Working Over a Guitar, Part 1

It is really funny, because I had been talking about guitars all last year, looking at different models and that kind of thing, and my mother - bless her heart - took what was probably her tax refund, and we spent 346 dollars or so on a great acoustic guitar for me to learn guitar on. I wound up at Hauer Music.

I started at the Guitar Center at the Mall. A lot of people go ballistic at the mention of guitar center, but it is actually a good store. Their big problem is that their management does not kick meatroid's out when they come in to goof around on the instruments. Otherwise, the sales staff is ethical, even though they work on commission, and they have a large selection of good products.

So I had looked around, and headed downtown to Hauer heaving a disgruntled sigh. Hauer has downright taken advantage of me in the past, but as it turned out, they had the guitar I needed, they didn't fool around, and I got the small amount of accessories I needed. My mother and I wound up 46 dollars over-budget. My mother - bless her heart - did not mind the 46 dollars over. Hauer is probably under new management, judging from the difference in experience, so if you're in Dayton, you can at least give them a shot without heaving a disgruntled sigh.

So, this is the first clue. I had played a FG700S Yamaha Acoustic at the Guitar Center, and it just did not feel right. The same guitar at the Hauer was a perfect fit. That FG700S is a standard dreadnought acoustic guitar without a pickup, is reasonably priced, and plays really sweet. It is a really good beginner's guitar to pick up.

The clue is that no matter what guitar you pick out, play the guitar you are actually going to bring home before you buy the instrument. My guess is that some meatroid damaged that FG700S at the Guitar Center, and I could have saved 50 bucks and a drive downtown if the meatroid hadn't damaged the guitar. Again, there is no use railing against Guitar Center, but the difference between a low-priced, standard dreadnought acoustic with no pickup that has been damaged, and the same guitar that hasn't been damaged was well worth 50 more dollars and a drive downtown. Maybe someone can hire some managers with some sense into the Guitar Center, because every one of the staff members at the Guitar Center is ready to garotte those meatroid's with their guitar strings and wants the problems to stop.

There are a couple of other things that you need for this practice setup. You need a shami cloth of some kind, and you should remember to rub down the fretboard and most of the guitar when you get the guitar out and especially when you put the guitar away. A typical guitar store has those cloths, and will be surprised to be selling one.

The reason you need to do this is that the oils on your hands can quickly rot the strings, the fretboard, and even the surfaces of the gourd of the guitar. I've been very careful with my Yamaha Dreadnought, but I've played it so much that the stain is already coming off of the fretboard after about 5 months of ownership. It will be way worse than that for you if you don't consistently rub the guitar down.

Your next problem is picks. Picks cost a few quarters a piece, and when you first buy the guitar, pick out a small handful, and then you can just drop a few dollars buying another handful or two every once in a while. I prefer a dense, jazz-style pick. The picks are quite small in size, but very hard and very dense, which makes for a very punchy picking action. Those picks also don't clatter in between the strings because of their small size. The only problem with these types of picks is that they have a tendency of shifting around in your grip or outright flying across the room.

I have a rock-style pick made of brushed graphite that is invincibly sturdy in the grip, but it is way too large. If I could find a brushed graphite jazz-style pick, and I haven't yet, then I would be one happy-camper. You can also try playing finger-style. For some reason, classical guitarists insist that finger-style is better, but in my mind this insistence is total hog-slop. Picking is more efficient, it is easier on the hands, you can play faster lines, and you can also get better multiple lines if you do your homework.

I'm at a feeble, "sounds great but is really mostly nonsense," skill level with guitar. However, I get the puppy out and work over the fretboard very consistently. I'm also thinking about looking for a good guitar pedagogue in the area, and we'll just have to see how that might pan out.

This article is plenty long, and what I may do is talk about "gear," next, and then hit the tuning issues. Theory is tedious, even for me, and also, I want to keept it as simple as I can while not losing the meat of an argument I have about guitar tunings. It may be better to leave out my opinion altogether and just show you a few standard things that are often used by the pro's, because my argument has to do with the theory of sound acoustics, and that is a bit much for most people. We shall see.

Last thing, you must buy a copy of "The Guitar Handbook." There are very few good guitar books on the market, and I will notify you when I find other ones, but that book is a must have for someone getting started on guitar. My buddy from High School owned one of the older editions, and I was at the local bookstore right after I bought my guitar and it was like - hey! - I remember that book - it was great! Do yourself a favor on that one.