Guitar/Bass Player Must Have Stuffs In Your Guitar Bag

There are some things that you just cant do without!

As a guitarist now for 6 years a have learned a lot of things about the instrument I play.I used to play bass to in a band so I know some things about it too.Through the years I learnt that there are some stuffs that the guitarists cant leave without and they must always have in their guitar bags

1.Picks

This little piece of plastic is the most usable and the most easily lost.Once it falls to the carpet or the floor it tranfert in an parallel universe never to be seems again :-p.The pick is the most important thing any guitarist should always have even in their wallet.You never know when there will be a time to play guitar.Even when you are outside and someone plays guitars you can just take out the your and ask them can I play and you can hit some girls this way :-p.So a must have in your guitar bag.

2.Tuner

A tuner is a must have too.But there are a lot of type of tuners so you can carry one in your pocket every time you want to play outside.So the main types are chromatic and clip on.So

The chromatic tuner is a simple and a good tuner but the problem is that you need quiet in order to tune or you can plug in your guitar with a cable something you cant always carry with you. In the other hand there is clip on tuner like the one on the picture .This one doesn't affected by the sound of the environment and its the best for live and for playing in the park for example . These days there are a lot of tuning  apps for android and ios so you can have one always with you.Even if yu know to tune by ear you don't really know when is the time you must change your tuning.So one in your bag will save you many times.

3.Cables

As I mentioned before you cant carry cables in your pockets but you must have one in your guitar bag all the time.Whatever guitar you play(electric/acoustic) you need one in order so you can be pluged in an amp or a console or anything.

4.Guitar Straps

Another thing that you must always have in your guitar bag.Sometimes you cant play while sitting,for example in band practice and while playing live you cant sit.Sometimes even in your home you want to stand up and play because its way more cool and you fucking love it.

5.Strings

Just always keep an extra string set whenever you go.Strings may cut at any moment..The time that you have them in your guitar is not playing any role although a 6 month change is a must done service for me.Just remember that the strings that you have with you is the same cauge with the one that your guitar is wearing.

5.Stands for guitars(optional)

Whenever you are you need a stand for your guitar and the reason is simple.There is no safe place for a guitar as long its not in your home.It can always drop and break.Once I left my guitar on an amplifier and it was hanging on the wall when suddenly it sliped and fell with the headstock in the floor.The experience was so painful to watch .Thank god my guitar had survived it with nothing but a scratch and I cant even think what would happen if this was the guitar that I bought now omg.But you cant have one in your guitar bag so that's the reason this optional.

That's all.Thanks for reading! :-)

First Things First (Starters Amplifier)

I continue the starters guide to electric guitar with an article about what amp should a starter player buy.

Lets say that you finally find the guitar you were looking for its looking good on you and its sound good enough!So now what amp will you buy.It depends again from your style.You want something more metal more blues or jazzy or something like you can play everything on it.The only thing that you surely want is not spending a fortune on an amp that you dont know if ever going to use later.So the first thing you should check is the watts of the amp.If you find the opportunity try the amp you want to buy.So to the point again.Every player whatever the music they play need an with some basic effects nd you will understand why.The first thing you ask yourself when buying amps is the watts.How much is enough and how much is too much.The average of an amp is 15 to 30 watts and it depends where you live and if you want to play with some buddys.The reason is that you want an amp that can cover the sound of drums.So a 30 watt amp is more than enough for practice in your home and enough to cover up the drums.If you want something smaller that can unveil all of its power in your house buy an amp around 12 watt.As I might say again the watts not always represent the loudness of the amp.

The effects.
Do your research and find an amp that has a lot of them.As a starter whatever you play you need reverb and delay in my opinion.So you find an amp that has both of them.These days most of the digitals amps have a lot of amp models so you can experiment as you want until you find whats sounds good for you.There are some amps that you can download straight from your pc models that sound like the sound of real bands but you have to give a few pounds more for this features.So to sum up you want an amp which have 3 to10 different models and 3 to 10 different effects ands thats all.You cant find the tone you want from the start you have to experiment all the time until you find the right tone or the tone in your head!


Here are some amps for you 
https://www.thomann.de/gr/marshall_mg30cfx.htm 
https://www.thomann.de/gr/fender_mustang_ii_v2.htm
https://www.thomann.de/gr/fender_champion_20.htm
https://www.thomann.de/gr/blackstar_id_core_20.htm
https://www.thomann.de/gr/line6_spider_iv_15.htm

First Things First (Amplifier and Other Equipment)

First things first in learning to play guitar is to own one!

 If you have read the last post I did on this then you know what I am talking about! In case you didn't know in order to play guitar and be able to hear what you play you need an amplifier which looks something like this 

Tube combo amp.

or this:

Tube head amp with 4x12 speakers.

The are a lot of type of amplifiers and they divided from the way that they work first !

For example some have little transistors and others have tubes.

So the main types of amplifiers are 3 those 1.with the transistors,2.those with tubes and the hybrid ones.

1.Solid state/Digital Amps(Transistors).

 The solid state amps are the cheapest and the best for practise.They are small in size and their volume is not so loud so you wont disturb your neibours at all.Its the best you can buy if you just started to play guitar.The price range is 100 to whatever you have to spent.Lets just say here that when you want to buy an amp you will look for the watts they produce.Usually the more watts the more loud an amp is but that doesnt mean that 2 10watt different brand amps have the same volume !So I will continue buy saying that in this kind of amps the more money you give the more extras you have.The extras that you can get in an amp like this is like more effects that i am going to explain to you later in the post.But if you dont want want something for your home but something bigger and better you buy a....

2.Tube amps. 

So know to the point.Tube amps are the best thing you can buy and they have the best sound quality.The main reason that these things still exist is because they are the best thing you can use in a live performance.If you see every single artist and band use tubes amps in their live performances and the reason is simple ITS THE BEST KIND OF AMPLIFIER THAT THERE EVER WAS AND STILL IS.Although the solid state the last few years have done a great jod copying the sound of tube amps.If you ever find the opportunity to play with one you will understand what i mean!Although the tubes amps are the most expensive ones and you usually have to buy the speakers seperatly.

This is what tubes looks like.

These amps usually cannot be used indoors because they are very loud.Imagine that you want to play quietly without disturbing anyone and use an amp thats designed for gigs and stadiums.Although some tube amps have very low power on watt like 1 or 5 and some big ones have switches that drop the power to half and lower.So you can use then but its up to you and your budget if you want to buy this kind of amp!

So the hybrids.There are not much to say.They use both of the above methods but they are not so good as digitals or as tube.There are more kinds of amps like the modelling that they use sounds of all the other amp combined but for start thats the basic of the guitar amps! 

Thank you for reading!

First Things First (Electric Part)

First things first in learning to play guitar is to own one!

You finally decide to start learning guitar excellent.Its one of the best ways to spent your time in my opinion (except  you have annoying neighbors :-p).What do you need to make this happen?Mmmmhhhh.A guitar.Yes its that simple but now its time to split the post in 2 sub posts to electric guitars and acoustic or classic guitars.

2.Electric Guitar
When it comes to electric guitar you know exactly what you want! You want to play in big gigs with 1000 of people listening to you playing your solos. You want to be a rockstar. Every men has a dream and they want it to come true. But when it comes to an electric guitar there are so many things you have to know in order to choose the right one . First things to ask your self is what music do I want to play with it.Do I want to play metal,jazz,rock heavy metal? Its something that you need to know because you want to buy something that suits to your needs! You cant play metal with a guitar thts got single coils on it and etc! The 2 best options for your first guitar is a squire or an epiphone in my opinion whatever you want to start playing these two guitars will suit your needs!'

Epiphone Les Paul Special II

Fender Squier

These two cost from 100 to 200 dollars and their main differences are on the bridge and on the pickups. The squire has a tremolo bridge but the epiphone features a tune-0-matic which keeps the tuning better! The Epiphone has humbucker sound so it makes it more capable for things like metal,heavy metal,hard rock,punk and things like that. The squire from the other hand  has single coils and its for more blues and jazzy things or something like Pink Floyd. My opinion on this one is to buy an epiphone because it offer a greater variety of music gernes that the fender although that you can play rock or punk rock with it !But can you play metal? The answer is no!But its up to you! Whatever inspires you more!

Should i buy a guitar from the internet or i should go to the store??

The best thing you can do in my opinion is to go to stores and not just one or 2  5-6.Every store have distinctive brands of guitars and believe me you dont want to buy a guitar that when you start playing sounds shit to you!So you go to a store you look but not alone.Take with you a friend you knows how to play just so you can hear every guitar you want to try.You finally found what exactly want and you start thinking of buying it but watch out!!!You always ask the manager when they have deliverd the guitar to the store.You dont want to have a guitar thats just have been played by 100 people before you or you can just  find the one that fits you and the you buy it from an internet store.Sometimes even though the same guitar may sound a little bit different.

Here are some internet stores if you live in europe.

MUSIC STORE 

THOMANN 

EUROGUITAR 

ANDERTONS MUSIC CO 

And if you live in USA.

MUSICIANS FRIEND 

AMERICAN MUSICAL SUPPLY 

AND MANY MORE.

First Things First (Electric Guitar Anatomy part)

First things first in learning to play guitar is to own one!

You finally decide to start learning guitar excellent.Its one of the best ways to spent your time in my opinion (except  you have annoying neighbors :-p).What do you need to make this happen?Mmmmhhhh.A guitar.Yes its that simple but now its time to split the post in 2 sub posts to electric guitars and acoustic or classic guitars.
  
1.Electric Guitars

Lets start with the anatomy of an electric guitar:                                                                       

1.Head:Its the place where the tuning keys are locates.

2.Tuning keys:Is the keys that we tune our guitar.

3.Nut:Is a bone or plastic that the strings are put on so they can be in place (affects the tuning a lot).    4.Neck:Is the part where the fretboard is located.

5.Frets:Are the steel pieces that seperate the notes on the fretboard/fingerboard.

6.Fingerboard/Fretboard:Is where we put our  finger in order to play something.

7.Soundhole:Is where the sound come from in acoustic/classicl guitars.

8.Body:Is the piece where the bridge the strings the knobs are at.

9.Pickguard:Is a piece of plastic located under the pickups or the sound hole.

10.Pickup selector switch;Its a switch that you can select which pickup you want active.

11.Tone/Volume Knobs:Its the knobs that you can control the volume and the tone from your guitar.

12.Bridge/saddle:Its the part of the guitar that the strigs are put on in order to bee in the air.

13.Output Jack:Is where we plug the cable from the amplifier in order to play!

                                                                  

 Thats the basic of a guitar anatomy sure there are a lot more but every guitar is a little bit different so if you have any question ask me in comments!
 

First Things First (Acoustic Part)

First things first in learning to play guitar is to own one!

You finally decide to start learning guitar excellent.Its one of the best ways to spent your time in my opinion (except  you have annoying neighbors :-p).What do you need to make this happen?Mmmmhhhh.A guitar.Yes its that simple but now its time to split the post in 2 sub posts to electric guitars and acoustic or classic guitars.

  

1.Acoustic,Acoustic-Electric and Classical guitars

Hey you love playing things like Taylor Swift or Ed Sheeran then keep reading this sub post.These guitars are ideal for those who especially love playing plain chords or for those who want to learn how to play a couple of jams in order to get a girlfriend (and trust me, it really works!).There are 2 types of guitar who doesnt require an amplifier.Classical guitar and steel string guitar.

Classical guitar

This guitar have 3 stell string and 3 nylon strings and the string have much more space between them than all the other guitars.This one is the cheapest so you can find a good one with only around 100-200 euro/dollars.This kind of guitar is the best for learners because the strings have a lot of scape between them and its easier for you to learn chords.

---

Acoustic,Acoustic-Electric

Here again there are two categories the Acoustic and Acoustic-electric.Their main difference is that the Acousic-Electric guitar can be pluged in an amplifier but thats just an extra.So an acoustic guitar have 6 steel string and its more close to an electric.The space between the strings is more narrow but it offers a better sound in my opinion!The prices for those guitars are from 100 to 1000 euro/dollars but who has 1000 euro to give for a guitar that he dont know how to play?So for starters anything from 200 to 300 is just great.Keep in mind that      the Acoustic-Electric is about 50euro more!

There are more categories for both of those kinds of guitars like 1/8,1/4,4/4, for classic and dreadnought,jumbo,folk for acoustic  this describes the size for classic and the shape of acoustic guitar.But for the first guitar that shoudnt consider you!Just choose what you like.The guitars are made of wood and different types of it which affects the sound.

Should i buy a guitar from the internet or i should go to the store??

The best thing you can do in my opinion is to go to stores and not just one or 2  5-6.Every store have distinctive brands of guitars and believe me you dont want to buy a guitar that when you start playing sounds shit to you!So you go to a store you look but not alone.Take with you a friend you knows how to play just so you can hear every guitar you want to try.You finally found what exactly want and you start thinking of buying it but watch out!!!You always ask the manager when they have deliverd the guitar to the store.You dont want to have a guitar thats just have been played by 100 people before you or you can just  find the one that fits you and the you buy it from an internet store.Sometimes even though the same guitar may sound a little bit different.

Here are some internet stores if you live in europe.

MUSIC STORE 

THOMANN 

EUROGUITAR 

ANDERTONS MUSIC CO 

And if you live in USA.

MUSICIANS FRIEND 

AMERICAN MUSICAL SUPPLY 

AND MANY MORE.

For those who want to know about electric guitars there will be another post about it! 

THANK YOU FOR READING!

My first guitar !

My first guitar!

My first guitar was a guitar that most of the people buy as their first guitar an Epiphone.

 

This one exactly.Its an epiphone les paul gt ! Its the only cheap epiphone thats features a tremolo and humbuckers on a low price! A video of my first guitar!  I loved this thing as first guitar although the tremolo feature was complety useless ! I has a satin black finish mahogany body rosewood fingerboard and maple neck! Just a simple cheap electric guitar !

 

                                          

It was so affortable that its one of the best beginners guitar in my opinion but i should have brought the stop tail one!The reason its that the tremolo affected the tune so much even though it never actually used it! If you are a chord guy its ok for you but if you like playing solos not so much!Its a guitar you can play from classic rock to thrash and metal but its terrible on lower tuning tha standart!

 

My first upload.

Hello my name is Kostas and I am doing this blog to help people with the guitar difficulties common mistakes and struggles that everyone have and they dont want to no more so from today i will start to post videos! Sent me any question you might have about guitar or gear or anything you would like to discuss!

 

My Youtube Channel