Question Starting with electric guitar

[HarvesteR]

Very true about the Floyd-Rose thing.

My guitar, a Kramer FR-440 vanguard, had one of them wobbly bridges when I bought it. I thought it would be cool to abuse the whammy on my solos... Pretty soon though, I sent it to the guitar doctor to have the bridge locked down.

This is the FR-440. On mine, I also changed the pickups to active ones by EMG.

When the bridge is locked, it will only whammy down, so you can have more tension on the springs and avoid the wobbly tuning problems.

That turned my 'ok' guitar into a very good guitar (for my tastes at least). You can't whammy up anymore, but since Floyd-Rose guitars also have a locking nut at the point the the fretboard meets the headstock, it is EXTREMELY resistant to losing it's tuning.

In fact, I once went through a whole month without having to tune it, and it was always perfectly in key. It will only need a re-tune when the seasons change, and the wood on the neck expands or contracts.

But there are drawbacks... changing string for me is a much longer task than with a tune-o-matic as shown above. Because of the bridge model, you need to trim away the ball ends of the strings, as they are clamped to the bridge by a vice-like thingy on each string carriage. I recall everyone else would have time to change strings twice over as I was still working on mine... So if a string breaks on a gig, you better have a backup ready nearby.

Also, changing to another tuning is something you pretty much need to plan for in advance. On my old band, we mostly used standard or Drop-D tunings, so it wasn't much of a problem. I left the 6th string tuning screw on the bridge much farther inward than the others, so it would have enough range to drop it from E to D without having to open the locking nut, which requires an allen key. But if there ever was any need for another tuning, like an open G or something like that, well, let's say you better have a long list of open-G songs up ahead, because you'll need to make it worth the effort


Cheers

 

[N_Molson]

Whatever you do, you should not neglect educating yourself about setting up your guitar by yourself from the get go (truss rod, string height, pick-up height, setting intonation).

I think it requires experience to do this... Also, wrong settings can irreversibly damage the instrument, which is going to cost a lot. To set up your guitar, you have to know how you play, what's your style and what you want to play. And it's not easy to define at first. So factory settings are safe. In most stores, they should accept to set up the instrument correctly when you buy it, especially if it is a quality one.

 

[Ark]

If you really want to play electric guitar, I'd start with an electric guitar. Playing acoustic is totally different, my opinion is that it wouldn't help: under some aspects, an acoustic guitar is harder to play (greater effort to get a "clean" sound, bigger body, and the rest depends on the type of guitar), but on the other hand you will get a way to approach the instrument that you will have to change dramatically when you'll shift to electric.

So, my personal suggestion is: buy a good entry-level guitar which satisfies you estetically, but avoid starter kits and similar stuff. As you will improve your tecnique and sensibility you'll be able to choose the instruments that fits you, but until then don't panic, almost every guitar suitable for beginners is good :thumbup:

Agreed, acoustic is VERY different, not just in the physical dimensions of the guitar but in the entire structure of the music that's played with it. You can start with either, but if electric is your passion then that's what you should be playing.

---------- Post added at 12:47 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:40 PM ----------

Very true about the Floyd-Rose thing.

My guitar, a Kramer FR-440 vanguard, had one of them wobbly bridges when I bought it. I thought it would be cool to abuse the whammy on my solos... Pretty soon though, I sent it to the guitar doctor to have the bridge locked down.

This is the FR-440. On mine, I also changed the pickups to active ones by EMG.

When the bridge is locked, it will only whammy down, so you can have more tension on the springs and avoid the wobbly tuning problems.

That turned my 'ok' guitar into a very good guitar (for my tastes at least). You can't whammy up anymore, but since Floyd-Rose guitars also have a locking nut at the point the the fretboard meets the headstock, it is EXTREMELY resistant to losing it's tuning.

In fact, I once went through a whole month without having to tune it, and it was always perfectly in key. It will only need a re-tune when the seasons change, and the wood on the neck expands or contracts.

But there are drawbacks... changing string for me is a much longer task than with a tune-o-matic as shown above. Because of the bridge model, you need to trim away the ball ends of the strings, as they are clamped to the bridge by a vice-like thingy on each string carriage. I recall everyone else would have time to change strings twice over as I was still working on mine... So if a string breaks on a gig, you better have a backup ready nearby.

Also, changing to another tuning is something you pretty much need to plan for in advance. On my old band, we mostly used standard or Drop-D tunings, so it wasn't much of a problem. I left the 6th string tuning screw on the bridge much farther inward than the others, so it would have enough range to drop it from E to D without having to open the locking nut, which requires an allen key. But if there ever was any need for another tuning, like an open G or something like that, well, let's say you better have a long list of open-G songs up ahead, because you'll need to make it worth the effort


Cheers

Can't say enough good things about EMG pickups. My Dad's company reps for them, so we have access to demo units and dealer prices. All of our guitars ended up with some kind of EMG products in them. I love the sound of the new X-series in particular.

Instead of chopping the balls off lol the strings, have you tried feeding the strings backwards through the tuners? Just leave the balls on and use them to secure the strings to the tuners, and just trim the excess off when you go to vise them into the Floyd.

Locking down the Floyd was probably a good move, from what I've heard the imitation units are usually more trouble than they're worth. I've got a real Floyd that I'm planning to install in our Strat copy, I just haven't gotten around to it yet.

 

[N_Molson]

+1, Floyds are a nightmare for beginners ! :suicide:

 

[jedidia]

I think it requires experience to do this... Also, wrong settings can irreversibly damage the instrument, which is going to cost a lot. To set up your guitar, you have to know how you play, what's your style and what you want to play.

That is a myth. I know a guitar technican that doesn't even play guitar, and long time players bring him their instrument to adjust. All he does is set it to the manufacturers recommendations, and everyone is happy. Minor readjustements when you get a hang for your playing style can be helpfull, but apart from that setting up a guitar is much more science than art.

Both Gibson and fender have different default recommendations for different playing styles, and they can be aplied to other guitars with similiar body builds or function. That's what the technicians do when you bring them your guitar, and it's something you can perfectly do by yourself in 3 hours (that's including cleaning, but a non-floydrose...)

Also, the only thing you can damage is the truss rod, and only if you use ridicoulously unreasonable ammounts of force. As long as you restrain yourself to 1/8 turns by aplying force to the wrench with your thumb, there's absolutely nothing you can break.