Tagged Questions

A guitar that makes little noise acoustically, employs electromagnetic pickups, and requires electric amplification

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18
votes
13answers
618 views

Glossary of Guitar Effects

There are numerous effects options available to the guitarist, especially the electric guitarist. This question is intended to gather and cultivate a set of answers to questions in the form of: ...
14
votes
7answers
1k views

What to check when buying a new guitar?

I have been playing acoustic guitar for quite some time now. I'm not a beginner but neither am I pro. I'm now looking into buying an electric guitar. My questions are - What do I need to ...
11
votes
3answers
590 views

How do I set up an electric guitar?

How do I set up the pickups, neck, etc. in an electric guitar? I'm not concerned with producing a particular sound as I am with keeping the neck from warping, prevent string buzz, improving ...
20
votes
3answers
12k views

What Does a Compressor Pedal Do?

Quite often, when I see a pedalboard of guitarists I admire, there is a compressor pedal in the chain. How exactly does this pedal affect the sound?
8
votes
5answers
3k views

What factors affect a guitar's ability to sustain a note?

There are effects and gadgets that can create a long sustained note, but what about the guitar itself? I have a squier standard strat which I can't help but feel could be letting notes ring longer, ...
12
votes
6answers
9k views

How can I create a long sustained note on an electric guitar?

I've seen such effects on Santana, Robert Fripp and Steve Hackett. They produce a clean sustained sound and I don't know how to create it.
5
votes
2answers
607 views

How to Calibrate / Setup an Electric Guitar?

Even with new strings, my guitar makes some sort of buzzing noise on higher strings. I was told it needs to be set up. What are the steps or where can I find a good guide to do this?
17
votes
4answers
8k views

How does scale length affect my playing?

This one's a bit rudimentary, but scale length is a bit of a mystery to me. I understand what it is, but I don't understand what it does. I own guitars with different scale lengths (Telecaster vs ...
10
votes
8answers
3k views

Cleaning the fretboard of an electric guitar

I have had my electric guitar for several years and I noticed that there is some "sweat dirt" on the fretboard of the guitar, so the inlay is less shiny. I'd like to clean that without taking the ...
8
votes
6answers
3k views

Useful tuning for 7 or 8 string guitars

So, I'm looking to add an Ibanez 7 or 8 string to my guitar zoo, but although I have looked into various standard tunings I am trying to figure out practical tunings so I can rapidly add the new ...
8
votes
2answers
3k views

Guitar produces hum due to poor soldering

Is it possible that a guitar could produce a low hum after replacing a pickup? I own a guitar that I (poorly) replaced a pickup on when I first started playing, and I was wondering if there was some ...
7
votes
5answers
6k views

How can I prevent the noise my guitar pick makes?

When I play the guitar (electric with steel strings), I can hear the noise of the pick clashing against the steel strings. When I play a chord, after my pick triggers one string it then falls against ...
2
votes
4answers
643 views

Recording electric guitar with pc - suggestions to get a great metal sound

I'm trying to connect my electric guitar to the pc and record some great distortion sound, what I have in mind is something that sounds really really good in fast metal solos I've been struggling to ...
7
votes
3answers
191 views

How to develop soloing vocabulary

Background: My first guitar teacher used to show me small licks or note patterns that had that special quality of arousing interest during a solo improvisation. They were essentially "tools" in my ...
11
votes
5answers
3k views

How can I minimize going out of tune when using the whammy bar?

Perhaps my selection of musicians is biased, but usually when I see a whammy bar used, it's usually with a locking tremolo bridge like a Floyd Rose. Everybody else seems to take the whammy bar out and ...
10
votes
9answers
254 views

Should I worry about painful fingertips?

I just started to learn playing the (electric only for now) guitar, and I love it! I've read on a few pages that it was normal for my fingertips (those that I use on the fret board) to hurt in the ...
8
votes
5answers
2k views

How can I stop my electric guitar strings from rusting so quickly?

I suffer from hyperhyrdosis which means my hands sweat quite a lot. The problem is that because of this my electric guitar strings seem to rust quite quickly because of this. Is there anything I can ...
6
votes
1answer
1k views

What is Synchronized Tremolo?

My Fender Strat is a Malmsteen signature model. One of its features is synchronized tremolo. What's the difference between synchronized and un-synchronized tremolo? How can I tell whether it is ...
5
votes
3answers
750 views

Guitar Fetish Pickups - Can anyone describe their tone and quality?

OK. I have seen Guitar Fetish pickups at prices that seem insane compared to what most pickups cost - and they have things like humbucker sized P90s that are hard to find in any case. Their stuff ...
3
votes
1answer
203 views

How can I prevent loss of tuning when changing strings set from 0.11 to 0.12?

I have an Epiphone Les Paul Custom and it's tuned in standard C and my playing style is mostly Desert Rock. I'm using a set of 0.12 strings and considering changing to a 0.11 set to have less tension ...
3
votes
2answers
379 views

How can I get a sound similar to Shine by Collective Soul?

I love the riff in that song but no matter how much I fiddle with my amp head and pedals, I just can't seem to duplicate that warm, fuzzy feel. Here's a link if you are unfamiliar with the song. I ...
2
votes
4answers
156 views

Guitar practice - general techniques

I was delighted to come across this site. I'm a self-taught guitarist (largely electric guitar) and am continually looking to improve my playing and practice techniques. The change of running my ...
2
votes
5answers
990 views

Electric Guitar | Right hand position

I find it difficult to decide on where to position/rest my right hand (picking hand) when playing electric guitar. I started with acoustic and i have a habit of resting my pinky finger on the guitar ...
0
votes
1answer
72 views

How many drop tunings can I use with one set of strings?

I want to know how many drop tunings I can reasonably use with one set of strings. Ex. can I go from E standard to drop C on 11s? For a given size string, how many tunings will be useable, given that ...
0
votes
2answers
278 views

What are the major types of effect pedals for electric guitar? [duplicate]

Possible Duplicate: Glossary of Guitar Effects What are the major types of effect pedals for electric guitar? I.e., as a novice, what effect pedal types should I be aware of, that ...
0
votes
1answer
268 views

How do I chose my first electrical guitar? [duplicate]

Possible Duplicate: What to check when buying a new guitar? I have a couple years experience on acoustic guitar (although I haven't played one for a very long time), and wanted to go back ...