Setting up your guitar’s action means adjusting the height of the strings off of the fretboard. Why do you need to set up your guitar? Because it will make your guitar easier to play, improve your confidence, your “feel” of the instrument, and it will allow you to practice for longer periods of time.

If the action of your guitar is too high, your strings are likely too spring-like. Do you feel like it takes an uncomfortable amount of pressure to press down your strings? You need to have your guitar set up.

Call your local music shop. Ask if they have a tech there who can “set up” your guitar. It might cost a few bucks, but it will be cheaper than buying a new guitar, and you will be investing into your practicing habits. Remember: “Perfect Practice Makes Perfect.”

Don’t worry, it’s not major surgery. Likely what the tech will do is adjust the torsion rod in the neck (if your guitar’s neck is bowed at all, the metal rod inside will help straighten it out), adjust the height and intonation of the bridge, and inspect the other elements that contribute to a good feel.

Take care of your stuff, invest in your practice habits, and get your guitar set up. You’ll be happy you did.

Much Respect,

The Musician’s Toolbox

Using a music stand while you practice will improve your posture (no more slouching and straining your neck to look down at your music) by bringing your sheet music or guitar tabs to eye-level. The music stand is often the most overlooked tool in a beginning guitar player’s er…. toolbox… (ahem).

What good is practicing your music without good lighting? Get a clip on light for your music stand, and save your eyes the trouble. Why make it more difficult for yourself than you have to?

You’ll be glad you invested in a music stand, trust me. You’ll be able to practice for longer periods of time because you won’t be slouching (hopefully) and getting all worn out like a lazy sack of potatoes. And we all know that perfect practice makes perfect, and that there is no substitute for diligent practice.

Wait… you knew that, right?

The Musician’s Toolbox

There are two ways to approach learning guitar chords. One is to memorize the name and shape of each chord so you can recall it quickly as you’re reading through a song and playing along. Obviously, this is the quickest way to start enjoying songs.

The second way is to learn the individual notes that make up the chord on the fret board. This method of learning chords will expand your ability to play any chord anywhere on the fretboard.

Step 1: Learn and memorize the notes of a chord all over the fretboard. For example: the C Major Chord is made up of the notes C, E, and G. You can basically play those notes in any order and still call it a C chord. It turns out that the notes C, E, and G are found all over your fretboard: (click the graphic to enlarge)

Look for all the C, E, and G notes, memorize their location, and presto, you’ve now learned all the places on the fretboard that you can form the C Major Chord. One way to quickly memorize these chord shapes is to think about the C-A-G-E-D system. You should have the C, A, G, E, and D major chord shapes memorized (hopefully). Well, it turns out that on your fretboard, these 5 shapes can be “translated” into the chord in our diagram, the C major chord. Now you can play the C chord anywhere on your fretboard, and they all sound a little different. Try them out!

(There’s a LOT more to the CAGED system, but this will at the very least give you an idea of why it’s useful…)

Here is a quick reference guide for the notes that belong to major and minor chords:

C major: C-E-G
D major: D-F#-A
E major: E-G#-B
F major: F-A-C
G major: G-B-D
A major: A-C#-E
B major: B-D#-F#

C minor: C-Eb-G
D minor: D-F-A
E minor: E-G-B
F minor: F-Ab-C
G minor: G-Bb-D
A minor: A-C-E
B minor: B-D-F#

Step 2: Start memorizing, and visualize the “C-A-G-E-D” shapes!

The Musician’s Toolbox

This is a question on every guitar player’s mind, regardless of age or years played. In the never-ending quest for great guitar tone, the search for the right amp is half the battle.

If you are a beginner, this question can best be answered by saying “one that won’t break within the first year.” You can get a good starter amp for less than $100 with some nice features, such as drive (distortion) and some basic EQ. Purchase an amp from a retailer like Best Buy, Costco, or Guitar Center, where they have at least marginally friendly return policies, so in case your made in China amp (everything cheap price-wise is made in China) takes a dive, you’ll have a good chance of getting it replaced without too much hassle. As a beginner, the focus should be on your playing, technique, and developing your overall practice habits, not the loudest, meanest amp you can buy.

The real conundrum occurs as an intermediate player. Do you go for the “investment amp” and drop a wad of cash on something nice, ($500-$1000 range), or is there something cheaper that will get the job done? If you are an intermediate player, perhaps you are starting a band, or playing at church, or gigging at local bars and clubs? The type of amp you need depends on where you are playing. If you’re going to be playing mostly at small venues, then you don’t need a 1,000,000 watt amp that can melt faces. You need an amp that fits the venue. So consider how you will be using the amp. Generally, as an intermediate player, 100 watts or less of power is more than enough. Practice good shopping habits, test everything you want to buy, make sure you get a good deal, and make sure wherever you buy has a good return policy. Again, test everything before you buy!

As an advanced player, you’ve refined your chops, so now the quest focuses more on your sound, and this is where things can get extremely subjective and less practical. There are many good “boutique” style amps (handmade, better components, unique styled sounds, etc.) out there that are much “better” than your big-box retailer brands. Better means better in this case, in the same way that a Lotus is better than a Kia. Better quality control, better parts, better design, better experience. When you purchase an amp at this point, you are making a decision that will (ahem) amplify your particular style. If you don’t want to make yet another purchase, you may be curious or handy enough to modify the equipment you own. Nowadays there are plenty of how-to style videos that can teach you to “hack” or modify your amp to sound “better.”

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder to be sure, but at the end of the day, the question what guitar amp should I buy does not have an easy answer, because each guitar player is at a different level and requires different equipment for different reasons. You get what you pay for is the best advice. Test everything out, be smart about where you buy a guitar amp from, and ask around, research, and consider how dedicated you are to your instrument. If you’re playing for recreation, you don’t need to drop thousands of dollars, however, if you plan on becoming the next Slash or John Mayer, save up your money and invest in your talents.

Nothing can replace the hours of practice you put in, and NO guitar amp will make you sound better than the amount of time you’ve invested in your instrument. What good is the best golf ball if you’re just going to shank it into the lake?

There is no substitute for diligent practice.

Much Respect,
The Musician’s Toolbox

Yes, if you have been following us here at The Musician’s Toolbox, you know that we frequently update this blog. However, March 15th my daughter was born! Since March, the blog has taken a back seat to fatherhood, but now that things have settled down a bit, we’re back.

Stay tuned for fresh posts and some updates about new products on the way.

Thanks for reading,

Andrew Wonacott, President
The Musician’s Toolbox