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Since I've still got a little bit of newbie afterbirth
clinging to me, I think I can throw a few suggestions
at you. I started a little less than a year ago and
had no formal training whatsoever. I still don't. I
learned to play everything I know how to play from
tab. I got a Ventures tab book, numerous tabs from
the internet and a there's a pretty cool set of "How
To Play Surf Guitar" DVD's that I leared how to play
Miserlou and Penetration from. Formal training would
probably help you though, as the majority of people I
know that play do have at least some. If you talk to
me in terms of string-fret, I can follow you, but if
you start talking about major 3rds and perfect 5ths
I'll just kind of stare vacantly at you, and might
drool on your shoes. Every once in a while folks will
lapse into music-speak and I'm lost, so I'm planning
on possibly taking some lessons or buying a book to
try to facilitate the learning process. But to start
with, just pick something up and start trying to play
it.
As far as gear goes, one of those Squier starter paks
might not be bad idea depending on what you want to
spend. There are a whole lot of options for lower
cost gear, so the amount you're willing to sink is a
major determining factor in what you want to start
looking at. Mexican made Fenders are very nice, and
I've seen a couple of pretty cheap Yamaha models with
single coils that looked pretty surfish. (Doesn't
Link Wray play a Yamaha?) My personal choice was a
Vista series Squier Jagmaster, a line which was
discontinued but still pretty commonly availabe on
eBay, and I paid about $300 and love it. I play that
through a Fender Frontman Reverb practice amp most of
the time. Most guys here have got more money in their
guitars and amps, I don't because I'm primarily a bass
player. (How many other bass players besides Phil are
there on here?) Just look around, and keep posting
questions to this list because this is probably the
single best resource you'll find. Lots of cool guys
in cool bands here.
~R
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