Mega Guitar Blog

Changing the strings on your guitar

2012-01-03T23:00:00.001-05:00

I want to talk to you about guitar strings today. Take a moment and read this excellent article by Frank Ford regarding guitar strings: A Quick Look At The Composition Of Strings.

Guitar strings need to be changed when they get dirty. The wound strings collect dirt, oils and dead skin in the windings. People with sweaty hands need to change strings more often than players with dry hands. The acid in sweat can make strings rust. Dirty strings sound dead compared to new strings. They rob your guitar of tone. For the record, "tone" is the Holy Grail to experienced guitar player. They are on a constant quest for the "perfect tone". We will get deep into tone in later updates, but for now just know that dirty strings make your guitar sound bad. They can also make your frets wear out quicker. The dirt and grime create a rough, sand paper like texture that will put grooves in your frets.

The good news is that you can extend the life of your strings by washing your hands before you play and wiping down your strings after you finish playing. You can clean your guitar strings with products like Fast Fret, Tone Gear Guitar String Cleaner, Dunlop Ultra Glide 65 and Planet Waves XLR8 String Lubricant & Cleaner. Even if you keep your strings squeaky clean you will need to change them over time due to metal fatigue. Metal fatigue occurs from the stress created by the constant tension on the strings and the vibration from playing. This process breaks down the metal which can lead to broken strings and will making tuning nearly impossible. Here is a great article about metal fatigue from Graph Tech: Why Guitar Strings Break.

On average, most people should change their strings every 3-6 weeks if you play several times a week or every 6-8 weeks if you only play once or twice per week. People with sweaty hands will need to change strings more often. Coated strings last twice as long but are more expensive. They also feel a little different. I have friends that love them and friends that hate them.

Buying strings can be confusing. There are many different brands, numerous string gages, multiple alloy combinations, different core shapes and a host of other factors to consider. Thankfully, Strings and Beyond has an excellent string buying guide on their website called: What Guitar Strings Do I Need?. They go into detail on string types and give you a list of the most popular brands. Make sure you check it out before you buy your next set of strings. I recommend buying strings from them as well. They are the best.

Changing strings is a very simple process. All you need is a new set of strings and a pair of wire cutters. A string winder makes the job a little easier. You can find them at any guitar store. The inexpensive models start around $1.50. I have a tool by Planet Waves called the Pro-Winder Cutter. It is a combination wire cutter and string winder. It's a very inexpensive ($8.00), yet effective tool. I highly recommend it. They also make electric string winders and winder attachments you can use on a power screw driver or on a drill motor. You will see them used in high volume guitar repair shops and in guitar production plants. With that said, you can get buy without a string winder.

If a picture is worth a thousand words, a good video is worth much more. Here is a video from Martin Guitars that takes you through the process of changing guitar strings on an acoustic guitar:

The process is slightly different on an electric guitar. Electric guitars don't have bridge pins. The strings run through individual holes in the bridge and are held in place by the ball ends of the strings. There are many different bridge designs but the concept is the same for the most part. The strings are installed on the tuning posts the same way as they are on an acoustic guitar.

My favorite strings are D'Addario EXL110 (.010-.046) on my electric guitars and D'Addario EXP 16 (.012-.053) on my acoustic guitars.

Feel free to send me an email if you need advice, want to give me advice or if you have a guitar topic or concept you would like to see me cover in the blog: megaguitar316@yahoo.com

Thanks for stopping by!
MG316

Merry Christmas from Mega Guitar!

2011-12-24T23:36:00.000-05:00

It's 11:20 PM on Christmas Eve. In a few hours my kids will come downstairs to see what Santa left for them. They are going to be thrilled with their gifts. My 11 year old son doesn't know it yet, but he is getting the game Rocksmith for Xbox 360. Rocksmith is unlike Rock Band and Guitar Hero because you use a real guitar rather than a guitar-like game controller. I think it is a great game for people starting out on the guitar because it starts off very simple and becomes more challenging as you develop your playing skills. You can view the Rocksmith demo here:

I hope you find a new guitar or some cool gear under your tree. Feel free to send me an email if you have any questions or need advice: MegaGuitar316@yahoo.com

Thanks for visiting!
MG316

Essential guitar accessories

2011-12-23T16:07:00.000-05:00

At this point you should have a guitar or be very close to buying one. Here are a few things you will need:

Guitar case or padded gig bag
Tuner
Extra strings, string winder & wire cutters
Capo (what is a capo?)
Microfiber polishing cloth
Guitar Polish
Guitar strap

I also recommend purchasing guitar instruction books but that is completely optional because there is an abundance of free instructional material on the Internet. Books will allow you to practice and learn when you don't have access to the Internet.

Mega Guitar recommended guitar accessories:

Guitar Cases/Gig Bags: Road Runner, SKB, Gator and TKL make nice cases and gig bags in the sub $100 range. I recommend Road Runner cases and SKB gig bags.
Tuners: Korg, Boss and Snark make great tuners. I like the Snark tuners. They clip on the headstock and work well. They are also inexpensive. You can find them for less than $10 on line: Snark SN-1.
Guitar strings: D'Addario, Ernie Ball, Elixir, GHS, Martin, Fender, Gibson and DR make excellent strings. I recommend buying strings from Strings and Beyond. They have excellent prices and outstanding customer service. They also offer free shipping on orders over $35. I use D'Addario EXP16's on my acoustics and D'Addario XL 110's on my electric guitars.
Capos: G7, Kyser, Shubb, Planet Waves and Dunlop make nice capos in the $12-$40 range. I am a big fan of Kyser capos. I also like the Planet Waves NS capos.
Micro fiber polishing cloths: You can find them guitar stores and automotive stores. They are designed to clean high gloss surfaces without scratching. I recommend the Dunlop Microfiber polishing cloth.
Guitar Polish: Martin, Gibson, Dunlop, Kyser, Music Nomad, Planet Waves and Clayton make goo guitar polish. I recommend Gibson and Guitar One by Music Nomad.
Guitar Straps: Levy, Planet Waves, Ernie Ball, Dunlop, Moody, Fender, Taylor and Martin make high quality leather and synthetic (nylon / polyester) guitar straps in the $10- $200 range. I recommend buying strap locks if you plan to play standing up. Strap locks prevent the strap from coming off the strap button. You can find them in th $10- $25 range. I recommend Planet Waves and Fender synthetic straps. I recommend Levy and Moody leather straps. I recommend Fender and Schaller strap locks.

Buying a budget friendly acoustic guitar.........

2011-12-21T08:43:00.001-05:00

Some people view the acoustic guitar as a "country guitar" played by cowboys, as a "folk guitar" played by protesting hippies and my personal favorite, as an "old man's guitar". The truth of the matter is the acoustic guitar is a very versatile instrument capable of covering a wide range of music. The acoustic guitar is more popular than ever with younger players today thanks to You Tube and a guy named Andy McKee. Andy made the acoustic guitar cool. His style of play involves a very non traditional blend of percussion (tapping the body & neck) and harmonics. He uses a wide range of alternate tunings and unique guitars to shape his sound. Here is a video of Andy playing his song, "Drifting":

Okay, now you can see that playing acoustic guitar can be cool and you don't need to be a cowboy, hippie or an old man to play one. Now that the stereotypes are behind us, we can get busy looking for a cool acoustic guitar.

Where to start? I recommend spending some time window shopping and researching acoustic guitars on the Internet to get a good idea of what is available, what you like and how much you are willing to spend. Some good guitar retailer websites to visit are:
http://www.musiciansfriend.com/ , http://www.zzounds.com/ , http://www.elderly.com/ , http://www.sweetwater.com/ , http://www.music123.com/ and http://www.samash.com/. There are many more, including Ebay and Amazon. Although, I don't advise researching guitars on those sites. They tend to have less detailed specs and are better suited for experienced guitar buyers. I will cover buying and selling on Ebay in a future post.

There are 3 basic body styles: Dreadnought (or Dread), Jumbo and Orchestra Model (or OM). The dread is the most popular style. It is the "Swiss Army Knife" of the acoustic guitar world. It can cover a wide range of playing styles. The dread was an original Martin body style. The Martin D-28 is always a top seller. The jumbo is another popular body style. They are bigger than a dread and respond well to a flat pick. They are LOUD and well balanced tonally. You will see them used in country, rock and pop music. Gibson put the jumbo guitar on the map.The Gibson J200 is the ultimate jumbo guitar favored by players everywhere. OM body guitars have grown in popularity over the years. OM's tend to be favored by fingerstyle players. They feature a smaller body and usually have a wider fretboard. This allows the guitar to be more responsive to a light touch and the wider fretboard gives the player more room to play fingerstyle. The trade off is that most OM sized guitars don't respond well to heavy flat picking. Santa Cruz makes some of the best OM guitars out there. The Santa Cruz OM/PW is popular with fingerstyle players. With that said, most manufacturers make dreads, jumbos and OM sized guitars. There are many other acoustic guitar shapes available that I didn't cover: Slope shoulder dreads, concert size and "in between" size guitars like the Taylor X14 Series guitars (combination of a dread and OM). I wanted to keep it basic, that is why I only focused on the 3 most common body styles.

The most important component on an acoustic guitar is the top (soundboard). Some experts claim 80% of the guitar's tone comes from the top. I highly recommend buying a guitar with a solid top. The most popular tone woods used on guitar tops are spruce and cedar. There are different species of spruce. The most common are sitka, engelmann and adirondack. Spruce is stiff and tends to produce a snappy, direct sound with few overtones. Spruce holds up well to heavy picking but may be lacking in responsiveness for a lighter touch. Cedar is softer than spruce. Cedar produces a warm tone full of overtones. Cedar may produce a broken up sound if picked hard, therefore it tends be better suited for a lighter touch and is excellent for fingerstyle due to it's responsiveness.

The other important component on the acoustic guitar is the neck joint. There are 2 popular methods of attaching the neck to the guitar: Dovetail and Bolt on. Dovetail is the traditional method favored by most acoustic guitar manufacturers. The neck joint is hand fitted to the guitar and secured with glue. The bolt on method is becoming more popular with modern builders that tend to stray away from the traditional methods of guitar construction. Taylor is a company that has had great success with their bolt on necks. They are easy to adjust and repair. Either way, if you buy from a quality company you can expect many years of enjoyment out of your guitar as long as you take care of it.

Selecting a nice, budget friendly guitar:
You can find nice solid top acoustic guitars in the $200 -$400 range. They will feature laminate sides and backs. Please keep in mind that there is cheap laminate tone woods and high quality laminate tone woods. Cheap laminates are usually made up of 2 ultra thin veneer sheets of wood with an artificial wood filler between them. I consider them to be glorified plywood. High quality laminates feature 3 sheets of actual tone woods. Seagull, Yamaha and Taylor are known for their high quality laminate back & sides on their entry level, solid top acoustic guitars.

You will have a hard time finding a better dread shaped acoustic guitar than the Yamaha FG700 in the $200 range. It features a solid spruce top and a 3 ply, nato back & sides. Nato is very similar to mahogany. The Yamaha FG730 is an upgraded version of the FG700. It has a solid spruce top, 3 ply rosewood back & sides, fret board & head stock bindings and an abalone rosette. The FG730 is available in a variety of different finishes.You can find them in the $300 range.

I highly recommend the Seagull Entourage Rustic acoustic guitar in the $300 -$400 range. It is a dread shaped guitar with a solid, pressure treated, cedar top with 3 ply, wild cherry backs and sides. Seagull guitars are made in Canada. They feature a machined, bolt on neck joint. Their quality control is impeccable and they sound incredible. Best part? You can find them for $325 or less if you shop around. I own a Entourage Rustic. It is an exceptional guitar for the money. I plan to post video clips of it on the MegaGuitar316 You Tube page in the near future.

There are a lot of excellent options in the $500 -$800 range. You can get into an a Taylor 110 or Taylor 210 with built in electronics in this range. The Taylor 100 & 200 Series feature solid tops and high quality laminate sides and backs. At this price point you will find several solid wood options from different manufacturers: Guild GAD Series, Epiphone Masterbilt, Yamaha L Series (6&16 Series), Eastman and Blueridge are a few popular brands worth checking out. My favorite brands in this price range are Taylor and Yamaha, but you can't go wrong with any of the brands mentioned here.

Protecting your new acoustic guitar from the elements:
Okay, you have your new guitar and are ready to get started! Hold on a minute. Did your guitar come with a padded gig bag or a case? No? Buy one now. It's the number tool needed to protect and maintain your guitar. You can find them in the $20 -$125 range depending on style, quality and brand name.

Low humidity: Solid top and all solid (top, back & sides) guitars can crack or implode if exposed to low humidity over an extended period of time. The optimum humidity range is 40% -50%. Anything below 30% is dangerous. Why? Wood contains moisture. When it dries out it shrinks and becomes brittle. The typical guitar has approximately 200 pounds of string pressure on the soundboard. That is why it is critical to maintain proper humidity levels. The easiest thing to do is to maintain the humidity in your guitar case or gig bag rather than fight to control it in your home. If you live in a northern climate chances are you have a forced air furnace. Forced air furnaces remove humidity from the air. The humidity in my home routinely drops below 30% in the winter and that is with a humidifier built into my furnace. How do you control the humidity in your padded gig bag or case? Buy a sound hole humidifier. They are inexpensive and effective. I recommend the Planet Waves Sound Hole Humidifier. You can find them for less than $12 from a variety of on line stores and in your local shops.

Extreme cold: Sudden changes in temperature can damage the finish on your guitar. For example, taking a guitar in from a cold car into a warm house in the winter would be considered a sudden temperature change. It is best to leave the guitar in the case until the case feels warm before pulling out the guitar. This rule also applies to new guitars delivered during the winter. As a general rule, guitars are usually warm enough to open after they have been indoors for a few hours.

Extreme heat: Heat will destroy a guitar quicker than anything. Guitars are constructed with glue. Extreme heat melts the glue. Once that happens your guitar will implode. Never leave your guitar in a vehicle during the summer months.

Stay tuned for the next step in the process....
MG316

Buying a budget friendly electric guitar.........

2011-12-20T23:04:00.001-05:00

Chances are you may feel compelled to buy a guitar similar to the one used by your favorite player. The Internet will give you the ability to research and price different style guitars and help you establish your budget. Keep in mind that you will need a guitar amplifier if you buy an electric guitar. That will add another $100 to $300 to your budget (I recommend Roland Cube, Fender Mustang and Peavey Vypyr amps in that price range).

Some good guitar retailer websites to visit are:
http://www.musiciansfriend.com/ , http://www.zzounds.com/ , http://www.elderly.com/ , http://www.sweetwater.com/ , http://www.music123.com/ and http://www.samash.com/. There are many more, including Ebay and Amazon. Although, I don't advise researching guitars on those sites. They tend to have less detailed specs and are better suited for experienced guitar buyers. I will cover buying and selling on Ebay in a future post.

Electric guitars tend to have solid bodies. They have pickups that transmit the vibration of the strings to the amplifier. There are two popular styles of pickups: single coil and humbuckers.

The most popular brands are Fender and Gibson. Both companies have been making electric guitars for more than 50 years. Most guitar companies have an entry level brand. Fender has Squier and Gibson has Epiphone. The entry level guitars tend to be decent guitars but are made of lower grade hardware and electronics to keep the price down. You can find a large selection of nice entry level to intermediate guitars in the $150 to $700 range. Fender and Gibson are heavy weights in the guitar industry. Most other guitar companies make their own versions or copies of Fenders and Gibson.

Fender's flagship model is the Stratocaster. It is the guitar designed by Leo Fender and made popular by Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, Stevie Ray Vaughan, David Gilmour and many others. The "Strat" has 3 single coil strings and a 25.5" scale. The scale is the distance between the bridge and the nut. Single coil pickups have a glassy tone but can be noisy and prone to loud feedback. The body is flat and has a large pickguard. It also features a "bolt on neck". The neck is attached to the body with 3 or 4 bolts. The fretboards tend to be rosewood or maple. The Strat features a tremolo bridge that allows the player to change the pitch of the note(s) with the tremolo bar. Squier has inexpensive versions of the Stratocaster that start around $150 and go up to $400. Fender Strats start at $450.00 and go up to several thousand dollars.

David Gilmour's Fender Stratocaster

Gibson's flagship model is the Les Paul. It is the guitar designed by Les Paul and made popular by Jimmy Page, Duane Allman, Slash, Gary Moore, Joe Perry and others. The Les Paul has a 24.75" scale .75" shorter than the Strat. The strings feel slightly softer than the Strat due to the lower tension. The Les Paul has 2 humbucker pickups. Humbuckers are two single coil pickups wired as one. They are far more quiet than single coils but twice as powerful. They produce a beefy tone. The body on the Les Paul is "carved" which gives it an arched appearance and gives it the trademark Gibson tone. Carved tops are labor intensive and add great expense to the cost of the guitar. The Les Paul features a "set neck". The set neck is a design that utilizes a special joint and glue to secure the neck. Many people claim a set neck is better for sustain than a bolt on neck.The Les Paul has a fixed bridge (no tremolo). The Epiphone Les Pauls start in the $200 range and go up to $800. Gibson Les Paul start in the $800 range and go up to several thousand dollars.

Gary Moore's Gibson Les Paul

Some popular alternative brands to Fender and Gibson: Ibanez, PRS, ESP, G&L, Washburn, Charvel, Jackson, Yamaha and Schecter. The truth of the matter is most of the entry level guitars are built by 2 major companies: Samick and Cort. The quality will be very similar.

It's time to visit your local guitar store once you establish a budget and have a good understanding of the brands and models available. Try to take a guitar playing friend with you. If you don't have one, ask the sales person to play the guitars for you. Listen closely to the differences. Don't be afraid to ask questions and don't allow yourself to be pressured into a purchase decision. Don't be afraid to buy from Internet retailers. Make sure they have a generous return / exchange policy - read the fine print. Many have 30 day and 45 day return policies and price match policies.

My "budget friendly" recommendations:

Budget friendly Strat style guitar: Yamaha Pacifica 112J or 112V. You can find the J for $199 and the V for $299. They feature solid alder bodies, maple necks, rosewood fretboards, medium jumbo frets, Alnico V pickups, decent tuners and a decent tremolo unit. I believe they are superior to the Squier line and compare favorably to made in Mexico Fender Strats in the $450 - $700 range.

Budget friendly Les Paul style guitar: Epiphone Les Paul Standard. You can find them in the $339 - $399 range depending on the finish. They are the closest thing you can get to a $2000 Les Paul.

My "best of both worlds / budget friendly" recommendation: Paul Reed Smith (PRS) SE Custom 24. You can find them in the $650 range. They feature a 25" scale (between a Strat and Les Paul), a tremolo unit similar to a Strat and dual humbuckers like a Les Paul.

Please keep in mind that I am giving you my recommendations. I am not affiliated with any of the brands mentioned in this post. There are a lot of great guitars out there that can fill your needs. Take your time and you will find a guitar that "speaks" to you and fits your budget.

Feel free to email me for advice on your purchase decision.

Good Luck,
MG316

So you want to play guitar?

2011-12-20T20:31:00.001-05:00

Playing guitar appeals to people from every walk of life. There are some serious misconceptions about learning to play. I will address a few of them.

1. You must be born with natural musical ability to learn to play the guitar. If that was true, there would be far less guitar players in the world. Natural musical ability is more rare than winning the lottery. Anyone with determination and a love of music can learn to play an instrument. Hard work and passion are the building blocks. Trust me, if I can do it, anyone can.

2. You must start playing when you are a kid. This is far from the truth. Yes, it is true that kids have the ability to learn and master complicated skills quicker than adults, but you are never too old to learn how to play guitar. I know people that started playing when they were kids and I know people that started in their late 50's. Guess what? In many cases, the person that started in their 50's is better. Why? Passion to play guitar knows no age limits. Passion leads to inspiration. Inspiration makes practicing enjoyable. The more you practice, the better you get. It really is that simple.

3. You must sign up for expensive lessons with an instructor. This one is half true. Let me make this clear: Taking lessons is a great idea. I highly recommend that new players take lessons in the beginning to avoid developing bad habits and to build a solid foundation to build on. With that said, thanks to the Internet and specifically You Tube, you can learn to play without taking traditional lessons. The best part? You Tube lessons are free. You can compromise between the traditional method of individual instruction in the back room of the guitar store and the Internet with Skype. There are thousands of guitar instructors on the web that offer guitar lessons via Skype. What is Skype? It's a web cam based communication system. The bottom line is taking lessons at the local guitar store can be expensive and may be embarrassing to an adult just starting out. You can avoid both if you have an Internet connection in your home.

4. You need to spend a boat load of money to get a decent guitar. False. You can get a nice beginner guitar (acoustic or electric) starting around $200.00. I will help you shop for a a guitar in my next post.

5. You must start on an acoustic guitar. Another myth. Acoustic and electric guitars are fundamentally the same. They have 6 strings and 20+ frets. A B minor chord is the same on both guitars. With that said, I can make an argument for starting on either. The pro electric argument: The strings on electric guitars are thinner and therefore, easier on your fingers. They require less finger pressure to play chords and single notes. The pro acoustic argument: The strings are a little stiffer and therefore will build up finger strength quicker. They require a little more precision to fret chords cleanly. They are portable because you don't need an amplifier. Acoustic or electric - it makes no difference as long as you get one or the other and commit yourself to learning to play.

Stay tuned and rock on.......
MG316

Welcome to My Mega Guitar Blog

2011-12-20T15:32:00.000-05:00

Hello,
My name is Ed and I am a guitaraholic. I've been completely obsessed with the guitar since I was 15 years old. I've been playing them, fixing them, buying them and selling them for more than 25 years. I play acoustic and electric guitar. I like a wide variety of music: folk, classic rock, alternative, metal, blues, jazz, country, R&B, pop, etc. I like any music that sounds good and has a guitar in it.

I get a lot of guitar related questions from friends and family members that know I play. I decided to start a blog to share my experience with the guitar. My goal is to become a resource to beginners and intermediate players. I plan to keep the format informal and loose. In other words, I want it to be fun for my subscribers (if I get any) and me. I will start off like you are an absolute beginner and move on from there. My goal is to give you a solid base and point you in the right direction. Eventually my goal is to give equipment reviews, playing tips, maintenance and repair tutorials along with advice on how to sell guitars and guitar related gear on eBay, guitar forums and Craigslist.

This blog will be complimented by my upcoming You Tube channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/MegaGuitar316

This will allow me to give you actual video examples of the different concepts I plan to discuss.

I want this blog to be interactive. You can send your guitar related questions to me at MegaGuitar316@yahoo.com

Why did I select the name "MegaGuitar316"? I was looking for something guitar related that sound cool (to me) and came up with Mega Guitar 316. "Mega" comes from one of my favorite Detroit Lions players: Calvin "Megatron" Johnson. The number 316 is significant to me. It's my birthday: March, 16th, it's a great Bible verse: John 3:16 ~ "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life." and its a cool VanHalen instrumental: 316.

Thanks,
Ed aka ~ MG316