jef5f Posted April 27, 2001 Share Posted April 27, 2001 Mine is breaking strings when practicing. On stage, it doesn't bother me, my backup is always ready. But practicing, my other guitar(s) are in their cases, probably not in tune, and .... Psalm 33:3 The best instrument you have, is your heart. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lee Flier Posted April 27, 2001 Share Posted April 27, 2001 My biggest frustration was trying to learn how to play on the first guitar I ever had, which was a total piece of CRAP Yamaha with the action like a quarter inch off the neck. And of course I insisted on a steel stringed guitar even though everybody told me it was so much easier on the fingers to get nylon. I guess the biggest test of whether you are really going to be serious about guitar is whether you can survive through the first year of playing on the piece of crap you are likely to have as a first guitar. http://www.musicplayer.com/ubb/biggrin.gif Luckily, a year later my parents were convinced that I was serious and got me a nice Ibanez acoustic which I still have today. Never have found any reason to get a more expensive one. It's just a nice sounding, nice playing guitar that only gets better with age. As for breaking strings during practicing, I have all my guitars hung on the wall of my studio so it's always easy to grab another one. Before I built the studio I had a guitar stand in just about every room of the house with a guitar on it. Still do that sometimes. I find that if your guitars are out of their cases you are more likely to pick one up and play it at odd moments. Otherwise, the most frustrating thing has been when I can't turn my amp up enough to get a decent tone out of it. I am NOT a volume freak by any means, but I'm definitely a tone freak. I just don't enjoy playing as much when I can't get my tone. http://www.musicplayer.com/ubb/frown.gif --Lee Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott from MA Posted April 27, 2001 Share Posted April 27, 2001 Originally posted by Lee Flier: I find that if your guitars are out of their cases you are more likely to pick one up and play it at odd moments. Yeah... I have a few of those 5-in-line stands, and a few regular stands, so that I can always have my guitars out and ready to go. One of the great frustrations to me is that my patchcords always seem to wait until the middle of a show to develop a bad connection. How come these things never happen when I'm playing at home?!?! There's nothing like being half way through a song and suddenly "crackle crackle crackle." I've learned to always have one standing by. Scott (just another cantankerous bastard) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LiveMusic Posted April 27, 2001 Share Posted April 27, 2001 Learning how to develop a decent vibrato. I'm still not worth a hoot at it. Pretty basic part of guitar playing and it bugs heck out of me why I can't solve this. ------------------ Duke > > > [ Live! ] < < < Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dj3 Posted April 27, 2001 Share Posted April 27, 2001 Duke, Try this to help you vibrato. Set your metronome to 60 bpm. On the beat, bend the B string up a quarter by pushing it up. On the next beat, bend it up a quarter by pulling the string down. After you get this to the point where the transitions are smooth, turn up the bpm's. After some practice, you'll not only develop a nice purring vibrato, but the handstrength to really do some earthshaking wobbles. hope this helps, dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rosespappy Posted April 28, 2001 Share Posted April 28, 2001 Anytime I'm asked to retune when I set in... 90% of the time I'm asked to play my 12 string and when I have to tune to match someone a half up or down it frazzles me fritters a tad. Gee joe, would ya like to borrow my tuner? No thanks man, I can sing it better right where I'm at......... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tedster Posted April 28, 2001 Share Posted April 28, 2001 Getting in a slump where I'm playing the same crap over and over again. And the worst part is I know it's my fault. "Cisco Kid, was a friend of mine" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stanner Posted April 28, 2001 Share Posted April 28, 2001 heynow, i started playin guitar to get the ladies and well do i have to spell it out? AMPSSOUNDBETTERLOUDER Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tedster Posted April 28, 2001 Share Posted April 28, 2001 Well, you gotta do the whole schtick, Stanner...put a kielbasa down yer pants while you play...hehehehehe... Then when some babe walks up and says, "I want what's in your pants" whip it out and say "Wouldja like mustard and kraut with that, sweetheart?" "Cisco Kid, was a friend of mine" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LiveMusic Posted April 28, 2001 Share Posted April 28, 2001 Ted, you missed your calling. No doubt, you should be a comedian. You crack me up. Dave, thanks for the tip on vibrato; that's a new one one me. I'll try that. ------------------ Duke > > > [ Live! ] < < < Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chip McDonald Posted April 29, 2001 Share Posted April 29, 2001 A) Out of tune guitars. B) Strings that wear out too quick. To me, string intonation starts going bad after about 20 minutes of playing. I actually adjust my intonation to account for this, which means I'm always in a compromise situation... and while playing I'm thinking "man... I'm going to have to change strings soon". Re-record specific parts after checking the tuning of those specific notes on the neck, since guitars are never perfectly in tune.... I hate it. I'm going to spend an embarrassingly stupid amount of money by the end of the year on a really nice guitar with the Feiten nut mod, and that should make my life much easier in that respect. For now - ahhhrrgg. When I first started playing I would spend hours trying to make guitars perfectly in tune, doing weird things with the bridge, stretch tunings I never could get to work the way I wanted, and I would end up after one of these sessions hearing EVERYTHING being slightly out of tune, and then I would notice infinitesimal tuning dalliances with my own playing, then I would be depressed about that, then decide to play the guitar with small frets and .11's, realize that's not perfect either, then the headaches start, and then I can't play because I have a tension headache, then I temporarily forget about it, ....then start the whole process over. Now I try to "look the other way", but I'm never confident in where the line of "acceptable intonation" is. To me, there's "perfect" and everything else... and with the acceptance of so much stuff that has beating in it and blatantly out of tune I don't know where the middle ground is, and I've talked myself into total confusion about whether something should be "let go" or not.... I try to let performance when out, but one never really knows. Arhhfhhg. http://www.mp3.com/chipmcdonald Guitar Lessons in Augusta Georgia: www.chipmcdonald.com Eccentric blog: https://chipmcdonaldblog.blogspot.com/ / "big ass windbag" - Bruce Swedien Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fet Posted April 30, 2001 Share Posted April 30, 2001 Viewing/hearing a show by the jazz guitarist Paul Bollenback. It seemed unnecessary to play jazz guitar after hearing this guy; well beyond monstrous. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kudyba Posted April 30, 2001 Share Posted April 30, 2001 Trying to memorize Jeff Beck's version of "Greensleeves". For the life of me I've been trying for months now and I always have to peak at the tab!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clockwirk Posted April 30, 2001 Share Posted April 30, 2001 The appearant lack of a correlation between hard work and success. ~clockwirk~ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fantasticsound Posted April 30, 2001 Share Posted April 30, 2001 Now I try to "look the other way", but I'm never confident in where the line of "acceptable intonation" is. To me, there's "perfect" and everything else... Chip, you do realize there is no such thing as "perfect" intonation, right? Even with Buzzy's mod., it's Tempored tuning. Just like pianos. Theoretically every octave a note's cycles per second double. Theoretically. In the real world we accomplish a wide variety of notes, on guitars and moreso pianos, by using different gauge strings for lower and higher notes. It's the mass and rigidity of each string gauge that modifies everything else, starting with scale length of each open string. The tempored tuning system simply lowers the differences to a minimum and standardizes the offset between notes in any octave. My most frustrating guitar moment is when a string breaks and I have only one instrument with me, and no replacement string. Not supposed to happen, but it has in the past. Neil It's easiest to find me on Facebook. Neil Bergman Soundclick fntstcsnd Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greed2000 Posted April 30, 2001 Share Posted April 30, 2001 Rosepappy, my guitar tech suggested that I tune my 12 string down a whole tone and use a capo for standard tuning. It allows you to tune down easily and it relieves string tension...it has worked well for me. Originally posted by rosespappy: Anytime I'm asked to retune when I set in... 90% of the time I'm asked to play my 12 string and when I have to tune to match someone a half up or down it frazzles me fritters a tad. Gee joe, would ya like to borrow my tuner? No thanks man, I can sing it better right where I'm at......... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chip McDonald Posted April 30, 2001 Share Posted April 30, 2001 Originally posted by fantasticsound: Chip, you do realize there is no such thing as "perfect" intonation, right? Yeah, I know, I should have specified "perfectly even tempered", in that the octaves everywhere are in tune, not other intervals.... http://www.mp3.com/chipmcdonald Guitar Lessons in Augusta Georgia: www.chipmcdonald.com Eccentric blog: https://chipmcdonaldblog.blogspot.com/ / "big ass windbag" - Bruce Swedien Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
strat0124 Posted April 30, 2001 Share Posted April 30, 2001 It's most frustrating playing with folks who can't hear or feel the groove and anticipate where it's goin. Also the folks who can't hear when they're either out of tune or playing a half step out of key. But I only have to put up with that with either guys at church or the occasional jam session. Nothing personal, but I won't go out and play music with folks (in town and public) who can't hang. My observation is the folks who can't hang, don't know it. Kinda like the singer who doesn't know he or she is flat or sharp, and/or steps all over my harmony part......mega frustrating. But it's all about the joy of music, and I fully realize that. Personally speaking, my frustration with my own guitar playing is when my rhythm is off and I don't nail my leads and fills. It's never super ragged or anything, just frustrates me to hell and back. Of course I am my own worst critic. Aren't we all? Down like a dollar comin up against a yen, doin pretty good for the shape I'm in Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted May 3, 2001 Share Posted May 3, 2001 For me the most frustrating thing has always been over practicing. I don't think most people have this problem but for me...when I practice I suck (technique and all)...if I don't touch my guitar for a few weeks or more everything is effortless (though I do feel the muscle weakness). I'm constantly struggling with how much to practice/not practice. Well...that and the fact that I'll never be as good a guitar player as I am a pianist. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fantasticsound Posted May 3, 2001 Share Posted May 3, 2001 Yeah, I know, I should have specified "perfectly even tempered", in that the octaves everywhere are in tune, not other intervals.... Well, Chip, at least your guitars will always be even tempered, even if the guy playing them isn't. http://www.musicplayer.com/ubb/wink.gif (Oh, wait a minute, that's ME I'm referring to!) Ok, sorry guys and gals, I lied. My most frustrating guitar experiences are: [*]Learning to not squeak so loud when sliding from one note to another. Man.. when I first learned to slide, it seemed like the squeaks were ten times as loud as the notes I was playing. [*]Writing. Every time I TRY to write a song, it sounds too familiar or just plain lame. I can't seem to come to terms with the fact that half the rock music I love is the same three chords! Writing interesting melodies is a magical mystery to me. It either happens by accident, or it doesn't. Most times it doesn't http://www.musicplayer.com/ubb/frown.gif [*]THE night my reformed band (or is that deformed?) played our first gig with a second guitarist. The guy could play, but he was so nervous he began the first song at about.. 200 BPM! It was all the drummer could do to hit anything! http://www.musicplayer.com/ubb/smile.gif Neil This message has been edited by fantasticsound on 05-02-2001 at 11:14 PM It's easiest to find me on Facebook. Neil Bergman Soundclick fntstcsnd Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
strychn1neaol.com Posted May 7, 2001 Share Posted May 7, 2001 I hate stupid danelectro guitars and some fenders that need so much time to be adjusted just to fix the intonation and get rid of fret buzzing or Floyd rose tremolo guitars that need to be worked on for an hour to change the gauge off strings and tighten springs tune and check intonation. BTW I am a sucker for tune-o-matic bridges! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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