Rocksmith Catch All

imbiginjapan wrote:
duckilama wrote:

Dude. My wife already ordered sans guitar for my bday. Gonna see if I can find a cheapy at the pawn shop.

Just a little advice... In my opinion the main thing for a first guitar is to find something that will stay in tune. Otherwise you'll only get frustrated as your axe falls out of tune mid-song and the notes stop registering.

Word, plus when a guitar is nice and you know you spent some money on it and you actually like it (instead of going for the cheapest one) it inspires you to play more, instead of "Ughhh, I have to tune it again?"

BTW I don't know what I did (maybe my brother played my game) but the Titus Andronicus song is asking me to play it like 95% perfect all of a sudden, and I don't even remember leveling it up. I've repeated it a bunch of times but closest I get is 85k, and it wants 90k.

I guess I'll have to go into the riff repeater...

I need to Google how to tell if a guitar has a fixed bridge before I go to the pawn shop.

duckilama wrote:

I need to Google how to tell if a guitar has a fixed bridge before I go to the pawn shop.

Isn't that non-whammy-able? ie, the place where the strings are attached doesn't move?

Chumpy_McChump wrote:
duckilama wrote:

I need to Google how to tell if a guitar has a fixed bridge before I go to the pawn shop.

Isn't that non-whammy-able? ie, the place where the strings are attached doesn't move?

Yes, if the guitar has a whammy bar or a slot for a whammy bar, it's not fixed bridge (most likely a Floyd Rose bridge).

If it has no place to put a whammy bar, it's Fixed bridge, most recommended for new guitar players because the Floyd Rose is a hassle to maintain and keep in tune.

Mex wrote:

If it has no place to put a whammy bar, it's Fixed bridge, most recommended for new guitar players because the Floyd Rose is a hassle to maintain and keep in tune.

IIRC, that depends pretty heavily on the particular bridge you have. From everything I've read, original Floyds keep tune amazingly well; licensed ones are all over the map.

Chumpy_McChump wrote:
Mex wrote:

If it has no place to put a whammy bar, it's Fixed bridge, most recommended for new guitar players because the Floyd Rose is a hassle to maintain and keep in tune.

IIRC, that depends pretty heavily on the particular bridge you have. From everything I've read, original Floyds keep tune amazingly well; licensed ones are all over the map.

Yes, but a Floyd Rose bridge by itself costs $150+
So it's probably not on a "beginning" guitar.

Find something that feels good to you and you want to play. I would recommend a fixed bridge at first.

Also, if you get a guitar with a Tremelo (that's what it's called) -- you can often "lock" it internally. I just bought a new guitar last night (a Paul Reed Smith I got stupid cheap) which has it's Tremelo locked.

Usually you'll have to block it. Although yesterday I did just check out the Guthrie Govan signature Suhr guitar and it has a cool system where you can quickly switch between a locked and floating trem.

rabbit wrote:

Also, if you get a guitar with a Tremelo (that's what it's called) -- you can often "lock" it internally. I just bought a new guitar last night (a Paul Reed Smith I got stupid cheap) which has it's Tremelo locked.

I heard the PRS SE guitars are pretty good for the money. I think new is 500-600 and play way above their value. I've yet to try one out but I've been meaning too.

I was really lucky to score a Gibson Les Paul special faded for $200 from a friend. I've played other newer special faded models and they don't feel as good as mine. Apparently the newer ones don't have the same build quality, and the friend that sold mine to me worked at a guitar store and played all of them until he picked that one.

THere's this thing too: http://www.tremol-no.com/products.asp

Yeah, that's the system that was in that Guthrie Govan model. I might consider putting one in my Strat with all the bouncing between Standard and Drop D that Rocksmith likes to do.

Secret Asian Man wrote:
rabbit wrote:

Also, if you get a guitar with a Tremelo (that's what it's called) -- you can often "lock" it internally. I just bought a new guitar last night (a Paul Reed Smith I got stupid cheap) which has it's Tremelo locked.

I heard the PRS SE guitars are pretty good for the money. I think new is 500-600 and play way above their value. I've yet to try one out but I've been meaning too.

I was really lucky to score a Gibson Les Paul special faded for $200 from a friend. I've played other newer special faded models and they don't feel as good as mine. Apparently the newer ones don't have the same build quality, and the friend that sold mine to me worked at a guitar store and played all of them until he picked that one.

If you can afford that I might suggest a Epiphone Les Paul. Which I have played around with a bit myself. They sound great and hold there tuning very well. Fixed bridge and there are a million color schemes to choose from.

Edit: Not to say the PRS SE Guitar's are not a worth purchase, I don't know anything about them actually. Just a les paul fan. Even if it is an Epiphone.

I watched this review which compare the real deal to the epiphone when I was thinking about buying on. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TTzdcOcpyuE

A good Epiphone Les Paul is more guitar than most people need.

I like Les Pauls

rabbit wrote:

Also, if you get a guitar with a Tremelo (that's what it's called) -- you can often "lock" it internally. I just bought a new guitar last night (a Paul Reed Smith I got stupid cheap) which has it's Tremelo locked.

"Tremolo" with an O, I had that drilled into my head when I began it's only fair I do it to others too n_n

Just so I don't confuse anyone, tremolo also refers to when you pick a note really fast (tremolo picking) :

PRS guitars look pretty cool, what model did you get?

SodaGremlin wrote:

Edit: Not to say the PRS SE Guitar's are not a worth purchase, I don't know anything about them actually. Just a les paul fan. Even if it is an Epiphone.

Don't know about that particular model, but PRS guitars are super nice and I've only seen good ones, not a single manufacturing defect.

I've never owned one because they're way too expensive here, but from the times I've played some they're really nice and if you have the money, I'd say go for it...

Mex wrote:

PRS guitars look pretty cool, what model did you get?

its an early 2000's PRS SE with two single coils and a humbucker, with a set neck. They were (I gather) a brief period where PRS outsourced manufacture of a low end (for them) guitar to Korea. They sold new for somewhere in the 500-900 range, and I guess are still pretty sought after used as rock solid touring guitars. I've read a bit about them. Def. more guitar than I need given my feeble skills.

Secret Asian Man wrote:

A good Epiphone Les Paul is more guitar than most people need.

I like Les Pauls

It's certainly more then I can handle, but it's so sweet! Rocksmith is a cool game though, haven't played in a couple of days, going to get back into it after this starcraft 2 fix wears off.

SodaGremlin wrote:

I watched this review which compare the real deal to the epiphone when I was thinking about buying on. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TTzdcOcpyuE

I love these reviews where guys are trying to explain what they like about the sound of a particular guitar.

"It has that really thick, you know that..." BLAAUUUUUUU!!! "that. It's kind of like" WAAHAHHHHAHAHAH!!!!!! "But it doesn't do that" WHHEHEHEHEHEHE!!!! "like a Fender. You know?"

Enjoying what I've had time to play so far. I'm hoping that I'll get some decent guitar skills out of this, although I'm concerned about what I learn being more widely applicable outside of the game. I've seen in the Rocksmith forums that they're soliciting suggestions for DLC songs, but to be honest, what they have so far is fairly underwhelming if you're a fan of more modern music (e.g. Rise Against). Has anyone heard anything about their plans for newer stuff?

Coldstream wrote:

Enjoying what I've had time to play so far. I'm hoping that I'll get some decent guitar skills out of this, although I'm concerned about what I learn being more widely applicable outside of the game. I've seen in the Rocksmith forums that they're soliciting suggestions for DLC songs, but to be honest, what they have so far is fairly underwhelming if you're a fan of more modern music (e.g. Rise Against). Has anyone heard anything about their plans for newer stuff?

I think about 90% of the people when they think about learning songs on the guitar aren't thinking about Rise Against or similar bands.

ranalin wrote:
Coldstream wrote:

Enjoying what I've had time to play so far. I'm hoping that I'll get some decent guitar skills out of this, although I'm concerned about what I learn being more widely applicable outside of the game. I've seen in the Rocksmith forums that they're soliciting suggestions for DLC songs, but to be honest, what they have so far is fairly underwhelming if you're a fan of more modern music (e.g. Rise Against). Has anyone heard anything about their plans for newer stuff?

I think about 90% of the people when they think about learning songs on the guitar aren't thinking about Rise Against or similar bands.

Yeah, I guess that's probably true. Still, when they come out with the bass version, there had better be some Rise Against, as the base-line in some of those songs are hugely fun to play even in Rockband.

Also, whoever decided to put 'lives' into the practice mode needs to be beaten with a stick. It's the most breathtakingly moronic move I've seen in a long time. Sure buddy, I'd love to get kicked out of practice mode constantly and watch the game save and go back to the menu. Why on earth would I want to just stay in practice mode until I nail it?

Sheesh.

ranalin wrote:
Coldstream wrote:

Enjoying what I've had time to play so far. I'm hoping that I'll get some decent guitar skills out of this, although I'm concerned about what I learn being more widely applicable outside of the game. I've seen in the Rocksmith forums that they're soliciting suggestions for DLC songs, but to be honest, what they have so far is fairly underwhelming if you're a fan of more modern music (e.g. Rise Against). Has anyone heard anything about their plans for newer stuff?

I think about 90% of the people when they think about learning songs on the guitar aren't thinking about Rise Against or similar bands.

Agreed, but it would be good to get a wide base out there. You never know which song is going to get someone to jump in. Personally I wish they would put up some really crazy stuff like Tool's Rosetta Stone, but I doubt that has the wide appeal needed as ranalin was mentioning.

My girlfriend wants to learn how to play the guitar. I told her about this and she said she really wanted it for Christmas but I have one question and one possible issue:

Question: Does Rocksmith actually teach you how to play the instrument or just how to play the songs on it's set list?

Possible issue: She only owns an acoustic.

Rocksmith in and of itself isn't a comprehensive guitar method, no. But considering that ultimately the point of learning guitar is to play songs, then learning songs is definitely helping you learn to play guitar. Rocksmith is good for learning how techniques you should be learning are used musically and how to apply them in the context of a song.

But yes, the skills you learn by playing Rocksmith will become familiar and are applicable to learning songs outside of Rocksmith as well. Hopefully no one is using Rocksmith alone as the entirety of their practice if they're at all serious about becoming proficient on guitar. If you just want to be able sit around a campfire and play some tunes, or pick up a guitar at a party and entertain a little then Rocksmith will get you to that level.

Bill_Lewis wrote:

My girlfriend wants to learn how to play the guitar. I told her about this and she said she really wanted it for Christmas but I have one question and one possible issue:

Question: Does Rocksmith actually teach you how to play the instrument or just how to play the songs on it's set list?

Possible issue: She only owns an acoustic.

Rocksmith is a really good way to learn how to play a few dozen songs. In doing so, it teaches you how to quickly move around the guitar neck and get some finger strength and dexterity, as well as give you a feel for how songs are structured on a rhythmic level. This is actually pretty important as those fundamentals are the things that are the most tedious to learn, particularly as an adult. The fact that the game gives you immediate feedback and scaled difficulty as well as providing a full backing track is a huge help in keeping interest.

Extrapolating what you learn in Rocksmith to other songs does require you to learn a bit of music theory, but I feel like Rocksmith synergizes with rather than hinders that kind of 'book' learning.

As far as the guitar goes, you need a guitar with a pickup and standard output jack on it. An acoustic with a pickup should work, though it might sound a bit odd as you'll hear both the acoustic and the electrified sound through the game.

I've been an open chord guitar hacker for 30 years, and I can tell you Rocksmith pushed me through a decade long barrier of getting better. Combined with Justinguitar.com (free, but buy his printed songbook for 30 bucks as its awesome) I think it's a fantastic and comprehensive way to learn.

You need someway to get a signal to Rocksmith. I have a guild acoustic-electric that works great with it, however, id caution that it is designed for rock (read electric) guitar. It doesn't teach fingerpicking or lots of strumming patterns. It does teach harmonics, mutes, hammers and pulls and bends, some of which i cant do at all on my acoustic. With lighter strings maybe, but with my regular brass strings, no chance in hell I can bend my g string a full tone on the 7th fret, easy on the electric though.

I've been an open chord guitar hacker for 30 years, and I can tell you Rocksmith pushed me through a decade long barrier of getting better. Combined with Justinguitar.com (free, but buy his printed songbook for 30 bucks as its awesome) I think it's a fantastic and comprehensive way to learn.

You need someway to get a signal to Rocksmith. I have a guild acoustic-electric that works great with it, however, id caution that it is designed for rock (read electric) guitar. It doesn't teach fingerpicking or lots of strumming patterns. It does teach harmonics, mutes, hammers and pulls and bends, some of which i cant do at all on my acoustic. With lighter strings maybe, but with my regular brass strings, no chance in hell I can bend my g string a full tone on the 7th fret, easy on the electric though.

Awesome guitar weekend here at the Mantidae household. I've put in over 15 hours of practice, with probably about 7 on Rocksmith. Still haven't hit level 8 yet but I must be close. I'm just south of 8mil RSP currently. I'm having to spend time in Riff Repeater to level songs up to the point where I can qualify for events now too. I really hope the patch adds a "throw me everything you've got!" mode as leveling up songs can be a bit tedious. I think I'm close to be able to shoot for a Master Mode set at this point.

LiquidMantis wrote:

Awesome guitar weekend here at the Mantidae household. I've put in over 15 hours of practice, with probably about 7 on Rocksmith. Still haven't hit level 8 yet but I must be close. I'm just south of 8mil RSP currently. I'm having to spend time in Riff Repeater to level songs up to the point where I can qualify for events now too. I really hope the patch adds a "throw me everything you've got!" mode as leveling up songs can be a bit tedious. I think I'm close to be able to shoot for a Master Mode set at this point.

Is there any word on a patch forthcoming? Rocksmith has a ridiculous amount of potential locked away behind some very tedious design decisions.