Playing guitar

[BlueTX]

Total [Poor language removed] player as a teenager so quickly gave it up. My brother started noodling around with an acoustic a year ago and encouraged me recently to pick it up again. Found a virtually unused minty Seagull Coastline S6 Cedar GT a guy's wife said "had to go this weekend". Paid him $50.

Will still probably be [Poor language removed] but not as harsh on myself as I was back then. I hope.

 

[Old Blue 2]

I play the B shape like Old Blue. Unlike him, I can't bend my ring finger so that the top string sounds. And if it does sound, it doesn't sound very happy

If you mean like this, yeah, I can bend my ring finger at 90 degrees as in the photo below, and the top string is not touched or dampened. Probably goes back to when I first started doing barre chords...

 

[ClausThomsen]

This is part of my problem* and is a good reason why it's actually a good idea to invest in a decent guitar with an easy action.

*It's only a tiny part of my problem though. the major part is a lack of talent and not enough dedication to make up for it.

I've got this problem.

If I don't have the strings raised up I get all kinds of fret buzz and alike. But it puts the action completely out and makes barre chords especially difficult....or at least that's what I'm blaming it on. Lack of talent and dedication also plays it's part.

I'm hopefully taking it up to a guitar place in Kirkby sometime soon to let someone who knows what they're doing have a look at it.

 

[Old Blue 2]

I've got this problem.

If I don't have the strings raised up I get all kinds of fret buzz and alike. But it puts the action completely out and makes barre chords especially difficult....or at least that's what I'm blaming it on. Lack of talent and dedication also plays it's part.

I'm hopefully taking it up to a guitar place in Kirkby sometime soon to let someone who knows what they're doing have a look at it.

What guitar have you got?

It might be a case of the truss rod needing adjustment. If it is, and you have an electric guitar, then the action would need to be set, and then the intonation. A competent luthier should be able to do all that, no problem.

WIth an electric guitar, you may hear a little frez buzz when playing it unplugged - you will not hear that fret buzz when played through an amp.

When I put a new set of strings on my electrics, I always set the intonation with the guitar plugged in. AND I always tune the guitar to the 'attack'. That means I tune to a fretted note, at the pressure I would normally apply. Tune a guitar to open strings, and you may find that when you start fretting chords, or indeed single notes, the pressure your fingers apply to the strings will almost certainly make the chord/single note sound out.

Hope this helps.

 

[ClausThomsen]

What guitar have you got?

It might be a case of the truss rod needing adjustment. If it is, and you have an electric guitar, then the action would need to be set, and then the intonation. A competent luthier should be able to do all that, no problem.

WIth an electric guitar, you may hear a little frez buzz when playing it unplugged - you will not hear that fret buzz when played through an amp.

When I put a new set of strings on my electrics, I always set the intonation with the guitar plugged in. AND I always tune the guitar to the 'attack'. That means I tune to a fretted note, at the pressure I would normally apply. Tune a guitar to open strings, and you may find that when you start fretting chords, or indeed single notes, the pressure your fingers apply to the strings will almost certainly make the chord/single note sound out.

Hope this helps.

It's a semihollow Vintage VSA535 - a close copy of the Gibson ES-335 from what I read but I very much doubt it's of the same build quality looking at the prices! Think I paid about £250 for it back in the nineties or very early 2000's at the latest.

I've done a little reading and with my limited knowledge it does look out and I don't want to go attacking the truss rod not knowing what I'm doing or looking for. Taking it to a competent luthier will at least give me a base line to work from in future.

The fret buzz is ridiculous unless I raise the stop tailpiece to a level that throws the action out (swinging wildly and possibly inaccurately at the correct terminology here!) and makes it very hard to play. I'll try it through my amp with the tailpiece lowered back down and see what it's like but it sounds terrible unplugged like that.

 

[fandjango]

This is my latest build
I build mostly classical guitars but I am currently making a flamenco guitar .... bizarrely it allows me to travel to Spain where my training was done ....

 

[roydo]

@SerenityNigh

 

[SerenityNigh]

@SerenityNigh

Thanks boss. I wanted to brag on one of my kids who's been playing guitar about 3 years (but cello for almost 9). He played this arrangement (which you may recognize) for his middle school. Hope it doesn't hurt your ears too much.