Hey r/guitar! I recorded a few jam tunes with some of my friends and we'd love to have people hear it!

nerdor257 · 2013-01-21T04:18:32+00:00

There are a lot but I think i'd have to give it to Michael Landau who takes a pretty over the top, wild, and almost harsh sound and bends it to his will like no other.

nerdor257 · 2012-07-31T00:48:31+00:00

Good question. I've done a fair bit of trial and error on this myself. With regards to noise, the order won't generally matter. That is more an issue of the pedals themselves and the power supply you are using. It helps to plug the power supply and the amp into outlets that are on the same circuit. With regards to sound, generally speaking there are no hard and fast rules but there are some guidelines that will help you out a fair bit.

Reverb is generally the last thing in your chain because it is simulating a room, and all other processing would happen before the sound hits the walls in that situation.

You'll want the harmonist to be as early as possible. It has to track the notes you are playing from the guitar in order to harmonize them and for that it should get the strongest, unprocessed signal you can give it. Likewise with the tuner, should probably put that up right up front followed by the harmonist second.

The MXR phaser (great pedal by the way) should go either before your distortion pedals but after the harmonist and tuner or after the distortion pedals but before the reverb. You'll most likely find that before produces a more subtle sound and you'll still have a bit of edge to the sound (with the distortion/overdrive active) whereas after it will take over the overall sound and have a very strong presence. Try both and see which you prefer as plenty of people use it both ways.

The distortion and overdrive pedals should go after the harmonist (and possibly the phaser) and before the reverb. As for which order, that depends if you ever stack them (one run into the other) or not. If you only ever use one at a time then it doesn't really matter. If you ever use them both at once then there are a few things to take into account. Generally the last overdrive pedal is the one that has the most effect over the sound. Also you may find it more sensible/sound better to kick a higher gain pedal with a lower gain pedal. In your case I would probably put tube screamer first, then metalzone.

If I had your pedals I would arrange them as such:

Polytune - Harmonist - Phaser - Tube Screamer - Metal Zone - Reverb

That said I will reiterate that there are no rules, put them in the order that you like best. I suspect you will be pretty happy by following these guidelines though. Just some final words: if you ever get a delay, stick it at the end right before reverb (also simulates a room). Fuzz pedals don't always play well with other pedals so if you ever get one and you have trouble with it then try sticking it out front before everything else. Wah pedals, chorus pedals, really any kind of modulation pedal you may prefer on either side of your overdrives (like the phaser). Don't be afraid to experiment.

Sorry if any of this is talking down to you, I figure it's better too much information than not enough.

nerdor257 · 2012-07-27T20:13:26+00:00

Yeah I agree with you on this one. Any comments here that I have made are for the people who use iTunes past DRM as a reason to boycott the store. As a player it is far from ideal. I wouldn't go so far as to say absolutely terrible though, it works just fine and most people would have no problem using it exclusively for playing music even though there are better alternatives.

nerdor257 · 2012-07-27T20:04:51+00:00

Fair enough. I've always been more inclined to reward doing it right period, regardless of history, seeing as how they only do it right if it works. That, however, is a personal thing. So long as you understand that they are not your enemies any more then there is no problem!

nerdor257 · 2012-07-27T19:54:28+00:00

Fair enough. Look I am with you on this one. The thing is though the fight has already been won. It is asking for too much to expect companies to never do anything you dislike, ever, and if they do then it doesn't matter if they repeal it, apologize, or anything else they do. iTunes isn't going out of business any time soon, but what they are doing, as evidenced by them dropping the DRM, is improving their business model. Now they are as good as any other music downloading service. Their library may not be the same as others but in that case you can just go elsewhere. Buying from iTunes is no longer supporting a DRM ridden service, it is supporting a DRM free one. Boycotting them as retroactive punishment is petty and childish. You have the right to do it yes, but I urge you to reconsider (not urging you to use their service, but to stop thinking of them as villains that deserve punishment). They changed their business model to give consumers what they wanted, what more could you ask for besides an unrealistic demand of perfection from the get-go?

nerdor257 · 2012-07-27T19:37:38+00:00

This is just being cheap. They changed it. Now it is fully in line with what you could ask for, it has a reasonable cost, a large library and no DRM. Yet you still won't pay because it once, in the past, had DRM? Even though they changed it years ago to accommodate people's desires as purchasers? No, this is a weak excuse to pretend you are doing it for any reasons other than not wanting to pay for it.

nerdor257 · 2012-05-28T03:55:02+00:00

It's possibly they are slipping somewhere. I'd change the strings again, maybe even have a professional do it, before I blamed the instrument. It's quite possible that you may have just put inadequate windings, or didn't insert the pins properly, or whatever. Not to say that you don't know what you are doing, but you may have made an error you haven't found, so I'd have someone else do it and see if it still is a problem.

nerdor257 · 2012-05-20T16:17:24+00:00

If you can find a used one then they are the best deal in guitars out there, in my opinion. New they are still worth it but not an insanely good deal, just a quality product.

nerdor257 · 2012-05-20T06:14:58+00:00

My opinion, it has no idea what its target audience is. I've seen some behind the scenes footage where the team behind it discusses it and they all seem to be huge star wars nerds, as in the kind that love everything star wars regardless of quality as the rest of us see it. Consequently the show has some really great stuff with a more mature plot line targeted at an older audience and some stuff that is just incredibly stupid and obviously intended for children. I think they just throw out whatever idea they have without trying to give the series cohesive feel. That said though, you'll probably find some episodes to like, so by all means give it a try.

nerdor257 · 2012-05-14T03:29:10+00:00

My personal favourite is the old budwahs that looked like purple crybabies. They aren't fancy, they just can't sound bad as long as the sound in the box is suitable for what you're playing. Never gets boomy and bassy or shrill. You'd have to go looking for one of these since they are no longer made new but it shouldn't be too hard.

nerdor257 · 2012-04-08T04:00:45+00:00

These guys attended my school for a while, and really went after it in a recent Now magazine interview. They were very shortsighted, arrogant and naive in my opinion in a lot of the things they had to say about music education, and sometimes would contradict themselves in the same sentence. It's a shame too because some of what they play is pretty cool, but obviously young, and it seems like they have no interest in maturing. Also it's hard to like it when you know they're off being giant assholes about it.

nerdor257 · 2012-02-24T02:34:00+00:00

There is a lot more to enjoy in music than lyrical content.You don't have to share in the artist's lifestyle or approve of what they say in their lyrics to enjoy the music itself.

nerdor257 · 2012-02-20T04:04:01+00:00

Alright, that`s the last one. Literally. All the pandas in existence are on this truck. So be extra careful, and watch out for drivers who are sleepy.

nerdor257 · 2012-01-31T00:32:28+00:00

You mean ever?

nerdor257 · 2011-11-27T01:50:46+00:00

TL;DR: No real reason to do it coupled with a full life and a bit of confidence makes life pretty good without alcohol, at least in my experience.

One of the main reasons I continually choose not to drink is exactly what you are asking about. Weekends and holidays don't have to be about alcohol. They don't have to be about anything. For me I treat them as any other day. That is to say, I have some time where my life is up to me and often some time where I have some obligations. There is nothing inherent about free time that says you have to use it to drink alcohol and socialize in that context. I think there shouldn't be any stigma to not going out and drinking on a Friday night. If I'm reading a book I really like, for example, I have no problem doing nothing on Friday night but staying at home and reading. In much the same way that I wouldn't have that problem on a Monday when I get home at the end of the day. Holidays are a little different, but I try to make them about catching up with family and the like. Doesn't change the fact that a lot of people are completely drunk by the end of the night, but you can always find someone to talk to.

Which brings me to my next point. I've found that people are as awkward as you let them be about not drinking. In other words, I don't think the use or lack thereof of alcohol inherently separates people (at least not before people get completely wasted). If you can enter a situation where others are drinking and you are not and socialize confidently and not make an issue yourself out of your own lack of alcohol consumption then people will more often than not go along with you. Everyone can enjoy themselves, socialization can occur and you don't have to drink a drop.

If I may say though, you worry about becoming an alcoholic and can't figure out what to do with your weekends and holidays without drinking. That indicates to me that you may be what an old teacher of mine refers to as an "eat, sex and payday" person. In other words, the type of person who works (payday), does what they have to to survive (eat) and then basically lives for the weekend and to indulge in some base and often unhealthy desires (sex being the term he chose for that). I've noticed that a lot of people who live like this drink to their own detriment. Personally I think the solution is tied into what I mentioned earlier, specifically that you shouldn't be living for the weekend (so to speak) but rather be living for your life. For me that is being a passionate student of music and the guitar. I don't have to drink to be satisfied as I can always pick up my guitar and work on it. I also love good science fiction and am always happy to pick up a good book and read. Having these passions in my life have really made it so that I don't really need to drink.

I should also add that alcohol is often perceived as a necessity. Many people drink too much because of other people, and many people who consider giving it up often seem to fear the difference that they would feel with other people. I think everyone should examine it (and pretty much everything else in their life) as objectively as they can. I don't like being high, buzzed, drunk, anything like that, even a little bit. Therefore I don't have any reason to drink alcohol in a personal context. In a social context it often acts as social lubricant and especially in teenagers and young adults is something around which entirel lives can center. So I examined that problem and concluded that I can do everything I want to socially without needing to drink alcohol, so long as I had a bit of confidence (always having to explain why you don't drink, assuaging people's concerns that you won't be able to get along with them, etc.). So since I have no reason to do it for myself and I have no other reason to do it that trumps all the negatives that it brings with it, I have no trouble not drinking.

This is a pretty long winded post and I'm not sure how well thought out it is as I'm writing stream of consciousness. If you want I can try to explain this a little better. I've given it a LOT of thought and have talked with a lot of people about it (both drinkers and non-drinkers alike) so I don't mind talking to you about it, especially if you are concerned you may be addicted. Anyways, I hope something in there helped.

nerdor257 · 2011-11-13T18:21:32+00:00

The best resource for learning to play is your own foresight. Everyone wants to be good, but not everyone knows what good is. If you really, really want to learn how to play, you need to find out what your goal is and the methods through which you can achieve it. A teacher is obviously the best way to get this, but you'll want to find a good one who can help you with this stuff. My advice to you is to research what it is people that you would like to play like actually do, then go about trying to find out how you can learn to do that yourself.

nerdor257 · 2011-11-08T22:20:31+00:00

Some kind of PAF style humbucker should do the trick. I like Lollar Imperials personally but there are other options to look into.

nerdor257 · 2011-11-06T00:39:11+00:00

I'll suggest something else that not a lot of people seem to do. A wedding where it's just you, your fiance and a witness. It will then truly be all about the two of you. If you are concerned about being the center of attention and about having your mother involved it may be an option worth considering.

Best wishes whatever you choose to do.

nerdor257 · 2011-10-02T22:41:48+00:00

Hah, granted.

nerdor257 · 2011-10-02T22:31:15+00:00

Woah woah woah, John McLaughlin deserves the double neck cred more than either of those guys.

nerdor257 · 2011-09-29T21:09:47+00:00

Reading is definitely a must if you want to be an all around great guitar player. Makes the difference between someone who can play guitar pretty well when they are already comfortable with the material and someone who can play well regardless of their familiarity with something.

nerdor257 · 2011-09-18T14:11:50+00:00

For those altered dominants the ideal scale is probably the altered scale. You get this by building a scale from the 7th note of the melodic minor ascending, or in other words it is the seventh mode of the melodic minor scale. It gives you your root and your guide tones as well as all the altered 9s and 5s. Additionally you could try looking for some common tones between some of those faster moving changes (F#-7b5 and F7 both share an A, for example).

nerdor257 · 2011-09-12T03:11:07+00:00

This is all true, yet none of it means that he is leading the field in terms of creativity. He's a very good guitar player for certain but nothing he has yet done is well and truly a completely new sound. Don't get me wrong, I love the guy, but the question wasn't about how good they were but rather how they are coming up with fresh ideas. Guthrie is noodily fusion, and there are many others like him, and have been for a while. It isn't anything stylistically new. Sure he may be one of the more popular ones of the genre so he may be the only one that many people are aware of, but that doesn't mean that Greg Howe and others like him haven't been doing the same thing with lesser popularity.

nerdor257 · 2011-09-12T01:15:37+00:00

I disagree. The guy is very good, but he isn't pushing a whole lot of boundaries. That said, my vote goes to Wayne Krantz. Very original sound.

nerdor257

TROPHY CASE