Use this thread for the opportunity to ask all those questions that aren't quite threadworthy. Do no post any videos, for this is strictly for questions related to the guitar ONLY. This is to help cut down on the massive number of useless and often repeated threads.

HEY YOU NEWBIES... wanna make a post or a thread about something and your afraid of getting flamed? Post it here, for you are safe from ingnorant new threads spawning because of your lack of intellect or ability to use the search feature.

Enjoy!

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And let me be the first to ask a miscellaneous guitar related question.

I was wondering, while messing with my tuner that it has just the straight up EADGBe lights for tuning, and the calibrate is to get "EADGBe" in a different pitch. Like 439. So my question is this. Is that was cents are? A unit of measurement for pitch? Also does 1 cent = 1 whole step. Thanks.

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tuning frequencies are usually between 430 - 450hz, with the reference being 440hz. this means your instrument should be in perfect pitch with other instruments.
the percent is how sharp or how flat the pitch is according to the reference.
eg. you wish to tune open 5 string, which is A. your tuner will display A and how close you are to matching that pitch, and percentage is the measurement of the difference. the lower the percentage the closer the pitch is to being in tune with 0% being perfectly in tune.
also, 100% is half step, 50% is a quarter step, 25% is an eigth step and so on.
i hope this made sense.

also, if youd like to experiment with creating a lower tone, set the frequency to below 440hz and tune in pitch with the tuner eg. 435hz. youll find that if you tune to standard, it will no longer be standard, but everything will be 5hz below standard. so the low E instead of being 82hz, will now be 77hz and so on.

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That makes total sense, that deals with hertz. I realized that I have no clue what cent is? It is a smaller unit of hertz?

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a cent is a semitone devided into one hundred equal parts.
it is not initially associated with herts, but theres probably an easy equation to link the two.

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great idea to have a thread like this. I'm asking: what the fuck is wrong with my guitar? only the high E string buzzez at every fret, but any other string doesn't. I have a floyd rose bridge, and can't get just one string higher. Do you think that the frets are worn out or something ?!?!?!?

On both sides of the trem itself there will be hex nuts. One next to the low e and one next to the high e. Get a hex wrench and turn the nut by the high e in the direction to raise the bridge up. Do it little by little.

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thaks man, I tried it and it worked.

Hey guys, the tuners on my RG are really shitty... they'll go out if i bend more than a semitone... so could you lend any ideas for decent tuners. I was looking over ebay, and the main companies are schaller, grover, and sperzel... and i dont know whether i should get locking tuners or not.

any advice would be appreciated.

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Hmmm,

I own 2 RGs and none of em go out of tune. Are the tuner themselves loose? Like the screw that adheres the tuner maybe loose? I don't know why you would lose tune.

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If I may sneak in with a question - I have just began practicing a song that goes in drop C. Problem is, the lower bass string refuses to keep the tuning. I play the song and it is something like ten to twenty percent off at the end. Is this the same type of problem you get with brand new strings so it will correct itself with time? Or must I get used to retune the thing after every song in drop C?

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try get some locking tuners, im going to be stocking all my non-trem, ToM bridges with some schaller locking ones, or sperzel.

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How far away is your 'standard' tuning? If your going from E/Eb to drop C, except it to be like new strings and lose tune untill the slack can dispersed. Standard D to drop C, would just be the top string, and would take a few re-tunings to differentiate the slack.

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Alright, i want to start playing around with my tremelo.

Yes, its a lisenced floyd rose and it goes uber outta tune if i do anything else but vibratos with it.

I didnt know that tightening the nuts at the saddle (saddle? end of the neck where it joins the headstock) kept it in tune better. Which it does, but if i try a dive-bomb it doesnt matter how tight i have em, it just goes outta tune like crazy.

Any way of getting it to help stay in tune, tighter springs maybe? Its almost like the bridge doesnt fall back into place after a large whammy hit.
Then again, its an old bridge, i have a feeling im just gonna have to wait until i get a guitar.

But if you guys have any suggestions... Thanks

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i ordered a guitar yesterday with a licensed floyd... and im just guna replace it with a floyd original or floyd pro... im pretty sure that would be the best bet for fixing tuning problems.

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I dunno, it might be to tight, cause I had a real problem with my sprongs being to tight, they raised my bridge up like to a 90 degree angle like right from the factory so I had to dissassemble the whole thing, then put it back but I left the springs a little looser...dont know if this post was pointless or not

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question! (duh)

my buddy has a mid 70's fender strat with a kahler trem in it... it looks like it was originally built this way... or was customized perfectly. Anybody know how much that thing could go for?

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Does this mean that all licensed Floyd bridges can't hold tunings when dive bombing? Because I want to buy an used Ibanez(won't say which) which was discontinued(due to a lawsuit) and it has a locking licensed Floyd system. So I wouldn't be able to play Morbid Angel-style solos and shit with it?

I know I'm going to have a hell of a time setting the bridge up, but I'm up for it, I need a 2nd guitar anyway.

I also want to know this: If you take all the strings off of a guitar, does this mean that the neck will immedeately warp due to lack of tension? How long can a neck be "safe" without it being stringed? Do necks with a truss rod simply stay straight always?

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No, mine stays in tune even if I dive with the bar touching the body.

the ibanez edges are easily the best licensed floyds out there... mine never goes out of tune.

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I bomb mine all the time. Never out of tune. One of my RG's trems was offset badly. Couldn't get that thing to level out no matter how I adjusted the set screws, so I popped a spring out. Flush as a motherfucker now, perfect tune.

Opethfan: saddle? end of the neck where it joins the headstock.

That's the nut, the saddle is where the string meets the bridge, it's the metal piece with the groove for the string.

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so how many springs do you have in there... and what gauge strings, i'll do anything to shave some time off restringing

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I got three in there now.

setup like this \|/ with 10's on it

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I usually have the standard e-tuning; though more and more of Drop C lately. Do I understand you correctly that it will right itself with time and stubborness?

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For a good bridge/tremolo use a kahler, they stay in tune well and the fine tuners allow a lot of range for tuning.

Is the base of your tremelo set off the body? If so, that might be the problem. Even though you have the advantage of getting a higher or lower pitch with the tremelo, it still almost never sets back into place right. I don't know maybe it's just me but thats my experiance with that. Also, I've heard something about airbags instead of springs. Supposudly there supposed to set the bridge back in place almost exactly every time.

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yo guys, my resident housemaster dude just gave me a guitar, and i have no idea what it is or how to track it down or anything.

Its a black fender copy. so we have 3 single coils.

It looks like 2 of the tuners have been replaced... because theres different ones on the b and low E string... and the replaced ones are fairly good too.

The headstock says Vantage... seems to be one piece with the neck. And the fretboard has a wierd layout, its rosewood with center dots on frets 3, 5,7 and 9, and offset dots on 12, 15, 17, 19, 21.

I cannot find a serial number anywhere. The bolton plate is blank. The whammy bar cover is not recessed.

Anybody know anything? I want to get a price on this before i sell it.

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So how does this thing work... the whammy bar is pushed towards the body and the bridge is pushed downwards along with the strings? I still don't understand how a trem works...

The Ibanez I may be buying has a locking trem, not an OFR or anything but it looks reliable. I hear Ibanez's trems hold tunings very well. It's going to be my first trem guitar, so I have not much of a clue how to use it, so I'm buying mainly because I need a 2nd and this guitar is cheap(used).

Vantage is an old Japaneese or Chineese company cant remember which one. They are fairly good guitars. When you see a vantage sold, however, its usually under one hundered bucks. i dont know why. If memory serves correctly, the company is now called samick. My friend owns a vantage les paul style guitar. its not bad but it definetly could be a lot better.

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A trem works like this..

<--------tension of strings
(tremolo goes here) [equal tension from strings and springs create flushed tremolo]
<--------force of springs

Goal is to get the force of the springs to match the tension of the strings, when in tune.

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Thats the same as mine... I cant figure out why it does it. The bridge is all even and shit, i get it perfect each time i re-string. eh fucked if i know

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this is giving me a headache trying to follow the posts.

sounds like that guitar is a beginner guitar, and if its had tuners replaced, youll probably get less for it. i dunno keep it instead.

floyd roses, as do all tremelos, work by tightening or loosening the string. the springs are there to counteract the tension. different ways to put the springs on, ie /|\ or ||| or whatever the fuck, its just different ways of displacing the balance. /|\ will be a more even diffused tension, where as ||| will be prone to local differences.
inside the back of your RG or similar, youll see the springs, with one end attached to the block, and the other end attached to a plate, which is held inplace by two screws. turning these screws by only like 1/4 turn, will make your bridge raise or lower its angle. do 'em little by little and do 'em both the same. once you got the angle right, then you need to get the height right. theres a little allen key hole in the posts, where the trem pivots(the only actual contact with the guitar), turning these will raise or lower the bridge.
while your doing that, make sure you remember two things,
1. every time you make any adjustment, however small, your guitar will go out of tune, therefore, the strings will be the wrong tension. retune everytime you adjust anything.
2. theres a bloke in your local guitar shop who will do it for you for pretty cheap.

to the bloke whose strings go out of tune, make sure your strings are completely worn in before you tighten the nut, and then make sure its perfect in tune and fairly tight on the nut. obviously you should make sure its tight at the other end (saddle).
if it still goes out of tune, then either your trem setup is fucked, or your buying shit strings.

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How is a f-spaced pickup different from a normal pickup? I think I once heard it was something to do with the way fender spaced their pickup points according to strings. Can someone briefly explain f-spacing? Also are Ibanez RG guitar pickups f-spaced or normal?

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i think f spacing just makes it spaced to a floyd rose bridge... as opposed to the spacing as a fixed bridge.... i really dont know.



now for my question

If i replaced a normal neck with a baritone neck, would it make it impossible to intonate? Or would it be possible with the same bridge... i just came to think that maybe baritone bridges might have different placement, because of the different neck size, and that could perhaps fuck over all chances of intonation.

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I don't know for sure, but from it looks as if it's just a longer scaled neck and that's it.

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I've got a small question concerning a technique I use; playing very close to the bridge. I've found that it gives a very sharp and concentrated tone that is pretty nice when picking and as an extra effect in solos. I was just wondering, is this called something with music-theory-terminology?

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good question!

I don't guess I've ever heard the word. It falls more under dynamics then music theory. Maybe bridge picking?

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Just curious what size of an allen wrench would I need to adjust action if I've got a strat style bridge on my guitar?

I think it's 1/8" but may vary for different trems.

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i've been writing for a long time but just recently got into technical metal. when i get to the second guitar parts i never know what to use for harmonies of the two guitars. i wish i could figure out aletheian's but their amps are just insane and add a lot to the harmony. so my question is open to anyone, what harmonies do you use and do you know any cool ones other than the normal death metal tones?

someone who knows aletheian's trick would be helpful too...

they have some mp3's posted here http://www.myspace.com/aletheian

harmony meaning the sound of the two guitars together playing different notes on the guitar.

*sorry for the melodies/harmonies typo in the original! i always mix them up the two words up.

for hamronies u can use a 3rd note from what ur playing (if its scale wise)

im not sure what u exaclty mwean, my english isnt good enough to completely unerstansd what u want

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Note that melodies are different from harmonies. My melodies mainly come from the Aeolian Mode (Natural Minor Scale), which allows me to harmonize diatonically. There's plenty for me to play with there.

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Alright thanks man I'll try to get over to home depot at lunch and pick one up.

I don't mean to offend but would you mind rewording that? I'm not really sure I understand what you mean.

Is it wise to detune a guitar with a bolt on neck to let's say drop a ? or does it make no difference if its a bolt on neck or not

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Doesn't make a difference..what IS bad for a neck is tuning too far upwards.

Powers:

Definately haven't been here in a long time, cut me some slack. Didn't even know this thing existed...

Mk, now, if someone could answer this: http://metaltabs.com/forum/showthread.php?t=25755

I'd really appreciate it.

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I'm in the same boat. I'm fluent in my knowledge of theory and what notes to hit, I just can't whip out those patterns at blazing speeds. It's like when I watch my training videos of howe, gilbert, and others, they'll play a pattern slowly, but once they speed it up, it sounds completely different. Guitar One done a issue focusing on strength training. Mostly it was really focusing on the pick hand doing alternate picking with string skipping using chromatics, pentatonic, and other scales. That's what I've been doing. Indeed it's super fuckin boring at times, but will definitely build strength for speed.

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Ohw okay. I alwys figured that if I detune my guitar with bolt on neck to drop A the tension of the strings would kill the neck.

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Nope, I'm playing some Nile as we speak on a bolt on.

Okay sweet

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Trust me, you can detune a bolt-on.

nice job answering my questions, buttholes.

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K, this has nothing to do with playing material, but I've been having problems with my fingers. After playing for some time, I build up calices on my fingers, and they get all hard and shit. Now this has happened twice before on the same finger, the 3rd finger. The calice on it eventually starts ripping off, and it when I start playing and bending strings, it opens up a cut on the finger. Now I've got a fucking open cut on the finger and it hurts like a bitch playing. Anyone else experience this before, or anyone know a way to like put something on your finger so you can play w/out it hurting?

Slap a bandage on it, down a few shots of whiskey, and voila, no more pain.

Seriously, I don't really have a good idea. What I do when something like that happens is just try to make the most of it. Like, work on your other fingers. For example, my best frethand fingers are my index and ring, so if one of them were to get cut or I couldn't use them for some other reason, I would just get a workout in with my other weaker fingers. Not that you shouldn't work on all your fingers all the time, but an injury is a good excuse.

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Correct me if I'm wrong, but I would guess that that happens after you haven't played for a couple of days? You know you are racing against your own body in this case; you try to kill a bit of it and it tries to repair the damage. Be stubborn; the only way to make them permanently hard is keep at it.
Btw, have you noticed that you can impress people by inserting needles into your fingertips?

Now for a small question of my own:
I have a dist pedal that gives a wonderful metal sound. Funny thing is, if I don't modulate the signal with the dist in my amp while using this pedal the volume soars to bloody concert levels, even when I got the pedal's volume almost on minimum. Anyone knows why?

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So when you run the pedal through the clean channel it gets really loud? Have you checked the volume levels on the amp channels?

i have no idea what you mean with calice ... sry my english is fucked up
anyways the n1 rule for all injuries (broken arm... sliced finger... no matter what)
is to stop playing immediatly. you stop playing as long as you dont feel pain anymore otherwise you will make it even worse. and let me make sure that there is no option you will ruin youre playing if you keep on playing and ignore the wound. if calice is something like horny skin you are maybe pushing the strings to hard. but even then its better to stop ...the only the thing that changes is that it will heal much slower

if its something like a wart you have to visit a docter to remove it.

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This may sound crazy, but super glue. A friend of mine, awesome fuckin guitar player, literally has no fingertips on all his fingers. You look at em, and you can see 5 - 6 different layers of skin that have tried to grow back, but be plays 6 - 7 hours a day, and gigs all the time, so the skin never has time to grow in, so he uses super glue, says it works like a charm, comfortably numb.

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Hell, yeah! I never would have thought of that. Sounds like it might hurt like a bitch at first, but I suppose you'd get used to it.

EDIT: Fuckin' right, I'm officially a Metalhead!

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hey how do you do a pinched harmonic? i have done natural harmonics, but describe to me detailed how to do it, like "while hitting the string, quickly place your thumb. blah blah blah"

something descriptive. any info will help. thanks.

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Just hold your pick where the side of your thumb is even with the pick end of the pick. Fret a note, try something on the A or D string, then strike the string. This should lightly brush your thumb against the string right after striking. Where you pick the string determines the harmonics, different spots get ya different harmonics, not sure what your pickup config is, but your sure to get a good squal right around the middle-center of the middle pickup, or wherever the middle pickup would be if you had one. There's also a sweet spot right in front of the bridge pickup. Hope this helps...

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making a pich harmonic while upstroking also gives a good squeel. I love them ^^,

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What do you call harmonics where you tap a harmonic with your fretting hand,and then push down onto the fretboard and bend?

I think it's still called natural harmonics. Their either natural or artificial.


I got a question:

Where does everyone pick at according to where their pickups are? I mean a comfortable alt picking position. I've been working on my picking and find the middle pickup fucks my most comfortable picking position up.

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thats why I only have h-h setup. If I get a guitar with a middle pickup. I always take it out. I rather have a cavity there than a annoying pickup

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My rg has that stupid pu in the middle that sounds like crap, i just tighten the screws in it to lower it to the body, but then the screws broke so i taped it diwn with black electrical tape .

See I have a RG too. So it did bother your comfortable picking position. That's a good idea to lower it down. Thanks.

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I remeber having problems learning this once. It is actually really hard to explain how to do it correctly. It's just like chewing food. Easy to do, but how the hell would you explain how you do it step by step to someone that has never done it. When you first start chewing food I bet it would have hurt if you had a lot of teeth. Bitting your tongue, scraping the sides of your jaws, choking on unchewed food; these are the things you learned to over come.

Pinch harmonics are much the same way. It is all in the picking hand. It took me 6 weeks, if I remember right before I could actually do it intentionally everytime. Plus, with more time I learned that you must do it at a certain part of the string, depending on the string and the note you are trying to A.H.

My only tips are to hold the pick so that there isn't much of it to hit the string, and to hold it at a steeper angle to the string. That way both the pick and your skin actually "sound" the note (A.H.) at the same time. That isn't all there is to it but it isn't easy to descibe. You will learn, with time and practice, in a short time, just how it is done. Remember when you where a kid and seeing people ride 2 wheel bikes was like magic? Then you finally learned what balance was? Pinch harmonics is really the same way. Anyone can hit a string with a pick, but pinch harmonics is a completely different thing.

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I would like to take the opportunity and ask...

What the fuck is up with slanted pickups? Here
I've seen it on some of Van Halen's guitars and never understood it, is it merely cosmetic or does it really "change" anything, say, in the bridge position?

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It changes the vibration that the humbucker picks up. Here's a simple way of explaining it, you know how the neck pickup always sounds fatter and more open than a bridge pickup? That's because it's picking up the vibration of the strings at a different point. So, in the picture, the notes played on the 6th string would sound more like a middle pickup than a conventionally placed bridge pickup.

You bet I have, and the gain on the guitar too. Of course, it doesn't matter very much since it sounds a lot better when I put some of the amp's dist into it, but I can't help to be a little curious as to what the heck the pedal does to the signal.

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I would say the pedal is boosting the volume in the clean channel. That is what most pedals are designed to do. Add lots of over head, but not alway at the best sound quality.

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Ah, of course. It'll sound "warmer" than plain in the bridge. I was probably drunk like now when i posted the question, so... Thanks for the answer!

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I'm sorry for my dumbass questions Bit I would really like to tune to Bb but i also like playing dying fetus stuff etc. wich is tuned to C# will that kinda stuff sound muddy in Bb are just "heavier" ?

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I keep a guitar in B at all times and I've played my share of 'da Fetus on it. It sounds better to me, but then again, I don't like C or C#. In Bb it will sound lower, duh, but "heavier" is up to opinion, as I think Bb has a strange feel and sound to it.

I was wondering about a couple of basic concepts:
What is the difference, technically and pracitcally, between overdrive and distortion?
Exactly what does over-the-top mean in the case of guitars?
I know, I know, newbie questions; but I prefer to ask and seem stupid over not asking and remaining stupid.

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overdrive and distortion is exact the same thing. In both cases the guitar signal gets a kick in the ass in the preamp and thus distortion.

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Oh, thanks. I tried out a couple of pedals once, you see, one called distortion and the other over-drive. Distortion souned way much better, so I couldn't help wondering.
But exactly what do you mean by "over-the-top"? Just general whacked-out metal-crazy or is some kind of technicallity?

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I didn't know weather this is where to post this question but I don't want to shit anyone

Um I've been playing guitar for almost 2 years, and when I say I’ve been playing that means like ALOT I didn't put it down for a month, didn't eat or sleep and stuff so I've gotten the most out of the time, but anyway on to the question...

Is it better to use a Thin/Soft pic, or to use a Think/Hard pic? I started on hard, and then after about a year I went to soft (.46mm - .48mm). But now I don't know what to go with? So what’s better, for sound and stuff, which should I use? I can use either quite comfortably.

(I'm new to the forum if you can't tell, but I'm not new to the site)

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If you want to play some fast arpeggios and tremolo picking or let just sau METAL, use a thick and hard pick. I use 1,5mm Dunlops and Dunlop Jazz III's, I don't know those thickness.

yeah that’s one of the reason I was asking, thanks, and I wanted to know where I could get some good exercise(s) that help for some one that can’t really do them, I can do them going down (as in back up towards me) but I can't go up (down stroke) no where near as well. Like I can do the solo in Conquer All by Behemoth (because it’s mainly that way) but I'm having trouble with going up, down, up down etc)

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Learn Everytime I Die from COB. the intro riff is very simple, and you will learn the updowntechnique.

Yea,

Stick to a thicker firmer pick. I like the Dunlop Jazz picks, I use the jazz shape with the tortex feel. A must for fast alternate picking, sweeping, trem picking, and just flat out CONTROL.

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so should I use thin or think

and yeah I'll learn it, also does it matter about tuning? I tune to B starndard becuase I love the sound, but because the strings are looser does that make a problem?

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use a thick pick. what strenght of strings do you use?

0.11 or .011, they're not tight, but they're not loose

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does any1 know where i got get some good metal excersises for free??

Yup, I do.

Just who is it that you would like to know how to play? Once you know who that is then find the tabs a practice until you figure out the tabs perfectly and then why there fucking wrong! Now find live video to confirm and amaze yourself of just how wrong the tab is. Thank God for the Net or we might never find guitar lessons. Practice for a few more years; then no one wants to play with you because you smoke their ass at playing now. You learn playing music is from within you. You and who you find that share the same dream of music in their soul. You believe in the people that might like to listen to you and you go to listen to them. The world is not full of guitar players, so to most people you are something that they will never put the time into learning themself, but they do enjoy watching you. That is what making music is about.

Take time now. Fine tune your music skills into a killing machine.

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.....i just wanted to know of any sites that would teach me some goood metal tricks and tips

i was just wandering on my ibanez it has a floating tremolo(sp), is it possible to break it by using a whammy bar to much?

I imagine it could break if you wank the holy shit out of it excessively, but their built pretty tough. My Ibanez takes a beating and it's still in great shape, so give er hell.

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sure will

I have a question:
I read about two ways to tune to drop C. One is to just drop the low E string to C, the second way is to tune to drop D and then drop all of the strings to C tuning. Which one is right?
And another question:
How would I tune a 6-string to be in the same tuning/sound similar to a 7-string?

The guitars I have that are tuned to C use the second method you described, drop D, then tune down whole step, which ends up basically as tuned (low to high) C G C F A D.

For the seven string sound you are talking about, you can just drop this tuning one half step further. But that's not really like a 7 string, butthe guitars I tune to B (th 6 string ones) I do in this manner. It ends up being something like B F# B E G# C#. But this is really considered just "drop B" tuning. A 7 string is tuned B E A D G B E, you could tune the 6 strings to B E A D G B, but you will lose the organization of how a 6 string is set up.

Or you tune to B E A D F# B and the setup of a 6 string stays intact.

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Yup, that too.

will i ever be able to play like paul gilbert if i dont use strict alternate picking? I play a economy picking style, and theres certain patterns that are trickier to play than if i learnt it with alternate picking...is this just lack of practice? Will i be able to pick up speed if i pick up the practice on some of these patterns?