[lucy]

I have an average sized frame for a 25 year old girl but very small hands. I really want to learn the guitar. I think the kind i want to but is an acoustic... I think this is best for the stuff i want to learn.
I have talked with a few differnt people about what i should buy to help with my small handedness (is that i word??).
One person reconmended the Daisy Rock guitars. But i'm somewhat iffy on what the quality of these will be, and they also seem like the kinda thing a 10 year old would get for their birthday.
Another piece of advice i had was the electro-acoustic guitars have a thinner neck than regular acoustic guitars and so getting one of those might suit me better.
If anyone can give me a little advice on what i should be buying i would really apreciate it. Do some makes have thinner necks like some brands of shoe are wider fitting? Or would buying a smaller childs size instrument be a good road to go down? how would this impact of sound? I plan to go to a store soon and see how some sound and feel. But a little knowledge before i go in there can't hurt.
Sorry if this is a little jumbled. Kinda how i'm feeling...
Thanks in advance
Lucy

[allthumbs]

what are you using to tune your giutar Lucy?

[Ultimate Garage Band]

Originally Posted by allthumbs

what are you using to tune your giutar Lucy?

apparently vice-grips.

[bluesguy]

Originally Posted by lucy

Bought a new string and snapped it.

I hate changing my strings. It is just a pain in the *&%^ to get it right.

[Ultimate Garage Band]

I'm slowly building a 'how to' guide on my blog page for my myspace.com page, but I intend on doing a video demo of a string change. D'Addario has one on their site but it's shot from too far away and it goes to fast to really be of any use to someone trying to learn how to do it.

[bluesguy]

UGB,

That would be fantastic. When you get it done let me know so I can add a link from my beginner guitar player webpage to your site.

[Ultimate Garage Band]

sure thing! Here's my blog address:

http://blog.myspace.com/ultimategarageband

and it has some guitar tips on that and I'll be adding more.

[lucy]

I think the string got kinked and then when i tightened it it just snapped. I guess i'll get it right next time and i won't make the mistake of buying only one string.
How much should i expect to pay for a string? I payed £1 (one british pound)- it seemed kinda cheap to me. Am i getting really bad quality strings, the guy in the store didn't ask me what kind i wanted- he just kinda grunted, threw it on the counter and took my money- i love polite helpful people :roll:

UGB i checked out your blog. Haven't read much of it yet but it looks cool. And by the way my guitar is shiney as can be and i love it maybe when i have been playing it for 20 years the shine will wear off and it will be a perfect 'older persons' guitar.

[Ultimate Garage Band]

That sounds expensive to me, I think. I mean I don't sell individual strings, only packs and I'll break open a new pack to grab one string and put it on for someone like you. A little kindness goes a long way.

I'll see if I can't get my wife to video a string change and get something going.

[allthumbs]

Originally Posted by lucy

I think the string got kinked and then when i tightened it it just snapped. I guess i'll get it right next time and i won't make the mistake of buying only one string.
How much should i expect to pay for a string? I payed £1 (one british pound)- it seemed kinda cheap to me. Am i getting really bad quality strings, the guy in the store didn't ask me what kind i wanted- he just kinda grunted, threw it on the counter and took my money- i love polite helpful people :roll:

UGB i checked out your blog. Haven't read much of it yet but it looks cool. And by the way my guitar is shiney as can be and i love it maybe when i have been playing it for 20 years the shine will wear off and it will be a perfect 'older persons' guitar.

My Norman B30 started out a very pale blond colour. 30 years later it looks like this. Hows that for losing the shine

[bluesguy]

Originally Posted by lucy

How much should i expect to pay for a string? I payed £1 (one british pound)- it seemed kinda cheap to me.

I don't know since I am in the USA. I usually buy my strings online and try to get some friends to buy strings at the same time. Spread the shipping cost around. It lowers the cost.

[quote="lucy"]
Am i getting really bad quality strings, the guy in the store didn't ask me what kind i wanted- he just kinda grunted, threw it on the counter and took my money- i love polite helpful people :roll:
[quote]

If I was the owner of the store and that was my employee, they wouldn't be working for me after something like that.

[lucy]

sadly i think that was the owner of the store.... the guitar guy who works there is really nice and helpful. I guess the owner just must hate people who spend almost £200 one visit and then only buy one string the next.

So come on guys... who wants to give me advice on which strings to buy
i though it would be simple.
My guitar came strung with elixir strings, so, i was going to order some of those- but then i read some bad reviews. Now i'm not so sure.
Also what gauge would you suggest. I have no clue what i have on there right now- i'm doing ok with them but the high E feels kinda like cheese wire on my fingers, (when it's not broken that is) but i'm guessing they will all be like that for a while.

[Ultimate Garage Band]

First off, my heart goes out to you and your countrymen in today's events. I think pretty much every bbs I hang out on has good policies about NOT discussing hot topics like politics and religion so even if this place doesn't I'll honor that unspoken policy and leave out the political commentary. Your nation and it's citizens have already displayed to the world what courage, dignity, and resolve they have when faced with constant bombings in WWII. I know the heart of the British people will survive this and move forward seeking justice. My prayers are most certainly extended to those victims and their families. By your post here, I assume you are alright and that's an answer to prayer too.

Now, guitars.

Strings are the #1 tone shaping element of the acoustic guitar. I'm going to suggest you obtain a set of Silk and Steel strings, also called Folk strings. These produce a very mellow and soft tone, which might not be your goal, but they do use a silk core as opposed to a steel core on the wound strings and tune up with less tension making them more supple and easier to fret. That means your fingers won't hurt as much.

[allthumbs]

At this point in your playing I wouldn't worry to much about string preferace. Google for guitar strings for accustics. I have no idea what is available in the U.K. I use D'Addario phosphor bronze. I believe 12s are a standard guage for accustic. I use 13s' myself.. By twelve ,I mean the high E string is 12 guage. Pretty much go into any music store except for the one you went to and ask for standard accustic guitar strings. They should be able to give you some advice. Try different brands as you go along, you may find some that feels better to you or sounds better to your ears. It is all relative. My strings cost me about 7.50 Canadian for a set so that would be what, about 3 pounds. One pound for a string is too much. Keep in mind that depending on the acidity in your skin, you may have to change strings every couple of months. For the first bit of time, I wouldn't worry about the strings sounding dull. You will be focused on hand positions, chords and such more than tone. If you can't afford new strings to often,you can actually run your strings thruogh your cloths washer in an old sock. Just don't cut the ends of the strings off after you have strung your guitar, loop each string in a circle so you can re use them after their washed. You can do that 3 or 4 times before the strings get too worn for it. i just get new strings myself, I'm a lazy guy.
Remember, sneek up on that E string when your tuning it. Slow and easy,checking it against your tuner constantly and it shouldn't pop.

[Spyder F16]

Since you are starting out and dont need too high of string quality, you could always look into webstrings (www.webstrings.com). They do carry a good selection of acoustic and electric strings at low prices. As far as string gauge goes, you'd probably could get away with having .010's as the high e, since you'd probably would not be having the guitar tuned down enough to really cause issue.

[tanglefoot]

I just bought a Tanglewood from Oasis Music in Newbury. They are terrific. As far as strings go I have a set of D'Addario EJ15's to go on mine. They only cost me about 5 pounds for the set. D'Aquisto are supposed to be good too, and they don't cost an arm and a leg. A friend of mine is going to tech me how to change strings.