I bought a guitar

puckhead

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I need to figure out all of the switches on this electric guitar too, I am sure I can find a user manual online.

So if I'm seeing that picture on page 2 right, first, you have a volume knob.

The 3 switches in a row next to it should turn each pickup on or off. They are oriented the same as the pickups (or should be).

The other switch on its own is probably a coil-split for the humbucker which will use only one half of the pickup to sound more like a single coil pickup.

The different combos are meant to be explored and even the volume know can be used for tonal changes.

Hope that helps.
 
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BigRedRage

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So if I'm seeing that picture on page 2 right, first, you have a volume knob.

The 3 switches in a row next to it should turn each pickup on or off. They are oriented the same as the pickups (or should be).

The other switch on its own is probably a coil-split for the humbucker which will use only one half of the pickup to sound more like a single coil pickup.

The different combos are meant to be explored and even the volume know can be used for tonal changes.

Hope that helps.

It does a bit. The switches go up and down, up would mean turning the pickups on? The switch furthest from the strings and closest to the base has 3 steps rather than 2, down, center and up. Maybe that is the coil split?

I have played with them a bit and sometimes I can tell the difference, sometimes I cannot. If I want the most metal sound, would I just turn all of them on?
 

puckhead

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It does a bit. The switches go up and down, up would mean turning the pickups on? The switch furthest from the strings and closest to the base has 3 steps rather than 2, down, center and up. Maybe that is the coil split?

I have played with them a bit and sometimes I can tell the difference, sometimes I cannot. If I want the most metal sound, would I just turn all of them on?

It's tough to say without hearing the entire chain. Plus, I've never actually played that particular guitar.

You could try just the humbucker only and volume all the way up for a "lead" sound. That would probably be the third switch (farthest from the vol knob) up and the other two down and the 3-way toggle in the middle.

But really, the most important thing is how it sounds to you and if it sounds like the metal tone you want to hear. Play around though, you won't break anything.

I switch the pickups around all the time on my strat depending on the song.
 
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BigRedRage

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It's tough to say without hearing the entire chain. Plus, I've never actually played that particular guitar.

You could try just the humbucker only and volume all the way up for a "lead" sound. That would probably be the third switch (farthest from the vol knob) up and the other two down and the 3-way toggle in the middle.

But really, the most important thing is how it sounds to you and if it sounds like the metal tone you want to hear. Play around though, you won't break anything.

I switch the pickups around all the time on my strat depending on the song.

ok, I'll play around with them more.
 
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BigRedRage

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So I had a few months of going hard and then a few months of barely playing. With a destructive puppy and baby running around ive had guitars in the closet and next thing you know you barely play because you have to dig things out to get in to it.

Recently a friend that plays brought over a wall mount for my acoustic. Having that alone in the living room has already re motivated me a little bit as its right there looking at me all day and I can just grab it periodically and play the few things I am working on and put it back.

As of yesterday I am starting to work on learning Weezers sweater song. The chords are pretty simple and I have spent a max of 15-20 minutes on it so far but its feeling better every single time I pick up the axe. Outside of the intro finger picking I believe the song has some strumming chords but I am pretty sue it is the same chords. Should be an easy one to learn beginning to end so that when I do randomly grab my guitars ill have another song on the list of things to play for a few minutes while passing the time.
 

puckhead

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I would say it's pretty normal for your interest to wax and wane when you're starting off. Plus, life happens and it's not always easy to make the time. (like with me and exercise!)

The wall mount is a terrific way to have the instrument ready for any spare moment to play for a bit and keep your skills up. I happen to have a dedicated room that allows me to grab acoustic only or go full blown electric in the time it takes my tubes to warm up. :D Making it quick and easy to jump in really made a huge difference in how often I practice and has helped me improve much faster than when it was 10 minutes to set everything up.

You have no idea the amount of songs out there that you already know practically by heart that have maybe 3-4 chords total that you could learn. I was astounded when I figured out that half a dozen chords can take you through decades of classics. Just Google "10 easiest songs to play on guitar" or something like that and have some fun with the easy stuff. See if that gets the juices flowing and motivates you to start digging deeper.

Keep the updates coming.
 
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BigRedRage

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Weezer intro is pretty much done being learned after a few days. Picking a coworkers brain for the chords later in the song and once have those I should be able to play the entire song minus the guitar solo by the end of the week.

Also for some reason decided to check on rocksmith on amazon and for Xbone with the cable, it was like $70 forever. Went on today and it was $40 so I have now purchased that as well.
 

puckhead

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Nice work on Undone (The Sweater Song)! I love that video, and I've always been fond of those guys.

Can't wait to see what you think of the Rocksmith game. Should at the very least help you work on finger strength and coordination. I wouldn't rely on it solely as your practice, but throwing it in the mix might really help you.

I am working on Creep by STP and Dam the River by AIC right now. 90's flashbacks!

If anyone reading knows where I could find the music for Mother Love Bone's Chloe Dancer/Crown of Thorns or Incubus' Crowded Elevator, I would appreciate it.
 
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Covert Rain

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Weezer intro is pretty much done being learned after a few days. Picking a coworkers brain for the chords later in the song and once have those I should be able to play the entire song minus the guitar solo by the end of the week.

Also for some reason decided to check on rocksmith on amazon and for Xbone with the cable, it was like $70 forever. Went on today and it was $40 so I have now purchased that as well.

What I love about Rocksmith is that you start to get into the game and don't realize you are actually playing without thinking. I love that game.
 
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BigRedRage

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Nice work on Undone (The Sweater Song)! I love that video, and I've always been fond of those guys.

Can't wait to see what you think of the Rocksmith game. Should at the very least help you work on finger strength and coordination. I wouldn't rely on it solely as your practice, but throwing it in the mix might really help you.

I am working on Creep by STP and Dam the River by AIC right now. 90's flashbacks!

If anyone reading knows where I could find the music for Mother Love Bone's Chloe Dancer/Crown of Thorns or Incubus' Crowded Elevator, I would appreciate it.

have you tried ultimate guitar to find tabs on those songs? it is where I find most of mine.

Rocksmith will be something I would just play at night occasionally or something for fun and to help pick up new songs. Who knows, maybe its so fun I end up playing it a ton and picking things up faster. Not holding my breath, just figure its worth the $40 to give it a try.

What I love about Rocksmith is that you start to get into the game and don't realize you are actually playing without thinking. I love that game.

:cheers:
 

puckhead

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have you tried ultimate guitar to find tabs on those songs? it is where I find most of mine.

Rocksmith will be something I would just play at night occasionally or something for fun and to help pick up new songs. Who knows, maybe its so fun I end up playing it a ton and picking things up faster. Not holding my breath, just figure its worth the $40 to give it a try.



:cheers:

Yeah I have those printed out and often they'll get you most of the way there, but real sheet music is much more detailed/structured. It's just difficult to find on more obscure tunes.
 
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BigRedRage

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Yeah I have those printed out and often they'll get you most of the way there, but real sheet music is much more detailed/structured. It's just difficult to find on more obscure tunes.

Gotcha :raccoon:
 

puckhead

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rocksmith is coming today, excited to start playing it.

:rockon:

I'm rewiring my pedal board with some new skinny patch cables that should give me room to fit one more pedal. GAS is in full effect. :D
 
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BigRedRage

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Just be patient. The game gets better as you get further into it.

I'm sure itll be frustrating at first but that is ok. I might even buy wonderwall and undone to start with since I know how to play those already
 

puckhead

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I'm sure itll be frustrating at first but that is ok. I might even buy wonderwall and undone to start with since I know how to play those already

Is your XBone connected to a stereo or straight to the TV?
 
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BigRedRage

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Is your XBone connected to a stereo or straight to the TV?

I believe it routes straight into my sound bar. Im hoping that doesnt cause calibration issues as my sound bar has phenomenal sound. I likely have it connected via optical cable
 

puckhead

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I believe it routes straight into my sound bar. Im hoping that doesnt cause calibration issues as my sound bar has phenomenal sound. I likely have it connected via optical cable

I would assume it has some calibration settings in-game to help alleviate any sync issues. Have fun!
 
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BigRedRage

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really hard game, even when I find a groove suddenly it will throw something mind boggling at me. I did play for 3 hours last night, by far the longest I have played with my guitar in one session.

There is a "guitarcade" that I like a lot. For example, one mini game is that cowboys are coming in to the saloon and you have to keep them from getting to the bar. They walk down strings and you have to pluck the right string to shoot them. I played that for a good 30 minutes and I am sure it will help with finger picking and landing on the right strings over time.

Also there is one where zombies are attaching you and you have to play a chord to kill them. It is challenging and fun and likely improves my hand movement and strength. I dont know if I am actually learning those chords but over time I am sure if I see F5 I will know exactly how to play it now so maybe I am.

I also played a game called scale warriors where bad guys get on the scale and you have to strum the right chord they are on and then say they are on E on 2nd fret and you hit them, they go to fret 5, hit them again they go back. Then bosses will go from fret 2 E to fret 5 E to fret 2 A, fret 5 A and etc. Seems like a good learning tool too, just will take time.

The song playing is very difficult I found so far compared to how I have been learning songs on my own but maybe over time that will get easier. I do think the minigames will greatly improve my strumming, picking and fret movement/finger placement though.

My fingers hurt but nowhere near as bad as they used to, think I am finally building some callus.

I also learned that electric is a lot different as if I puish too hard on me electric strings, I dont get the right sound. I kept trying to play E on the first fret and it would never register until I googled it and found out I was simply pushing too hard.
 

jw7

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My fingers hurt but nowhere near as bad as they used to, think I am finally building some callus.

That's from the acoustic. The electric has 9 guage strings. Nothing to hurt the fingers

I also learned that electric is a lot different as if I puish too hard on me electric strings, I dont get the right sound. I kept trying to play E on the first fret and it would never register until I googled it and found out I was simply pushing too hard.

That doesn't make sense. It does not matter how hard you push, it's just that the string lands on the fret.
 
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BigRedRage

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That's from the acoustic. The electric has 9 guage strings. Nothing to hurt the fingers



That doesn't make sense. It does not matter how hard you push, it's just that the string lands on the fret.
It could just be the game but when I read it and pushed lighter, it worked very well. Prior to that I am pushing as hard as I need to on acoustic and it would often register me as hitting cords I am nowhere near

The explanation was that by pressing so hard I was shaping the note

Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk
 

puckhead

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That's from the acoustic. The electric has 9 guage strings. Nothing to hurt the fingers



That doesn't make sense. It does not matter how hard you push, it's just that the string lands on the fret.

He's probably just bending the notes sharp. Easy to do if you're coming from acoustic and playing on 9's. The game is probably very sensitive to pitch.
 

puckhead

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It could just be the game but when I read it and pushed lighter, it worked very well. Prior to that I am pushing as hard as I need to on acoustic and it would often register me as hitting cords I am nowhere near

The explanation was that by pressing so hard I was shaping the note

Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk

A light touch will be more efficient in the long run. Concentrate on pushing straight down on the strings (perpendicular to the fretboard) and not bending the string up or down. It takes time.
 
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BigRedRage

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I need to lower the action on my acoustic, played a buddies and it was sooooo much easier to play with the action lower.

Played for about 1.5 hours in the garage with him, now instead of just playing scales as rocksmith told me to, I understand why I am playing the scales. Also got a better understanding of the chords I was playing, learned a few new ones and what root notes are. Still struggle a bit with root notes as I am primarily focused on just learning to play it and memorizing the alphabet of what I am playing is not happening yet.

Either way, it was a good session, learned a lot. Still mostly only able to play the two songs but have made a ton of progress on picking, working on scales, learning chords (up to 10-12 at this point) along with an understanding of how power chords work.
 
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