# The Great Ongoing Guitar Thread **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** music\ **Created:** [January 31, 2010, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-guitar-thread/527172 "2010-01-31T23:20:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 246
**Author:** ![swampspruce](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/swampspruce/32/261_2.png) [@swampspruce](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/swampspruce)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2017, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-guitar-thread/527172/4904 "2017-06-26T14:35:22Z")
That’s kind of the feeling I get watching my son play. He is so far above me technically I’m not sure I could even try to play catch up at this point. It would be like Garth Brooks deciding to start playing like [Tosin Abasi](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w_AwRUOZsdE). I’ve tried convincing him to take it to the next level and look at pursuing music as a career ( I think he’d do fine at Berklee) but he is pursuing a different path and I’m OK with that. \*Not that GB is a bad guitar player but he plays primarily as a voice accompaniment, IMO and Tosin just, plays. ---
**Author:** ![swampspruce](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/swampspruce/32/261_2.png) [@swampspruce](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/swampspruce)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2017, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-guitar-thread/527172/4905 "2017-06-26T14:42:24Z")
A better vid of Tosin[here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kVSQnsuTs-g) with Animals as Leaders. ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2017, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-guitar-thread/527172/4906 "2017-06-26T21:37:27Z")
> [@swampspruce](#): > > That’s kind of the feeling I get watching my son play. He is so far above me technically I’m not sure I could even try to play catch up at this point. It would be like Garth Brooks deciding to start playing like [Tosin Abasi](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w_AwRUOZsdE). I’ve tried convincing him to take it to the next level and look at pursuing music as a career ( I think he’d do fine at Berklee) but he is pursuing a different path and I’m OK with that. > > \*Not that GB is a bad guitar player but he plays primarily as a voice accompaniment, IMO and Tosin just, plays. I wish I could get my son to play guitar. He’s more focused on rap music and apps that allow him to assemble formations of computerized music with drum tracks, keys, etc. If this is the fear that some have regarding the alleged death of the guitar, I think it’s nonsense. In fact, computer versions of amp simulators, basic recording (Pro Tools Basic) and other knick knacks exist and are heavily used. I have zero hate for techno (which is now an outdated term, now it’s “DubStep”, even though I cannot differentiate between them), but it HAS to be good. Overly repetitive beats and effects bore me to tears, and I suspect I’m not the only one. There was some great techno in the 1990’s, like Chemical Brothers, Prodigy and particularly to me, Crystal Method. I kinda like Korn’s work with Skrillex, especially “Get Up”, but to me that’s the apex of this blend of played instruments and computer generated music. ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2017, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-guitar-thread/527172/4907 "2017-06-26T21:41:06Z")
In fact, having listened again to that Korn song, I still really like it. I think the computerized beats, etc work great with this song. You judge: [Korn - Get Up! ft. Skrillex [OFFICIAL VIDEO] - YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rZSh9zKeI-s) ---
**Author:** ![SteveG1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@SteveG1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SteveG1)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2017, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-guitar-thread/527172/4908 "2017-06-26T22:02:28Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > Quick question. > If you’re stuck strumming the same chord, for several bars. > > How do you keep your place? > > A friend suggested 1234, 2234, 3234, 4234 if I have to strum the same chord for 4 bars. > > Is that the most common strategy? > > I used to keep up with it better. 😃 I guess the years are catching up with me. I tend to zone out strumming the same chord for awhile. > > Normally the words can cue me when the chord changes are coming. We were jamming without singing. That makes it tougher. Can you take your cues in some other way, like maybe from the bass, or a specific cymbals crash or something? I know I hate to count too. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2017, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-guitar-thread/527172/4909 "2017-06-26T22:03:38Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > Quick question. > If you’re stuck strumming the same chord, for several bars. > > How do you keep your place? > > A friend suggested 1234, 2234, 3234, 4234 if I have to strum the same chord for 4 bars. > > Is that the most common strategy? ## This is what I do. I also endorse eye contact with others and big headbangs or nods as indicators. Tosin Abasi is one of the, if not the, best players working today IMO. I’ve seen AAL twice and both times they were incredible. Mr. Abasi is amazing to watch. And what makes him amazing to listen to is that he has a strong sense of rhythm and melody and he understands the place of each within his music; neither dominates excessively. * * * > [@FoieGrasIsEvil](#): > > I have zero hate for techno (which is now an outdated term, now it’s “DubStep”, even though I cannot differentiate between them), but it HAS to be good. Overly repetitive beats and effects bore me to tears, and I suspect I’m not the only one. There was some great techno in the 1990’s, like Chemical Brothers, Prodigy and particularly to me, Crystal Method. I kinda like Korn’s work with Skrillex, especially “Get Up”, but to me that’s the apex of this blend of played instruments and computer generated music. Dubstep is typified by the spacious low end associated with reggae dub, complex rhythms found in jungle and the technical production found in drum-and-bass. Subsonic bass parts enhance this and are commonly heard as the Wuhbuh™ (that’s what I call it in my head); that is the _wuuuuuu-bu-wu-wu-wu-wu_ noises that accentuate the drums. Techno is generally more straight ahead rhythms and has a harsher sound, more closely aligned with the sound of industrial and punk/hardcore. Obviously, there’s a lot of crossover between the two because dubstep is a successor genre in relation to techno. ---
**Author:** ![scabpicker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scabpicker/32/8268_2.png) [@scabpicker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scabpicker)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2017, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-guitar-thread/527172/4910 "2017-06-27T03:08:09Z")
> [@SteveG1](#): > > That makes it tougher. Can you take your cues in some other way, like maybe from the bass, or a specific cymbals crash or something? I know I hate to count too. Ok, so what do you do if you’re a bass player, and hate to count? 😃 I’m kidding, the answer is to make the drummer count instead, and make him orchestrate the damn song. He doesn’t have to know diddly about pitch or staying in key, and he knew what he was signing up for! The really good drummers will count, but aren’t actually slaves to it. A drummer that can’t hear that the whole band is following the singer and is technically off count is a drum machine. What’s worse for me is, I don’t really realize what beat I’m on or what time signature I’m in until I try to teach the song to my drummer. I just don’t think that way or count beats until I have to diagram the part out for someone else. Heck, just this week, I realized a riff that I wrote a month ago starts on the up beat when the drummer had his first opportunity to count us in on it. I still played it the same way I had when I demoed it out at home while recording myself playing several instruments, but then I just went with the feel of the riff. After playing that song for a month, I had to think to start on the right beat. After the whole band gets adjusted to the arrangement, I’ll never think about the beat or count again. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2017, 9:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-guitar-thread/527172/4911 "2017-06-27T09:36:34Z")
Sheeran is my newest guitar hero. 😃 It takes a big pair to walk out on the stage alone with just a Guitar and looper pedal. I use a looper pedal at home and love it. It’s a tremendous creative tool for experimenting. I plan on using it, if I get a chance to perform locally. But, I’d still want other live players too. Gotta have somebody to hide behind when things go wrong. 😃 Sheeran caught some criticism at Glastonbury. Complaining he was playing to a background track. Interestingly enough, Sheeran claims he’s using the looper live. I’m trying to wrap my head around that. Timing is everything with a looper. If you’re off at all the track is out of sync. Time to start over (delete the last dub) and try again. I used to struggle with my timing and often had to delete a dub. I’m getting better and more confident. I can’t imagine using a Looper (to dub) LIVE. It’s so easy to screw up. Sheeran must be fearless to do it in front of huge crowds. I’m slowly becoming a fan of his music. Primarily because of his live performances. [https://mobile.twitter.com/edsheeran/status/879264520300109825](https://mobile.twitter.com/edsheeran/status/879264520300109825) > **[Ed Sheeran at Glastonbury 2017 review – thrillingly raw and defiantly alone](https://www.theguardian.com/music/2017/jun/26/ed-sheeran-glastonbury-2017-review)** > > The headliner admits to last-night nerves, solo with just a guitar and effects pedal in front of the huge crowd, but their vocal support puts fire in his belly > [@](#): > > That said, Sheeran is now clearly very well experienced in taking on huge crowds alone – two years ago, he sold out a run of nights at the 90,000-capacity Wembley Stadium. In fact, the guitar and loop pedal set up works very much in his favour: it frequently lends his music a rawness and edge that isn’t there on record. > > Understandably, no one ever thinks of Ed Sheeran as someone who deals in mind-blowing sonic overload, but on the live versions of Bloodstream and You Need Me, the constant overdubbing of guitar eventually results in a genuinely thrilling racket, visceral and propulsive. > [@](#): > > Never thought I’d have to explain it, but everything I do in my live show is live, it’s a loop station, not a backing track. Please google x ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2017, 10:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-guitar-thread/527172/4912 "2017-06-27T10:08:07Z")
Here’s Sheeran’s full set at Glastonbury 2017. Some of his stuff is pretty good. Skip around in the video and sample his songs. I do wonder why he plays a parlor guitar. A bigger guitar gives more bass and presence. Ed’s doing pretty darn good without my advice. LOL [![]( " - YouTube") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OoDLB1WxHfM) ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2017, 11:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-guitar-thread/527172/4913 "2017-06-27T11:04:27Z")
Oh yeah, Sheeran is incredibly talented and his mastery of a looper to build a fully-arranged sound is amazing. I have no experience with a looper but videos look like he’s constructing live. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2017, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-guitar-thread/527172/4914 "2017-06-27T14:27:54Z")
He prolly is constructing live. It’s become a thing. [Reggie Watts](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dRmRr3Z8Zv8) has been doing it for years, constructing songs with just his voice. An old friend of mine used to play drums and loop guitar parts to create songs, all done live on stage. ---
**Author:** ![SteveG1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@SteveG1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SteveG1)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2017, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-guitar-thread/527172/4915 "2017-06-27T23:37:29Z")
> [@scabpicker](#): > > Ok, so what do you do if you’re a bass player, and hate to count? 😃 > > I’m kidding, the answer is to make the drummer count instead, and make him orchestrate the damn song. He doesn’t have to know diddly about pitch or staying in key, and he knew what he was signing up for! The really good drummers will count, but aren’t actually slaves to it. A drummer that can’t hear that the whole band is following the singer and is technically off count is a drum machine. > > What’s worse for me is, I don’t really realize what beat I’m on or what time signature I’m in until I try to teach the song to my drummer. I just don’t think that way or count beats until I have to diagram the part out for someone else. Heck, just this week, I realized a riff that I wrote a month ago starts on the up beat when the drummer had his first opportunity to count us in on it. I still played it the same way I had when I demoed it out at home while recording myself playing several instruments, but then I just went with the feel of the riff. After playing that song for a month, I had to think to start on the right beat. After the whole band gets adjusted to the arrangement, I’ll never think about the beat or count again. I occasionally play bass, and what I try to do is “sing the song” in my head - when I absolutely have to. ---
**Author:** ![sleestak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/919ad9/32.png) [@sleestak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sleestak)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2017, 5:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-guitar-thread/527172/4916 "2017-06-28T05:55:50Z")
> [@WordMan](#): > > Oh yeah, Sheeran is incredibly talented and his mastery of a looper to build a fully-arranged sound is amazing. I have no experience with a looper but videos look like he’s constructing live. Steve Morse, in the Steve Morse Band, is the master of looping parts. I saw him at a demo and he would lay down a rhythm track, loop it, lay down a Melody, loop it, lay down a synth track and loop it then solo on top. It was quite insane. I don’t think he does that much these days but it was really freaking impressive, especially with the syncopation and odd times signatures. Guy was tap dancing like a m.f. Slee ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2017, 8:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-guitar-thread/527172/4917 "2017-06-29T08:39:08Z")
Brian May rig run down. He tells the story of making his own electric Guitar. Seventeen years old and made it from scrap wood with his dad. That was in 1964. It’s been around the world many times and he’s still touring with it. I’m impressed after seeing it up close. He pointed out the old worm holes in the wood he used for the neck. Filled them with wooden match sticks. He did his own veneering. Brian plays with a coin instead of a pick. That’s a bit unusual. 🙂 Learned a lot about his approach to playing. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/jJ_OamX-PA8/maxresdefault.jpg "Rig Rundown: Queen's Brian May") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jJ_OamX-PA8) ---
**Author:** ![Fiddle\_Peghead](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiddle_peghead/32/3506_2.png) [@Fiddle\_Peghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiddle_Peghead)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2017, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-guitar-thread/527172/4918 "2017-07-02T17:00:15Z")
Does anyone know anything about this version? I can’t find anything other than the release date. I’m guessing there is another guitar player besides Berry? The solo in the middle sounds a bit “modern” for Berry. edit: [Link](https://www.amazon.com/Johnny-B-Goode/dp/B000S2O614/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1499014507&sr=8-4&keywords=chuck+berry+johnny+b+goode) ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2017, 7:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-guitar-thread/527172/4919 "2017-07-09T07:28:59Z")
I’ve got a guitar with strings sticking in the nut. I’ve had this before. Never this bad. Almost half a turn up before the pitch changes. It often won’t tune down. I’ll press the string down between the peg and nut. It’ll drastically shoot up in pitch. Then I can tune it down. I can’t dial it in before it sticks again. I got so angry that I put it back in the case. It’s not worth the acid reflux. A string sticking in the nut has got to be one of the most aggravating problems with a guitar. I’ve been spoiled by guitars that are setup right. I’ll take it to the shop Monday for a setup. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2017, 7:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-guitar-thread/527172/4920 "2017-07-09T07:54:41Z")
Are strings stuck in the nut a common cause for them breaking? It’s pretty alarming how drastically the pitch changes. Just by pressing between the peg and nut. Or worse the loud creak! as the string breaks loose as the peg is turned. Lube won’t fix this nut. It needs a file. I’ll let my guitar tech do it. He has years of experience. I don’t think it’s been setup before. I bought it from a guy at work. He bought it a couple years ago and stuck it in a closet. I needed something inexpensive that I felt comfortable lugging around town. I screwed up buying vintage guitars. They’re too nice to beat up in my van. I play them at home. It’s good to have a cheap one to abuse. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2017, 10:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-guitar-thread/527172/4921 "2017-07-09T10:43:23Z")
Nut issues are a pain and can lead to an unplayable guitar, but I don’t recall string breakage as an issue. The string gets so hung up it breaks? That’s weird. A set up with a new-to-you guitar is always a good thing. Make sure you bring the string set you want the guitar to have on it. Perhaps you have a bigger-gauged set and the are getting clogged in the nut grooves. What kinda guitar? I’ve been playing my Tele with the Tone knob rolled down to maybe 4-5, thickening up the tone to get a humbucker-ish usefulness. Now, though, I’ve been rolling it up to 8, and dialing back the Volume control to about 7, so the added Mids and Highs don’t clash with too much gain. It’s different enough tone profile that I want to take it different places. Fun. Man I love operating a Tele. A microphone jabbed into a plank of wood with strings. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2017, 10:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-guitar-thread/527172/4922 "2017-07-09T10:57:51Z")
I haven’t broke a string yet. I just wondered if that was a risk. It’s a Yamaha fg800. I got it very cheap. Something I can take anywhere and not worry about it. I’ll take the guitar to the shop for a setup Monday. Teles are great guitars.A lot of classic country was played on them. Good for rock too. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2017, 11:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-guitar-thread/527172/4923 "2017-07-09T11:02:43Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > I haven’t broke a string yet. I just wondered if that was a risk. > > It’s a Yamaha fg800. I got it very cheap. Something I can take anywhere and not worry about it. > > I’ll take the guitar to the shop Monday. If you have a mechanical or regular pencil with soft graphite, loosen the strings and “write” in the nut grooves. You put a layer of graphite down as a lubricant and by drawing with the pencil, you can feel if there are any irregularities in the grooves. Then tighten it back up and try playing - I doubt your issues will be solved from the sound of it, but it’s an easy thing to try. Also, are you sure the issue is in the nut and not the tuners? Old tuners often have stickiness and play in the gears. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-guitar-thread/527172.md?page=245) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-guitar-thread/527172.md?page=247)