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Post subject: Some electric help?
Posted: Fri Sep 18, 2009 8:50 am
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I'm a total noob when it comes to electric guitars. The girlfriend gave me one of the Strat SE packs that Guitar Center had on sale for my birthday.

So far, it's been a lot of fun. I can really understand why so many people love electrics. It's so much easier on the fingers, and being able to manipulate the tone is practically intoxicating.

The only information it came with was a beginner's DVD on how to play, and a single sheet detailing how to set the action. That left a lot of questions. Hopefully someone here can help me figure this stuff out.

First off, tuning. I tried tuning with the guitar plugged directly into my Korg tuner...didn't have a nine volt battery for the Squier tuner that came with the Strat. After tuning, and plugging in, it sounded horrible. Most of the notes were at least a semitone off. So, I re-tuned to the noise coming out of the amplifier using the tuner's microphone, and it sounded much better. Is this normal? Are some of the dials on the guitar and amp throwing things off?

Speaking of dials (and levers), aside from volume, I'm not figuring out what the rest do. There are two knobs on the guitar marked tone, that don't seem to do anything. I've tried turning them with a string or chord sustaining, but don't hear any difference at all. Is it based on which pickups are active or does the O.D. setting on the amp interfere?

I know the lever is changing which pickups are active, is there some kind of a road map to what combination is active at each position?
Edit: Found the answer to this on the Squier by Fender site:
Position 1. Bridge Pickup
Position 2. Bridge and Middle Pickup
Position 3. Middle Pickup
Position 4. Middle and Neck Pickup
Position 5. Neck Pickup



Now, onto the amplifier. When the push button is in the "clean" setting, there's a huge amount of hiss/hum/feedback. When it's in the O.D. setting (overdrive?), the only time there is hiss is when the volume is way up. It does seem to get worse/better based on the pickup selection though. It also gets worse when the guitar is closer to the amplifier. Is all of this "normal"? Is it perhaps a result of other things plugged into the circuit?

Can someone bring me up to speed on this stuff?

Thanks.


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Posted: Fri Sep 18, 2009 10:38 pm
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Congrats on your first guitar. A simple place to start is turn all of your guitar knobs to 10 and your amp tone knobs around 7 treble to 9 for bass. your tuners should work the same plugged in or by mic get a new battery low batteries can cause funky things to happen. Try to plug your amp into an outlet that does not have any other appliances on the circuit. turn off any flourescent lamps, tv's etc. They will cause a lot of noise and yes getting closer to the amp will increase noise and feedback. If your amp has a master and channel/gain volume keep your master higher and the channel lower for the clean sound. Boost the gain for a dirtier sound. you may need a better cable. many towns have guitar classes offered at community education programs. at any case a lesson or two will help learn about your guitar and amp. play around with your amp settings at a lower volume first then start to crank it up as you get a feel for what it does. And most of all have fun and enjoy your new toy. that's a good women to buy you a guitar


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Posted: Sat Sep 19, 2009 7:18 am
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Thanks for the reply Idahored. This isn't my first guitar, just my first electric guitar. One of my acoustics has a pickup, but the only time it's ever been plugged in was at the guitar shop to test it before I bought it.

You may be right about the batteries. I can't remember the last time I changed them in the tuner. The acoustics have spoiled me in that I can get away with only tuning them every six weeks or so. This strat needs a touch up multiple times during a playing session. It's constantly going sharp. I suspect it's because I'm fiddling with the whammy too much.

I'll try swapping the outlet the amp is on and see if that makes things better.

I'm still lost as to the function of the two tone knobs on the guitar. I've tried every pickup setting, changing their (the knob's) settings both independently and together. I'm just not hearing any difference in the sound.


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Posted: Sat Sep 19, 2009 7:39 am
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if memory serves me. the middle tone is for the bridge pu and the bottom tone is for the mid and neck pu's so it can be tough to tell depending on your pu selection.


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Posted: Sat Sep 19, 2009 11:16 am
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Have you had the guitar set up by a tech yet? And for me:I took off the access plate and added the extra tremolo spring that came with the guitar.What a diference that made in keeping in tune"But I'm sure someone will know better than I do about your problems.The tech set up and adding the extra tremolo spring really made a diference"for me" on my strat.I am also an acoustic player going to electric(like to play electric "Neil Young" and "Shinedown")And found right away that electric guitars take a lighter touch when playing chords as opposed to acoustic guitars.But like I said, that this is just "for me".I could be wrong, but this has seemed to work just fine for me.Have fun with your new electric.I am having a great time lerning all the new aspects,functions and idiosyncrasy's of electric guitars.Can't wait to try some "mods" and such.
Have fun,
Crazyhorse.


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Posted: Sat Sep 19, 2009 11:58 am
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Thanks Crazyhorse. No, I haven't had a tech set up the guitar. I'm more of a trial and error sort. I've always setup my acoustics, right down to carving out new compensated saddles and shaping/slotting nuts. The strat was actually set up pretty darn good at the factory. The action was a little low, which was causing a bit of a buzz on the A and D strings. It only took raising them a half turn or so to straighten things out. Using a hex wrench is a lot easier than carving a slab of bone! The truss rod didn't need any adjustment, but I wouldn't expect it to considering the super light strings.

This one didn't come packed with any extra springs or any other parts at all. Just looking around the net at reviews, it seems that not holding tune is common for it. Considering what it cost, it's hard to call that a major fault.

Moving the amp to a different circuit did make a big difference. It's much less noisy. It still hums and hisses more than I would expect from an amp made this decade though. Again though, a guitar, amp, bag and other accessories for $100? Killer deal even with a little hiss. Better still, the girlfriend is really happy with how much enjoyment I've gotten from it. She's a keeper. So is the strat for that matter. I'm sure there will be other electrics in the house in the near future...but this one will always have a spot on the wall.


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