Short answer: near as I can tell, to look authentic to the original 50’s versions which came with those features, and also to provide a bit 'o “case candy” that the buyer MUST retain, along with various Certificates and whatnot, to keep the “collector’s value” up. That’s a benefit of my homebrew guitars - no guilt about using them like the tools they are. Many Teles still come with that “ashtray” bridge cover even though, like, 98% of the population don’t use them (I have a neighbor who plays jazz on his Tele who does - oy).
Wordman, thanks for elaborating on why it’s (still) there as a vintage-correct doo-hicky. But why, on the original basses made back when, was it there in the first place? Tone? Playing comfort? If you don’t know, that’s fine, but surely someone in this thread does.
Re: Tele ashtrays. I never understood why those were there either. Did nobody palm mute in the 50’s ?
I always thought it was supposed to look like those really early pickups, you know the kind I mean, lap steel style?
That being said, I dun get it either. I guess to protect the pickups when they were new, expensive, and nobody knew how they’d last?
The old Rickenbacker “horse shoe” pickups - sure. Nah, IIRC, when the P Bass came out, of course you know it was the first electric bass, designed to be held “spanish guitar” style vs. upright. I think that cover thingie was just, well, a cover thingie - a place to rest your hand and protect the strings from stray hand noise and sweat and grime. The fact that it is one of the few design points that has not really endured in anything other than an “aesthetic” way is a testament to how much Fender actually got correct the first freakin’ time out (same with the Telecaster, of course). IANABassist so am totally open to being wrong here…
There’s a Rickenbacker bass in my second link in post in post #1519. Are those horse shoe pickups?
I thought this was the first electric bass (although a very short scale one)? I’ll stipulate that the P-bass was the first successful electric bass design.
Almost certainly not. A horseshoe is two U shaped (horseshoe) magnets like <>. Well, rounder, but hey. It looks almost the same but with a slash down the center.
But I think it may be supposed to look like one.
I don’t want to hijac this thread, but I have a question.
How do I fight frustration? I’ll explain.
I have owned guitars for most of my life. I even bragged about my latest guitar I acquired earlier in this thread. I have earnestly tried to learn and practiced dilligently almost every day. I even took some lessons at a music store here in town. He gave me some exercises and drills and I couldn’t get em right. It seems I have no rhythm or coordination. I think he was glad when I stopped going to him after about 6 months.
Since this guitar was a gift, and not a cheap instument like I had always had before, I decided that I would REALLY give it a go this time.
I can’t play a guitar. I am at the point that I beleive I am not cut out to play guitar.
You know how some folks do well at sports or good at working on cars, and some folks can’t. I believe that I am of the latter. I don’t seem to have that particular aptitude
Since I was 12 years old I have tried. I just can’t do it!
I don’t want to be a virtuoso or anything like that. I just want to be able to play a few recognisable songs now and then.
Should I just give up?
I would have to say No, simply because your story illustrates your persistence, which is, frankly, the most important quality to have - so good for you for having that. We all have music abilities to one degree or another; the question is whether we are diligent enough to stay with it when our abilities aren’t carrying us along.
One teacher is NOT like the next; until you’ve been through a bunch there’s no way to say it is simply “you” vs. not finding the right way to open the door. Le Ministre is much better at articulating the whole teacher aspect of things, but I strongly recommend you try one or two more folks and see if their styles are more aligned with how you learn.
A: I demand pretty guitar pictures.
B: Sorry, man, I’m in exactly the same boat you are. I see people playing for six months who are ten times as good as I am. I got no rhythm, I got no music. But I’m persisting, and very slowly, I am getting better.
I wound up finding Guitar For Dummies actually worked the best for me. Eh.
Keep trying.
Being frustrated is what drives me to improve.
I suck at playing guitar but I love to play one.
Wordman (go ahead Word - getcherself a big head head over this) once said something to the effect of - when you practice try to improve and and learn something new each time… until you get frustrated. Then play smoke on the water or whatever stuff you HAVE mastered for the rest of your session.
I realized that my goal was to enjoy myself, not become a working musician. So, I try to do some scales, learn a new riff or explore some different technique…And then I just noodle around and play some Bob Dylan tunes or get the dog howlin by playing my self written, three chord song - Boogers in My Potato Salad.
Who knew that my fine advice would lead to…boogers in my potato salad.
**BubbaDog **speaks truth - there’s something to be said for pushing yourself too hard - remember to have fun. Or, to put it another way: whatever keeps you playing is a good thing.
Ha - Sorry but the song predates the SDMB by at least 20 years. I said that I suck at guitar, I didn’t say I was a beginner.
On a side note - Anybody here ever try a Recording King acoustic guitar? After hearing that they are Chinese hand-built Martin clones I put a very low bid on a blemished RD-126 on EBay and I guess everybody else was sleeping because I got the bid.
I got to play it for the first time yesterday and while it isn’t as strong as a Martin it is by far the best sounding acoustic that I own (I have 4). Beautiful tone and that’s just with the original strings on it.
Recording Kings have a great rep for an affordable guitar in a vintage vein.
Hereshould be a search result for Recording Kings on the Acoustic Guitar Forum - lots of love. I think one of their models got the AGF Guitar of the Year recognition last year…
Bubba dog… can’t even PLAY smoke on the water! .
E-Sabbath. You can see a pic of my guitar earlier in this thread. Around page 5 or 6. Wordman dug up the pic after I asked about the worthiness of the thing.
Thanks for the advice all of you. It’s just that after almost 40 years of fooling with the things,actually only in the last couple years seriously, I just don’t seem to be making progress.
Oh well. I’ll just keep plunking away on it.
I have a friend that has a garage band… I was thinking I might go to one of their practices and maybe see if I can pick up a few pointers from them.
Think that might help?
Ps: The guy I was taking lessons from. It seemed to me the main thing he needed for me to learn was that he held some kind of degree (masters?) in music and that he was a “concert guitarist”. That was rather off-putting to me.
Ah, a Yamaha SE200. Nice choice.
But you know, I’ve found from spending too much, that even a nice guitar isn’t always the right guitar. Maybe the neck’s too tight for you. My 585 has a fast speedy neck, but my fingers are, at the moment, too big. (It was worse six months ago, it’s just annoying now.) but the Telemaster JT90 fits perfectly.
Maybe you’re using the wrong picks. What are you using, Fender mediums? Or are you using the manly 1.0mm picks that manly players use? I had problems with that. So I switched to the orange Tortex .6 mediums, which are much floppier. Easier to strum. And three months later, I can use the Fender Mediums, when I couldn’t before. It’s a matter of getting your hand to do the motions right. Get the motion, then work on the manly thickness.
E-Sabbath. I use Jim Dunlop .6 nylon… right now they feel the best. Not sure about the strings as far as thickness. They are very light gauge. I took the guitar in the the fellow I was taking lessons from and he re-worked the frets and adjusted the intonation.
It sounds great when I chord it correctly. Its just gettin’ my damn hands to agree to bend in the correct manner to hit the frets at the right places.
Also Oslo… I see you pop into this thread occasionally. I don’t need any comparisons between my ability to play guitar being equal to my poker ability! 
Okay. How are your hands not bending? Are they hitting too many strings at once? Like, are you accidentally overlapping? Or are they just not moving fast enough?
Not everybody can be a star. But everybody who wants to can learn to play a guitar competently.
Try another teacher. If you don’t feel like you’re getting anywhere after 2 lessons, drop the teacher. Six months is too long to languish. There are too many guitar teachers to stay with one who isn’t working for you. Don’t settle for a one-size-fits-all teacher. A really good one will not just throw a book and some exercises at you.
How much do you practice? You can never get too much practice time.
Okay. Stop right there.
Here is how you play Smoke on the Water, chosen from the bazillion options on youtube.
My observations:
- You sound like you want to be able to play SotW.
- If so, please know that most any riff is a youtube clip away.
- If you want to play SotW, did you articulate that to your instructor?
- If your instructor said No - or didn’t ask you what riffs you wanted to learn, in addition to grounding you in basic chords and stuff - then he/she was a douchebag.
- If you did not speak up - please know that that is a key part of learning; you only learn to play the stuff you actively seek out.
If, upon viewing this video clip, you can further articulate where you are having trouble with the actual fingering, let us know.