Gamers who play musical instruments

I just got an email inviting me into the Rocksmith+ Beta for PC. I can also apparently send invites to others, so if you'd like an invite, I think you have to add me as your friend on Uplay Connect (I'm mrlogical there too), but anyone who wants to do that I'll send you an invite too. Apparently if you participate in the beta you'll get an extra free three months if you sign up for a year subscription when it goes paid.

I've also begun a guitar building project. I got a telecaster guitar kit for my bday and am now investing, well, more than the cost of the kit, on tools and finishing items, but learning a whole lot (even if I have yet to do any actual work on the thing!). The last thing I need to do is just head to a hardware store and get a bunch of different types of sandpaper. I've built up a step-by-step spreadsheet of everything I need to do from watching a zillion youtube videos. Trying very hard to be patient and to follow all recommendations, even the ones that require me to shell out cash for more tools. First real step is to set up the neck and level and polish the frets, the tools for that should be here by Monday so I'll finally get started then. Fingers crossed it turns out well, I'll report my progress as it happens!

Ooh, I think I'd like to take you up on that offer. Friend request incoming.

mrlogical wrote:

I've also begun a guitar building project. I got a telecaster guitar kit for my bday and am now investing, well, more than the cost of the kit, on tools and finishing items, but learning a whole lot. First real step is to set up the neck and level and polish the frets, the tools for that should be here by Monday so I'll finally get started then. Fingers crossed it turns out well, I'll report my progress as it happens!

That sounds pretty close to what I'm doing (including the spending lots on extras). I'm enjoying myself so far. I've just varnished mine, now waiting for it to cure before I move on to polishing it all up. I went for a purple stained body, which has come out really nice (that stain also looked best on the samples at the paint shop, which is why I picked it).

MrDeVil, I accepted your request and sent the invite. Enjoy! Turns out I only get 2 invites to dish out, so I've got 1 left now. Whoever friends me up first will get it.

Mike, sounds cool! Share pics if you've got any. It's funny, my guitar neck straightedge I paid $35 or so for just arrived today and I tested out my neck and...it's straight. Which is good, and good to know, but if I had not spent the $35 on that tool and just crossed my fingers and set it up as is, it would've been fine too! Oh well. Looking forward to starting on this project in earnest early next week, hoping I can progress enough that I'll be able to have the guitar curing by the time I leave for vacation at the end of the month.

Checked my email. Nope!

mrlogical wrote:

MrDeVil, I accepted your request and sent the invite. Enjoy! Turns out I only get 2 invites to dish out, so I've got 1 left now. Whoever friends me up first will get it.

Aww yiss!! Awesome. Thanks!

If I get any invites I'll pay them forward, so here's hoping.

To the other discussion, weirdly I've also found myself wanting to do a guitar build.

I've found a local company that does kits and I'm checking out either an SG or PRS Custom 24 replica. Both as expected double humbuckers with mahogany bodies, so basically as different from what I currently have as possible.

I miss my double humbucker Ibanez GAX from college. Great sound.

There are a lot of very nice used Ibanez GRx's and Gios floating around at a good price too. If I can ever justify a second guitar I'll definitely snap one up.

MrDeVil909 wrote:

There are a lot of very nice used Ibanez GRx's and Gios floating around at a good price too. If I can ever justify a second guitar I'll definitely snap one up.

IMAGE(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/E2adydZWUAgYK6y?format=jpg&name=medium)

Love this!

*looks at his two guitars*

Hmmmm

*looks at his seven guitars*

Slightly abnormal, sounds about right.

Five seems a good number. A good mix of formats and you can play them all regularly.

MrDeVil909 wrote:

Five seems a good number. A good mix of formats and you can play them all regularly.

5 is my sweet spot. Good number that I can cover any basis I need and also.. oh sh*t, have you seen the new ones from Ibanez without headstock? Six. 6 is my sweet spot.

Lol

Well, just for acoustics, you obviously need the Open G acoustic, the Open D acoustic, and the standard tuning acoustic.

MilkmanDanimal wrote:

Well, just for acoustics, you obviously need the Open G acoustic, the Open D acoustic, and the standard tuning acoustic.

And maybe a nylon string one. And a 12 string. Does a harp guitar count as a guitar? It's kind of its own instrument, maybe it doesn't count toward the total.

All my prepping for building my guitar kit has really helped me learn a lot of stuff about guitars generally such that I finally fixed a persistent problem with my electric guitar (a PRS SE Custom)!

I'd paid for a setup by the local Guitar Center a couple of years ago, having neglected my PRS for far too long (I mostly played my acoustic, and so the electric spent several years in my basement untouched). I was impressed at how much lower the action was when I got it back, and thought it felt great, but within a week or two I started to notice that around the 5th-8th frets of the two highest strings was often extremely buzzy. I thought about going back to the shop and complaining, but a few weeks had passed after getting it back before I noticed and, not knowing too much about setups, I was worried I was being dumb and would just embarrass myself.

I guessed it was maybe an issue with the neck straightness and considered doing a truss rod adjustment, but everything I read about doing that always suggested it needed to be done with a lot more precision than I was prepared for, so I just ignored it and lived with the buzzing the last few years. Who needs to play the 6th-8th frets of the b or e string anyway?!

When I got the straight edge for my guitar kit, though, I thought I might finally be equipped to adjust the truss rod on my PRS, but was surprised to learn that its neck was straight. Only then did it occur to me that it'd be weird for the neck straightness to cause issues only with two of the strings. So then I took my fret rocker to see if the frets weren't level, but they were fine. But my fret rocker also has a ruler for checking string heights, and that revealed my problem--the Guitar Center guys had set my action so unbelievably low that it was causing my buzzing. The high e string at the 12th fret measured barely 0.01 inch, when it's supposed to be set to more like 0.04-0.06, which is a pretty huge difference! The low strings were also lower than they should be, but not as egregiously. I then discovered the PRS webpage has some good support articles explaining their somewhat unique bridges, so I figured out how to raise the bridge, more on the high side than the low side, and now my guitar is in tune, still has good action, and I can finally play all over the fretboard without any buzz. I am both very impressed myself and extremely unimpressed with the Guitar Center people. Learning stuff is nice, though!

MilkmanDanimal wrote:

Well, just for acoustics, you obviously need the Open G acoustic, the Open D acoustic, and the standard tuning acoustic.

You also need the half-step down acoustic for Weezer and Days of the New (and maybe Stevie Wonder's Superstition).

The last guy I paid to set up a guitar and a bass did the same thing. The action was as low as possible. Lots of buzz no matter how you play. He said it won’t mess up the intonation if I raise it to where I want it. I’m sure it won’t, but I specifically told him that I hate any kind of buzz from my guitar. In fact I had him change the tuners because one of the old ones was buzzing.

You guys are not filling me with confidence to go to my friendly neighborhood Guitar Center to get my P-bass worked over. I need new electronics, a truss adjustment, and a couple of frets adjusted too. I may have a gig later this summer so I need to get it done.

Maybe I should start down the road of being a normal bass person and get a new one.

tboon wrote:

You guys are not filling me with confidence to go to my friendly neighborhood Guitar Center to get my P-bass worked over. I need new electronics, a truss adjustment, and a couple of frets adjusted too. I may have a gig later this summer so I need to get it done.

Maybe I should start down the road of being a normal bass person and get a new one.

I'd imagine that Guitar Center is like any other chain in that quality of staff and workmanship can vary wildly.

You'd probably be better off with a private luthier or shop, but failing that a Guitar Center will be better than nothing and you can always take it back if they don't get it right.

Of course, it may be an opportunity to get yourself a nice variable scale 5 string.

I've been fiddling with the setup on my guitar lately and having fun with it. One thing I wouldn't try DIY is redoing my frets. But I'm enjoying playing around with neck relief and saddle height. I've got my guitar way more comfortable. Although my saddles are very low now so I may need to re-examine the relief.

YouTube is a fun resource for tinkerers.

Podunk wrote:
MilkmanDanimal wrote:

Well, just for acoustics, you obviously need the Open G acoustic, the Open D acoustic, and the standard tuning acoustic.

And maybe a nylon string one. And a 12 string. Does a harp guitar count as a guitar? It's kind of its own instrument, maybe it doesn't count toward the total.

I respect both of those perspectives, but that's a level of acoustic playing that's well beyond me. I won't even pretend to try justify that.

I think Sweet Home Alabama is the first song actually in Mixolydian mode I've learned to jam with. After 30 years of playing. Kinda funny it took this long considering it's my namesake.

Here's the (not quite) current state of my guitar build...

IMAGE(https://i.imgur.com/cP0Iufm.jpg)

Drying after the second of third coat of varnish

IMAGE(https://i.imgur.com/LcsShRW.jpg)

Test fit of the hardware & scratchplate on body (mainly just to see how it looks).

This morning I spent some time getting my Graphtech Tusq nut fitted (to replace the cheap plastic one from the kit). It's done, but I have a few concerns about the shape of the nut slot. May need to do a little more work there if it isn't stable when fitted (although I think I got a solid, tight fit in the end).

I've really come around on teles the last few years, that's looking nice.

MrDeVil909 wrote:

I've really come around on teles the last few years

My G&L ASAT sold me on teles. Something about the shape just works really well. Good work, Leo Fender!

That looks amazing!

I think "easy" should be in air quotes. But this is actually a cool list of #riffgoals and may become part of my regular études.

Holy fret buzz, Batman! And some copyright strikes on those, very annoying.

A good set of riffs to have in your repertoire though, nice find.

Out of curiosity, what are some of your regular etudes?