The electric guitar is a very popular choice for first time learners. It is the main instrument in a band that most people care and listen for, you will be playing catchy melodies, riffs and solos which means that you will be the centre of attention. It is a very versatile instrument that covers a wide variety of genres including: rock, pop, jazz, metal, funk, country, alternative and many more.
Unlike the acoustic and classical guitar, you need an amplifier in order to get any proper sound out and a cable to connect them. As a result but also in general, electric guitars are a bit more expensive than acoustic guitars but it's not a massive difference. You can also get a much wider variety of sounds with an electric guitar through the use of different pickups, amp settings and pedals, making a lot of people see it as a more exciting and interesting option.
Different Types of Electric Guitars
- Stratocaster (Great beginner guitar, incredibly versatile and can cover many genres and sounds)
- Telecaster (Great for rock and country music)
- Sceptre (Similar to Stratocaster but more modern sounding)
- Active Guitars (Great for more modern sounding rock and metal)
- PRS (Top quality guitars that have diverse, quality sounds and versatility)
- Les Paul (Great for old-school style music)
How to Take Care of Your Electric Guitar
An important thing to consider would be knowing how to maintaining your guitar as it is a very important skill that will be a key part in your musical journey (please note that if you adjust some parts of your guitar wrong then it may damage or break your instrument so please be careful, we would recommend sending it to us to have a professional look over it so that it is perfectly set up with no risks of damage). If your guitar is rattling, buzzing, hard to stay in tune or constantly breaking strings then you may need to set up some parts.
Here are the basics to setting up your electric guitar:
When setting up your guitar you first need to have the right equipment, here is a list of what you need:
- Tuner (clip on tuner is recommended)
- Pack of strings
- Allen wrench
- Ruler (steel rule recommended)
- Wire cutters
- Screwdriver
1. Adjusting The Bridge
Adjusting the guitar bridge is important as it affects your action. The action is basically the distance between the string and the frets, they have an important role in the sound and feel of a guitar. If your guitar has high action it means that the strings are further away from the frets which means it is harder to press down and play a note. Low action on the other hand means that the strings are closer to the frets meaning it is much easier to press done and play a note. But if your action is too low then it will cause fret buzz which is a loud rattling sound that is produced when you play a note.
In order to change the action you need to know how to adjust your bridge (shown where in image). This is done by adjusting the height using a screwdriver or Allan key (depends on what kind of guitar you have). It is recommended to loosen tension of the strings when adjusting the bridge which is done by tuning your guitar down to relieve pressure so the strings in the bridge become floppy. Watch this video featuring our repairman for a more in depth demonstration.
2. Adjusting The Truss Rod
(Please note that adjusting the truss rod can cause damage to the guitar if done wrong so it is recommended that you book an appointment or bring it to us so that our professional can do it for you).
The truss rod is a steel rod that runs along the inside the neck of the guitar and helps stabilise the forward curvature of the neck which is called the relief. The truss rod is important as it affects the intonation of the guitar which is basically how in tune your guitar is across the fretboard, this mainly affects the notes higher up on the fretboard. It can also help reduce fret buzz if adjusted correctly, the truss rod can bend depending on temperature changes so it is recommended to check and adjust if needed twice a year.
You can find the truss rod either under the fret board above the pickups and you should see a hole where you can insert a screwdriver to adjust it, or on the headstock above the nut where you can see a hole. You can insert an Allan wrench into this hole to adjust the truss rod. If you have a vintage style guitar then you need to remove the neck entirely to adjust it, it is recommended to bring this to have a professional to do it. Watch this video featuring our repairman for an in depth demonstration.
3. Changing The Strings
Knowing how to change your guitar strings are important as you might break a string and need to replace it, but you also might want want to change them anyways in order to get a fresh sound (depends on how much you play). Changing your guitar strings are very easy and are an essential part in maintaining your guitar. In order to change your guitar strings you need to:
- Detune your strings until they are loose and remove them by cutting them with a wire cutter
- Replace them with a new set by feeding it through the bridge (depends on what guitar model) and wrapping them around the machine heads (make sure the correct sizes are wrapped around the corresponding machine heads).
- Tune your guitar
- Cut the excess length off with your wire cutters
(Please note that freshly installed strings may struggle to stay in tune for a while so you may want to play them after installing to break them in)
Watch this video for an in depth demonstration.
General Musicianship Knowledge
Now that your guitar is set up, you can get to playing but first it would be useful to know the names of the different parts of your guitar and what they do. The main parts you need to know are:
- Volume Knobs: Adjusts how loud your guitar is
- Tone Knobs: Adjusts how your guitar sounds
- Input: Where you insert your cable to connected it to the amp
- Pickups: Magnets that senses the vibration of guitar strings and converts them into electrical signals that get turned into sound through the amp
- Pickup Selection: selects what pickups your guitar is using
- Bridge: Anchors the strings to the body of the guitar and is used to adjust string action
- Pick Guard: Prevents the finish of the guitar from getting scratched
- Body: Main section of guitar that you play on
- Strap Button: Where to attach the strap onto your guitar
- Fret Board: Piece of wood that covers the surface of the neck, often covered with fret marks
- Neck: Connects the headstock of the guitar to the body
- Frets: Small metal bars on the fretboard that separates notes
- Nut: Holds the strings at the correct spacing on the fretboard
- Tuning Pegs: What you turn in order to tune your guitar
- Machine heads: Holds string tension
- Headstock: Top part of the guitar that holds the tuning pegs and machine heads
When first starting out it is important to know how to adjust your volume on your guitar and the amp, you should put the volume knob on the guitar at max but adjust the volume using the knob on the amp. Everything else shouldn't be worried about too much for now so just make sure everything is set to the middle.
It is also important to know the names of the strings on your instrument. You can use this acronym to remember the names (lowest to highest):
- E (DDY)
- A (TE)
- D (YNAMITE
- G (OOD)
- B (YE)
- e (EDDY)
How Often Should I Practice?
Depending on how much free time or what kind of person you are, the right amount of practice time will vary a lot. An important thing is consistency as it has massive benefits to improving your playing so aim to practice every day even if that just means 5 minutes.
The type of practice you do can be simple stuff such as learning new songs, playing scales or exercises to improve hand dexterity and developing new techniques. But having fun will be the thing that benefits you the most in the long run as you will think of practice as an entertaining activity, so no matter what you practice, make sure you are enjoying it.
It is recommended to play in a band as early as possible in your musical journey as you will learn essential and valuable skills from playing with other musicians. It will also develop a love for music and create valuable memories as you will be socialising, having fun and creating music with other people.