Deciding what guitar to buy

Currently I am just practicing the major and minor regular chords, and using basic scales to get my callouses built up and get my hands used to being on the fretboard and using the pick. Basically getting familiar with the whole thing. If I stick with it (which I plan to, but you know how that goes) I plan to buy a nice guitar. I figure if I stick with it for 2-3 months I should be past that awkward stage. Now on to the point of this post :)

I dont have any suggestions for you on guitar but I just wanted to say Welcome to Guitarnoise. Also, one suggestion I can give you (I have only been playing a year and a half) is to change the way you are thinking about guitar.

I am not saying that waiting a few months is a bad idea. Actually its a great ideal because you'll have a better understanding of what you are spending your money on. But I would suggest that you decide here and now that you a guitarist and you will be playing guitar for the rest of your life. That akwardness you speak of doesnt really go away. It just moves in stages. I felt akward in the first week, then I felt confident. Then a few months in you get discouraged again, you work through it and it gets better again. I have read post on this forum by guys that have been playing for years (I think) and some of the things they say lead me to believe that the same thing happens to them. It probably does go away at some time, but its a very long time away.

The good news is that playing the guitar is easy. All you have to do is decide today that you are going to pick it up and play (Scales, chords, songs, etc) atleast a little every day (or as close to that as you can). You are going to be religious about picking it up and spending time with it. You are going to push yourself so that when you learn one thing well then you will move on to something a bit more difficult. If you do that then you will be a good guitar player someday. Noone can predict how long cause it depends on you and how much time you put in, but it WILL happen.

Anyways, thats my full proof advice. 8) Hope you enjoy it here and good luck with the practice and guitar search.

Geoo

You might want to have a look at the 79 series. Really awesome quality for the money, should fit right within your budget.

They offer three models, the ML, V and Z (modelled after the original Gibson versions, but more elegantly IMHO), come in three colors and can be had with or without Floyd. Amazingly fast neck, powerfull pickups, solid tuners and gorgeous finish. Check them out.

And as Geoo said: bite through the bullet and decide right now if guitar is something you want to be doing. There will be many frustrating moments ahead of you and it is in moments like these that those with the right attitude continue and those without start to play the air-guitar again. Continue practicing, enjoy yourself, get a cool axe you enjoy playing AND looking at (a beautifull guitar can be a great motivator!) and we'll see you later in the Online Jam forum. :)

And welcome to Guitar Noise! :D

Hey guys, thanks for the advice on the attitude, I will try to do that (though I do feel a little silly trying to think of myself as a guitarist when I cant even form a bar chord or play a song haha).

As for those guitars Arjen, I actually did look at them but I don't really like the vintage look of them. I want a more modern looking instrument. I WISH I had the cash to blow on that slime bumblebee razorback that they have ($1099.00 or so) but, my wife would murder me and I would never to learn to play it whilst dead :) Any thoughts on the lack of fret markers on the Noir for a complete newbie? Could it make me a better player? Be so hard that I might drop it all together?

You don't actually need fretmarkers on the neck, you only need them on the side of the neck. This is because you need to tilt your guitar to see the dots on the neck, and that is not a very efficient way to hold the guitar. Missing the dots on the top could therefor very well be a good way to prevent yourself from learning to do that. It's hard to see if they have dots on the side but I assume they do. I they don't it would only take a minute or so to do it yourself, dots on the side are only visible to the player so you could use stickers or a marker for that. In any case I wouldn't worry too much about it if you like how it looks, feels and sounds. :)

Oh, in my personal opinion the Vendetta series rock as well. 8)

Brother, I'm 34 (on Monday) and just started two years ago. No question it seems overwhelming, but you can definitely play guitar. Why do I know that? Because you love music. If you love listening to music you will LOVE playing music. It is that simple. While you might not be playing "Aces High" for a year or so, you definitely can get your groove on with some Scorpions relatively quickly. Rock You Like a Hurricane is 4 or 5 barre chords.

Anyway... You sound like a shredder, which is cool - what about an ESP? The Dave Mustaine ESP V is pretty wicked.

Also, keep in mind that Iron Maiden plays Strats with Floyd Rose bridges, so don't discount the Fender Strat...

Brother, I'm 34 (on Monday) and just started two years ago. No question it seems overwhelming, but you can definitely play guitar. Why do I know that? Because you love music. If you love listening to music you will LOVE playing music. It is that simple. While you might not be playing "Aces High" for a year or so, you definitely can get your groove on with some Scorpions relatively quickly. Rock You Like a Hurricane is 4 or 5 barre chords.

Anyway... You sound like a shredder, which is cool - what about an ESP? The Dave Mustaine ESP V is pretty wicked.

Also, keep in mind that Iron Maiden plays Strats with Floyd Rose bridges, so don't discount the Fender Strat...

Hey good to know us "getting up there" folks can still learn to play! :) How good would you say you have been able to get in 2 years? Oh yea, I looked up a tab for Hurricane so I could learn to play it first haha. Shredding... oh yea, that is my ultimate goal! Not a huge fan of the full on flying V styles. Based on Arjen's last post the ML Noir XL is a done deal in my mind. I really like how it looks and such, and his idea about placing a stickers on the top of the neck for fret markers (if it doesnt have markers up there already) was great! I am pretty set on a Dean too :) As for the strat, going to be honest, don't really like the look. Sound is sound, and with effects pedals and a good amp I guess any good guitar can be made to sound just about any way you want. But looks, those can't really be changed haha. Another guitar I was really considering was a B.C. Rich Virgo in bright red, that thing looks mad and has a SICK headstock.

Thanks for the response Dali, don't suppose you have any recordings of you playing or anything? I am curious how two years has helped you develop.

Welcome, Tekzel. I had my eye on that exact Dean ML Noir a couple of years ago. I did not get it, but would like to get that or some sort of Dean. Good luck and m/.

Welcome, Tekzel. I had my eye on that exact Dean ML Noir a couple of years ago. I did not get it, but would like to get that or some sort of Dean. Good luck and m/.

Hey thanks 97reb. Yea, its a very nice looking guitar and from what I gather it sounds good and plays good (not that I would have any concept of that currently haha). This is the one I REALLY want :) Razorback Slime Bumblebee I love those Razorbacks and the paintjob on that one is very cool.

Another I would like is a B.C. Rich Virgo, which I think looks sick. I would love to see one in candyapple red with dark blood red bevels. Maybe a blood trail down the fretboard with blood drops as fret markers. I had a black Warlock about... 13 years ago, bought it when I was in the Navy, but since i had no where to keep it I sold it for cheap like a moron. I wish I had sent it home for my mother to hang onto it for me until I got out. I "needed the money" though, so I let someone rip me off (oh and did he).

If you practice your scales for thirty minutes every day you'll be pretty much shredding after two years. Ofcourse, playing guitar is more then just shredding so you'll probably want to spend some time learning rhytm guitar, various other techniques and such as well so it might take a bit longer. It really depends on how much time you have and how dedicated you really are.

But if you were thinking you might have started too late to become any good, drop that thought right now. You could start in 2026 and still have all the time to learn everything you'll ever want to. :D

If you practice your scales for thirty minutes every day you'll be pretty much shredding after two years. Ofcourse, playing guitar is more then just shredding so you'll probably want to spend some time learning rhytm guitar, various other techniques and such as well so it might take a bit longer. It really depends on how much time you have and how dedicated you really are.

But if you were thinking you might have started too late to become any good, drop that thought right now. You could start in 2026 and still have all the time to learn everything you'll ever want to. :D

That is what I am doing now, learning the scales and the major and minor open chords. Getting my hands used to being on the guitar and into chord shapes, learning a little finger independance a accuracy. I figure I will do that for a few weeks then go sign up with a teacher for lessons. My goal is to practice at least 30 mins every day, and when I am up to it and have the time, 1-2 hours some days. Right now, I am starting to practice those infernal barre chords, man do they suck! Also, I found the guitar fret note list on here in the FAQ section, going to print that out and try to memorize that. I see there are some good patterns to it (like both E strings having all the same notes down the neck, and a lot of A-A#-B-C-C# etc going on) so learning those patterns should be helpful.

I do want to be a well rounded player, want to be able to play some blues and rythem as well shred! I would also like to learn to play Jazz guitar. Heck, I would like to learn to play country guitar even though I cant stand country music!

I have no illusions of becoming a famous rock star (although I think we all did when we were 14, right?), but I would love to join a band some day and just play some local gigs for the fun of it, as a hobby.

I'll get something recorded and posted here so you can hear. I recently picked up a Zoom pedal/effects board that allows me to record on my computer, so I should get something loaded.

The cool factor is in the eye of the beholder. I agree with the sound... pedals and effects can give you almost any sound.