http://www.guitarforbeginners.com/forum The place to discuss guitars, amps, effects, gear in general. en Sat, 21 Nov 2009 00:45:26 GMT vBulletin 60 http://www.guitarforbeginners.com/forum/proweb/misc/rss.jpg http://www.guitarforbeginners.com/forum http://www.guitarforbeginners.com/forum/guitar-gear/24893-free-software-volunteer-testers-needed/ Thu, 19 Nov 2009 00:09:54 GMT Hi GFB'ers,

I've developed some guitar software, which shows chords synchronised to YouTube videos. It's aimed at beginner guitarists, to help visualise chords and when to play them whilst watching a video of the original artist, and also has a metronome and tuner.

This is a great forum and i'm hoping to establish a user base to help me develop the idea :smilinguitar: I'd like to see how the software behaves on different computers (Windows only for the moment), before i start to add many more songs.

I've created a free account for anyone who'd like to have a play:

User name: BeginnerGuitar
Password: R53a9wTzRDr43b6

You can download the software from here and there are videos here, so you can view the software before choosing to download.

I'm looking for any kind of feedback, good or bad, and whether the chords are synchronised to the videos or not. Any input would be very helpful, so i can integrate features you'd like to see and fix issues that you may encounter.

I'm also developing some exciting hardware, where you can wrap a light panel around your guitar to show you chords.

The software is FREE and there's no obligation :)

Thanks in advance, i sincerely look forward to your help.

Regards
GuitarSP ]]> Guitar Gear GuitarSP http://www.guitarforbeginners.com/forum/guitar-gear/24893-free-software-volunteer-testers-needed/ http://www.guitarforbeginners.com/forum/guitar-gear/24880-acoustic-pickup/ Tue, 17 Nov 2009 19:17:38 GMT Hi, I'm designing an pickup for an acoustic guitar for my Design and Technology project at school, and I was wondering if you guys could please help me out by answering this simple questionnaire? Thanks a lot.

According to your own preference with regard to a pickup for a guitar:
1. Is volume control important? YES/NOT REALLY
2. Is tone control (altering treble/bass) important? YES/NOT REALLY
3. Would you prefer the pickup to be permanently fixed to the guitar or removable? PERMANENT/REMOVABLE
4. Where would you want the output jack to be located? On the top of the guitar (on the soundboard) near the edge facing away from you, on the side at an angle (like most electric guitars) or at the bottom in the place where the guitar strap is attached? SIDE/TOP/BOTTOM
5. Would you be willing to spend between US10-15 on such a device? YES/NO

Thanks in advance, I really appreciate it. Any other suggestions are also welcome. ]]> Guitar Gear bigbob789 http://www.guitarforbeginners.com/forum/guitar-gear/24880-acoustic-pickup/ http://www.guitarforbeginners.com/forum/guitar-gear/24877-floating-bridge-stay-still/ Tue, 17 Nov 2009 16:25:57 GMT I mean it's a floating bridge, I don't know if that ironic or something but anyways... Any tips on keeping my bridge from shifting on those big bends? Usally only a problem if the bend is above the 10th fret and when its a whole tone bend. I've got an Ibanez Artcore with a floating bridge and I tune down half step (easy on the vocals) so there is a little less tension on the bridge then normal. Can I just glue it down really good or something? When it moves in the middle of a lead and the intonation goes out, well I be honest with you it sounds like crap. Thanks ]]> Guitar Gear Random Robot http://www.guitarforbeginners.com/forum/guitar-gear/24877-floating-bridge-stay-still/ http://www.guitarforbeginners.com/forum/guitar-gear/24866-anybody-else-using-bose-l1-set-up/ Mon, 16 Nov 2009 22:09:30 GMT Hi there,

After years of using various conventional amps, for the last two years I have been using a Bose L1 tower pa system. I find for the type of gigs I play as a one-man set up it is the best thing ever.

Sometimes whilst playing in a bar or restaurant, The manager would rush out and suggest that I turn the volume down slightly as it might be too loud for the folks at the front tables. Then, half way through the gig, I'd get folks who had been sat at the back asking me to turn up because they were struggling to hear properly. Thing is, a large room full of people chatting is very noisy in itself and it gets very tricky sometimes to gauge the most suitable volume to play at.

We have to bear in mind that this is not a concert, people want to go out and talk, even if they are also listening to the live music as well.

When I first read about this Bose set up I just could not believe the claims they made for it. An almost constant volume from front to back and a true 180 deg coverage angle. Ok, so I went to try one out and was really impressed with what I found. Not only the volume thing was true but the details of all the sounds were so clear and defined. No hiding behind this sound. Whatever goes in is what comes out but louder and when needed, very loud.

I have the original L1 set up with two bass modules. This is plenty for any job I've played including outdoor gigs at pool parties and a few in public parks.

Just wondered if any other guitarists on here had either tried one out or is using one as a pa system. Just want to make it clear, I'm not trying to advertise for Bose but I believe in credit where it's due and for me this has proved to be one of the best buys of my musical life. (The other is my trusty workhorse, my Godin Solidac).

By the way before this I used a Carvin pa and before that my favourite guitar amp was my old Roland JC .

All the best, Gordon.:thumbup1: ]]> Guitar Gear Daktari http://www.guitarforbeginners.com/forum/guitar-gear/24866-anybody-else-using-bose-l1-set-up/ http://www.guitarforbeginners.com/forum/guitar-gear/24862-fender-pro-reverb-trouble/ Mon, 16 Nov 2009 02:14:51 GMT Hello gitar guys, Ive got what might seem like a novice question, but, Ive got a fender amp, 70 circa pro reverb that works great at low to moderate volume but starts breaking up at large room stage volume. In particular, yesterday I sat in with some friends at an outdoor swapmeet and this is the first time having the twin out of my small music room at home as i just recently bought the amp. anyway, the amp in particular when i turned it up the amp would produce the sound i wanted then fade out really fast. I tried different adjustments with the master and gain to no avail. Im pretty sure the tubes need to be replaced and my question in particular is this. Can i use different tubes aside from stock fender or aftermarket equivalents to produce different tube amp sounds. or are there just the tubes that work only for fender and only tubes for marshall or can they be inter changed at all? Sorry about being so longwinded. it drives my ol lady insane. any advice will be appreciated:helpsmili Hello gitar guys, Ive got what might seem like a novice question, but, Ive got a fender amp, 70 circa pro reverb that works great at low to moderate volume but starts breaking up at large room stage volume. In particular, yesterday I sat in with some friends at an outdoor swapmeet and this is the first time having the twin out of my small music room at home as i just recently bought the amp. anyway, the amp in particular when i turned it up the amp would produce the sound i wanted then fade out really fast. I tried different adjustments with the master and gain to no avail. Im pretty sure the tubes need to be replaced and my question in particular is this. Can i use different tubes aside from stock fender or aftermarket equivalents to produce different tube amp sounds. or are there just the tubes that work only for fender and only tubes for marshall or can they be inter changed at all? Sorry about being so longwinded. it drives my ol lady insane. any advice will be appreciated:helpsmili ]]> Guitar Gear raywise http://www.guitarforbeginners.com/forum/guitar-gear/24862-fender-pro-reverb-trouble/ http://www.guitarforbeginners.com/forum/guitar-gear/24852-low-e-string-too-fat/ Sun, 15 Nov 2009 06:14:21 GMT I play my Takamine in open D these days and I had the original strings on it and I thought it sounded great. But the strings were maybe 4 years old (I didn't play it for the first 3 1/2 years I had it). I changed the strings to D'Adarrio 12 and it sounded worse - dull, possibly dud D string, and I couldn't get them to sing as they should in open tuning.

The guitar store man recommended some Thomastik-Infeld Vienna 12's which cost me $27 for one set. The blurb says

'soft sounding strings for acoustic guitar with low tension on the bottom end. The plain strings are brass coated steel and the wound strings have a silk inlay in in combination with highly flexible steel core. A D G strings are polished bronze flat wound. Bass E is polished bronze roundwound' - I've only just read that!

Yesterday I put them on and the low E string won't fit through the hole in the bridge! The Takamine has a horizontal hole and you thread the string through. The string is just ok but the winding just in front of the ball on the end is sticking out with the winding pushed hard up against the hole at the back of the bridge.

The good news is that they sound great. But am I likely to damage the softish wooden bridge if I want to change to smaller strings later? I suppose it's unlikely that the hole would be made so big that a smaller string ball would actually disappear up it later, but what do people think?

When I checked the sizes of the set they go:
12, 15, 24, 33, 44 and a whopping 59 low e string - sounds fantastic. ]]> Guitar Gear carol m http://www.guitarforbeginners.com/forum/guitar-gear/24852-low-e-string-too-fat/ http://www.guitarforbeginners.com/forum/guitar-gear/24839-cabinet-selection-1x12-vs-2x12/ Fri, 13 Nov 2009 15:40:51 GMT What's the difference in a 1x12 and a 2x12? My new amp is rated at 33w and I'm running it thru a 1x12 cab right now rated at 50w. It can get pretty loud but it seems like if I crank it up over 4 or 5 the speaker starts to "clip". I don't want to blow a speaker. Will a 2x12 give me more volume before the speaker starts fuzzing out? I mean isn't 33 watts 33 watts no matter how many speakers it coming out of? Can some one explain this to me? :dunno: And then I really like the look of a V-Front cabinet and have seen some really nice ones that Bob Burt makes but I don't have the funds to pour a grand into a speaker cabinet. How does a V-Front effect the sound compare a straight front? ]]> Guitar Gear Random Robot http://www.guitarforbeginners.com/forum/guitar-gear/24839-cabinet-selection-1x12-vs-2x12/ http://www.guitarforbeginners.com/forum/guitar-gear/24834-tuner-locks-drop-tuning-worth-headache/ Thu, 12 Nov 2009 19:46:51 GMT Hi and thanks for reading my post. I posted a different question and got such great responses that I felt another was in order.

I am not a newbie musician but I am a newbie guitarist. I have a great guitar, an Ibanez RG5 and I really love it. It came equipped with tuner locks and a tremelo (which I dont use yet) and I had it professionally setup when I purchased it. Since my taste in music run to the heavier side of things (think Chevelle and Breaking Benjamin), I'd love to do some drop tuning but I honestly dont know what kind of headache I am looking at considering the tuner locks. It seems as if it would possibly be a huge pain in the ass to go back and forth and a waste of having the tuner locks to begin with. I also dont want to tune it down and then not go back to standard tuning due to the hassle involved.

My question is then "Is this worth it or am I mistaken in thinking its a a pain in the ass to go back and forth between standard and drop tuning?"


** to be honest, this "problem" has me considering the purchase of a nother guitar to compliment the one I have. A cheapo that I can tune however I want and just thrash it to death playing hard rock and metal riffs. I could fine on Craigslist for next to nothing. ]]> Guitar Gear 10pound http://www.guitarforbeginners.com/forum/guitar-gear/24834-tuner-locks-drop-tuning-worth-headache/ http://www.guitarforbeginners.com/forum/guitar-gear/24807-dimarzio-yjm-dp-217-pickup/ Mon, 09 Nov 2009 07:59:31 GMT hey guys, its me again, i am not very active here because its be so busy recently. but i am back on my guitar playing again. i got a 4 years guitar playing experience.

currently i am using the lowest level of strat which is the Fender's Squier Bullet strat. i heard someone say tat if u are lucky, u can get a good strat, but if u r unlucky, u will end up in the cheap strat with ton of problem. I guess i got the good one because i can play anything, sweep pick, metal, rock, blue....anything with my toneport GX.

i love to play on the neck of my bullet strat. thats why i am not planning to change the whole guitar but just to change a pickup. Its the Dimarzio YJM. if i am not mistaken it is also called as the HS-3. My question is:

1.) HS-3 on my cheap bullet strat will affect the pickup's performance? or as long as i love the feel of my guitar. a good pickup can produce a good tone too?

2.) HS-3 suitable for rock genre? for example those neil zaza's, jerry c's song? or maybe a bit of canon rock??

3.) 2nd hand pickup will affect on the actual performace? or a second hand will just be as fine as new? about 6 month old.

4.) how to identify if the pickup is a fake or not?? (but from the picture, i can see the pickup has YJM on it followed by the serial number.

Overall, hope my question is not too long and any suggestion please tell me....

help is greatly appreciate here. Thanks : ) ]]> Guitar Gear kuance http://www.guitarforbeginners.com/forum/guitar-gear/24807-dimarzio-yjm-dp-217-pickup/ http://www.guitarforbeginners.com/forum/guitar-gear/24798-tech-21-trademark-60-a/ Sun, 08 Nov 2009 10:50:21 GMT I just came across a a tech 21 trade mark 60 amp on ebay and managed to buy it for £72!! I didnt know much about them so did a fair bit of research and couldnt find ayone who didt like them so I bought it because it seeemed a bargain . Well I am impressed what nice bunch of sound ,I may have found an alternative to lugging my epiphone Blues custom 30 along to gigs .I havnt tried it with the band yet but it looks good and its the first tranny amp that i like the distortion on . It has sansamp di built in :clap: Has anyone else tried these ? what did you think? I just came across a a tech 21 trade mark 60 amp on ebay and managed to buy it for £72!! I didnt know much about them so did a fair bit of research and couldnt find ayone who didt like them so I bought it because it seeemed a bargain .

Well I am impressed what nice bunch of sound ,I may have found an alternative to lugging my epiphone Blues custom 30 along to gigs .I havnt tried it with the band yet but it looks good and its the first tranny amp that i like the distortion on . It has sansamp di built in :clap:

Has anyone else tried these ? what did you think? ]]> Guitar Gear timvass http://www.guitarforbeginners.com/forum/guitar-gear/24798-tech-21-trademark-60-a/ http://www.guitarforbeginners.com/forum/guitar-gear/24795-rf-filtered-guitar-cable/ Sat, 07 Nov 2009 13:37:14 GMT My new Behringer amp has a hiss like static electricity. Even with the volume turned all the way down. It is even there when I plug in my acoustic. It is not constant. Looking at the manual it say to use a TS/ RF filtered cable. What is a RF filtered cable? Are all cables RF filtered? Are any cables RF filtered? Could this be causing a hiss? My new Behringer amp has a hiss like static electricity. Even with the volume turned all the way down. It is even there when I plug in my acoustic. It is not constant. Looking at the manual it say to use a TS/ RF filtered cable. What is a RF filtered cable? Are all cables RF filtered? Are any cables RF filtered? Could this be causing a hiss? ]]> Guitar Gear rnr http://www.guitarforbeginners.com/forum/guitar-gear/24795-rf-filtered-guitar-cable/