Embarrassing gear dilemma... can you help???

[eittol31]

Hi guys. I have a somewhat embarassing dilemma. I've been playing guitar for about 8 years, and I have a decent idea of what I'm doing as far as playing skills go, but when it comes to gear, I'm pretty much clueless... when I play with other musicians, they'll talk about their speaker systems, etc, etc, and I'm completely in the dark. (I've never had enough money to be able to concern myself too much with buying new stuff, so I never really learned about it.) In conversation, everyone seems to already know what everything is... so my question is: How did y'all learn about all this stuff? If anyone could suggest a website that explains the stuff in layman's terms, that would be great, and you would be my hero. (For at least the next five minutes or so.) Or, alternately, if someone wants to just give me a solid definition of some stuff (cab, monitor,etc) as well as explain what some of the numbers mean when regarding speaker power, that would be really awesome. I don't, however, need someone to fill me in on how pathetic my predicament is... because I'm already aware of that. Trust me, I had to suck down all my pride to write this thing.  Thanks!

[FC]

Way too broad. I suggest you focus your efforts on something more defined like amplifiers or cabinets and take it from there. To keep things simple you could focus on cabinets. Find out what is an open back and a closed back cab. Research speakers and find out how to match them to a cab and how to match that cab to an amp. The find out what do you need to do to...

I hope you get the idea. Narrow it down and take it one step at a time. If it clicks and you enjoy your quest for knowledge it will come to you automatically.

[eittol31]

Yeah, I know it's a broad topic, but thanks for your help. I'll go check those things out. I've tried looking some stuff up online, but I usually just wind up with websites trying to sell me stuff, and they don't explain anything. Anyone who wants to explain how they first started learning about gear is more than welcome to.

[Jamesssssssss]

There are lots of useful stickies posted on here that will help you out, basicly just frequent this place and you will be a gear head in no time, if you ever need to know anything about effects pedals, then im the one-stop-shop haha.

[GPW]

  It's a Girl !!!  Where's  Noodle  with the big Welcome   You know how excited he gets !!! 

[GPW]

Eitt, Just like anything else , it takes a good deal of time to become familiar with the available gear ... amps , speakers , pedals etc. etc.   Best start with one thing at a time .... Like reading Andrews Amp Faqs ...  Armed with such information , you can then ask more specific questions...  and get better defined answers ...

 Oh yes , and WELCOME !!!   

[Glassy]

There are lots of useful stickies posted on here that will help you out, basicly just frequent this place and you will be a gear head in no time, if you ever need to know anything about effects pedals, then im the one-stop-shop haha.

This ^^^^^

I didn't think much about gear or tone for the first 8 years of my playing either (not kidding). No need for embarrassment.
I've learned just about everything I know of guitars from this forum.
Check out this thread on amps for starters: http://guitarforum.net/guitarist/index.php/topic,13500.0.html


Welcome to THE Guitar Forum.

[Q]

Definitely nothing to be embarassed about.

To be fair a lot of players out there get so caught up in gear they forget to actually play 

Just stick around and you'll learn in no time 

[OysterBoy]

Welcome aboard.  

Guitar forums like this one is a hotbed of info on musical items.

Browse browse browse.  

[Mushroony]

Hi there. First of all: Welcome to the forum.

How we all know about this stuff? Well tbh, you just found the way. We all started where you stand now: as a complete stranger in a world of thousands of possibilities. You have to start somewhere, and as the biggest factor in your tone is your amp, I'd suggest you start there.
You are lucky, because AK (Andrew) has just made a huge effort and started an AMP FAQ topic in this forum. So i suggest you start reading this.
I'm pretty sure you'll come along terms you never heard of. If you do, don't hessitate to ask about them in this topic here. We are a community that exists to help eachother out with guitar related stuff, no matter if you're a newbie that takes his first steps in this big mean guitar world, or if you're a pro on a world tour.
As you read your way through the hundreds of topics about amps, you will learn more and more about them.
You should simultaniously read about guitars too, because no matter how important an amp is for your tone, you still need a guitar to make the music on. One can't do anything without the other. Same again: if you come along a term you don't understand, ask it in here. And if you have a specific question, make a topic about it. We will help you solve your problems.

After you gained enough knowledge about guitars and amps, you can start focussing on the details, that shape your tone to the last detail: cabs, effects, pickups, picks, speakers, mics, cables (yes, even they matter!), etc...

I've been doing the above for over 8 years now, and i must say: there is still alot to learn. But tbh, i've learned a shitload about gear since i started reading about it on the internet, and it has improved my tone and joy of playing guitar ALOT.

So: WELCOME TO THE ENORMOUS SOURCE OF INFORMATION, you'll see that in the information-mountains, there is a happy jolly family called 'the guitar forum'

[Noodle]

  It's a Girl !!!  Where's  Noodle  with the big Welcome   You know how excited he gets !!! 

Sorry I'm late folks..........


..  A GIRL?!!?!?
OMGOMGOGMGOMG. married?! KIDS?!

Hey, I'm noodle!! 

[OysterBoy]

This may blow your mind but stars hang around in guitar forums too. We won't know who they are though. 

I know that Greg Allman hang around in one of 'em. 

[Glassy]

  It's a Girl !!!  Where's  Noodle  with the big Welcome   You know how excited he gets !!! 

Sorry I'm late folks..........


..  A GIRL?!!?!?
OMGOMGOGMGOMG. married?! KIDS?!

Hey, I'm noodle!! 

This may blow your mind but stars hang around in guitar forums too. We won't know who they are though. 

I know that Greg Allman hang around in one of 'em. 

Dave's a star. He's got tshirts and his own line of strings.

[Apopholis]

I know that Greg Allman hang around in one of 'em. 

Which one?!!! Please, please tell me!!!

[BloodyKnuckle]

this may be helpful  http://guitarforum.net/guitarist/index.php/topic,13500.0.html
it is all about guitar amplification