Welcome to the uk.music.guitar FAQ. The purpose of this document is to provide an information resource for players and answer the most common questions asked in the newsgroup. This FAQ will be posted weekly and is also available on the web at: http://www.dcs.gla.ac.uk/~dam/rev/ukmgfaq.html
CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION
Harmony Central - should be considered as your starting point. It contains a vast array of useful information and links to many other sites.
Aside from this newsgroup, there are several other guitar related groups on the net. If you have a beginners question, we recommend the alt.guitar.beginners group as an excellent source of answers. alt.guitar.tab is a good first stop for how to play songs along with rec.music.makers.guitar.tablature. Other useful groups are alt.guitar.bass, alt.guitar.effects, alt.guitar.amps, rec.music.makers.guitar rec.music.makers.guitar.acoustic, rec.music.makers.guitar.jazz
Please don't crosspost to these groups, choose one, or, if you must, post the message separately in each relevant group.
GENERAL
Q: What's this group about?
A: Guitars. Playing (all styles), equipment, maintenance, teaching, learning,
recording, buying, selling, plus discussion about guitarists and guitar-related
music. Discussion of other stringed instruments (banjo, lute etc) also welcome.
Naturally most of the discussion will be from a UK perspective.
Q: Can I post binaries here?
A: No. Binaries should be restricted to newsgroups with the word 'binary'
in its title. This is a text only group and unless there is a very good
reason for doing so, binaries should be restricted to binary groups.
Q: What about html?
A: Again - no. Html belongs on web pages and ends up being unreadable
in many newsreaders as well as bloating articles to be many times
the size of a plain text article. If you are using Outlook Express,
it is very simple to switch to plain text.
Go to TOOLS -> OPTION -> SEND
..and click the plain text box in New Sending Format
Q: What about crossposting? I notice that there are
other guitar related groups like alt.guitar?
A: That's not a good idea. The flamage in alt.* tends to be much higher
and long running flame wars tend to drown out reasonable discussion. alt.guitar
is no different in that respect and seems to have a few individuals more
interested in flooding the group with bickering. It was to get away from
that that uk.music.guitar was first proposed so - no, crossposting to alt.guitar
is not a good idea.
Q: What does UKMGPU mean?
A: UKMGPU means its's time to meet up at an agreed pub for a small libation
with a few of the regular readers and posters. All are welcome. Oh and UKMGPU
stands for "UK.Music.Guitar.P*ss.Up
Q: Is it true that this group is full of big haired,
spandex wearing people?
A: Erm..you want to talk to Tiffany Tractor about that one!
Q: Does this group have a patron saint?
A: Yes. Bert Weedon.
Q: Q: What is GAS? It sounds awful.
A: It is - Guitar (or Gear) Aquisition Syndrom - a terrible desire to
buy more and more instruments and equipment.
BUYING AND SELLING
Q: I'm thinking of buying a [name your product], where
can I find reviews?
A Harmony Central has a large database of product reviews where you can
find out what people thought of their purchases. Be aware though, that people
will be rather reluctant to admit to having bought a turkey and that the
reviews can sometimes be a bit over the top, but there should be enough
there to be going on with.
Q: Can I import a guitar from the US, what is involved
and will it be cheaper?
A: Well known brands in the US sell at dollars-for-pounds rates, that is,
if a Gibson Les Paul costs 1000 pounds in the UK, it will cost $1000 in
the US. Importing a guitar involves a number of extra costs and problems.
Firstly, you have to find a dealer prepared to ship. Secondly, you have
no control over what instrument they may send you as you will not have the
opportunity to play a number of the instruments and choose the best one.
The extra costs involved are shipping - about $150 - $200 for FedEx, a 3%
import duty into the UK and finally 17.5% VAT on top of all that. Add all
that in and before you realise it, your $1000 Les Paul is getting pretty
close to the UK price. Having said all that, you *may* come across the occasional
bargain in the US and then it might be worth considering. Musicyo offers some good deals
on Steinberger guitars as well as other instruments. At least one poster
to the group bought a Steinberger this way and ended up paying half what
he would have in a well known London store for the same guitar.
Q: I have an instrument for sale. Can I post an ad?
A: Strictly speaking, uk.music.guitar is a discussion forum and, to be honest,
you'd get a much better response if you posted it to Loot
or one of the 'adverts' newsgroups but, if you think someone might be interested
in your instrument AND it is a genuine private sale AND it is not spammed
(cross-posted to lots of groups) AND it is not repetitively posted to the
group, Its doubtful if anyone would object. However, touting for bids
at an auction may receive a rather less welcoming reception
Q: Where can I buy valves for my amp in the UK?
A: There are a number of excellent valve retailers around. Watford Valves[1], HotRox[2]
and Wilson Valves[3]
all offer valves tested and matched to match anything on the US market and
at a considerably lower cost.
Q: Where can I buy strings online
A: Strings Direct
offer discount strings including double ended strings for Hohner and Steinberger
'headless' guitars. Merchant City Music also offer discount strings.
Q: I need a new cable for my guitar/amp. What's best?
A: Stewart Ward of Award-Session writes...
"Cables are an important accessory to any electronic instrument. However, many manufacturers use some pretty desparate tactics to get you to buy theirs. Armed with the right information, you can avoid wasting money on unecessary features.
"Instrument leads look similar and itās easy to become confused as to which to buy, so hereās some guidelines from an electronics engineers point of view, based on accepted technical facts."
Q: What does "low loss" mean?
A: "It is important to understand that all screened cables reduce the
high frequencies that pass along them. The longer the cable, the
more the loss. This is true of ANY make or type of screened cable.
Always select "low loss" cables for best performance when using
guitars or other similar instruments. However, it is less critical
when using leads on the outputs of effects processors, keyboards, etc.
"A good guitar cable will have an inter-conductor capacitance of 130pf (pico farads) or less per metre. 6 metres is about the maximum length for a lead used with passive guitar pickups. With passive electro- acoustic guitar transducers you will need to keep guitar leads to an absolute minimum length, otherwise treble will become heavily lost! Always fit a pre-amp to your electro-acoustic if you can. If your guitar already has a pre-amp, then you can use leads as long as you like without any problems or loss of tone."
Q: Can cables make my sound more "juicy"?
A: "No, cables cannot do this! The signal passing along a cable cannot
be improved, no matter what it's made from. Any such suggestion
should be viewed as a dishonest claim."
Q: What does "noiseless" mean?
A: "Some low cost cables, when used with guitars, can cause a crackling
sound when you move about. Noiseless cables have a special conductive
plastic layer inserted between the signal conductor and the screening
braid which removes this source of unwanted noise."
Q: Should I buy leads with gold plated plugs?
A: "Don't waste your money on "hyped" imported cables with gold plated
connectors. The thin soft gold (5-10 microns) "flash" plating looks
cool, but scrapes off easily. The brass material underneath prevents
you from seeing that the gold has worn off! That brass eventually
tarnishes and causes crackling when the plug moves or twists in the
socket contacts. Gold is a very good conductor of electricity and helps
to reduce contact resistance, but only when mated with a gold plated
socket. However, the input socket inside your guitar amplifier is
not usually gold, so no real improvement would be made. Any improvement
from all contacts being gold plated would be so tiny as to be
un-detectable in this application."
Q: Are "moulded" jack plugs better?
A: "In some respects, but cables usually break just outside the plug where
the cable gets bent a lot. So, if this happens, you can't open the plug
to repair it and you'll have to throw it away."
Q: Do I need special speaker cables?
A: "Yes, using instrument cables for connecting speakers is not
recommended. Very high currents pass along speaker cables, so
you need much thicker wire to handle it. Guitar lead conductors are
very thin and such use could result in damage to your cables. Power
reaching the speakers may be reduced as well.
"Without a doubt, Neutrik connectors are the best in the business. Nearly all the pros and top studios insist on them because they are so rubust. I have no connection with that company except that I use them. But watch out, there are many junk imported copies.
"Like anything else, common sense rules... so try not to be fooled by marketing hype, glossy adverts or music business mythology."
CARE
Q: Where can I buy a hard case for my guitar?
A: There are a number of suppliers offering different grades of 'hard cases'
some of which are rather less 'hard' than one would think!. Hiscox offer
a large range of suitably tough cases for most purposes as do SKB.
Q: But I want to take my guitar abroad on a plane?
A: Then you'll have to get a 'baggage-handler-proof' flight case. Scottish
Foam[4] offer a wide rage of flight and transit cases, for a variety of musical
instrument and equipment. RJ Flytes[5] also offer flight cases.
REPAIR AND MAINTENANCE
Q: Where can I buy parts such as pickups, replacement switches etc?
A: There are a number of suppliers, details of whom are listed at the end
of this FAQ. Brandoni[6] offer a wide range of replacement switches pick
ups, scratch plates, etc at reasonable prices. Ask for their catalogue.
Rainbow Products[7] offer similar products but from the US manufacturer
WD products as well as the full range of Kent Armstrong pickups.
Q: I want to build my own electric guitar. Where can
I get bits in the UK?
A: There are a number of UK suppliers of musical instrument building bits
and pieces ranging from bare planks of wood, up to pre-machined bodies and
necks so, your ability will probably determine where you go. The best advice
is to hang around rec.musc.makers.builders for a while to see what sort
of special tools you might need and which you can skip by using a cheaper
substitute. Some you may have to import from the US from the likes of Stewart-McDonald[8]
supplies, others are available from suppliers like David Dyke[9] or Touchstone
Tonewoods[10], here in the UK. But whatever you decide, one thing is certain,
you will need a good book as a reference and none come more widely praised
than Melvyn Hiscock's Build Your Own Electric Guitar. It is an absolute
'must-have' for those thinking about building their own electric guitar.
Pre-machined bodies and necks are available from Brandoni[6] but the necks
need finishing in terms of nut cutting and fret stoning.
Q: What's a truss rod and what does it do?
A: A truss rod is a metal bar that runs the length of the runs the length
of the neck of the guitar from roughly the nut to where the neck meets the
guitar body. Its purpose is to both reinforce the neck against the pull
of the strings and allow adjustment to the neck in such a way as to allow
the strings to vibrate properly without hitting the frets.
Q: How do I adjust my truss rod?
A: With GREAT CARE and, unless you know what you are doing, not at all and
leave it to a luthier to do as part of the set up process.
Q: How do I 'set up' my guitar?
A: Steve Cobham's site offers excellent advice on setting up your guitar. There is also an excellent
site at frets.com
for those wishing to set up/repair/maintain acoustic instruments.
Q: I've blown a speaker in my bass rig. Where can I
get help/advice?
A: Try having a word with the guys at Concert Systems in Altrincham, 0161
927 7700, they're usually pretty on the ball about these things.
SAFETY
General: Amps get thrown around and mains leads get damaged.To protect yourself from injury or fatal shock hazard, always check the lead before use for small nicks exposing the live conductors and ensure that the plug is securely fitted. Moulded leads are better than rewireable plugs. If it is damaged, throw it away and buy a new one - do not try and repair a moulded lead.
Q: How do I protect myself from electric shock?
A: Use an RCD
Q: What's an RCD? Where do I get one? How do I use it?
A: Residual Current Device. It's a circuit breaker that measures the current
going in through the line of the mains and compares it with that going out
on the neutral. IOf all is well, they should be the same. If not, someone
is being electrocuted or there is a leakage somewhere and it shuts off the
power before the current rises to a fatal level.. They are usually used
with things like electric lawnmowers, hedge cutters and power tools and
you'll get them at any DIY or gardening store. They are not foolproof but
will get most potentially lethal electrical faults. It looks like a 3-pin
adapter. Just plug it in and plug you amp into it and that's it!
SAVE YOUR LIFE FOR LESS THAN 20 POUNDS!!
TEACHING/LESSONS
Q: I want to learn guitar from a teacher. What should I look out for?
Here's a few general thoughts and pointers...
To find a teacher look in the local paper and magazines. Also look on the noticeboard in music shops. Don't forget that personal recommendation is often a good indication of a teacher's reputation. There's also the Registry of Guitar Teachers, but I don't have any contact info to hand. Keep your eyes peeled on the www and in the relevant NGs.
Shop around. If possible, take a trial lesson and if you don't think that you'll get on with the teacher, look elsewhere. It's extremely important to have a good relationship with each other.
As well as this, think carefully if the teacher's approach is right for you. If you want to learn to strum Oasis songs and the teacher insists that you start off by learning the major scale in all its positions you'll get bored very, very quickly. Likewise, if you want to learn to play by reading music and he tries to steer you away from this course, think again.
Look for a teacher who is well-prepared and not too casual. The "What shall we do today?" approach often indicates a lack of preparation and puts the onus on you to think what to do. That's part of the teacher's job and what you're paying him for. He should be offering you some sort of structured approach and not just merely filling up the time with whatever he fancies doing that day.
What qualifications does the teacher have? If none, what experience? Anybody can set themselves up as teacher, but that doesn't necessarily mean that they can teach as well as play.
Fees vary considerably and it's impossible to give any figure for guidance. Price is not always a reflection of the teacher's ability. You may well find that the cheaper of two teachers is better for you, or perhaps not. As suggested above - shop around.
If you do get a good teacher who adopts a professional approach towards you and your development as a guitarist, remember to treat him accordingly. If you have to cancel a lesson then give him the notice he requires. If he's professional he'll extend the same courtesy towards you. Many teachers have "waiting lists" and can fill your "slot" very easily. Establishing some sort of ground rules between the two of you helps to clarify the business side of the relationship.
Above all, learning to play the guitar - any musical instrument
- should be fun as well as personally rewarding. If you're not enjoying
your lessons, that particular teacher may not be the right one for
you.
PLAYING
Q: Where can I find the tab for [name your artist]?
A: Long ago there used to be a tab archive site called OLGA. It has been
partially closed down due to dispute over copyright, however remnants of
it still remain. Check at Harmony-Central and follow the guitar related
links to tablature. Alternatively, you could try alt.guitar.tab or rec.music.makers.tablature
or a web based search such as Tab Crawler
Q: How do I do a digital recording on my PC?
A: John Rimmer offers an excellent introduction on his website
Q: What is alternative tuning?
A: Standard tuning on guitars is EADGBE but there are other
possibilities which can change the entire timbre of the guitar. Naturally
chord shapes are a little different but alternative tuning can open a whole
range of possibilities for both the fingerstyle acoustic and electric guitar
player. One of the simplest is known as the dropped D tuning. In this tuning,
the bass E string is simply detuned down a tone to D. A common alternative
tuning is DADGAD, so named because that is how the strings are tuned! This
tuning is quite commonly used by fingerstyle guitarists. A more unusual
tuning is Nashville tuning. In this tuning, standard tuning of EADGBE is
used, but the three bass strings are tuned an octave higher. Obviously this
means you need thinner guage strings for the three bass strings to avoid
breaking them and putting an unneccessary strain on the guitar neck. There
are lots of other tuning possibilities worth trying out to expand your playing.
Try them and see! A good list can be found at this alternate tunings site
Q: What is Widdlefest?
A: Full information can be found on the dedicated page on this site.
Q: Is there anywhere on the net I can hear the contributers 'strut
their stuff'?
A: Steve Dix has set up a UKMG radio station at mp3.com. Its
playlist consists of the work of a number of regular contributers
to the newsgroup. Anyone who has their music on mp3.com's server is welcome to
volunteer submissions for the playlist.
UKMG on IRC
Q: Is there an online chat room for the group?
A. Mike Whitaker has set up an IRC channel, with a handy web interface. Mike also wrote the following FAQ on using it and setting up a proper IRC client, rather than the web based client...
Q: The web client is crap, isn't it?
A: Absolutely. I never said it wasn't. But the point is, it can get folks
online without an IRC client program, just a web browser. And once we've
got you... Seriously, though, I'd recommend downloading a decent client,
if your office firewall will let you, rather than sticking with the web
client.
Q: Where can I get a decent client?
A: If you're using Windows, try mIRC and if you're
using a Mac, there's Snak or Ircle. For general pointers, try irchelp.org
Q: How do I set my client up?
A: You need to add a new server, if your client comes with a preconfigured
list. The server name is irc.us.filknet.org, you're connecting to port
6667, and you want to join channel #ukmg.
Q: Why did I get kicked off by SocksCleaner as soon as I connected with
mIRC/Snak/IRCle?
A: Ahah! Sounds like your office is running an insecure firewall which
allows people to connect through it from outside. This is a commonly
exploitable means of concealing your identity on an IRC server, so we
don't allow it. Drop me a mail, and I'll talk you through what to tell
your sysadmin or how to work round it.
Q: Who *are* these people?
A: Most of the nicknames are reasonably obvious. I'm Penfold, or
Penf
Q: How do I do the * Penfold drinks more beer thing?
A: Type: /me drinks more beer.
Q: Why is no-one talking to me?
A: Two possible reasons: a) the web client is prone to lose half its
connection, so ytou can send stuff but not receive it. b) people do tend
to idle online while doing other things. I'm *always* on, because I have a
24x7 connection (which is how I host the server) and my work requires me
to use IRC as a virtual office, but I can be asleep or working in another
window. Be patient: I tend to check the IRC client every 5 or 10 minutes
when I'm at the computer.
Q: Are there any channel rules?
A: It's my server, so I make the rules. I'd rather not have any, but past
experience with bigger networks suggest that a set of rules one can point
at make removing undesirables less painful: these boil down to:
- No open proxies: we have a bot, SocksCleaner, which will scan your machine once when you connect to see if you are running an insecure SOCKS proxy. If you are, your client will be /kill-ed. The reason? IRCing on an insecure SOCKS proxy is a woefully common cracker trick: if you are a legitimate user, it's in your interest to secure your proxy anyway, so crackers and other kiddies can't misuse your machine. [This scan will originate from sotalin.altrion.org, targetted at port 1080 on your machine: it is NOT a breakin attempt, merely a security measure]. If you need to learn how to secure your system, ask the admin.
- No mass advertising: if you flood everyone with a /msg or /notice, you will be /kill-ed, and /kline-ed for any repeat offence.
- No porn, warez or pirate MP3 channels: channels which clearly advertise any of the above, and thus imply that the server/network endorses such behaviour, will be shut down. Users who persist in breaking this rule will be /kill-ed, and /kline-ed for any repeat offence.
- No denial-of-service, harassment or abusive behaviour: ping/CTCP flooding of users, harassment by public or private means, or any other abuse of the network or its users will result in the offender being /kill-ed, and /kline-ed for any repeat offence.
ALL breaches of policy will be reported to the offender's sysadmin/ISP. The network is *not* a democracy, it's a benevolent dictatorship.
In short: treat it like uk.music.guitar and we'll all be fine.
Q: So where is the server?
A: In my hall cupboard, the other end of 20' of Ethernet cable from me,
and a 128K leased line (thanks, work) from the rest of the world. It's
also the ukmg.org.uk server, and my own web and mail server. Fortunately,
it doesn't use much bandwidth, and my router is configured so work traffic
gets a look in first.
CONTACTS:
[1] Watford Valves, 3 Ryall Close, Bricket Wood, St Albans AL2 3TS Tel:
01023-893-270
[2] Hot Rox Valves, 10 Avondale Road, Carlton, Nottingham NG4 1AF Tel: 01159-873-163
[3] Wilson Valves 28 Banks Ave., Golcar Huddersfield HD7 4LZ Tel: 01484-654-650
[4]Scottish Foam 7/8 Bleasdale Court, Clydebank Business Pk, Clydebank G81
2LE Tel: 01419-511-503
[5] R J Flytes Kettering, Northants. Tel: 01536-723-451
[6] Brandoni Music, Unit 3.6, Wembley Commercial Centre, East Lane Wembley
Middx HA9 7XJ. Tel: 01819-082-323
[7] Rainbow Products,
[8] Stewart McDonald's Guitar Supply Shop, Box 900-GT, Athens, OH 45701,
USA.
[9] David Dyke, Luthier Supplies, The Hall, Horebeech Lane, Horam, Heathfield,
East Sussex. TN21 0HR Tel: 01435-812 315
[10] Touchstone Tonewoods 44 Albert Road North, Reigate RH2 9EZ Tel: 01737
221 064
Any hints, suggestions, corrections etc are gratefully received at either of the two mail addresses in the copyright notice below or posted to the group and will be acknowledged in the contributors list. Become famous, see you name up in... err... text and contribute!!
Copyright: This FAQ is copyright (c) Dave Morning (dam[at]dcs.gla.ac.uk)
and
Timothy N. Nurse (tnnurse[at]usa.net). It may be freely distributed provided
that it remains intact and accompanied by this copyright notice.