I need your help and advice - any guitar experts out there?

[Nufy]

I was at Music Centre Canada (Mac Trail South) tonight and was looking at some Takamine and Ovations guitars.

Any preference on the two. The Takamine was almost 50% off at 460 +GST, The ovations a little more.

Any thoughts on MCC overall ???

[wooohooo]

I bought this cheap-ass Yamaha guitar like 8 years ago. I love playing it although I don't play very often and hence why I kind of suck... but it's great. I have beat the crap out of that thing. The dents and knicks on that guitar would probably scare the crap outta you but that's why I love it. I have no fear of smacking it against a table or a chair. My other Martin guitar rarely comes out since I'm too scared to dent it.

I think the most important thing for me when I started out was making sure the strings weren't too high and changing the strings to be extra soft. It made things a lot easier to start out. The first few times of playing guitar will feel like hell.

[jayswin]

Originally Posted by Nufy

I was at Music Centre Canada (Mac Trail South) tonight and was looking at some Takamine and Ovations guitars.

Any preference on the two. The Takamine was almost 50% off at 460 +GST, The ovations a little more.

Any thoughts on MCC overall ???

Be careful with prices at MCC, they like to show you the "list" price and then try to wow you with how much money you're "saving". But the list price is like the "suggested retail price" and it's usually quite a bit higher than any reasonable store would sell a guitar for.

So a guitar you might see at Long and Maquade for $500, you'll see at MCC for $600, but OH MY GOD! the list price was $1000!!!, so you're "saving" $400!! So buy it now, before someone else does, because it won't last long with the SAVINGS off a suggested price they've put on the tag that no one would ever charge for that guitar.

[simonsays]

Outside of which actual guitar to get her, assuming it's an acoustic I would string it with nylon strings (easier on the fingers for a beginner) and make sure that you pick up an electric tuner. As a beginner one of the most important things is to be sure of is that the instrument is properly tuned.

Trust me, you don't want to listen to someone learn on a poorly tuned guitar. Not only will they not get the right satisfaction, but your ears will bleed hatred. EADGBE is the standard tuning. Start her with that.

[wooohooo]

Originally Posted by simonsays

Outside of which actual guitar to get her, assuming it's an acoustic I would string it with nylon strings (easier on the fingers for a beginner) and make sure that you pick up an electric tuner. As a beginner one of the most important things is to be sure of is that the instrument is properly tuned.

Trust me, you don't want to listen to someone learn on a poorly tuned guitar. Not only will they not get the right satisfaction, but your ears will bleed hatred. EADGBE is the standard tuning. Start her with that.

Yes. When I first started playing guitar I found it a little out of tune so I tried to tune it myself. I figured the tuning was EADGBE but I tuned it backwards. For a week I tried to learn on EBGDAE instead. Sounded so bad, I thought was learning wrong until finally someone told me.

[scottie]

Originally Posted by simonsays

Outside of which actual guitar to get her, assuming it's an acoustic I would string it with nylon strings

You don't want to be buying a 'western' guitar and stringing it with a classical guitar's strings. The nut won't be cut for that thickness of string and it'll cause the strings to sit higher and the intonation probably won't be right. Just buy super thin strings to make pressing down a little easier.

Totally agree about getting a tuner -- they're cheap and it'll keep her sounding sweet.

[troutman]

You also should buy her leather pants. Every guitar playing babe must wear leather pants.

[Nufy]

Originally Posted by flameswin

Be careful with prices at MCC, they like to show you the "list" price and then try to wow you with how much money you're "saving". But the list price is like the "suggested retail price" and it's usually quite a bit higher than any reasonable store would sell a guitar for.

So a guitar you might see at Long and Maquade for $500, you'll see at MCC for $600, but OH MY GOD! the list price was $1000!!!, so you're "saving" $400!! So buy it now, before someone else does, because it won't last long with the SAVINGS off a suggested price they've put on the tag that no one would ever charge for that guitar.

It was a Takamine cutaway model with a built in tuner for about $460 ish.

I didn't check the model #.

I don't really need the tuner but I did want to be able to plug it into my amp at home.

[Rerun]

I was reading in the other thread about learning to play the guitar.... and a few people recommended getting a stand and leaving the guitar on the stand as you are more likely to pick it up to practice, if its sitting there in the open, than if its hidden away in a case.

This sounds like a real good idea. My question is... how do you keep the guitar from drying out (its so dry here in Calgary, especially in the winter) if the guitar is sitting out in the open all the time? I have been told that its best to keep your guitar in a hard case with a damp cloth or sponge in order to keep the humidity level up.

Also, people have mentioned a tuner... this is something that concerns my wife.. how is she going to keep her guitar in tune? I didn't know they made these things. What is it and how does it work? Is it difficult to use? How expensive are tuners? Any recommendation on a good one?

Also... can anybody enlighten me on strings? I have been told by the salesman (Tom Martin) at Mothers Music that the guitar I am considering purchasing (the Yamaha FG700MS... which sounds real nice... I also looked at the Yamaha FG700S ... the difference is the first has a satin finish while the second has a gloss finish) has 12 gauge steel strings and I could have the strings changed to 10 gauge which will be lighter. Is this correct or did I here him wrong? Normally in the everyday world (ie electrical and other stuff) when you go from 12 gauge to 10 gauge wire you are going from lighter to heavier.

By the way, any recommendation on a good brand and type of strings?

Also, he said he could also lower the action in order to make it easier for my wife to play. It sounded like he could do this stuff pretty inexpensively. To my ear the guitar sounded great as it was but he said my wife would like it even better with lighter strings and a lowered action.

Anyways, when all is said and done, this is going to end up costing a lot more than I was originally planning.
#1 - Buy the guitar
#2 - Buy a case (the salesman recommended a hard case ... mostly because of humidity protection)
#3 - Buy a strap
#4 - Buy a tuner
#5 - Buy a stand ?
#6 - Buy lighter strings ?
#7 - Lower the action ?
#8 - Labour to have #6 & #7 done and have the guitar tuned.

Anyways.... here's a video demo of the Yamaha FG700S being played

http://www.fretbase.com/guitars/634-...0s/videos/9346

And here's a written review by Accoustic Magazine of the Yamaha FG700MS (apparently they don't sell the satin finish model in the USA... only the gloss model)
http://www.acousticmagazine.com/inde...=112&Itemid=52

Here's another review...
http://www.musicradar.com/gear/all/g...s-18621/review



I'm pretty sure I'm going to buy this one. I hope I'm picking the right one.

[stang]

Looks nice.

Honestly I live in Saskatchewan, and I havent had a problem with humidity in the house. We have our guitars hanging from the wall in our room.

I have a Garrison tuner, and a Korg Tuner. Either one will work and are real simple to use. THey have a microphone built in and you pluck your string and it hears it and tells you what note it is and if its flat or sharp. Turn tuner knob until its good. Get a chromatic Tuner.

If you are paying him him for the guitar then make him through some stuff in for free. I think you could skip out on a case for now. Really no need for a hard case unless you are going to be playing not in the house.

Wal-mart has guitar stands for like 15 bucks. Its what I use.

Edit: Oh and the salesman is right about string guages. Smaller number = smaller string.

And for anyone who needs strings, and like buying in bulk.
http://www.webstrings.com/
Great strings great price.

Edit #2: If they wont lower the action and give it a setup for you for free I would walk out and go elsewhere.

You buy the guitar, and a stand, and the strings. He should change the strings for you, lower the action to get it to where you want it, and maybe toss in a lower end strap.

Edit #3: Run your hands up and down the sides of the neck to feel for any frets that are sharp or sticking out, and tell the salesman that its sharp... they can file it down.

Heres where my guitars are kept.

[Hack&Lube]

By 10 he actually means 0.010' which is the diameter of the lightest string, the high E.

All the other accessories are not really necessary aside from a pick that feels comfortable for the player.

You don't need a stand, I leave my acoustic sitting on my couch. You are even more likely to play the guitar if it's on the couch you watch TV with. You play the guitar when commercials come on. That's how I learned the guitar. When you get to the point where the TV show comes back on and you find that you'd rather keep playing the guitar instead of watching your TV show, you've made it.

You don't need a tuner, there are plenty on the internet. I've never owned an actual tuner. If it's a decent guitar, you won't need to retune it that often.

Lowering the action can involve anything as simple as adjusting the truss rod (metal rod in the neck to change how convex or concave the neck bends thus bringing the strings closer) to changing the nut or even the bridge for another one. Axe music did all these for free for me when I had problems with action.

#1 - Buy the guitar - YES
#2 - Buy a case - DON'T NEED (maybe a cheap nylon cloth case)
#3 - Buy a strap - DON'T NEED (is she going to learn standing up?)
#4 - Buy a tuner - DON'T NEED (plenty on the internet)
#5 - Buy a stand - DON'T NEED (prop it on your couch or against the wall in common areas)
#6 - Buy lighter strings - DON'T NEED BUT RECOMMENDED (only costs like $7)
#7 - Lower the action - SHOULD BE FREE WITH PURCHASE
#8 - Labour to have #6 & #7 done and have the guitar tuned. - SHOULD BE FREE WITH PURCHASE

One cool accessory to have however is a capo, that's the clamp that goes on the strings on the neck to change the key of the song up and down in case it is too low or too high for your singing voice.

Regarding humidity, I have seen several guitars warp in Calgary due to the weird humidity and temperature changes we have so maybe a cheap nylon cloth case and a humidifier can't hurt (but you can do with a damp cloth).

What kind of music is your wife going to play though? Do you think she would ever want to play the upper end of the neck (closer to the body). It might be nice to have a cutaway body guitar (the ones with a crescent shaped cut-out by the body) so your hand can reach those notes.

[stang]

Not everyone wants guitars on there couch... haha

Which tuner do you use on the web H&L?

[Hack&Lube]

Originally Posted by stang

Not everyone wants guitars on there couch... haha

Which tuner do you use on the web H&L?

A guitar on the couch is also a good social object or conversation piece and it's more inviting for people who visit you to go and pick up as well.

http://www.gieson.com/Library/projects/utilities/tuner/
Works well enough. There are hundreds of them out there. Just simple flash programs like flash games.

I just mostly tune by ear now because I don't really need to be precisely in tune I'll just do the 5th fret or 12th fret harmonics trick and make sure they are in tune with each other. I actually drop my tuning to make the strings lighter most of the time too since I still have trouble with necks or strings that are too high a gauge (even if I use extra lights) due to small hands and lack of joints. I really envy double jointed people!!!

[Berger_4_]

I've gotta disagree with you Hack. I think a tuner is a great purchase. It's just so much easier to tune with that versus trying to do it by ear. I've got a Korg, and it maybe set me back thirty bucks.

[Hack&Lube]

Originally Posted by Berger_4_

I've gotta disagree with you Hack. I think a tuner is a great purchase. It's just so much easier to tune with that versus trying to do it by ear. I've got a Korg, and it maybe set me back thirty bucks.

I think forcing a beginner to hear the notes is actually better for them in the long run. If you must have a visual chromatic tuner, you can get one for as little as $9 shipped.

http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.22397

Keep in mind, I was the most cheapass guitarist ever. Learned everything online, saved money everywhere I could. Stuck with an $80 ebay guitar for 3 years. All that saving ended up with me blowing $1600 on a strat lol

[wooohooo]

I agree, getting a tuner now isn't very expensive and it's a lot easier. Now I barely use it as I can tune by ear, but starting out it was a little tricky.

[wooohooo]

Oh yeah... is she going to take lessons or learn off the internet? It's pretty easy to learn off the internet, but it takes a lot of time and patience. Or... she could take some lessons. I have never done them, but I have had friends do them and it's amazing how fast they progressed from having a good teacher.

[troutman]

Many of these songs are not hard for beginners:

http://forum.calgarypuck.com/showthread.php?t=76441

I finally started lessons this year after years of self-teaching. I would recommend it, otherwise you will develop some bad habits and techniques.

[Rerun]

Originally Posted by wooohooo

Oh yeah... is she going to take lessons or learn off the internet? It's pretty easy to learn off the internet, but it takes a lot of time and patience. Or... she could take some lessons. I have never done them, but I have had friends do them and it's amazing how fast they progressed from having a good teacher.

Well at first I thought I would get her a book and a dvd and she could also use the internet to learn how to play..... I mean really... how difficult can it be?

But then, after reading the other thread here about learning to play the guitar, so many people recommended taking lessons. Some even said they knew how to play but it took a long time to learn, but then they went out and took a few lessons and they were amazed at how much they learned and how much faster the learning process was....

So.... I figure I'll find a good teacher and ante up for the lessons.

I even talked to the sales guy about this. He said that she could take a lesson and learn enough in the lesson that she could go a few weeks without taking another one.... just spend the time between lessons practicing what she learned.... I guess once you learn a few chords you can do a lot.... nothing fancy I guess, but she will be playing.


Just need to find a good guitar teacher here in Okotoks now.

[Rerun]

Originally Posted by Hack&Lube

What kind of music is your wife going to play though? Do you think she would ever want to play the upper end of the neck (closer to the body). It might be nice to have a cutaway body guitar (the ones with a crescent shaped cut-out by the body) so your hand can reach those notes.

My wife enjoys listening Country 105 so I assume she will play a bit of country. She also likes easy listening music. She also likes some classical and opera. Actually, she has pretty eclectic tastes. The only thing she doesn't like is rap and hip hop.


As for playing the upper end of the neck... I have no idea. Does a lot of music require you to play those notes?