Guitar thread

[Nebu]

Yeah, sorry. I'm an artist, not a DJ :P

It's always been a fine line for me, even when I was signed as a recording artist and songwriter.  I look at it like this: If it's my stuff or something that I've personally re-invented, then I'm an artist.  The rest of the time, I'm being paid to entertain and I do my best to deliver.  I don't think I've been an "artist" in public for a long time... I'm mostly still playing just to entertain and have a little fun. 

[Raph]

Nebu, I see an acoustic in your iconavatar thingie over there. Since I don't recall what all has been said in this eon-spanning thread... what do you primarily play? And if you were signed, is any of it still out there lurking?

[Nebu]

Raph,

I was a musician for 7 years in the early 80's during a VERY active music period in Minneapolis (The Suburbs, Prince, Morris Day and the Time, The Jets, and later Soul Asylum and Husker Du (aka Bob Mould)).  I played with a number of moderately successful bands. To be completely honest, I never considered myself particularly talented as a musician.  I think my greatest skill was in surrounding myself with talent.  Between that and knowing many of the right people (I had been doing guitar repair work in a local guitar store since the age of 12), I got a lot of mileage in the business.  I'll see if I can dig up a few old demo tracks, but the music is painfully dated.

As for the avatar, you should see that the acoustic is actually a bass... it's a pic of Stanley Clarke.  As you may guess, I'm a bass player by trade but actually was a brass player when I studied music in college.  I can play the guitar well enough to get by, but I consider myself too much of a hack to ever call myself a guitarist. 

Edited for late night rambling-ness.

[Sky]

You guys should be getting used to my extremely long decision-making cycles on musical stuff :) I've been bringing the acoustic into work the last week and a half to test the theory that I'll get in more playing time every day, and it's averaged about a half-hour more, and most of that concise study. Right now it's the Berklee Press Guitar 1 book (and snagging that link...it now ships with a DVD...might have to rebuy and donate my old copy to the library!). My theory is still way too rusty and my reading, too. And sight-reading is pretty much non-existent. I love working on stuff like this because my playing is really starting to open up (FINALLY) a little bit more. Some day I'll consider myself good on guitar ;)

Aaaanyway. The theory I'm testing about an office guitar (also for travel, renfaire, bbqs, etc) is in contemplation of getting a Baby Taylor. Heading out tonight to get one, hopefully they still have a mahogany in stock. New guitar, woohoo!

Continuing the fakebook thread, I'm still inspired to formalize mine, but didn't get to it over the weekend. Sunday I just jammed and played Gothic, Saturday was RenFaire day to watch Cantiga featuring the mighty Charry Garcia (for Charango, not Jerry) from South America on charango. The man is phenomenal, his precise machinegun strumming (fingers only, of course!) always amazes me. When he sees me coming he grins and really starts hamming it up because he knows I dig it. They also have a new guy playing some form of viola, which was really cool. Charry kept goading him to play faster and he did a few times, but he seemed uncomfortable showing off. I told him they should really go for it and get jammy, but the two bandleaders (the harpist and flutist) frown on too much showmanship :( So I went home that night and jammed renfaire tunes, I have a book the band published.

[trotski]

I apologize in advance for the n00biness of this post, as it seems there a lot of people who know what they're doing in this thread.

Thanks, in large part to this thread (and GH  ) I decided to pick up the geetar as I've wanted to learn for a long time.  Went yesterday to a music shop and picked up an Epiphone Special II Les Paul . The vintage sunburst in the middle.
It's cheap, I'm learning, and the reviews were good, so i bought it. My father in law has a great Peavey amp, so I just bought a tuner, bag, new strings, and some picks (did I miss anything?)

I'd like to start taking lessons, and I found this site that looks pretty solid for beginners: Guitarnoise

Anyway, thanks to all for this thread, I'm excited to get started.

Trot

[Furiously]

Hmm. So, I imagine that for you guys some of these tunes fill the same role as the Ellis Paul and Greg Brown tunes do for me. But I barely get to slip those in when doing the jam sessions, and I don't really expect otherwise -- because nobody knows them. :)

The popular songs are the ones people know from their teen years, basically. :) Among the Cub Scouts, the little kids all want Weird Al "Saga Begins" and (boggle) "Black Horse and the Cherry Tree." The older parents want Simon & Garfunkel. The younger parents want Talking Heads and Police, unless they are sensitive or liberal types, in which case they also want Simon & Garfunkel. (In general, actually, most everyone wants Simon & Garfunkel or Paul Simon -- talk about cross-generational appeal...)

Because we don't want to.   :-D

I'd love to hear a recording of that one.

[RhyssaFireheart]

This thread, while going completely over my head, is interesting as hell.

That's why I thought of it when I saw an icon on LJ that said "I broke my G string yesterday while finger A minor."  Sorry, I know it's bad.

No, I didn't save the icon, just wrote the the saying down.  I wish I had the time to learn guitar, but my time management skills suck as it is, and trying to keep up with my art/writing is enough of a challenge without adding something else to the mix.

/lurkon

[Raph]

Aaaanyway. The theory I'm testing about an office guitar (also for travel, renfaire, bbqs, etc) is in contemplation of getting a Baby Taylor. Heading out tonight to get one, hopefully they still have a mahogany in stock. New guitar, woohoo!

Let me know how you like it -- I still love mine. Just remember -- treat her lightly, only put light strings and strum gentle, there's no pickguard. Did I ever tell the story of how the back on mine got INVERTED on a plane flight, by a clueless attendant jamming it into a bin? Also remember, she sounds tinny from behind the soundhole, but better to the listener.

Continuing the fakebook thread, I'm still inspired to formalize mine, but didn't get to it over the weekend.

We had a party at my place on the 4th. Plugged in amps, electrics, plus acoustic and even keyboards for a while. Based on that, the fakebook gained "Knockin' on Heaven's Door," "Black Magic Woman," "Smooth" ... the other guitar player likes Santana and rock, as you can see. He only knew the Hendrix "Watchtower," had never heard the Dylan one. And he knew "Knockin'" via GnR. So I also threw in there "Paradise City" "Welcome to the Jungle" -- huh, a straight swamp blues pretty much, who'da thunk? Sounds... different... on an acoustic -- and "Seet Child O' Mine" which of course works perfectly on acoustic.
[/quote]

[Raph]

I apologize in advance for the n00biness of this post, as it seems there a lot of people who know what they're doing in this thread.

Thanks, in large part to this thread (and GH  ) I decided to pick up the geetar as I've wanted to learn for a long time.  Went yesterday to a music shop and picked up an Epiphone Special II Les Paul . The vintage sunburst in the middle.
It's cheap, I'm learning, and the reviews were good, so i bought it. My father in law has a great Peavey amp, so I just bought a tuner, bag, new strings, and some picks (did I miss anything?)

I'd like to start taking lessons, and I found this site that looks pretty solid for beginners: Guitarnoise

Anyway, thanks to all for this thread, I'm excited to get started.

Trot

Welcome to the dark side. Your fingers will hurt. Work up to the calluses. Or just play for two hours a day obsessively, that will push thru the pain. :)

Never took lessons, so I can't speak to that...

[Raph]

Hmm. So, I imagine that for you guys some of these tunes fill the same role as the Ellis Paul and Greg Brown tunes do for me. But I barely get to slip those in when doing the jam sessions, and I don't really expect otherwise -- because nobody knows them. :)

The popular songs are the ones people know from their teen years, basically. :) Among the Cub Scouts, the little kids all want Weird Al "Saga Begins" and (boggle) "Black Horse and the Cherry Tree." The older parents want Simon & Garfunkel. The younger parents want Talking Heads and Police, unless they are sensitive or liberal types, in which case they also want Simon & Garfunkel. (In general, actually, most everyone wants Simon & Garfunkel or Paul Simon -- talk about cross-generational appeal...)

Because we don't want to.   :-D

I'd love to hear a recording of that one.

Either you are quoting Greg Brown's "Who Woulda Thunk It" or I don't know which song you are referring to.

[Sky]

Woohoo! Conversation in the guitar thread always makes me happy.

Trotsky: Woohoo! Good for you. I highly encourage everyone to pick up a musical instrument, it makes life richer. You get to stretch out creativity and also lizard brain stuff, plus some math thrown in. That Epi is way better than the guitar I started with, also way better than the guitar I re-started with a few years back (which I still use for slide, I set the action way high). Look back over the thread, I've made a few book recommendations. My first theory book (from high school) was this one. I recommend Fretboard Logic, I wish someone had turned me onto that twenty years ago! I still struggle with theory and fretboard knowledge. There's also a box set I wish I had known about before I bought I & II.

The main thing is to also take some time to play along with recordings you enjoy. Try to pick out what they're doing, spend time really critically listening and picking things apart. As long as you're playing music you enjoy, you'll have fun.

Rhyssa: Woohoo, lurker! At least you have a creative outlet in life, that's great. Music is wonderful, but I also had to make that decision when I was in high school (I was an art/science major who wanted to be DaVinci). I chose music because I sucked at art. Little did I know that apparently doesn't matter so much

Raph: Woohoo pt nauseum. Got a mahogany Baby, it's great. A lot louder than I expected, and I definitely have to change up my style so I won't break it. I still think I will at some point, it really makes me aware of how hard I play and how much I lean into the guitar. But it's cool. Got it for less than the going internet price, which was also nice. Of course, been shopping at the local store for decades, soo....The recording guy there didn't know where to find someone to do a transfer of my 1/2" 8-track master from 91. Bah. I believe you have mentioned your Baby inversion, probably a year ago when I was first considering one.

Black Magic Woman. Bah, Santana. I HIGHLY recommend this Fleetwood Mac album. Peter Green wrote Black Magic Woman and it's a great version without the Oyo Como Va crap :P I like Santana, but he's no Peter Green. That album is in my top ten live albums, which is saying something since I have a LOT of live albums (I prefer live albums over studio). I was also surprised to find they wrote 'Green Manalishi', which I know via an early 80s Judas Priest album (British Steel, iirc). I was into early Priest, Sad Wings of Destiny was a great album. Anyway. Forget Rhiannon, THIS album is the real Mac ;) They were originally playing with John Mayall, so there's yer blues.

I know 'Knockin' via a local bar band. I still dislike that song because they played an extended version every night when I was a teenager. At one local open mic (which I haven't been to in ages, we mostly go to the blues jam now) there is a kid who plays 'Watchtower' every week...the Dave Matthews version, sung like Dave, he acts like Dave with the little foot twisty thing...it's annoying imo. "Jungle" as a slow swamp blues sounds like a great idea! *yoink*

[trotski]

Raph: My fingers are already sore as hell.  Two days of learning chords and twisting my fingers into pretzels. I can already tell this is an addiction, all I've done since I got the damn thing is think about what I'm going to work on when I get home. 

Sky: Thanks for the recommendations!  I think I'll order the Fretboard Logic set at some point.  What's your opinion on tab vs. reading music? I see people in other forums go back and forth on it all the time.  But I've seen musicians in interviews talk about never learning to read music in their life.  Just wondering what the value of learning to read music is for a casual player like me, who will probably never make it pro, sadly  . (Apologies if you covered this earlier in the thread, haven't quite made it through all 15 pages yet.)

[Furiously]

Because we don't want to.   :-D

I'd love to hear a recording of that one.

Either you are quoting Greg Brown's "Who Woulda Thunk It" or I don't know which song you are referring to.

Yes I am and you did.

[Sky]

Sky: Thanks for the recommendations!  I think I'll order the Fretboard Logic set at some point.  What's your opinion on tab vs. reading music? I see people in other forums go back and forth on it all the time.  But I've seen musicians in interviews talk about never learning to read music in their life.  Just wondering what the value of learning to read music is for a casual player like me, who will probably never make it pro, sadly  . (Apologies if you covered this earlier in the thread, haven't quite made it through all 15 pages yet.)

Heh. I think I did bring this up a while ago, because I've struggled with traditional standard notation for decades now. I was good at theory, but applied theory, so I lost most of it. Now I'm working on it again, with the Berklee book I mentioned a few posts ago. That's also a great book. I'll probably never be able to sight-read complex stuff, but at least I want a working knowledge to pick apart things that aren't in tab.

A lot of musicians scorn tab as a crutch, and to a degree it is because they don't account for rhythymic notation well. But I was reading a book on 15th-16th century guitar (and viola) and tablature was the way music was originally laid out for those instruments. I find tab nice because it can lay out where to finger some things, but it's only as good as the transcriber, I've found a lot who have transcribed things quite wrong after watching the artist live.

So, I really don't have a good opinion on it ;) Tab is probably good if you're just fooling around, most musicians I know can't read standard notation. But if you start with tab, it'll be that much harder to pick up standard notation down the line if you want to. So...it's up to you :) You might want to check out that Berklee book at least and get a foundation in written notation, though it's not a theory book, it's meant to have an instructor but you could make do with a 'how to read music' book along side it. It also ramps up in difficulty pretty quick, I'm just repeating the first chapter over and over for now (easy to play for me, but tough to sight-read, calling out the notes as I play).

[Raph]

Because we don't want to.   :-D

I'd love to hear a recording of that one.

Either you are quoting Greg Brown's "Who Woulda Thunk It" or I don't know which song you are referring to.

Yes I am and you did.

I approve most mightily.

The chording is actually really simple, mostly just D and A. He does venture into alternate tunings ("Poet Game" is in open G for example), but many of his songs are standard tuning.

[Raph]

The guitar has different timbres for the same note. 5 on the low E is not the same tone as open on the A string. Hence tab lets you see the actual timbres as well as the pitch. Really well done tab (like, professionally laid out, with stems) can give as much rhythmic accuracy as standard notation can.

That said, I recommend you learn as many notations as you can. Rhythm notation (I can read two of these), standard notation, and tab. :) It just doesn't hurt to learn it. My standard notation is really really rusty now, though, I can't sight-read anymore.

[Sky]

I mostly learn by ear, using any notation systems as a crutch to learn chords (I'm poor at picking out complex chords by ear) or very fast passages.

[penfold]

Think I've played the Jackson 3 times since I bought it. Oops. It's because I'm spending hours on my acoustic, having found I can all of a sudden pick with more than just 1 finger or my thumb. Kinda clicked one day and opened up so much for me.

These two feature heavily on my playlists at the moment.

Rodrigo Y Gabriela

They headlined one of the stages at Glastonbury this year, reminded me to look them up having heard the name before somewhere else.

[Raph]

Rodrigo Y Gabriela are fantastic.

[trotski]

So after approximately a week and half, the fingers are starting to toughen up.  They definitely don't hurt as bad, after practicing, as they did last week. I've gotten chords A, E & D down.  Now I'm working on a couple songs that only utilize those three chords. Johnny B. Goode and Walk of Life.  So far, my chord progessions suck holy ass.  I play the chord -> look at my fingers -> change chords -> play chord...repeat. So it sounds completely disjointed.  I'm trying to memorize hand positions so I can make more fluid transitions.

Anyway, it's a lot of fun. I look forward to practicing everyday, and get pissed when I can't.

[Sky]

You're 3/5ths of the way to knowing all the chords. Well, the basic chord shapes anyway. C, A, G, E, D. I'm still suggesting that Fretboard Logic book I mentioned above, I wish I'd had it early on, it really puts things into context on the guitar fretboard. Once you start connecting chords, the scales follow, learn the variations and blam, fretboard mastery. Well, if blam = a significant amount of time, work and practice :P

[trotski]

Hehe.  Ahh, yes! Thanks for the reminder.  Just ordered the  Fretboard Logic box set. Amazon Prime gogogogogo!

[Raph]

You silly lead players, always pushing towards that... how about developing right hand technique before tackling scales? Sheesh.

One that would force you to learn rapid switches is U2's "Desire." The whole song is D, A, E, A, E. Yes, that "thump, thump, thump, thump-thump" riff is just that.

That said, I'd seriously work on right hand. Make sure you get the habit of both upstrokes and downstrokes -- it actually took me months to get the hang of that. Learn to appreggiate. Learn how to flatpick alternating bass. Learn how to hit only some strings and not all. Figure out how to do palm muting, and how to get the different timbres from the strings based on where you strum. Learn how to play SLOWLY, to milk a note for emotion.

A cheesy tune that forces some of this stuff -- "Clementine," believe it or not. If you can do the tune's melody just strumming, you will have learned a lot -- playing the melody as you strum can only be done if you can control your right hand. The whole song is just D and A -- you should be able to pick it out on single strings, then learn how to weave it into the strumming.

D
In a canyon, in a cavern, excavating for a
A
mine, lived a miner, 49er, and his daughter Clemen
D
tine

[Sky]

Well, of course you need to work the right hand, too. I always tend to take that for granted because it's what I worked on first and it's probably my strong point, both fingerpicking and plectrum, though I still consider it pretty weak compared to an old-timer from the '20s fingerpicking a rag or early blues. Like the complex bass lines, rhythms and melody line going over the top. It's hard for me to remember the early learning stuff because I was usually hammered while playing and it was almost 24 years ago now (!!). I should really be a lot better than I am :P

Fwiw, I don't consider myself a lead player at all, though that would also be a strength of mine if you gauge it by popular music standards. I just try to play good melodic and/or rhythmic stuff without worrying about the classification much ;) I want to get more chording into my leads and I already incorporate a lot of single-note lines into my rhythyms (people say I play guitar like a bass, I say I play both like stringed instruments!)

Anyway, to add to what Raph said, make sure you not only get good strumming, focus on alternate picking and look into different plectrum styles (when you start getting into more advanced stuff like string-skipping). Learning it right the first time will save you years of unlearning bad habits. I was self-taught for the first couple years and learned some real bad habits, when I picked up the bass I started the hard way and gained some great skills much faster.

The most important thing is to put in the practice time. It takes a metric shit-ton of practice to get good, and there are no shortcuts.

[trotski]

You silly lead players, always pushing towards that... how about developing right hand technique before tackling scales? Sheesh.

One that would force you to learn rapid switches is U2's "Desire." The whole song is D, A, E, A, E. Yes, that "thump, thump, thump, thump-thump" riff is just that.

That said, I'd seriously work on right hand. Make sure you get the habit of both upstrokes and downstrokes -- it actually took me months to get the hang of that. Learn to appreggiate. Learn how to flatpick alternating bass. Learn how to hit only some strings and not all. Figure out how to do palm muting, and how to get the different timbres from the strings based on where you strum. Learn how to play SLOWLY, to milk a note for emotion.

A cheesy tune that forces some of this stuff -- "Clementine," believe it or not. If you can do the tune's melody just strumming, you will have learned a lot -- playing the melody as you strum can only be done if you can control your right hand. The whole song is just D and A -- you should be able to pick it out on single strings, then learn how to weave it into the strumming.

D
In a canyon, in a cavern, excavating for a
A
mine, lived a miner, 49er, and his daughter Clemen
D
tine

Cool, thanks Raph.  Any other good exercises you'd recommend for the right hand?

[Raph]

Cool, thanks Raph.  Any other good exercises you'd recommend for the right hand?

Well, it's deadly dull, but just plain old alternating bass exercises.

If you want to liven it up, you could try doing a blues walking bass, like what SRV uses in "Pride and Joy". You'll need the B chord to do an E blues, though, and the B and F are probably your bugaboos at this stage.

A tune that I learned a lot of right hand from was Indigo Girls, "Blood and Fire." It uses a couple of common things you will never stop using: the Dsus-D-D9 pattern and the Asus and A2 chords. And it's also just D, A, and G. It's nice for right hand because it's a somewhat delicate song that works best with varied pacing and with flat or fingerpicking with some sensitivity to it. Pay attention to dynamics.

If G is a stretch for you, you can use the "cheat G" -- don't try to fret the two low strings, only hold down the high E at the 3rd fret. Then be sure to only strum the four highest strings.

[Sky]

The closed A-form B chord is one I still don't like. For blues, I use the B7 that goes x21202. It looks more complex than x24442 but for me it's way easier to finger, my hand just naturally slides into it. Sliding it up one fret instead of going back to the IV chord is a nice little frill. But for basic blues, I'd just go for E 022100 (maybe adding in  the seventh as an exercise 022130), A7 x02020, and the aforementioned B7.

That also sets you up for the triads I mostly use, like x212xx, a nice sliding form based on the A-string root. Also works on the E-string root as 212xxx (which would be F#7). Taking that to the D-string root, you can get a good feel for the B-string jump because it changes to xx213x (E7) and finally the G-string-based version is xxx233 (A7).

Playing this along with a pentatonic box can get you up and running with the blues pretty quick (it's my current rut :P). But it does open up all keys to you, which is good for jamming with others (darn keyboard players and horns imo).

Think the open form G is bad, wait until you play with the closed G-form. I mostly use the closed E-form and then fragments of everything else, except maybe a closed A-form minor. I use some 9th chords for T-Bone Walker-style stuff or maybe funk like James Brown, but I don't think I use sus chords. I'm a pretty basic player. You mentioned that SRV tune, I have a tough time with it as SRV played it because of the half-beat upper register strums. Those drive me nuts.

Anyway, I don't really remember where I got my strumming practice from. I can tell you that being in a metal band gave me incredible right-hand chops. I still can't down-pick (all downs, no ups) like I used to back then, it's intense. But between alternate picking and legato (hammer-ons and pull-offs), I can live with it. Playing a tune like Metallica's Master of Puppets with all downpicking is a good primer, we used to play that almost double speed with downpicking, I still get turned on listening to the one old tape I still have.

The best advice I can give (which Raph will chime in and mock me, I'm sure :P) is to listen to the whole band. I play guitar, bass and drums, and sing a bit. But I really like to do critical listening where I'll listen to a track several times and try to figure out each instrument. The bass line will give you the solid melody or at least the rhythmic pulses, the keyboardist or horns will give you interesting lead ideas. But for me, the key is the drums. I probably should've been a drummer, I key in on them almost completely. So I'd say most of my right-hand is locked in there, I try to listen for their changes and fills and follow that. The good side effect is that if you and the drummer fuck up a change, it sounds like everyone else were the ones to screw up!

Finally, Raph mentioned palm-muting. It can't be stressed how important that is. It's a primary means of string control and is crucial to rhythym guitar. Spend some time working on that and also making sure you dampen any unwanted notes (with either hand). Also try playing your rhythyms with various levels of palm-muting, you can really get more attack by playing hard but keeping it under control by muting it simultaneously.

/ramble

[trotski]

You guys fucking rule.  I'm incorporating a lot of your suggested elements into my practice routine, hopefully can speed up my learning curve a bit.

I received the Fretboard Logic box set yesterday and started reading through volume I.  It seems a little over my head at this point, but I'm trying to figure it out. They go straight into barre chords and different positions, so that will take a little getttin used to, It looks very, very solid though.

Also, my father-in-law, who has played guitar since he was kid, restrung my guitar with my new strings.  Holy crap what a difference it makes.  They're the Elixir nanoweb strings, and they are incredibly light and soooooo much easier to fret. I was shocked. Thanks guys, I can't tell you how much fun I'm having, and thanks for all the advice.

[Sky]

Light elixir strings are definitely a good way to start. I prefer old rusty medium/thick strings ;) Ok, maybe not actually rusty, but I basically don't change strings until they break, and I almost never break a string. I've yet to change the strings on my acoustic that's two or three years old, or on my SG. I did change the strings on my bass a few years ago, because I had to break it down for a thorough cleaning from sitting in the basement for a few years, oiled down the fretboard and it's been fine since. I also use a pretty thick pick (1.5mm) when I actually use a pick. Even using the 1.5mm, I wear them down like crazy and they lose the point and become rounded after six months to a year.

I like the control of the heavier picks, a holdover from playing metal and having a real tight rhythm played very hard without the flap-flap of lighter picks. Also used to break medium picks like crazy and used a bronze pick for a while. I have to always carry one on me because almost nobody uses picks that thick, so I can't really borrow someone's.

On Fretboard Logic: it gets pretty steep, pretty quick. But it's going to be great as soon as you start moving beyond the basic open positions, and everything in it is based on those open positions, just barred versions. Don't sweat it if it's over your head, just pop back in every now and again and give it a whirl. At some point the info will start to gel. I'm also really digging the Berklee book I mentioned before, it's really starting to open some things up for me, like actually trying to pay attention to the actual notes I'm playing rather than just doing forms and patterns. That's my #1 priority right now, and trust me...it ain't easy. I set that book aside to work on some other stuff because it was overloading my poor brain, it gets steep quick. So it happens to us old-timers, as well!

Anyway, glad we could help out some. Playing an instrument is one of the very best parts of life imo. Don't give up hope, you'll always think you sound pretty bad, I've been playing over twenty years and think I mostly suck. You'll always be falling into ruts and feel like you're just playing the same old crap over and over. Stick with it and you'll always get better and have fun with it.

[Amp]

Sky!!...ya punkass!

[Selby]

I'm a big fan of old worn strings.  As long as they hold a tune, they work for me.  My ugly guitar has 10 year old strings on it and I have played it so much that I have worn nubs into the strings on all of them where the fret lines are.  That guitar is to the point where I can sit down and play it hard for a few hours and only the bottom 3 strings are out of tune (not that going out of tune all of the time is that great of a thing).

Regarding picks, I like solid picks too.  I used to play with a quarter when I was first starting out because I was too poor to buy picks (combined with the music store guys being really big dicks and me being an antisocial prick).  It was fun and it's still something I do when I am trying to make it sound a certain way.  The ridges were nifty for sliding and striking the strings, I have absolutely zero professional training so I learned to improvise when I was bored.  I hardly advocate doing that ;-)

[Raph]

Elixir strings rule.

My finger oils turn even those green, though, and I wear off the nanoweb coating. :P

One thing that is a subtlety you'll just have to learn is that light and medium strings play pretty differently once you get to a certain point. I play mediums on my main acoustic.

Tonally, I prefer strings that are past the jangly phase. Eventually, I do find them to go dead, but it takes like a couple of years. I only do a full restring (and thorough cleaning/fretboard oiling) maybe once a year these days.

[Sky]

Sky!!...ya punkass!

Amp!!! Don't be such a stranger, mang.

Elixirs: I hate them because I destroy the coating and it's godawful. I still have an old set on my crappy guitar (the one set up for slide). I really need to change them. The bridge end are totally shredded, the coating is all over the place.

Selby, I find that newer strings are always going out of tune on me, I bend a LOT. More Buddy Guy than Albert King, but a 2-step bend will throw most new strings out of tune, even with a good stretching. Takes so long to get them broken in properly. My older strings are like rocks, I can go nuts for an hour and have them still in tune. Of course, if you have a locking nut system, most of those troubles go away, but I don't want to deface my SG with one.

[Nebu]

I came across a neat lesson on YouTube and thought I'd share.  It's pretty fundamental theory, but it has been a nice exercise for a bassist like myself trying to learn to become a better guitar player. 

Jazz guitar - walking bass lesson.

Edit: sorry for the topic change mid stream.  All of this "learning to play" stuff has gotten me motivated to practice the 6 string more 

[Sky]

Bass lines are one of my big concerns playing acoustic guitar. It's funny playing blues, because I'm getting better at the guitar parts, but I don't know a lot of the sweet patterns for stuff like the sixth scale, so my bass lines are just real rote patterns. I've actually been playing bass the last couple nights, I found an old bass instruction book from 73 with some cool blues and funk stuff in it.

My main problem is splitting the melodies, playing a bass line independent of the melody line is damned tough for me. I've been getting a little better, I can mostly do a John Lee Hooker basic thing, as long as I don't try getting too clever.