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Do we have any Guitar Players here?

DesertRam

By DesertRam
in The Jim Smith Room

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ketteringram

ketteringram

Posted
Posted
8 hours ago, Lambchop said:

That looks sweet, but has a full scale length. I'm really looking at smaller options, like the Taylors and the Faith Nomads. 

Never been impressed with the sound of Martins, even old/ expensive ones, but I'm not into acoustics enough to judge, probably. Lowden always sound good to me, but I'm only looking at sub £500.

As you've said you're 'mainly electric', I wonder if you could advise a small practice amp. It would be strictly for home use only, and I like a cleanish, chorus type sound mainly. Budget, sub £250. 

I have a Fender Mustang v2, which I now regret buying. 

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McRainy

McRainy

Posted
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2 hours ago, ketteringram said:

As you've said you're 'mainly electric', I wonder if you could advise a small practice amp. 

I'm not really an expert on practice amps as I don't use one; we generally hire a hall and rehearse at gig volumes. 

I would think that for your purposes though, your main decision is whether you want valve or digital. The advantage of digital is generally versatility, so good for people who play a lot of different styles and want a range of sounds. The advantage of valve is tone quality and responsiveness to your playing. 

If you mainly want clean and chorus, the various Roland Cube amps have a good reputation for those sounds digitally. If you're disappointed with the sound of the Mustang, I suspect you'd be happier with a valve amp. That would certainly be my choice. 

For home use in that price bracket I think you've got a reasonable selection. There seem to be a load of small, low wattage valve amps designed specifically for home use, like the Vox AC4 or Blackstar HT5.

They will each have their own tonal characteristics and feel when you play, so the best thing is to get to a decent music shop and try some out. I've used Coda Music in Stevenage a lot, but there must be something nearer to you. In the past, Coda have let me borrow £3k amps, gig them, and take them back, so they're pretty accommodating. 

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AndyinLiverpool

AndyinLiverpool

Posted
Posted
3 hours ago, ketteringram said:

As you've said you're 'mainly electric', I wonder if you could advise a small practice amp. It would be strictly for home use only, and I like a cleanish, chorus type sound mainly. Budget, sub £250. 

I have a Fender Mustang v2, which I now regret buying. 

Roland Cube (there are various models), Roland JC22 ( a bit above your budget but the chorus will make you think you are flying among the clouds), Yamaha THR, DV Mark do some nice stuff if clean is your thing.

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McRainy

McRainy

Posted
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1 hour ago, StivePesley said:

Bugs me when they put a ton of reverb on guitars in demo videos. I just want to hear how good they sound dry

If they're recording from the pickup then you have to add reverb, because you're not hearing the sound in the room. 

Years ago I recorded somewhere with good quality carpet, thick curtains and comfortable settees. You could definitely hear the soft furnishings in the mix. 

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Stive Pesley

Stive Pesley

Posted
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48 minutes ago, AndyinLiverpool said:

It all sounds poo dry. ?

Oh I don't know about that, I once played a £2000 acoustic in a showroom and it sounded amazing ?

What I meant of course was that whacking reverb on to a demo video can mask a lot. Is it a good guitar or have you just got a really nice reverb on your amp?

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AndyinLiverpool

AndyinLiverpool

Posted
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1 hour ago, StivePesley said:

Oh I don't know about that, I once played a £2000 acoustic in a showroom and it sounded amazing ?

What I meant of course was that whacking reverb on to a demo video can mask a lot. Is it a good guitar or have you just got a really nice reverb on your amp?

Was it the guitar, the player or the room that sounded amazing?

I personally don't have the type of ears that distinguish good guitars from great guitars (hell, one of my ears barely works at all). What I can hear, though, is rubbish playing, good playing and great playing. Django Reinhardt would have made a piece of junk sound amazing; I would make a £2000 acoustic sound, well, like I needn't have spent the money.

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Stive Pesley

Stive Pesley

Posted
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24 minutes ago, AndyinLiverpool said:

Was it the guitar, the player or the room that sounded amazing?

I guess I meant it sounded amazing in relation to my £200 guitar. A beautiful tone and a fantastic balanced resonance. It was my same concrete hands doing the playing

I know what you mean though, my contributions to this thread were triggered by how much instrument reviews on YT annoy me for all those reasons ?

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AndyinLiverpool

AndyinLiverpool

Posted
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1 hour ago, StivePesley said:

I guess I meant it sounded amazing in relation to my £200 guitar. A beautiful tone and a fantastic balanced resonance. It was my same concrete hands doing the playing

I know what you mean though, my contributions to this thread were triggered by how much instrument reviews on YT annoy me for all those reasons ?

Take the compliment. ?

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McRainy

McRainy

Posted
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1 hour ago, StivePesley said:

I know what you mean though, my contributions to this thread were triggered by how much instrument reviews on YT annoy me for all those reasons ?

As a general rule you should never buy an instrument without playing it, although I just have. If it's awful, I'll send it back. With my main electric I spent all day and picked mine out of about a dozen.

With the amps, I know I'll have to gig them a couple of times before I've any idea how they'll be, so I just buy or borrow them and then swap them or take them back if they aren't what I'm looking for. You need a decent shop to be able to do that though. 

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ketteringram

ketteringram

Posted
Posted
2 hours ago, StivePesley said:

I guess I meant it sounded amazing in relation to my £200 guitar. A beautiful tone and a fantastic balanced resonance. It was my same concrete hands doing the playing

I know what you mean though, my contributions to this thread were triggered by how much instrument reviews on YT annoy me for all those reasons ?

It's also annoying when they review a £400 guitar, but demo it through  a £2,000 amp. 

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ketteringram

ketteringram

Posted
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27 minutes ago, Lambchop said:

As a general rule you should never buy an instrument without playing it, although I just have. If it's awful, I'll send it back. With my main electric I spent all day and picked mine out of about a dozen.

With the amps, I know I'll have to gig them a couple of times before I've any idea how they'll be, so I just buy or borrow them and then swap them or take them back if they aren't what I'm looking for. You need a decent shop to be able to do that though. 

I know that's the right way to do it, but I never have. Hard enough sometimes for me to even walk into the shop. When I got that Fender amp, I nearly got caught. Oh, just so happens we've got one set up over here. There it was, hooked up to a beautiful PRS. Help yourself, give me a shout if you need anything. 

Nah, you're alright mate. I don't play. It's for my lad you see. Just get me one from out the back, and I'll be on my way! 

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McRainy

McRainy

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5 minutes ago, ketteringram said:

Hard enough sometimes for me to even walk into the shop.

I know exactly what you mean, and guitar shops are notoriously intimidating. That's partly why I've been going back to the same one for years, even though it's nowhere near where I live. 

Guitars are more difficult to buy for me than amps, because I actually have to play them. The only time I've really done it properly was with my SG, and it's been my main guitar for fifteen years now, to the extent that I've sold all the others.

With the amps, I get them to show me what it does, and they're more than happy to mansplain it. Also, I take the pressure off myself with the buy it anyway, take it back, approach. 

I never try to play anything clever in the shop, just make a few noises. Again, the decent shops will shut you in a soundproofed room. 

At the end of the day, your ears and fingers are the experts, so no one knows better than you whether it's right for you or not. A good shop should want you to be happy, because their rep depends on it. 

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