That one discovery that changed you as a guitar player

[alexreinhold]

Hi all,

I've been playing many different guitars for about 20+ years. About two years ago, I bought a Charvel and it was love at first sight. It took me a while to realize that I had just fallen in love with its unfinished neck - It almost felt like I'd wasted almost two decades playing finished necks. I've since sanded all my necks down (yes, I'm aware of the risks - nothing happened thank God), gotten into guitar building and will never get a finished neck again.

I've been wondering - have you guys had similar epiphanies or am I the only latecomer to figuring out what kind of guitar player I am?

 

[War_in_D]

I've been wondering - have you guys had similar epiphanies or am I the only latecomer to figuring out what kind of guitar player I am?

As a rule, I try to stay away from epiphones.. but to each their own.  :dontknow:  :toothy10:


But, in all seriousness..  I've always loved raw/oiled necks.  Comes from my love of the, you guessed it..  The old San Dimas Jacksons/Charvels from back in the day.  I guess that's why I have such an affinity for the Warmoth Standard Thin projile neck too.  The profile reminds me of those old J/C necks.  I don't necessarily have any kind of aversion to finished necks, and I can get around on them OK but if they get to feeling sticky I bust out the sandpaper and oil! 

 

[DangerousR6]

Same here, was a huge Kramer fan early on, then in late 80's bought my first J/C, and have been a fan ever since. Over the years I've acquired many of them in my collection and will never sell them. The necks are like no other. Only think that comes close is Iby necks. But I do have a couple Warmoth wizard profile that I love dearly and they are all unfinished... :headbanging:

 

[rauchman]

Low-med output humbucker pickups

Never realized that the high output stuff was really squashing/compressing sound.  With the low-med output options, they allow for cleans that are clean, more articulate and overall, more versatile.

 

[MikeW]

Same here, both with the Charvel necks and unfinished neck woods. I still have, and play occasionally, an '87 Model 2 that is one of my favorite guitars of all time.

I was a little skeptical of the raw necks until I got a Canary/Ebony neck. I'm never going back. Since then I've had Canary/Rosewood, Pao Ferro/Pao Ferro, Goncalo/Goncalo, Roasted Maple/Roasted Maple, and Roasted Maple/Rosewood. I've also extensively played a friend's American Strat with the all Rosewood neck.

My favorites now are the Pao Ferro and Roasted Maple/Rosewood. Both are fantastic necks.

 

[aarontunes]

For me it was the realization that having a tool that does one thing perfectly is better than having a swiss army knife that does a bunch of things average/poorly.


Also, the realization that nobody notices your mistakes when you're smiling at them.

 

[mayfly]

Also, the realization that nobody notices your mistakes when you're smiling at them.

That's the one for me!  Don't give them any idea that you've totally blown that solo / lyric / ending / etc.  That's the one thing that transformed me as a musician. 

 

[Re-Pete]

I've had many epiphanies over the years as a person, musician and guitar player.
I guess the *one* thing that stands out as a revelation for me, as a player, is the use of the tone knob.

No seriously, stop laughing....  :sad:

When I started playing as a kid, it was turn every control on the guitar up to 10 and just dial in the volume & EQ on the amp. And yes, I have developed hearing problems.

In recent years, as I have been looking at the guitar projects I have done, that I asked myself quite philosophically: "What in blazes does that Tone knob DO?"

I had previously installed an active EQ circuit into a guitar and that allowed me to add & subtract freqs on a parametric Treble & Bass knob configuration. I understood THAT, but not what a tone knob did?

Diving into the rabbit hole and asking that stupid question a few places online ( I think I asked it here, not sure..) I arrived at a conclusion suitable for my half autistic brain to understand: It acts as a *clarity* adjustment using capacitors. It works in reverse to the full effect of the capacitor, up on 10 is wide open with no capacitance - clear as a  bell - but down on 1 it's full on capacitance. Oh & you cannot ADD anything, this is fully subtractive passive control types.

Now that I understand that, well, I'm diving to the tone knob on my guitars more and surprise surprise, I have greater tonal sweep on every guitar!  :dontknow: :doh:

*Only took me about 40 years of playing to learn that properly!  :help:

 

[PhilHill]

Two things. First one was listening to a recording of myself playing. Second was realizing the truth in something Jorma Kaukonen once said, "A sure sign of maturity is the realization that the volume knob also turns left."

 

[NedRyerson]

Owning the performance: yes.
Not diming everything: yes.

My epiphanies to add: a good fill doesn't have to be 148 notes shoved into a span of 4 seconds. I don't have to use 4 different modes and/or 6 different scales all at the same time to add interest to a section of music. I can actually make a difference with a simple pentatonic scale.

And not everything has to be a power chord. The late Criss Oliva of Savatage devised some killer, memorable hooks without power chords. I wish many of my favorite metal bands who've released new material lately would remember that hooks are still relevant and not everything needs to be a chugging riff-fest that just blends into mud (coughcough Testament cough).

 

[Strat Avenger]

There are far too many of them for me to choose just one.
I'll just mention that for me, nothing sounds better than a humbucker at the bridge and a single coil at the neck. Best of both worlds. Gotta make sure the 'bucker isn't too hot or it'll be too loud compared with the single coil.

Another one is that I woke up one day and realized that just because Vai, Satriani, and EVH need a whammy-bar for their styles does not mean that I need one. I don't play like them. I don't need to make elephant and alien from outter space sounds with my guitar. While I still have 3 guitars with a Floyd, I'm a hardtail guy now.

One more; I like guitars with maple, rosewood, and ebony (and whatever else) fretboards. I'm not limited to one fretboard material. Variety is the spice of life.

 

[Logrinn]

For me it was the realization of how the scale length affects the playing with regards to my hand size.

Or put another way - one needs to get a guitar that is the right size for you, the same way one chooses clothes the right size. If you get the wrong size guitar it won’t fit and your playing will suffer.

 

[zebra]

Don't play guitar.
Play music, using a guitar. 

Play intentionally, always trying to communicate something, either within yourself or to others. 
That might be a improvisational moment or it might be getting a song across - just don't just noodle.

I can't say I've actualized this very much - still mostly an intellectual insight at this point.
But after 25 years of mostly just noodling (in both my music and my life) - it's exciting to see what vistas open up with the ascension of commitment, discipline, focus, gratitude, etc.

 

[rauchman]

I've had many epiphanies over the years as a person, musician and guitar player.
I guess the *one* thing that stands out as a revelation for me, as a player, is the use of the tone knob.

No seriously, stop laughing....  :sad:

When I started playing as a kid, it was turn every control on the guitar up to 10 and just dial in the volume & EQ on the amp. And yes, I have developed hearing problems.

In recent years, as I have been looking at the guitar projects I have done, that I asked myself quite philosophically: "What in blazes does that Tone knob DO?"

I had previously installed an active EQ circuit into a guitar and that allowed me to add & subtract freqs on a parametric Treble & Bass knob configuration. I understood THAT, but not what a tone knob did?

Diving into the rabbit hole and asking that stupid question a few places online ( I think I asked it here, not sure..) I arrived at a conclusion suitable for my half autistic brain to understand: It acts as a *clarity* adjustment using capacitors. It works in reverse to the full effect of the capacitor, up on 10 is wide open with no capacitance - clear as a  bell - but down on 1 it's full on capacitance. Oh & you cannot ADD anything, this is fully subtractive passive control types.

Now that I understand that, well, I'm diving to the tone knob on my guitars more and surprise surprise, I have greater tonal sweep on every guitar!  :dontknow: :doh:

*Only took me about 40 years of playing to learn that properly!  :help:

The Tone knob...good one.

My 1st Warmoth build was a Tele, and that is what introduced me to the Tone knob.

 

[mayfly]

Don't play guitar.
Play music, using a guitar. 

That's a good one.

Play intentionally, always trying to communicate something, either within yourself or to others. 

That's another good one.  I find that my timing is so bad that any improvisation sounds like amateur crap.  Working out my solos, or at least the structure of the solo, for me creates much better music.  :headbang:

 

[swarfrat]

  Working out my solos, or at least the structure of the solo, for me creates much better music.  :headbang:

Wanna know a secret? It does for everyone else too. There's a long list of guitar players who I love, but I can't stand to listen to their instrumental albums. Now  - I'm not inherently opposed to instrumental music - I actually like some quite a bit. But it's almost like without the constraints of the vocal melody, they just sort of lose direction and begin noodling aimlessly.

Certainly not all - but most of the 25 instrumental tunes to ever hit #1 since 1958 have had some sort of sing/hum/whistlable melody.

 

[BroccoliRob]

Owning the performance: yes.
Not diming everything: yes.

My epiphanies to add: a good fill doesn't have to be 148 notes shoved into a span of 4 seconds. I don't have to use 4 different modes and/or 6 different scales all at the same time to add interest to a section of music. I can actually make a difference with a simple pentatonic scale.

And not everything has to be a power chord. The late Criss Oliva of Savatage devised some killer, memorable hooks without power chords. I wish many of my favorite metal bands who've released new material lately would remember that hooks are still relevant and not everything needs to be a chugging riff-fest that just blends into mud (coughcough Testament cough).

My dude, i don't think testament has put out a good album since new world order tbh (short for to be honest). I recommend moving on to Periphery or/and Mastodon to get some juicy complex chordage

as for the thread topic, ummm, i guess the day modes finally clicked

 

[alexreinhold]

My dude, i don't think testament has put out a good album since new world order tbh (short for to be honest).

I think you're forgetting about The Gathering ;-)

Certainly not all - but most of the 25 instrumental tunes to ever hit #1 since 1958 have had some sort of sing/hum/whistlable melody.

I couldn't agree more. That's why I Andy Timmon's Electric Gipsy stands out so much imo.

 

[Rick]

For me it was seeing two bands.  The first was a local band, that at the time played Americana, though we didn't know what it was called at the time, it was music from the band, dylan, the dead, blues and bluegrass etc.  This got me interested in playing the guitar, it spoke to my soul because I could understand the roots .... and then at about age 17 I saw the Ramones and I got it!  Reduce the song to the essence, a reductive analysis, and then rebuild it and make it yours. 

 

[aarontunes]

I have a couple more personal epiphanies:


1. Arrange to suit your medium. An arrangement that makes for a great audio recording does not always equal an arrangement that makes for a great live performance.



2. Master dynamics. Knowing how to use dynamics is one of the things that differentiates seasoned/mature bands from the rest. I don't mean just playing quietly sometimes, but knowing how to effectively incorporate quite passages into your performance, and play through them without losing intensity.