A couple guitar questions

[Nathans_Dad]

One of my guitars is a Korean made Epiphone Dot that I picked up about a year ago off craigslist. It was made in the Samick plant in the early 2000s which is supposed to be a higher quality guitar vs the ones made today. The guitar plays well and I like it, except I would like to upgrade the electronics a bit. I am thinking about new pickups and possibly replacing the pots, switch and jack. Anyone have any suggestions on pickups? I use it to play blues mostly right now.

Also, anyone have any exercises that increase your speed? My stinkin fingers just won't go fast enough!! I know it's all about practice but I am wondering if there are specific things I can practice to get faster. Thanks.

[craigster59]

Talk to Wolfe

[azasadny]

I'd also get it to a guitar tech who can set it up properly. I took our son's electric and acoustic guitars to Elderly Instruments last winter and they set them all up and it made a huge difference in their sound and playability.

[Nechako]

Not sure if you are looking for humbuckers or single coils, but my favorite humbucker is the Seymour Duncan JB. You can split the coils with a toggle switch to get a good single coil sound out of it. If you are looking for single coils, I would try to search out the discontinued Evans Eliminator pickup. I have 3 of them in different guitars and pretty much try to buy every one I can find. Apart from that, a good option is to take a look at the Seymour Duncan website, there is a bunch of help there for selecting pickups from among the bewildering number of options. They have some specific suggestions for jazz pickups.

[nostatic]

Originally Posted by Nathans_Dad

Also, anyone have any exercises that increase your speed? My stinkin fingers just won't go fast enough!! I know it's all about practice but I am wondering if there are specific things I can practice to get faster. Thanks.

Like driving, smooth is fast. If you are focused on speed you really should work on playing certain lines (scales, melodies, etc) slowly with a metronome. They should be as smooth as glass. Then slowly increase the metronome speed. Repeat.

That said, speed isn't always musical (in fact, it rarely is). So be careful what you wish for.

One really good exercise is to set your metronome at 40bpm. Play one note per bea (whole note)t. Any note, doesn't matter. The focus is on rhythm. After a couple of beats then play 2 notes per beat (half notes). Then 3 notes (triplet). Then 4 notes (quarter notes). Then 5, and on until you play 12 notes per beat. If you can do that smoothly you'll be playing plenty fast *and* you be able to shift between different feels.

Another good one is to play all the combinations of fingerings. On any string play:

1-2-3-4 (index, middle, ring, pinky, each on their own fret - no hand shifting)
1-3-2-4
1-4-2-3
1-2-4-3
etc. There are 24 combinations. Some will be easier than others.

And not related to speed but rather getting to know your instrument. Starting with your lowest string, play every E on your guitar. Low E, 12th fret on E, 7th fret on A, etc. Then play every F. Then every F#.

Do those three exercises every day and you'll have a great facility on your instrument.

[Rick Lee]

Building speed is as much about technique as practice. If you don't know how to do up and down or double picking correctly, no amount of practice will make you fast. Inefficient motion will kill you. That was a big hang up for me when I started and my teacher was planning to tell me to hang it up the night I came in and it just clicked. After that I never had a problem again. A good buddy of mine can play all the Yngwie stuff and he got that way by practicing sort of what Nostatic suggests. He just did it in one position on the neck and played 1234 on each string up and then back down. I was surprised by how hard that was for me, even after playing for 20 yrs. at that time. It's a good exercise.

Here's the high priest of shred. Watch his right hand. The left hand is what draws the eyes, but the right hand is where the speed is. No better double picking technique than this.

[IROC]

Originally Posted by Rick Lee

The left hand is what draws the eyes, but the left hand is where the speed is.

Did you mean to say "right" hand? If so, I agree. I hate to admit it, but a lot of times when I'm playing, I'm watching my right hand and not my left. My left knows what to do, but my right hand goofs up pretty often...

[targa911S]

You play the blues? It ain't about speed, it's about soul and tone.

[Rick Lee]

Sorry, yes. The right hand.

Blues is not so much about speed, correct. But he asked how to get faster.

[IROC]

Originally Posted by targa911S

You play the blues? It ain't about speed, it's about soul and tone.

Some folks (like Joe Bonnamassa) can bring all three together, though...

[Superman]

A guitar player in my band pissed me off recently when he suggested I stop stroking strings upward. In other words, he asked me to only stroke then downward with my right hand (I am a bass player who plays with a pick, about half the time). I then noticed he's one of those guitards that only strokes strings downward. I have known guitarists like that. Some are very fast, considering they only stroke downward. A player who learns to stroke strings both ways has two advantages. Speed. And also, there are special sounds and rhythms (especailly rhythms) you can get by stroking in both directions. Using the heel of my hand and some versatile picking strategies, I can create rhythms on a six=string that were originally done by a drummer or bass player or piano or whatever. Each song has its unique rhythm signature.

At first, the hard thing about guitar-playing is forming the chords with the left hand. Very quickly, the barrier stops being the left hand and starts being the picking hand. That barrier remains until you die.

Nostatic's advice is very good. I'm going to follow it myself. I can also advise you from my experience that if there is a rif you need to learn, play it for a time at a speed that is comfortable to you. However slow that seems. Then add speed gradually. You will get there.

[craigster59]

Here's a video demo of "spider scales", which is what Todd was talking about.

[nostatic]

There is a reason that bassists often use the term "guitards".

Technique often falls into dogma but the reality is that if something works for the player, then it works. There are certain biomechanical realities that we need to work with, and some techniques can/will lead to injury. But it depends on the individual.

When I play guitar with a pick I use both up and down strokes. It just depends on what I'm trying to achieve. If you're trying to cop someone else's lick then you likely need to be using the same technique. Two downstrokes don't sound the same as down/up (even playing the same notes in the same rhythm).

Speed is a combination of left and right. There are guys that can speed pick with the right hand but if they can't do anything interesting with the left then...well...who cares? Guitar and bass are two handed instruments and there are no rules that say you have to use one hand to do x and the other to do y. Experiment, watch what other guys do, imitate the stuff you like, steal whatever riffs/techniques you can.

[targa911S]

Picks are for pussies. Bass players do not use picks. Don't EVER let a guitardo tell you how to play bass. If they do, just say OK sure, then play it the way you want. After a while they give up.

[Superman]

Originally Posted by targa911S

Picks are for pussies. Bass players do not use picks.

Smile when you say that, pardner. I am deliberately working toward using my fingers more effectively and I'd like to move toward predominately finger-picking. That said, I am also noticing that there is a time and place for using a pick. Certain tones and rhythms call for it. So there.......

Originally Posted by targa911S

Don't EVER let a guitardo tell you how to play bass. If they do, just say OK sure, then play it the way you want. After a while they give up.

You gave me this advice once before. Good advice....that I happen to follow anyway. I am a bass player clear through to the bone marrow. This craft is very unique. I listen to all advice, and act on some. But.....guitarists don't have a bass player's perspective.

[nostatic]

Originally Posted by targa911S

Picks are for pussies. Bass players do not use picks. Don't EVER let a guitardo tell you how to play bass. If they do, just say OK sure, then play it the way you want. After a while they give up.

While I generally agree, there are exceptions. Bobby Vega is sick

[stuartj]

OP,

Metronome and finger exercises. Rhythm and repetition. There is no other way to develop speed and accuracy. Like the fast guys, musical guys- say Steve Morse, Yngvie, Petrucci- pick every note. Wouldnt worry about the pickups.

Rick- on Yngvie. One the great characters in rock, a complete asshat and a walking cliché (who can forget the comical “unleash the fockin fury” aeroplane incident) my god that man can play the guitar. I watched that video, I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt (because Ive seen him play live) and say that clip was done in one unbroken take. Six minutes of balls out neo classical guitar pyrotechics and I heard one dud note at around 5.27. I think. Utterly amazing. Here he is doing it again, live (this gig could only happen in JPN). No mistakes. Hes a freak. There is whole concert of YJM and orchestra. No mistakes.

yngwie malmsteen trilogy suite op 5 symphony - YouTube

[Nathans_Dad]

Originally Posted by Rick Lee

Sorry, yes. The right hand.

Blues is not so much about speed, correct. But he asked how to get faster.

Yeah, I'm not talking about speed metal here. I just need to get my fingers to go where I want them to go in a reasonable time frame lol. I've been playing for about a year now so I guess I have a ways to go.

[targa911S]

"excuse me, how do you get to Carnegie Hall?"

"practice practice practice"

[Superman]

Rick, I am getting back into playing after being away for three decades. I wondered at one point whether my speed and dexterity were doomed because of my age. What I found out is that while my fingers are probably not capable of doing what they did at 19 years of age, my age is NOT going to be a barrier. ALL the speed I had is coming back.

Play the rifs. Play them over and over. They will get easier and faster. I promise.

When I was learning to play, and now that I am learning again, I have had an advantage not everyone had. But I think all the good players had this same advantage. The advantage is this: I like to play. I can honestly say I have never practiced when I didn't want to. It has never felt like work. It has always felt like fun and play. I used to get lost in my practicing for hours. Still do. Sadly, if working on one's guitar-playing feels like work, I'd predict that person will not become a real good player. Mercifully, if playing and practicing and getting better is fun.....then it's just a matter of time my friend.