Printable Version of Topic
Click here to view this topic in its original format
GMC Forum _ CHILL OUT _ What Were Your Guitar Myths And You Got Rid Of Them?
Posted by: maharzan Sep 19 2010, 07:52 AM
When I didn't have electric guitar, I thought I couldn't play fast solos. I thought I needed 24 fret guitar. I also used to think only those who have sleek long fingers like vai / gilbert could play faster and it made me believe for quite long time that I couldn't play faster.
Posted by: zen Sep 19 2010, 09:29 AM
Myth: If you can play fast, you're a great guitarist
How I got rid of it: After watching people mindlessly shredding without any taste or purpose.
Posted by: Ben Higgins Sep 19 2010, 10:09 AM
Great topic, Chandra !
The biggest myth I kept hearing was that 'heavier gauge strings mean a better tone'.
It's not true. It just means it will sound more 'rounded' and 'dull'. The heavier the strings are, the more 'brightness' you lose and it makes it harder to achieve smooth legato and nice pinch harmonics. It actually feels like you lose a lot of gain or distortion when you use heavier strings.
At least, that's always been my experience anyway... 
Posted by: maharzan Sep 19 2010, 11:15 AM
Cool.. bring them on!
zen, I have that myth now n can't get rid of it.. hehe.. nah.. I just want to play some fast riffs here and there which I still can't seem to figure out.
Ben, hmm.. I thought higher gauze means more bassy sound. I had 9's in my ibanez and that mixed with processor sound pierced my ears too much so I converted to 10s. It sounds better although I haven't yet found 'my' tone yet. I guess higher gauzes are more for bluesy and jazzy players.
Posted by: Sollesnes Sep 19 2010, 11:20 AM
How I got rid of it: After watching people mindlessly shredding without any taste or purpose.
X2
Posted by: Vasilije Vukmirovic Sep 19 2010, 11:27 AM
Myth: If you want to be a top guitarist, you have to play 12 hours/day.
Not true; it simple isn't possible and once you get to some level you have to play less and less every day.
Myth: No one will be able to play fast as Petrucci
There are a lot guitarists who do play Petrucci's solos...
Universal beginner guitarist Myth: I don't have to know theory, scale, chords, Hendrix didn't knew them...
True: You're not Hendrix!
Posted by: maharzan Sep 19 2010, 12:49 PM
haha.. I love the last one. 
Posted by: Vaidya Sep 19 2010, 12:57 PM
I used to think playing FAST was EVERYTHING.All that changed after listening to Santana.SILENCED.
Posted by: ZakkWylde Sep 19 2010, 02:01 PM
Myth: Metal players have to scoop their mids
Truth: The guitar is a mid instrument and you become inaudible if you turn down your mids in a band!
Myth: Thin necks make you play faster
Truth: Neck size and finish doesn't matter if you get used to it. Every neck plays as fast as the other!
Myth: Thicker strings make a better tone
Truth: YES THEY DO! I am playing 12-60 strings in drop c now and the thicker the string the more sustain, clearness, brightness (you might have to try another string company Ben Higgins!) your get
Myth: You need to learn theory and notes if you want to play guitar (kept me from starting guitar for years)
Truth: It's helpful but with tabs and video lessons you can get a long way without theory or learning notes!
Myth: Why buy a Gibson? The epiphone is made of mahagony aswell, I'll just change to a better pickup and I get the same as Gibson
Truth: WRONG. Build and wood quality is what gives a guitar it's tone, more than any pickup could. Just because two guitars are made form the same kind of wood doesn't mean the same quality of wood was used!
Myth: You need talent to become good
Truth: Kristofer Dahl tought us you don't need talent at all, just hard work and dedication!
Posted by: Mudbone Sep 19 2010, 02:47 PM
Myth: Playing guitar right handed while being left handed would be a handicap.
Fact: Steve Morse, Herman Li and Alexi Laiho are all "backward" players, and it didn't impede their playing whatsoever. In fact now I'm starting to think its a blessing in disguise.
Myth: You can't sound good without really expensive gear.
Fact: Mediocre gear can sound amazing in the right hands.
Posted by: maharzan Sep 19 2010, 03:00 PM
Love the last one Zakk. Absolutely true. The fact that I bought his first set of videos back in the days was because he messed it up like we always do and made us believe that we can play as "them" as well.
Mudbone, I am kind of on that route.. I know tone is in the hands but I really couldn't get a good tone out of GR3.. just sounded too harsh to me, and I so hated playing around with all those settings. I spent a tonne to get me tube thingy and I still can't get a good tone, ha! So, true man..
Posted by: Adrian Figallo Sep 19 2010, 03:39 PM
True: You're not Hendrix!
Posted by: thefireball Sep 19 2010, 03:40 PM
I used to think that pinch harmonics were made with a pedal. I saw the Ibanez Tube Screamer in Musician's Friend Magizine and thought, "huh, that must be the key." Nevertheless, I searched youtube almost daily to find how make your guitar scream/squeal. Everybody that explained it, didn't explain it well enough for my mind. I finally found a video by Aaron Tomerlin. He explained it so well that I finally got it. Then, all those other videos made sense. It took me a while to figure it out, but I did it!
Posted by: stratman79 Sep 19 2010, 06:19 PM
It's not true. It just means it will sound more 'rounded' and 'dull'. The heavier the strings are, the more 'brightness' you lose
(must be why the guys using 9's on ibanez's have such great tone!!)
Posted by: Azzaboi Sep 19 2010, 07:44 PM
Myth: You need nature music ablility and some level of actual talent to play the guitar...
Fact: I PLAY GUITAR!
Posted by: Todd Simpson Sep 19 2010, 11:00 PM
MYTH: You have to be born with natural musical ability to play well.
TRUTH: Bull! As some has said, and Kris Dahl has extolled, it just takes practice and determination.
Myth: Some people simply can't shred.
Truth: Wrong. Anybody can play as fast ( or slow or whatever) as they want with enough practice..
Myth: You have to be in the room with a guitar instructor to really learn.
Truth: Dead wrong, that's why God invented Video Chat and why Kris invented GMC.
Practice!
Todd
Posted by: Sollesnes Sep 19 2010, 11:04 PM
Ah, also:
Myth: You have to be born with perfect or relative pitch to attain it.
Truth: You can aquire it, just like shred skills
Posted by: Ben Higgins Sep 20 2010, 10:27 AM
Truth: The guitar is a mid instrument and you become inaudible if you turn down your mids in a band!
Myth: Thin necks make you play faster
Truth: Neck size and finish doesn't matter if you get used to it. Every neck plays as fast as the other!
Myth: Thicker strings make a better tone
Truth: YES THEY DO! I am playing 12-60 strings in drop c now and the thicker the string the more sustain, clearness, brightness (you might have to try another string company Ben Higgins!) your get
Myth: You need to learn theory and notes if you want to play guitar (kept me from starting guitar for years)
Truth: It's helpful but with tabs and video lessons you can get a long way without theory or learning notes!
Myth: Why buy a Gibson? The epiphone is made of mahagony aswell, I'll just change to a better pickup and I get the same as Gibson
Truth: WRONG. Build and wood quality is what gives a guitar it's tone, more than any pickup could. Just because two guitars are made form the same kind of wood doesn't mean the same quality of wood was used!
Myth: You need talent to become good
Truth: Kristofer Dahl tought us you don't need talent at all, just hard work and dedication!
Well, yes.. for downtuning you have to play heavier gauge strings as normal strings will just go all sloppy and out of tune.. it's a necessity. The reason heavier strings give you more sustain when downtuned is because the string doesn't move out of the magnetic field of the pickups as much... but the lighter strings will oscillate too far out of the magnetic field because they're all floppy.
However for standard tuning, heavier gauge strings make it thicker and more bassy (as Chandra correctly said) but it loses some of that brightness and sustain that players like me want for smooth legato etc. I guess it does depend what sort of tone we all want. Some of us want bright and juicy.. some want bassy and bluesy. There's no saying what 'great tone' is because we all have different opinions on what is a 'great tone'. So for that reason alone, we cannot say that thicker gauge strings give you a better tone.. maybe for a bluesman yeah... but not for someone like me who wants every ounce of sustain and juice I can get from my amp.
I guess we can all safely agree that the string gage thing is not a truth you can prove.. but a matter of personal opinion.
Posted by: Vasilije Vukmirovic Sep 20 2010, 04:37 PM
Myth: You have to be born with perfect or relative pitch to attain it.
Truth: You can aquire it, just like shred skills
Yeah, I can sign that!
Powered by Invision Power Board (http://www.invisionboard.com)
© Invision Power Services (http://www.invisionpower.com)