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i know that everyone has asked about effect pedals, amps, guitars and all that, but i still am wondering……ok…. last summer i started playing acoustic guitar, which i loved. i allready had an electric bass, but it didnt give me a good sound, so i wanted to try electric guitar, which i had always wanted to do, what with listening to J’s music over and over. My friend let me borrow his electric squire
, but yet again it didnt give me anything good out of his crappy 15 watt fender amp. so, now i am saving up money to buy my own guitar and equiptment and i really need to know ALOT about guitars… what differences pick-up types make, what pedals sound like what and whatever. what amps are good? what should i get that would work at a gig? what amp for vocals? what pedals? what do all the different pedals sound like? is it possible to get good sound without shelling out hundreds of dollars for a vintage super-fuzz and big-muff? any help would be taken gratefully….hey monkeysnail, here are some ‘start-up tips’ of the guitar experts here (when *sophie* was about to buy her first guitar
)here’s a topic about amps: Acoustic amps and semiacoustic guitars??
and about the Dinosaur Jr sound: How to Make a Dinosaur Jr Sound
about wah pedals: What wah wah should I buy?
If you’ll look around here in the Guitar Room, there many more suggestions and opinions about the dos and don’ts – hope you’ll get the best possible gear
yeah, thanks! i just found the thread about the article that showed some of J’s gear, and the diagram on his set-up, so that has given me a slight knowledge on how things get set up and so forth… on a mudhoney site, i found an article on how to make a superfuzz pedal, scince they cost so much.. so i might experiment with that some….. i dont know if anyone can tell me if these are good, but ive planned on getting some of the following.. a migmuff pedal (the black one, scince i am low on cash), something called a "proel wah-wah"(it only costs sixty dollars, so i was wondering if it was any good), a telecaster or a stratocaster, a boss DS-1 distortion pedal, and a "MG100DFX Combo" marshall amp (to start with.. it seems like it could handle a few small gigs.. i allready have a small 15 watt practice amp)
if anyone has opinions or experiences with this stuff, just tell me what i should get instead or what i should add..
hi monkeysnail. I can gladly recomend you to buy a mxr + distortion.. I like it more than the boss orange distortion pedal. see if you can find a used one on ebay.I have the black russian bigmuff. I don’t like the sound coming out of it, so I don’t use it at all. I bought it when I was stupid enough to think that all bigmuff pedals sounded the same, which they obviously don’t do.
Here is a topic about pedal making, with lots of tips and some interesting links:
hey simmons, thanks for telling me about the mxr + pedal, and i found one on e-bay for about 26 dollars, but scince im only 14, i’d have to get my mom to order it
and that would be a hassle for her. i can check old shops and try some stuff out, and ill keep that in mind about the black muff being no good..but maybe the sound would sound good to me.. i’m planning on trying everything i buy.. i went ahead and bought the wah pedal, and its fine for starting.. it can reaaally scream 
would the silver re-make of the big-muff be better? or should i just shell out for the origional?(right now im kinda basing my purchases on price.. thats one reason i chose the boss pedal.. 39 dollars. of course i want to get good sound, so i guess that will take some experimenting… ill try to find an mxr and try it out… and flying cloud, thanks ALOT for the pedal making link!!! im gonna have fun with some of this stuff… ha ha Hey Monkeysnail. The most important thing is your guitar, than amp, than pedals. I bought so many pedals when I was your age it took me a long time to get a good amp. And all the pedals I bought have been reissued for half the price and better guality. When you do buy pedals start with a distortion and a wah. You can get a big muff clone for about 75 dollars much better than the reissues. Don’t skimp on a wah. The cheapiest I would get is a vox but I would really consider an RMC. As far as guitars made in Japan fenders are a great deal. You have to try them out as with everything, whatever feels and sounds right is it regardless of price. With amps a marshall combo would be cool if under 400 dollars otherwise I would get a vintage fender or like a blues deluxe. Again you have to try it out. Don’t get the most expensive gear because you may not stick with it and you may not be able to get much reselling stuff but don’t get crap you want something that will make you want to play. A versitile guitar, amp and then start on the pedals. Email me if you want to ask some specific questions and I could even help you find some stuff. I actually have a real nice guitar I may be selling. Oh by the way yeah the black reissues aren’t that great, the older green or grey ones are better. The new nyc reissue isn’t that great in my opinion. I would rather pay extra for the lamb’s head version which is the second model but like I said people make clones of these pedals. The boss pedal should be fine for now. Patience grasshoper (who am I kidding I have more pedals than anyone I know) you need to work on leardning to play. Always prctice and write on the accoustic. It makes your hands and ears work harder. The electric will feal like a toy after that. Add some distortion, a wah and maybe delay down the line and forget about it.
thanks for the advice! as far as learning on an acoustic, i know all about that.. the only guitar i’ve been able to play for the past half-year is a toy acoustic that plays like rubbing nails down a chalkboard… the strings are really thick nylon.. and the fretboard is sticky and rough….. thats good advice about not going crazy about the pedals until after i get the guitar/amp stuff straight, and the reason i went ahead and bought a wah was mainly for my bass…. so i can kinda get the feel for it.. agian, i thought it would be best to learn on a piece of crap, and try hard enough to play it well, so once i get a really good wah, it’ll be better sounding and alot easier. i always (have to) make up my stuff on the acoustic/toy, and then ill try it on my friend’s electric and its like "buttah". thanks for the advice, everyone!!!and wish me luck tonight… im seeing the melvins..
!!!!!!!! I’d avoid the Big Muff as a first fuzz pedal. To me, its something you use on occasion. It does fuzz very well, but its not very versitile beyond that. The MXR Dist+ is a good choice, and I agree with simmons on the Boss DS1 not being that great, especially for single-coil pickups. ammaringnyc gave you a lot of good advice that I would’ve given you, so just read his post again and consider it coming from me as well.
Also, Mexican made (Standard) Fenders are pretty decent these days, mid-level, I’d say. You must repeat after me though… "I will NOT buy a Squire. I will NOT buy a Squire…"
I’ll post more if I think of anything.
MattMan…..NO squiers?!?!?!?! I am offended buddy!! MOST of my best guitars that Ive owned are/have been Squiers.
Black Big Muff….I bought one a long time ago….and right now, it gets zero stage use, and almost all studio use (guitar and bass). I also like to play quietly with it as well. You arent going to get a heavy tone or a ton of gain with that pedal as thats NOT what it was built for, the older ones….maybe, but not this one. If you know what youre doing, Im almost positive you could make it sound better by tweaking with the pots and resistors. If the pots are not 500k…make them be 500k, then see how the sound has changed. Take any resistor out and replace it with a greater or lesser value resistor, same with capacitors…it WILL get a different tone….maybe not your dream, but hey…it will set you apart from the rest of them. Plus, if you get it to sound good, then youll pull it out and someone will be all "crap, that thing sucks" then youll make them eat those words, theyll go out and buy one and hate it and you can laugh.
Randy Jane.
hmm.. I wouldnt buy that much stuff right after i bought an electric guitar. I have only borrowed stuff from my friends..
And i also think squiers suck…
again, thanks everybody for the advice.
i started adding to my savings earlier today, i put my whole "allowance" in, so now the amount in my savings is a …grand total of.. *gasp* one hundred and seven dollars!! its a start i guess… i blow too much money on cd’s. but when i get enough for a guitar, ill keep all this advice with me, and i most definatly wont buy a squire, mattman. 
i’m probbly just going to start with a standard strat,or whatever.. i tried my one of my friend’s
strat and i really liked it, but then again i dont know too much about guitars.. im willing to invest alot in them though, because i know how to play them well, and all that stuff… i’m not like some kid wiht no brain who has no sense of rythm and is just trying guitar to be "Punk" or "cooool". im a serious, dedicated musician.. and i know how to play, and im not gonna go hog-wild wtih effect pedals, and im not gonna buy a squire, and im not gonna get a black big muff, and i might not get a big-muff for my first fuzz pedal, and im not gonna try to copy dinosaur jr.’s or J mascis’s sound, and i dont want a jaguar or jazzmaster just cuz J plays one, like all my friends get them for, and im not gonna be bored enough to post somthing this boring and pointless again. thanks for the advice, and i’ll tell yall when i finally get my gear straight, then i’ll improve my skills then start getting more tips on pedals, and all that stuff… whew….
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