Guitar Practicing Guide

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Set a Goal

Having a goal is like having a direction to your dreams. Set a simple goal like learning sweep picking in a week, mastering a shred lick, playing a new song etc.. anything that you can achieve in a short span of time. You can also set a long term goals like being a great jazz artist, metal artist, being a famous player or play in a band. This are just examples of goals that you can set, for you to have something to achieve. You can also avoid wasting time when practicing, because you have something  to do or something to achieve.

Identify your Techniques

Identify your techniques. You should know first what your strengths and weaknesses. So that you will know what things to improve while practicing and also to avoid over practice on things that you really don't need to practice.

Focus

Decide what you are going to practice. Some of us are practicing the things that they already mastered, because of these some are really wasting their time. You should focus on something that you're having a trouble with, we should work on our weaknesses and make them our strengths. By focusing on your weaknesses, you can achieve your goal in a short period of time.

Set a Practice Routine

Make a plan. You can make a daily practice routine, if you have a lot of time or Weekly practice routine. Decide how long do you need to practice on a certain technique. Set a time for warm up, 10 minutes is good for warm up exercises. Also set a time in techniques, like sweep picking, shredding, scales, modes, improvisation etc.. You should practice your weaknesses longer than the other techniques, because you need to put some time to master it. 

Play

Give time to yourself to use and enjoy the new techniques you learned, because some are keep on practicing and they don't have time to use it, then what is the purpose of practicing? Also learned to apply or use those techniques in your playing, because that's the reason why we are practicing, for us to improve our playing.

Fender Mustang II Review

Fender Mustang II

Price: $ 200
The world's best-selling amplifier series is back with new features, a new look and all the flexibility you've come to expect from a Fender® Mustang. The new Fender® Mustang V.2 amplifier series raises the standard for modern guitar versatility and muscle, including five new amp models, five new effects and intelligent pitch shifting. The new Mustang Series features USB connectivity and Fender® FUSE™ software, letting your musical creativity and imagination run wild.

 Fender Mustang II is 40 watt amp. If you are looking for a practice amp that is loud enough for a band practice and also can be use at bedroom jams, this Fender Mustang II is great. It features a 24 presets, a tuner, footswitch, input jack, auxiliary input, headphone jack, and adjustable modulation, reverb and delay. It also has a USB cable to connect your Fender Mustang II to a computer via the Fender Fuse Software, which allows you to modify your presets amp models from large selection of amps like Fender Twin Reverb to modern high gain amps for metal. You can also apply many effects like delay, chorus, flanger, compressor, wah, overdrive, distortion etc..Getting a your desired tone may take some time, but it's worth it. The sound is great from Fender Cleans to Marshall Drive.

Specs:

Series: Mustang™

Amp Type: Solid State

Color: Black

Amp Length: 8.7" 

Amp Width: 18.25"

Amp Height: 17.25"

Amp Weight: 24 lbs.

Speaker: One - 12" Fender® Special Design

Channels: One

Input: One 1/4"

Amp Covering: Carbon Tweed Textured Vinyl with Silver Grille Cloth

Control Panel: Black

Footswitch: Optional 1-Button Footswitch

Accessories: Optional 1-Button Footswitch for Toggling 2 Quick Access Presets (P/N 099-4049-000)

Other Features: Seventeen high-quality Fender and other amp models including five new ones, such as ’57 Twin and ‘60s Thrift; 24 onboard presets (unlimited storage with computer); a full palette of effects including reverb, delay/echo, tremolo, phaser, with additional new effects including Big Fuzz, Green Screamer and pitch shifting (with even more available through Fender® FUSE™); new low-noise power amp platform; chromatic tuner; USB connectivity for user programming and audio recording output; auxiliary input for media player; Fender® FUSE™ application for deep editing, preset storage, patch swapping and free artist content; Ableton® Live Lite 8 Fender® Edition studio-quality recording software compatible with Mustang USB recording output; AmpliTube® Fender® LE edition with free Fender® FUSE™ editor/librarian software for Mac and PC (makes Mustang ideal for guitarists new to digital recording).

How to Setup a Stratocaster

You will need:

1/8 and 1/16 Allen Wrench
Digital Tuner
Phillips Head Screwdriver
6" (150 mm) Ruler
Standard Guitar Capo

Make sure to follow these steps in order for best results.

1. Setup Truss The Rod

2. Adjust The Bridge Action

3. Setup The Guitar's Intonation

How to Adjust Bridge Action (Stratocaster)

Stratocasters has a individual saddles, which allows you to adjust the strings individually according to your taste. Adjusting guitar action can improve the feel of the instrument and how it sound. It's the distance between the bottom of the strings and the top of the fret. There is two types of action, low action and high action. Low action means the string is closer to the frets, which increase playability. It's easier to play a guitar that has a low action, because you don't need to put more pressure to play a note, it is good for beginners. But too much low action can cause fret buzzing and rattling sounds. High action will decrease the playability and increase sustain and has a better tone. Now I'm going to teach you on how to adjust your guitar action.

You will need:

6" (150 mm) Ruler

Allen Wrench (1/16")

Digital Tuner (Optional)

1. Check the tuning. Tune the guitar in pitch, you can use a tuner or you can tune it by your ear if you can.

2. Measure. Using the 6" (150 mm) Ruler, measure the distance between bottom of strings and top of the 17th fret. That should not be lower than 1.6 mm, to avoid fret buzzing. It's always better to experiment to achieve your desired feel and tone.

3. Adjust. Adjust the string height individually, using the allen wrench. Make sure you adjust the saddles proportionally, to avoid changing the string spacing. Experiment with the height until your desired sound and feel is achieved. The saddles should not be straight, because the frets are not straight, it has a radius. Here is a illustration of wrong saddles and correct saddles.

WRONG

Correct

Seymour Duncan SH-4 JB Review

Price: $83 

Seymour Duncan SH-4 uses completely balanced coil configuration to produce great harmonics and high output with right blend of sustain and distortion, which makes this pickup great for everything from heavy blues to heavy metal. Provides slammin' output while retaining singing highs. Goes from sweet warm tone to raw rock'n' roll. Compared to the SH-12 Custom 5, the JB has a stronger treble detail. This is for bridge position. For complete setup, often a JB is paired with Jazz Model SH-2, which is called "Seymour's Favorite". Works specially well with rosewood fingerboards. These pickup totally transformed my Stratocaster, even if it has a maple fingerboard. This is a video of me playing Master of Puppets by Metallica, for you to hear the sound of my guitar, after I installed the Seymour Duncan JB SH-4 on it:

This pickup came nicely, packed with a foam in a plastic case. Comes with screws, springs and wiring diagram. When it comes to durability, it will last lifetime to your guitar. I'm really satisfied for the price I paid for it. It's so easy to install, I'm just 14 year old when I installed it myself. You'll just need a soldering iron and you only need to follow the instructions given in wiring diagram. This pickup comes with four conductor hookup cable.  So If you want an all around pickup, I strongly suggest this Seymour Duncan SH-4 for you.

How to Perform Intonation Setup (Stratocaster)

Are you experiencing bad tuning on some fretted notes on your guitar, even if you tune it correctly? Maybe your guitar has a intonation problem. Now I'm going to show you steps how to adjust your guitar's intonation.

You will be needing:
Digital Tuner
Phillips Head Screwdriver

1. Check. Using a tuner, check first the intonation. Do an open/natural harmonic on the 12th fret (lightly touch the string to create a bell like tone) and compare it to the fretted note at the 12th fret. If the open/natural harmonic is higher than the fretted note or otherwise, your guitar's intonation is out.

You can fix these, by tightening or loosening the screws on the bridge saddles, in case you don't know what it's look like. Here it is:


2. Adjust. Using the tuner, tune the guitar into standard tuning and compare the open string to the fretted note at the 12th fret. If the fretted note at the 12th fret is sharp, that means the length of the string is too short, so we need to make it longer. To make it longer, loosen the screws on the bridge saddles, by turning it  clockwise. If in your case the fretted note is flat, of course you need to turn the screws counter clockwise.

3. Tune & Check. Check if the fretted note at the 12th fret is already in tune. 

4. Repeat the steps on the other strings.

Things to Consider Before Buying Used Gears

Are you planning to buy a second hand gears from classified ads, forums, and online shop? Buying a second hand gears can help you to save money. But, this can lead to dissatisfaction and scams. Here are some tips on buying a second hand gears safely without wasting your money or being scammed.

1.Price. Expect that the price of the second hand item is lower than the brand new ones. Search for the original brand new price of the product on Google. Because some of the sellers, sell a second hand item in higher price than the price of the brand new, to a earn revenue. So it's good to know the original brand new price of the item first.

2.Seller's Information. Know the important information of the seller such as full name and exact address.Make sure that the item is really for sale, because some scammers are just getting a photos on the internet then sell it, some of this scammers are only requiring shipping, once you've already pay for it, they will not ship it to you, because there are no item to ship. You should check his/her feedback from other transactions, if you find out that his/her previous clients are not satisfied or being scammed, you should find another seller.

3.Looks. Expect that the item you will get is not good as brand new, because obviously that's a second hand item. If you are perfectionist, you should buy a brand new and don't buy second hand item, because that can't satisfy you. 

4.Actual Pictures. Ask for actual pictures of the item, before going to meetups. If possible ask for pictures of the item in all angles. Inspect if there are cracks, scratches, issues etc. If it has scratches or other issues, that should be indicated on the condition of the product.

5.Test. In meetups, set a specific time and place to avoid wasting time. Test the product if it's good for you, inspect the product if it's already repaired. You can use a flashlight or other source of light, if you notice that there are some shiny scratches on the screws, that means the previous owner repaired it or opened it already.