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  #16  
Old 02-01-2018, 01:08 PM
jfitz81 jfitz81 is offline
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Originally Posted by RockyRacc00n View Post
Just so I have some grounding when I go into a store... a dumb question. When someone says Fender "Strat", is that like saying Martin D18 or Martin Dread? I'm thinking things get more specific then just "Strat". but wondering how things are differentiated.
"Strat" will suffice. Things get more specific (as they do with a D-18--Standard, Authentic, Golden Era, etc.), but a "Stratocaster" will get you to that model, and then you can shop around.

FWIW, I play a MIM Strat through a Fender Blues Jr. amp, which gets me all the electric tone I could ever want.
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  #17  
Old 02-01-2018, 01:23 PM
FrankHudson FrankHudson is offline
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Almost any electric will work. The only exceptions that occur to me from my extensive playing the field are Fender Jaguar and Jazzmaster guitars with their original bridge, which was designed with a low break angle over the bridge, and assumed heavier gauge strings as were common at the time of their design. You can make those work, but with so many other, more common electric guitar options, there's no reason.

A more common issue: If you want to practice string bending on a Strat, you may want have the bridge setup "decked" with added vibrato strings or string tension so that it doesn't move when you bend strings. Or you can "block" the trem (like Eric Clapton did) to totally prevent movement. Other vibrato systems can introduce issues as you learn string bending too, but the Strat or the like are the most common ones to run into in the market. Again, you can string bend on a Strat with an easily moveable bridge, and many Strat players do, I just don't think that an easily moved Strat bridge is the thing to learn string bending on. Adding springs and spring tension or slipping a wood bock in to the back are simple to do and easily reversible if you choose a Strat though.

Small tube amps are great things, but there are three advantages to modern modeling amps. Two have already been mentioned: they tend to be more flexible as a group for low volume playing with timbres that sound like recordings that may have been created with amps playing much louder (this is what folks are refereeing to when they talk about overdrive or gain), and most include a selection of "effects" which also are part of many electric guitar recordings, and therefore may be expected as part of the sound. The last advantage is that for someone totally green to the differences in electric guitar amp tones, is that a modeling amp lets you casually "window shop" those differences. On computers, amp modeling software can serve a similar function with no amp needed.

Your decision on an amp may come down to this: you're learning. If it's that technique you want to focus on first, then a simple amp is all you need, and the other stuff can be a distraction. On the other hand, if you're learning the technique because you want to make electric guitar sounds like you hear on records, then the electric guitar amp is as important as the electric guitar.
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  #18  
Old 02-01-2018, 01:44 PM
beninma beninma is offline
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Originally Posted by DukeX View Post
Just as Toby Walker and others here say about playing acoustic blues: "You can play it on anything," the same goes for electric blues.

Tele, Strat, Les Paul, PRS, Semi Hollow...etc.
This... it is easy to point at Stevie Ray Vaughn or Buddy Guy or others and say "Blues is about the Strat" but there are too many famous players who played all kinds of other stuff.

Albert King and the Flying V
Albert Collins and his Telecaster
BB King and his Gibson ES semi-hollow
Freddy King - Les Paul IIRC

Too many more to name. The Gibsons usually have a shorter scale (24.75") than Fender style guitars (25.5") , they'll be a little easier to bend to extreme degrees than the Fenders.

I'd almost go out on a limb and say Blues sounds good through almost any amp too.. it's all what you put into it, though sometimes it can be a question of guitars pairing with certain amps to end up with a system that is greater than the sum of its parts.

If you're used to nice Acoustics if you were looking at Fenders you probably want to start at the MIM level.

As far as bends on acoustic.. I have a 24.75" scale Taylor and I have standard 12-53 strings and bending is not super difficult, but is more tiring than electric.

But 9s on a full size scale or 10s on a 24.75" scale on electric are still vastly easier to bend. It's like there is 0 effort at all after playing acoustic. They tear up your fingertips far less too.
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  #19  
Old 02-01-2018, 03:55 PM
RockyRacc00n RockyRacc00n is offline
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Not knowing much at this point and wanting to narrow things down a bit, I知 going purely with name brand familiarity and what looks good to me. And that would be the Stratocaster. I知 still trying to get my bearings on Mexican vs American, Standard vs Deluxe or whatever.

But to help me sort through all this and get an idea of the price point, is there a forum sponsor anyone can recommend?
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  #20  
Old 02-01-2018, 05:10 PM
jwayne jwayne is offline
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Originally Posted by RockyRacc00n View Post
Not knowing much at this point and wanting to narrow things down a bit, I知 going purely with name brand familiarity and what looks good to me. And that would be the Stratocaster. I知 still trying to get my bearings on Mexican vs American, Standard vs Deluxe or whatever.

But to help me sort through all this and get an idea of the price point, is there a forum sponsor anyone can recommend?
Get a high end Strat like an Eric Johnson and a no-name Strat copy from Rondo or Monoprice or wherever. Leave the expensive Strat in the back seat of your car and wait for it to get stolen.

You will NOT BELIEVE the blues that will then emanate from the el cheapo guitar!
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  #21  
Old 02-01-2018, 05:12 PM
roylor4 roylor4 is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by RockyRacc00n View Post
Not knowing much at this point and wanting to narrow things down a bit, I知 going purely with name brand familiarity and what looks good to me. And that would be the Stratocaster. I知 still trying to get my bearings on Mexican vs American, Standard vs Deluxe or whatever.

But to help me sort through all this and get an idea of the price point, is there a forum sponsor anyone can recommend?
Rocky, My POV is worth no more than anyone else that has contributed, but here is my advice.

Buy A G&L Tribute Bluesboy when it's on sale through MF. $299. Shaped like a Telecaster. The bridge pickup sounds like a Tele, the middle position sounds very Strat-like and the neck pickup has the growl of a Les Paul. One of the most versatile sounding guitars I have ever played and great for blues, hence the name.

My second choice would be a Squier Classic Vibe Strat or Tele.

I love tube amps and have played through them for over 2 decades. I have recently started to appreciate modeling amps and SS amps and what they have to offer. If you want clean, Bluesy tone (think Robert Cray) the Fender Champion 20 and 40 are great, low budget SS amps. Excellent cleans and nice reverb.

The G&L Tribute stuff are incredible bargains if you buy them on sale and very well made.

There are a ton of nice small modeling amps that provide a lot of options. I really enjoy my Fender Passport mini. It has a mic and guitar input - I have actually played small gigs with it as my "PA". You can play both acoustic and electric instruments through it and you can infinitely tweak the tones with the Fender software.

For under 5 bills you can have a pretty decent sounding setup these days.

Good luck - the electric guitar rabbit-hole is even deeper than the acoustic one.
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  #22  
Old 02-01-2018, 05:18 PM
jwayne jwayne is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by RockyRacc00n View Post
Not knowing much at this point and wanting to narrow things down a bit, I知 going purely with name brand familiarity and what looks good to me. And that would be the Stratocaster. I知 still trying to get my bearings on Mexican vs American, Standard vs Deluxe or whatever.

But to help me sort through all this and get an idea of the price point, is there a forum sponsor anyone can recommend?
On a more serious note, a Mexican strat will do you just fine. They are built to high standards but slightly less attention to detail than the American (fret finishing). The Mexican also has less expensive pickups but they are certainly decent sounding. You save a bundle if you buy new and will lose less on the resale value should you decide to sell.

Check out this video also:

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  #23  
Old 02-01-2018, 08:54 PM
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KevWind KevWind is offline
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I decided to play electric a year ago last November

And I can say it is a total gas.

Just as someone noted you do not a bunch of pedals or any pedals to play electric

So to (in answer to your OP ) No you absolutely do not need an electric to play the blues
American Blues was invented on acoustic guitar pure and simple

That said if your deciding that learning to play the blues is a great excuse to get an electric you are absolutely correct I would say go for it .

However my recommendation is first decide on a budget range for guitar and for amp .... it will make the vast ocean of possible products much more navigable...... then start shopping and asking questions here, or better yet in the electric forum
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Last edited by KevWind; 02-02-2018 at 07:41 AM.
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  #24  
Old 02-01-2018, 09:27 PM
RockyRacc00n RockyRacc00n is offline
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Originally Posted by KevWind View Post
I decided to play electric a year ago last November

And it can say it is a total gas.

Just as someone noted you do not a bunch of pedals or any pedals to play electric

So to (in answer to your OP ) No you absolutely do not need an electric to play the blues
American Blues was invented on acoustic guitar pure and simple

That said if your deciding that learning to play the blues is a great excuse to get an electric you are absolutely correct I would say go for it .

However my recommendation is first decide on a budget range for guitar and for amp .... it will make the vast ocean of possible products much more navigable...... then start shopping and asking questions here, or better yet in the electric forum
I happen to like JustinGuitar lessons. And his Blues lessons happen to be using electric so that is why the thought of an electric guitar entered my mind. Actually, if someone can point me to a good lesson series on acoustic blues lead guitar, I would be interested in that also.

As for my budget, I'm in the process of trying to sell of couple of my acoustics which I think will fetch for me about $800. So I guess I can play around within that budget.
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  #25  
Old 02-02-2018, 05:11 AM
JonPR JonPR is offline
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Originally Posted by RockyRacc00n View Post
I happen to like JustinGuitar lessons. And his Blues lessons happen to be using electric so that is why the thought of an electric guitar entered my mind. Actually, if someone can point me to a good lesson series on acoustic blues lead guitar, I would be interested in that also.

As for my budget, I'm in the process of trying to sell of couple of my acoustics which I think will fetch for me about $800. So I guess I can play around within that budget.
More than enough! Strat copy and (small) tube amp.

I'm not sure about "acoustic blues lead" lessons - the principles and techniques would be the same as for electric. Acoustic blues was typically a solo performer's thing, so tended to be fingerstyle: chords with minimal lead fills (Stefan Grossman is the best source for blues and rag fingerstyle). In a band, lead acoustic would not be loud enough unless they got really close to a mic, so it was a rare thing.
If you want to bend strings on acoustic, you can of course fit lighter strings (I use 11s).

I've played acoustic blues all my life (well, 52 years of it so far). I learned from records. I don't know which artists you know, but the influences you need (to begin with) are Eddie Lang, Lonnie Johnson and Big Bill Broonzy. Lang and Johnson recorded as a duo, and Lang played with Bessie Smith (calling himself Blind Willie Dunn to pretend to be black!).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DzGn4jq08G4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3iPA7oNRr5o

Here's some rare lead acoustic from Big Bill:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=suKZ-BtswRo

If you have enough spare $$, and you like that vintage sound, you could consider a steel-body resonator guitar. Then tune to open G, buy yourself a slide, and...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NdgrQoZHnNY
Pre-amplification, the main reason players chose those was the extra volume. And probably their indestructibility too...
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  #26  
Old 02-02-2018, 07:41 AM
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KevWind KevWind is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by RockyRacc00n View Post
I happen to like JustinGuitar lessons. And his Blues lessons happen to be using electric so that is why the thought of an electric guitar entered my mind. Actually, if someone can point me to a good lesson series on acoustic blues lead guitar, I would be interested in that also.

As for my budget, I'm in the process of trying to sell of couple of my acoustics which I think will fetch for me about $800. So I guess I can play around within that budget.
This guy has quite a few free ones and paid lessons as well . Also he has a link for a Free PDF about blues scales you can download

Here are couple of his video's I have just started to look at


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  #27  
Old 02-02-2018, 09:45 AM
1neeto 1neeto is offline
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Originally Posted by RockyRacc00n View Post
Thanks. I知 going to look into electrics. But I have no idea what you guys are talking about as far as equipment and what not... pedal, gain, overdrive, etc.

One of the reasons why I stayed away from electrics because there seems to be so many things to consider, unlike an acoustic which is very simple. It痴 just you and the hollow wood. Heck. I don稚 even plug in when I play my acoustics so all this is very foreign to me.

So how should I start my research? I keep hearing about Les Paul, Tele, Strat. I guess start looking into those? But what are some of the factors I should be aware of?


Here痴 a good and affordable blues rig:

Fender Mexican Strat or Squier Classic Vibe Series Strat
Fender Blues Jr. amp
Boss Blues Driver pedal or OD-1
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  #28  
Old 02-02-2018, 09:49 AM
6L6 6L6 is offline
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A Gibson ES-335 covers pretty much every type of music wonderfully well. Not cheap, but worth every penny.
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  #29  
Old 02-02-2018, 10:03 AM
RockyRacc00n RockyRacc00n is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by KevWind View Post
This guy has quite a few free ones and paid lessons as well . Also he has a link for a Free PDF about blues scales you can download

Here are couple of his video's I have just started to look at


I've browsed Marty's stuff before. I'm sure he is a good teacher but but I find his content to be overwhelming. Maybe I need to get more familiar with this site and figure out the order of things. The reason why I like JustinGuitar is because his site is easy to follow. Anyway, thanks for the suggestion. I do watch Marty from time to time.
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  #30  
Old 02-02-2018, 05:24 PM
vindibona1 vindibona1 is offline
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If you're looking for an electric, as someone else said look at Squiers. Not all Squier models are the same quality. Classic Vibe model Strats are relatively cheap. But if you can find an SE or Squier Standard you can find incredible deals on used units. I had a SE which I paid $50 for and a HSS Standard (Fat Strat) that I got for $80. Because I was skilled at setup and wiring I turned both of these guitars into instruments that would rival Strats costing more than $1000 for around $150 each (guitar and parts included).

The other guitar that is a great buy is Epiphone Dot. It is the Epiphone version of the Gibson ES335. I got one of those on a straight trade for my Squier SE. You can find those used for $200-300 depending on finish and condition.

Good luck.
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