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posted on 2004-1-17 at 00:34
All about guitars.
I have said before that I love to discuss guitars. And seeing as a good percentage of you play guitar, we should start that discussion. I want to
discuss everything about them. Here is a list of some questions for people.
1. How long have you been playing?
2. What kind of guitar/gear do you use?
3. What would you own if you could own anything?
4. What artists inspire your playing style?
5. Who are your favourite players?
6. Have you written any songs?
7. Do you take lessons.
8. What inspired you to pick up the guitar?
9. What songs do you like playing the most?
10. How much do you practice?
These are just a few questions that we can elaborate on. Please add any questions that you can think of. Lets make this more of a discussion than a
straight out answering of the questions. I will post my answers to this in a second.
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posted on 2004-1-17 at 00:52
I have been playing guitar for about 4 years. i started with an acoustic gibson that i found in my garage that is appearently really rare, and is
worth a ton of $. it is so rare that i dont even know what model it is. i was inspired by my friend Henry, because he is just so damn increadable. i
was eather gunna start drums or guitar, and i heard him play, and i was like" i wanna play like that" so i started playing guitar. i now
also have an Ibanez GRX40BK (electric for the unanitiated) that is pretty nice. i take one 30 minute lesson a week, and i am in a band class at
school. just today we played times like these by the foo fighters. it was really cool. i would say my style was inspired by incubus, foo fighers, the
livid, santana, afi, hendrix and Led Zeppelin. favorite players: santana, Dave Grohl, Hendrix, Jimmy paige, Jack Johnson and Chris Schembri. i have
not written any full songs, but i have made up a bunch of riffs and chord progressions. id say i like planing stairway to heaven, purple haze, Drive
(incubus), Falling behind (the Livid), monkey wrench (foo fighters), plush (stone temple pilots) and alive (Pearl Jam) the most. practicing is a bit
strange for me, cuz sometimes i only practice for 30 min, but other times i do it for like 5-6 hours. it just depends on if im in the mood to play.
but i do practice every day. and i wish i had a Gibson SG Voodoo. that's bout it.
Some things take more than a lifetime.
Reivax
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posted on 2004-1-17 at 00:53
1. How long have you been playing?- about 7 years or so. I started in grade 10.
2. What kind of guitar/gear do you use? - I have a hunk of shit ibanez, a crappy little marshall, an old zoom multi-effects pedal, some random pedals
that I rarely use (I just gave my Cry-baby away) and a fender 12-string acoustic
3. What would you own if you could own anything?- guitar-wise, I would own my 3 favourite guitars: a Chrome boy, a PRS silver swampash and a white
gibson les paul custom.
4. What artists inspire your playing style? Jeff Martin was a huge influence back in the day, of course Joe Satriani and more recently Shembri has
opened some new doors to me.
5. Who are your favourite players? Jag Tanna, Satch and Chris S. (more later)
6. Have you written any songs? Yes, I have some songs on a web page, but you all know that.
7. Do you take lessons. I have taken 1 lesson and I was taught nothing and I never went back. Lessons are pretty useless in my opinion.
8. What inspired you to pick up the guitar? Honestly, when I was about 7 or 8 years old, I had this old satriani tape I stole from my sister and I
would listen to it every night in awe. I, out of the blue, made a gamble and remembred his name at a CD store when I was around 14 and bought a CD
called crystal planet. It was just one of those weird moments in life for me. I bought a guitar just a few weeks later.
9. What songs do you like playing the most? I don't like playing peoples songs much, but lately, I have been playing the livid stuff. I find it
good practice. I used to play pearl jam ALOT. And metallica.
10. How much do you practice? - I used to practice around 8 hours a day. Now it depends on how busy I am. I try to play as much as I can.
New qeustion: What is the first song you learned how to play? Mine was "How's it gonna be" by third eye blind. And the intro riff to
"Enter Sandman".
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posted on 2004-1-17 at 00:56
Hey, I guess I broke my own rule about making it a discussion.
Usually you can check on the back of the guitars head for some sort of info on a guitar. Does it say anything on the back of your rare guitar?
I played "Alive" probably the most out of any song in the world. It just happened to be one of the songs that me and my friend could play
together really well. I learned the whole solo note for note. I could probably still play it.
armour_guitarist
Oh Dear
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posted on 2004-1-17 at 01:08
i know 1/2 of th solo
my guitar just says "Gibson" on the head, and that is it. i even had some guy look up the number code stamped on the inside, but it
didn't match anything in his book. it is also quite small. much smaller than most acoustics, but not too small
it looks like the Gibson Arlo Guthrie LG-2 3/4, except it has a pick guard and it is like 20 years old
[Edited on 17-1-04 by armour_guitarist]
Some things take more than a lifetime.
Reivax
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posted on 2004-1-17 at 01:20
I'd like to see this guitar. Honestly I don't think I have really ever even played a really expensive guitar. I have only owned pieces of
shit...for the most part. I did have a JS guitar breifly, but traded it for 2 $500 dollar acoustic guitars. My brother-in-law (Cobra) was going to get
a $2500 SG for christmas from my sister, but she decided not to get it. That would have been sweet to play.
My very first guitar was so shitty that I couldn't even play a barred chord without literally cutting my fingers. It hurt so much to press down.
Even if I had the lowest of gauge strings, it didn't matter. It was a "Venture" acoustic...the cheapest of the cheap.
armour_guitarist
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posted on 2004-1-17 at 01:23
that's too bad. a lot of my freinds have really nice guitars that i have got to play *drools*
like "Henry" has a les paul custom... *drools again*
Some things take more than a lifetime.
Reivax
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posted on 2004-1-17 at 01:32
That an unfortunate thing that I have suffered from. None of my friends really know how to play guitar. Just one, and he only just got a guitar and
it's worse than mine. He just borrowed all my shit. I might be joining his brothers band, though. When my hours slow down at work. Oh ya, I have
another friend who plays. But he lives on the west coast.
Do you find that playing is sort of infectious to the people you know? If I think about it, I have taught most of my friends and my fiancee how to
play a little bit.
armour_guitarist
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posted on 2004-1-17 at 01:38
not really. i have only taught 2 people. and they never actually continued playing after that, but they did thank me profusely.
oh, i forgot to mention this, the first song that i leared was wipeout. it was great, cuz i felt that i had actually acomplished something.
regaurding lessons, i think it is point less unless you have a great teacher (which i do). he is not only a great teacher, but he is also an
incredable player. he plays in a band : The Bobby Shand Band they are a local Jazz/Alternative band and they are really good.
Some things take more than a lifetime.
Reivax
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posted on 2004-1-17 at 01:46
I had, what I thought was a good teacher, but she couldn't teach what I asked for. I went in asked asked to be taught theory, but she said she
didn't know how to begin doing so, because she had never been asked that.
I leaned how to play a bit of wipeout at one point. Actually the most impressive thing I have ever learned was Paganini's Fifth Caprice.
It's super fast and Malmsteen's favourite piece of music. I just found a tape the other day where I was playing it and I couldn't
believe I was doing that. If you download the steve vai crossroads duel, it's the last song that gets played...the one that vai couldn't
pull off in the movie. Of course, I can't play it all, I can only play about 30 seconds of it.
Edit: Actually, I don't think I can play it anmore. Maybe just the first couple of seconds.
[Edited on 17-1-04 by Reivax]
armour_guitarist
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posted on 2004-1-17 at 01:49
yeah, im learning theory now. i actually have stopped downloading for personal reasons, but it sounds pretty cool.
Some things take more than a lifetime.
Reivax
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posted on 2004-1-17 at 01:54
C'mon, just do it. It's not on any CD's, anyway. It's from a movie.
And if you still don't want to. The movie is crossroads with Ralph Maccio (karate kid). It's pretty good.
[Edited on 17-1-04 by Reivax]
Pure_Ibanez_Sound
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posted on 2004-1-17 at 02:01
I've been playing guitar for just more than a year. I like to think that I'm an okay player. I used to play my eletric alot, now I just
play on my beater Washburn acoustic. If I could have one thing, I'd probably be the guy from Slayer's guitar. Or a really rare eletric or
a Fender acoustic. I'd like to think some of Chris' acoustic stuff inspire me, also Kurt Hammet and Aaron Lewis.. I love Kurt's
solo's and the easyness of Aaron's.
My fav. guitar player is prob. Kurt Hammet I dunno why. He's just been an inspiration to me.
I've never ever written a song, but I plan to. I don't think I know enough yet. I was taking lessons for about half a year, I stopped
before Christmas.
One- by Metallica definately inspired me. That song has so much meaning. Honorable mentions: Hotel California and Californication.
My fav. songs to play are: The Call of Ktulu, Release, Reach, Nothing Else Matters and The Unforgiven
I'll practice from an hour to 1.5 hrs a day. Depending on how much time I have.
one last show.
Reivax
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posted on 2004-1-17 at 02:04
Correct me if I am wrong, but wasn't Chris your teacher? If I could have him as a teacher, I wouldn't quit. Did he teach you to play those
songs? I ask because those tabs havn't really been posted before.
Pure_Ibanez_Sound
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posted on 2004-1-17 at 02:24
No my brother had Chris as his teacher. I used to come into Strings Attached and peep through the little window and distract him. It was fun.
Joe was my teacher. ATLEAST I DON'T HAVE A HIPPY TEACHER..Dee!
I wish that Chris was my teacher, I would've learned the whole FOF.
one last show.
Reivax
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posted on 2004-1-17 at 02:29
So how did you learn to play release? Your bro teach you or something? Why couldn't he teach you?
FireStormX
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posted on 2004-1-17 at 03:05
1. How long have you been playing?
A little over 2 years now
2. What kind of guitar/gear do you use?
I have an Art & Luthery acoustic, Santana SE PRS, a costimised Squire Strat (i know, i know, who the hell would costimise a Squire???) i changed
the pickups, the pickguard, the bridge and added a few stickers, hehehe. My amp is a Mesa Boogie DC-3, and a 1x12 cab. I also have the Line 6 Guitar
Port which I use all the time. It's great for practicing.
3. What would you own if you could own anything?
Ibanez JS 1000, Ibanez Jem7vwh, Ibanez RG3120TW, Ibanez RG2120XTB (as you can see, I love Ibanez!!!), John Petrucci Music Man, Yngwie Malmsteen
Stratocaster.
Now for amps: Mesa Boogie Road King (4x12 cabs) and a Mesa Boogie Triple Rectifter(4x12 cabs)
4. What artists inspire your playing style?
METALLICA, The Livid, Joe Satriani, Steve Vai, Dream Theater, Linkin Park...
5. Who are your favourite players?
Kirk Hamett, Joe Satriani, Steve Vai, John Petrucci, Yngwie Malmsteen...
6. Have you written any songs?
A couple of acoustic tracks
7. Do you take lessons.
I used to for about 1 year and a half but I decided to give that up so I can be free to learn what I want, when I want at my own paste.
8. What inspired you to pick up the guitar?
Well, the FIRST time I picked up a guitar was when I was around 5 or 6. It's this really shitty acoustic that's just taking dust (yeah, I
still have it!!!). I stoped because I didn't really like the way my Dad was teaching me.
But just a couple or years ago, I was at school in the music class at lunch time and I saw this guy playing. HOLY SHIT!!! I never thought someone at
that age could play like that!!! So the next weekend, my Dad took me out to The Guitar Shop and that's where I bought my Squire.
And the guy that was playing (in the last paragraph) is thelividfan on the forums. We're pretty good friends now.
9. What songs do you like playing the most?
I like playing The Day I Understood, The Kids Aren't Alright by The Offspring, One, Master of Puppets, Fade to Black...pretty much any Metallica
song.
10. How much do you practice?
Lately I haven't had much of a chance to play guitar very often. But when I do play, I PLAY!!!
11. What was the first song you learned?
Well, the first thing I learned was part of the intro to Stairway To Heaven. The first whole song I learned was, I think, Self-Esteem by The
Offspring.
holy shit this took me a long time to write
If a man has nothing worth dying for, he is not living. With this one special person, I have learned to live.
Reivax
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posted on 2004-1-17 at 03:54
One thing I have noticed about the livid's songs is that they look simpler than they are. I can learn how to play songs by satriani pretty well,
but some of the relatively simple riffs by them I get all jumbled. Like the intro clean part to "day I understood" took me some time to
get down. And the clean tone part in sink had me cluless for a little. Now I wonder why I found them hard, but it's really cool to be challenged
like that.
Pure_Ibanez_Sound
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posted on 2004-1-17 at 04:19
Oh poop. I wanted to put down Reach, but put down Release. Than I said "Silly Chris, you don't know how to play Release" So I put
Reach down. I guess that I forgot to erase the Release part. Can this get any more confusing? Stupid confusions.
Picks- flimsy and thin or hard and thick?
one last show.
Jeff K
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posted on 2004-1-17 at 06:09
1. How long have you been playing?
7 years
2. What kind of guitar/gear do you use?
My Rig (arrows indicate direction of signal):
Godin LG 6-string, Ibanez Geo 7-string -> Audiotechnica 500 wireless (rack mounted) ->Korg DTR-2 Tuner (rack) -> Alesis 5110
compressor/sustainer/noise gate (rack) -> Floorboard (Wah-wah, Phaser, flanger, chorus, digital delay, volume pedal) -> Mesa Boogie single
rectifier 50 watt head -> marshall JCM 900 4x12 cabinet.
3. What would you own if you could own anything?
The secret to life.
4. What artists inspire your playing style?
Metallica, Tool, A Perfect Circle, Mark Tremonti, Steve Vai, Joe Satriani, Mike Eizinger, John Petrucci, Johnny Lang, Stevie Ray Vaughen, Jeff Beck,
Led Zepplin, Finger Eleven, Days of the New, System of a Down, The Mars Volta, Bob Marley, Def Leppard and many more.
5. Who are your favourite players?
James Hetfield, Steve Vai
6. Have you written any songs?
I have co-written over 30 songs in the past 4 years with my band, Westpoint.
7. Do you take lessons.
Currently, no I do not. However, I did take lessons for 6 years and I will resume them again when school is done.
8. What inspired you to pick up the guitar?
I thought it would make me cool. It worked. Well, that and The Unforgiven by Metallica.
9. What songs do you like playing the most?
My Own.
10. How much do you practice?
Roughly an hour per day although I've been known to do much more or much less each day.
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posted on 2004-1-17 at 06:51
If I strummed alot more, I would probably use a thin pick, but I mostly play faster stuff, so I use the dunlop tortex thick picks. I found one today
in my house that is a bit longer and comes to more of a point and I really enjoyed using it.
Looking cool seems to be alot of peoples initial instinct to play, unfortunatly most people don't have the dedication to stick with it, because
they find it actually takes time and effort to get good. I never wanted to look cool, personally, I just wanted to be able to do what Satriani did. It
still doesn't make me look cool....not that I know of.
Does anyone wish that they didn't know how to play other peoples songs, because it sort of ruins or changes the way you look at a particular
song. I know I go through that sometimes...but I can't stop, if I really like a song, I have to figure it out. I heard somewhere that Adam Jones
from tool will never play or learn other peoples songs for this same reason. It's kind of hard not to, though, because once you have been
playing guitar for long enough, you can actually learn to play songs just by listening to them. At the same time, the gratification of learning songs
is pretty great.
Jeff K
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posted on 2004-1-17 at 16:52
I rarely play other people's songs. If I do learn something it's never really a full song. I tend to concentrate on technical aspects of
my playing while practicing and also mostly on writing my own music.
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posted on 2004-1-17 at 17:10
1. How long have you been playing?
Wow... 4 and half years. I can't believe it's been that long.
2. What kind of guitar/gear do you use?
The tried tested and true Yamaha Pacifica.
3. What would you own if you could own anything?
I've always wanted to upgrade my guitar... maybe some sort of Ibanez, but I would have to look around though.
4. What artists inspire your playing style?
I haven't found my style yet, so everything really. I know that I can hear influences in my style from heavy rock (Disturbed, Metallica, Tool),
to pop (can't think of any of the top of my head...), to local bands (Westpoint, The Livid).
5. Who are your favourite players?
Never really thought about it. Although the guys from Dreamtheater blow me away. As do Finger 11 and Silverchair, but all for different reasons.
6. Have you written any songs?
It's been known to happen.
7. Do you take lessons.
No. I took them for a couple months back in 2001, but then my teacher left and I quit.
8. What inspired you to pick up the guitar?
I was in Germany on an exchange, and my exchange partner played guitar. He let me play his a bit, and I absolutely loved the sound of the guitar
distortion. The problem is when I played it then, I sucked so bad and it was really pathetic. So I decided that if I ever had a chance to play an
electric guitar again I wanted to know how to play something, so I started teaching myself on my dad's acoustic.
9. What songs do you like playing the most?
I just like making up stuff as I go along.
10. How much do you practice?
Very little these days, sadly, for reasons beyond my control.
www.sluggy.com
Reivax
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posted on 2004-1-18 at 05:48
Just wanted to let you know I bought a radius today. As far as I know it's exactly the same as Shembri's, only he has the rare burst
colors. Mine is jewel blue. It was an amazing deal.
RobH
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posted on 2004-1-18 at 09:13
Yummy. I want a new guitar. Not because I don't like my current guitar... just to have another one