Comments on: Debunking Ten Common Guitar Myths

By: David

David — Sat, 05 Jan 2019 17:41:48 +0000

1. Brand names don’t make the guitar great. I have two Eastman acoustics and two Heritage electrics. Both are great guitars.
2. I agree about strings. Sound is purely subjective.
3. You don’t inherit talent! The best guitar player I know, who like me is a senior citizen
and has played professionally for 50 years,became great through self study and practice. He now teaches and is a recognized national authority as a top high school instructor in Las Vegas.

By: Allen Lam

Allen Lam — Sat, 05 Jan 2019 16:59:48 +0000

Regarding finishes, it may not be the material but, rather, how it is applied. Poly finishes became popular with manufacturers in part because they are easy to apply – in some cases the body is simply dipped in a vat of poly, resulting in a thick coat. My favorite, and best sounding, acoustic is a parlor guitar made by Vancouver luthier David Webber, who applies and sands multiple layers of poly, resulting in a thin but durable finish on a guitar that, most importantly, sounds and plays wonderfully.

By: Jim M

Jim M — Sat, 05 Jan 2019 15:50:14 +0000

No mention of the advertising that highlights the type of wood used in a solid body guitar as though it’s significant. A very well known player of bass and guitar who will remain nameless but would be recognized by all from a very long career in playing and recording told me what nonsense that is. With solid body, it’s all in the electronics. After all, Les Paul build his first solid body guitar from a railroad tie. If you are talking acoustic, wood matters. Martins are generally great, but having a reputed luthier build one for you might be the best way to go…even from a Martin kit! But for solid body electric guitars it hardly matters.

By: Paul L Ewing

Paul L Ewing — Sat, 05 Jan 2019 15:48:52 +0000

I am 72 and still doing original material.
Facts- some guys do zip are a natural genius and play amazing. Some guys have close to a tin ear and cannot copy a tune by ear. They end up creating their own style and in the process reinvent what can be done on the guitar…they practice for hours everyday not only trying to improve their technique but adding ever more unique ideas to their style.
these guys become the real greats because they sound totally original.Some guys spend forever practicing and taking lessons.they are greatly admired and respected.But they are never original because they know all the rules.
they would never be a Van Halen because how to do what he did was not in a book. lol
Guitars are made of wood. Trees are stupid things they often do not know any better then to end up in a cheap guitar.If the wood is good all else can be fixed or replaced.
Keep playing until you die.Shoot for the moon!!! You only have to hit it once!!so it isalways worth another shot!

By: Jim H

Jim H — Sat, 03 Mar 2018 18:04:44 +0000

#5 and 9, dead on! It has been my experience that the tone of an electric guitar, especially when played with distortion, is almost exclusively due to the combination of amp, pick ups and player style. String gauge is more important to the feel of the guitar than tone, and as for finish I’ve never noticed and real discernible difference.

By: Chris

Chris — Wed, 03 Jan 2018 17:33:42 +0000

You left off that tone wood is BBBBSSSSSS

By: Pete Wright

Pete Wright — Wed, 31 Aug 2016 18:24:51 +0000

I was getting ready to have an issue with #9, but you pretty much nailed it on the head. Thicker strings (I use Slinky Heavy Bottom) sound and feel better TO ME, but different strokes… I do like how they seem to stay in tune better, though.

By: John Mullen

John Mullen — Wed, 06 Apr 2016 21:39:30 +0000

Great stuff as always Mike. I just picked up a $20 Fender Squire special at a yard sale last week with a Tune-O Matic bridge. Need’s some work. Invested in a $70 small fender Amp and once I have it working will donate it and the Amp along with all the fixins to some deserving kid here in Lowell. Thanks for the ideas on the bridge.

By: Larry Daly

Larry Daly — Tue, 05 Apr 2016 00:17:04 +0000

Well done. Love the diagram!

By: Jeff Van Nostrand

Jeff Van Nostrand — Mon, 04 Apr 2016 23:21:57 +0000

Re: string thickness. While I agree that with the right amp, pedals, and talent, you can get “big” sounds from an electric guitar regardless of string gauge. However, I believe it’s quite different on acoustics.

Do you really want .009’s on a Martin D-45? Your tone will be thin, and your volume greatly reduced.
For me, .012’s are really the smallest gauge to make an acoustic sound reasonably like it should (unless you have a pickup and are being heard through an amp or PA, in which case the electronics are creating much of the sound)
A few years ago I went to .013’s on all my non 12-string acoustics. What a difference! So much more volume, resonance, and projection. We’re talking night and day. Give it a try. Work up to it in steps of .001 if your calluses aren’t built up enough to start with.

By: James

James — Mon, 04 Apr 2016 18:35:55 +0000

I have a Yamaha red label acoustic that I bought in 1969 and I would not trade it for any Martin, Gibson, Fender, etc…I also have a Takamine electric in the explorer style that was my only electric for 25 years while playing in a money making band. I have never been one for name brand, if it felt good in my hands and sounded good, I played it. In the first band I ever played in, that was in junior high, I played a Teisco Del Ray and it sounded as good as any guitar that was in the band. I was told once, ” its not the car, it’s the driver”, and I’ve held onto that moto for all my life.

By: WC

WC — Mon, 04 Apr 2016 18:01:22 +0000

Yes, and supposedly Billy Gibbons uses .007’s on all his guitars except for the Les Pual that he plays slide on – it has .008’s. 😉

By: Ralph Frank

Ralph Frank — Sat, 27 Feb 2016 19:09:32 +0000

Nice job. Learned a bunch.

By: Willie

Willie — Sat, 27 Feb 2016 12:59:08 +0000

Great article, since I started building my own guitars, I realized that a lot of what you are saying is true. Before that I would have argued with you till the cows came. So good stuff, thanks.

By: Robb Roell

Robb Roell — Sat, 27 Feb 2016 02:23:43 +0000

Great list, thank you for your insight. After seeing the practice chart, I had to buy a T-shirt form “Odd Quartet.”

By: Rob Stanfield

Rob Stanfield — Fri, 26 Feb 2016 18:01:07 +0000

You are real breath of fresh air…Total common sense all the way around…BTW on a bass, I’ve found to not reduce all tension on the strings to adjust the truss rod,..Kick ’em back about a half step, Flex the neck back by the headstock if your reducing bow to take the pressure off & tighten the nut. taking all the tension off the strings confuses the neck & I’ve never run into a truss rod that couldn’t take it if you do quarter turns…

By: Jim H

Jim H — Fri, 26 Feb 2016 17:20:15 +0000

Totally agree with these, particularly 5 and 9, especially when dealing with solid body electrics.

By: David Stuckey

David Stuckey — Fri, 26 Feb 2016 16:23:42 +0000

Regarding string gauges, I recall Billy Gibbons discussing this with B.B. King and billy was saying you need bigger strings to get a better sound. B.B. (who uses light gauge) replied “I just turn the amp up.”
I have lived by his words!

By: Frank Konopski

Frank Konopski — Thu, 25 Feb 2016 01:24:33 +0000

I’m really enjoying my Sunburst Sidejack 12. I also enjoy reading these articles, but may I make a suggestion? As may be the case with many of my fellow Boomers, I find that the font used is rather anemic and reading the article causes a bit of eye strain. Would it be possible to use a beefier font…not necessarily bigger, but a bit bolder and easier to see? Thanks for your consideration. Rock on!

By: Trang Nguyen

Trang Nguyen — Thu, 04 Feb 2016 08:47:45 +0000

Ha, very interesting. I guess the 7th myth is relatable to me. I’m busy so I don’t have much time to practice guitar but I always try to practice daily and make the best of it. Thanks for the great post!

By: Mormonvoodoo

Mormonvoodoo — Mon, 25 Jan 2016 16:30:59 +0000

I agree on a LOT of this, but mostly on #10. Some of the best guitars I own are NOT even names on that list. I play two 70’s Cort’s, a mid 90’s Springfield, a low end Fender acoustic and an 86 Epiphone Firebird. Replaced the electronics and the guitars will stand up to the guitars I have that ARE names on that list.

You just have to be able to tweak what you have. I highly recommend learning how to solder and would recommend using the wiring diagrams available online. Great article.