George's Guitar Emporium

[Tom Servo]

I definitely have the "ping" issue, though I figured that was due to the little metal guys that hold the strings in place halfway between the nut and the tuning pegs. Only the high strings do it, the low three don't. Other than that, open chords all sound pretty good on the guitar. I did have it set up at a local shop that has a pretty good reputation. I have a feeling it really just wouldn't be worth it to do much to the nut on this one - it doesn't sound bad to me and given that I want to upgrade the guitar soon, I just don't see the point of spending that kind of money on it.

[George]

...open chords all sound pretty good on the guitar. I did have it set up at a local shop that has a pretty good reputation.

In that case, you're golden! Deck the bridge by tightening the claw for so it doesn't freak out when you go to Drop D tuning and you're done!

I was assuming the worst, as if you had bought the guitar in a box on the shelf at Wal-Mart or something, and it was a basket case. And that's not a crack on Squier Bullets - I love cheap guitars and have owned at least three Squiers before, have one Squier Strat currently (all these from various craigslist trades), and a Squier Vintage Modified Bass VI is about the only instrument currently on my "want list".

For what it's worth, I paid $5.23 (including tax) for my last guitar - a First Act Telecaster-style guitar at a thrift shop. It plays great after my basic setup, the nut is just fine, and I even took it to a jam session with friends who know guitars recently and it got high praise...for the price. I left the $4.99 price tag on the back and showed it to everyone who had the patience to put up my my boasting about it.

I wouldn't presume to inflict my preference for guitars on anyone else, since they are such a personal choice, but you might browse www.tdpri.com if the idea of owning a Telecaster doesn't completely turn you off.

And, BTW, one of my minor motivations in typing all this, Tom, was to repay a bit of your kindness and support in the bicycle thread at our last hangout. You were very patient and helpful with me when I described parts of a bike as "um, those round black things that you have to pump up with air. What are them thangs called again?" and so on.

Oh, and speaking of proper nomenclature, "the little metal guys that hold the strings in place halfway between the nut and the tuning pegs" are called string trees. Make sure they're straight (perpendicular to the strings) and the really hardcore Strat setup guys would recommend applying a dab of Chap-Stick from the tip of a toothpick underneath where the strings touch the trees as lubricant. The idea is to prevent anything that will cause a string to "hang up" and therefore get out of tune.

[Rob]

George, for fuck's sake start a general guitar thread in the pit stop. This stuff is too useful to newer players who may not care about Rocksmith.

We could post pics of our weapons of choice too! (I'm also packing a Tele in the arsenal, as every guitarist should)

I'm a 20+ year player and your explanations are worded better than I could manage.

[George]

Okay, Rob! I knew you played but didn't know the particulars. Would love to see your gear and talk guitars with you and everyone else who's interested.

But before I/we do, what says Random about deleting/merging/moving the relevant info from here into a new thread in the Pit Stop?

P.S. How can you tell if a stage is level?

If the drummer is drooling out of both sides of his mouth.

[Random]

If we're taking inventory, I own two guitars (note that I didn't write that I play them...):

1) a 4-string MIM Jazz bass (in "Midnight Wine" color), totally stock other than a "Police Line Do Not Cross" strap that a friend gave me. The color actually matches my drum set pretty well, which was totally not planned.
2) a 6-string acoustic guitar "Franciscan" Model 6900, made in Korea, worth tens of dollars (maybe)! Looks just like this one.

[George]

Thanks for the move the Pit Stop, Random.

I remember when you bought that bass and posted about it many years ago. Gorgeous color! My #1 bass is the same color, although faded a bit since it's 28 or 29 years old as of this writing. Eventually I'll get around to posting some pics but for now I figure I've run my mouth enough in here.

I should probably go delete all my posts in the Rocksmith thread in The Arcade so as not to scare away those who want to talk about the video game instead of gear talk. I suppose I'll get around to that, but right now I'm getting sleepy and figure I should go to b

[Random]

I'll clean up the other thread.

[Tom Servo]

So, it looks like all the strings play the same note on the 12th fret that they do open. Decking the bridge appears to have fixed the tuning issue, and the 7th fret harmonics are showing up just fine. So far, so good, the guitar is playing great!

[George]

The bridged fixed the harmonics problem in Rocksmith too? Great. Sounds like you're done until the desire for different/more guitars becomes overwhelming, if it ever does.

We could post pics of our weapons of choice too! (I'm also packing a Tele in the arsenal, as every guitarist should)

I'll start. Here's my latest acquisition, with price tag and receipt. I don't usually go to thrift shops but one opened near our house in an old Circuit City store and I stopped in one day after work to check the place out. In a back corner they have electronics, like TVs and VCRs and stereo gear and then there was this, just lying on a table with no strings but otherwise appearing to be a perfectly good guitar. And it is! The brand is First Act, which I believe are among the absolute cheapest guitars sold at stores like Wal-Mart.




You can see someone had written the fret numbers on the side of the neck. I was able to scrub most of that off but you can still see them a little. I don't mind at all.



Cleaned and restrung and ready to take out to a jam (which I did). Nice guitar for five bucks, and it occurred to me as I was putting on a set of strings that the strings cost as much as the guitar.

[Rob]

I haven't taken any decent pics of the family yet, but my next purchase just let itself be known.

The carved top Telecaster shaped 7 string at 7:28 in this vid:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D5HXCrBGmfs

I already own two other Chapmans and the bang-for-buck is really high. Build quality is rock solid too.