10 Things You Wish You Knew About Guitars (Before You Bought One.)

[Ava]

Hi, I'm Ava, the blog moderator for Jemsite's newest community blog. I've been asked to write a short blog post for another blog on 10 Things You Wish You Knew About Guitars (Before You Bought One) and I'd like to turn into a Jemsite user-friendly concept. (10 Things Jemsite Users Wish They Knew about Guitars (Before They Bought One.)

I wanted to make it informative, funny, and witty. So I'm asking the experts! What's one or two things you guys would you guys put on this list? If I use it, I'll try to give you credit in the post.

Thanks,
Ava

[Jacob K]

On top of my head:

1. The impact of a proper setup (intonation and playability).
2. To spend a little extra money and buy a proper guitar (may be pre-owned) with someone who knows what's worth anything as a guide.
3. The joy of string change once every few months.

[akosunen]

To add to Jacob's point number 3, getting a guitar with a floating tremolo system as the first may not be a good move if no one around knows how to set it up.

[IbanezFreak777]

Never rush into any purchase, reseach the guitar before you buy !!!

[DEADTUNES666]

1) How many women would be turned onto you because you play that beautiful guitar, and then 6 months later how turned off those same women are because you play that damned guitar...

2) To keep them nice because they will accrue some value...

3) How unimportant playing guitar would be in the future of real employment.

[andy7jem]

Originally Posted by DEADTUNES666

1) How many women would be turned onto you because you play that beautiful guitar, and then 6 months later how turned off those same women are because you play that damned guitar...

LMFAO

So true!!! I found that out the hard way though

[kotornut]

In no particular order:

1) Save money now and get a better guitar and more satisfaction later on.
2) Play everything regardless of what's "cool" or not.
3) Amps are as much of a part of the electric guitar as the big sound box on an acoustic is.
4) Decide what your style is and let yourself decide what gear to use not your friends, a forum, guitar teacher or even your guitar hero.
5) Playing better is sounding better.
6) Don't discount the comfort of a guitar in your hands and on your body while playing, just because another one looks "cooler."
7) Is the guitar easy to tune and stays in tune (basic but important)
Gold hardware wears off anyways (from my dad the gibson jazzbox player).
9) You will get tired of every color after a while (even swirls).
10) Does the electric guitar have sustain, tone and good harmonics unplugged.

[chlamy]

One advice I always give people who start : looks ARE important ! Too many beginners buy some standard guitar that they don't find particularly attractive and hence sometimes their desire is also minimized to take it out, clean it and play it. When you have a guitar you love looking at, it is a very strong impetus to take it out, play it and take well care of it. That's why I always recommend to people, besides the obvious (ie gooud sounding, comfortable ...) to pick a first guitar that they also think looks cool !

In the same vein, if you can wait a little (money wise) and get a very decent guitar right away, do it and don't go for something cheapish. Not only will it look better and motivate you more to play (see above) but the value of actually having a guitar that doesn't go out of tune, with fret ends that don't rip your fingers off when you do a slide, a lutherie that allows for a good setup without buzz, intonation that is proper etc ... will not only extend your playing pleasure but also more importantly be more musical, and overall provide way more fun and help you improve.

So, as far as budget allows, and as counterproductive as it may seem, I do recommend even beginners that are motivated to get a good guitar right away from the start and I don't believe in the : buy a 100$ guitar to start and when you're a good player buy something better.

The turning point is also that, should you resell your first guitar, because after time you realize you prefer other neck shapes (or you even want to stop guitar alltogether) etc ... a good guitar will have much better resale value than a cheapo. Oh ... and of course should you want to "upgrade" it with better pickups etc, it is also better to allready have a good base down (woods, craftmanship ...)

[jim777]

You MUST learn to tune it. Buy a tuner the day you buy the guitar if you can't do this already; if it isn't in tune you can't do anything with it other than make noise.

[DavyH]

Realise before you buy the first one that guitars are somewhat more addictive than crack.

[mrjakob69]

really learn why x guitar is better then y guitar and learn what neck profile you like pickup configuration you like trem system you like, string gauge you like and take into account the type of music you play or wish to play, and learn why one guitar is 1k and another is 2k but they look the same.

[cosmitron]

... That Ibanez would reissue another 80's classic.

[SRVoodoo]

That I don't really care for the Edge-Pro but still I have two guitars with it on....and apparently you need to be a F**king Rocket Scientist to make an Original Edge fit into the body that is routed for an EP!

[musicdr]

1.Just because a guitar looks and sounds cool doesn't necessarily mean you will because you buy it.
2.The secret to being an accomplished guitarist is actually playing,
not reading about playing,posting about playing or watching others play.
3.If you practice things that are hard for you, it makes everything else you play seem easy.
4.If you practice things that are easy for you, you have just wasted good practice time.
5.If you buy the same guitar back 5 times and still don't bond with it, chances are it is just not for you.(recent experience)
6.When you finally find that holy grail guitar,buying 4 more exactly like it doesn't necessarily mean you will have 4 times the enjoyment.
7.Although it sounds cool,having 20+ guitars is
a) a lot of maintenance
b)20+ pickup choices
c)a lot of string sets
d)20 more choices than I probably need when deciding what to play
e)still has nothing to do with being a better player.
8.I know tone is in the hands,unfortunately you can't hear it without a guitar and amp.
9.There is no "magic bullet","ninja scroll" or "top secret formula"to be a guitar master,only practice and hard work.
10.There is a secret to getting along with bandmates and other muscians-don't be an a*****e.

[mrjakob69]

Originally Posted by musicdr

1.Just because a guitar looks and sounds cool doesn't necessarily mean you will because you buy it.
2.The secret to being an accomplished guitarist is actually playing,
not reading about playing,posting about playing or watching others play.
3.If you practice things that are hard for you, it makes everything else you play seem easy.
4.If you practice things that are easy for you, you have just wasted good practice time.
5.If you buy the same guitar back 5 times and still don't bond with it, chances are it is just not for you.(recent experience)
6.When you finally find that holy grail guitar,buying 4 more exactly like it doesn't necessarily mean you will have 4 times the enjoyment.
7.Although it sounds cool,having 20+ guitars is
a) a lot of maintenance
b)20+ pickup choices
c)a lot of string sets
d)20 more choices than I probably need when deciding what to play
e)still has nothing to do with being a better player.
8.I know tone is in the hands,unfortunately you can't hear it without a guitar and amp.
9.There is no "magic bullet","ninja scroll" or "top secret formula"to be a guitar master,only practice and hard work.
10.There is a secret to getting along with bandmates and other muscians-don't be an a*****e.

if 20 is just to many let me have 19 to make your choice easier :0