Electric Guitar and the Amp set up

Hello all, today we'll look into electric guitars. Electric guitars for beginners can get a little tricky if your planning to buy for the first time. Beginners only thing of an electric guitar but forget the most important set up of their electric guitar, which is the amplifier(We'll call the two i.e. the guitar the amp together as 'The Set Up'). They spend a lot of time on their research on their electric guitar but completely forget about the amplifier which makes the electric set up complete. So, here we'll see talk about the different kinds of electric guitars and amplifiers available in the market which will help you find the right set up.














The Guitar

Single coil pick ups

There are many kinds of electric guitars available in the market and here we'll first categorize based on their picks up( its the mic of the guitar). The first is the single coil and the other one is the hum-bucker. A single coil pick would sound more curvy and soft however the hum-bucker sounds thick and warm. Its very difficult to explain the sound in simple terms and I don't really want to confuse. So, try going to different stores and try the guitars with single coil and hum-bucker, you'll know it for yourself.

Hum-bucker Pick Ups

Guitars with the two kinds of pick ups

However, These days there are guitars with both single coil and hum-buckers. You could probably think about these guitars. They are good value for money.

Guitar with a humbucker and two single coil pick ups

Amplifiers 

Tube amp

There are various kinds of amplifiers in the market like, tube, solid state and there are also a hybrid of both. As a beginner, solid state amps will be the best to go for and its also easy to maintain. Don't waste time in other kinds of amps. However, in solid state amp, there are again a lot of different types. There are amps with inbuilt processors( Lot of variations in sound) and simple amps with clean and overdrive or distortion. My suggestion will the amp with clean and overdrive. Its very simple and is perfect for a start.

Amp with inbuilt processor

Beginners need to consider both the electric guitar and the amplifier which goes along with the guitar. There are few starter packs, that the very basic set up of the electric guitar and the amplifier and the best part is that they are very cheap and affordable. But, it gets a little boring to play the guitar with the set up and slowly lose interest playing the guitar. Beginners should definitely go to an expert for this cause only an expert can analyse the playing skills and interest of the player and be able to advise a perfect set up.

Marshall MG series. The basic Amp

This blog is a very basic understanding of the electric set up. However, there is a lot of other things that has to be considered. I will be talking more on this in my future blogs. However, if you need help you probably get in touch with me.

Thank you.

Guitar accessories for beginners

Hello all, today I'm going to write about the basic required beginner's guitar accessories. After you decide on the guitar there are few which you have to buy in order to playing your guitar. These accessories will eventually be a part of your everyday practice. Alright, lets understand the accessories required,

Pick    

 

Pictures of few picks

Picks or plectrum, is used to strum or pick your acoustic guitar strings. And there are a number of varieties of picks available in the market. As a beginner, buy yourself thin picks and buy a few of them cause you'll lose the picks easily. It doesn't mean you have to lose it regularly. Just keep the picks safely and you lose one you'll have another one as a spare. You can also buy a few medium thick picks too just to experiment. However, there different brands of picks and a few popular ones are Jim Dunlop, Planet Waves, Fender, Gibson and so on. You can pick any pick which your comfortable with but make sure you pick few picks.

Different thickness of picks of Jim Dunlop

Tuner and Metronome 

Analog Metronome 

Tuner is a small instrument which help to tune the guitar and a metronome keeps timing when you practice. You get these two instruments separately, however, these days you have both tuner and the metronome as one instrument. As a beginner, go for a digital tuner and a metronome cause its very easy to use and it also improves your music sense. 

Digital metronome and tuner

Guitar bag

Usually you get a guitar bag along with the guitar, however, some guitar don't. So make sure you pick up a guitar decent guitar bag in case you don't get one so you can carry your guitar wherever you want to.

Acoustic Guitar Bag

Guitar Stand

Its a good idea to pick up a guitar stand, cause its always safe to keep the guitar on a guitar stand. Its not only easy access to the guitar, it also holds the guitar safely. There are different stands available in the market, make sure to buy an acoustic guitar stand and choose a stand that's convenient for you. 

  

A model of Hercules acoustic guitar stand

Strings 

Acoustic Guitar Strings

Even though the guitar will have strings on it, a set of strings is a good idea to buy along with it. You can have a as spare, in case a guitar strings snaps. There are different brands of strings in the market, however, the gauge of the string remains the same. Buy .011-.052 gauge strings cause it is considered standard. They also sound fuller and it will keep the guitar a good shape too.   

Note: Even if one string snaps, change the whole set of strings of the guitar. 

D'Addario's .011 - .052 Gauge Acoustic Guitar Strings 

Other Accessories

There are other accessories which you can pick along with the guitar, like strap, capo,pick holder and so on. They are not absolutely necessary, however, you can buy them too.

Well, that's all for today and hope the blog was of some help to you. 

Thank you. 

Parts of an Acoustic Guitar

Today we'll see the parts of an acoustic guitar. Now we have a lot of other sites which talk about it but here we talk the parts of the guitar to make sure you a have idea of the guitar before look for the guitar at the local store. End of the blog you should able to understand the basic parts of the guitar and also know the importance of it. This will help you to choose the right guitar.  Below is the guitar and its parts.

Basic parts of the guitar

Body

Body

Its the first part which you would look at when you take a guitar. The sound is resonated inside the body of the guitar and so body is crucial when it comes your check before you buy. Make sure there is no cracks or dents and  also make sure the sides and the back of the guitar is glued and finished perfectly. 

Bridge 

Bridge

It sits on the guitar and it holds the 6 strings which runs over the fret board till the tuning pegs on the head. It takes a lot of pressure since it holds the entire set of string. So, be very sure to check the bridge is its sits perfectly on the guitar and there is no gap between the bridge and the body. 

Sounding Hole

Its where the resonated sound from inside the body and gets out of the guitar so we hear what we play.

Sounding Hole

Pick Guard

Pick guard is for preventing scratches on the body of the guitar.

Pick Guard

Fret Board

Its the where the frets are placed and you hold them to play the guitar( you'll know more about when you start learning the guitar). The fret board should nice and smooth so the play ability of the guitar is easy. Just imagine the fret board being rough, you'll hurt your fingers. However, any new guitar will look a little rough but when you start playing more on it, the board gets better and better. 

Fret board

Neck

The neck of the guitar holds the fret board on the guitar. So the neck is not seen in the front. Its placed behind the fret board. Checking the guitar is very important. Neck has to straight and there shouldn't be any bends on it. It affects the actin of the guitar. You could have problems playing if you have the neck bent. Make you have an experienced person looking fr any bend on the guitar. 

The neck

Examples of bent necks

Tuning pegs

Tuning pegs on the head

They are placed on the head of the guitar so they not only hold the strings but also tune the guitar, i.e, tightening or loosing of strings. Make sure the tuning pegs are fixed on the head stock perfectly. If the tuning pegs are loose they make a buzzing sound and also you might have tuning problems later on.

Head Stock

head sock holds the tuning pegs and the pressure of the strings over fret board.

Martin Guitar Head Stock

These are basic parts of an acoustic guitar and is quite important to understand the purpose of the them on the guitar. This will help you choose a better a guitar when you buy one. And  I hope this post helped to know what you buy before you head out to a store looking for a guitar. 

Thank you. 

Guitar for beginners

Hello all, this is the first post on the blog and we’ll begin with picking up the perfect beginner’s acoustic guitar. Alright, beginner’s acoustic guitar is about a guitar which is good for a start and probably continue with it for a longtime with. So, choosing the perfect guitar is quite important and it’s going to take some time to search for your guitar. A lot beginners don’t know where to start. Well,start by looking for an acoustic guitar. An acoustic guitar is a simple box guitar without any electronics to it. And that’s really what you need to start of with. Again you might have to look at few other things to choose it and here are some points to consider when your buying the box guitar.

The dreadnought shaped body

Size and shape

Size of the guitar is very important, not only for the a comfort playing but for a good sound so you hear the harmonics of the guitar clearly. In simple words, the guitar sounding clear. There are few shapes which you might come across while searching, like Jumbo,F cut, auditorium, Orchestra, Dreadnought and so on. Dreadnought will the best choice for a beginner’s guitar cause its comfortable and most important,sounds good. try avoiding a cutaway cause the guitar without the cutaway sounds more fuller.

Wood

Guitars today come with the a lot combination of woods. For a beginner, the best will be a spruce top body, maple sides,back neck and head and rosewood fret board. These are the most common wood specs on a standard beginner’s acoustic guitar.

Spruce top and maple back and sides 

Rosewood fret board 

Action of the guitar

This guitar's action looks good

Action of the guitar is the distance between the strings and the fret board. There is misconception that, lower the action, better it is to play. Well,not true. Low action might have a buzzing sound from the guitar while playing and its very annoying. And higher action is difficult to play and it might hurt your fingers . So, having an action which doe not buzz and which doesn't strain your fingers will be the action of the guitar which you need to look for.

Other check

Other checks will be for any cracks, dents, scratches and bad finishing on the guitar. Make sure the finishing of the guitar is good before you buy so there is no regretting later after you buy the guitar.

Make sure you get a decent guitar but not a cheap guitar cause cheap ones might sound awful and you'll lose in playing the guitar and might ending up not learning at all.

Looks good for a beginner

Well, that’s all for today and in case you need more information on picking up a guitar for your needs, feel free to drop in a mail. 

Hope you find that fine guitar for yourself.

Thank you.