Guitars and Strings at a low cost

Plectrums

2011-02-19T10:28:00.000-08:00

VariGrip

2010-12-07T10:14:00.001-08:00

Whether you want to build dexterous, resilient fingers for hours of guitar wizardry, guitar hero wizardry or if you're just looking to strangle a lot of people with your bare hands, the Planet Waves Varigrip Adjustable Hand Exerciser will get your digits in top form.

The Varigrip conditions your fingers, hand, wrist and forearm with adjustable tension and even simulated strings to keep your fingers in playing shape even when you're away from your guitar. Set tension from light to hard individually for each finish, so if you've got weak pinkies, build them up to snuff.

You can perform these exercises with the Varigrip:

Palm to Tip: Strengthens forearm, wrist, and hand muscles. Practicing scale pattern will build speed and dexterity
Thumb to tip: Builds individual finger strength along with forearm muscles. Practicing scale patterns will build speed and dexterity
Thumb Squeeze: Strengthens thumb-area muscles while increasing endurance
Fist Grip: Strengthens and increases endurance of entire hand and forearm muscles
Chord Press: Builds endurance in the thumb and forearm for chord playing. Great for beginners learning bar chords
Callus Builder: Flip the rubber palm grip to piston side of the Varigrip to expose the simulated strings. Use the palm to tip, thumb to tip, or chord press exercises to build and maintain calluses while building muscle strength and endurance

leads

2010-11-21T08:48:00.000-08:00

Pedals and Effects

2010-11-21T02:47:00.000-08:00

Great interface

or perhaps the line 6?

Bass wahs

Guitar Wahs

TOP DEAL!!

String care

2010-11-10T02:24:00.000-08:00

Its an important and often overlooked subject. The guitar is a sensitive instrument but the strings are also to be cared for.

Over time grime builds up over and under the strings and they begin to rust, just as you would wash your hands on a regular basis - you also need to clean your strings on a regular basis.

A simple rule of thumb: clean your strings after each practice session and change your strings on a regular basis.

Q: how often do I change my strings?
A: that all depends on the use of the guitar, if you are a heavy user change them each fortnight like I do, if you are a low to medium user once a month should be fine.

Q: What do I clean my strings with?
A: I use both of these to clean my strings

and the swipe its a great product and is chemical free.

Q: How will I know my strings need changing?

A: your strings will generally sound dull, the 1st string is usually my tester string. Pinch the string and run your index finger and thumb along the string. If it feels course or uneven or generally unclean - its time for a change!

Q: what strings do you recommend?
A: every one is different but the strings that I tend to have used most over the years are Ernie Balls for the electric and I like Martin for the Acoustic. There are tonnes of strings out there and each brand has its own merits.

Start off with these two and you wont go far wrong!

For the electric guitar

For the acoustic

Q: Where do you buy your strings and cleaners from?
A: Online! why would I spend £5-£6 when I can spend £3-£4 for the same product. I buy from Amazon, I have provided the link above which will take you direct.

Q: How do you cut the strings and fit them?
A: You can manually loosen the strings off with the tuning peg one by one and then feed the string through the bridge of the guitar, however this is time consuming, I slacken the string off then cut it using the below tool, it is also a saving grace when putting the strings back on as it takes the pressure off endlessly winding the string by hand.

Q: Any tips on changing the guitar strings?
A: Yes! Here is an article I produced in the summer:

Guitar Strings Change

Use the winder to loosen off the strings one by one. when the string is loosened enough it will be easy to take from the nut on the head stock and feed the string from the rear of the guitar via the bridge.

string change

Notice how the nut of the string comes out first? This is the part that holds the string in place on the bridge.
Once you have removed all of the strings from the guitar, wind them up and discard them into the plastic bag – NB make sure none of them have dropped on the floor, it is very painful if you stand on one and it pierces the skin!!
Next use your antibacterial wipe to give the guitar a good clean around the scratch plate and pick ups and the neck and fret board, avoid touching the magnetic parts of the pick up or anything metal with the antibacterial wipe. Note that I take all of the strings off in order to give the guitar a good clean.
Now it is time to open up your new strings and lay them out on the work surface (in my case the sofa!)

Guitar strings

You will Notice that the Ernie Ball strings are all in individual paper folders which are numbered according to their thickness.

Guitar strings

Select the string labeled 10 (if buying the electric guitar strings above) and feed it through the back of the bridge in the place of string one (the thinnest string) the nut of the string wants to be the last thing to go.

string change

The nut will stop the string from going any further and has attached the string tight.
If the bridge is not aligned with the holes on the back of the guitar you can use the tremolo bar to align the two together to aid the string going through the gap

Feed the string over the bridge saddle

Next feed the string through the gap in the nut at the top of the neck and then insert through the hole in the machine head

pull tight, then loosen off the string just enough to wrap around the machine head once, hold the loop and wind with your winder.

As you can see all of my strings are wound the same way, making for easier tuning. If you wrap it round clockwise on the initial wind as above the string should fall to the right as illustrated. Turn the tuning peg anticlockwise to tighten.
The String winder will on average save you about 30 minutes per string change and alot of frustration as tightening by hand is a lengthy process.

Once you have secured your top e string , the process with the other five strings, remember they are numbered for your ease of use. Next is the 013 gauge string the b string and follow this process until all 6 strings have been secured.
Spot check: are all the strings wound the same way? Are all the strings fed through the guides on the nuts of the bridge and the nuts of the neck?

Good!! now it is time to snip the ends of the strings off to tidy up the appearance of the guitar and avoid poked eyes!

Guitar Cases

2010-11-06T16:03:00.000-07:00

Here is a selection of guitar cases

Above for a dreadnought acoustic guitar.

Above: for a regular acoustic guitar.

Above: for a single cutaway acoustic guitar

Above: a gig bag for acoustic guitar

Above: electric guitar case

for guitar lessons in nottingham visit www.eventstudiosnottingham.co.uk

Amps

2010-11-03T16:01:00.000-07:00

Blackstar
20W

40W

Line 6 Amps

Marshall Amps

The Daddy!

Acoustic Guitars

2010-11-01T02:42:00.001-07:00

Best guitars under £50!!

Best guitars under £200
Tanglewood

Brunswick

Yamaha

Childrens Guitars

2010-10-29T10:29:00.000-07:00

This is a great children's electric guitar but there is limited stock available.

What a great price!

One for the Spongebob fans!

Electric Guitars

2010-10-29T08:20:00.000-07:00

This months best picks

Is this the cheapest guitar online at the moment? its almost give away price! only two in stock!!

This is a great guitar, very close to the real deal!!

Yamaha in Black

and in cool blue!

And sunburst!! (Nice)

Yamaha electric guitars are a great alternative to a fender if you are

not wanting to spend a fortune!

Capo's

2010-09-29T15:44:00.001-07:00

I have just purchased this capo myself.

Tuners

2010-09-18T10:41:00.000-07:00

Home

2010-09-18T10:36:00.000-07:00

Books

Electric Guitar Strings

Amps and Effects

Acoustic Guitar Strings

Books

2010-09-18T10:02:00.000-07:00

Electric Guitar Strings

2010-09-18T08:14:00.000-07:00

Acoustic Guitar Strings

2010-09-18T08:10:00.000-07:00

Ernie Ball Strings

2010-08-20T12:56:00.000-07:00

GREAT PRICES!

Amps and FX

2010-08-12T14:59:00.000-07:00

This is the best amp by far for under £90.

Essential for recording - as used by www.eventstudiosnottingham.co.uk. Includes every classic amp, fx pedal you could ever wish for.

Recommended Guitars - Amplifiers and Accessories

2010-07-18T09:41:00.001-07:00

Welcome to Rob Greco's guitar recommendation page for guitars and accessories.

I have cherry picked all the best deals for quality instruments via Monster on-line shop AMAZON- cheap and 100% SAFE

Rob Greco is an experienced guitar teacher in Nottingham UK (www.guitarlessonsnottingham.com).

Just click on the item you wish to purchase and you will be forwarded to Amazon - save yourself time and effort here! You can also read the reviews for the products.

Get your hands sorted!

Ultra cool ultra small

Standard Tuner

Acoustic Gig Bag

Electric Gig Bag

A must have book

String winder and cutter

String cleaner - great value

Best Electric Guitar for under £45

Best Acoustic Guitar for under £50

Best Electro-Acoustic for under £60

Best 12 String Acoustic Guitar for under £60

Best Bass Guitars for under £60

SG style guitar great for Metal and Rock music

Best Electric Guitar packs for under £70 (ALL THAT YOU NEED) Limited stock

Children's Guitars

If you are taking guitar lessons you will need a decent document holder

At the time of looking, these are the cheapest in the UK I could find whilst retaining quality.

I suggest you bookmark this page as I update the products.

The products are via Amazon - a trusted and safe site.