I figured I would just see who other than myself plays guitar and if so which type of music do you play. As of right now (I'm not that good) I play a little heavy metal like Iron Man by Black Sabbath or Smoke on the Water by Deep Purple.

I also try to play simple other tunes like sweet dreams by Marilyn Manson (cover)

I play some weird Tokai (off brand) which is like a Strat. I use an Ibanez Bass compressor and an First Act 10watt amp.

Hey!

I play as well! I like to play most anything that's fun or crowd-pleasing. Most of my playing efforts are for playing in kitchen parties or around camp fires. Lots of acoustic stuff like Great Big Sea, and Jack Johnson lately. I also poke around YouTube now and then to see what other fun stuff there is to learn. There's a dude on there who goes by okSamurai who plays silly acoustic covers of chick tunes like Straight up by Paula Abdul. Those ones often get a laugh out of a crowd when I play them! :)

I have a couple of Yamaha acoustics. One's a FG-410 and the other is an FX-310C, I think. They’re not right beside me right now. :) I've always thought about plugging in but never got too far with it.

I've also always wanted an acoustic bass and I think my next instrument with be a Mandola or Octave Mandolin.

Thats really cool I bet hanging' out with some friends around a fire and playing woulf be really fun to do. :cool:

Sure is man! It's the reason I got into playing in the first place. :)

You ever visit wholenote.com? It's a cool place with piles of info, lessons tpis and stuff like that. Great place if you're looking to get better and don;t know where to start!

I play StepMania once in a blue moon which is almost semi-comparable to Guitar Hero which has the word Guitar in it :O!

I play StepMania once in a blue moon which is almost semi-comparable to Guitar Hero which has the word Guitar in it :O!
I like how you want to fit in. :haha: lol...

I've played at the guitar (to not much avail) for many years, Does that count?

I like how you want to fit in. :haha: lol...

You mean I can't join your club? :(

If you play any type of guitar with strings then you are a high ranking member, if not but something close you are also in but a low ranking member.

Even if you played in the past, that counts too.

So far, I can play a D chord. :o

So far, I can play a D chord. :o

That's a good start! I suggest you try for a G chord next! After that, learn C and you have the basis of hundreds of tunes!

That's a good start! I suggest you try for a G chord next! After that, learn C and you have the basis of hundreds of tunes!

I don't know any chords like D,G or C. I just find tabs and go with it. I probably should try and learn them though.

I don't know any chords like D,G or C. I just find tabs and go with it. I probably should try and learn them though.
For sure dude!

Learn the chords, then give Smoke on The Water another try. You'll find it sounds really cool! Plus, the chords for a tune like that are power chords, so they're suer easy to land!

Im learning but I guess at this point you can't really call it "playing" so much as "playing with"

Im learning but I guess at this point you can't really call it "playing" so much as "playing with"

I agree with you


For sure dude!

Learn the chords, then give Smoke on The Water another try. You'll find it sounds really cool! Plus, the chords for a tune like that are power chords, so they're suer easy to land!

And I cheat on the chords with smoke on the water as I play it like this (Standard tunning)
---------------------------------------------------------
---------------------------------------------------------
-0---3---5-----0--3---6-5-------0--3--5----3----0
-0---3---5-----0--3---6-5-------0--3--5----3----0
---------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------------------------------

Ive been playing now 10 years :P. Im playing currently a PRS santana model number 2 new for christmas, Vintage V100 les paul type copy, Fender strat first ever guitar :P and it still works like a horse, a hofner acoustic cant remember the model an ovation cant rember that either and a classical guitar my brother made out of slabs of re cycled yogurt pots really good take a look
http://images.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=http://www.sda-uk.org/insp2.gif&imgrefurl=http://www.sda-uk.org/insp6.html&h=118&w=122&sz=11&hl=en&start=1&um=1&tbnid=zqcBepqLRk4SGM:&tbnh=86&tbnw=89&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dyogurt%2Bpot%2Bguitar%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26rlz%3D1T4GGIH_en-GBGB228GB229%26sa%3DN

I only play through a peavey 15 watt amp its actualy really loud rage 150 i think.

I then use with that Behringer Acoustic modeler, Overdrive, Distortion, Chorus, Reverb, Blues distortion, Distortion overdrive, digital delay and also their noise reducer to take out the background crap and also thier wah pedal (but not al at once o hasten to add :P).

Finally i have always used Didario guage 10 nickel wound strings because they play and last and clean everything with dunlop guitar care system becasue a clean dirty guitar just wount work for me o ad Gibson extra large triangle picks HEAVY!!!

I play with that Santana mostly with some joe Satriani other rock metal country and especially blues

Just thought you might like to know :D

Also i would say that unless you learn chords you wont find later you have the melodic awareness to use with your scales to improvise on top and so you may find you will walk yourself into a rut which i have been in were you will feel really bored and as if everything souns the same. Also learn the notes on the fret board as it will help to take you places you wouldnt think will work. Overall learn the main way of playing the Pentotonic scale. ice and easy and great for building up speed and get your self a copy of Power tab free or guitar pro (exensive unless you look on ebay at the right time £4 lol) as thay will teach you all the parts of a song.

Hope that helps people

I've been playing guitar for around 20 years or so now. I currently have 9 guitars, 3 of which are USA Kramer's from the 80's, several rack effects, heads and 4x12 cabinets etc.

Nick, Tokai is NOT a off brand! Some of the vintage stuff are collector's items these days. Hell Stevie Ray Vaughn even had a few Tokai strats!

And....you are running your 6 string through a bass compressor?!? lol

Ive been playing now 10 years :P. Im playing currently a PRS santana model number 2 new for christmas, Vintage V100 les paul type copy, Fender strat first ever guitar :P and it still works like a horse, a hofner acoustic cant remember the model an ovation cant rember that either and a classical guitar my brother made out of slabs of re cycled yogurt pots really good take a look
http://images.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=http://www.sda-uk.org/insp2.gif&imgrefurl=http://www.sda-uk.org/insp6.html&h=118&w=122&sz=11&hl=en&start=1&um=1&tbnid=zqcBepqLRk4SGM:&tbnh=86&tbnw=89&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dyogurt%2Bpot%2Bguitar%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26rlz%3D1T4GGIH_en-GBGB228GB229%26sa%3DN

I only play through a peavey 15 watt amp its actualy really loud rage 150 i think.

I then use with that Behringer Acoustic modeler, Overdrive, Distortion, Chorus, Reverb, Blues distortion, Distortion overdrive, digital delay and also their noise reducer to take out the background crap and also thier wah pedal (but not al at once o hasten to add :P).

Finally i have always used Didario guage 10 nickel wound strings because they play and last and clean everything with dunlop guitar care system becasue a clean dirty guitar just wount work for me o ad Gibson extra large triangle picks HEAVY!!!

I play with that Santana mostly with some joe Satriani other rock metal country and especially blues

Just thought you might like to know :D

Also i would say that unless you learn chords you wont find later you have the melodic awareness to use with your scales to improvise on top and so you may find you will walk yourself into a rut which i have been in were you will feel really bored and as if everything souns the same. Also learn the notes on the fret board as it will help to take you places you wouldnt think will work. Overall learn the main way of playing the Pentotonic scale. ice and easy and great for building up speed and get your self a copy of Power tab free or guitar pro (exensive unless you look on ebay at the right time £4 lol) as thay will teach you all the parts of a song.

Hope that helps people


I use both power tab and guitar pro 5 they help a lot.

I've been playing guitar for around 20 years or so now. I currently have 9 guitars, 3 of which are USA Kramer's from the 80's, several rack effects, heads and 4x12 cabinets etc.

Nick, Tokai is NOT a off brand! Some of the vintage stuff are collector's items these days. Hell Stevie Ray Vaughn even had a few Tokai strats!

And....you are running your 6 string through a bass compressor?!? lol
Thanks for the info. I never thought it was an off brand as it is what my uncle said it was (he is an idiot) as this guitar was my grandfathers and he played in a country band and had a TV show in CT.
As for the bass compressor haha... I like the way it sounds...

I've been playing guitar for around 20 years or so now. I currently have 9 guitars, 3 of which are USA Kramer's from the 80's, several rack effects, heads and 4x12 cabinets etc.

Nick, Tokai is NOT a off brand! Some of the vintage stuff are collector's items these days. Hell Stevie Ray Vaughn even had a few Tokai strats!

And....you are running your 6 string through a bass compressor?!? lol
And again your definitely right. It IS a good brand.
http://www.jpstingrayguitars.com/JAPAN%20VINTAGE.html
Mine looks exactly like the Tokai Goldstar Sound Vintage 1984 Made In Japan (4th one down) and...84 or 85 it what it seems but I can't seem to find a perfect match ..

You got a really nice guitar there! Definetly a keeper with it being that old and passed down to you. I think if it were mine, I'd route the tremelo cavity out and install a Floyd Rose.

if you wanted a challenge go ahead and install a floyd rose but i wouldnt advise it untill you have a few years of experience because of some of the delicate parts it may get tricky at some point but yer if you wanted a go go for it

You got a really nice guitar there! Definetly a keeper with it being that old and passed down to you. I think if it were mine, I'd route the tremelo cavity out and install a Floyd Rose.

if you wanted a challenge go ahead and install a floyd rose but i wouldnt advise it untill you have a few years of experience because of some of the delicate parts it may get tricky at some point but yer if you wanted a go go for it

Those are some great ideas that I would love to try but i'm really inexperienced. I was thinking of keeping as it is because it was my grandfathers and I was going to buy me a new guitar. the only thing I done to this guitar was removed one spring and added 3 new ones (total of 5) so that it wouldn't get knocked out of tune as easy (I heard this would help, and so I did) because it gets knocked out of tune easily. I thought I could replace the tunning pegs to help because they wiggle a little and I just haven't changed them yet.

As for the guitar I want... I want an Ibanez RG1570 Prestige $800 and if I wanted it to sound like the Steve Vai's JEM7V ($3,000) (white with the rose on the neck) I would replace the pickups and it should have similar sound...but I don't care about that. I just want the Ibanez.

As for my amp I am using a 10watt First Act $60 amp.

http://s76.photobucket.com/albums/j24/Ichigo1174/Guitar/

Here are all the pics you need of my guitar to see it.
As it is dirty and needs to be cleaned but i don't know exactly what to use because I don't want something cheap to use to clean it... I don't want to mess it up, and there is quite a bit of rust on the bridge ...but it works good. also do any of you know how to help remove the rust, I have a dremel tool with some polishing bits and so on if that would work....

EDIT: I'm also thinking of getting this amp with that guitar I hope it would get the sound I want...
http://www.samash.com/catalog/showitem.asp?ItemPos=4&TempID=5&DepartmentID=1&STRID=529&CategorySubID=132&CategoryID=132&BrandID=1401&CategorySubPriceRangeID=0&pagesize=10&SortMethod=3&Method=3&PriceRangeID=0&SearchPhrase=&Contains=&Search_Type=Department&GroupCode=&categorysubsearch=true

the reviews look promising
http://www.ultimate-guitar.com/reviews/guitar_amplifiers/line_6/spider_iii_75/index.html

all this I would try and get from my summer job.

I want an Ibanez RG1570 Prestige $800 .

yer ibanezes are very nice guitars real workhorses nice sound to

Also the amp. I dont know wether it would really give you that Stevie Via sound. Im not sure whether it would give you enought edge and maybe something more rounded. Have you tried looking at randal? something like that

http://www.randallamplifiers.com/

As for cleaning you should get in my opinion

http://www.pianocoversonline.co.uk/gibsonluthierschoiceguitarcareset-p-2930.html
Thats mainley for everythibng on the guitar but alos

http://www.musicstreet.co.uk/fast-fret-p-446.html
thats great for strings on the go

http://www.musicstreet.co.uk/kyser-stringfellow-lemoil-p-291.html?osCsid=e12ff377c99bc1073916ec878dfe0c94
You really do need lemon oil to finish of the frets after cleaning and the body also a cloth to do it as dusters will break up

http://www.musicstreet.co.uk/planet-waves-untreated-polish-cloth-p-1267.html?osCsid=e12ff377c99bc1073916ec878dfe0c94

Hope that helps you a bit as good quality stuf can add up to 10 years to your guitar life

Nick, another thing you could do is block that trem. That would keep it from going out of tune so easily. You want the trem to be setting level with the body really.

I play guitar for 5 years and luvin' it very much :)

Nick, another thing you could do is block that trem. That would keep it from going out of tune so easily. You want the trem to be setting level with the body really.
(I just got back from a USAskills competition in Greenville and got 2nd place in technical Math) What do you mean block the trem?

and why doesn't my last tone knob work? could it be unwired or something?(yet my guitar works) I haven't checked the wiring yet.

I think he means lock down the tremolo bar.
One thing that causes electrics to go out of tune rapidly, is incorrect intonation. This assumes individually movable string saddles in the bridge. The octave harmonic must fall DIRECTLY on the twelfth fret for each string. I usually try to set them with a small piece of metal, as your finger is too round and wide to be truly accurate. Sometimes a small amount of lubricant in the top nut will prevent the strings from hanging up. What was originally suggested to me was some graphite shavings from a pencil. Pretty slippery stuff that. Back in the day, graphite was the only thing you were supposed to use in lock tumblers.

i dont know abut electrics going out of tune :D but i do know that one of the main casues is simply dirt build up on the switch pot. If the gutiar has a back plate (a piece of plastic screwed down on the back were the switch would be) unscrew that and look at the switch pot. Get some electrical cleaner and spray it on the wire the connections and the pot. Also give the wires a good tub. Dont be frightened of pulling them loose. If they come loose its been a bad connection and you will simply need to re clean the wire and re solder. Hope that helps

http://www.guitarpartscanada.com/images/cts500.JPG
Thats what the pot may look like new but you will be looking at the bottom
if the gutiar doenst have the back plate il tell you how to clean it without

well guys I feel like an idiot because I now know what the last tone knob does... its the same as the first one but only works when the switch is in the other direction... I guess one knob for each side of the switch...

yer for the diffeent pickups and for a different sound etc. Some have 1 for the overall tone some have none so you control if on the amp and like yours you have more than one. For example you may have one pickup selected and one tone selecter would control that. You may have 2 pickups selected meaning one control qwould control one and the other the well other etc thats how :P

Nick; I takes a good man to admit what you did about tone and switch thingy.

Shameless too!:blush: :rolleyes:

Hey i play guitar too, wish it wasnt just a hobbie...

Cheers,

Here´s some of my stuff, hope you like them, i did entirely myself all instruments and voices ;)


www.myspace.com/cientosdeesclavos



Ralphmex

Nick; I takes a good man to admit what you did about tone and switch thingy.

Shameless too!:blush: :rolleyes:
um... Thank you. :haha:

One other small question... When I play the 12th fret (around here) I hear like a rattling sound from the string... Could it be vibrating against the other frets(the metal parts) It doesn't seem to affect the sound coming out of the amp but I find it a little annoying from the guitar. Should I just Raise up the strings a little or.... Because the strings are really low where it almost takes no effort at all to press on them.

Sometimes a fret may be high or low in reference to the frets around it, which will cause buzzing. This gets solved by filing the individual fret down.

>>>>DON'T <<<< try this a home kids. If you don't know what you're doing you can do more harm than good! Really DON'T!

A guitar's neck actually needs a bit of "warp" in it to work properly. This is determined by fretting the strings at the first and twelfth fret then measuring the clearance under the fifth fret, where there should be a few thousandths of a inch clearance. (actual number depends on the type of guitar). Lack of that clearance will cause buzz at the lower frets

You can get buzz from too low an action, too light a gauge of strings or a combination of the two. Some players actually change instruments based on whether they're playing rhythm or lead, the lighter gauge being used for lead, so you can more easily bend them. Light strings can cause tuning problems, and personally I like to use a "medium" string set, which goes from .046 low E to .010 high E. I'm really not much of a lead player though

Electric guitars can buzz a bit, as long as you don't hear it through the amp you're gold. Too low an action though, will cause a lack of string "control" with the excess looseness allowing a sort of muddiness in the bass especially.

Hope that helps.

This helps me understand some, I use Ultra light strings... I believe. I was thinking it was because I lowered the strings buy unscrewing those pieces on the bridge. so If I were to raise them a little and re-tune it then it would stop.

Yer it sounds like you have the biggest combination of fret buzzing ingredients ever. Firstly the extra light strings....uuurg...its good at the moment to use these to help you fingers adjust to the playing but at some point you will need to look at maybe guage 10 strings to get a more rich sound like Sabbath etc and that will help solve the rattle. Also if you play with the same guage strings for a long time and then change them it will waerp the guitar neck so change sooner rather than later. Also it sounds like you have lowered the string hight. It can be tricky to put it back better. What you have to do it do it string by string and tune by fretting at the 12th fret and then tuning it by changing the screws tightness. Eg if it was sharp to too tense you would slacken the sting and vice versa.
Take a look here:
http://www.projectguitar.com/tut/action.htm

It depend whether you haver lowered the bridge or individual strings. Also maybe due to the age some truss rod adjustment may be nesesarry if the buzz cannot be solved at the bridge but that is an area for experts only!!

btw what make of strings are you using? just wondering
also well done on the maths didnt say last time :D i personally cannot stand the subject just confuses me :S but obviousley you get it lol

That actually does help a lot. And Thank You. I cant measure 2 or 3/64 of a inch but I can raise them hair by hair until the rattling stops, I raised them all a long time ago... I don't even know what the trust rod(s) are.
Edit: It works I moved all the string from 1 1/2 to 2 full allan-wrench revolution. It sounds better like no rattling, louder ?, and.... I think that is all.

>>> Truss<<< rods (not) "trust" rods, and they run through the neck to set the bend in the neck which I described in my earlier post. The adjustment for the truss rods is under the little plate on the headstock.

It isn't any hard and fixed rule that using the same guage strings will warp a neck. They used to say to tune the guitar down when your not using it, but that just cycles stress and relief which isn't any good either.

Just put the guitar in a quality case while you're not using it. By quality, I mean one of the insulated plastic cases that prevent sudden changes of temperature and humidity.

I would argue against really thin string sets, since guitar playing is a physical activity. It's a good idea to play an accoustic instrument from time to time.It builds muscles and stamina in those muscles. Electrics with hair thin strings don't do this. Sort of like swinging two bats before going to the plate.

I would also further argue that if you can go on about how good you are at math, it really shouldn't be that dificult to learn to measure 3/32 of an inch or whatever.

>>> Truss<<< rods (not) "trust" rods, and they run through the neck to set the bend in the neck which I described in my earlier post. The adjustment for the truss rods is under the little plate on the headstock.

It isn't any hard and fixed rule that using the same guage strings will warp a neck. They used to say to tune the guitar down when your not using it, but that just cycles stress and relief which isn't any good either.

Just put the guitar in a quality case while you're not using it. By quality, I mean one of the insulated plastic cases that prevent sudden changes of temperature and humidity.

I would argue against really thin string sets, since guitar playing is a physical activity. It's a good idea to play an accoustic instrument from time to time.It builds muscles and stamina in those muscles. Electrics with hair thin strings don't do this. Sort of like swinging two bats before going to the plate.

I would also further argue that if you can go on about how good you are at math, it really shouldn't be that dificult to learn to measure 3/32 of an inch or whatever.

lol, I know I want to get maybe medium strings. I have the Hard case that came with the guitar which in my opinion is really good. I am good with math and I never said I couldn't learn to measure it. Its just that I have tape measure (a no go) or a ruler which sicks because at closest it can go to 16th and I could guess at half of that to be a 32th but it wont be exact as I don't have a ruler to measure really tiny things. Thanks for making the truss rod thing understandable.

Rulers aren't what's called for when measuring string clearance.

The ideal way to do this would be with a set of "feeler guages", which are different measured thicknesses of metal designed to be inserted between two objects. This is how spark plug electrode gap is measured, All you need to do then is learn to deal with decimal to fractional equivalent conversion. IE 1/16 " = .0625

The truss rod sits in an very low radius groove under the fingerboard. When the adjusting nut of the truss is tightened it pulls the rod more into a straight line, and with it the neck. The groove is deepest in the neck around the 5th to 7th fret. So, tighten the rod, the neck bends backward.

As I said before, the quitar neck must be slightly "warped" (lower at the 5th fret) to avoid buzzing. So, don't go flying into this adjustment, this is just FYI.

Electric guitar necks are very much less prone to warping than acoustic necks because of a lower action and very much lower overall string tension. In acoustic guitars, sometimes the sound board warps upward and in so doing increases the height of the action.
Then there's the 12 string, which should actually be tuned 2 to 4 half steps lower than the E to E of standard guitar tuning. Somewhere from D to D and C to C. Then you use a capo the bring it up to standard pitch when playing. Most acoustic twelves won't survive very long tuned to "concert pitch". Not to mention they're almost impossible to finger. Try a bar chord on a pitched up 12, get to know what pain is.

Some players use the lower tunings anyway, due to the fact most baritones can't hit the top "G" in the G open chord.

The informations helps a lot, not to sound stupid but where can i get some feeler gauges?

Nice one there captaincranky good info.

You can get them in loads of places just do a google product search youl find them anyware amazon.com even!!.

Some players use the lower tunings anyway, due to the fact most baritones can't hit the top "G" in the G open chord.

The classic example of this is the famous Beatles song, "Yesterday", sung by Paul McCartney The acoustic is tuned in a standard tuning, but from "D" to "D" So, the Yester......Day...,Ay..., Ay...,Ay. , comes right down a"G" open chord, "G", "D"
(B string, 3rd fret), "B" open string), then "G" (3rd string open. But he's actually singing "F", "C", "A", "F".
I'm really old so I've actually heard yesterday, (a #1 hit), hope you guys have too.

Ah yes, feeler gauges, an auto parts store or perhaps a Sears "Tool Dept", you want a thick set that goes up to .060 or so, so you don't have to put too many together..

Double post, sorry

Nick, blocking the tremelo means that you set it where it cant pull up or dive. For example, the Floyd Rose trem's on any of my 4 vintage Kramer guitars floats on the trem post and back springs. If I blocked them, they are still set up the same way just the trem will not move. Some do this when they have tuning issues. But if you know what you are doing with a Floyd Rose trem this is not needed. Blocking the trem can be done with a tremsetter or even shims or smal blocks of wood set between the tremelo baseplate and the body of the guitar in the trem route.

For fret buzz....what you describe could be several things as pretty much already said. The tremelo may need raised, the frets may need a dressing (DO NOT ATTEMPT YOURSELF!), fret job (replacing frets). Truss rod may need adjusting as well. You may also need to remove the neck and place a thin shim in the rear of the neck pocket. On a guitar as old as yours, a fret dressing may be in order. Look closely at them, is there any pitting or valley's on the frets?

In my years of playing guitar, adjustment of the rod or raising the trem a little corrects this issue. Truss rod adjustment is done at the headstock end under the truss rod cover, or at the heal of the neck. I would imagine yours is at the head stock though.

EDIT: Remeber, the old Tokai's today are pretty collectible and some are worth a good bit. If I were you, I would take that guitar to a reputable guitar tech and have it set up properly. You'd be amazed at how much better a guitar sounds and plays when its intonated right and everything is set properly.

huh??? Are you quoting this from somewhere or what?


Then there's the 12 string, which should actually be tuned 2 to 4 half steps lower than the E to E of standard guitar tuning. Somewhere from D to D and C to C. Then you use a capo the bring it up to standard pitch when playing. Most acoustic twelves won't survive very long tuned to "concert pitch". Not to mention they're almost impossible to finger. Try a bar chord on a pitched up 12, get to know what pain is.

Nick, blocking the tremelo means that you set it where it cant pull up or dive. For example, the Floyd Rose trem's on any of my 4 vintage Kramer guitars floats on the trem post and back springs. If I blocked them, they are still set up the same way just the trem will not move. Some do this when they have tuning issues. But if you know what you are doing with a Floyd Rose trem this is not needed. Blocking the trem can be done with a tremsetter or even shims or smal blocks of wood set between the tremelo baseplate and the body of the guitar in the trem route.

For fret buzz....what you describe could be several things as pretty much already said. The tremelo may need raised, the frets may need a dressing (DO NOT ATTEMPT YOURSELF!), fret job (replacing frets). Truss rod may need adjusting as well. You may also need to remove the neck and place a thin shim in the rear of the neck pocket. On a guitar as old as yours, a fret dressing may be in order. Look closely at them, is there any pitting or valley's on the frets?

In my years of playing guitar, adjustment of the rod or raising the trem a little corrects this issue. Truss rod adjustment is done at the headstock end under the truss rod cover, or at the heal of the neck. I would imagine yours is at the head stock though.

EDIT: Remeber, the old Tokai's today are pretty collectible and some are worth a good bit. If I were you, I would take that guitar to a reputable guitar tech and have it set up properly. You'd be amazed at how much better a guitar sounds and plays when its intonated right and everything is set properly.

Thanks for the tip, I was thinking of going down to cornerstone and seeing if they could help the truss rods and have it intonated right.

huh??? Are you quoting this from somewhere or what?

I've played the guitar for forty years, (not well, but including the 12 string), and gotten a couple of "A"s in English Comp recently.
Are you saying you like or dislike the the style, disagree with the conclusions, or suggesting I'm plagiarizing the material?