frets over. My pinky is WEAK! I need one of those hand strengtheners. Do they work that well? Also, my fingers lock up at the joints. It's annoying.



I dunno how well those things work, as I've never used 'em.  Increasing your hand strength should help with joint-locking though.


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## FreerideFox (Aug 5, 2007)

to greg_the_fox if you like playing metel... I suggest a 5 string. and not an acoustic 5 either. look into yamaha and ibeanez to start, look for a split P style pickup like in your current bass, or look for humbuckers. 5 string basses are a little different than 4 string. The spacing is different, and you'll probably have 24 frets rather than 20 jumbo on your current bass. the extra 4 frets sometimes make all the rest of the frets smaller. the extra string, usually its a smaller neck as a lot of jazz musicians like to use 5 string. I play 4 for jazz and pretty much everything. but I do have a fender standard VI or whatever for a backup and for gigs. Most bass players cannot switch between 4 and 5 string very easily due to spacing issues. I've played all the way up to 7 string basses (which are horrible to play) I learned a lot of guitar theory. I'm not a beginner musician though, I play classical guitar because it was the only thing I found to be a challenge with 6 thin strings. I would suggest sticking to one instrument for at least 2-4 years before learning another. this will get you a little more music knowledge under your belt and you will be able to easily understand a guitar. if you go deep into bass theory like I did ...then you can understand anything. But, if you're just wanting to play metel, bass guitar for metel is often times extremely simple. so you probably wont have trouble with it. Stay away from fretless, if you're like me...you'll hardly play it because once the neck wears out, it really sucks to replace. for metel, the bass doesnt have to really sound good and theres hardley any technique involved, so that no name bass will actually work okay. if you need that 5 string... www.rondomusic.net has some pretty decent guitars. the quality is near the squier standard line if not a little better.


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## greg-the-fox (Aug 5, 2007)

Rhainor said:
			
		

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Well, I am pretty good at using up and down strokes alternately. I hardly ever use just downstrokes. (I'll use it on quarters.) A constant rythm of 8ths and 16ths is easy. It's the tricky rythms like say, 1---1---33331---1---33331---1--- that are tricky. (am I doing the tabs rite? :roll I'm comfortable using a pick or walking it. But when I'm strumming 16th notes at 120-140 and I'm shifting strings, I can't really do it without a slight lag and some missed notes if the song is fast. I've been playing for 3 years now, I think. I'll take a video of myself and put it on youtube and then post it here.

Also, I suck at reading tabs :U Someone help me with that plz.
I'm good at reading sheet music though, but not in alternate positions higher up the neck.
I know some basic modes, and the blues scale, but I don't know much about music theory.


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## greg-the-fox (Aug 5, 2007)

Thx FreerideFox! I went to guitarcenter.com and found this nice Ibanez. It looks so smexy in black :3 Only $400, maybe I can get it on sale!
http://www.guitarcenter.com/shop/pr...ear_5string_electric_bass?full_sku=519580.219


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## FreerideFox (Aug 5, 2007)

greg-the-fox said:
			
		

> Thx FreerideFox! I went to guitarcenter.com and found this nice Ibanez. It looks so smexy in black :3 Only $400, maybe I can get it on sale!
> http://www.guitarcenter.com/shop/pr...ear_5string_electric_bass?full_sku=519580.219



at $339.99 for a 5 string, its not a bad instrument. I have basically a 4 string P/J setup of that bass. They're made (I think) in the same factory as squier/epiphone in Indonesia. But I believe they're set up in the united states.keep looking around, if you can avoid active eletronics, do so.


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## Aden (Aug 5, 2007)

greg-the-fox said:
			
		

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Mwahahahaa - you want tricky? Look up some Meshuggah tabs. Timing cues from hell. O..o

*Greg*:
I usually hate to brag (really), but I've gotten quite good at the fast alternate picking / palm mute stuff. First step, of course, is forcing yourself to do it, even though it'll be uncomfortable at first. Remember that the way you hold your pick is more important than you'd think - experiment with all sorts of positions for this.

And remember that it's not necessary to crash into the string, believe me. Go from slightly brushing the top of the string and go deeper until it's appropriately heavy-sounding. You'll get the best of both speed and heaviness.


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## greg-the-fox (Aug 5, 2007)

I use the thickest pick in existance! (As far as I know) It's small and has a dimple, so I never drop it, and it has rounded edges which I like. It's 3mm thick it's crazy! I like the tone that it makes, it's closest to the sound made with my fingers.





It's a Jim Dunlop Big Stubby 3mm btw.


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## gero (Aug 5, 2007)

alright, the last post here was actually enough to make me register just to reply to it. if you are a bass player than why are you playing with a pick!!! i don't care how stubby it is its wrong. the common misconception with the guitar pick is that it allows you to play faster, and while any metal god will swear by the speed of alternate picking (up and down), i would never use a pick for the bass. 

learn to play with just your fingers, trust me on this. its simple math, the pick goes up and down but with four fingers strumming you get twice the speed. plus you look a lot more stylish slapping a bass than strumming it.


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## greg-the-fox (Aug 5, 2007)

gero said:
			
		

> alright, the last post here was actually enough to make me register just to reply to it. if you are a bass player than why are you playing with a pick!!! i don't care how stubby it is its wrong. the common misconception with the guitar pick is that it allows you to play faster, and while any metal god will swear by the speed of alternate picking (up and down), i would never use a pick for the bass.
> 
> learn to play with just your fingers, trust me on this. its simple math, the pick goes up and down but with four fingers strumming you get twice the speed. plus you look a lot more stylish slapping a bass than strumming it.



It's just a different style of playing, get used to it. I use my fingers for jazz.


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## Option7 (Aug 5, 2007)

greg-the-fox said:
			
		

> It's a Jim Dunlop Big Stubby 3mm btw.



I use one of them. I find I can play faster and more accuratley than with bigger picks.
I also like the small Jazz III picks.


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## Horrorshow (Aug 5, 2007)

I loves the Jazz III picks. D:>


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## Rhainor (Aug 6, 2007)

greg-the-fox said:
			
		

> I use the thickest pick in existance! (As far as I know) It's small and has a dimple, so I never drop it, and it has rounded edges which I like. It's 3mm thick it's crazy! I like the tone that it makes, it's closest to the sound made with my fingers.
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Jeebus...I thought the picks I used were thick, but this thing's as thick as two of mine...


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## greg-the-fox (Aug 6, 2007)

I should mention that I learn nearly everything I play by ear. I can take a song, and if the bassline isn't too hard, learn it in under half an hour and then *remember it* after only playing it a few times. I've been told I have a really great ear (lol I'm bragging) and I can tune really fast (I use harmonics and listen to the waves :3) wahwahwahhwahhhhwahhhhhhhwahhhhhhhhawaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhh god I love that sound when it gets into tune. XD


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## Aden (Aug 6, 2007)

greg-the-fox said:
			
		

> wahwahwahhwahhhhwahhhhhhhwahhhhhhhhawaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhh god I love that sound when it gets into tune. XD



It's like an audible massage.


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## gero (Aug 6, 2007)

though i'm fighting the urge to retaliate against all the pick pictures (really, its hard), for the sake of discussion i'm curious as to whether or not anyone has been experimenting with using artificial harmonics on the bass. i stumbled across this by accident the other day and found that by slapping the side of my thumb on the edge of the neck on top of the 14th fret i was producing some great harmonics on the G string. being that most guitar players get artificial harmonics through picking, and then usually just on a guitar, i was wondering if anyone else has been playing around with this.


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## Rhainor (Aug 6, 2007)

Harmonics are funky and awesome.

The trick I learned to bringing out the harmonics on a guitar (and it should work on a bass, too, as long as it's got the same overall number of frets) is to push a string down on the 12th fret -- not like you would normally fret the string, but with your finger _right over_ the fret -- then pluck the string, and a split second later pull your finger off the string.  If you do it right, the body-end of the string and the top half should be vibrating opposite each other, with the point over the 12th fret (which happens to be almost exactly the middle of the string on most guitars) will be almost perfectly still.

You can also use the trick to bring out harmonics on the 7th, 5th, and 4th frets, although the farther out the neck you go, the harder it is to hear.

The trick is taking your finger off the string at the right time.  Too soon, and you'll have simply played an open string; too late, and your finger will have muted the string too much for the harmonic to be audible.


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## greg-the-fox (Aug 6, 2007)

Here's a video of me playing my bass. 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E9PCCKkCrqU
The first song I suck at. The second song I'm good at.
I need comments and pointers! 
And sorry it's so long.
Watch plz!


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## FreerideFox (Aug 6, 2007)

gero said:
			
		

> though i'm fighting the urge to retaliate against all the pick pictures (really, its hard), for the sake of discussion i'm curious as to whether or not anyone has been experimenting with using artificial harmonics on the bass. i stumbled across this by accident the other day and found that by slapping the side of my thumb on the edge of the neck on top of the 14th fret i was producing some great harmonics on the G string. being that most guitar players get artificial harmonics through picking, and then usually just on a guitar, i was wondering if anyone else has been playing around with this.




I think I have, not by slapping my thumb on the neck though. I like, rest my thumb on the string then pick with a finger. I get like this pseudo harmonic, its really strange but sounds kinda cool.


----------



## Tiarhlu (Aug 6, 2007)

Rainor: I've read that you need to keep the index finger lined up with the thumb. Every once in a while I'll get a nice sounding chord, but usually it's only about 80% there, and it's very frustrating, especially playing an arpeggiated chord. I hear something like paaaa paaaa plunk paaaa bzap paaa plunk. The only position for my index finger that gives me a nice clean sound on each string has it so far up that it's basically impossible to get my other fingers into position on the higher strings. That's fine on the E position major chord, but on a lot I have major troubles. And with the music I write I like a lot of complex chords, so that doesn't help. 

Gero: I've messed around with artificial harmonics, and while I can play them, I can't do it very well moving around since the fretting finger won't be moving the same distance as the plucking ones. I envy those guys that can do rapid melodies in harmonics. 

I forgot who brought it, but about the 5-string bass, that's what I play. The only reason I do though is to satisfy my low note fetish.  I've never played a 4-string, outside of Guitar Center.


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## gero (Aug 6, 2007)

hey greg i watched your video, you're not bad. i might be able to give you a couple of pointers, i used to teach guitar in highschool. anyway, i have to start by telling you to try and lose the pick on the first song. i know, i know its fast, but hear me out. practice playing it the same way you were playing the second song, with your thumb on the pickguard and alternating between your first two fingers, this will build dexterity and i promise that with some practice you will be able to match the speed of playing with the pick (trust me, i have one of those huge purple picks and its sat in my guitar case for half a decade). 

just had to get that out of the way. i saw you strumming what looked like chords  on the first song, and your transitions are pretty quick, but chords on a bass never sound good unless you can break them apart (i don't suggest playing more than two strings for a chord). one thing you might try is to play the individual notes of the chord which will develop your ability to improvise through familiarity of the scales and how chord structures are founded upon them. 

sorry, i realize that was a rant but i couldn't help it. of course these are not criticisms in any way, just suggestions, and we all have our own styles and preferences (but seriously that last song was groovy).


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## greg-the-fox (Aug 6, 2007)

gero said:
			
		

> hey greg i watched your video, you're not bad. i might be able to give you a couple of pointers, i used to teach guitar in highschool. anyway, i have to start by telling you to try and lose the pick on the first song. i know, i know its fast, but hear me out. practice playing it the same way you were playing the second song, with your thumb on the pickguard and alternating between your first two fingers, this will build dexterity and i promise that with some practice you will be able to match the speed of playing with the pick (trust me, i have one of those huge purple picks and its sat in my guitar case for half a decade).
> 
> just had to get that out of the way. i saw you strumming what looked like chords  on the first song, and your transitions are pretty quick, but chords on a bass never sound good unless you can break them apart (i don't suggest playing more than two strings for a chord). one thing you might try is to play the individual notes of the chord which will develop your ability to improvise through familiarity of the scales and how chord structures are founded upon them.
> 
> sorry, i realize that was a rant but i couldn't help it. of course these are not criticisms in any way, just suggestions, and we all have our own styles and preferences (but seriously that last song was groovy).



No, I didn't play any chords  Just hammer-ons. And playing with my fingers for a very long time tires them out (strumming takes longer for me to get tired)
But thanks, yeah that second song is awesome. XD *massive* shifts!

And also, me in that video=akward! I'm shy lol.


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## Aden (Aug 6, 2007)

FreerideFox said:
			
		

> I think I have, not by slapping my thumb on the neck though. I like, rest my thumb on the string then pick with a finger. I get like this pseudo harmonic, its really strange but sounds kinda cool.



Those are called pinch harmonics, and are really useful if you can pull them off well (again, I hate to brag, but I can. XD). I have the easiest time with pinches on the 9th, 3rd, and 5th frets respectively, although you can do it on any fret. And if you get good enough, you can do them with no amplifier or on an acoustic.

It takes a little while to get a feel for exactly where to "pinch" the string, but you'll find out the sweet spots in time. Remember that you always pinch on a fraction of the string to get it to produce the standing waves of a harmonic - so you'd pinch it like 1/4 or 1/5 or 1/6 of the way up the string commonly, although you can go up to 1/2 if you see fit. Most of the sweet spots will be close to or directly over the area where your pickups are.

I can post some audio demonstrations if anyone wants 'em.


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## Option7 (Aug 8, 2007)

I love pinch harmonics on the guitar. I've finally mastered them, so now it's time to move onto sweeping!

and Greg, you're video inspired me, I'm gonna see if I can make a video of mah skillz to show you guys.


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## Nollix (Aug 8, 2007)

Rhainor said:
			
		

> Harmonics are funky and awesome.
> 
> The trick I learned to bringing out the harmonics on a guitar (and it should work on a bass, too, as long as it's got the same overall number of frets) is to push a string down on the 12th fret -- not like you would normally fret the string, but with your finger right over the fret -- then pluck the string, and a split second later pull your finger off the string. If you do it right, the body-end of the string and the top half should be vibrating opposite each other, with the point over the 12th fret (which happens to be almost exactly the middle of the string on most guitars) will be almost perfectly still.
> 
> ...





			
				FreerideFox said:
			
		

> gero said:
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Congratulations, you've inadvertently discovered natural harmonics.
http://www.cyberfret.com/techniques/harmonics/natural/index.php


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## greg-the-fox (Aug 9, 2007)

Option7 said:
			
		

> I love pinch harmonics on the guitar. I've finally mastered them, so now it's time to move onto sweeping!
> 
> and Greg, you're video inspired me, I'm gonna see if I can make a video of mah skillz to show you guys.



Yay I inspired someone!  I consider that a great compliment!


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## Rhainor (Aug 9, 2007)

Nollix said:
			
		

> Congratulations, you've inadvertently discovered natural harmonics.
> http://www.cyberfret.com/techniques/harmonics/natural/index.php



Inadvertently?  Nonononono, came across descriptions and instructions while poking around a free-guitar-lessons website; I don't call that "inadvertent".


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## Vore Writer (Aug 12, 2007)

I play bass, and I swear it's the greatest thing I picked up. Which evens out the worst thing I picked up, which is smoking. I have two bass guitars, a four and a five string, both Squier. They're both played through a Crate, and as for pedals, I have a Digitech Wah, a distortion pedal and a Nano Clone Chorus. I'm in love with the Nano Clone. IMO, it adds a little bit of emotion to the bass.

I started out playing with a pick, but I gradually went to finger. Now I'm all finger.


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## southmunjoy (Aug 12, 2007)

Rhainor said:
			
		

> Harmonics are funky and awesome.
> 
> The trick I learned to bringing out the harmonics on a guitar (and it should work on a bass, too, as long as it's got the same overall number of frets) is to push a string down on the 12th fret -- not like you would normally fret the string, but with your finger _right over_ the fret -- then pluck the string, and a split second later pull your finger off the string.  If you do it right, the body-end of the string and the top half should be vibrating opposite each other, with the point over the 12th fret (which happens to be almost exactly the middle of the string on most guitars) will be almost perfectly still.
> 
> ...



After you master harmonics, then you should move on to fretting strings individually and try hitting harmonics on the fretted strin at the corresponding frets, though I would suggest trying it with either a cranked tube amp, or using the dirty channel on whatever amp you have. 

For a Rig, I currently have one guitar which is a Godin LG. It  has a mahogany body/neck with dual coil pickups, so it does the Gibson thing on the cheap. --I'm going to get either another Gibson or a Late 70's early 80's Japanese 'Lawsuit' Gibson copy, as they have better build quality and tone than many of the current production Gibsons. 

All of my amplification is tube based. I have 2 Seymour Duncan Convertable 100's, an early version of an Ampeg V-4, a 100 watt Nolan ( very rare British amp from the early 70's, they were never sold in North America) and a Diezel VH-4, which is a modern 100 watt tube amp made in Germany. --I also have a old Bogen PA amp from the late 60's that will be converted to a guitar amp.--Word is that they sound amazing for guitar, plus the fact that they are cheap.


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## JerJer (Aug 12, 2007)

I'm love me guitar, and such, its the only thing I do when not on my comp, or drawing or playing games

so far I've played for a year and a few months

so far the songs I can play are

Bat country, beast and the harlot, Otherworld, some thrice songs, greensleeves, A place I will return to (FF9 theme) and a few others, problem is I can't play most songs in full


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## greg-the-fox (Oct 7, 2007)

Oh I finally have a GOOD video of me playing my bass! Even tho I messed up a lot OMG I'm so proud :3
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IK0PumPak7w


----------



## Option7 (Oct 7, 2007)

That's pretty good Greg 
I like teh Rancid also.


----------



## greg-the-fox (Oct 24, 2007)

:3 thanks
I finally picked up accoustic guitar! I've only had 3 lessons and have been playing for 3 weeks, but I'm improving really fast.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rd70TbH7MqA
No I will not stop posting videos of myself, I am a huge attention whore on the internets! :lol:


----------



## Esplender (Oct 24, 2007)

Just finished assembling my new guitar a few days ago:
http://www.furaffinity.net/full/853618/


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## furryskibum (Oct 24, 2007)

Aden said:
			
		

> Schecter C-1 Elite. Naturally, my favorite brand is Schecter. ^..^



Nice nice.  I've got a Schecter C-1 Exotic myself.  :3

My amperage is a Behringer V-Tone GMX1200H coupled with their 4x12 cabinet.  Relatively cheap, but it more than suits my needs.  I just happen to have an oldish photo too!  See below.

Also have a Carlos acoustic guitar.  No-name with decent sound.    Someday I'd really love to get a Maton acoustic out of Australia.

Been a hobby-level player for several years, though I'm a little out of practice now.


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## furryskibum (Oct 24, 2007)

Lookin good, Greg.  :3

Esplender, that is just sick.  XD

ALSO!  I'm really looking for information on my acoustic.  It's a Carlos Model 249.  Every review I've read gives it high reviews on sound and such, but there is little info out there.  I can say with reasonable certainty that it's around 20+ years old and made in Korea from what info I have found.  It also really does sound fantastic.  The new strings I put on have a very bright and clear tone.  Any info is appreciated!


----------



## Kor Ryal (Dec 1, 2007)

I've been playing for 9 months, and mainly play power metal and neoclassical shred and what not.

Probably the hardest thing I can play is about a minute into Blitzkrieg by Yngwie, but I got extremely impatient learning the rest. >:[

I mainly just make my own music though.


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## Sedit (Dec 1, 2007)

oh hell yes....I play guitar mainly, but I also play bass, along with some keyboards and drums.

I play in band called Epyon.  We play a unique mix blackened thrash with some death metal mixed in.  Main influences are Amon Amarth, Hypocrisy, Death/Control Denied, Iced Earth, Opeth, Dissection, and Dimmu Borgir.  I've been playing for about 8-9 years.

I dont bother to play many covers...havent for many years, but in my earlier years I cut my teeth alot of classic thrash stuff, along with Pantera, Type O Negative (I briefly sang in a Type-O cover band, actually) and Judas Priest.

my current main rig:
-Guitars-
-Ibanez VBT700 V-Blade w/ DiMarzio D-Activator pick-ups
-Mako T-Series Neck Thru w/ SD Detonators and Floyd rose double locking bridge (this guitar is a highly modified, VERY nice yet rare BC Rich Bich copy from the late 80's)
*all guitars strung w/ GHS TNT 10-52 strings tuned down one whole step

-pedals-
-Ibanez Weeping Demon Wah
-Digitech Whammy (coming real soon, actually)
-Digitech Control One midi board

-backline-
-Digitech 2120VGS Pre-amp and FX.  Has both Tube, and solid-state pre-amps, analog wah, EQ, and compression, and digital reverbs, chorus, flangers, pitch shifting (normal and intelligent), EQ, delays, etc. etc. etc.
*tube pre is loaded with JJ 12AX7 russian models for extra thickness and growl.  Also, I run both tube and SS pre's in paralell to create a massive, layered guitar tone.
-Tubeworks Mosvalve MV-962 150watt power amp (super loud, and amazing tone...Jerry Cantrell used these for a very long time w/ a Bogner Fish pre-amp, I believe)
-Marshall 1960B 4x12 cabinet loaded with Eminence Swamp Thang drivers.  Also, I've done ALOT of cosmetic mods to the cab to make it look more brutal


ahhhh.....pics:

































I paln on making a myspace profile for Epyon real soon.  I'm in the middle of revamping my DAW (almost done...SQUEEEE!), meaning there will be some studio quality tracks available real soon.  We're hoping to have a finished EP by winters end too


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## Sedit (Dec 1, 2007)

Nyte the Kingcheetah said:
			
		

> I've been playing lead guitar for about six months now and in that time I've learnt a fair bit. I had a few lessons but decided to teach myself with the help of books and whatnot. I use a modified Dean ML-X, fitted with an EMG H4A in the neck pickup slot, and a Dimarzio X2N in the Bridge slot, with a tigerstripe finish.
> 
> In perfect tempo, I can play:
> "Master of Puppets" in its entirety
> ...



I officially approve of your taste in music!  

seriously...those are all very tasty picks!  Though, I admit, I'm unfamiliar w/ the O-Zone track


----------



## Sedit (Dec 1, 2007)

FreerideFox said:
			
		

> to greg_the_fox if you like playing metel... I suggest a 5 string. and not an acoustic 5 either. look into yamaha and ibeanez to start, look for a split P style pickup like in your current bass, or look for humbuckers. 5 string basses are a little different than 4 string. The spacing is different, and you'll probably have 24 frets rather than 20 jumbo on your current bass. the extra 4 frets sometimes make all the rest of the frets smaller. the extra string, usually its a smaller neck as a lot of jazz musicians like to use 5 string. I play 4 for jazz and pretty much everything. but I do have a fender standard VI or whatever for a backup and for gigs. Most bass players cannot switch between 4 and 5 string very easily due to spacing issues. I've played all the way up to 7 string basses (which are horrible to play) I learned a lot of guitar theory. I'm not a beginner musician though, I play classical guitar because it was the only thing I found to be a challenge with 6 thin strings. I would suggest sticking to one instrument for at least 2-4 years before learning another. this will get you a little more music knowledge under your belt and you will be able to easily understand a guitar. if you go deep into bass theory like I did ...then you can understand anything. But, if you're just wanting to play metel, bass guitar for metel is often times extremely simple. so you probably wont have trouble with it. Stay away from fretless, if you're like me...you'll hardly play it because once the neck wears out, it really sucks to replace. for metel, the bass doesnt have to really sound good and theres hardley any technique involved, so that no name bass will actually work okay. if you need that 5 string... www.rondomusic.net has some pretty decent guitars. the quality is near the squier standard line if not a little better.



actually...ther are some EXTREMELY technical metal bass players out there.  Chief among them would be Steve DiGeorgio (and hes a fretless player to boot).  Also, Overkills DD Verni is a highly overlooked monster on bass...this guys got like, the fastest finger picking ever, and he has a very up-front style that often overshadows the guitar players.  Some of the bass playing in the band Necrophagist is mind boggling as well (imagine Les Claypool playing highly technical, grinding death metal)


Not trying to sound like an ass, mind you.  Just that, as a metal bass player as well, I know how overlooked that role sometimes is...especially in the extreme metal world.


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## Woofi (Dec 1, 2007)

caguaswolf said:
			
		

> ...
> 
> what Famous song can you play on you guitar?



Movement one of Beethoven's Piano Sonata 14 in C# minor.
The first bits of Toccata and Fugue
Movement one of Vivaldi's Winter
The Wheels on the Bus Go 'round and 'round


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## greg-the-fox (Dec 1, 2007)

I'm getting a 5 string Ibanez for my birthday ^^ I'll post a picture of it when I get it >:3


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## Vore Writer (Dec 1, 2007)

A couple of weeks ago I bought myself a four string acoustic: Micheal Kelly.


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## greg-the-fox (Dec 7, 2007)

greg-the-fox said:
			
		

> I'm getting a 5 string Ibanez for my birthday ^^ I'll post a picture of it when I get it >:3



got it X3 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lJl2Jm9TsG8&feature=related


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## Sedit (Dec 7, 2007)

Well, fuck me...I just dumped almost $400 into recording gear this past week.  Ah well...whats MORE debt, eh?  At least I'll be making a return on this as its still WAY cheaper to record an album at home than in a rented studio.  Especially without a label to back you up yet.

But, what did I get?  

Got me an M-Audio Delta 1010lt soundcard.  This gives me upto TEN inputs of simultanious, realtime recording on seperate channels for pro editing (I use Adobe Audition, FWIW).  I also got a rackmount Behringer Ultragain T1953 dual channel tube mic pre-amp, to use in addition to my little Behringer MIC200 (cheap, and tiny, but its a GREAT mic pre-amp...I use this between my PVM3000 microphone and the soundcard to warm up the signal going into the computer when recording my guitar tracks...just sounds way more natural/lifelike).  I also have an old Nady dual compressor/gate/expander laying around I threw into the rig.  All this goes back to my soundcard via a cable snake for all the seperate channels.  I also feed off in parallel to a 4-channel mixer that goes into the PA, where the vocals, e-drums, and (very soon) keyboardget fed into and amplified.


sorry to ramble some...I just love talking shop with ither musicians, y'know?

Anybody else here into home recording maybe wanna share some tips/info?  I'm admittadly still a little noobish in some areas.


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## Aden (Dec 7, 2007)

Sedit said:
			
		

> Anybody else here into home recording maybe wanna share some tips/info?  I'm admittadly still a little noobish in some areas.



I bet I'm a shit-ton more noobish when it comes to recording than thou. 

The gear I'm hoping to get after Xmas is just a simple nice amp and mic setup. Porting the clean signal through Logic is crap (their amp simulation...lacks balls), so anything would be better than that.

Trying to decide whether it would be better to get that or a Kahler trem first. I'm really looking at the Kahler for first since I'm really not ready to record anything just yet, and I'd rather have the practice with the trem for when I am ready to record.

I'm also going to pick up the EMGs that I've lusted over...eventually. So, my guitar is going to be kickass...eventually.


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## Rilvor (Dec 7, 2007)

I've played Guitar Hero 3, can I play with you guys and your guitars too?  I've got mad shredding skillz!

*snicker* I couldn't keep a straight face while typing that XD

No offense to anyone, just havin fun, I'll stop now :lol:


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## Option7 (Dec 7, 2007)

Lol.
Guitar Hero doesn't even have 6 strings >_<


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## DavidN (Dec 7, 2007)

To be totally fair to it, Guitar Hero's finger action is slightly more reminiscent of playing a guitar than, say, DDR is to dancing. It might possibly help you with fretting, though the keys are rather too close together.

But then I've only just started with the guitar - I've been slowly driving my wife mad with the chromatic scales, and have been slowly learning to play things that don't sound totally hideous. It's surprising how easy some things are to play provided you can get your finger into the right knot - I'm currently cutting my finger to bits trying F Major.


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## TehLemming (Dec 11, 2007)

I loves my guitars....

famous songs... I can play quiet a few... just not much for classic rock 
I think the list of things I enjoy playing along with when I'm bored is up to 300 something songs, most of them easy from when I was a beginner. :

As for what I play, newest is a G&L S500, although it's at home and I'm missing it at school with only my crappy $100 acoustic.
I'd put a picture of the pretty thing, but yeah... it's a couple hundred miles a way... plus it's basically your standard fender look (being as it was designed by leo)
as for guitar hero... I hate that game... mostly because I suck at it. =D


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## erroshadowpaw (Dec 11, 2007)

Wow, don't know how in hell I missed this one. I have been playing guitar for about... five years, but the last one doesn't really count cause I haven't picked the thing up too often. Its been a while since I've been on stage, but I used to play some fun songs

Metallica: Nothing Else Matters
Aerosmith: Dream On
Shinedown: 45, Simple Man
Breaking Benjamin: So Cold, Blow Me Away

Uh... I can't think of what I know right now, I'm sure if I goofed off with the thing for a bit I'd remember. Been trying to get into playing again, but life has been so out of tune (no pun intended) that there hasn't been time to play much.

Oh, and as for gear. With me I have my crappy Austin strat, and my acoustic, which is... somewhere... modified with a mic pickup in it. The other reason I stopped playing is because my cables are shorted, so I can't even play through my lil' 15W Crate.
The prize is at my father's house, been meaning to go get that from him for ages.
1980 G&L Stratocaster

Oh yeah... I suck at Guitar Hero too.... D:


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## TehLemming (Dec 12, 2007)

erroshadowpaw said:
			
		

> The prize is at my father's house, been meaning to go get that from him for ages.
> 1980 G&L Stratocaster
> 
> Oh yeah... I suck at Guitar Hero too.... D:


You just made me happy. =D

All my other guitar or otherwise playing friends ended up asking me what the hell G&L was... this made me sad as on plays your standard fender tele.   I bet that thing sounds just nifty

(I lost at playing guitar hero (actually some mod game they had) with blow me away by breaking Benjamin... had to redeem myself by playing it for real lol)


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## Sedit (Dec 13, 2007)

Aden said:
			
		

> Sedit said:
> 
> 
> 
> ...



micing up a good amp properly will always sound better than any direct software and simulations(though I've heard some really good ones nonetheless)....but it IS easy to fuck up as well, since theres so many variables.  Right now I use a Peave PVM3000 about 1" from the speaker grill, and slightly under, and off to the side of the cone center.  This gets run into a Behringer T1953 Tube Ultragain mic pre-amp (I also use a channel of this for vocals, as well) too warm up the signal a lil' bit, and also run a High Pass Filter set around 150-180Hz (clears up some of that rumble, and bass-mud you get as a result of 'proximity effect' when close micing.  Setting this up, around 250-350Hz works great for crisp vocals as well), than it goes into the Nady CL-5000 for some compression/peak-limiting (normalizes the volume some, plus allows me to record a much hotter signal with peaking into the red...this, BTW, is also an important tool for post-production mastering of the entire track if you wanna get it upto commercial-grade levels).  After all that...THAN it goes out to a channel onto my soundcard (an M-Audio Delta 1010lt) for recording and production editing.

Sounds more complicated than it really is.  Once I have this new set-up fully tweaked and run a few more test runs, I'll perhaps post a sample


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## Sedit (Dec 13, 2007)

Aden said:
			
		

> Sedit said:
> 
> 
> 
> ...



oh yeah...and Kahlers are sweet!  I'm considering putting one into my Ibanez V-Blade.

As for EMG's...also great, but I went back to passive pick-ups after a few years of those.  They we're almost too clean and hi-fi for me...I wanted a thicker, nastier tone from my axes.  Actually, a good balance of passive chunk, and EMG clarity is DiMarzios' new D-Activator pick-ups (which actually came stock in my V-Blade) which are meant to be a passive alternative to EMG's (plus, no batteries to deal with!!).  So, you may wanna look into those...may be slightly cheaper too


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## Joe2491 (Dec 16, 2007)

I Play A Guitar ALL Day! (Cuz Im In A Heavy Metal Band!) And I Learn't a real good trick to play long all day!
1. Get a Bag Of Nice Ol' ICE!
2. Emerse Your Fingerz In The Ice.
3. Stick In Until Numb.
4. Play Guitar.

If Effects Were off, repeat from step 2! happy playing!


----------



## Aden (Dec 17, 2007)

*Sedit*: 

Interesting, I'll have to check a lot of those things out. I'll also need to get the money for them but, eh, technicalities. For now I'll just keep hammering on the skills.



			
				Joe2491 said:
			
		

> I Play A Guitar ALL Day! (Cuz Im In A Heavy Metal Band!) And I Learn't a real good trick to play long all day!
> 1. Get a Bag Of Nice Ol' ICE!
> 2. Emerse Your Fingerz In The Ice.
> 3. Stick In Until Numb.
> ...



That doesn't work so well for me, I'm afraid. It gets pretty hard to play what I play as my fingers get colder. Definite loss of mobility there. A six-string sweep basically becomes my fingers losing themselves to a barrage of unpleasant noises.

/I'm in Rochester, so I know all about playing while cold.


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## DavidN (Dec 17, 2007)

How is it possible to play while your fingers are numb? I can't play when I'm even remotely cold.

Although I did find myself rather better at playing just after I'd got off a plane flight where I'd taken temazepam to sleep, because it reduced the shaking of my fingers.

Still can't play B minor in under four seconds.


----------



## Axelfox (Dec 17, 2007)

Well i can play "Iron Man" by Ozzy Osbourne, is learning "Stairway To Heaven" and will replace the peavey amp i have one day with a Fender Strat and a Marshall tube amp.


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## Aden (Dec 17, 2007)

DavidN said:
			
		

> Still can't play B minor in under four seconds.



Wait, people time their scales? Is that up or down (or both)? Can you post a tab so I can time me?


----------



## TehLemming (Dec 17, 2007)

Aden said:
			
		

> DavidN said:
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Bminor scale tab? In what octave do you want that?  =)

I only ever play scales for maybe 15 mintues when I'm really bored or playing really sketchy, and I never time it...


edit: damnit, I'm sorry, I completely forgot to include the basic B minor scale in here :
Should be what's bellow, but I might be wrong, I'm writing it from memory... I usually play by ear... I'm weird like that
e---------------------------------
b---------------------------------
g-------------2-4--4-2------------
d-------2-4-5----------5-4-2------
a-2-4-5----------------------5-4-2
e---------------------------------


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## Aden (Dec 17, 2007)

TehLemming said:
			
		

> e---------------------------------
> b---------------------------------
> g-------------2-4--4-2------------
> d-------2-4-5----------5-4-2------
> ...



Woot. Nkay. Had my roomie time these.

Up:
Hammers - .5s
Picking all - .9s

Down:
Pulls - .6s
Picking all - .8s

Pretty good IMO, but there's still some room for improvement.

I wish I'd get off my ass and memorize some scales, or at least the fretboard. At the moment I play by ear for writing and use tabs whenever I want to learn an actual song. I just get on the guitar, and I know I want to start memorizing stuff, but I also know I just want to play. The lazy side wins out most of the time. :/


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## TehLemming (Dec 17, 2007)

Aden said:
			
		

> TehLemming said:
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lE to D and A to G string scales are easy and quick... I still have issues with the higher octave ones....

I really should have started playing scales more like... 4 or 5 years ago when I first started playing... now I'm decently good with flawed form :


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## Aden (Dec 18, 2007)

You have issues with higher octaves? I always thought it got easier the further you went up the fretboard. Maybe that's just me. Less stretching out of the fingers so you can manipulate them more easily.

I've been playing scales since almost the beginning, I suppose (going to be two years on Xmas day :3). I just make them up. They all have names, I'm sure, but I don't know them. Well, maybe not _all_ of them have names.


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## Rhainor (Dec 18, 2007)

Aden said:
			
		

> You have issues with higher octaves? I always thought it got easier the further you went up the fretboard. Maybe that's just me. Less stretching out of the fingers so you can manipulate them more easily.



I think he meant going to the upper two strings is harder due to the oddball fret shift between G and B strings.


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## Aden (Dec 18, 2007)

Rhainor said:
			
		

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Ah, I never really found that too distracting. Just shift your patterns up a fret as you make that jump. ^..^


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## TehLemming (Dec 18, 2007)

Aden said:
			
		

> You have issues with higher octaves? I always thought it got easier the further you went up the fretboard. Maybe that's just me. Less stretching out of the fingers so you can manipulate them more easily.
> 
> I've been playing scales since almost the beginning, I suppose (going to be two years on Xmas day :3). I just make them up. They all have names, I'm sure, but I don't know them. Well, maybe not _all_ of them have names.



hehe, yeah going up the fretboard is easy, no I mean higher then that even 

play 8 note scales over 3 strings starting on the D or G string =)
(I think, based on what my ear tells me) it's just a different pattern, but I'm not use to playing that yet so it takes to much thinking when I'm doing it

which is really weird because when playing leads/solo's in songs I know it doesn't bother me at all... 

I just over think it *shrugs*


edit for thinking


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