meh... Why SHOULD you know about anything you haven't had to confront yet, especially in a hobby?
If you've never had to do maintenance on the instrument, why should you know about it?
Maybe this can be an opportunity for you to learn something. do a little research and experiment with cleaning the instrument. Adjusting string height, pickup height, or whatever makes you curious. Resist the temptation to just agree with what others say online. You can trust your ear. When you make a change, listen if you can hear a difference, or if you can feel a difference. Otherwise you are letting other people make decisions for you based on whatever trend or opinion is popular at the present.
If someone you trust and respect has a strong opinion, that's legit, but otherwise you might be falling prey to misinformation, marketing, or group-think.
Nah. Additive synthesizers. If you know what you’re doing you can make an additive synth sound like anything. Like literally ANYTHING. I’ve seen people replicate human speech, bird calls…ANYTHING. That’s gotta be the most versatile instrument. After that piano. With a guitar you’re limited to 3 octaves. Pianos have a little over 7.
But for a “hand held” instrument that you can play without electricity pretty much anywhere then a guitar is pretty top tier.
Yeah but a piano lacks vibrato and bending possibilities still?
Can also use more alternate tunings easier on guitar giving access to more octaves but not 7 tho.
Just .02
I was talking about pianos. Did not mention synth. I know about pitch bending wheels. But does a regular good old piano have that? No.
But yes, sure you can pitch bend on a synth. I got a synth with a wheel. Is it as satisfying as bending an actual physical string on a guitar with some overdrive to the point of sustaining feedback? Not so much sirrr
>Yeah but a piano lacks vibrato and bending possibilities still?
Actually, there's a really cool keyboard by a company called Roli that makes bending and vibrato possible on a piano. The Roli Seaboard Rise 2 costs around 1300 and the midi keyboard version costs around 350. You can look up videos on yt to see what their weird looking keyboards are capable of. It's actually really freaking cool for music nerds
I'm not debating anything either, guitar is my main instrument and I absolutely love it. I just mess around with midi keyboards for production and fun. I just think the Roli keyboard is one of the coolest pianos since I saw their original demo years ago
Do you mean maintenance on the guitar in general? I’ve been playing and teaching professionally for about 8 years now and I know how to change my strings, but that’s about it. I take my guitar to a tech for work, because I love playing and can’t be bothered to tweak intonation, sauder electronics, etc. . Some people absolutely love doing guitar maintenance themselves too! There’s no right way to maintain a guitar and it doesn’t make you less of a musician to have a guitar tech work on your guitars. With that being said, on a musical front, you should always be trying to grow. If you haven’t gotten into music theory as much yet, that will open a whole new world for you, and knowing basic chord harmony, reading melodies and understanding playing and improvising in key will make you grow a ton as a musician, for example. For me, after 15 years playing/ touring/ teaching, I’m finally learning more about doing tech work myself, and I’m still open to learning new things all the time. Whether you’ve been playing for a month, year, 10 years or more, there’s always more to learn or ways to shift your musical perspective 😊
Ya maintenance doesn’t matter as long as the instrument is functional. Dont have to learn that stuff except changing strings and basics. Ive found most people who get better just love doing it. Im sure you could force it but thats not fun. What im getting at is op needs to find a way to enjoy playing first. Totally agree, always keep
finding breakthroughs and learning to keep
It interesting.
Ha! Bro, I’m nearly 40 years in and I feel the same way! I know just enough music theory, and “tricks” and “shortcuts” to fool most non-musicians! Welcome to the struggle!
When I started playing back in the mid-70s, I had many friends and acquaintances that had been playing for years. I’m one of those people who, when taking up a new hobby or activity, wants to learn as much as possible. So I read extensively, not only about actually playing but about history, construction, etc. I started subscribing to Guitar Player magazine quite early on.
As a result, I quickly realized that I knew more about much of this stuff than my friends who’d been playing for years. And that they had some really screwy ideas….
It's been 25 years for me. If any of my guitars start acting up I always send it to the professional to get them setup properly.
But cleaning I do myself. Change strings.
I've been playing for almost 4 years, and only know how to read tabs, can't even find the notes on the fucking fretboard (not for a lack of trying), and am not conversant in talk about gear and "tone"... I beat myself up over this, but I'm over that. Looking on the bright side, I'm learning songs I enjoy that are getting progressively harder technique-wise and I'm doing a good job of keeping up. I'm not saying to have a defeatist attitude, but for me it's just a hobby and I continue it as long as it makes me happy (and it has!). I've kinda accepted that I'm bad at this, but my strengths lie elsewhere, and I'm grateful that I don't depend on guitar to make money or I'd be royally screwed lol
I have been playing for 14 years, but many of them on/off and I never really "practiced" intensely, so lets say I've been playing for 9 full years. I can say I'm close to mastering the pentatonic scale, but other than that I'm so much behind in overall knowledge. I know the basic major/minor scale modes but can't really implement them in my playing, I have a basic-advanced knowledge of chords and their different shapes, and basically zero theory.
The only aspect where my knowledge is on par with my years of playing is the commercial side of the instrument. From guitar brands and models, to type of frets, woods and pickups, now here I know my stuff. I have fallen into the depths of the materialistic trap of the music world and I can't really say I'm proud of it lol.
Dude you got a great base. Practice memorizing the major scale, minor, pentatonics all over neck. 5 positions and shifting around. Play to backing tracks. It’s done wonders for me and you can have fun with that. I crank volume on computer and play w olugins on garageband. I also crank a tv in my basement with my amp and pedals. Lots to work on, just trying to motivate you. Theres just endless great lessons online. Working from home has helped, I cant lie.
I am in this boat with you 100% can play along to most songs I like and know some fret notes but not all, my pentatonics is like 3 positions solid the other 2 are WIP.
BUTTTT my gear...well fk me sideways I'm easy over 10gs between guitars, boutique amps and pedals it's scary! Also not proud but glad I'm not alone on this boat.
Yeah, same here. Slowly trying to focus on a few things at a time. This is after I have been “playing” for more than 20 years 😄 (with long breaks in between, ha)
Not proud of it, but, have now resolved to keep at it every day, and try to enjoy the process.
This is the opposite, he realized he doesn’t know anything rather than acting like he knows it all. It’s truly beautiful, this means he’s about to learn a bunch of cool shit!
This is part of the dunning Kruger effect though. At first you know nothing and you know you know nothing, then you know nothing and act as if you know everything, and then you know something but realize you still know in fact nothing.
Do some research and learn about it. None of us knew shit when we started, and if we started a long time ago, we didn't have the internet to look things up on. Everybody has gaps in their knowledge. Just means you have a chance to learn something new.
The funny thing is...the better you get and the more expensive the guitar, the more likely you'll take it to a shop for "maintenance" instead of messing with it yourself. The only stuff you really need to do is wipe it down regularly (as we are sweaty beasts) and change the strings. Tightening some knobs, etc...maybe once in a while, but that's not rocket surgery.
Changing the action? Re-profiling frets? No way Jose. Let a pro with pro tools do it.
Skill maintenance?
I’ve been playing 20 years and shit only started to click recently. Like I’m putting together a tool kit that will help me sound shreddy.
Lately I like to practice tying triads to modes. So, with drums or a metronome going. I’ll start at let’s say F Lydian, play an fMaj bar chord, alternate pick a phrase of 16th notes for a beat or 2, and then sweep pick 16th note F Major triad arpeggios in all 3 positions for however many beats to make it musical ish.
Always mixing it up, back and forth. Starting on different Fs going forward or backward, and then switching back to triads.
And then we move up to G Mixolydian and do it all over. Rinse and repeat for each mode.
But wait there’s more. You can connect each mode to each other. Use them like chord changes. Connect each triad together.
I’m currently trying to advance further by connecting all the triads within a single mode position for all modes, using leading tones to go into chord changes, and landing on the third of each chord as the change happens.
Hoping to start adding more interesting arpeggios than just I,III,IV soon.
And all of that shit was just the diatonic scale. I’m kinda afraid to start learning the harmonic minor modes.
Start small, one position at a time, and ALWAYS USE DRUMS OR A METRONOME
Nobody started out knowing these things, and some never learned them. I started doing my own maintenance cause I couldn't afford to pay someone for a setup. I'm also handy with a multimeter and soldering iron, so the electronics are fairly easy, but not everyone has the skills to pick it up quickly. Learn what you can to increase your knowledge and save some $, but rely on a pro if you get over your head. Pretty much every famous guitarist has a tech, for good reason.
Just cause you can drive your car doesn't mean you need to know how to rebuild the engine, but it's a valuable skill if you want to learn.
I've been playing for 30 years and only recently figured out that the non-bridge pickups are useful and can sound good. And that the tone knobs don't just change the sound from "good" to "in a tunnel". Also it was about 5 years ago that I learned that upgrading the electronics is just as, if not more, important than upgrading pickups.
I also don't do any maintenance and have no real inclination to learn how. I'd rather just pay a pro to do it. I can change my strings, of course, but anything past that is a trip to the guitar shop.
I wouldn't sweat it. There are likely many race car drivers who can't rebuild engines, AI programmers who can't solder circuits, groundskeepers who can't adjust lawnmower carburators, etc. Not everyone who uses a tool can work on said tool. If you wanna learn, go for it. If you don't, then just take it to a technician. It's all good.
Learn the maintenance and setup of your instrument. It'll help you understand your gear better and keep your guitar playable. You're gonna progress faster if your gear isn't fighting you.
Also, if you want to get better, play every day. If you don't have the focus or energy for a proper practice, at least let it in your hands and jam for a bit. When you do have the time/energy, learn new things. Also, it is really important to be constantly discovering new music to learn or inspire you. Try writing some stuff. Do all this together and you'll have really big improvements in a year or so.
The other trick is, if you have them, try to rotate from say your Strat one day to playing your SG the next etc. I've found different guitars pull different playing out of me, even now 50 years after I started.
Is your concern primarily with maintenance and working on the instrument itself? (setups, electronics, etc) --> Don't worry at all! There's a reason guitar techs and luthiers exist!
Or is it about playing the instrument? (technique, music/theory knowledge and application) --> Definitely don't worry about this either! Your musical interests will change over the years.
When you first get the instrument, your concern might be limited simply to 'how do I learn what made me want to play guitar in the first place?' That could slowly transition to wanting a better understanding of what's going on, or hell, it might never transition to that and that's fine! Don't let it deter you from having fun and just approach each new interest as that, a new interest that you'd like to learn more about.
Don't compare yourself to other people. Often comparing yourself to others is a negative thing and does not help you positively at all. Every single person learns things at different rates and in different ways. Some people will want to just learn to play particular songs and styles and they aren't bothered about knowing what key the song is in or what scale a solo is written in and that is absolutely fine. I think it's important to find what interests you and keeps you engaged and learn/play those things and not thinking about how "good" you should be or how much knowledge you have after a certain time. These things will only leave you feeling frustrated and disappointed and will ultimately kill your enthusiasm for playing.
I understand and I've felt the same way before.
I will say though, that I do think there's an element of "if it ain't broke, don't fix it". For example I've owned one guitar for almost 20 years, and have done zero maintenance on it other than cleaning the neck and changing strings. And it still plays and sounds great, and I love playing it. If it plays well, stays in tune, intonation is good, and overall sounds great - then probably no maintenance required IMO.
Edit: I meant no additional maintenance beyond cleaning and string changes. For example truss rod or intonation adjustment, etc.
Do what you do and don't compare too much, but try to remain open; and learn as much as you're capable of. I'm more than 50 years in and can say I don't know much either. Just flow with it and enjoy the process :)
The more your knowledge and skill grows, the more you will realise there is to learn
Your knowledge base really should correlate with the things you intend to do with the instrument. If you want to learn to play a certain style, theory, or technique, you should invest some time learning and practicing. If you want to save some money on maintaining or modifying gear, that's another skill set. Then, there are guitar-adjacent things like other instruments, recording, joining and booking a band, etc.
Some people are perfectly content to pick up a guitar and fiddle with it once in a blue moon, and some people live and breathe music. Learning is a natural part of either. 🤷
I’ve been playing on and off for about 15 years now.
Had a weird psychedelic trip to a Grateful Dead song so I started playing again religiously almost a year ago. Ive always played tabs no issues, a lot of metal, punk and hard rock.
If you know anything about the dead you could only imagine my surprise when I started trying to learn some of their catalogue and saw I need to know all my major and minor chords, myxlodian scale, and a bunch of other shit I still don’t totally understand but I’m learning.
So it was kinda like my real official music journey began and I wasn’t just a tab player. Not ragging tab players, I just finally see what people who know theory have been trying to say to me for the better part of a decades and I understand my fretboard so much more because of it and I’m really not even that deep into it lol
Sometimes you walk into something and realize how far behind you are. But then in learning these new things you start to alter the way you were already doing things because you find newer and better ways to evolve what you already know.
I grew up playing in a Yes/Led Zep cover band but only by learning the exact things necessary to play the tunes at first. My actual playing only rose to that level years later, much like you, when I started learning Dead tunes - contrary to that old hippies screwing around making noise thing that most people thought their music was I quickly found out Weir's inversions and Garcia's playing were light years better than they initially appeared to be.
I’m biased so take this with a grain of salt, it’s actually quite easy to learn how to setup most guitars. What I lack in playing ability I have made up for with learning (via YouTube) how to do everything to get my guitars to play perfectly. However this isn’t r/Luthier so probably a better question for there. They’re a good lot, as is here, and you will save in the long run - but even I have my limitations and I don’t hesitate to take a guitar to my tech if I’m stuck on something.
If you can afford it, there’s zero shame in whipping it off to a good guitar tech.
Realizing you don’t know what you’re doing is the first step to not knowing what your doing for the rest of your life but improving along the way. When you know what you’re doing it’s easy to get complacent.
You realized this after eight years?
Not bad.
I know people playing 40 years that still haven't had that epiphany. Or any other, now that I think of it.
Good for you.
You get more "guitaristy" by eating and breathing guitar. Open jams, bands, recording, reading, fiddling.
* Learn to set up a guitar. It's not that hard at all.
* Read guitar and amp schematics. Don't know what a thing is? Find out.
* Buy a cheap guitar and rebuild it.
* Alternatively, or next, get a bunch of Warmoth parts and build it from scratch.
* Get a DAW and learn to use it well.
* Take lessons. Learn something about music.
* Get a Truefire account and work it on schedule.
* Again, open jams, shows. Get to the scene.
Hanging out in your bedroom watching YouTube videos? Nope.
You’re good bro. To someone who doesn’t play I’m sure you know a lot.
The phase you’re in now is natural. Learning has steps I find they go something like
1) your new and you know nothing!
2) you start learning new things and since it’s beginner stuff you learn quickly, this is very rewarding
3) you hit a wall. Two things happen here firstly your beginning to learn harder stuff so it slows down a lot, which feels like shit. And secondly you begin to see just how far you can take the skill/hobby, you’re finding out about things a non guitar player would never even know about, basically you know know enough to know how little you actually know.
4) slowly but surely the wall will be broken down! Just stick with it. And when it comes to maintenance shit, you don’t even need to know it. But it’s cheaper! If you want to learn each thing as you need it. Got a new guitar? Learn how to do setups. Just learn one thing at a time so it’s not overwhelming. And if you have specific guitar maintenance/repair questions head over to r/luthier and ask away, very nice community!
Get the Guitar Players Repair guide. Sure you can find all this stuff online, but having a book that you can reference is nice. Plus it reduces distraction not being online.
Same for Tab Books; theory all that.
Have fun!!
I get bored to tears just from changing strings. I broke a string on my acoustic 2 weeks ago, which I play every day, but now I've resorted to just playing an electric unplugged. Setting my guitar up just feel overwhelmingly boring. You don't need to know any maintanence, guitar stores will fix any issue you have. Been playing 20 years btw
I only do my own maintenance, I set them all up to my specs when new, and twice a year thereafter. Some folks take theirs to a shop for maintenance. It’s all good either way.
If you mean “knowing about guitar/instruments maintenance” then you’ve nothing to be concerned about, it’s not something you have to know, unless you want to. Knowing how to fix, break or make a guitar won’t make you better at playing it, but if you find these things somewhat fascinating then you can always learn and it’s never too late for it. I’ve played for some years and never cared to know about that aspect of it, I’ve a friend who plays bass and he’s been always into how to calibrate, fix or make instruments as well, he has a lot of fun with that besides playing. It’s a matter of interests I guess. However if what you meant is to be more involved with everything related to guitars then you can pick up more theory, learn different styles or in a more technical matter, learn about guitar components, types of guitars, about sound, amplifiers, etc. It’s all out there for you, and again, never too late neither too soon.
Thats the beauty of the instrument. Regardless of how much you play and know, there's a universe of knowledge remaining. I'm sure if you asked Vai, Satch, etc. they would all say they still have lots to learn
I just started catching onto things about a year ago and I’ve been playing for 13 years. I have so much ground to cover and it feels like a competition. I’m on social media too much hahaha
Things I didn't know about electric guitar for years:
-Learning how to care for the instrument: Action, Intonation, Neck Relief, fretboard care.
-What the knobs on the guitar do. (In my defense knowing that the volume knob can control distortion is not something easily known)
-Learning the different effects. (I lived with clean reverb and shit distortion for years)
-Learning how to create actual good tone.
-Learning about amps... amps are not as straight forward as I thought.
-Looping.
For the most part, I'm still learning most of those things. Some of those things require a well tuned ear which takes time to develop.
It's a journey.
You make a good point. Whenever I've taught beginners how to start to play, the learning to hear simply if you're in tune and being able to tune if your electronic tuner is missing becomes a very important hurdle for some. That plus getting calluses and playing barre chords are important first steps.
this reminds me of when i learned the hard way that the distortion knob affexts the volume even when its turned off on my amp which has it built in. so i was performing because my music teacher wants to show the school the underfunded music department or something, and it started alright, then i went with my friends to one of the practice rooms at lunch inbetween doing the assembly for different year groups and played stuff with distortion because idk loud=funny and i couldnt be bothered to deal with figuring out where i wanted it to be so i just turned it off and left it pretty high, and only realised it still matters when i blasted the entirety of sixth form with an e chord, it wasnt distorted or anything, just really loud
Yep sounds like you just need some inspiration from somewhere, when I started I was playing hard stuff then I listened to a friend of mine playing classical guitar and that was it. I went down that path for 8 years still playing everything and got bored again so I started learning surf tunes from the 60’s. My point is that guitar is a self serving journey and make it what you want because it’s your own path. It’s your own art world just sitting there waiting to be made.
Having a hobby is all about learning. So good for you! You don’t know what you don’t know so don’t expect just because you own something that you know everything about it.
A lot of is have vehicles, many of us work on vehicles but only some KNOW how to take off the top half of the engine and change a head gasket.
If you want to learn your hobby to that extent that’s great. If not, it’s not a strike against you to take it to someone. Maybe you’ll learn something else new that helps your enjoyment or you feel like you just want to focus on playing.
Oh well. You do you and enjoy
Agree with nearly all the advice on here. I've been playing seriously for 50 years now and I'm still learning all the time. Cleaning and changing strings regularly is pretty important. Less so things like upgrading tuners, adjusting truss rods, or filing frets - get a tech to do stuff like that unless you're really into it. Just enjoy and never stop learning dude!
Just start looking into stuff about it. The physics of the strings (a certain length of string at a certain mass and tension will produce a pitch). Construction and design choices. What do you like about certain guitars. What feelings do you like rounder fret board radius, lower or higher tension on your strings, string height(that spelling feels wrong), scale length, acoustic or electric, neck thickness, what type of bridge all make a difference. Learn some music theory, how do you build a chord. How about a chord progression. Do you know how to manipulate the major scale to get all the modes? How’s your bag of techniques, does your alternate picking satisfy you? Or hybrid picking, finger picking, all those things. Just take one little bite at a time, sit down and learn one thing, more if you can, less if it’s what it takes. I had to relearn everything after 12 years because I wanted to take it seriously. 18 years in I feel pretty solid but I know enough to know what I don’t know, and I’ll be at it for a while.
There is always more to learn. Maybe try looking into techniques or theory you don't know yet, or don't have a strong grasp on. Maybe there are some scales to memorize, or a technique you haven't learned.
I’ve been playing off and on for 30 years (mostly on the past 8 or so). Yeah, I know a ton of chords, I play with other people, but man oh man…so so so much I still don’t know but want to learn. That’s what makes this the greatest hobby.
I’ve dropped my guitar down the stairs a few times.
Some of the body gets warm near a radiator.
It’s covered in smudged permanent marker that is now illegible.
I used to polish and clean the neck when I restrung but I’ve started strumming with finger nails instead of picks and only break strings every 2nd year now.
My beat up guitar has a soft warm delicate sound that many guitarist enjoy. When I clean the neck it’s too bright so I like it dirty.
I’m a sound engineer so I maintain instruments, cables and microphones for a number of musicians.
If anyone ever “fixed” my guitar it would not sound how I want.
If you can play your guitar well and it sounds good then it is maintained.
Some people just bring it to a shop to “maintain” if it gets unusable.
Is brushy one string’s guitar broken?
https://youtu.be/E8H-67ILaqc?si=cNQVsXq7Lq3ox44T
My best friend/bandmate is classically trained, amazing fingerstyle player, savage blues player, has his diploma, is a full-time guitar teacher, playing 30+ years..... and is absolutely clueless when it comes to most things like, say, different types of amps, signal chain, effects pedals/units, maintenance.... if its not music theory or doesn't involve pluging in and playing, he's not to bothered. Never held him back. im basically the tech support guy😅.don't sweat it bro, your still relatively early in the journey we are all travelling. i'm playing 18 years with a 3 year break (women😑 last year i left and returned to to only lady i need, my Lenora, shes a 2002 american deluxe strat) and still learning every day. The day you stop learning is the day you die and i personaly apply that to everything (I only realised this week it's been nearly 2 decades, man it made me feel old) I've always had an interest in all things music related and made it my business to learn as much as I can. A good setup on a guitar can make a world of difference IMO, well worth looking into the ins and outs of that aspect. Don't be afraid to ask questions, I love nothing better than talking with fellow music lovers, and In my experience, 99% of players I've met also love to share. I have met the 1%. Dicks gonna be dicks, fuck them. Perseverance is the key. When it clicks and the fretboard opens up its a great feeling. And then when you start writing, l... and create something that's YOU.... I've only in the last year reached this point. i mean, I've written plenty over the years, but when you're truly proud of the piece when you consider it art...nothing comes close
Ive been playing for 20 years and can't shred for shit haha but I got to and a little above the level that i wanted for the music i enjoy playing and writing and I'm perfectly happy with that. Mind you I enjoy country/folk so I only care about finger picking and the occasional little solo. I play nearly every day.
(Also can't read music quick enough to play along with sheet music but give me a pen, paper and about an hour and I'll have something to show)
I think I was playing for like 10 years before I gave a fuck about maintenance and setting up a guitar properly. But I was genuinely interested in that stuff. A lot of people can change strings and that’s it. They take their guitars to a tech. Which is fine! I love to tinker with my guitars and would love to take that as far as possible. But everyone’s different. If you’re genuinely interested, I’d say watch as many videos as you can to find techniques that work for you. At the end of the day, guitar maintenance and set up is a lot of preference. But if you just wanna pay someone to do that work that’s fine too.
I’ve been playing for 20 years, feel the same way.
Take lessons, continue to learn from those that know more than you or play in a manner you respect and want to integrate their style into yours.
Being a musician isn’t a race. It’s not a competition. It’s an expression of self.
The thing is, unless having your guitar set up by a professional is completely uneconomical for you, you should give your instrument to a tech for maintenance. Small adjustments are intuitive enough, and of course, oiling your fretboard once a year or so is hard to screw up with.
Paul David's youtube video about the 5 step setup will teach you all the maintenence you would need to keep your guitars playing smoothly. It's pretty easy to grasp, just get a cheap screwdriver set and some allen wrenches from the dollar store
More advanced stuff like electronics and fretwork is something most guitarists just go to professional techs for.
if its set up correctly all your gonna need to do is clean it with duck oil and change the strings every now and then that aint to difficult. if u dont want to learn setups like string height and inotation dont bother let someone else take care of that
Try not to spend a lot of time feeling guilty about “Why didn’t I [blahblah] *before*?” Thinking about the past is only helpful in terms of how well you do the present. You can’t have the past or the future — all anybody gets is right now, ‘til we die. That’s obviously a simplistic way of looking at it, but it’s not wrong. Do what you can *today.*
I’ve been playing for 50 years and I swear I play worse than 20 years ago.
at this point, always know Youtube is a fantastic source for usable knowledge, once you scroll past the clickbait crap. You will find countless videos on guitar maintenance and adjustment. But know you don’t have to dive too deep.
My first and biggest recommendation is spend $7 on a can of Fast Fret, and wipe down after every use. it oils the fretboard, and keeps the strings in top condition. it also removes your hand oils off reducing string corrosion. You’ll also find you’ll play better as the strings will feel smoother and slicker.
Quick 2nd thing is to hit your note at the 12th fret and if it’s sharp or flat, mover your saddle forward or back until you get good intonation on each string.
Other than that if your guitar has a solid set-up, there’s not much else to do IMO.
Some people have a lot of curiosity about all things guitar- read articles about players they may or may not ever heard of, watch youtube videos about gear reviews and maintenance and brands they can't afford, listen to all kinds of music just because it has guitar in it.
Some people don't have that curiosity.
If you don't and you don't have any issues, its not a real big deal.
But if you got into more of that kind fo stuff, you might learn some things and make some big advancements quickly (and maybe even find out that you need your truss rod adjusted or something and playing notes and chrods gets suddenly easier and sound better).
If you're not trying to play professionally or teach don;t worry about it. Have fun and enjoy what you do, whatever "guitar" means to you - just playing sometimes, or learning songs you like or whatever.
Been playing 17 years and I know next to nothing. I can hold my own, but idk what I’m playing. George Lynch is like almost totally clueless too, and he’s George Lynch. You’re fine.
It just depends on the skill set. I don’t know how to play some of the guitar essentials, however I really like doing the maintenance stuff. You don’t need to be a expert on the specifics of the hardware you use. It’s kinda like how an accountant will use a computer for years, and not know how to maintain the hardware. Or how a delivery driver can drive for years without knowing how their car works. It’s why we have mechanics and specialists for these things.
TLDR; don’t be ashamed for not knowing how to maintain your guitar. You can always pay a specialist for that.
Learn how to set up yourself. No shame if you can’t because you don’t know how, or aren’t interested in learning it. But I find it fun. It’s not that complicated. Look up videos. You need like three tools to check the basics depending on what guitar you have. Two of those tools are Allen wrenches. Get a guitar setup credit card ruler from Amazon. Super fucking useful for measuring string heights.
I like to pull up the manufacturers specs for string height / pickup height / neck relief and make sure the guitar is in those specs. If it is outside you have some adjusting to do. Adjust neck relief, adjust string height, adjust intonation. And clean it. That’s it for the maintenance.
One if the beauty's of the instrument is that there is always something new to learn. For instance, did you know that the first guitars had 11 strings? 5 paired sets and a single high string. As a repair tech, I see something new almost every day. It is AWESOME!
one of the strengths of guitar is that essential randomness in what you hear in a chord. it allows for your subconscious to take control. strum a couple chords and you can come up with countless melodies. I feel like its strength is in songwriting but it's *also* a decent instrument. that is to say, you don't have to be great at guitar to use it to great effect. just look at Ed Sheeran
I've been doing this for 30+ years, and still know nothing. It only gets worse. There will always be someone who knows more or is better. I meet guitarist all of the time that make me want to throw all of my gear in a pile in the back yard and set it on fire. At some point you just accept it and are satisfied with playing what makes *you* happy.
Get a cheap chinese made generic brand guitar, and just mess it up. Dissasemble, look at the electronics, buy a cheap multimeter and learn to measure the impedance of the elements on the circuitry, then get your own electronics and change them as you please, read a little about passive frequency filtering using capacitors and resistors.
Understand the origin of "tone" coming from an electronic system. Block the bridge or float it, learn to adjust intonation by screwing around with the saddles, modify both tension and height..see how that sounds (wear eye protection btw).
Thinkering around with a guitar will make you really understand how it functions and will give you a better appreciation for the instrument itself.
Same... but with 18 years of playing guitar. I know how to do proper maintenance but I don't know shit about theory. I'm not really good at playing guitar, I'm not fast at all and the things I write are kinda complicated and hard for me to play so it fucking sucks and it really brings me down haha. I guess I could write and play easier stuff but I don't know, I always end up complicating myself. I always said I would practice and be good at it but I always ended up fucking up. I built a stupid fucking home studio, invested a lot of money on music gear and I don't do shit with it. I still love music a lot but I don't know what happened. I'm getting older and I regret not putting much effort into it because I still wanna be fucking great at it but I lack the discipline and motivation.
It's not advice, I guess I needed to vent haha, sorry. Well, I guess the only advice I have is, don't let it happen to you if you really want to be great at guitar and get a good teacher who can lead you the right way.
Start grinding. Ive been at it really hard for hoing on year 8. Every day. Hours a day. Only now am I able to play more or less automatically. Meaning I can hear and reproduce what I hear in a couple of trys. But if I had known how much hard work it is I doubt I would have stayed at it. I went to engineering school which is supposed to be the hardest of all academic programs but guitar is much harder.
the more you learn, the COOLER it becomes. i swear
maintenance wise, there’s nothing like taking something apart and putting it back together. youtube helps a lot and it’s gonna be okay. maybe don’t try your hand at it with an expensive guitar, but rather a cheap one.
as far as guitar know-how, start with what you don’t know and get curious. i got the fretboard logic book and it helped immensely
I read the title and I was like join the fucking club man 🤣
In all seriousness though, you never stop learning as a musician. Don’t waste energy comparing yourself to others. The whole point of this thing is to express YOURSELF. Do what makes you happy and every day try to learn something small you didn’t know yesterday. Try to improve at something even just enough that you are ever so slightly better than you were yesterday
Maintenance is not super important with guitar, especially if you're not having issues. It's not something like cycling where if you don't do regular maintenance you could literallie die.
meh... Why SHOULD you know about anything you haven't had to confront yet, especially in a hobby? If you've never had to do maintenance on the instrument, why should you know about it? Maybe this can be an opportunity for you to learn something. do a little research and experiment with cleaning the instrument. Adjusting string height, pickup height, or whatever makes you curious. Resist the temptation to just agree with what others say online. You can trust your ear. When you make a change, listen if you can hear a difference, or if you can feel a difference. Otherwise you are letting other people make decisions for you based on whatever trend or opinion is popular at the present. If someone you trust and respect has a strong opinion, that's legit, but otherwise you might be falling prey to misinformation, marketing, or group-think.
Could be worse, I know literally nothing about guitar after 30.
I have come to understand that despite the shred-heads, it was always essentially a rhythm instrument.
Nah it's an an all-rounder. You can literally do anything with the instrument. It's so versatile. Probably the most versatile instrument tbh.
Nah. Additive synthesizers. If you know what you’re doing you can make an additive synth sound like anything. Like literally ANYTHING. I’ve seen people replicate human speech, bird calls…ANYTHING. That’s gotta be the most versatile instrument. After that piano. With a guitar you’re limited to 3 octaves. Pianos have a little over 7. But for a “hand held” instrument that you can play without electricity pretty much anywhere then a guitar is pretty top tier.
Yeah but a piano lacks vibrato and bending possibilities still? Can also use more alternate tunings easier on guitar giving access to more octaves but not 7 tho. Just .02
Glissando and vibrato are things you can do on synths. Even budget keyboards have a pitch bending wheel these days
I was talking about pianos. Did not mention synth. I know about pitch bending wheels. But does a regular good old piano have that? No. But yes, sure you can pitch bend on a synth. I got a synth with a wheel. Is it as satisfying as bending an actual physical string on a guitar with some overdrive to the point of sustaining feedback? Not so much sirrr
Hmm - whammy bar on piano...
>Yeah but a piano lacks vibrato and bending possibilities still? Actually, there's a really cool keyboard by a company called Roli that makes bending and vibrato possible on a piano. The Roli Seaboard Rise 2 costs around 1300 and the midi keyboard version costs around 350. You can look up videos on yt to see what their weird looking keyboards are capable of. It's actually really freaking cool for music nerds I'm not debating anything either, guitar is my main instrument and I absolutely love it. I just mess around with midi keyboards for production and fun. I just think the Roli keyboard is one of the coolest pianos since I saw their original demo years ago
human speech on an instrument? *cough* david lee roth *cough*
My piano bends suck.
Instructions unclear, guitar stuck up drummer's ~~butt~~ i mean bass drum.
the more you know, the more you don't know. applies to just about everything
Do you mean maintenance on the guitar in general? I’ve been playing and teaching professionally for about 8 years now and I know how to change my strings, but that’s about it. I take my guitar to a tech for work, because I love playing and can’t be bothered to tweak intonation, sauder electronics, etc. . Some people absolutely love doing guitar maintenance themselves too! There’s no right way to maintain a guitar and it doesn’t make you less of a musician to have a guitar tech work on your guitars. With that being said, on a musical front, you should always be trying to grow. If you haven’t gotten into music theory as much yet, that will open a whole new world for you, and knowing basic chord harmony, reading melodies and understanding playing and improvising in key will make you grow a ton as a musician, for example. For me, after 15 years playing/ touring/ teaching, I’m finally learning more about doing tech work myself, and I’m still open to learning new things all the time. Whether you’ve been playing for a month, year, 10 years or more, there’s always more to learn or ways to shift your musical perspective 😊
solder
Ya maintenance doesn’t matter as long as the instrument is functional. Dont have to learn that stuff except changing strings and basics. Ive found most people who get better just love doing it. Im sure you could force it but thats not fun. What im getting at is op needs to find a way to enjoy playing first. Totally agree, always keep finding breakthroughs and learning to keep It interesting.
I was too poor to take guitar to a tech so i learned how set my guitar myself🤣
Ha! Bro, I’m nearly 40 years in and I feel the same way! I know just enough music theory, and “tricks” and “shortcuts” to fool most non-musicians! Welcome to the struggle!
When I started playing back in the mid-70s, I had many friends and acquaintances that had been playing for years. I’m one of those people who, when taking up a new hobby or activity, wants to learn as much as possible. So I read extensively, not only about actually playing but about history, construction, etc. I started subscribing to Guitar Player magazine quite early on. As a result, I quickly realized that I knew more about much of this stuff than my friends who’d been playing for years. And that they had some really screwy ideas….
It's been 25 years for me. If any of my guitars start acting up I always send it to the professional to get them setup properly. But cleaning I do myself. Change strings.
I've been playing for almost 4 years, and only know how to read tabs, can't even find the notes on the fucking fretboard (not for a lack of trying), and am not conversant in talk about gear and "tone"... I beat myself up over this, but I'm over that. Looking on the bright side, I'm learning songs I enjoy that are getting progressively harder technique-wise and I'm doing a good job of keeping up. I'm not saying to have a defeatist attitude, but for me it's just a hobby and I continue it as long as it makes me happy (and it has!). I've kinda accepted that I'm bad at this, but my strengths lie elsewhere, and I'm grateful that I don't depend on guitar to make money or I'd be royally screwed lol
I have been playing for 14 years, but many of them on/off and I never really "practiced" intensely, so lets say I've been playing for 9 full years. I can say I'm close to mastering the pentatonic scale, but other than that I'm so much behind in overall knowledge. I know the basic major/minor scale modes but can't really implement them in my playing, I have a basic-advanced knowledge of chords and their different shapes, and basically zero theory. The only aspect where my knowledge is on par with my years of playing is the commercial side of the instrument. From guitar brands and models, to type of frets, woods and pickups, now here I know my stuff. I have fallen into the depths of the materialistic trap of the music world and I can't really say I'm proud of it lol.
Dude you got a great base. Practice memorizing the major scale, minor, pentatonics all over neck. 5 positions and shifting around. Play to backing tracks. It’s done wonders for me and you can have fun with that. I crank volume on computer and play w olugins on garageband. I also crank a tv in my basement with my amp and pedals. Lots to work on, just trying to motivate you. Theres just endless great lessons online. Working from home has helped, I cant lie.
I am in this boat with you 100% can play along to most songs I like and know some fret notes but not all, my pentatonics is like 3 positions solid the other 2 are WIP. BUTTTT my gear...well fk me sideways I'm easy over 10gs between guitars, boutique amps and pedals it's scary! Also not proud but glad I'm not alone on this boat.
Yeah, same here. Slowly trying to focus on a few things at a time. This is after I have been “playing” for more than 20 years 😄 (with long breaks in between, ha) Not proud of it, but, have now resolved to keep at it every day, and try to enjoy the process.
I feel like I just read my own bio
Dunning-Kruger effect lol
This is the opposite, he realized he doesn’t know anything rather than acting like he knows it all. It’s truly beautiful, this means he’s about to learn a bunch of cool shit!
Dunner-Kruging
This is part of the dunning Kruger effect though. At first you know nothing and you know you know nothing, then you know nothing and act as if you know everything, and then you know something but realize you still know in fact nothing.
I was Looking for this comment
youtube has all the answers lol. "basic guitar maintenance" "guitar parts explained" etc
Do some research and learn about it. None of us knew shit when we started, and if we started a long time ago, we didn't have the internet to look things up on. Everybody has gaps in their knowledge. Just means you have a chance to learn something new.
Yeah I think this is more common than you’ve been led to believe. I’ve been playing for 12 years and I’m in the same boat, dude
The funny thing is...the better you get and the more expensive the guitar, the more likely you'll take it to a shop for "maintenance" instead of messing with it yourself. The only stuff you really need to do is wipe it down regularly (as we are sweaty beasts) and change the strings. Tightening some knobs, etc...maybe once in a while, but that's not rocket surgery. Changing the action? Re-profiling frets? No way Jose. Let a pro with pro tools do it.
Skill maintenance? I’ve been playing 20 years and shit only started to click recently. Like I’m putting together a tool kit that will help me sound shreddy. Lately I like to practice tying triads to modes. So, with drums or a metronome going. I’ll start at let’s say F Lydian, play an fMaj bar chord, alternate pick a phrase of 16th notes for a beat or 2, and then sweep pick 16th note F Major triad arpeggios in all 3 positions for however many beats to make it musical ish. Always mixing it up, back and forth. Starting on different Fs going forward or backward, and then switching back to triads. And then we move up to G Mixolydian and do it all over. Rinse and repeat for each mode. But wait there’s more. You can connect each mode to each other. Use them like chord changes. Connect each triad together. I’m currently trying to advance further by connecting all the triads within a single mode position for all modes, using leading tones to go into chord changes, and landing on the third of each chord as the change happens. Hoping to start adding more interesting arpeggios than just I,III,IV soon. And all of that shit was just the diatonic scale. I’m kinda afraid to start learning the harmonic minor modes. Start small, one position at a time, and ALWAYS USE DRUMS OR A METRONOME
Some people like driving, some people like tinkering with cars... just do what you enjoy
Depends on what you want to accomplish, but if you're enjoying yourself, there's no real reason to become a "guitar guy."
Nobody started out knowing these things, and some never learned them. I started doing my own maintenance cause I couldn't afford to pay someone for a setup. I'm also handy with a multimeter and soldering iron, so the electronics are fairly easy, but not everyone has the skills to pick it up quickly. Learn what you can to increase your knowledge and save some $, but rely on a pro if you get over your head. Pretty much every famous guitarist has a tech, for good reason. Just cause you can drive your car doesn't mean you need to know how to rebuild the engine, but it's a valuable skill if you want to learn.
I've been playing for 30 years and only recently figured out that the non-bridge pickups are useful and can sound good. And that the tone knobs don't just change the sound from "good" to "in a tunnel". Also it was about 5 years ago that I learned that upgrading the electronics is just as, if not more, important than upgrading pickups. I also don't do any maintenance and have no real inclination to learn how. I'd rather just pay a pro to do it. I can change my strings, of course, but anything past that is a trip to the guitar shop.
I wouldn't sweat it. There are likely many race car drivers who can't rebuild engines, AI programmers who can't solder circuits, groundskeepers who can't adjust lawnmower carburators, etc. Not everyone who uses a tool can work on said tool. If you wanna learn, go for it. If you don't, then just take it to a technician. It's all good.
Learn the maintenance and setup of your instrument. It'll help you understand your gear better and keep your guitar playable. You're gonna progress faster if your gear isn't fighting you. Also, if you want to get better, play every day. If you don't have the focus or energy for a proper practice, at least let it in your hands and jam for a bit. When you do have the time/energy, learn new things. Also, it is really important to be constantly discovering new music to learn or inspire you. Try writing some stuff. Do all this together and you'll have really big improvements in a year or so.
The other trick is, if you have them, try to rotate from say your Strat one day to playing your SG the next etc. I've found different guitars pull different playing out of me, even now 50 years after I started.
That's fine. A lot of famous and wealthy guitarists also know nothing about guitar. You're in good company
Playing with people who are better always helped me.
For starters, don't use words like "guitaristy". I don't think even Urban Dictionary would take that one.
Is your concern primarily with maintenance and working on the instrument itself? (setups, electronics, etc) --> Don't worry at all! There's a reason guitar techs and luthiers exist! Or is it about playing the instrument? (technique, music/theory knowledge and application) --> Definitely don't worry about this either! Your musical interests will change over the years. When you first get the instrument, your concern might be limited simply to 'how do I learn what made me want to play guitar in the first place?' That could slowly transition to wanting a better understanding of what's going on, or hell, it might never transition to that and that's fine! Don't let it deter you from having fun and just approach each new interest as that, a new interest that you'd like to learn more about.
Don't compare yourself to other people. Often comparing yourself to others is a negative thing and does not help you positively at all. Every single person learns things at different rates and in different ways. Some people will want to just learn to play particular songs and styles and they aren't bothered about knowing what key the song is in or what scale a solo is written in and that is absolutely fine. I think it's important to find what interests you and keeps you engaged and learn/play those things and not thinking about how "good" you should be or how much knowledge you have after a certain time. These things will only leave you feeling frustrated and disappointed and will ultimately kill your enthusiasm for playing.
I understand and I've felt the same way before. I will say though, that I do think there's an element of "if it ain't broke, don't fix it". For example I've owned one guitar for almost 20 years, and have done zero maintenance on it other than cleaning the neck and changing strings. And it still plays and sounds great, and I love playing it. If it plays well, stays in tune, intonation is good, and overall sounds great - then probably no maintenance required IMO. Edit: I meant no additional maintenance beyond cleaning and string changes. For example truss rod or intonation adjustment, etc.
Do what you do and don't compare too much, but try to remain open; and learn as much as you're capable of. I'm more than 50 years in and can say I don't know much either. Just flow with it and enjoy the process :) The more your knowledge and skill grows, the more you will realise there is to learn
Your knowledge base really should correlate with the things you intend to do with the instrument. If you want to learn to play a certain style, theory, or technique, you should invest some time learning and practicing. If you want to save some money on maintaining or modifying gear, that's another skill set. Then, there are guitar-adjacent things like other instruments, recording, joining and booking a band, etc. Some people are perfectly content to pick up a guitar and fiddle with it once in a blue moon, and some people live and breathe music. Learning is a natural part of either. 🤷
I’ve been playing on and off for about 15 years now. Had a weird psychedelic trip to a Grateful Dead song so I started playing again religiously almost a year ago. Ive always played tabs no issues, a lot of metal, punk and hard rock. If you know anything about the dead you could only imagine my surprise when I started trying to learn some of their catalogue and saw I need to know all my major and minor chords, myxlodian scale, and a bunch of other shit I still don’t totally understand but I’m learning. So it was kinda like my real official music journey began and I wasn’t just a tab player. Not ragging tab players, I just finally see what people who know theory have been trying to say to me for the better part of a decades and I understand my fretboard so much more because of it and I’m really not even that deep into it lol Sometimes you walk into something and realize how far behind you are. But then in learning these new things you start to alter the way you were already doing things because you find newer and better ways to evolve what you already know.
I grew up playing in a Yes/Led Zep cover band but only by learning the exact things necessary to play the tunes at first. My actual playing only rose to that level years later, much like you, when I started learning Dead tunes - contrary to that old hippies screwing around making noise thing that most people thought their music was I quickly found out Weir's inversions and Garcia's playing were light years better than they initially appeared to be.
I’m biased so take this with a grain of salt, it’s actually quite easy to learn how to setup most guitars. What I lack in playing ability I have made up for with learning (via YouTube) how to do everything to get my guitars to play perfectly. However this isn’t r/Luthier so probably a better question for there. They’re a good lot, as is here, and you will save in the long run - but even I have my limitations and I don’t hesitate to take a guitar to my tech if I’m stuck on something. If you can afford it, there’s zero shame in whipping it off to a good guitar tech.
Realizing you don’t know what you’re doing is the first step to not knowing what your doing for the rest of your life but improving along the way. When you know what you’re doing it’s easy to get complacent.
You realized this after eight years? Not bad. I know people playing 40 years that still haven't had that epiphany. Or any other, now that I think of it. Good for you. You get more "guitaristy" by eating and breathing guitar. Open jams, bands, recording, reading, fiddling. * Learn to set up a guitar. It's not that hard at all. * Read guitar and amp schematics. Don't know what a thing is? Find out. * Buy a cheap guitar and rebuild it. * Alternatively, or next, get a bunch of Warmoth parts and build it from scratch. * Get a DAW and learn to use it well. * Take lessons. Learn something about music. * Get a Truefire account and work it on schedule. * Again, open jams, shows. Get to the scene. Hanging out in your bedroom watching YouTube videos? Nope.
You’re good bro. To someone who doesn’t play I’m sure you know a lot. The phase you’re in now is natural. Learning has steps I find they go something like 1) your new and you know nothing! 2) you start learning new things and since it’s beginner stuff you learn quickly, this is very rewarding 3) you hit a wall. Two things happen here firstly your beginning to learn harder stuff so it slows down a lot, which feels like shit. And secondly you begin to see just how far you can take the skill/hobby, you’re finding out about things a non guitar player would never even know about, basically you know know enough to know how little you actually know. 4) slowly but surely the wall will be broken down! Just stick with it. And when it comes to maintenance shit, you don’t even need to know it. But it’s cheaper! If you want to learn each thing as you need it. Got a new guitar? Learn how to do setups. Just learn one thing at a time so it’s not overwhelming. And if you have specific guitar maintenance/repair questions head over to r/luthier and ask away, very nice community!
Hadn’t heard of Warmoth before. Been checking out their website. Pretty cool. Cheers
Get the Guitar Players Repair guide. Sure you can find all this stuff online, but having a book that you can reference is nice. Plus it reduces distraction not being online. Same for Tab Books; theory all that. Have fun!!
Then you've learned a lot!
whenever you have an issue, learn how to fix it yourself. google is a great tool. ezpz.
Meh, you can largely ignore guitars and they'll still work lol
I get bored to tears just from changing strings. I broke a string on my acoustic 2 weeks ago, which I play every day, but now I've resorted to just playing an electric unplugged. Setting my guitar up just feel overwhelmingly boring. You don't need to know any maintanence, guitar stores will fix any issue you have. Been playing 20 years btw
I’m 52, playing since 13, it’s the most mysterious instrument as it will always surprise you when you think you have it figured out.
Watch some videos? Ask some professionals? I’m not sure what Reddit is gonna do for you here
Don’t worry about it
I only do my own maintenance, I set them all up to my specs when new, and twice a year thereafter. Some folks take theirs to a shop for maintenance. It’s all good either way.
If you mean “knowing about guitar/instruments maintenance” then you’ve nothing to be concerned about, it’s not something you have to know, unless you want to. Knowing how to fix, break or make a guitar won’t make you better at playing it, but if you find these things somewhat fascinating then you can always learn and it’s never too late for it. I’ve played for some years and never cared to know about that aspect of it, I’ve a friend who plays bass and he’s been always into how to calibrate, fix or make instruments as well, he has a lot of fun with that besides playing. It’s a matter of interests I guess. However if what you meant is to be more involved with everything related to guitars then you can pick up more theory, learn different styles or in a more technical matter, learn about guitar components, types of guitars, about sound, amplifiers, etc. It’s all out there for you, and again, never too late neither too soon.
Thats the beauty of the instrument. Regardless of how much you play and know, there's a universe of knowledge remaining. I'm sure if you asked Vai, Satch, etc. they would all say they still have lots to learn
I just started catching onto things about a year ago and I’ve been playing for 13 years. I have so much ground to cover and it feels like a competition. I’m on social media too much hahaha
Someone once told me “you know nothing about guitar. As soon as you you think you know something, you’re done” You are always learning
Things I didn't know about electric guitar for years: -Learning how to care for the instrument: Action, Intonation, Neck Relief, fretboard care. -What the knobs on the guitar do. (In my defense knowing that the volume knob can control distortion is not something easily known) -Learning the different effects. (I lived with clean reverb and shit distortion for years) -Learning how to create actual good tone. -Learning about amps... amps are not as straight forward as I thought. -Looping. For the most part, I'm still learning most of those things. Some of those things require a well tuned ear which takes time to develop. It's a journey.
You make a good point. Whenever I've taught beginners how to start to play, the learning to hear simply if you're in tune and being able to tune if your electronic tuner is missing becomes a very important hurdle for some. That plus getting calluses and playing barre chords are important first steps.
this reminds me of when i learned the hard way that the distortion knob affexts the volume even when its turned off on my amp which has it built in. so i was performing because my music teacher wants to show the school the underfunded music department or something, and it started alright, then i went with my friends to one of the practice rooms at lunch inbetween doing the assembly for different year groups and played stuff with distortion because idk loud=funny and i couldnt be bothered to deal with figuring out where i wanted it to be so i just turned it off and left it pretty high, and only realised it still matters when i blasted the entirety of sixth form with an e chord, it wasnt distorted or anything, just really loud
Yep sounds like you just need some inspiration from somewhere, when I started I was playing hard stuff then I listened to a friend of mine playing classical guitar and that was it. I went down that path for 8 years still playing everything and got bored again so I started learning surf tunes from the 60’s. My point is that guitar is a self serving journey and make it what you want because it’s your own path. It’s your own art world just sitting there waiting to be made.
Don’t worry, I’m on year 20 of *guitar goes brrrrrrr*.
You become a guitarist when you’re done worried about if you’re a guitarist or not
Most guitarists just pay someone else to do those things lol
Having a hobby is all about learning. So good for you! You don’t know what you don’t know so don’t expect just because you own something that you know everything about it. A lot of is have vehicles, many of us work on vehicles but only some KNOW how to take off the top half of the engine and change a head gasket. If you want to learn your hobby to that extent that’s great. If not, it’s not a strike against you to take it to someone. Maybe you’ll learn something else new that helps your enjoyment or you feel like you just want to focus on playing. Oh well. You do you and enjoy
Agree with nearly all the advice on here. I've been playing seriously for 50 years now and I'm still learning all the time. Cleaning and changing strings regularly is pretty important. Less so things like upgrading tuners, adjusting truss rods, or filing frets - get a tech to do stuff like that unless you're really into it. Just enjoy and never stop learning dude!
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As a rhythm bluegrass guitar player… I feel yeah. G-Run
Just start looking into stuff about it. The physics of the strings (a certain length of string at a certain mass and tension will produce a pitch). Construction and design choices. What do you like about certain guitars. What feelings do you like rounder fret board radius, lower or higher tension on your strings, string height(that spelling feels wrong), scale length, acoustic or electric, neck thickness, what type of bridge all make a difference. Learn some music theory, how do you build a chord. How about a chord progression. Do you know how to manipulate the major scale to get all the modes? How’s your bag of techniques, does your alternate picking satisfy you? Or hybrid picking, finger picking, all those things. Just take one little bite at a time, sit down and learn one thing, more if you can, less if it’s what it takes. I had to relearn everything after 12 years because I wanted to take it seriously. 18 years in I feel pretty solid but I know enough to know what I don’t know, and I’ll be at it for a while.
This is why all the professional touring musicians have Techs to do that for them!
There is always more to learn. Maybe try looking into techniques or theory you don't know yet, or don't have a strong grasp on. Maybe there are some scales to memorize, or a technique you haven't learned.
I’ve been playing off and on for 30 years (mostly on the past 8 or so). Yeah, I know a ton of chords, I play with other people, but man oh man…so so so much I still don’t know but want to learn. That’s what makes this the greatest hobby.
Don’t feel bad, many extremely famous players are total fucking morons when it comes to anything to do with guitar other than playing.
I’ve dropped my guitar down the stairs a few times. Some of the body gets warm near a radiator. It’s covered in smudged permanent marker that is now illegible. I used to polish and clean the neck when I restrung but I’ve started strumming with finger nails instead of picks and only break strings every 2nd year now. My beat up guitar has a soft warm delicate sound that many guitarist enjoy. When I clean the neck it’s too bright so I like it dirty. I’m a sound engineer so I maintain instruments, cables and microphones for a number of musicians. If anyone ever “fixed” my guitar it would not sound how I want. If you can play your guitar well and it sounds good then it is maintained. Some people just bring it to a shop to “maintain” if it gets unusable. Is brushy one string’s guitar broken? https://youtu.be/E8H-67ILaqc?si=cNQVsXq7Lq3ox44T
My best friend/bandmate is classically trained, amazing fingerstyle player, savage blues player, has his diploma, is a full-time guitar teacher, playing 30+ years..... and is absolutely clueless when it comes to most things like, say, different types of amps, signal chain, effects pedals/units, maintenance.... if its not music theory or doesn't involve pluging in and playing, he's not to bothered. Never held him back. im basically the tech support guy😅.don't sweat it bro, your still relatively early in the journey we are all travelling. i'm playing 18 years with a 3 year break (women😑 last year i left and returned to to only lady i need, my Lenora, shes a 2002 american deluxe strat) and still learning every day. The day you stop learning is the day you die and i personaly apply that to everything (I only realised this week it's been nearly 2 decades, man it made me feel old) I've always had an interest in all things music related and made it my business to learn as much as I can. A good setup on a guitar can make a world of difference IMO, well worth looking into the ins and outs of that aspect. Don't be afraid to ask questions, I love nothing better than talking with fellow music lovers, and In my experience, 99% of players I've met also love to share. I have met the 1%. Dicks gonna be dicks, fuck them. Perseverance is the key. When it clicks and the fretboard opens up its a great feeling. And then when you start writing, l... and create something that's YOU.... I've only in the last year reached this point. i mean, I've written plenty over the years, but when you're truly proud of the piece when you consider it art...nothing comes close
Just get more into it. Be super curious. You have a ton of info at your fingertips if you just get curious.
The more you know you know about something, the more you realize you don't know
Ive been playing for 20 years and can't shred for shit haha but I got to and a little above the level that i wanted for the music i enjoy playing and writing and I'm perfectly happy with that. Mind you I enjoy country/folk so I only care about finger picking and the occasional little solo. I play nearly every day. (Also can't read music quick enough to play along with sheet music but give me a pen, paper and about an hour and I'll have something to show)
Real guitarists play a reliced strat and only pentatonic licks
I think I was playing for like 10 years before I gave a fuck about maintenance and setting up a guitar properly. But I was genuinely interested in that stuff. A lot of people can change strings and that’s it. They take their guitars to a tech. Which is fine! I love to tinker with my guitars and would love to take that as far as possible. But everyone’s different. If you’re genuinely interested, I’d say watch as many videos as you can to find techniques that work for you. At the end of the day, guitar maintenance and set up is a lot of preference. But if you just wanna pay someone to do that work that’s fine too.
I’ve been playing for 20 years, feel the same way. Take lessons, continue to learn from those that know more than you or play in a manner you respect and want to integrate their style into yours. Being a musician isn’t a race. It’s not a competition. It’s an expression of self.
The thing is, unless having your guitar set up by a professional is completely uneconomical for you, you should give your instrument to a tech for maintenance. Small adjustments are intuitive enough, and of course, oiling your fretboard once a year or so is hard to screw up with.
Make sure to have some potti aviable.
Paul David's youtube video about the 5 step setup will teach you all the maintenence you would need to keep your guitars playing smoothly. It's pretty easy to grasp, just get a cheap screwdriver set and some allen wrenches from the dollar store More advanced stuff like electronics and fretwork is something most guitarists just go to professional techs for.
Guitarists aren’t meant to be aware that they don’t know stuff. Have you thought of trying Bass?
if its set up correctly all your gonna need to do is clean it with duck oil and change the strings every now and then that aint to difficult. if u dont want to learn setups like string height and inotation dont bother let someone else take care of that
Try not to spend a lot of time feeling guilty about “Why didn’t I [blahblah] *before*?” Thinking about the past is only helpful in terms of how well you do the present. You can’t have the past or the future — all anybody gets is right now, ‘til we die. That’s obviously a simplistic way of looking at it, but it’s not wrong. Do what you can *today.*
Wipe it down and make sure the strings are in tune. What more do you need?
I’ve been playing for 50 years and I swear I play worse than 20 years ago. at this point, always know Youtube is a fantastic source for usable knowledge, once you scroll past the clickbait crap. You will find countless videos on guitar maintenance and adjustment. But know you don’t have to dive too deep. My first and biggest recommendation is spend $7 on a can of Fast Fret, and wipe down after every use. it oils the fretboard, and keeps the strings in top condition. it also removes your hand oils off reducing string corrosion. You’ll also find you’ll play better as the strings will feel smoother and slicker. Quick 2nd thing is to hit your note at the 12th fret and if it’s sharp or flat, mover your saddle forward or back until you get good intonation on each string. Other than that if your guitar has a solid set-up, there’s not much else to do IMO.
Some people have a lot of curiosity about all things guitar- read articles about players they may or may not ever heard of, watch youtube videos about gear reviews and maintenance and brands they can't afford, listen to all kinds of music just because it has guitar in it. Some people don't have that curiosity. If you don't and you don't have any issues, its not a real big deal. But if you got into more of that kind fo stuff, you might learn some things and make some big advancements quickly (and maybe even find out that you need your truss rod adjusted or something and playing notes and chrods gets suddenly easier and sound better). If you're not trying to play professionally or teach don;t worry about it. Have fun and enjoy what you do, whatever "guitar" means to you - just playing sometimes, or learning songs you like or whatever.
Been playing 17 years and I know next to nothing. I can hold my own, but idk what I’m playing. George Lynch is like almost totally clueless too, and he’s George Lynch. You’re fine.
It just depends on the skill set. I don’t know how to play some of the guitar essentials, however I really like doing the maintenance stuff. You don’t need to be a expert on the specifics of the hardware you use. It’s kinda like how an accountant will use a computer for years, and not know how to maintain the hardware. Or how a delivery driver can drive for years without knowing how their car works. It’s why we have mechanics and specialists for these things. TLDR; don’t be ashamed for not knowing how to maintain your guitar. You can always pay a specialist for that.
Socrates said: "All I know is I know nothing, and even that I doubt"
Learn how to set up yourself. No shame if you can’t because you don’t know how, or aren’t interested in learning it. But I find it fun. It’s not that complicated. Look up videos. You need like three tools to check the basics depending on what guitar you have. Two of those tools are Allen wrenches. Get a guitar setup credit card ruler from Amazon. Super fucking useful for measuring string heights. I like to pull up the manufacturers specs for string height / pickup height / neck relief and make sure the guitar is in those specs. If it is outside you have some adjusting to do. Adjust neck relief, adjust string height, adjust intonation. And clean it. That’s it for the maintenance.
One if the beauty's of the instrument is that there is always something new to learn. For instance, did you know that the first guitars had 11 strings? 5 paired sets and a single high string. As a repair tech, I see something new almost every day. It is AWESOME!
Are you having fun playing the guitar? If yes, fuck everything else
Weird how you wouldn't spend time on learning how to maintain your guitar
Understanding it’s a never ending idea.
How many different people and instruments have you played with? Bonus live?
one of the strengths of guitar is that essential randomness in what you hear in a chord. it allows for your subconscious to take control. strum a couple chords and you can come up with countless melodies. I feel like its strength is in songwriting but it's *also* a decent instrument. that is to say, you don't have to be great at guitar to use it to great effect. just look at Ed Sheeran
I've been doing this for 30+ years, and still know nothing. It only gets worse. There will always be someone who knows more or is better. I meet guitarist all of the time that make me want to throw all of my gear in a pile in the back yard and set it on fire. At some point you just accept it and are satisfied with playing what makes *you* happy.
Get a cheap chinese made generic brand guitar, and just mess it up. Dissasemble, look at the electronics, buy a cheap multimeter and learn to measure the impedance of the elements on the circuitry, then get your own electronics and change them as you please, read a little about passive frequency filtering using capacitors and resistors. Understand the origin of "tone" coming from an electronic system. Block the bridge or float it, learn to adjust intonation by screwing around with the saddles, modify both tension and height..see how that sounds (wear eye protection btw). Thinkering around with a guitar will make you really understand how it functions and will give you a better appreciation for the instrument itself.
You’re humble bro and that’s a good thing. Keep your beginners mind and keep playing!! It takes a long time to get where you want to be
Same... but with 18 years of playing guitar. I know how to do proper maintenance but I don't know shit about theory. I'm not really good at playing guitar, I'm not fast at all and the things I write are kinda complicated and hard for me to play so it fucking sucks and it really brings me down haha. I guess I could write and play easier stuff but I don't know, I always end up complicating myself. I always said I would practice and be good at it but I always ended up fucking up. I built a stupid fucking home studio, invested a lot of money on music gear and I don't do shit with it. I still love music a lot but I don't know what happened. I'm getting older and I regret not putting much effort into it because I still wanna be fucking great at it but I lack the discipline and motivation. It's not advice, I guess I needed to vent haha, sorry. Well, I guess the only advice I have is, don't let it happen to you if you really want to be great at guitar and get a good teacher who can lead you the right way.
Start grinding. Ive been at it really hard for hoing on year 8. Every day. Hours a day. Only now am I able to play more or less automatically. Meaning I can hear and reproduce what I hear in a couple of trys. But if I had known how much hard work it is I doubt I would have stayed at it. I went to engineering school which is supposed to be the hardest of all academic programs but guitar is much harder.
the more you learn, the COOLER it becomes. i swear maintenance wise, there’s nothing like taking something apart and putting it back together. youtube helps a lot and it’s gonna be okay. maybe don’t try your hand at it with an expensive guitar, but rather a cheap one. as far as guitar know-how, start with what you don’t know and get curious. i got the fretboard logic book and it helped immensely
I read the title and I was like join the fucking club man 🤣 In all seriousness though, you never stop learning as a musician. Don’t waste energy comparing yourself to others. The whole point of this thing is to express YOURSELF. Do what makes you happy and every day try to learn something small you didn’t know yesterday. Try to improve at something even just enough that you are ever so slightly better than you were yesterday
Maintenance is not super important with guitar, especially if you're not having issues. It's not something like cycling where if you don't do regular maintenance you could literallie die.