In my opinion due to past experiance, there are certain brands that generally make "cheap" guitars, in terms of quality. My point is don't base the opinion of any guitar on name brand, or price for that matter. True lower priced guitars are more likely to have problems, but not always. I was lucky as I learned on a 1922 Gibson L-4....Then as a gift my parents bought me a beautiful Epiphone acoustic...Don't know that model, this was like 1973? Egad! Anyway they had there lowest priced model which were sweet, and then the one I got that was bigger, and looked so beautiful. The thing would NOT tune! A song by Waylon Jennings, " says, "Theres only two things in life that make it worth livin, its " Guitars that tune good", and firm feeling woman. Okay the woman part aside, there is nothing like a guitar that tunes, and stays in tune. I had this beautiful I polished every day guitar that was really worthless. A constant battle.... A guy I met had a Sears Harmony guitar, the ugliest thing, butt ugly. We were playing and he asked if he could play mine. Sure...so I played this 50.00 Harmony.....I wanted to cry! The tone fell wayyy short of mine, the looks were non comparable.....but it tuned! Now days you can find a guitar at a lesser price that will tune! If they don't tune, it doesn't matter the brand, nor cost. I by chance bought a Jay Turser acoustic on E-bay for a low price, somewhat skeptical but it had a lifetime warranty. It's awesome...it plays and sounds great, and tunes great. I have played martins that fall way short of this guitar. So cheap is very possible and well worth checking in to before buying the "name brand". I have just seen too many VERY expensive acoustic and electric guitars that were worthless. I have also played many far less expensive guitars that were priceless, for the action was decent, but most of all, they tuned. So, Crappy, and Cheap, are two totally different things. Crappy can apply to all guitars in all price ranges. Cheap can be a great, playable guitar, that tunes...( Guitars that tune are sent from God or something! )...Hope my experiance from the past has helped somewhat....Keep playin! What once seem like "spiderman Chords" I call them, lol..open B-7, Barring chords, like D for example, seem impossible, become possible, just dont give in.....keep pushing onward...all the best!
Storm
1 2009-07-11 13:45:42
Re: is it ok to learn on a cheap crappy guitar? (22 replies, posted in Guitars and accessories)
2 2009-07-10 00:01:49
Re: I suck at singing and playing at the same time. (18 replies, posted in Acoustic)
Totally Agree Zurf, I guess what I meant was getting into a habit while learning a song if playing along with the original. Or whenever music is heard, tap your foot to the beat, eventually it becomes second nature, automatic. Metronomes are great, I will say many people, myself included realize just how BAD their meter really is when they play to a click track etc. lol.....But, not as bad as it would be without being aware of the beat and it being second nature. The first recording I did with a metronome was a wake up call....I laugh now, you see this wasn't about ego when I mentioned drummers! , It is just to hopefully help.
3 2009-07-08 03:29:42
Re: I suck at singing and playing at the same time. (18 replies, posted in Acoustic)
Making the song easier to sing via a capo is a good idea. The best thing I was ever taught about music was in our high school band. I played trombone, and our director was a funny, very gifted musician...He also had a temper, which in many ways was good because he'd get the best out of us.
His big thing was.....TAP YOUR FOOT....He hammered that into us, if he saw someone NOT tapping their foot, a eraser, or some other non concussion causing projectile would often be seen flying through the air towards the guilty party!! lol...Once I began playing bass, due to tapping my foot I had a better meter then most the drummers I worked with...not an ego thing, drums and bass are as one, or are supposed to be to create that foundation music needs. Not that I was special, learning to tap your foot over time keeps you in rythm, it becomes automatic.....some drummers drove me nuts! And it works wonders for all instruments..To sing and play at the same time is a process all it's own, but start adamantly tapping the foot to the beat now....learning good habits are far easier then getting rid of bad habits. The foot tapping is a GREAT habit, especially if the vocal seems to conflict with the guitar rythm. Playing bass and singing "Brown Eyed Girl" by Van Morrison was a challenge when I began playing bass. Van the Man sings on the backside of the beat, hell he sings on the front side.....tapping the beat with my foot made it much easier. Thats but one song, theres soooo many..You'll get it, what seems like a mountain now needs a stubborn attitude....that mountain will shrink....you will never quit learning, thats the beauty of music....Onward Thru The Fog!
Oh, I have two Jay Turser guitars, a beautiful acoustic which I will put against my 56 Martin D-18 anytime, and a Turser copy of a Gibson 335....it is awesome for what it cost me. I recently played a Martin D-28, looked gorgeouys..won't tune! Then I have played an old cheap harmony guitar which Sears used to sell that lacked tone,,but it tuned! A guitar that wont tune simply needs legs screwed on it, makes a neat coffee table. No two are the same. Turser is making nice stuff at a great price though.