New to forum, new to guitars, and new to playing...and really need help!

Hey guys and gals,
New guy in Florida, USA, here...been lurking and learning, and this site is great! I've been a fan of Brian's since the early days (I'm 44 years old), and I've collected a heck of a lot of his music, and Rockabilly rules in my mind, no doubt!
Here's my dilemma: I have 2 teenaged sons who are learning to play the electric guitar (a Fender and a ESP), and quite frankly, are making me look really bad! The glove has been thrown into the arena for me learn to play the guitar, or face certain humiliation, so I've decided to accept the challenge! And, I want to eventually learn to play Rockabilly, of course! My questions for you learned ones here is two-fold, and I know there aren't necessarily easy or pat answers to them, but anything you can add will help me:

1) What's the BEST way to learn to play the guitar? Via internet? Private lessons? Just pick it up and learn the chords? I know I have a looong way to go to play Rockabilly, but heck, even Brian had to start somewhere!

2) What’s a good entry-level hollow-body guitar to start with? I don’t have the really big bucks needed to buy a BS Hot Rod or Signature model (who does!), but I was wondering if I can get the same sounds from a lower-priced Gretsch model? I’m thinking about something in the 400 to 600 dollar range, if you think the Electromatic series are good. How about non-Gretsch models? What would be considered good Rockabilly-sound making instruments? Amps are another thing altogether….I’ll tackle that next time!

Thanks for everything!
Rob

Flattop Rob,

On behalf of the academy, let me welcome ye to the forum! Glad yer gettin' something out of the forum, it really is a great resource.

Here are my views on your questions.

1) A lot of players are self-taught and that's wonderful, but I don't think lessons really can hurt anyone either. I took lessons for a few years when I started out and I can tell you the difference in my playing for the few months before I had lessons to after I started taking them was fairly big. But, these days, you can take lessons via video and don't have to be present for one-on-one sessions, and that might be an option for someone who doesn't have time for face-to-face lessons. I also think depending on whether or not a person already knows something about music, say they play another instrument, would be one of the biggest factors in deciding how to go about learning a diff. instrument. such as guitar. For someone who knows nothing about music I would highly recommend some sort of lessons; perhaps your sons are far enough along to show you the basics? By the way Brian took lessons when he was starting out, and look how far it got him.

2) I think the Electromatics are an excellent choice, but being that you are starting out, if you weren't set on a hollow-body guitar, I think something like a Fender Telecaster or a Gibson semi-hollow-body might be a good option as well. The biggest factor is not necessarily how expensive the guitar is, but how it feels to you, as the most important part of a player's arsenal is his/her fingers regardless of the axe played. That said, you have to have something that is decent to keep you in tune and interested. Besides the guitar and amp, though, probably the biggest part of a rockabilly-type sound is a slap-echo effect. It's often part of the sound that's overlooked, but it can make the diff. in your rig. I highly recommend the Boss/Roland RE-20 Space Echo Pedal, as it's the closest you can get, in my opinion, to the real analog Chorus Echo units that Setzer uses.

Hope this helps and good luck in you endeavours.

P.S. If ye be willing to serve perhaps we could work out a deal, say 100 years before the mast of the Flying Dutchman for 100 days of lessons? (just kidding)

Hey Flattop Rob'
Welcome aboard and enjoy the ride!
I gotta agree with Davy, some sort of lessons are always gonna help immensely. It's like learning a new language, someone has to give you a bit of a head start and then you can progress at your own pace. Maybe your sons can show you something, or if your already playing some stuff but get stuck at a particular point, this is where a teacher can help you understand the way/reason why it is.
Again I gotta agree with Davy regarding guitar choice/sound. No 2 peoples hands are the same or guitars for that matter. Shop around, try every guitar that you can and don't worry about being too brand orientated. The only thing I recommend is try to buy something not too bottom end as they usually have a tendency to go out of tune, which equals frustration or costly repairs. Buy a echo effect and you'll hear that Sun sound and hopefully this'll give you that push to keep on learning. Having 2 kids myself, I know the constraints of money, so shop around, haggle and look for scratch/dent specials, cash deals or divorces are great also to find a good deal.
Most importantely, just do it and enjoy! Cheers Pete.
P.S. Watch out for Budgie!
P.P.S. Watch out for Mikey!

Hey,
If you want to learn to play the guitar you should take lessons, it's better if there's sitting someone next to you, who's telling you what you made wrong .
Ar first you should start to learn some simple Chords, that's the Basics, and you'll get a better feeling for the instrument. Then you could start learning those Blues Patterns, you can play along to a lot of rockabilly with them!

The guitar:
There are lot of good and cheap hollowbody guitars.
You won't make anything wrong with the Electromatics, but another guitar I can advise is the Peavey JF-1 a very fine guitar with a lot of Twang!!! It's got really a great Tone, and it is not even expensive, I bought mine here in germany for about 360 Euros. It's a really good guitar, and cause it's a bit smaller than the Electros it's easier to play. There is also a Version of that guitar with a Bigsby, it's the JF-2 also very good guitar, but I Didn't like the look of the F-Holes .

Here are Pics of both guitars:

Hey Rob,

Welcome to the forum! It's great to hear from someone else in a similar position to mine - a few years out of school, but still want to learn how to rock!

Definitely try to take some lessons. And practice, practice, practice! (Without losing your job and alienating your family, of course!) I first learned as a kid, but didn't take the practicing very seriously. It's only recently that I've got the fire back, but now that I've got the desire, I don't have the time! But I do the best I can.

Another kind of basic thing for me was buying an electronic tuner. I used to blow so much time just trying to get in tune...it was actually cutting into my practice time. For awhile I felt like a lesser player or something, just because my ear wasn't well-developed enough. But I finally just gave in and bought an electronic helper, and I have no regrets about that.

Good luck, and stay in touch! I'll be curious to know how it's going for you.

Rock on,
Bear85
(but you can call me Dave)

Welcome from me, too! I say all of the above. Plus, hang out with players who are better or different than you. Ask them to show you something. You'll be surprised what you learn from just hanging out with other players. As far as playing rockabilly goes, start more simply than Brian. He really is extraordinary. Start out learning Buddy Holly, Gene Vincent, Elvis/Scotty Moore, etc. When you've got some of those mastered, then try some Stray Cats. And, if you actually learn the theory behind what Brian plays, you'll be amazed.

The thing about guitar is that it's pretty easy to learn how to play. It's really hard to learn to play well, but it's worth it (I think, not sure if I'm there yet - but I'm loving it). Personally, I watch/listen to Brian and wonder two things:

1. Does his guitar have the same notes mine has?
2. Hasn't anyone ever told him he's not supposed to be able to play like that?

BTW, the rockabilly sound is all in the fingers, the axe, and the amp. Oh, yeah, and the echo. And the soul, the attitude,...

Enjoy the ride.

Flattop Rob wrote:

Hey guys and gals,
New guy in Florida, USA, here...been lurking and learning, and this site is great! I've been a fan of Brian's since the early days (I'm 44 years old), and I've collected a heck of a lot of his music, and Rockabilly rules in my mind, no doubt!
Here's my dilemma: I have 2 teenaged sons who are learning to play the electric guitar (a Fender and a ESP), and quite frankly, are making me look really bad! The glove has been thrown into the arena for me learn to play the guitar, or face certain humiliation, so I've decided to accept the challenge! And, I want to eventually learn to play Rockabilly, of course! My questions for you learned ones here is two-fold, and I know there aren't necessarily easy or pat answers to them, but anything you can add will help me:

1) What's the BEST way to learn to play the guitar? Via internet? Private lessons? Just pick it up and learn the chords? I know I have a looong way to go to play Rockabilly, but heck, even Brian had to start somewhere!

2) What’s a good entry-level hollow-body guitar to start with? I don’t have the really big bucks needed to buy a BS Hot Rod or Signature model (who does!), but I was wondering if I can get the same sounds from a lower-priced Gretsch model? I’m thinking about something in the 400 to 600 dollar range, if you think the Electromatic series are good. How about non-Gretsch models? What would be considered good Rockabilly-sound making instruments? Amps are another thing altogether….I’ll tackle that next time!

Thanks for everything!
Rob

Hey Rob

I'm a musician, working in the UK for the past 20 (is it that long?) years or so. I'm no serious picker, but, i just picked up the guitar and learned a few open chords, then picked up stuff from watching Brian on video. He comes up with some wierd stuff, but it all works. But generally if you'r in key, you can play quite a lot of bum notes that sound ok in rockabilly playing. I admire the fact that you wanna learn at our age!!!

I have p;ayed guitar for over twenty years and played it on stage twice.... go figure.

Mike Setzer

Hi Flattop

I am relatively new to the Setzer boards but I thought Id share some experience.
I started playing guitar about 5 years ago when I was 34 or so. I bought a lear to play guitar cd rom for the computer and an $85 guitar and went to town. I learned alot of stuff that way, some good some not so good. My mom paid for some lessons for christmas last year and wow has my playing improved. Im glad I stared on my own but my playing improved so much and so quickly since i stared lessons. Im still no B S but i did get to play live with my teachers band about a month ago, which was a huge acomplishment for me.

As far as your choice of guitars, I play the Ibanez artcore AF75. Very good value. It doesnt have quite the twang that the gretsch does but at around $325 its a great deal. I wont say its the greatest guitar on the market or anyhing like that but I do enjoy playing it,but if the 3 kids,2 cars, 1 house would ever leave a spare grand or two in the bank, a setzer model gretsch wouild find a new home for sure!!

I dont know if that helps your decision at all but I thought id share anyway.

Thanks a million to all you who responded...it is greatly appreciated!

Music runs in the family...my dad plays (everything), my brother plays, my cousin's play, my 2 sons play...but I guess I was skipped, when the talent genie came sprinkling around! But I've ALWAYS wanted to play the guitar, and having tackled a lot of difficult things in my life (and semi-succeeded in a few!), I figured it can't be all that hard to pick up the basics, and then progress to "polishing" my skills as I build enthusiasm for playing.

I also don't want to get too financially encumbered (kids, wife, mortgage, car payments, hot rod projects, etc...you know how it is) until I can prove to myself it's possible, so I've taken an old single pickup Tele/Strat clone (from the 70's) we had lying around, and me and the oldest boy "rebuilt" it a little to my taste...I'm no guitar man yet, but a few people have listened to the tone, and say it will be a good one to learn on for now...


And here's the amp/gear I have access to (it's my son's, until I get my own)...


I don't know squat about amps and the electronics, and it all sound like Martian-speak to me right now, but I'm reading and learning as much as I can about it....

I'm looking into private lessons right now, but where I live, we're somewhat isolated, and traveling can be an issue, so is there any specific internet or CD-based lessons you guys would recommend for me at this point, as a beginner? The one thing I'm afraid of, is getting in over my head with music theory, history, etc, etc, so I end up getting discouraged...my brother say's to just pick it up, play with it, learn to read tabs, and start simple....whattaya think?

Rob

I can certanly relate to the money and time issues of learning guitar. 3 kids 2 cars 1 house 60 hour work weeks, but still I manage. I would like to offer my encouragement, I've managed to lean a little so can you.
http://www.playpro.com/tour_guitar.html

Here is a link to the cd rom program I used to get started. It is relatively cheap (I think I paid $50 at Bestbuy) and I learned enough to play pretty good rhythm guitar. The manual dextarity part of playing lead is a skill that still needs much development.

I take private lessons now but, keeping in mind I was in no great hurry to learn to play, I saved a good deal of money learning as much as I could from the cd rom and different web sites before taking lessons.
I managed to get to the point where I can play Stray Cat Strut just about note for note, although I still cant get my teacher to work it into his bands set list.

If I could give just one peice of advice about learning guitar is have fun, its not suppose to be a chore.

Enjoy
Jon

Hey Flattop Rob,
Hey man, I just remembered I got one of those Digitech boxes as well, I completely forgot! Thanks, I'm gonna pull it out and give it a whirl! I also use a Vox amp, it's a Vox15R. Great amp to jam/practice/play smaller clubs. Love the Kustom guitar, keep up with it!!
Cheers Pete.

Here's some of my ideas:

I would recommend one of the Mel Bay guitar method books. I started out on the "Mastering the Guitar" series, and I do have to say, the books were pretty thorough. Everything from pick techniques (fingerstyle and flatpick), reading music notation & tablature, tuning, chords, keys, etc. was covered. The book covers pretty much all styles with selections from classical compositions, rock/boogie patterns, hornpipe reels, etc., so you get a broad range of music to practice. I believe they have a set now that has a CD & DVD along with the book so that you can hear and see all the songs and techniques being played by the instructors.

The other things I would recommend are either a book on rockabilly guitar or a book/video/DVD on Brian Setzer's guitar playing/style. The Brian Setzer Orchestra Best of the Big Band guitar trancriptions book (tablature and notation) has 10 songs from the Dirty Boogie and Guitar Slinger albums and is really good as well. Also Brian Setzer's Hot Licks Video/DVD is probably as close as you can get to having a one-on-one lesson with the master himself, another good choice. I think it's important to have some materials on the artist/style you like in addition to any instructional method book, because when you get down to it, you want to be able to play songs, and that's the quickest way when you're starting out.

One note of caution, I'd be careful about any "learn guitar in 60 days" or similar quick-teach methods and internet taught sites. I'm sure there are some good ones out there, and by all means investigate them, but I think in the end you'll get more out of a professional method company (i.e. Mel Bay) because at least you know that the instructors in that type of method know how to play, whereas the other avenue is sort of a crapshoot as to what you're going to get.

Good luck, hope that helps you get started.

Hey Davy Jones,
Mel Bay..... what a LEGEND!
Cheers Pete.

Speaking of legends...

Pete, I don't know if you follow any forms of motorsports, but one of your countrymen, Marcos Ambrose, scored a career best 2nd place finish in last weekend's Mexico City NASCAR Nationwide Series road race. He's been close a few times now on the NASCAR road courses, so it probably won't be too long before he wins one.

...My apologies to anyone not interested in the above commentary as it is a little off topic!

Hey Davy Jones,
How's it goin? Yeah, I drag race a car and some roundy-roundy stuff as well. I wasn't aware about Ambrose, but he is very well known in Australia as a driver.
Cheers Pete.
P.S. There's a picture of my 1969 Ford XT GT and 1966 Ford XR Falcon 500 ex street/drag car in a post about garages in here somewhere.