Bob In Florida
11-25-2008, 10:28 AM
Hello Guitar Trickers...
I'm only just now typing an introduction because my fingers hurt too much to keep practicing chords... I've been a member here since about May, 2008.
I'm one of them. I don't have a molecule of musical talent in my body, but I love rock music. ('Classic' rock, whatever that is... 70's for me; Boston, Pink Floyd, Aerosmith... you get the picture.)
And I'm a bit of a techno-nerd. So Guitar Hero comes out, and the first time I tried it, I'm hooked. Right now I have every version (Santa is bringing me World Tour), and 5 'guitar' controllers. I'm quite good on medium (can't do the orange button), and typically play until my fingers ache.
So my wife and daughter figured, 'Hey... why don't we get him a real guitar for his birthday?' (The correct answer to that question is simple... because I've never played a musical instrument in my life, don't know how to read music, and have no perceptible musical talent.) But I thought it sounded like fun.
Plus, I was watching House (http://www.fox.com/house/) on TV, the episode where he was goofing with a Flying V in his office. I thought, 'that's what I want to do. I don't want to be in a band or even necessarily be able to play whole songs. But I'd like to be able to play a few recognizable notes...' ("licks" if you will, if a non-musician is allowed to use that term).
So, armed with the checkbook and instructions from my wife and daughter to "buy yourself a guitar," I went shopping. I first looked up a couple of local guitar shops.
The first one I stopped in, I met the owner. Nice guy. I told him why I was there... Got hooked on Guitar Hero and wanted to try my hand at playing a real guitar. He was all about, 'Oh... you're one of them.' :rolleyes: Then he continued to insult me indirectly by bad-mouthing Guitar Hero (after I had just told him that I loved it and was pretty much addicted to it) as just a game, and not really playing music. (Ya think??) He didn't have much nice to say, either, about people who play Guitar Hero. (E.g. me... his next potential customer.)
But he must have been behind on his rent because I could see the dollar signs $$ in his eyes when he spoke to me. I told him what I wanted to do, just goof around and play a few notes, but he continued to steer me toward the big buck instruments and auto-tuning amps with all kinds of controls I couldn't even imagine what they do.
I finally said, "Look... say I buy this guitar from you. Show me what I could expect to be able to do with it after about the first week." Somehow, in his mind, that question got translated to, "Show me what a great guitar player YOU are." So he did. He was good, at least in my extensive Guitar Hero experience. But, even after enjoying his solo performance, I wasn't convinced that I needed the $600 outfit he knew I needed. (Not including the stool. But he was willing to sell me the stool, too, because a proper stool is important for the beginning player.)
So I took his card and decided to look somewhere else... where they might have a more realistic view of what *I* want to do (i.e. play with a guitar more than play a guitar), and also of my checkbook.
One place I went to looked more like a Pawn Shop than a music store. At least from the outside, because I never got in. There were bars on the windows and doors, and the door was locked in the middle of the day. I think there were people inside, but I decided that I didn't want to know why the door was locked. Back in the car.
Eventually I got to Guitar Center. The place was HUGE. There were plenty of salespeople who were more than willing to SELL me a guitar, but beyond that, I was pretty much on my own to sort through the 1000 or so instruments there. I was smart enough to find the beginner sets (electric guitar, 10 watt practice amp, and special 'beginner' guitar picks included...). Looked like a good idea. But as I already had most of a day invested in guitar shopping, I decided to stop by the Target down the street before picking something to buy.
Target had beginner sets too. Some were obviously designed for kids, or at least that's what the Hannah Montana stickers led me to believe. But there was also a Fender Stratocaster set. Hmmm... Now, I may not be a musician, but I know the name Fender, and lots of real guitar players play Stratocasters. And it's a good deal. Wow... less than $150 for a Stratocaster? That doesn't seem right. But it says it right there on the head; STRATO... wait. No. It says STARCASTER. :confused: Wha...?
Oh! Those SOBs! It's probably not even a Fender! So I looked closer, expecting it to say, "Fenber" or something, but nope. It's a Fender instrument. So I went home and did a little internet research to see what the hell a "Starcaster" is. As best I could tell, it is a make-believe Stratocaster that is licensed by Fender and made in Mexico. Most of the comments I read rated it as a good beginner's guitar. I figured, hey... I'm a beginner! That sounds about right! So I went back and bought it.
Okay, stop laughing. I know people who play Guitar Hero are a joke to you 'real' musicians, and a Starcaster?? Sheesh. What a noob...
But I gotta tell ya... here I am. My fingertips hurt. I love playing with it. I'm only up to beginning chords (following mostly Chris Schlegel's lessons) and I suck. But it's fun, and I enjoy playing with it. And the Fender STARCASTER is not a bad guitar for a guitar hero like me! It keeps tune better than what I read from most players. It looks cool (which is important for guitar heroes), and sounds great to me.
Mostly I do two things with it:
a) I do an occasional lesson from Guitar Tricks because I feel guilty like I should be trying to learn how to play actual music on it. After all, it is a musical instrument, right?
b) I hear a few notes from a TV commercial (like "Sunshine of Your Love" on that hair color ad) and think, "Hey... I could play that!" So I try to 'pick' out the notes and/or see if I can find tab online. And then I practice those few bars until I can play it recognizably, which was my goal from the beginning!
So. Intruduction. Hi, my name is Bob, I'm 47 years old, and I'm a guitar hero.
I'm only just now typing an introduction because my fingers hurt too much to keep practicing chords... I've been a member here since about May, 2008.
I'm one of them. I don't have a molecule of musical talent in my body, but I love rock music. ('Classic' rock, whatever that is... 70's for me; Boston, Pink Floyd, Aerosmith... you get the picture.)
And I'm a bit of a techno-nerd. So Guitar Hero comes out, and the first time I tried it, I'm hooked. Right now I have every version (Santa is bringing me World Tour), and 5 'guitar' controllers. I'm quite good on medium (can't do the orange button), and typically play until my fingers ache.
So my wife and daughter figured, 'Hey... why don't we get him a real guitar for his birthday?' (The correct answer to that question is simple... because I've never played a musical instrument in my life, don't know how to read music, and have no perceptible musical talent.) But I thought it sounded like fun.
Plus, I was watching House (http://www.fox.com/house/) on TV, the episode where he was goofing with a Flying V in his office. I thought, 'that's what I want to do. I don't want to be in a band or even necessarily be able to play whole songs. But I'd like to be able to play a few recognizable notes...' ("licks" if you will, if a non-musician is allowed to use that term).
So, armed with the checkbook and instructions from my wife and daughter to "buy yourself a guitar," I went shopping. I first looked up a couple of local guitar shops.
The first one I stopped in, I met the owner. Nice guy. I told him why I was there... Got hooked on Guitar Hero and wanted to try my hand at playing a real guitar. He was all about, 'Oh... you're one of them.' :rolleyes: Then he continued to insult me indirectly by bad-mouthing Guitar Hero (after I had just told him that I loved it and was pretty much addicted to it) as just a game, and not really playing music. (Ya think??) He didn't have much nice to say, either, about people who play Guitar Hero. (E.g. me... his next potential customer.)
But he must have been behind on his rent because I could see the dollar signs $$ in his eyes when he spoke to me. I told him what I wanted to do, just goof around and play a few notes, but he continued to steer me toward the big buck instruments and auto-tuning amps with all kinds of controls I couldn't even imagine what they do.
I finally said, "Look... say I buy this guitar from you. Show me what I could expect to be able to do with it after about the first week." Somehow, in his mind, that question got translated to, "Show me what a great guitar player YOU are." So he did. He was good, at least in my extensive Guitar Hero experience. But, even after enjoying his solo performance, I wasn't convinced that I needed the $600 outfit he knew I needed. (Not including the stool. But he was willing to sell me the stool, too, because a proper stool is important for the beginning player.)
So I took his card and decided to look somewhere else... where they might have a more realistic view of what *I* want to do (i.e. play with a guitar more than play a guitar), and also of my checkbook.
One place I went to looked more like a Pawn Shop than a music store. At least from the outside, because I never got in. There were bars on the windows and doors, and the door was locked in the middle of the day. I think there were people inside, but I decided that I didn't want to know why the door was locked. Back in the car.
Eventually I got to Guitar Center. The place was HUGE. There were plenty of salespeople who were more than willing to SELL me a guitar, but beyond that, I was pretty much on my own to sort through the 1000 or so instruments there. I was smart enough to find the beginner sets (electric guitar, 10 watt practice amp, and special 'beginner' guitar picks included...). Looked like a good idea. But as I already had most of a day invested in guitar shopping, I decided to stop by the Target down the street before picking something to buy.
Target had beginner sets too. Some were obviously designed for kids, or at least that's what the Hannah Montana stickers led me to believe. But there was also a Fender Stratocaster set. Hmmm... Now, I may not be a musician, but I know the name Fender, and lots of real guitar players play Stratocasters. And it's a good deal. Wow... less than $150 for a Stratocaster? That doesn't seem right. But it says it right there on the head; STRATO... wait. No. It says STARCASTER. :confused: Wha...?
Oh! Those SOBs! It's probably not even a Fender! So I looked closer, expecting it to say, "Fenber" or something, but nope. It's a Fender instrument. So I went home and did a little internet research to see what the hell a "Starcaster" is. As best I could tell, it is a make-believe Stratocaster that is licensed by Fender and made in Mexico. Most of the comments I read rated it as a good beginner's guitar. I figured, hey... I'm a beginner! That sounds about right! So I went back and bought it.
Okay, stop laughing. I know people who play Guitar Hero are a joke to you 'real' musicians, and a Starcaster?? Sheesh. What a noob...
But I gotta tell ya... here I am. My fingertips hurt. I love playing with it. I'm only up to beginning chords (following mostly Chris Schlegel's lessons) and I suck. But it's fun, and I enjoy playing with it. And the Fender STARCASTER is not a bad guitar for a guitar hero like me! It keeps tune better than what I read from most players. It looks cool (which is important for guitar heroes), and sounds great to me.
Mostly I do two things with it:
a) I do an occasional lesson from Guitar Tricks because I feel guilty like I should be trying to learn how to play actual music on it. After all, it is a musical instrument, right?
b) I hear a few notes from a TV commercial (like "Sunshine of Your Love" on that hair color ad) and think, "Hey... I could play that!" So I try to 'pick' out the notes and/or see if I can find tab online. And then I practice those few bars until I can play it recognizably, which was my goal from the beginning!
So. Intruduction. Hi, my name is Bob, I'm 47 years old, and I'm a guitar hero.