Guitar Uebern00bness of Guitar Uebern00bery

[ozrocker]

Learn D, A, Bm, G You'll be able to play many  songs out there




                                                                                                                                          Oz

[FLS]

If you don't start by drilling your fingers with exercises you will limit your progress.
Get a tuner and always tune first. Drill for two weeks at least before you start trying chords.
Play every note, use all 4 fingers to cover 4 frets then go up a string, after the high E string go up
4 frets and repeat for the whole neck, up and down. Do this as often as you can. As you learn some
theory you can add major and pentatonic scales and chords.

[kvuo75]

As far as your amps, DO NOT EVER FOR NEVER EVER PUT THAT GUITAR INTO YOUR BASS AMP AND VISE VERSA! You will destroy that amp in absolutely no time at all! DO NOT DO THAT FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THAT IS GOOD AND RIGHT IN THIS WORLD!

this is absolute nonsense.

[Nwbie]

First, learn the G chord.

Next, get the C chord down.

The D chord is a little annoying when you're starting out, but get it also.

Throw in an Am every now and then and you can scratch the 1st half off that bucket list of yours

Throw in an E and an Em  and you got almost all the Eric Clapton songs you need.



NwBie

[Bizman]

this is absolute nonsense.

Sort of. I know Fender Bassman amps are quite popular among guitar players, but I wouldn't play a bass through a guitar amp at high gain and volume.

[Thruster]

You wanna tell him he's doing it wrong? Pretty sure that's just and old plexi.....which of course is a sort of a Bassman copy...whatever.

[Jenks]

this is absolute nonsense.

Well....it is bit overstated.

Running a guitar through a bass amp is not intrinsically dangerous for the bass amp. Tonally it may not give a satisfying sound, but it won't hurt it.

Running a bass guitar or keyboard or any other instrument capable of very low notes through a guitar amp however does have some risk. Not to the electronics generally, but to the speaker.

Most modern bass combo amp/ speaker enclosures are sealed or ported to help the speaker reproduce the very low notes and handle the power required.  Many, not all, but many, guitar combo amps are open in the back. That's because the frequencies produced by a guitar are easily handled by this design and there is no need to design a tuned enclosure.  It's called an infinite baffle for you inquiring minds.  If you try to reproduce notes like what a bass will make at any kind of stage/jam session or late night I don't give a toejame about the neighbor stress reliever. You run a good chance of destroying the speaker and depending on the electronics, literally smoking the amp.

What you must never do however is run any kind of instrument, whether it be direct or mic'd, through your home stereo. The electronics and the speakers are not designed for the kind of dynamics a live instrument can create and you will surely damage it. And that would be a bummer because I don't fix that stuff anymore and you can't call me.

 

[skorpx1]

this is absolute nonsense.

Running a bass through a guitar amp is probably the dumbest thing you can do to the amp besides directly destroying it with an axe or explosives. The speaker will blow out if you go above 40% volume for more than 5 minutes.

[Bizman]

What you must never do however is run any kind of instrument, whether it be direct or mic'd, through your home stereo. The electronics and the speakers are not designed for the kind of dynamics a live instrument can create and you will surely damage it. And that would be a bummer because I don't fix that stuff anymore and you can't call me.

 

I used to play my first electric guitar through my home stereo which was very scary! The only sound I could get "safely" was a high-treble clean one at a silent speaking volume. Later I bought myself a 10 watt solid state amp. At that time I worked for a bank. They gave a yearly cocktail party for the local companies for which they needed some kind of a PA system. My solution was to hang the amp on the ceiling and drop the mic down by its wire. This makeshift system outsmarted the local radio shop who had provided a expensive home stereo for the same purpose the previous year!

[kvuo75]

Running a bass through a guitar amp is probably the dumbest thing you can do to the amp besides directly destroying it with an axe or explosives. The speaker will blow out if you go above 40% volume for more than 5 minutes.

again. nonsense.


unless you don't have speakers that can handle the wattage of the amp, in which case, ANYTHING will blow the speaker out.

my old guitar/bass rig included a 150w rackmount power amp into a 4x12 guitar cabinet.

I played bass thru it as well. at full power sometimes, for hours. it survives to this day.

I've been playing bass almost as long as guitar (~25 years) and have never even OWNED a "bass amp". I've ALWAYS played thru my guitar rig. even today, I play bass thru my guitar modeling/fx processor direct into my mixer.

[Bizman]

A 4x12 is a closed cabinet, which has already been told to be more tolerant to bass and other low frequency instruments. The construction simply doesn't let the speaker cone blow out, the cabinet sucks it back in by negative pressure. The speaker elements have also been chosen to stand torture and may even be similar to those of bass cabinets. If you don't believe me, simply remove the back panel of your 4x12 and play loud to see what happens. You have been warned.

A signal processor doesn't actually care which instrument you plug in as long as the impedance is within limits. On the output side it sends a line level signal which is the easiest for a PA system to handle. Same goes for a guitar amp head, it just feeds the loudspeaker(s).

I don't know whether Celestion make any good speakers, but here's their video about playing bass through a guitar speaker: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZiDoCGrCRUw

[Thruster]

Yeah Biz. Celestions are pretty much considered the most desirable line of (guitar) speakers in the world. Not sure if it's truly earned but those things can be pretty subjective. I imagine in some parts of the world they can serve as currency. Everybody knows Celestions.

As far as a particular instrument vs. speaker issue, look up frequency response. The envelope's the key.

But seriously, check out Vanderbilly.com. Great site for the beginner.

[kvuo75]

well ill be damned.

alright, I guess don't play bass thru your guitar combo amp at full tilt..

hell I don't even play thru amps anymore I play direct to board and it comes out of my monitors.

[alskahawk]

 My suggestion on learning guitar or any instrument for that matter; find the simplest song you can. learn it front to back. Learn to play it with your eyes closed. One that I usually teach new players. Smoke on the water. Easy to play. simple timing. Lead isn't particularly tough.
 
 Don't shy away from sheet music. But don't ignore your ears either. When your working on a song research everything about it. Take it apart. Try it different ways. Spend some time learning scales and theory.

[gpwurzel]

The biggest thing I can say about learning guitar - dont ever give up. Something you cant play one day, will come another. Also, if you have the funds, get together with an tutor - this makes it much much easier. Trying to learn something like guitar, with no physical support, is a pain in the neck. It can be done, but your progress will be much better with an instructor.

I love playing guitar, I played in a local band, had to quit due to lack of time - now I sometimes get to play with them on particular songs, which is always fun.

Keep at it brother, it'll come.

Wurz