N-lightMike
Forum Replies Created
-
I would return the guitar and get a smaller body. There are a number of options. Alvarez makes a very good guitar and much less expensive than Martin. They make models based on popular guitars like Martins. Then there are Ibanez, Epiphone, Breedlove… and others of course. But you could get a thinner body and/or a smaller body in the same price range. But you have to make a decision right away and contact Sweetwater before time runs out.
Buy a new one outright and keep the Martin Dread Jr or trade it in.
MG 😀
-
You have gotten a number of good replies @OhWowMan .
Here’s my 2 cents.
Yes, I have seen it. It is my primary G major chord. For me, it is not a matter of where I’m going or where I’ve come from. I have used this G chord exclusively for years. However, I have worked hard to be able to use the 4 finger chord Tony teaches. Why? Simple. There are many songs that simply don’t sound right if you don’t play that chord. The Eagles, for instance, usually, if not always, used the 4 finger G chord. You won’t get their sound without it.
MG 😀
-
I was surprised to hear the strumming @Marty69 . Don’t you usually finger pick? Anyway, good job. Love the guitar. Thanks for posting.
MG 😀
-
The simple answer, @JeffM.22 , is yes. The volume would go up. However, that’s only part of the story. The heavier gauge strings would also be harder to fret, bend, pull off and hammer on. The real problem is technique.
Make sure you are hitting the string with speed, not necessarily strength. Also, the most important thing is accuracy. You must hit that string dead on with the very tip of your finger. Between hitting the string fast and accurate, hammer ons can be quite challenging to learn. They are definitely more difficult than they seem when you watch someone who is good at it. A good exercise is to use the high E string, starting on the 5th fret with your index finger. Holding the 5th fret with your index, strike the string and then repeatedly hammer on with your middle finger. Do this as fast as you can focusing on accuracy. Then do it with your ring and pinky fingers. After those 3 exercises, hold down the string with your middle finger and hammer on with your ring and pinky. Finally, hold the string with your ring finger and hammer on with your pinky. This exercise will tire out your hand very quickly. You will develop finger strength and independence very quickly as long as you don’t hurt yourself. Do it everyday, but do it for short periods of time. You will be amazed how much fatigue and stress you will build up in your hand. It will help, but you have to be conservative. (You can still be liberal in your views if you choose. 🤣)
I hope this helps.
MG 😀
-
This looks like a little classical guitar @Cadgirl . Classical guitars can not handle the tension of steel strings. They don’t have the bracing as you have mentioned. They must have nylon strings. Not even extra lights. Small guitars built for steel strings do have the bracing and can handle the higher tension.
The headstock looks like an open headstock, though it is hard to tell form this angle. I am confused as it looks like the tuners are pointing up instead of down. When you repaired the neck, did you take the tuners off? Looking at one of my guitars with an open headstock, it looks like it would be possible to put the tuning knobs up instead of down.
Anyway, I congratulate you on tackling this project. It is valuable experience to work on your own guitar. I hope it all works out well for you.
MG 😀
-
Thank you for sharing your progress and guitar joy with us @WyoBoy52 . I am happy that TAC makes your day. And you are giving that inspiration back when you share with us on the forum.
Your guitar journey sounds like a lot of fun. I am very happy for you that you have the opportunity to play with others and play before an audience. One thing I would suggest: adopt a different view of the daily lessons. Yes, they are overwhelming if we think we are supposed to either memorize them like a song or master them like something we are going to perform before others. They are simply exercises that give us direction in our practice and steady improvement in our skills. All we have to do is the minimum 10 minutes and do the best we can even if we could play the lesson at all. Just the effort will contribute to our guitar skills over time.
Thanks again,
MG 😀
-
I am sorry to hear this as this guitar is new to you @Dirk_R . I know that the Martin Dread Jr is a little smaller than a full size dread, but you are correct about the thickness.
I sold the dread I bought. All my guitars are either smaller bodied or thinner or both. I won’t buy or play large guitars and I don’t even have back or shoulder issues. But I am older and simply don’t care for the large guitars as they are so uncomfortable and limit my playing so badly.
Advice? Get another guitar. If you can make a trade, that would be great. You bought your guitar from Sweetwater and there is no one better at trying to make you happy with your gear. They are a great company. If you are still under the money back time frame, jump on it quickly.
If you have to keep that guitar, remember this; you love this guitar. If you had another guitar, you wouldn’t have to play this all the time. You could change things up. You can get a nice guitar for $300 – $500 brand new. Only 3 of all my guitars, 10 I own and another 6 that I have sold, cost over $500. And only 1 cost over $1000 new, but I bought that one used (yes, it’s one of the 3). And then you have used and open box options. And time pay options.
Do the whole “I need advice on what guitar to buy” thread again, but this time include your shoulder issues.
That’s my 2 cents. I hope it helps. I sincerely wish you good luck. It’s so much fun seeing someone get into guitar and learn and have fun. You have been a wonderful participant in our VOMs. I hope that your guitar journey can continue to provide you with fun.
MG 😀
-
Hello Lori ( @NewCreation ), welcome to the TAC community. This is the best place you could have come to learn guitar, in my opinion of course.
I’m sorry for your loss. I’m sure it’s still difficult even after 4.5 years. Thank you for being open enough to help us understand you and your situation. I am happy that you have the support of the bible and a congregation… and 7 kids.
As far as your situation with your mother living with you, @Loraine was in that very situation when she joined TAC. Hopefully, she will come by and be able to share some of her personal experience. She is a very encouraging and helpful member of our TAC community.
As far as how to proceed here on TAC, I don’t think I could say it any better or add any more than what @Guitargeezer-Jack has already told you. So I will simply say plus one to his comments and suggest that you read what he has said several times. Especially the part about “have fun”.
When you do start using the daily lessons, just remember they are not intended as something to memorize like your learning a song or even to master like something you are going to perform for anyone. They are simply exercises that give us direction in our practice and if we simply do the best we can for a minimum of 10 minutes, we will slowly but surely improve in our guitar skills.
I hope to hear more from you as your guitar journey proceeds. And welcome to the North Carolina group of TAC members. I had formed a Jam Club here in Winston Salem before the spring of 2020, but it has yet to be resurrected (though Jack and I have gotten together once and hope to some more).
MG 😀
-
Yeah, it turns out finger picking is a really long term thing. It seems to take so long, yet at the same time the improvement is steady… in really tiny increments. 😂
Thanks for the encouragement @bugmeist . You should come to the VOMs more often Robert. I haven’t seen you in a while. I hope you have joined justmusicgeeks.com. That’s where we are posting the information for the VOMs now. The themes and the links. And the forum there is much like the old TAC forum. There’s a lot of information sharing among all the guitar geeks there. Anyway, I hope to see you.
MG 😀
-
👍 I love Fretboard Wizard.
MG 😀
-
Wow, imagine me trying to give you advice. 🤣
I am very impressed with the whole maintenance effort. It is definitely valuable experience. I will await your results. Gluing down a bridge goes beyond the maintenance I have done on my cheap guitar.
MG 😀
-
👍
-
👍
-
Ok @L0ngSh0t (I don’t know about anyone else, but that nickname was difficult for me to figure out. I couldn’t get your nickname to come up until I realized those were zero instead of O’s),
when you are on the lesson page, on the left will be a list of the month’s lessons. The ones you have done will have a check mark to the right of the lesson name and the lesson name will have a line through it. If you click on the lesson name, it will take you to the lesson page. You will not be able to click on the future lessons. Any lesson in the past, even if you didn’t mark it complete and it doesn’t have a line through it, you will be able to click on and go to the lesson.
The “favorite” button has already been pointed out.
MG 😀
-
Welcome @Stackmanjohn . You will be pleased with your progress over the next 90 days. I believe you have joined the best guitar learning site on the web.
The multiple speeds were an option on the old platform. Most of the lesson videos were shot before TAC moved to this platform. There are no longer multiple videos shot with Tony playing at different speeds. Now all we can do is speed up or slow down the video. It really wasn’t any better to have the multiple videos other than to see that Tony could really play that fast. The current video is a lot better than using a metronome. However, neither the current video or the old multiple videos could replace a metronome as you couldn’t increase/decrease speed by one bpm.
Hope this helps. I hope to see your progress. Please continue to ask question and post your small wins and maybe a video here or there.
MG 😀