Electric guitar tips

[Jubal]

My 23 YO son has been wanting an electric guitar for some time. He's been saving up, and I've helped him do some research and shopping. He settled on a Epiphone Goth Les Paul Studio and a Fender Mustang II amp to start. He's looking for some tips to get some Classic Rock tones. My first thought is that he needs to change his strings. They just don't have a bright enough sound. What do you recommend?
Also, I am recommending that his first two pedals be a Big Muff and a Cry Baby Mini.
What are your thoughts on that?

[AZProgger]

I always change strings on a new guitar. Most new guitars ship with 9s so the guitar will be easier to play and more likely to sell. Problems is, I find 9s have poor intonation. When I get a guitar home, the first thing I do is put on a set of 10s.

[Jubal]

What brand do you use? Also, nickel or whatever else they have?

[nosebone]

That fender mustang amp has a lot of sound possibilities in it .

Foot pedals would complicate progress depending on his skill level.

Just get a Fender foot switch, so he can have some remote control with his presets.

Those Epiphone Les Pauls are hit or miss in setup quality.

Make sure the shop he buys it from sets it up before he takes it home.

Good luck & have fun!

[AZProgger]

What brand do you use? Also, nickel or whatever else they have?

I use either D'Addario XLs or Dunlops, both nickel wound. I use these 2 brands because they're available in 10 & 12 set packages, more economical than buying single sets or 3 set packages.

[No Pride]

Most new guitars ship with 9s so the guitar will be easier to play and more likely to sell. Problems is, I find 9s have poor intonation.

It depends on hand pressure. Ty Tabor (King's X ) uses .008s with a down-tuned guitar and never has intonation problems. I don't know how he does it, but he does it! However, I do believe that the higher the string gauge, the more tone you're going to get. .010s aren't hard to bend on a Gibson scale length and maybe that's what he should use. They're harder to bend with a Fender scale length. I do use them with that scale length, but I had to put some work into making my hand strong enough to do those major 3rd Albert King bends.

I use either D'Addario XLs or Dunlops, both nickel wound.

I use the D'Addario XLs too. Those 10 or 12 packs are nice, but the reason I use them is because they're about the only brand I've discovered that don't break (unless you use them for months). I used to break fresh strings on their first gigs with several other brands including Fender, Ernie Ball, GHS and Dean Markley. I think D'Addario's air-tight plastic packaging is the secret. Strings sitting in those little paper envelopes can get corroded before you buy them. However, some would not consider the D'Addario XLs to be bright enough.

[Sputnik]

My 23 YO son has been wanting an electric guitar for some time. He's been saving up, and I've helped him do some research and shopping. He settled on a Epiphone Goth Les Paul Studio and a Fender Mustang II amp to start. He's looking for some tips to get some Classic Rock tones. My first thought is that he needs to change his strings. They just don't have a bright enough sound. What do you recommend?
Also, I am recommending that his first two pedals be a Big Muff and a Cry Baby Mini.
What are your thoughts on that?

Definitely change the strings, and if he plays with any regularity they'll need to be changed regularly. Nickel is the most common material for electric guitar strings, and that is fine. I also really like the D'Addario strings, and use them for my basses and guitars, including acoustic guitars, except my Dell'Arte that I string with Argentines. For a Gibson scale guitar I will use .10s, but .09s are OK too, but will feel a bit slinky on a shorter scale guitar.

Gibson guitars tend to be darker becaue of the humbucking pickups and thicker body. But if the guitar sounds bit too dark with new strings, just turn up the treble a bit. The Mustang II seems to have some amp modeling capabilities, so model a Fender amp, those tend to be brighter than the Marshalls. But with that guitar and that amp should get him started.

If you can't get some grit out of the amp, I do suggest a distortion pedal, but I wouldn't go for the Muff. I'd get a Rat Pedal, which is far more versatile. I've never been a user of wah on guitar, so I leave the Cry Baby to you. But I do suggest a good compressor. The trusty old MXR Dyna Comp is a good choice and not super expensive.

Actually, I think that Mustang II has effects built in, so you might want to play with those before speding a lot on pedals.

I hope he enjoys. The best investment he could make at this point would probably be some lessons.

Bill

[Jubal]

Thank you so much for the tips! I think he'll probably take it in for an intonation tweak and have some .10s put on for that. The Fender footswitch, a strap. and a gig bag are probably next on his lists. I think you guys are right about the pedals. He'll try out the modeling settings with the footswitch first.

[Sputnik]

Thank you so much for the tips! I think he'll probably take it in for an intonation tweak and have some .10s put on for that. The Fender footswitch, a strap. and a gig bag are probably next on his lists. I think you guys are right about the pedals. He'll try out the modeling settings with the footswitch first.

All good!

[Jubal]

One other thing I will do for him is to create him a file of Classic Rock riffs. These are very short and succinct, often the beginning of a song where possible. I'm glad I learned how to edit with Audacity!

[Speare-shaker]

I agree to always change the strings on a new guitar. The factory strings are generally not that great. I've always used the Fender super bullets on electric guitars, the Martin strings work well, the D'addarios are nice. He should try out a few and then stick with what he likes.

[Jerjo]

I'm going to bookmark this thread. Planning on switching from acoustic to electric at some point, probably once I stop sucking at easy chords.

[Mikhael]

Just for another point of view: After cutting off a small piece of my index finger on my fretting hand, I had to go to .009s because the bigger ones hurt. There is some small amount of truth to the "more tone with bigger strings" thing, IF you're playing acoustic. I discovered that my amp had these magical "tone" and "volume" knobs on them, which rendered tonal differences moot. The big thing for me was lightening up my touch. That might be hard for a beginner.

[AZProgger]

^^ In my experience, the poor intonation of lighter strings goes beyond touch, down to the setup level. I play with a heavier attack, which requires higher action to prevent fret buzz. With higher action, it's possible to move the bridge saddles under the G and low E strings all the way back, but still be insufficient for proper compensation. That's on a Les Paul type guitar. On a Strat type guitar, it's necessary to remove the adjustment spring from the low E saddle to move it back far enough. I have no such problem with heavier strings.

But now that you mentioned the "more tone with bigger strings" thing, 2 of my electrics are semi-hollow. That principle holds true on these guitars as well, not just acoustics.

[Jerjo]

There's that quote from Stevie Ray Vaughan "Now, I use heavy strings, tune low, play hard, and floor it"

[Onomatopoeic]

He settled on a Epiphone Goth Les Paul Studio and a Fender Mustang II amp to start.

As for me personally, I would have recommended the Mustang III amp over the II, mainly because the III has a much better sounding 12-inch speaker than the 12-inch speaker in the II. The III also has enough power (100 watts) to gig with or play at a band practice with a band. If you are only going to be playing in a bedroom it doesn't matter so much. PS: I had the luxury to test drive both a II and a III a while back for one week each before deciding on the III.

My first thought is that he needs to change his strings. They just don't have a bright enough sound. What do you recommend?

A fresh set of 10 ~ 42 from GHS, D'Addario, Ernie Ball, or Dunlop should do it for most folks. But, if you really want a good *bright* string set, the Dean Markley Blue Steel (9~42 or 10~42) is brighter than your average GHS, D'Addario, Ernie Ball, or Dunlop nickel-plated steel string sets.

Also, I am recommending that his first two pedals be a Big Muff and a Cry Baby Mini. What are your thoughts on that?

A basic inexpensive wah like a Vox Classic or Original Crybaby would be better (they cost less and are full size). The Mustang II has distortion effects simulation, so you basically have little use for the Big Muff.

[DGuitarist]

I still rave about Roland's MicroCube amps. The smallest runs on 6 AA batteries and has multiple COSM modeled amp sounds and built-in effects. Wish I had this amp when I was learning guitar in 1978.

My main strings are D'Addario NYXL .009s.
No problems with intonation, and I have a very light touch.

[Sputnik]

So Jubal, how's your son doing with the guitar? Did he get it set up to his liking and is he playing? Or is dad spending more time with the new toy than he is?

[nosebone]

I still rave about Roland's MicroCube amps. The smallest runs on 6 AA batteries and has multiple COSM modeled amp sounds and built-in effects. Wish I had this amp when I was learning guitar in 1978.
.

The MicroCubes are great!

I set mine to BritCombo with gain and volume at 1:00.

Best sound out of that thing!

[Onomatopoeic]

The little Roland amps are great, but, the Yamaha THR-10 series portables are better. They positively sound realistic and H-U-G-E.

[No Pride]

The little Roland amps are great, but, the Yamaha THR-10 series portables are better. They positively sound realistic and H-U-G-E.

I've seen those in the catalogs (Musicians Friend, Sweetwater, etc.) and been intrigued, but I had no idea they sounded THAT good! I want one!

[Onomatopoeic]

I've seen those in the catalogs (Musicians Friend, Sweetwater, etc.) and been intrigued, but I had no idea they sounded THAT good! I want one!

They are small and highly capable. If you're familiar with what re-amping is, these units are basically a self-contained stereo re-amping studio system inside a small quasi-ghetto-blaster-looking package.

I own two, which are the two on the extreme left of the photo above -- the THR10 and the THR10X. Both are quite different sounding.

I like the larger versions best (the 10 watters), because they have additional models for "bass" and "acoustic guitar." Actually, electric bass sounds fantastic on both the "bass" and "acoustic guitar" settings!

You can test drive them in person at places like Sam Ash or Geetar Center.