Guitar tabs are a bad way to learn guitar
If you rely on tabs to learn how to play guitar, you'll never learn it the right way.
There is no shortage of guitar tab books, that's for sure. There is also no shortage of guitar instruction books either. You want books? There are plenty out there...
...but I can't tell you how many times I've seen guitar players buy book after book after book and never get anywhere on the instrument.
Should you buy a book of tabs?
Yes, you should buy a few of them - HOWEVER - you should only need them for a short while just so you an figure out chords and fingerings.
Take books on Chet Atkins' playing style for example. That guy was, obviously, a monster guitar player that played some insanely intricate stuff. For that kind of musical knowledge, yes, you'll have to get a book or two.
After a while, you will figure out the chords and styles Atkins favored. From that point forward, you shouldn't need the books any longer and should be able to pick up things by ear.
I am not saying, "Play like Chet did". Not at all. I'm just using his style as an example of when you actually do need the guitar tab/notation book. Trying to figure out Chet's style without a book is tough, even when you have YouTube videos to help you. For some styles, you just need that book, and Chet's style is one of them. Another would be Django Reinhardt. You need a book or two to learn his styles as well.
If you continue to rely on tabs to learn anything new on the guitar, you will never advance as a guitar player
At some point, you have to put the book(s) down and start relying on your ears. I don't care if you play simple campfire acoustic songs, play speed metal soloing or anything in between. You must be able to figure out how to do things by ear eventually.
"I can't do that."
You can do that, and I can prove it.
Can you tune a guitar by ear without a tuner? If you answered with, "Sort of... I can get the notes mostly correct", then you already know how to recognize a note just by its sound and not by what a tuner states it is.
It's also probably true you can recognize E major, D major and G major guitar chords just by hearing them without seeing them being played.
Those two examples, while simple, prove easily that yes, you in fact can recognize a note by sound alone. What does that mean? It means that when learning new songs on the guitar, you don't need the tab books unless the song in question is something very complicated.
Your ears should be your guide to learning new things on the guitar. The tab books are the first step and absolutely not the last step.
True learning of the guitar happens when the ears take over
Tabs are about learning by sight. But playing guitar is about sound.
Learning by sight is required when you're just starting out on the instrument because you haven't learned the sound yet. Once you do learn how to recognize sound, everything you need to learn new styles and techniques is already in your mind.
"How will I know when I can recognize sound?"
It's like I said above, if you can tune a guitar somewhat without a tuner, and/or recognize chords just by sound without seeing them being played, you already know how to recognize sound on a basic level.
As you play more and more, you will be able to recognize more types of sounds. After a while, recognizing those sounds will come naturally where you won't have to even think about it.
Remember that most popular music uses ridiculously simple chord structures, so it's not a difficult thing to recognize chords that most popular music uses.
You can do it. Pick up a few books if you have to, but remember that at some point you need to train your ears more and not your eyes.
Vintage guitar of the week #3 - 1976 Gibson SG Standard
This week's feature vintage guitar is a nice woody SG from '76.
The '76 SG Standard is a bargain.
The best part about this particular SG is its weight at just a tick under 8 pounds. This makes the guitar a nice, lightweight easy player.
The body material is, of course, mahogany. The neck is also mahogany.
The finish on this particular SG is called walnut, and it takes to it well. Very nice grain lines throughout. I particularly like how the back of the neck looks as it has a very nice, deep, rich color to it. The back of the body also looks great too, but what you'll be looking at most of the time is the back of the neck.
My favorite type of SGs have the "half guard" at the bottom, which this one does have. I prefer these because Tony Iommi typically plays SGs that have this exact same pick guard type.
Incidentally, you can get the same half guard in an SG for cheap with the Epiphone G-400 model. So if you can't afford this '76 SG, Epiphone has you covered. There are even a few models that almost look identical to the '76, walnut style color finish and all.
Usable?
Yes, very usable. This kind of older guitar is what I call "practical vintage." You could play it regularly and even gig with it - not that you would gig with it, but you could.
Also, if you've never bought a vintage electric before, this SG would be a really good start. The purchase price is very reasonable for what it is, it's certain to appreciate in value, and you get a genuinely good, playable instrument you can actually use and enjoy. This is a complete guitar that needs nothing other than maybe a basic setup by you once you put your preferred strings on it.
So yes, usable, a safe buy and cheap as far as a vintage electric is concerned - especially for a Gibson...
...although it goes without saying that you get a much, much better build today with today's modern Epiphone SG Standard, arguably the best SG that exists for the right price.
Does your guitar cause you pain in your right leg?
If you get pain in your right leg, it might be your guitar that's causing the pain in the first place. Fortunately, there's an easy way to fix it.
Most guitar players are right-handed and play right-handed. Personally, I'm left-handed but play right-handed because that's just how things happened to work out.
It's probably true that when you play sitting, you don't use a guitar strap, and most if not all of the guitar's weight rests on your right leg.
You need to get the guitar weight off that leg. Fortunately, there are a few easy ways to do this.
Solution 1: Use a lightweight guitar
The easiest way to go lightweight with a guitar is either to use a semi-hollow body or an acoustic.
You have tons of choice with semi-hollow. If you want good and cheap for one of these, check out a Squier Telecaster Thinline or an Epiphone Dot.
If I were personally going to switch over to semi-hollow, I'd get the Epiphone ES-339, which is a semi-hollow in a Les Paul-sized body.
You also have tons of choice with acoustic, but I recommend a parlor acoustic guitar because they're small-but-not-too-small, usually very lightweight and really easy to play.
Solution 2: Play standing with strap
Self explanatory.
Solution 3: Play sitting using a strap
One of the best straps for comfort playing is a soft leather strap. Specifically, the type with one skinny end (which goes over your shoulder) and the other side thicker (which attaches to the rear of the guitar.)
When you play sitting with the strap on, the guitar either has to be lightly touching your leg or elevated so it's not touching your leg at all.
Yes, you may encounter some shoulder soreness at first when playing this way, but you should get used to it. If you don't and the shoulder soreness doesn't go away, you will need to switch over to a guitar that is lighter in weight. Either get the parlor acoustic or a semi-hollow.
Does a guitar cause restless legs syndrome?
I'm not a doctor, but the answer is no.
RLS is neurological disorder that typically affects the legs. Common symptoms are best described as feeling like you have an itch you can't scratch, "crawling" feelings and so on. These feelings occur usually when in a relaxed state, such as lying in bed waiting for sleep or just sitting and reading a book.
Where the guitar is concerned, if it's the case where your right leg felt fine before you started playing guitar, but then exhibited numbness afterward, chances are pretty good that the weight of the guitar resting on your leg was the cause of the numbness in the first place.
However, I'll say again that I'm not a doctor, so if you're getting pain in the right leg after playing guitar sitting, you can try the solutions above. If the solutions don't work, see a doctor.
Cheap guitar of the week #19 - Sawtooth Telecaster
Very cheap. But is it any good?
The Sawtooth Telecaster style guitar is a brand I've seen crop up over the past year or so. From the reviews I've read, buyers describe this guitar best as "okay".
What's the biggest selling point of this guitar? The price. At the time I write this, it's dirt cheap. In addition, Sawtooth is also lefty-friendly and still keeps it cheap, which is a big plus...
...but is this guitar out-of-the-box ready to play? That I can't say for sure.
I would label this guitar as another handyman special of sorts. What that means is that you may have to level the frets using a cheap fret leveling kit before you can really start playing this thing. And you may have to lightly file a few fret edges.
If you're okay with that, then the Sawtooth is safe to buy.
Also, if you were looking for a project Telecaster style guitar, you can't do any better than the Sawtooth. Where project guitars are concerned, you need cheap. And this guitar is cheap and complete. Buy it, level out the frets, install some new pickups and electronics (optional,) and you're good to go.
How does it play? I've no idea. But since the price is so low for it, it's worth the risk to find out. My guess is that it probably has the same playing characteristic of a Squier Bullet series guitar. And that's not a bad thing.
While the price is right, if you want something better but still cheap, the Squier Affinity Telecaster is still the best for a good, cheap Tele. That one I have played, and can confirm it's good. Great neck on it, too.
5 tuxedo look electric guitars
(Note: This was changed to 4 because one of the guitars became suddenly unavailable.)
For formal affairs, sometimes a formal looking guitar is needed.
Guitars that follow a tuxedo style look is easy to understand. It's a black-and-white color scheme, usually with a fair amount of shiny chrome and a rounded appearance (meaning little to no sharp edges in the design present.)
Why own one of these? Because some players like a guitar that has a bit of fancy dress to it. And if you're ever in the situation where you need a genuinely formal-looking guitar for a gig, having a tuxedo style guitar comes in quite handy.
Here are 5 that would qualify as tuxedo guitars.
Fender Classic Series '69 Telecaster Thinline
This Telecaster is about as tuxedo as you could get with one. Black with pearloid pick guard, semi-hollow with the F hole. Not exactly the most elegant for formal affairs, but it would get the job done.
Rickenbacker 360
What really makes the 360 work as a tuxedo guitar when in black is the "R" tail piece. Without it, the look of the guitar really wouldn't work. And while the white pick guard is rather large, it does complement the overall look of the instrument.
Gretsch G6136TSL Silver Falcon w/Bigsby
A mighty Gretsch makes its appearance with a guitar that very much carries with it a formal, tuxedo look. Can't go wrong with a Gretsch when it comes to fancy formal look, and this one delivers in fine style.
Lastly, the mighty Duesenburg Fullerton. Very fancy dress throughout. Lots of fancy bits all over the place on this one. It even has design cues you don't notice until you look up close, such as the front pickup having stair-style pole pieces, the tail piece having car grille style slats, the mounting strip above the pick guard being shiny metal, and so on. Lots and lots of fancy dress here. Heck, even the serial number on the back of the headstock is stamped on a small steel oval plate.
Rich's pick?
The Gretsch Silver Falcon, no question. If I were in the market for a tuxedo electric, Gretsch would be my only choice.
If I were looking to save a buck and get a tuxedo style Gretsch for less, I'd grab a G5455T Electromatic Double Jet w/Bigsby. That's one I've played personally and like it. Not as fancy as the Silver Falcon, but a lot more affordable.