The Guitar and bagpipes
Created | Updated Aug 16, 2007
The Guitar has not altered very much sinse it was invented many years ago.
Bag pipes are also old and not everyone cup of tea.
However the guitar could be updated and made a lot easier to play.
The choice of a guitar is important to the indiviual and the price he/she wants to pay.
Most basic guitars can be altered to suit the player in that a narrow bodied guitar of three guarter length of the standard guitar is a good instrument to learn on.
A much better buy and especially if one is going to play "Country" music would be a full length deep bodied guitar.
Twelve sring Guitars to my mind are a novelty but don't add a lot to the perfomance.
One thing to check on buying a second hand guitar is to check and see if the neck or fret board is bent.
There are many ways do this.
First point the neck away from your face then with your eye peer over the bridge toward the tightening or tuning screws at the tuning head and if you see the neck is curved then the guitar is useless.
Another way is put a finger on the top E string at fret A that is about half way up the key board, and press it onto that fret.
Now if you have a piano handy or a mouth organ you can check the E top E string "The thinnest one"
Now press the top e string on to the A fret and if the fret arm is
bent the A will play sharp since the string has further to go to meet the fret and hence the string is under more pressure and delivers a sharper note.
The bridge hight is also important and some strings may have burrowed into the ivory mounting.
This mounting can be replaced and copied by shaping the hard plastic of an old tooth brush.
With care the old ivory can be removed and the hard plastic re glued in it's place.
If the bridge is mounted too low the strings will jangle on the frets and the only thing to do is buy a new bridge or fit adjustersuder the bridge.
Echo units can be fitted to amplifiers and slide with buttons can be fitted to a guitar and this will elimimate finger end blisters and hard skin.
A one button can be made to play a complets chord and other buttons for runs.
Bag pipes are also old and not everyone cup of tea.
However the guitar could be updated and made a lot easier to play.
The choice of a guitar is important to the indiviual and the price he/she wants to pay.
Most basic guitars can be altered to suit the player in that a narrow bodied guitar of three guarter length of the standard guitar is a good instrument to learn on.
A much better buy and especially if one is going to play "Country" music would be a full length deep bodied guitar.
Twelve sring Guitars to my mind are a novelty but don't add a lot to the perfomance.
One thing to check on buying a second hand guitar is to check and see if the neck or fret board is bent.
There are many ways do this.
First point the neck away from your face then with your eye peer over the bridge toward the tightening or tuning screws at the tuning head and if you see the neck is curved then the guitar is useless.
Another way is put a finger on the top E string at fret A that is about half way up the key board, and press it onto that fret.
Now if you have a piano handy or a mouth organ you can check the E top E string "The thinnest one"
Now press the top e string on to the A fret and if the fret arm is
bent the A will play sharp since the string has further to go to meet the fret and hence the string is under more pressure and delivers a sharper note.
The bridge hight is also important and some strings may have burrowed into the ivory mounting.
This mounting can be replaced and copied by shaping the hard plastic of an old tooth brush.
With care the old ivory can be removed and the hard plastic re glued in it's place.
If the bridge is mounted too low the strings will jangle on the frets and the only thing to do is buy a new bridge or fit adjustersuder the bridge.
Echo units can be fitted to amplifiers and slide with buttons can be fitted to a guitar and this will elimimate finger end blisters and hard skin.
A one button can be made to play a complets chord and other buttons for runs.
