[jorgemac]

Hey Cami, Since you are retired you should have plenty of time to browse different guitar stores. In the old days you could find good used instruments in pawn shops. Google las Vegas guitar shops/stores.

I’ve picked up a beater before at thrift shops, estate sales can be great for finding a jewel, or some yard and garage sales, have fun with the search but you need to research buying a used guitar, probably google again. Again, I prefer guitar tone and playing action over looks . If anyone in your retirement community plays, check with them.

Things to check when looking for a used guitar.

Does the neck have a truss rod so you can adjust it? Is the neck warped?

How worn are the frets? Is the bridge loose. How much of the bridge saddle is showing?

If only a little of the saddle is visible make sure it has a truss rod so you can adjust it. You might be looking at a neck reset , again$$$.

Any body or neck joint cracks? Most of the time these can be repaired but that does cost $$$. How long has it been since it was played regularly? Is the case in good shape?

Buying a used guitar Is like that 1st date. You have to be really careful that you examine everything to see if you want to go on a 2nd date.

[jorgemac]

I don’t usually buy new guitars. The used instruments have usually been played some and are closer to being broken in. Most of the time new guitars sound new and don’t have much of a personality. Used instruments that have been played regularly give you and idea of how the guitar will sound. Playability and tone are the most important aspects of a guitar, to me. If the instrument looks a little rough, well, so do I. So, it fits my personality better.

[jorgemac]

The Taylor Student model nylon string guitar gets a lot of good reviews. I haven’t played one but let me know if you find and have a chance to pick it.

[jorgemac]

I have 3 hybrid nylon string guitars that I do play as well as my steel string guitars. You might check some of them out . Las Vegas has a bunch of guitar and music stores, I’m sure. They are definitely easier to play than the steel string guitars and the better models do have decent tone. Some are acoustic electric. My favorite hybrid is the Taylor 712 that I bought used a few years back. I also Have a Takamine P3FCN that is a mid level price instrument that you can check out.

[jorgemac]

Smaller gauge strings on the electric make it easier to pick sometimes. I’m not bad on an electric guitar and just a little better than mediocre on the acoustic guitar. I like the portability of the acoustic instrument and after many hours of practice I can get nuances out of the Acoustic guitar that I like the tone of better than that electric picking.

I get much more enjoyment out of acoustic accomplishments. You can get a good set up done on your acoustic guitar. Drop the strings down to a more comfortable size, though you do lose a degree of tone. I use 12/57 or 12.5/53 strings on my acoustic instruments. But started at 10/53 ‘s and worked up to the 12’s every other string change to reach what works for me. To avoid a lot of finger tip soreness every time I increased string gauge I would tune down to the tuning I describe below, for a week or two and then increased the pitch a half a tone at a time until I was picking on “normal” tuning of the larger gauge string set.

If you find your current guitar string choice hard to play just lower all of the strings down a full tone, treble to bass string tones D, A, F, C, G, D. This makes the strings easier to hold down. Or find a model that suits you better in all of the after holiday sales. If you are playing with others just capo on the 2nd fret to return to regular tuning. Acoustic seem much more personal so, for me, it is a personal preference choice.

[jorgemac]

This thread did develop a special character of it’s own. Thanks for sharing your thoughts with us. For a long time I had terrible strumming and rhythm problems until i started using the metronome. I used to hate the metronome and avoided it as it forced me to actually clean up my strumming and picking issues. But It helped me organize my strumming patterns as I slowed it way down and found out how to strum and pick in a more consistent manner. Good Luck in your Guitar journey.

[jorgemac]

Skyman makes a great point about the joy of playing guitar. Being loose and noodling is just having fun. But even when noodling I’m surprised at how much i pick up just messin round that i actually use. usually not immediately. But, over time some part of the noodling does creep into different Progressions.

This morning I was doing the 3 string to 4 string noodle on the first 5 frets. G5, F, C, Am, C, F, Dm to BM7 to Am and ended on C.

G5( E/3, B/3, open G)

to F(E/1, B/1,G/2)

to C (open E, B/1, open G

to Am( open E, B/1, G/2)

to 4 string C (open E, B/1, open G, 4/2

to 4 string F

To Dm (E/1, B/3, G/2 and back to C of your choice.

I mixed and matched these chords for a few minutes and threw in the Partial B Major 7(B/3, G/2, D/3 and walked down to A minor to C.

great fun.

[jorgemac]

No, but I love to tinker instead of zero in on the lessons. After I have the lessons up to the at least 60 BPM I start changing the fingering around. I’m just as bad when trying to learn a new song tab. As soon as I have the minimum arrangement down on songster I’m messing with it to make it my own version of the song. I usually stay close to the structure for Chorus but the verses are fair game. I do keep the same strumming structure in place but the chord notes can be changed. The 1 and 3 beats in most popular songs have a stronger beat to them so the 2 and 4 beats can be modified, The 4 beat can be a dual 8th note beat with the 2nd 8th note a diminished chord, or a major 7th chord, that leads to the next chord change.

I’m a member of K.O. Stringworks, an old time blues site, that introduced me to using diminished chords for a transition Beat before the actual chord change. Original Blues artist’s( Reverand Davis, etc,) used this to great affect. you have to pick your spots to use it but it is very effective. Just another tool to help you make your own stye.

That seems to be where the tinkering comes in. After you have the basic Progression down fairly well I always want to toy with it. Just my nature to never be satisfied with the arrangement, I think. Easy changes are hammer on’ s, pull offs, slides, Dyads and triplets, Sus, diminished,6ths, 7ths, 11th, flatted 5ths, on and on. A lot of the times that doesn’t improve the arrangement, just clutter’s it up, but sometimes… it does. If used sparingly.

[jorgemac]

Thanks Mark,

I do tinker much too much and seem to have a guitar around all of the time. Almost every Thursday and Friday TAC lesson I practice ends up being Modified in some way. Like you I like to add the pull offs, hammer on’s and slides. Plus picking the progressions in other positions on the fret board. I post these changes when I have the time.

[jorgemac]

Like you, I always used the folk 3 finger G for years and now i have gotten used to the 4 finger style. My fingering, from the treble E is pinky ,then ring finger on the 3rd fret of the treble E and B strings, index is on A/2 and the middle is fretting the Bass E/3.

For the D chord my ring finger does not move from the B/3. The index goes to the to G/s and middle to to E/2. That leaves my pinky available to finger the D/4 F# and make a fuller sounding D chord, especially if you hammer it onto that fret once and a while.

if I am using the hammer on I rotate my index finger to cover the the 3 treble strings, the middle finger is now fretting B/3 and the Ring finger can hammer onto the D/4 F# note for either and fuller D chord or also a Bm7th chord partial chord which is a great transition chord to either the Am7 or C chord.

A good progression Is the G chord to the D chord to the Bm7th for a beat or 2 and then the Am7 to the full C chord, Back to the starting G chord.

[jorgemac]

A lot of great posts on the great thread.

My practice, before practice, routine evolves all of the time but some of the constants are 3, 4 and 5 finger E shaped barre chords up to the 12th fret, 5 finger and the thumb E shaped barre chords up to the 12th fret. If you don’t practice your barre chords you will always have problems with them.

The A and A7th shaped and Am and Am7 Barre chords, omitting the treble E string, except for the 7th chord version, up to the 12th fret and as the old coach says do this with your eyes closed as it is muscle memory and also helps train the ear.

The E7 shaped chord beginning on the A, D, G strings. I do these in the before practice practice at least twice a week and sometimes every day. I also love the Bb major 7, B/3, G/2 and D/3 strings to the Am7- B/1, G open, D/2 and walk that up the neck( Cmajor7 to Bm7 starting on the 5th fret to the 4th fret) to the 12th fret. It is a great transition chord to the relative minor of every key, especially if you pick out every note leading to the relative minor.

[jorgemac]

Skyman, good advice. Keep it simple.

[jorgemac]

Matt, The first guitar I purchased was a Takamine Back in 1971. A few years later I lent it to a friend and… haven’t seen the guitar or her for years. It was a beautiful soulful sounding guitar. Much better tone than I deserved when learning to play.

[jorgemac]

Hope it helps you

[jorgemac]

That is a very complex question and hard to answer.

I’ve been purchasing guitars my whole life and each one is going to the perfect guitar for me. That seems to be true for a few months then,,,, I’m looking around again. If I was starting to play after a long absence from picking, I would research the different styles, shapes and tones of guitars in my price range. There are some good beginner guitars available for under $1,000,better intermediate guitars under $2,000 and great guitars above that. Do you play at all? If you can play a simple tune or 2 you can test a lot of different guitars at your favorite music store.

I usually buy used instruments that are in great shape because someone purchased it but gave up because of the the work involved to learn to play guitar.

I listen for tone 1st and foremost. Then the guitar action- does it need a setup to play smoothly? Do you have any friends that play who can help you?

You can’t go wrong with beginner Taylor, Larivee, Yamaha,Takamine ,,, I could go on and on but if are serious about learning you need to find a guitar that you will feel comfortable with. Are your hands big or small. What kind of music do you enjoy? What stye of music are you interested in learning?