Guitar Noob

[Mcrish]

Hey all, im new here and have been reading about a few things im not too sure about. these being types of pick-ups, bridges etc. when ive been reading about what makes a good metal guitar.

The reason i ask is because i have a crap guitar (it was free so cant complain) that doesnt make the sound i desire. I have no idea what sort it is because it has no sort of marking or identification on it but it seems very old.

So what makes a good metal guitar? ie. how many pick ups, what sort of pick ups, do u need one of those bars (is that called a whammy bar?) is 24 frets really required?

And what are "floyd bridges"? And also whats the deal with "humbucker" pickups compared with others?

One other thing i would like to ask is what is shredding? Is that like going up and down scales really fast or something?

Thanks a lot

oh and i love this thing -------->

 

[Hexer]

the number of pickups a guitar has doesnt make it more or less metal.
about pickups:
there are singlecoils and humbuckers, humbuckers look more or less like a "double-singlecoil" humbuckers are used more often in metal, because theyre generally louder and sound heavier than singlecoils.
you don't really need 24 frets, depens on if you want to play that high up on the neck, a lot of guitarrists are totaly satisfied with 22 or even 21 frets, other dont even touch guitars that dont have 24......
also, you do not really need a whammy bar, thats also pretty much a question of preference. if you play rythm-stuff only, you wont find much use for it. soloing of course is another story, here you may find it very usefull.
shredding is mainly really fast soloing (examples would be in Children of Bodom, Arch Enemy and quite a lot of other metal-bands)
the Floyd Rose (or "Floyd" in short version) is a special type of bridge. It's good for tuning-stability, especially if you use your whammy alot. for a beginner, I'd say a Floyd may be a bit too much, as it makes string-changes and tuning a little more complex (at least, it'll take more time) though you get used to it pretty fast.

hope I could help you a bit

 

[Sunbane]

Hexer said it all. =)

Also check out this thread:¨
http://www.ultimatemetal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=134813
There are good advice there, except for the one saying "go for a fucking Gibson".

'bane

 

[Indiooo]

If you're just starting out please stay away from Floyd Rose trems. It's easy to learn how to maintain such a trem working perfectly but it takes practice, and you should be practicing your guitar playing, not guitar maintenance.

 

[Mcrish]

thanks a lot guys, one more thing, does anybody have a pic or something of a "floyd" compared to a normal bridge.

im not really a beginner, i just have played acoustic mostly im just not too sure what people were talking about when they mentioned those things i asked about. not up with the jargon really.

cheers.

 

[Sunbane]

Floyd Rose style tremolo bridge:

http://www.mircweb.com/images/floyd.jpg

Vintage style tremolo bridge:

http://www.mircweb.com/images/fstyletail.jpg

Tune-o-matic style fixed bridge (non tremolo):

http://www.dillionguitars.com/guitar/electric/DR500/DR500XI-ds.jpg

Strat style fixed bridge (non-tremolo, but easilly mistaken for a vintage tremolo at a distance):

http://www.mannmadeusa.com/2240n.jpg

 

[markssocool123]

Humbuckers are better for metal, so are thick strings - but thin ones work good too. On metal <most types anyway> the tempo/speed usually changes from verse to chorus to bridge. Quick downstrokes work like a charm, but a nice rythmical strumming can be good too. Hope that helps.

 

[Bryant]

thanks a lot guys, one more thing, does anybody have a pic or something of a "floyd" compared to a normal bridge.

im not really a beginner, i just have played acoustic mostly im just not too sure what people were talking about when they mentioned those things i asked about. not up with the jargon really.

cheers.

I think Bane nailed the tremelo question.

shredder - guitar player who likes to play fast and technical stuff
Floyd Rose - tremola (tremelo) that can alter the string tension up and down to make the note played go up or down.

Bryant