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Buying Equipment Lessons

The Rites of Spring By David Hodge Buying a new or used guitar can be an emotional ordeal, especially if you haven't the faintest idea of what you are looking for. This is why it's important to do a bit of thinking and investigating before even setting foot inside a music shop. It doesn't matter if it's going to be your first or fortieth guitar, take a moment to gather your thoughts.

Some Musings On Online Instrument Buying - (or Sittin' On The Dock Of 'eBay) By David Hodge In this article I'd like to do is offer up some observations and advice to those of you who are thinking about exploring the idea of getting your next guitar online. Even for someone such as myself, who much prefers dealing with a real person, the lure of the Internet is a siren's call. And I cannot even begin to imagine what it must be like to someone who is thinking about getting his or her first guitar. Please remember that these are my own opinions based upon my own experiences and those of the people who have been kind enough to share their experiences with me. There will always be better stories and there will be worse ones.

The Little Things By David Hodge If you are considering buying something for a musician you know and are a bit worried about buying the wrong thing, have no fear - there are no wrong things! You may not know this, but there are a lot of things that guitarists always need, but rarely purchase. Guitar players go through stuff that needs to be replaced fairly often. While there is still time left before the holidays let us go through some of the things you can buy for the guitar player on your list.

What to Look for In An Acoustic Guitar By A-J Charron When you are looking to buy an instrument which will last you most of your life you should take the time to make sure you're buying something good and something that you will enjoy in the long run. Don't get taken in by salespeople who don't know what they're talking about. This article will educate you about the different parts of the acoustic guitar, what they are made of, and most importantly what you should look for when choosing which guitar to take home.

Where To Find Great Prices By A-J Charron The pawn shop is a musician's best friend. I've heard that phrase many times before. The worst part of it is, it's true. Many musicians end up pawning old instruments and old equipment there. They get out of the game or they simply change their instruments or equipment for something newer. This is where you can profit from their losses.

Shop Till You Drop - How to buy a Bass Guitar - Bass for Beginners # 9 By Dan Lasley This column will review some of the numerous things that go into the design of a bass guitar. Some matter more than others, and different people have different tastes. Hopefully, when you are done, you'll have an idea of what to look for the next time you're in the mood for a new bass. Please note that this is geared toward the novice bassist. If you are an experienced bassist recording your 3rd studio album, you will undoubtedly have your own opinions on these matters.

Buying Your Second Bass Amp - Bass for Beginners # 12 By Dan Lasley Just about everyone who picks up the bass as a beginner has a marginal practice amp to start with. Which is why I'm going to talk about what to look for when you buy your second amp - your first real play it loud and proud bass amp.

Shopping By Laura Lasley I find that shopping for a guitar is much like shopping for anything else. The available information can be overwhelming, especially on the internet. There are a million web sites about every kind of guitar and every style. I have a few simple shopping rules that I like to follow which apply to clothing, TV's, cameras, cars, houses and yes, guitars and guitar accessories.

Looking and Listening By Lee Budar-Danoff When selecting a guitar, the most obvious advice will be to select one with the sound you like best. But on walking into the mega guitar store, you are confronted with hundreds of guitars, and sound is not the thing that makes you take one off the rack to try. You are not a shallow person for selecting something based on looks, although hopefully it will not limit your final choice of guitar.

GAS Powered By Stefan Leonhardt Most of us guitarists suffer from an affliction called GAS - Gear Acquisition Syndrome. That means we are buying gear nearly compulsively - more and more often than we really need. What do we basically need to play guitar?

Beginning the Quest for Tone Part 1 - How To Buy A Guitar Amp By Jeremy Ledford This is the first installment of two articles that will try to help you choose an amplifier. I will focus on beginning players today and intermediate players in the next installment. You go into the store and buy it right? Yes, it could be that simple. But, without proper information, one could end up making a very costly mistake.

Beginning the Quest for Tone Part 2 - How To Buy A Guitar Amp By Jeremy Ledford This is the second installment on how to annoy your parents, siblings and/or neighbors. We will focus on the intermediate player and go a bit deeper into the quest for tone. It is both easier and more difficult to choose an amplifier at this level of skill. It is also a bit more expensive, in most cases.

The Long and Short of It - Scale Length Explained By Tony Nuccio Tony Nuccio returns to kick off what we're hoping will become a new feature page: Guitar Anatomy and Physiology. In his first article, Tony explains the mysteries behind a guitar's scale length.

British Bass Amps - Oh The Majesty! By Steve Smith Here is the lowdown on British bass guitar amplifiers. From Trace Eliot to Marshall, Steve Smith details the similarities and differences between the various amps and also gives you some help as to deciding which may be the right one for you.

Acoustic Vs. Electric By Laura Lasley Laura examines the finer details of the acoustic vs. electric debate through her own experience with these two guitar types and shows how they are indeed two totally different takes on the same idea.

My Journey into the World of Replacement Pickups - Part 1 - The Definition of Tone By Bill Cozzo Bill Cozzo helps us get through the first step in choosing a new set of pickups - deciding what we want in the first place! And then knowing how to get what tone we desire from our guitar.

Buying Your Second Guitar By John Tucker More often than not, buying a second guitar is more daunting than buying your first. All sorts of things are running through your head and, as the cliché goes, a little knowledge is a dangerous thing. Contributing Guitar Noise reader John Tucker recently went through the pangs of choosing a second guitar and has kindly taken the time to give us his thoughts and observations on the matter.

How to Buy a Guitar By Len Collins Buying a guitar is a complicated business and it is easy for an unsuspecting first time buyer or inexperienced guitarist to leave the shop with an instrument that is nearer their worst nightmare than the guitar of their dreams. Len Collins of Guitar Breakthrough shows the way through the maze.

Necessity By John Tucker Christmas can lead to all sorts of binging on things, from food to strap locks! Before you go plunging into the nearest music store, it's a good idea to have an honest assessment of what you actually need. JohnTucker relates to us some thoughtful ideas based on his experiences on the subject.

How to buy a used acoustic guitar By Nick Torres In response to a reader request, Nick Torres tells us all about the things to look for and consider when buying a used acoustic guitar. This article should definitely be in your clip and save file!

An Introduction Into The World Of Replacement Pickups (part 2) By Bill Cozzo In his second chapter of this two-part piece, Bill Cozzo details the stages of choosing and then installing the right replacement pickups for his guitar. As usual, he gives us a wealth of detail and information, making something as intricate as the whole procedure a snap to understand and appreciate.

Plectra / Plectrums By Graham Merry In this article Greybeard has managed to condense volumes of information and opinions on guitar picks, all culled for our readers and visitors to our Forum pages. Here's pretty much anything you could possibly want to know about this subject in one convenient place!

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