Will expensive strings make an acoustic guitar sound any better?
It is material and shape you need to pay attention to more than price.
This is specially going to concentrate on metal guitar strings. No, not the music genre. The material.
In the world of acoustic guitar strings, the material types you have generally available are bronze and phosphor bronze, and the shape can be either round or flat top. I'll cover the more exotic materials in a moment.
80/20 Bronze: "Loudest" string in most instances, meaning it projects the most. When you want an acoustic string that really rings out proper, you use bronze.
Phosphor Bronze: Not as "loud" as 80/20 bronze, but the overall sound is more balanced when strumming all the strings. If you encounter the situation when strumming where some strings are so much louder than the others that it presents a genuine problem, use a phosphor bronze string set.
Flat top: The D'Addario EFT16 set is an example of this. If the finger drag noise across strings really bothers you, then this is the set you want. It is phosphor bronze, so it will not project like 80/20 bronze does, but it will have a balanced sound without those annoying finger drag noises.
The more exotic stuff
Silk and steel: Several string companies make these. The string is soft both in feel and in tone. If your fingertips get wrecked easily from the regular options, you'll like these a lot. They are not expensive.
Coated strings: Elixir is the go-to brand for this stuff, and this is one where yes, you will spend more on these. Usually double that of a regular bronze set. Elixir does offer their acoustic coated strings in both bronze and phosphor bronze. These are worth the money for their longevity, especially if you don't play your acoustic guitar that often.
In the end...
You spend more money when you want the coated stuff that lasts an extra long time.
For just about everything else, you have to decide whether you want something that projects, something that's more balanced in tone, or something that feels more comfortable.
More often than not, it's the comfort factor that matters most. The more comfortable the feel when you play, the better you sound because you're not fighting with the instrument.
Go try a silk and steel set.
Why does everybody coil up guitar cable?
When you know the answer, I guarantee you will always coil your cable this way when you store it.
The reason anybody coils their guitar cable is to extend the useful life so it lasts as long as possible; seasoned guitar players know this...
...but why does it matter?
The answer to that question is that when cable is coiled correctly, that puts the least amount of stress on it.
Pulling or stretching cable is bad because that can break a connection.
When a cable stops working correctly at the connector (meaning either end), that's usually the result of pulling the cable out of the guitar and/or the amp by the cable and not by the connector itself. Every single time you pull on that cable, it's getting stretched and is one step closer to failing completely.
When a cable stops working anywhere between the connectors, that's usually the result of storing it improperly.
The absolute wrong way to store a cable is the "thumb-and-elbow" method. This is where somebody will take a cable, wrap it around the thumb and then the elbow repeatedly to make loops until the entire length is used. Every single bend of the cable over the thumb and elbow is stretching the cable, and that's why it's absolutely wrong.
Thumb-and-elbow looping isn't coiling cable properly. Don't do it. In fact, never do that.
What is the right way?
The right way is called the "over under" method. What this does is allow the cable to naturally coil in a way where it's not stressed, not bent and won't tangle.
Yes, this works for many types of cables. Guitar, microphone, networking, USB, and so on. Practice that and your cables will last much longer.
how to haggle a car repair price
Car repairs cost money, and this is how to haggle the price down while still getting the work done right.
In the United States, there are four options when you want your car repaired. Two of them you can haggle with and usually see good results, while for the others... not-so much.
Option 1 is a new car dealership, option 2 is a used car dealership, option 3 is a regional auto repair shop, option 4 is a local auto repair shop.
With option 3 and 4, you ordinarily can't haggle the price here. These shops are stretched thin, barely make any money, will always cut corners, use crappy replacement parts, and invent problems with your car where none exists. You don't want to go to these places.
The only way to get the price down with options 3 or 4 is to be an AAA member, and then see if the garage is listed in AAA. If they are, then you can present your AAA membership and should get a discount... assuming the shop doesn't add in extra cost to defeat the discount, which they might.
A specific situation where option 4 might work out (even if not an AAA-Approved garage) is if you own a Chevy or Ford gas-powered (meaning not diesel) non-luxury pickup truck that's over 10 years old. Local repair shops are usually very familiar with these, and proper new replacement parts are easier and cheaper to source when compared to foreign. In other words, if you own a Ford F150 or Chevrolet Silverado from 2012 or earlier, the local guys usually know how to fix those for a decent price. Both are common, both have parts readily available, both are usually easy to service.
With option 2, the answer here is, "it depends".
Carmax, in my experience, actually does have decent auto repair and maintenance service for cars bought from them. I very appreciate that most Carmax repair shops are brutally honest where they'll a) just outright admit they cost more than other shops do, and b) not upsell you because they have no reason to. Sometimes they'll even tell you what shop you should use to get a better repair price. They do have a little wiggle room where haggling a repair price is concerned, but not all that much. And no coupons.
For other used-car-only dealerships, the general rule of thumb is they don't do good repair work unless they specialize in a specific brand. For example, there are some smaller used dealerships that are very specific, such as Toyota-only, Volkswagen-only, Subaru-only, and so on. They don't necessarily cost less (and usually don't), but the familiarity with all the particular quirks of a specific brand usually means the work will be done right.
Then there is option 1, the new car dealership...
The new car dealership is where you have the most room to negotiate a price depending on brand and cost of the service.
The brands that give you the most room to negotiate are those whom are the highest volume sellers. You know who these are just by looking at any current best-selling vehicles list. Specifically pay attention to the brands mentioned more than once. If one of those brands (as in just brand, not model) of car or truck you drive is in that list at least twice, that's a very high-volume seller with more dealerships and more opportunity to haggle repair costs as a result.
Okay, now you know what the high-volume brands are. Now we get to the haggling.
The haggling process for car repairs
Rule #1: You can't haggle cheap services. A general rule of thumb is that if the service price quoted is under $300, you're not going to be able to talk that down. You can't negotiate price on an oil change, tire rotation, etc. since those services are already cheap to begin with.
Rule #2: Only attempt haggling if you can pay for everything without financing. Mentioning anything about financing repairs after the quote will derail your haggle attempt instantly. Only go for the haggle if you have the money.
Rule #2: Your wiggle room is between 10% and 20% and no more than that. If you get a quoted price of $500 and try to haggle $100 off (which is 20%), it's not happening. You may get $50 off (10%) from a $500 quote, but if you go for the 20%, no.
Rule #3: The more expensive the repair, the more wiggle room you have. This is for repairs that bust over 4 digits, as in $1,000+. The most wiggle room is given if you follow rule #4 below.
Rule #4: Combining repairs makes it easier for the dealership to discount the service. Mechanics get paid by the hour. Any time you can get multiple repairs done in one go, that means your car is technically scheduled for one repair appointment instead of multiple times even when there are multiple jobs to be done. While in the garage, it is easier for mechanics to just get everything done all at once.
Rule #5: Use a repair estimate tool online first before going to the dealership. AAA has one of these, and there are others if you do an online search for "car repair estimate". If you know what needs to be done, price it out. When you do, any of the estimate tools will give you a price range for a specific service. Always assume the high price.
Example situation:
Your car's A/C doesn't work because the compressor is busted, your headlights are dimming at night because the alternator is almost gone, you need a new battery, and the starter is about to quit on you because the engine is becoming increasingly difficult to start.
You use the online estimate tool and see that the cost of all that for your car will be about $2,000 on the high end. Yeah, that sucks. But at least you know what to expect.
At the dealership, let's say that's the exact price you're quoted for the work, $2,000. Say the following:
"Can you do $1,700 with tax out the door?" (You're asking for 15% off here.)
What this means is, "Could you lower the price to $1,700 with sales taxes included?"
The service desk guy is going to think about it for a moment. You are agreeing to having all the work done, all at once, and didn't say anything about financing so there will be no finance crap to deal with.
What will he say?
He will either say okay and give you the discount, or say no. If no, offer $1,800 (10% discount), again with tax out the door. He'll most likely agree to it.
If he does, what just happened is that you got more than a 10% discount since the taxes are included with the price. You did well.
Does this actually work?
Yes, it does.
In my experience, the new car dealership service garage usually does have the best prices if you know how to go for them.
If you make it as easy as possible for the dealership service garage to make a sale by combining large repairs and not financing, you can haggle a lower price.
Does this work all the time? No. From the above, you know that low-cost repair and maintenance prices can't be negotiated. For big-cost repairs that involve a lot of labor, you can't really negotiate those either. An example of that would be a head gasket replacement, which is a slow job that can be a real bear for the garage to complete.
It's the "medium effort" repairs and maintenance where you can find the biggest discounts on repair work. Struts, shocks, other suspension items, tires, exhaust, brakes, drive belts, and so on.
It is also helpful, whenever possible, when you can inform the garage of exactly what you want so they know exactly how to price it. If you say, "I need brake rotors and pads on all four wheels, four new tires, an oil change, new battery and transmission service", that makes the service guy's job a lot easier.
I've haggled successfully at getting a lower price several times. It doesn't happen every time, but it's always great when I get it.
Things that don't work for haggling and/or getting discounts
Some people believe certain things work when they actually don't.
"I'll bring the part"
Some believe if you buy the part yourself and bring it to the dealership garage, that will result in a lower overall service price.
It doesn't.
Yes, you saved money getting the part yourself. However, new car dealership garages hate it when you do this, because at that point the work cannot be guaranteed since you brought a "nonstandard" part, even if the part is 100% correct. If the dealership didn't order the part, it's considered nonstandard and can't be guaranteed to work. No way, no how.
No dealership will discount a quoted service price using nonstandard parts.
Bringing a printed quote from elsewhere
The service guy at the desk will instantly hate your guts the moment you take out that printed sheet showing a lower price than what he just quoted you. DO NOT do this. If you do, you just lost any chance of getting a lower price. It's not happening, because you ticked off the service department. They will remember you did that and always charge you the highest price from that point forward. Count on it.
A dealership service garage is not Walmart. They don't do price matching.
Presenting any sort of automatic discount after the work is performed
I mentioned AAA above, so let's use that as the example.
You can get AAA discounts at a lot of garages, including some dealerships. However, you present the AAA membership at the time you are quoted the price, meaning NOT when the time comes to pay. At the time you go to make the payment, the paperwork has already been done.
If you flip out that AAA card when going to pay, more often than not the garage will flat out refuse to accept it even if they're listed as an AAA-Approved garage. Why? They don't want to do the paperwork all over again, so they won't, and you get no discount at all.
Any discount you have you present BEFORE work is done, as in before the paperwork is started, and not after.
Making the service guy at the desk look at your phone for any reason
Put your damned phone in your pocket and leave it there while negotiating a price and don't use it to point anything out. The service guy is giving you his full attention, and you must return it in kind. If you shove a phone in his face (which is what it is interpreted as no matter how nice you are about it), you're being rude, and any discount you thought you were going to get will vanish right then and there.
No whining allowed. Ever.
Don't shove a printed sheet in anybody's face. Don't bring parts unless you're specifically instructed to do so. Don't try to sneak in a last-second discount when going to pay. Keep that stupid phone away. Be nice, be courteous, and don't get too greedy.
No, you don't have to kiss the dealership's ass to get that discount, but you do have to keep it professional. The service department at the dealership is totally different than sales, and the service people will work with you as long as you're nice and courteous.
Remember that the guy at the desk deals with people either getting mad, whining, and/or trying to get everything for free on their 100%-out-of-warranty car. Don't be one of those people. You can get the lower price as long as you know the right way to go about it. And now you do.
Dirt cheap guitar pedals worth owning
Cheap can be good when you know what to get.
For those of you that want a very quick answer on what to get, here is what you need to know:
First, if you want to stick to one brand that's cheap and good, use Behringer. The majority of their guitar pedals are very affordable and it's easy to find the effects you want.
Second, when it comes to getting the most for the least, you can't beat a multi-effects processor. Specifically, the ZOOM G1X Four or ZOOM G3Xn. When you want all the effects for the lowest possible price, the multi-effects processor is what you get. One unit, one power cord.
Third, to get a decent overdrive/distortion sound with cheap stuff, it's ordinarily true you have to use two pedals to get it. Specifically, overdrive/distortion and a compressor. You use the compressor first, distortion second.
And now, the cheap stuff:
This is decent for an od/dist pedal mainly because it has a 2-band EQ on it. Adjusting the treble and bass directly from the pedal is important, especially if combined with other pedals.
Behringer Heavy Distortion HD300
When you need more distortion, Behringer has the best of the lot for the lowest price. You get the 2-band EQ like you do with the Dolamo pedal, but also have the addition of a "gain boost" for extra distortion on top of that.
Most players love the Dunlop Crybaby wah pedal, but at the same time hate it because does require periodic lubrication and maintenance just to keep the thing working right. Auto-wah is much cheaper and much easier to use. This auto-wah in particular is decent because it has an up/down switch allowing for wah and reverse wah. I also appreciate that the sensitivity control is a big silver knob right in the middle.
Where cheap compressors are concerned, this is one of the better ones because it has a dedicated control for attack. All compressors have a sustain control, but having attack control is really important. Without attack control, it's too easy to hear a loud THWAP the moment you start playing - or - everything is too quiet. The attack control allows you to adjust your compressor just right so there is no THWAP and the sound isn't "buried".
I'm throwing this in here because I sincerely believe more guitar players should be using the tremolo effect. There is the higher priced BOSS TR-2, but you can achieve this same sound with less expensive pedals.
The Swiss Army knife of guitar effects, delay. This is one of the analog flavor, so it probably only has around 300ms to 400ms of delay time. If you want the long delays, you need to spend a little more. However, chances are you'll be happy with a cheap analog.
What is the most durable guitar pick plastic?
The answer is a plastic that sounds like the name of a final boss in a video game.
What I'm going to do here is give you the #2 and #1 most durable plastics. Plastic #2 is affordable and may be available at your local guitar store right now. Plastic #1 is ridiculously expensive, but arguably worth it.
If the Fender 351 (celluloid) or nylon picks just aren't doing the job for you, the next step up to that is delrin; the most commonly known delrin pick is the Dunlop Tortex...
...but let's say that even a delrin pick just doesn't cut it. What's next?
The next step up from that is a pick made from ultem, which is the #2 most durable plastic where guitar picks are concerned. The two that are widely available are the Clayton Ultem and Dunlop Ultex.
I do not know if the ultem used in the Clayton or Dunlop is ultem 1000 or ultem 2300, but either is certainly stronger than delrin.
I also don't know if the Dunlop Ultex is specifically ultem or some special plastic blend that is mostly ultem. Regardless of that, the Ultex is still a seriously tough pick.
Now let's say ultem isn't good enough either. What's next? What's best-of-the-best?
Torlon. Specifically, Torlon 4203. That's the #1.
I only know of one guy in Switzerland who makes these things. Each pick is hand crafted, and the purchase of just one will set you back almost three figures. I'm not endorsed by this guy; it's just a fact that he builds arguably the world's most durable guitar pick in existence.
Ultimately, it's all about how much you want to spend
I recently bought a 6-pack of Dunlop Ultex Sharp picks, and the total price paid worked out to be about a dollar per pick. This is more than double the price of Dunlop Tortex which is about 45 cents per pick when you buy a 12-pack.
The Torlon pick is literally 10,000% more expensive. That's not a typo. But again, it is handmade, made from a plastic better than ultem and is insanely tough.
Think of it this way: What you're paying for with the Torlon pick isn't for a fancy look (even though it does look great). You're buying something made from super-ultra-mega industrial strength thermoplastic.
You definitely do get what you pay for with the Torlon pick, no question about it.
There are many versions of the Torlon pick (brushed, high gloss, extreme high gloss, etc.), and all are 8mm thick by design.