Guitar thread

Guitar is about 1-1.5 years old now purchased new, would the strings need to be replaced already? Never been dropped or anything either (I hope).
I'm obviously completely oblivious when it comes to guitar stuff, maybe it has something to do with being a drummer.

Was fine before, and the buzzing started about 2 months ago but was only noticeable when amplified recently. Made worse when it's tuned to Eb, from the lower string tension I imagine.
Only on the top 3 strings for the most part (G B E), so even with the lowest string tuned to D that one still doesn't buzz.

It's a LTD EC100QM incase anyone was wondering. So probably wasn't perfect from the factory to begin with I'd think, being nothing special n all.
I'll have to get a pic up of my slowly growing guitar collection one of these days.

You are definitely due for new strings!! About every three months is a general rule. Strings oxidize, get crud on them, etc. Grab your little E string between your fingers and run up and down the length. You'll feel that it isn't baby-ass smooth. That's what we're talking about.

De-tuning (drop D and most alternate tunings) most generally does require a bit higher action and, if you can, heavier strings.

I would replace the strings.

Tom Bills is a very talented young luthier that builds amazing high-end flat top and arcthop acoustic guitars. He has a series of YouTube videos that help with guitar setup. I think they're very helpful.

Best of luck!

Anyone have any experience with Zager guitars?

I'll preface this by saying I don't have any personal experience.

Looking through their sales pitch on the website kind of cracks me up. Almost everything they list are things that every reputable manufacturer does with their guitar but they make it sound like nobody else does it. I'm not saying that they're bad, but their pitch turns me off for some reason.

In short, it doesn't seem like there is anything special about them that you wouldn't get from any other REPUTABLE guitar manufacturer, but you'll maybe suffer a bit when it comes to re-sale because of the lack of name recognition (I've been in the guitar business since 1990 and, while I admittedly don't know everything, I've never heard of them.)

That is a little where I am at....I don't have one single thing that does not plug in....so looking for something a little different.

A guy I work with suggested these....says he has one and would bring it in the next time he works (one of my part time kids) and that got me looking.

What? You've never heard 2525?

I don't have any personal experience with them, but the general consensus over at the Acoustic Guitar Forum (www.acousticguitarforum.com) is that they are lower-end Asian-made guitars with a low-action setup and light gauge strings. Nothing wrong with any of that, but you can get the same thing for a lot less money than Zager is asking.

His marketing and multiple web sites full of "reviews" and "testimonials" is also kind of cheesy and makes me wonder why Zagers are NEVER mentioned in conversation about entry level guitars that are a good value etc.

I was in the music store in harmony PA the other day, And played an Andrew White - very sweet. Amazing sound. I never heard of that brand before.

I'm a beginner, attempting to teach myself how to make recognizable noise via YouTube. I'm learning Raindrops Keep Falling on my Head from the video below. The chord progression for the intro/verse is D; A; G; A; D; Dmaj7; D7; G; F#m...

In the lesson, the first G is played as a bar chord and the second is played open. To my untrained ear, both G chords sound the same. I'm curious why they'd be used this way. It seems to me that playing the G prior to the F#m as a bar might make sense, so you can maintain the shape, but that G is played open. I imagine that it's just a matter of personal preference, but it has me curious. Is there something that I'm missing?

Thanks!


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You're not missing anything. The G to F#m is an easy transition if played as bar chords. Open G sounds more melodic and less rock.

Its a flavor thing, they are the same chords with different voicing.....you can actually tinker around with that and make melodies and all sorts of nifty drones and tones by playing the the 3rd/5th/7th voicings.

For reference an open chord will usually sound brighter than a barred maj/min/7th or whatnot, just because you are playing off of the nut and without your index finger half muting everything.

Voicing and convenience. Sometimes it's easier to use a bar chord or you want that "chunk" sound.

Other times only an "open" chord will do as it has the right voicing or you're doing a moving bass line with it.

One time an old friend of mine sat in with my bluegrassish/roots band. About halfway through a song I kept thinking "Something's not right." The problem was my old friend. He's a good player but has more of a jazz background. As such, he was using bar chords almost exclusively. That voicing simply didn't sound right in the style of music we were playing. So....while he wasn't playing "wrong", he wasn't playing "right."

Thought you guys might enjoy this original song. He was a great drummer and a fine person and this is my little tribute. Leave a nice comment at youtube if you knew him, or even if you didn't. Watch until the end.

God Bless.



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My Son just bought this one. I love it.
http://imgur.com/a/aJ7Yw#10

Very nice! Looks like an '04 Traditional Pro.

No it's a standard. It just doesn't have pickup covers on

Even better. A lot of people prefer those pre-'08 spec Standards. I really love ebony. Kinda wish I got an ebony Standard when I bought my '12 Spec.. They discontinued it for '13.

If I was playing more that is where I'd be looking. The mid-90s studios agree pretty well with my hands as well.

.....of course so do CE22s

So many guitars so little time