I need a new amp so badly. I'm thinking of getting one of those tiny Backstar metal amps (there's a 1 watter and a 5 watter) since I just practice and play for myself. Everything I've seen of them, they sound nice. Of course I would have to buy it without testing because nowhere here (or seemingly anywhere in Canada) stocks the metal versions of the HT amps.
Also, 1500 grit wet-dry sandpaper is god-tier when it comes to cleaning up guitars. I have replaced 0000 steel wool with 1000 and 1500 grit wet-dry and it produces as nice, if not nicer, results with comparitively little mess. I tried to take some pictures to show the difference, but the difference in 1000 an 1500 is not something that is easy to show. In person, it is easy to see it is way shinier and smoother feeling. I forgot to get some autosol so I couldn't maximize shininess but the frets still feel amazing. I'm going to do this with all of my instruments (except my new Ibanez because it appears the Ishibashi people shined them up before sending it to me as they are perfectly clean).
For the "why do guitarists gravitate towards metal" thing, I am in agreement with MtlGuitarist, it's the combination of complexity and fun. A lot of metal songs are challenging thing to learn but quite rewarding. That's not really the case with a lot of pop-oriented guitar as that usually ends up being quite repetitive or simple because the vocals are more of a focus. In a lot of cases for metal, the instrumental portion of a song is as important as the vocals, if not more important. Blues and jazz are a completely different beast to learn. Improvisation, which I view as being key in both of those genres, is a very tough thing to learn well (by well I mean that you can improvise in a way that flows and makes sense. Anyone can improvise, but most don't do a very good job of it). Metal on the other hand, doesn't really require that skill (it does to a certain point, but it isn't integral to the genre like it is for jazz and blues. A lot of metal bands don't incorporate it into their live performances), but still provides a level of challenge that allows people to improve as musicians. I've played metal guitar for the better part of 10 years and there's still so much room for me to improve. Compared to my biggest influences, there's so much that I can improve before I'm even half as good as them. I've been learning Jeff Loomis-style sweeps for the better part of 5 years and I still can't do them even close to as well as he does (my favourite being the Psalm of Lydia opening sweep. That one's really fun. At like 0:19 in the video linked. Though the title track of that album is way better than Psalm of Lydia.). I can't even come close to being proficient as his rhythm guitar style, despite absolutely adoring it.
I really want to get a 7 string Ibanez Prestige of some type to complement my RG3250. Ishibashi's low on guitars right now (they always are right near Christmas) so I'll have to wait until spring when they fill up with stock again, which is fine with me. I'm totally sold on these Japanese Ibanezes. They're so much nicer than I thought they would be and quite reasonable if you import them from Japan.
On December 16 2014 14:49 LeperKahn wrote: I'm curious, why do you guys think so many guitarists gravitate towards playing metal?
(Perhaps I'm bias because most guitarists I converse with use the internet?)
Depends where you ask, most of the people I talk to on the Internet play blues/jazz/rock. However all people in my area play some kind of metal. Sad for me cause all I play is blues, jazz, soul and that sort of things. I just don't like distortion very much. To each his own huh?
On December 17 2014 07:35 GinDo wrote: What i would do for An exploror, but nobody locally wants to part with one. I have to dig around my local pawnshops.
What do you think about this
LTD version of course
Yeah those guitars are cool too . I still prefer the more classic models, like LP's, SG's, Strats and Teles, but i had to admit that does look cool. LTD/Esp in general make really nice instruments.
Regarding genres, i'm a jazz/blues/rock player myself. I play some metal but i've never been the greatest at playing fast (which basically means i have shit technique for someone who has been playing for 12 years >.>), so i kind of i never got into it. It's fun fpr a bit, but after a while spent playing metal i end up feeling like different stuff. I also prefer lower gain guitar sounds, that definitely plays a big part.
I'm in the process of learning blues. To be honest it wasn't until after hours of heavy gain and jamming that I started to appreciate soothing music.
But, I think the reason why metal is so popular is because. Thats what youth guitar players are listening to. It's not like Jimmy Hendrix just came out yesterday.
Which btw I'm trying to learning from. That guy just had magic in his fingers
On December 17 2014 07:35 GinDo wrote: What i would do for An exploror, but nobody locally wants to part with one. I have to dig around my local pawnshops.
What do you think about this
LTD version of course
I love how these guitars look. Not as good as these Yamaha LP/SG Carlos Santana used to play, but still pretty damn good.
On December 17 2014 07:35 GinDo wrote: What i would do for An exploror, but nobody locally wants to part with one. I have to dig around my local pawnshops.
So excited for semester exams to finish soon. I just got accepted into my first choice college (university for you Europeans ) and I can't wait to swap out the pickups on my Schecter and jam with some of my friends over the upcoming winter break. This break should be awesome and I feel like I've been steadily improving at guitar as I've had more time to play.
so I'm thinking of trying to learn guitar. mostly metal. anyone have any good suggestions for a decent starting out electric guitars and and amp?
kind of off topic but anyone know where to get good rock/metal keyboard music? I've tried to find some but other than some old classic rock books on amazon I've struck out
On December 18 2014 08:43 Teoita wrote: HSS Strat! Imo best starting guitar for absolutely anything really. Plus classic design guitars are cooler than what kids play these days
I think it depends on the style of body that you want. I HATE Strats. I find they're uncomfortable to play, but there are Strat-style bodies that I really like. However, for metal I think that Les Paul's can be really restrictive when you get to the higher frets since you have to have really good finger flexibility to play that high up on the neck.
What guitars would be best? An ESP, Jackson, Epiphone SG, Schecter (they can be a bit on the cheaper side and I wouldn't recommend one over the others), or an Ibanez would be great for metal. It depends how much you want to spend though. I recommend going over to a local guitar shop and just playing some of the guitars for a little bit. It won't matter too much what you get early on, but I wouldn't go crazy with spending money on your first guitar. Just pick something simple and as you get better find a guitar that suits what you need. Go on Guitar Center or some other website and just pick your price range. I don't think it matters much for beginners what kind of guitars they get -- they don't really know much about what goes into making a guitar sound like it does and don't have developed techniques that would make certain guitars less attractive to them. I'd say find a body style that you like (the common ones are a "Stratocaster" type body (dual cutaway where one is farther up than the other), a "Les Paul" type body (single cutaway), and an SG type body (even dual cutaways).
For amps, a Line 6 or Marshall solid state amp would be fine. Don't go crazy with the amp. You may want one with on-board effects, but other than that any basic amp will be fine. 15-30 watts should be plenty as well unless you're planning on playing gigs. Don't go crazy buying stuff now; wait until you improve and know what you like and what direction you want to head in.
On December 18 2014 08:43 Teoita wrote: HSS Strat! Imo best starting guitar for absolutely anything really. Plus classic design guitars are cooler than what kids play these days
I think it depends on the style of body that you want. I HATE Strats. I find they're uncomfortable to play, but there are Strat-style bodies that I really like. However, for metal I think that Les Paul's can be really restrictive when you get to the higher frets since you have to have really good finger flexibility to play that high up on the neck.
What guitars would be best? An ESP, Jackson, Epiphone SG, Schecter (they can be a bit on the cheaper side and I wouldn't recommend one over the others), or an Ibanez would be great for metal. It depends how much you want to spend though. I recommend going over to a local guitar shop and just playing some of the guitars for a little bit. It won't matter too much what you get early on, but I wouldn't go crazy with spending money on your first guitar. Just pick something simple and as you get better find a guitar that suits what you need. Go on Guitar Center or some other website and just pick your price range. I don't think it matters much for beginners what kind of guitars they get -- they don't really know much about what goes into making a guitar sound like it does and don't have developed techniques that would make certain guitars less attractive to them. I'd say find a body style that you like (the common ones are a "Stratocaster" type body (dual cutaway where one is farther up than the other), a "Les Paul" type body (single cutaway), and an SG type body (even dual cutaways).
For amps, a Line 6 or Marshall solid state amp would be fine. Don't go crazy with the amp. You may want one with on-board effects, but other than that any basic amp will be fine. 15-30 watts should be plenty as well unless you're planning on playing gigs. Don't go crazy buying stuff now; wait until you improve and know what you like and what direction you want to head in.
okay thanks. anyone know if its better to buy the guitar at the store or online? I mean obviously I need to test it at a store but once I know what model I want does it matter that much?
On December 18 2014 08:09 Karis Vas Ryaar wrote: so I'm thinking of trying to learn guitar. mostly metal. anyone have any good suggestions for a decent starting out electric guitars and and amp?
kind of off topic but anyone know where to get good rock/metal keyboard music? I've tried to find some but other than some old classic rock books on amazon I've struck out
LTDs bro. You can get a really nice starting guitar with active ESP pickups for that chuga chuga. Many have comented that they believe their just rebranded EMGs .
On December 18 2014 08:43 Teoita wrote: HSS Strat! Imo best starting guitar for absolutely anything really. Plus classic design guitars are cooler than what kids play these days
I hate fender So many nice Active Super Strats with Mega Swag.
I am having a bit of trouble with counting out the rythm and therefor the strumming of this song:
I am still a bit too slow on the accord changes to play along with the original tune and the original strumming varies just enough to confuse me even though it's not actually that complicated. If someone could give me some advice I would highly appreciate it.
On December 18 2014 08:09 Karis Vas Ryaar wrote: so I'm thinking of trying to learn guitar. mostly metal. anyone have any good suggestions for a decent starting out electric guitars and and amp?
kind of off topic but anyone know where to get good rock/metal keyboard music? I've tried to find some but other than some old classic rock books on amazon I've struck out
LTDs bro. You can get a really nice starting guitar with active ESP pickups for that chuga chuga. Many have comented that they believe their just rebranded EMGs .
On December 18 2014 08:43 Teoita wrote: HSS Strat! Imo best starting guitar for absolutely anything really. Plus classic design guitars are cooler than what kids play these days
I hate fender So many nice Active Super Strats with Mega Swag.
Yeha im biased towards classic designs. I like (most) strats much better than superstrats.
EPT
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/884BkMo.jpg)
. Jokes aside after owning an SG I've grown to hate it. Stupid input jack 
) and I can't wait to swap out the pickups on my Schecter and jam with some of my friends over the upcoming winter break. This break should be awesome and I feel like I've been steadily improving at guitar as I've had more time to play.
