Guitars

[BubbaHeat]

Thanks for all of the suggestions on my acoustic purchase. In the end I went off the rails and spent more than I wanted (hell, I'm worth it). I grabbed a NOS (New, Old Stock) Breedlove Pro Series D25 for $1400. The Martins and Taylors in the $1000 price range were really disappointing. Flat sounding boxes with laminate backs and no real overtones or richness to speak of. Not to mention a complete lack of bottom end. I know they can get better with time but for $1000 it should sound great from the start.

After I had tried out about 10 guitars in the 1K range I went "upstairs" to the real acoustic room. Some of the guitars were in the 5 to 10K range. I played a Martin D 18 and D28 which were spectacular but 3K. When I picked up the Breedlove I was blown away. For half the money it sounded as good (but different) than the Martins and Taylors. Very rich and balanced with great bottom and volume. Just a beautiful guitar. Amazing all solid wood construction.
Basically this..

http://www.imagineguitars.com/guitar...Series_D25.htm

The electronics (LR Baggs active system) are also impressive and are completely contained with no hole in the guitar so it can be upgraded later if I want. I can't wait to plug it in with the band.

[TophFletch]

Originally Posted by BubbaHeat

http://www.imagineguitars.com/guitar...Series_D25.htm

The electronics (LR Baggs active system) are also impressive and are completely contained with no hole in the guitar so it can be upgraded later if I want. I can't wait to plug it in with the band.

I had a Taylor 310 that had an LR Baggs system that the guy I brought it on eBay happened to have had installed on it.

I guess I'll have to expose my ignorance since I haven't been paying attention to acoustic guitars for nearly 10 year, but I never heard of Breedlove till I read your link.

I liked the wood used on it and with your description of Martin and Taylor sounding flat, that opens my mind to upstarts and other companies.

When I moved to Austin in 2006 for nine months that Taylor being stolen from me was my welcome-to-town gift.

But seeing this link here makes me realize that maybe I was too in a box buying acoustics in the past and the next one I spend a grand over shouldn't automatically be another Taylor like I thought it be, thanks to your link.

I was impressed with the link. I'll read reviews on the guitar forums I have links to to learn more about Breedlove.

[BubbaHeat]

Breedlove was founded by a Taylor employee. They were recently saved from going under by another small guitar company and started making very low end guitars as well so you can see them at Guitar center etc.

I honestly wanted to buy a Taylor or a Martin. I wanted the name on the headstock but in this case the sound made me blind. The low end Breedloves are made in Korea and are on par with other guitars under a grand. The American made stuff is really as good or better than anything else out there. They also have a unique voice that fits between Martin and Taylor. Try to find one to play. It's worth it.

[ubermacht003]

Wow

awesome
let's

hear
it
when
possible
plugged
in
or

acoustic


http://www.imagineguitars.com/guitar...Series_D25.htm

[bemyself]

Originally Posted by TophFletch

Aside from the Les Paul guitar company he invented something great: the multi track recording device.

Interesting fact; didn't know that one.

Talking about interesting facts, Les Pauls are now better know as Rock guitars, but they were originally made to play Jazz.

[ubermacht003]

wanted

to

slow
it
down

note by note

oh
no

witch

Guitar


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tFZnA...eature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bK1fPcryIbI

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UTWaH...eature=related

[ubermacht003]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lNeEb7I3bwI

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IAn8j...feature=relmfu

[ubermacht003]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xj7br...eature=related

[Trainee Warrior]

I got myself a Epiphone Les Paul Classic ( I think ) mainly because my hero is Jimmy Page ( that and budget restrictions!! ).

I really wanna get focused on my practicing again as I tend to just mess about a bit but when I get focused I can play pretty decent.
I just struggle to find a good and productive practice routine and tend to get overwhelmed with what I want to practice or end up getting bored with the same old exercises.

I want to learn to play by ear too, which I find pretty hard.

I also want an acoustic too and have been going a bit mad at the moment on the live albums...been getting a fair few lately!!

[ubermacht003]

don't
think anything
just
start playing

don't

your
mind get in
the way
many
good musicians
get tripped up
thinking
eventually
your
fingers
do the

thinking
talking

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3kZWq...feature=fvwrel

[bemyself]

Originally Posted by Trainee Warrior

I just struggle to find a good and productive practice routine and tend to get overwhelmed with what I want to practice or end up getting bored with the same old exercises.

Maybe asking yourself some key questions could help you focus and find a good practice routine.

What is it that you want to accomplish at your playing? Set clear but realistic goals.
Which are the areas in your playing that you feel are weaker or need more improvement? Those are the areas you should emphasize on your practice time and/or routine.

[Trainee Warrior]

Yeah, I think my main frustration was not having a decent guide on how to learn and make music but now I have managed to download an amazing book ( for free as well!! ) that is helping me put it all together.

Its explaining a lot of things I already kind of new but in a clearer way to help actually make and figure out music, rather than what I was doing and just practicing random short licks and riffs in music books that dont mean anything to me or just technique exercises.

I think that playing from the heart is good but I dont know how to make the sounds I hear in my head come out on my guitar so Im doig the " how to " bit that Ive been missing.

I do have a question though - In chord progressions, if I was playing in E Major say, does the song or progression have to actually START on E or can it start on say, the 5th or 6th ( B or C# ) chords and then move back to the root E?
Or would that make it a different key?

[Kodiak]

It can start anywhere and still be in that key. The 5th has a very strong feeling of moving back to the root chord, so you will hear some songs start on the 5 chord for one beat and then go to the 1 chord.

In the key of E Major, the 4 chord would be A major. The 5 chord would be B Major. So in a typical modern song in the key of E you would see a lot of those chords. The feeling would be that the E chord is home base. These are all major chords, not minor chords, so the song has a happy major feel.

The notes in the key of E Major are E, F#, G#, A, B, C#, D#. So as long as those are the notes in the song, it is in E Major. Not all chords in the key of E Major are major chords. The 6th chord in a major key is always a minor chord. So in the key of E, the 6 chord is C#minor. You build the chords out of the notes in the scale, so for the 6 chord the notes would be C# E G#, which is the C#m chord. Having minor chords in a major song is fine, and quite common. You'll hear the 6minor all the time in pop, rock, and folk.

To complicate it, there is a related minor key which uses the same notes. It starts on the 6th of the major scale. In this case the relative minor key is C# minor. A song in C# minor would be based on the C#m chord. You'd hear the 4 minor and the 5 minor chords a lot, which would be F#m and G#m. Thus the relative minor key sounds minor because the main chords are all minor.

You could start a song in E Major on the 5 chord for a few measures, thus causing some ambiguity. The song "Horse With No Name" is a good example, where there are only 2 chords. The key is a bit ambiguous. But at some point the key becomes known to the ear by the notes in the melody.

[ubermacht003]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=41yzT...deo&playnext=1

[bemyself]

Originally Posted by Kodiak

You could start a song in E Major on the 5 chord for a few measures, thus causing some ambiguity. The song "Horse With No Name" is a good example, where there are only 2 chords. The key is a bit ambiguous. But at some point the key becomes known to the ear by the notes in the melody.

In that case, the song is using modal harmony; it is based on the Em Dorian mode (think of it as a D Mayor scale starting on the second note - the E note)

But enough with the complications. There's a nice, well explained lesson on how to play that song here.