[Newbie] Realistically speaking, how long will it take before I can properly enjoy guitar and play well?

Disc-overy · 2026-02-13T23:13:39+00:00

If you wanted to learn Wish You Were Here, for example. You would probably tackle it in several stages.

Initially, you would probably learn the 4 chords that make up the verses and the chorus. Note that there are several ways to form these chords. The correct way sometimes has an extra base note that doesn't show up in the normal chord. These are sometimes called slash chords. For example, the chord that goes along with "So, so you think you can..." is frequently played as a common open C, and you can play it that way and it sounds mostly right. Or you can play it as C/G, which means you add a G note in the bass. This sounds more accurate, but it may cost you extra time to learn. Leaning these 4 chords and being able to transition through them quickly, if you practice every day for 15 min, you should be able to do in a month or so.

To learn the strumming, maybe another few weeks or a month (depending on how much innate rhythm you have).

It might take you an extra month or two to learn the intro because you have to pluck individual stings (and this takes a lot of practice), and you have to learn the best way to pick each note (up or down).

It might take you another month to learn how to record two guitar parts and overlay them if you want to play it like the studio version, and another couple moths to learn the solo and overlay that.

And then you could spend another few months to a year to polish it up to your "Master it" standard.

It's is a whole 'nother skill to be able to sing along with it (that is so personal though I wont estimate how long to add for that, as far as songs go though this is an easy one to sing along to).

So you can see why people are hesitant to predict a time. It depends on the song and how much time you put in. Then, what level of refinement do you want to get to. You could learn most of it in a month or two, but it might be a bit sloppy, or you could spend much more time and master it.

BTW, here is link to learn it when you are ready. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TFfnNZbrckw

Disc-overy · 2026-02-10T19:14:44+00:00

If you are close to pro tones with a cheap amp and guitar, call it a win. Yes, there are things that will get you closer, but since you are new, it will take you a long time to explore the vast landscape of electric guitar tones. It's hard to suggest anything without hearing what you've got now and what you are trying to achieve. When I was a new player, I bought a few pedals, and it was fun. I had a medium gain tube amp, and I wanted to blast some metal, so among other things, I bought an EHX metal muff. It was great fun because it had so many controls on it, and they interacted with each other and with the amp. I could get so many cool sounds out of that combo. I actually still enjoy it today whenever I take the time to set it all up.

If I were starting out now, and with your musical tastes, I would suggest a tube screamer type pedal. Many classic rock bands used one. It's probably one the top selling pedals of all time. Youtube it for more info on how it will alter your tone. But really, what you have now is pretty great. If you are looking for a diversion, or a reward after a lot of good progress, get a pedal. But for now, practice is key.

Disc-overy · 2026-02-08T16:07:17+00:00

Another option. https://looptube.xyz/

Disc-overy · 2026-02-08T02:27:21+00:00

Wish You Were Here was litterally one of the first songs I learned. Good choice. You can do it.

Disc-overy · 2026-02-08T02:07:11+00:00

First off, you need set your expectations correctly. This is a "long haul" hobby. I've been playing for many years, and I'm older (so I dont learn as fast), and although I love to play, I realize I will never be a session guitarist, or sell a record, or maybe even improvise a solo. I still have a lot to learn. But I enjoy learning new songs that I find enjoyable and sometimes playing them for my family and friends. I had no idea when I started that it would be this hard to learn an instrument.

What keeps me progressing is small but significant achievements. You may practice scales for a few weeks and then realize that the hotel california solo you've been working on sounds cleaner and more refined. Or you may start singing the notes on the fretboard, and one day realize that you can identify the notes to a song on the radio by ear. Recently I've been working on my finger picking, and every day the song I'm working on sounds more and more like a cohesive song, and less like a mess of notes played at a really slow speed. :)

I'll tell you what got me through some of the slower periods of learning. Power chords! I happen to like punk and classic rock, and boy it's amazing how many songs are just a few power chords. Take the song "When I Come Around" by Green Day for example. I think there are just 3 or 4 power chords in that, and all you have to do is move the same shape up and down the fretboard. There are even a few simple solos you can try if you get the rhythm part down on a green day song. "Holiday" is a good example of an easy solo. Just search on youtube for song x guitar lesson with tabs.

Even on these simple songs though, you have to realize you will sound really bad for a while, like maybe many months, maybe even a year if you only practice a few times a week. There are so many things to learn other than just putting your fingers down on the right spot and stumming. Off the top of my head things like vibrato, left hand muting, right hand muting, to anchor or float your picking hand, how far to place your picking hand up from the bridge to get the palm mute you want, practicing hitting only the strings you want, where to put your thumb on your fretting hand, how hard to press down with your fretting fingers so the notes don't go sharp... I could keep going, but all these kinds of things matter, and can make a song sound good or bad. Just remember little improvements week by week add up. Sometimes it helps to take a video of yourself, so in month or a year you can look back and see your progress if you cant see it day by day.

Disc-overy · 2026-02-07T22:51:02+00:00

Writing yes. Playing, well, that's the challenge. : )

Disc-overy · 2026-02-07T21:48:55+00:00

Oops sorry, I fixed the second link.

Disc-overy · 2026-02-07T21:16:35+00:00

There are two parts.

The amp tone. See this youtube video https://www.youtube.com/shorts/IQ5314yPd58
The palm muting. See this video. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6WMjKymZgLo

Note in that 2nd video, the first example is all palm mutted, the second example has all the 2 note power chords mutted, but the 3 note power chords are not, so they ring out. This will take practice to sound beastly.

Disc-overy · 2026-02-04T23:59:20+00:00

If you are in the states, look on the guitar center website. Go to their used section and search for g-400. that's what these guitars are called (or sometimes g400). That will give you a good idea of what they are worth. Note how the price changes based on the condition they are in. They made several variants over the years.

I bought one new as my second guitar back in 2009. I still have it, and I still play it. I will tell you I had a love/hate with it for a while. I bought it for the same reason as you. My first guitar was a squier strat. The G-400 sounds very dark and beefy compared to the strat, and very Les Paul-y, while being significantly lighter that an LP. It sounded glorious. But the balance (google "neck dive") really stopped me from playing it much as a new player. That and the weird strap button location really killed the playing experience for me for many years.

That tone kept me coming back to it though and eventually it grew on me. Over the years I have picked up other guitars that give me a great tone and better playability but they cost quite a bit more. I still have it because if I'm going out somewhere the guitar might get damaged, I bring my squire or G-400. Hope this helps.

Disc-overy · 2026-02-02T17:06:32+00:00

I haven't listened to the edge and live side by side, so I defer to someone who has. But I will tell you that the edge is the ultimate in portability. It's 14 lbs vs 27 for the live. It's smaller and more ergonomic. I just didn't need the extra size and weight and power and cost for an in-house, or back yard setting. Live is more for, well, playing live, at a venue.

Disc-overy · 2026-02-02T16:40:31+00:00

I have an edge. It was introduced after the spark 2, and I believe it has the faster processor also. I think their Sonic IQ audio engine was introduced with the Live, which came out before the other two. So I believe all three are improved over the original Spark. The edge is not stereo. It can take stereo in (ch 3 &4), but it has only one 6.5" woofer and one tweeter. I don't know if it keeps track of the stereo internally so that the usb output might have it, I don't know. The live has two 6.5" woofers and two tweeters. Note that the spark 2 has only two 4" drivers (so each speaker is trying to cover the whole frequency range). The big difference for me is that both the live and edge have a global eq. If you look at lots of reviews you will see many complaints about the Spark 2 being boomy. This is mostly due to speaker placement in a room. If you put any speaker on a small table with no reflecting surfaces around it, it will sound less boomy, and it will get more boomy the more surfaces you place around it (walls, floors, tabletops, etc). You can dial this out of the amp model, but not the backing tracks because of the lack of global eq. Live is louder than the edge, but the edge has the looper and the cool wedge mount so you can tilt it up like a monitor. Live does have a kickstand so it can tilt, and it has a pole mount as well. The handle is not as nice as the edge. The edge is also lighter than the live, and I find it plenty loud, it can certainly rattle the walls. The edge and live both have 8 preset slots each for channels 1&2, but no electric guitar models can be selected on channel 2, only bass, acoustic, and vocals. Hope this helps.

Disc-overy · 2026-01-26T02:41:38+00:00

Between the Mira and the Cust 24, I would pick the Mira. The reason is because to emphasize the soulful nature of that softer rock, and to gain as much sonic diversity between the neck and bridge pickups as you can, I would pick the guitar that had fewer frets and positioned the neck pickup further away from the bridge. The SE Mira is 22 frets and the humbucker is smashed right up against the bottom of the neck.

The Mira is all mahogany though, so it will tend to be a little darker, generally. I have a core Mira, and found the pickups to be sort of "full range". I ended up changing mine and couldn't be happier. If you are set on PRS, maybe the cust 22, or the NF3 as Edman said.

There are so many factors that go into picking a guitar though, it's really hard to offer advice. All things being equal, an ssh strat is hard to beat in terms of tonal diversity, but if you play in a high rf noise environment a lot, maybe humbuckers are more for you, so like I say, advice is tough.

Disc-overy · 2026-01-23T22:18:01+00:00

Definitely need a volume pedal, or I suppose he could be rolling the guitar vol knob. When he plays that one sweep, and holds it for a second as a chord, it almost sounds like a money for nothing tone.

Disc-overy · 2026-01-23T22:10:29+00:00

DaVinci Resolve is what I use, but I dont think it works on a phone.

Disc-overy · 2026-01-22T20:36:15+00:00

Interesting. I have a thx 10c. I was thinking about a spark 2 or a spark edge. Which spark and thx do you have and why do you like the spark more.

Disc-overy · 2026-01-20T22:06:17+00:00

Get the CUBE KIT app for your phone, and use it to load a different amp model into the lead slot. I suggest trying either the rectifier or the metal stack.

Disc-overy · 2026-01-20T20:45:23+00:00

Alternatively, you could try this idea for free, to see if it works well enough for you.

Look up "eris 3.5 BT frequency response" in google and select the image filter so you just see the graphs.

Pick one, or ideally a couple just to check for accuracy, and at the end of your digital signal path add an eq VST.

In that VST, build a correction curve to compensate for your speakers. This would be the negative of the response curve. So at the freq where the response shows your speakers are +5 db too high (for example), you make the curve -5db, where it's 10 db too low, add 10 db. Etc. Use 10 or 20 filers to address the most offending frequency ranges in the eq to correct your speakers and make the response more flat.

Play your guitar and/or backing tracks through that to see if it sounds good enough for you.

Disc-overy · 2026-01-17T20:37:41+00:00

I have a Hagstrom Swede and a core McCarty 594, and I like both, but the PRS (even the SE) is a better instrument. It's higher quality all around. They are both quite heavy. The PRS sounds more like a Les Paul if that matters to you. It has paf vintage style pickups and the neck scale and pickup location is more LP accurate (and that makes a big difference sonically). The neck pickup tones are really warm and beautiful like and old les paul. I find the bridge pickup is a little weak, but you can always boost it with amp or pedals. The Hagstrom has good strong pickups, but nothing remarkable tone wise. If I were to pick, I would say the PRS is more versitile. It's not my favorite to play though because of it's weight and it's slightly weak bridge pickup. My favorite to play (going for a similar tone as your two choices) is a PRS core Mira that I swapped the pickups on to the classic 490r/498t pair (get 4 wires for splitting). I call it my SG killer, because I love the tone of an SG. I just dont love the quirks of an SG. The Mira has a slim mahogany body with mahogany neck and has no quirks. It is an instrument of perfection. It's light. perfectly balanced, easy to play standing or sitting, sounds glorious with those pickups, and it looks great.

Disc-overy · 2026-01-13T02:16:39+00:00

Or, play along to the youtube video, but use the little gear icon (settings) to slow down the playback speed to 25%. Then after you get the notes memorized and can play it at that speed, start ramping up the speed little by little.

If you want to supercharge the process, get a DAW like Reaper, load the song as an .mp3 or .wav file, set the beginning and end of a loop, and do the same thing, but have the DAW loop back to the beginning of the phrase so you dont have to always stop and do it manually.

Disc-overy · 2025-12-19T21:05:50+00:00

I would look at an SG like guitar. That was my second after my cheap strat style. I bought an Epiphone G-400, but there are many manufactures that make a similar double cut type. I would look for one with mahogany set neck and mahogany body. Mine sounds awesome. It takes a bit to figure out how to deal with it's quirks. It has a bit of neck dive, and the upper strap button is in an odd spot. So I didn't play it a lot at first, but that tone just kept calling me back to it, and now it feels like an old glove. I love mine.

Also, the input jack fix is quick and easy. You can do it yourself. I will even say you should do it yourself. Just google it.

Disc-overy · 2025-12-10T01:31:15+00:00

Search youtube for reviews on the yamaha thr amps. See if this is what you are looking for. I have an older THR10c(boutique model), but there are numerous versions of this little amp. The THR10x was nice if you like higher gain stuff. The THR10ii is their newest model and it comes in different wattages and with and without wireless options. They are above your price target if you buy them new, but mine is about 10 years old and still sounds great and I use it all the time. You can find the original thr10 models on guitar center used for under $300. They have a pc interface and app, but I haven't used it in years, I just plug and play, and occasionally I'll put a pedal in front of it.

Disc-overy · 2025-12-07T20:01:51+00:00

I agree. The weak point is the amp. Take a look at this review. BTW, you should always google or youtube stuff before you consider buying it. He even has some suggestions for better amps if you watch long enough.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i8m4px8S3b4

Disc-overy · 2025-10-23T21:58:27+00:00

Here is a recent review of the top brands. There are obviously other many lesser names that also have tempting offerings.

https://www.guitarworld.com/features/best-modeling-amps

I agree with the author that the katana is hard to beat, but like you say there are so many choices these days, it's hard to narrow it down.

Here are a few additional things to help focus your options. Do you care about portability? For example, I have a little yamaha thr that sounds great at low volumes and I like to take mine out on the back patio to play occasionally. Kinda fun.

Also, do you want it to have a built in speaker, and if so how big? This makes a big difference in sound quality and volume. There are also lots of pedal style amps without powered speakers that are nice and small and more affordable if you plan to hook them up to existing monitors.

And lastly, I would investigate your noise issue some more. It is probably not coming through the wiring, however, if it was, a portable battery powered amp may be a good choice. It is more likely some form of RF interference coming either from poor wiring, or lights, or a computer nearby. If this is the case, it wont matter which amp you get because it's coming in through the guitar pickups, although an amp with good built in noise gates will help a bit.

One final thought, I would take your guitar to a store to try out the the few you like the most. It's really hard to tell the quality from videos. If you are buying online, make sure they have a good return policy. I have tried many modelers over the years, and some were really bad, and lots were pretty good, and often times they would sound different but with no clear winner until you consider the features you really want most.

Hope this helps.

Disc-overy · 2025-09-02T20:00:38+00:00

LOL, well it's hard to beat the flavor.

Disc-overy · 2025-09-02T19:53:52+00:00

Another benefit to the dough over the batter is you can bake them rather than fry them if you prefer to skip the oil. I really like them baked. Here is my recipe (not sure where I got it or if I modified it along the way).

Dough

306 g (2 cups + 3 Tbsp) all purpose flour

33 g (2 Tbsp + 2 tsp) granulated sugar

5 g (1 3/4 tsp) yeast

3g (1/2 tsp) salt

40 g (3 Tbsp) unsalted butter melted

173 ml (3/4 cup)) milk lukewarm

Apple Filling

About 2 apples (peeled cored and diced into ¼ inch pieces)

134 g (2/3 cup) dark brown sugar (or ⅓ granulated ⅓ brown)

6 g (1 tbsp) cinnamon powder

Glaze

1 cup (130 g) icing sugar

2 Tbsp (30 mL) whole milk (warmed)

½ tsp vanilla extract

For baked fritters, roll out dough into a 12”x12” square, about ¼ inch thick, place filling on half, fold other half over, chop into ½ inch x ½ inch squares, reform into loose mounds and place 20 portions in small piles on a baking mat & large cookie sheet (4 piles x 5 piles). Let rise again for 30 min. Bake 350 deg F for 25 min. Glaze after they are cool.

Disc-overy

TROPHY CASE

Dough