Rank newbie: More guitar styles OR better amps+effects?

[poodlesrule]

Should a recent newbie expand in more guitar styles OR better amps + effects?

Say, a *cough* friend has:
- two Rondo Strats (one 3-coil, one P90), which are in line with his abilities
- a Vox Pathfinder 15R

Said friend has GAS for another style of guitar, and has 300 bucks to play with.
Wouldn't the money be better spent on a better amp or effects..?

[deeaa*]

hell yeah. why would anybody need more than one guitar as long as its got a bucker and a single is beyon me. even just singles are good pretty far. but amps...you can never have too many amps.

different story if you gig Then u need a backup axe...I have 3 electrics but they are nigh identical and i could use just two.one is always at training place, one at home and one is a baxkup. wouldnt want moreguitars. buti wouldnt say no to more amps.

[Robert****]

A newbie should spend more money on lessons, DVDs and other tools for learning how to play better!

Or else just practice a lot and spend no money.

[poodlesrule]

Uh oh, the voice of reason... bye bye semi-hollow dreams!

Damn that's going to bring the thread to premature death, here!

Yes, I, er, I mean, my friend could spend more on DVDs at least - lessons aren't convenient right now.

[bcdon***]

Yes, I, er, I mean, my friend could spend more on DVDs at least - lessons aren't convenient right now.

How about spending $214.95 on Doug Marks' "Metal Method" Platinum package. I haven't watched the "Speed Kills" series but the "Complete Basic Course" is very good.

With the remaining $85 bucks you can buy some beer/wine and sit down and rock!

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[kidsmoke*]

A newbie should spend more money on lessons, DVDs and other tools for learning how to play better!

Or else just practice a lot and spend no money.

I have to agree here. I know lots of guys with lots of amazing gear, but very limited understanding of how to get great sounds.

If you HAVE to spend some money, might I suggest a looper?

I'm a broken record on this point, but when I purchased one, for the purpose of adding some bling to acoustic open mics, I had NO idea it was going to transform me as a guitarist.

The ability to lay down a simple chord progression, with or without a drum track, and then solo over it, exploring scale patterns, where root notes are located and working from them, all with an "accompaniment" caused me to improve at triple the rate I was otherwise. Easily the most significant $$$$ i spent related to growing as a guitarist.

I bought this one, but there are others. This one has about 40 different percussion patterns built in, as well as a few backing tracks...blues, rock, latin, etc. Bang for the buck, I thought it was the way to go. Being a Boss, it'll hold up and still fetch a few bucks if you chose to unload it. I can't see parting with mine though.

good luck!

[sunvalleylaw]

Uh oh, the voice of reason... bye bye semi-hollow dreams!

Damn that's going to bring the thread to premature death, here!

Yes, I, er, I mean, my friend could spend more on DVDs at least - lessons aren't convenient right now.

I would think a looper, or maybe the M9 or M13 from Line 6 with a looper in it, then since actual lessons are not convenient now, save just a few bucks and get Mark Wein's book (very inexpensive), and work through the lessons on his site. They are logical, teach the fundamentals in a way that will be get you using them practically, and you can spice it up with Robert's lessons he offers. Then since you have spent your $300 on either the M13 or M9 that you can use for effects, looping and learning, you can contribute to their sites with your next beer money or whatever, and use those perfectly good guitars with your perfectly good learning amph, but be able to use a looper for learning, and a whole bunch of effects you can play around with.

I would not go for another guitar at this point. Amp or effects, and since you don't have a looper or many effects, if you were going effects, I would try out the Line 6 units.

[Spudman***]

If you HAVE to spend some money, might I suggest a looper?

I'm a broken record on this point, but when I purchased one, for the purpose of adding some bling to acoustic open mics, I had NO idea it was going to transform me as a guitarist.

If you are just dying to spend money then the looper is probably the best rehearsal tool there is and worth every penny. Once you get a simple loop going you can then experiment till your heart is content and you have worked out exactly what you want to play. This will become part of your musical vocabulary and you will have already learned to play it in time to meter. It's a win-win deal.

The next best thing to spend money on is food. Stock up, lock yourself in a room with a stack of records and then copy-copy-copy-play-play-play. That's how real men learn.

[Robert****]

Or a drum machine with lotsa cool grooves. A looper is great too, but you might want to pick one that you can import backing tracks or drum loops into, or a looper that has one those features.

I learned to groove by playing to drum machines a lot when I was a young punk. It really helped. Having a good sense of timing and groove is a must if you want get anywhere as a guitar player.

Get On Up'a!

[Tig***]

I like playing to free backing tracks, like the ones here
http://www.guitarbackingtrack.com/

I just run a simple line out from my laptop to the auxiliary input to my amp and play along. It has helped my playing tremendously and is fun. I also suggest lesson DVD's, etc.
For effects, go with the Line 6 M9 for $300, or the M9 for $500. Worry about better amps when you later outgrow the one you have.

[piebaldpython***]

Forget a new amp, new gits and new effects and get a looper like the guys said.

As to DVD lessons, excellent beginner online and DVD lessons are those at www.justinguitar.com. He has outstanding lessons on playing rhythm guitar and minor pentatonic blues lead guitar. Once you get some facility with that, our own Veins Renman has some great stuff out there, just more advanced than Justin.

[peachhead***]

I like playing to free backing tracks, like the ones here
http://www.guitarbackingtrack.com/

I just run a simple line out from my laptop to the auxiliary input to my amp and play along. .

Ditto, plus I just plug in my portable CD player, throw in whatever I like, and play. Rhythm, lead, make it up as you go, just keep in time and play it. Right now that's the easiest way for me to practice.

A looper would be nice, but using what I already have is free.

Plenty of online lesson sites have already been mentioned here, free as well. Try several sites, then donate to the ones you like the most.

Just play, that's the most important thing.

[deeaa*]

Guys, haven't you heard that only those with no talent need practice? :-)

Just kidding of course. But, I'm a strong believer in that it is no use to practice or learn anything from others, its all best learned the hard way :-) that way, by the time you've acquired some skills, you're already old enough to have forgotten about ever really wanting to get anywhere with music and that'l save you a lot of problems!

[poodlesrule]

Great contributions from all, thanks!

I was not aware of the usefulness of loopers - happen to be one for sale on my local CL..!

[Tig***]

Here's something new from Boss. An uber loop station that contains a BOSS GT-10 guitar processor with plenty of editable patches...

REVIEW: BOSS eBand JS-8 ($399)

So what does this thing do, or what can you do with it?

• Store and play up to 4,000 songs internally.
• Play audio files from an external iPod or MP3 or CD player.
• Capture songs to internal memory from an external iPod or MP3 or CD player.
• Play MP3 and WAV audio files from an SD card or a USB stick.
• Play audio files from a USB-connected Mac or PC.
• Play guitar through COSM-modeled effects and amps.
• Play guitar along with internal or external songs.
• Play guitar along with more than 300 internal pre-recorded audio loops.
• Practice using a metronome with tap tempo and lots of time signatures.
• Tune up by using the onboard tuner, which is reference adjustable from 435Hz to 445Hz.
• Slow songs down or speed them up (without changing pitch) in order to more easily learn parts.
• Change the pitch of songs without changing the tempo, so you can practice in whatever key you like.
• “Cancel” existing guitar parts from songs so that you can jam along.
• Record yourself playing with songs to an SD card.
• Record yourself playing with songs to a USB-connected Mac or PC.
• Import songs from CD using a USB-connected Mac or PC.
• Take advantage of even more functionality, such as the ability to set A/B repeat points for looping a section of a song, a rating system for songs, and much more!

[syo***]

Here's something new from Boss. An uber loop station that contains a BOSS GT-10 guitar processor with plenty of editable patches...

REVIEW: BOSS eBand JS-8 ($399)

I just picked up one of these today. Unfortunately it is my wife's birthday present to me and I can't use it until the day. Played around with it a bit in the store and it seems like a terrific toy ...err... practice tool.

Now maybe as a gift to myself I'll pick up a Kaossilator Pro. I have the standard Kaossilator but the Pro looks terrific (for those of you into synths).

http://www.korg.com/product.aspx?pd=564

[Eric***]

hell yeah. why would anybody need more than one guitar as long as its got a bucker and a single is beyon me. even just singles are good pretty far. but amps...you can never have too many amps.

different story if you gig Then u need a backup axe...I have 3 electrics but they are nigh identical and i could use just two.one is always at training place, one at home and one is a baxkup. wouldnt want moreguitars. buti wouldnt say no to more amps.

I agree with the part of this that you don't need more guitars. Eventually you spend your time trying to play all of them to justify their existence and worrying about upgrading parts, changing strings, etc. I only have two electrics and an acoustic now, and I have no complaints about not having enough axes.

I would pocket the money. As you find more applications for your playing, you will magically need more items like cable adapters, 1/4" jumpers, audio interfaces, metronomes, DI boxes, etc. All of that stuff will require money, and you won't stress about it if you have some saved up.

If you need to spend money, however, lessons and/or a looper aren't bad suggestions at all.

[red]

hell yeah. why would anybody need more than one guitar as long as its got a bucker and a single is beyon me. even just singles are good pretty far. but amps...you can never have too many amps.

No argument about the amps - a great amp can and will let you get away with crappy guitars. BUT, there are huge differences between guitars that can't be accounted for by the difference in pickup configurations at all.

Different body and neck woods sound very different - for example ash and mahogany. Think as the wood in the guitar as a singer's voice, and the pickup as the microphone. Or a metal-body resonator and a wooden acoustic. Or simply an electric guitar and an acoustic guitar. Then we get into all sorts of finer differences - is a short-scale guitar better for me? What about neck radius? Do I need a vibrato bar / bridge?

So I think a different guitar does have it's value, for many, many different reasons - not least of which being that if it turns out that the player enjoys the new guitar more, he will play it more and thus accumulate more practice.

Don't take this as me trying to convince the original poster to get a new guitar... I don't believe in standard rules that apply to everyone, and I think these things need to be "diagnosed" with full knowledge of the facts (what the player wants to play, what guitar he'd like to buy, what amp and effects would be the alternative, etc.). I'm just saying that it's very hard to know what will work best for someone with so little information - some people are self-taught, others need a teacher, others practice more on a new guitar, other practice more with a new amp, others don't practice at all and are still good players, you name it there's someone doing it .

[red]

- a Vox Pathfinder 15R
Wouldn't the money be better spent on a better amp or effects..?

Don't know what effects you have in mind, but the VOX Pathfinder 15R is one of the best solid state amps out there right now. Unless you need more power or need a significantly different guitar tone, I would stick with it. I know because I've owned one in the past.