The Official Guitar Myths/Misconceptions Thread

I said this was the "The Official Guitar Myths/Misconceptions Thread", not the "The Official Guitar Myths/Misconceptions Battle Royale"



 
Myth - vintage is always better.



Myth - American Made is always better.



Myth - all gigs call for 100 watt tube amps
 
Chihlidog said:
Myth - vintage is always better.



Myth - American Made is always better.



Myth - all gigs call for 100 watt tube amps
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Yeah, sometimes you need a whole row of them

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Myth - Tone is in the fingers

plus

Myth - Tone is in the gear


Fact - tone is in the combination of fingers/gear/ears/room/mood/everything. All factors contribute.
 
Here is a favorite. Guitar teachers will enjoy this.

"You need to start on Acoustic Guitar because that is where you have to learn."

I hate having that conversation with parents especially. If a kid wants to play acoustic, thats cool but if they want to play an electric get him a cheap strat pack or something. It'll be physically easier for the student to learn on electric guitar and he'll be able to play the music that got him excited about learning to play in the first place.

Nothing worse/sadder than a kid in a Metallica T-shirt showing up to lessons with a $60 nylon string with action to the moon. He'll probably get frustrated and quit before he "plays well enough for his parents to think he deserves an electric guitar".
 
markwein said:
Here is a favorite. Guitar teachers will enjoy this.

"You need to start on Acoustic Guitar because that is where you have to learn."

I hate having that conversation with parents especially. If a kid wants to play acoustic, thats cool but if they want to play an electric get him a cheap strat pack or something. It'll be physically easier for the student to learn on electric guitar and he'll be able to play the music that got him excited about learning to play in the first place.

Nothing worse/sadder than a kid in a Metallica T-shirt showing up to lessons with a $60 nylon string with action to the moon. He'll probably get frustrated and quit before he "plays well enough for his parents to think he deserves an electric guitar".
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Quoted for truth. I started and stopped playing several times as a kid 'cause I was into surf music, and it's just not the same trying to play Beach Boys on a nylon-stringed acoustic. :cry:
 
I started on an ovation acoustic. I do think it helped me a LOT when I got my hands on an electric. But there is certainly no harm in starting on electric, either.
 
I started on a Jr size nylon string. I took lessons for about 2 years or so with that guitar.

Then I quit playing guitar and took up saxophone in the middle school band. Got interested in guitar again when a friend of mine got a cheap electric and amp for Christmas. He started taking lessons. A few months later, he his teacher had showed him the intro for Sweet Child O' Mine and I heard him play it. I got incredibly jealous and decided that there was no way I'd let him be a better guitar player than I was. I pulled out the old nylon string and started practicing again. The next Christmas my parents got me a Dean Firecrackle and a Peavey Rage. I started taking lessons again from the same teacher my friend was taking lessons from.

I ended up sticking with it. My friend did not. He may still play from time to time, I don't know, but I know he had pretty much quit by the time he graduated from high school.
 
Prages said:
Myth - You need a specific 'type' of guitar to play specific types of music.
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So you dare disagree with Kramer marketing? We all know the following is truth:

If you live for hard rock, get a guitar made to rock hard. Kramer guitars are designed and built specifically for hard rock guitar players. They feature body design and construction, pickups, electronics and hardware for rock music. Some other guitars try to work for ALL kinds of music (country AND rock). That's impossible! Kramer does one thing and it does it well.
 
Prages said:
Myth - You need a specific 'type' of guitar to play specific types of music.
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I sort of disagree with this being a myth. Sometimes a Telecaster is the only guitar that will REALLY do the job, for one. Sometimes, you NEED a bridge humbucker, etc. In general I agree with you assessment, but like the 2 listed above there are certain situations where a certain kind of guitar is really called for.
 
Chihlidog said:
I sort of disagree with this being a myth. Sometimes a Telecaster is the only guitar that will REALLY do the job, for one. Sometimes, you NEED a bridge humbucker, etc. In general I agree with you assessment, but like the 2 listed above there are certain situations where a certain kind of guitar is really called for.
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I was going more in the line of thinking that you have to have a pointy guitar to play metal or a jazzbox to play jazz or a Tele to play country.

Hell, if you wanted to, you could play jazz with a BC Rich Warlock and most people probably wouldn't hear the difference between that and a jazzbox.
 
markwein said:
Here is a favorite. Guitar teachers will enjoy this.

"You need to start on Acoustic Guitar because that is where you have to learn."
Click to expand...

:HB::HB::HB:

I just had this conversation with a parent the other day. He said "I figure if he sticks with his $100 acoustic for a year, we can get talk about getting him an electric guitar for his birthday and then maybe an amp for Christmas, later."

Me: :HB:
 
Chihlidog said:
I sort of disagree with this being a myth. Sometimes a Telecaster is the only guitar that will REALLY do the job, for one. Sometimes, you NEED a bridge humbucker, etc. In general I agree with you assessment, but like the 2 listed above there are certain situations where a certain kind of guitar is really called for.
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Kinda sorta. But not really...

Brooks & Dunn are about a country as country gets. Kix Brooks has been playing a Les Paul forever in the band.

But for some of the extreme metal tones it does work best with a humbucker I will agree....
 
Chihlidog said:
I started on an ovation acoustic. I do think it helped me a LOT when I got my hands on an electric. But there is certainly no harm in starting on electric, either.
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All of the Ovation acoustics I've ever played had lower action and lighter strings than most of my electrics.
 
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