Setup...anything I should know

[skinnybonedog]

Hi All,

So, I have decided on which strings to use (Newton Masterclass med lite) and will get them before I take the OMV-03 in for setup. But being that I am so new to all of this I don't know if there is anything I should know before I go in to have it setup for me.  How do they know what is best for me when I don't know?? I am sure the action being lower will help me learn but how low and is there anything else I should know so I can at least sound like I know what I am talking about when I go in ?   



Thanks,
Tammy

[Mr_LV19E]

Tammy,
Here's a link to some good info on set up, should give you a little understanding to what is done. Be sure to tell the set up person that you are just learning as they may have some suggestions for you.

http://home.nycap.rr.com/nils/BasicGuitarSetup.htm

[jimmyd]

Here is another link that provides excellent reference data. Frank has a whole section on setup.

http://www.frets.com/FRETSPages/pagelist.html

[unclrob]

Play for the tech so they can see were you at.Talk to the tech.Make sure that after the work is done that if your not happy they will try again at no charge.

[Mr_LV19E]

Play for the tech so they can see were you at.Talk to the tech.Make sure that after the work is done that if your not happy they will try again at no charge.

Good advice!

[skinnybonedog]

Hi Guys,

Lol....uhmmm.....don't laugh....but there really is not much I can play.....I can string together some cords. I know, I know, you guys are probably thinking, "why did someone this new spend a big chuck of change on a guitar she can't even play". Well, I have played piano by ear/improve for 30 years (Liz Story/new agey type piano)....took guitar to learn to read music about 10 years ago with my Ovation I bought to learn on. Let me say that reading music and understanding the guitar did not go so well....I was not able to read music for the piano very well either....was a hunt and peck kinda thing and since I could play pretty nice stuff without reading music I thought why should I bother and felt that reading music actually hindered me creatively and put too much structure into something that I found came very easy . The piano is so organized....the guitar not so much. Anyway....now at 41 (42 in Oct ...I bought the Larrivee as a present to myself) I have decided I am going to learn guitar the way I play piano and wanted to get a guitar I could grow with and had planned on getting a Martin or Taylor but at Buffalo Bros shop the Larrivee (which I had never heard of) kept calling me back to it...so like I said, I can string together cords and make them sound nice (to my ear anyway).....but I don't know anything beyond that at this point. But I can play cords for the guy who will set up my guitar...lol

Thanks,
Tammy

[Dale_I]

Just let him know that. Ask him to set it up for an "easy play". Not sure about all luthiers, but mine will also do minute adjustments for a few weeks after the set up. He realizes that until you play it for a bit, you may not notice something right away. Work with him, I'm sure you both want the same thing - you to be happy with your instrument.

[Mr_LV19E]

Tammy,
If you are at all interested in learning to fingerpick, let me recommend a book that I found very helpful. It is called Progressive Fingerpicking Guitar. It starts out slow, has fingering charts for chords and has standard music staff with tab below. Tablature, or tab for short shows you the six strings on your guitar and has numbers on the strings that denote what fret you should put your fingers on. It also gives you all the standard finerpicking patterns.

For example, fingerpicking pattern one involves the use of the right hand thumb (p), index finger (i), and middle finger (m). The thumb is noted as (p) because it is also known as the (p)rimary finger. It is played in the following order pimi, pimi, pimi, etc. You start out with a C chord which they show you, and the thumb plays the base note  and the index and middle fingers will play the second and first strings respectively. So even though you are fingering a C chord in this case you are only picking the 1st, 2nd and 5th string and not the 4th string which would be fingered at the 2nd fret. I'm going to stop here because I might allready be making this seem harder than it is. All I can say is when I bought my Guild I hadn't played in over twenty years and I never fingerpicked, I asked a teacher at the music store to recommend a book and this is what he gave me and spoke very highly of it. You can learn everything in this book and never learn to read music if you choose but you will learn to read Tab which will come in very handy.The book also comes with a CD that has all the lessons played by a professional so you know what it is supposed to sound like.

I know this might sound difficult but it really isn't. There are about 18 patterns and every new one you learn they add some new chords so by the time you get all the patterns down you have also learned quite a few chords.

Here is a link to a web site listed in the book but you can probably find it at your local music store. Progressive has a whole series of books covering everything you could imagine, my only experience is with the fingerstyle book. I would rate it 4 stars.

http://www.learntoplaymusic.com/US/index.php?cPath=1_13&osCsid=d1fd7ccbe4dec15653d4acf5900f459c


Roger

[ElJefe]

I had my guitar set up twice in the last year, in slow increments. 

Finding the right strings for each guitar is the fun part.  I have had sets of strings that I did not like during the 1st week of play but then they seemed to really settle in (whatever that means)

I currently use a .58 on my low E and it is working out well for me on bass runs.  Many people would not prefer this size string. 

Use the strings that you like to use.

Finding the right pick to use is also a process.

Finding the right fingers to use seems to be less of a decision.