MyZoeJane Posted December 21, 2009 Share Posted December 21, 2009 Hi all! Mind if I pick your brains a bit? About ten years ago I bought a Jeff "Skunk" Baxter cutaway guitar because I liked the looks of it and it "sounded good" to me. I knew nothing other than a few chords I had picked up by tooling around with my boyfriends guitar. I taught myself some more chords and a bit of fingerpicking over the next few years and then the guitar was banished to the corner of a closet in a gig bag after I had kids. Once my daughter, now six, discovered her mom had a guitar, she begged meto drag it out and now, here it sits and I know nothing about it. I don't know what kind of condition it's in, or if I need to have it "spruced up" for it to maintain its' value.... if it even has any. So my questions are these: Where could I take it to have its' health evaluated? LOL Is there a "guitar doctor" who does this sort of thing or will the person at the counter inside my local Guitar Center look at me like a two headed gila monster if I bring it in and ask him to tell me about it? Where do I begin to learn what strings work best with this guitar? I guess what I want to do is optimize the instrument so it is at its very best. My youngest sister is getting married in one year and it is her wish for me to play a song for her at her wedding. I have chosen The Beatles' "Here, There, and Everywhere" and now all I have to do is dust off my axe, spruce it up, and learn to play the song best I can. Where to start? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peeper Posted December 22, 2009 Share Posted December 22, 2009 There are such things. See my sig! I dunno about Il. but you don't want to take your guitar to guitar center for work. They are a retail outlet, driven by profits, not good service. Take your guitar to someplace that specializes in repairing instruments, not one who sells them. They are almost never under the same roof. Wanna know a secret? When the GC here gets something that they can't handle (anything outside a basic set up, and they don't do that well either), they outsource it to REAL repair shops. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zombywoof Posted December 22, 2009 Share Posted December 22, 2009 I would see if you have any independent guitar stores in your area. Probably all you need is some basic bread and butter service on your guitar. These folks can usually check out your guitar, recommend strings, and do a basic settup. By the way, a trio of family members (guitar, flute and singer) played the Beatles "In My Life" at my wedding. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MyZoeJane Posted December 22, 2009 Author Share Posted December 22, 2009 I know there's a slew of little guitar shops throughout the burbs where I live... I guess I'll call a musician friend of mine to see which one he recommends! So it wont be "weird" if I walk in with my guitar and simply ask them to look it over, make sure everything is in order, and to recommend some strings? I wish I was enough of a musician to know my instrument the way I'm sure you all know your's. I also wish I could afford lessons! I'm not "gifted" enough to really teach myself beyond what little I already know. Is there anything online that a novice such as myself could use to learn to play better? Or does it really require another individual to teach me the "proper" way to play? I looked into lessons at a guitar shop near me back when I bought the guitar and they were asking $30 an hour. A bit steep for me since I have traded working for a second income for the luxury of staying home with my children. I'm rambling... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brad1 Posted December 22, 2009 Share Posted December 22, 2009 You can certainly teach yourself! Don't get me wrong. Lessons are good. And I could probably use them myself. But everything I know is self-taught. In three years I have gone from a beginner on an electric guitar to a rather accomplished player, if I may so myself. For about a year I played 3-6 hours a day, every day. I just made a commitment. And that's all it really takes. It doesn't take any God-given gualities (although those are nice). There are tons of lessons all over the internet. A myriad of websites that provide FREE lessons on just about anything thing you want to learn; notes, chords, scales, guitar set-up, etc. YouTube has tons of free video lessons on these things too. You can get free tabs ( guitar tablature) for just about any song you want to learn. I have had a blast learning on my own. Yes, there have been times of frustration and confusion, but they were always worth getting through. And most of the time it's been great fun! Don't hesitate another minute. Life's too short. You are as "gifted" as you make yourself to be. So go ahead and start making yourself a guitar player! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thawk Dean Posted December 22, 2009 Share Posted December 22, 2009 I'm a newbie at the guitar and have found a number of sites that are easy to use and informative. This one comes highly recommended by an instructor on another forum. I've bee on it and it is a really good starting point http://www.justinguitar.com/ Keep it FUN, Dean Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tgifntx Posted December 22, 2009 Share Posted December 22, 2009 Oh yeah... Illinois is full of outrageous guitar masters. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beachbum205 Posted December 23, 2009 Share Posted December 23, 2009 As others have said, if you have a "Mom & Pop" music store near you, that's the way to go. Just ask for a setup and new strings. If you are sort of just starting out, light gauge are a little easier to play. There are tons of free lessons on the web- just do a search. YouTube can be especially helpful here. I like a guy named Gold Hat- he's kind of this normal guy with a wierd high singing voice, but a pretty good teacher. He has ton's of Beatles songs- he might even have the one you are trying to learn. You might also visit the Acoustic Guitar Forum for other tips and good information. If you are willing to put the time in, be patient with yourself, and you will be fine. Have fun, and good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deflepfan Posted December 25, 2009 Share Posted December 25, 2009 I know there's a slew of little guitar shops throughout the burbs where I live... I guess I'll call a musician friend of mine to see which one he recommends! So it wont be "weird" if I walk in with my guitar and simply ask them to look it over' date=' make sure everything is in order, and to recommend some strings? I wish I was enough of a musician to know my instrument the way I'm sure you all know your's. I also wish I could afford lessons! I'm not "gifted" enough to really teach myself beyond what little I already know. Is there anything online that a novice such as myself could use to learn to play better? Or does it really require another individual to teach me the "proper" way to play? I looked into lessons at a guitar shop near me back when I bought the guitar and they were asking $30 an hour. A bit steep for me since I have traded working for a second income for the luxury of staying home with my children. :) I'm rambling...[/quote'] Welcome to the forum and welcome back to the world of guitar playing! There are tons of online guitar lessons to be found. Sometimes I can even find lessons for specific songs on YouTube and you may find what you are looking for there. I do highly recommend that you get yourself a decent guitar chords book and then look up the tabs to songs online. ultimate-guitar.com is a great online source for tabs. Here's Here, There and Everywhere http://www.ultimate-guitar.com/tabs/b/beatles/here_there_and_everywhere_tab.htm Sheila Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TommyK Posted January 5, 2010 Share Posted January 5, 2010 I know I may be jumping into this a bit late, but I was in the Land of Cotton for two weeks and just got back. Want to know more about guitars so you are a better consumer of guitars and guit tar services? Visit: >>> http://www.frets.com/FRETSPages/pagelist.html <<< Start with the first FAQ article and work your way down. You in deed are a good mother for puting live music into your daughter's life. At six, she might be a bit old for this, but while my SIL was deployed, we had our daughter and 3 year old grandson living with us for over a year. GS1 took great delight in watching grandpa play his guitar. At about 4 he enjoyed strumming the strings while grandpa played. He just stood in front of grandpa and strummed between my strumming hand and my fretting hand. Truth be told, it was like have ing a second guitar in the room.. not a bad accompaniment. Eventually, I got him his own pick, because he kept trying to take mine. I had to teach him to go easy and not 'shred'. He learned this well. Once he dropped the pick into the sound hole. After that.... everytime he took great delight in 'losing' the pick inside grandpa's guiitar which lead to grandpa doing funny things trying to shake it out. He is now with his mother in Europe as his daddy is on his 3rd tour of duty. I miss him so much. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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