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Sorry to hear that. Slicing fingers is never good.
I'd take solace in that both Tony Iommi of Black Sabbath and Graham Oliver of Saxon both lots fingertips (Oliver's was in a slamming kitchen door, Iommi's was on his last day of working in a sheet metal factory...) and both re-learned to play using rubber thimbles on their fingertips. And neither of them suck... Django Reinhart either...
I'd suggest trying an electric guitar - way, way easier on the fingertips. Or how about some slide guitar?
If I'm brutally honest I'm probably not good enough to tell the difference between a good one and a poor one. However I played guitar when I was younger and always lusted after a les paul, but coukd never dream of affording one. So this is a lavish treat for a milestone birthday, and probably something that will spend much of its time as wall art..and whilst I appreciate there are better guitars for much less cash, I'm set on a gibson
Maybe you’re not the best player, but let’s face it, none of us are. What you will discover is what you like and what you don’t. The way I look at it is, guitar necks are like bike saddles. Some people can get on with anything, others are very specific about what they like. Unlike bike saddles though, you can’t just chop and change necks cheaply or easily. It’s a big purchase, take your time, try a few and enjoy the process.
Nice playing @_tom_ . I had to Youtube that band after hearing that riff, and sadly it appears that it's their only decent riff...
I put that riff into the "I could play it but not cleanly" category! Excellent work.
I'm currently working my way through some Ghost songs and riffs, they're fun to learn and not too fast/tricky.
Very fluid, Tom, nice to see and hear as well as read.
I put that riff into the "I could play it but not cleanly" category! Excellent work.
I'm currently working my way through some Ghost songs and riffs, they're fun to learn and not too fast/tricky.
Give it a try, there's a lesson/tabs on the band's YouTube channel! I wasn't sure if I'd get it to sound clean, but it turned out to be one of those that looks and sounds harder than it is I think. It's really addictive to play.
Found the video, and the tabs on Ultimate Guitar too. Handy it's e-flat tuning, I keep the Strandberg I bought off eddiebaby in that.
had a go on an acoustic thats set up a bit better than the last one and found i had a bit more success with barre chords, so may persevere every now and then alongside the bass.
with that in mind, im in no rush, but has anyone got any suggestions on a cheapish 6 string to look out for on ebay or FB marketplace maybe? makes/models that are decent(ish) and wont break the bank?
thanks
There's no substitute for a real life in person guitar teacher.. And yes they will give you 'homework' to do between 'in person' lessons.
My guitar teacher is a maestro compared to me, and he still gets lessons from someone even better than him as he's more blues based and he's learning some of the more esoteric jazz stuff..
You never stop learning really.
with that in mind, im in no rush, but has anyone got any suggestions on a cheapish 6 string to look out for on ebay or FB marketplace maybe? makes/models that are decent(ish) and wont break the bank?
You've discovered the joy of a well set-up acoustic, so finding a similar one on FB might be a bit of a lottery. Unless you're looking for exotic woods, you might be better going to a shop that can set an acoustic up well for you (or budget for it - perhaps £50-£80 on top if you get a luthier to look at it).
I still have an acoustic that I got when I was a guitar shop Saturday boy in the, wow, eighties... It has a laminate top and wasn't very flashy, perhaps £150 at the time, but it was set up to perfection by the luthier at the shop (in lieu of paying me any wages...) and it's still a joy to play. A decent set-up trumps any brand-name, I'd say.
Of the budget guitars Yamaha and Fender generally play pretty well out of the box and sound OK. I've got and Epiphone "solid wood" but it's heavy and frankly sounds no better than a plywood Sigma Martin I have. Anyhow as we're talking acoustic:
sorry, ive probably confused you. i practiced on an acoustic just to see if i could get the hang of it, but its a cheap electric guitar that im keeping an eye out for.
Squier Affinity Telecaster. 🙂
Yamaha is still a valid answer.. Thier Pacifica guitars are basically strat copies and are well reviewed.
https://www.guitarguitar.co.uk/yamaha/pacifica/
Ahah! Easily confused here. I'll join @edukator and say 'Squier Affinity Tele (or Strat, but Tele is simpler and more bombproof) and excellent value at a couple hundred. Or a Pacifica. And if you can go to £350 - save me from buying this as it's such a bargain 🙂
When I started last year I got a strat, but probably should have gone for a tele. It was just a desire thing that made me go for the strat as I considered it more "iconic", but it adds in quite a bit of set-up complexity for a beginner and I soon ended up blocking the tremelo and taking the tremelo arm off as it got a bit in the way. I am not sure I will ever be good enough to actually use the tremelo at my rate of progress, it will definitely be years away.
It is also worth noting that lighter gauge strings is generally better, I had the notion that "fatter strings" would be less damaging to the finger tips, which is wrong, a lighter gauge means less tension which means less pressure is required.
thanks chaps, a few to go at there. couple of questions if you dont mind.
are these all passive, no active batteries to drain?
and i note that a few have tremeloes. would a tremelo get in the way of strumming action/palm muting etc? i certainly dont envisage ever getting good enough to use one, but just checking if its something i need to avoid.
oh and @chipps, ive never heard of that make, i see its a bargain from its RRP, but what sets it apart from the squiers/yamahas/telecasters suggested above?
and yes by all means, if anyone spots any other bargains out there then please shout up 🙂
cheers
EDIT: oh and i think you can use a bass amp with a 6 string, but not the other way round is that right? certainly dont want to buy another amp.
Guitars with a balanced bridge trem: take several minutes to tune but then stay in tune very well through temperature changes. Break a string and you can't finish the song as the thing goes totally out of tune. The volume pot on the strat is handily close to the strings if you want to play with it while playing but a pain in the butt when the volume strowly winds down when you accidentally brush it playing - I've reduced my Strat to two pots and wired it like a Tele. If you buy a Strat recable it because the lack of a tone control on the bridge pick up with standard wiring makes it unuseable. Setting up a trem takes time - some trems never return to balance but some do, I've got one that does, many don't. In short if you want a guitar to pick up, tune in a minute and play buy a fixed bridge.
I use my guitar amp with my bass and visa versa - they're just amps and twiddling a few knobs soon gets a sound I like. For recording junior's bass we plugged it into a PA amp with hi-fi speakers.
The pick-ups are passive. You can get guitars with active pick-ups but they tend to be more expensive.
PRS are a very well known and respected brand. It was their 40th anniversary in 2025. The SE range (student edition) are their lower cost guitars and are generally seen as very high quality for the price. On the site Chipps linked to there are 225 guitars from them - ranging from £349 to many thousands.
I've got a Washburn super strat with a Floyd rose trem.. I've never really used it and locked it out.
Trems are over rated IMO
I’m probably projecting my own wishes onto you, so ignore the PRS for the moment and go for a fixed bridge guitar in a colour you like. A Telecaster has worked for everyone from Joe Strummer to Bruce Springsteen, so it’s a solid shout. I’m you’re a complete guitar newcomer, then avoid tremolos and fancy quirks. Then just plug into your bass amp and wail! And if you want a grungier/rockier sound, just get any cheap Chinese overdrive pedal for £20 and have fun. It’s like bikes, even the cheap guitars these days are very good - just add enthusiasm.
yep, been looking for 'non tremelo' jobbies on the local marketplace but all the ones i see seem to have them.
ive just seen a cort G200 for £60 (2002, been hung on a wall for last 20 years) and a yamaha pacifica pac212vfm for £180 which i thought seemed closer to the brief, but i think as you say i ought to stick out for a simpler 'hardtail' if i can find one cheap enough.
cheers
Hopefully this is the year I start playing again rather than just walking past my guitars...
Just bought myself a gibson les paul standard. It's lovely, but it plays and sounds near identical to my epiphone les paul which cost a fraction of the price.
So buy an epiphone les paul, or a cheap equivalent and you'll be grand as long as its set up right. Or buy my old one off me!
Maybe not for your first electric, but I built a diy tele from a 90 quid kit. Stuck some toneridwr pickups in it and it's brilliant. Or certainly no worse than any of my other guitars based on my limited skillset
It’s not that you shouldn’t get a guitar with a trem, but it’ll just add a bit of complexity.
a guitar that’s been hung up for 20 years will need new strings, a good clean and probably some switch cleaner at least 🤣
It’s not that you shouldn’t get a guitar with a trem, but it’ll just add a bit of complexity.
A cheap trem system is pointless. As you say it'll add complexity, and if its locking it make tuning a pain.
Plus a beginner will never use it. I have 2, on my strat and jackson. I've been playing on and off fir 30 years and have never used one once.
Fixed bridge all the way. Get a tele, les paul or strat type guitar (the latter has a trem but if you don't use it won't really affect tuning), second hand, or check out harley benton if you need one new. Unbelievable value. Cheap guitars are so much better than when I started playing in the late 90s
thanks all. good advice which i'll take and i'll stay away from the tremeloes and look out for one of your suggestions ^^^
Or buy my old one off me!
@tpbiker by all means feel free to message me if you think you have something that would fit my criteria but i think youre up in scotlandshire arent you, so the postage might be a barrier.
cheers
I wouldn't get too hung up about the trem. If you have one and don't want it, tighten a couple of screws and you have a perfectly good hardtail.
On the other hand, one of my guitars is a £200 Harley Benton PRS-alike. When I was making my own Telecaster-alike I asked the luthier I was being instructed by how to make it work better. I ordered a graphite nut and locking tuners, he fiddled with the screws on the trem and I have to say it's flipping perfect. It always stays in tune no matter how much you bend it up or down or however long I leave it hung on the wall. I guess I play it once a week.
However, I took the lever off about a year ago because I never use it and it gets in the way.
a guitar that’s been hung up for 20 years will need new strings, a good clean and probably some switch cleaner at least
just had another look at the ad.....
"Cort G200, 2002 model made in Indonesia Cort factory. Newly setup and serviced, cleaned in and out, new strings, polished frets and lemon oiled the fret board. With tremolo arm, free guitar stand, gig bag, strap and capo. Scratch plate colour is originally white now it turned aged white after 2 decades of just hanging on the wall, frets are all still in good shape."
would that change your opinion do you think? is the G200 a decent guitar despite its age?
cheers
I wouldn't get too hung up about the trem. If you have one and don't want it, tighten a couple of screws and you have a perfectly good hardtail.
You'll know more about this than me I'm sure, but does it not depend on the trem system? Ie I have a strat, never use the trem, and it's no worse than a fixed bridge
But a Floyd Rose thingy is a different beast. I use to have a guitar with one and it was a pain in the backside
A Cort g200 is a budget guitar but will work fine, it doesn't have a locking trem so won't be an issue. Age won't affect it. It should be perfectly functional
All depends how much you are planning to pay for it. They use to cost a couple of hundred quid I think, so I'd not be paying more than 100 for it. Depends what your budget is?
Don't know if you already have an amp, but if not I'd prioritise a decent one over a more expensive guitar. Something like a katana is a magnificent amp for playing at home.
For £60 for that lot how wrong can you go? I'd try it and if everything worked, sounded and felt Ok buy it. If it goes out of tune when you use the trem take the trem cover off the back and make up a little block of wood to block the mechanism with the strings at the deck height wanted. You might even get lucky and find the trem is correctly set up and returns to balance when used. Coat the strings at the nut in 2b pencil lead (or softer) so they slide nicely in the nut when you use the trem or do bends - old cheap plastic nuts are sometimes sticky.
well ive just been and bought it. as a few of you have intimated, whats the worst that can happen, and i got it for £45 in the end. dont understand it myself but apparently "it has the better 2 point trem system, instead of vintage 6 point/screws" and "It’s already decked (spring at the back was tighten) so the tremolo seats to body to stay in tune. Though you can still use the tremolo for downward, no upward."
wont have chance to play with it for a while, and wont even know whether it sounds as it should, but i spose i can always sell it on if i end up not playing it.
thanks all for your advice
45 quid!!! That's an absolute steal
Even if it goes horrifically out of tune, or you find the action is ridiculous high, you coukd get it set up for 30-40 quid and it'll play great
Your bigger issue may be guitars are like bikes...that 45 quid may cost you significantly more on long run if you get into it. I'm on a guitar forum, there was a poll, average number of guitars owned was 7!
What you doing amp wise?
I wonder if we did a poll here, what the average number of guitars would be - on a bike forum!? 🙂
As @tpbiker says, that's a complete bargain and it'll be great. Get rocking out!
What you doing amp wise?
i'll use my bass amp, a fender rumble 100.
I wonder if we did a poll here, what the average number of guitars would be - on a bike forum!?
I have 7..6 electrics plus and an acoustic. Also have a Bass but it only counts if it has 6 sttings or more!😉
They are of varying qualities, from diy built to top end. The important thing is, in my hands I'm capable of making all of them sound equally awful.
Hmm, there are nine electrics in the room with me (though one is a friend's)... Nope, just found four more in cases... plus another, er, couple in the living room. What's that then? 15? Four are homemade, one dating back to 1987. Hey! I've cut down, OK? And then of the remaining, some I can't sell as they're either sentimental, or were gifts, or no one would want them. 🙂
N+1 applies equally to bikes and guitars..
15 is an impressive number!
15 is an impressive number!
Gotta have a hobby, right? And I guess it's been my other hobby (apart from bikes) for the last 40 years... Doesn't make me any good at it - but that's also like bikes, right?... 🤣
I wouldn't get too hung up about the trem. If you have one and don't want it, tighten a couple of screws and you have a perfectly good hardtail.
You'll know more about this than me I'm sure, but does it not depend on the trem system? Ie I have a strat, never use the trem, and it's no worse than a fixed bridge
But a Floyd Rose thingy is a different beast. I use to have a guitar with one and it was a pain in the backside
A Cort g200 is a budget guitar but will work fine, it doesn't have a locking trem so won't be an issue. Age won't affect it. It should be perfectly functional
All depends how much you are planning to pay for it. They use to cost a couple of hundred quid I think, so I'd not be paying more than 100 for it. Depends what your budget is?
Don't know if you already have an amp, but if not I'd prioritise a decent one over a more expensive guitar. Something like a katana is a magnificent amp for playing at home.
Yeh, I dont know the terminology, but a basic/normal strat style trem, if you don't use it just unscrew the lever and carry on.
With a floyd rose style floating bridge, it's a bit more complicated!
Mere 7 here - 4 electric, 2 electro-acoustic, one resonator. I've got rid of a couple recently, currently happy with the collection.
i own 2 guitars currently (a prs se paul's guitar and a charvel sassafras hss floyd guitar). i used to have more guitars but sold the lot due to depression and laziness early last year).
anyone see the value in an Ultimate Guitar sub?
my mate swears by it and says hes got a lifetime sub, and spookily enough a 90% discount email popped into my inbox this morning. chose the £2.50 per month option for £29.99 per year. it then took the full £29.99 instead but i thought ok i can stand that if its any good.
ideally i want to learn how to play chords and finger placements, so i went straight to one i know, blitzkreig bop to see how it all works.
heres the guitar tab for it.....
so i cant see how the chords available on the chords tab match that 'frets 5 and 7' pattern.
it doesnt look very intuitive, and possibly not what im after. do you think the UG sub is going to be worth it to me or should i just get a refund?
cheers
I use it daily and have done for a few years. The tab is generally what the original guitarist played on the recording (kinda... there are errors/variations). The chords view is often a very simplified version of the original - using easier chords, in this case open instead of barre chords.
It's good as you can slow stuff down, loop sections, change the pitch (e.g. if the original uses guitars tuned a whole step down - I'm looking at you Ghost - you can bring them up to standard so you don't have to retune).
It's great for learning specific songs but possibly not ideal for a beginner. Sites like Justin Guitar (there are others) are good for learning.