Good Guitar Site for Beginners?

[NewSc2]

Okay, corresponding with a thread I posted a couple weeks ago about what guitar to get... i bought a Fender Squier Strat with a Fender 15w amp. It's pretty sweet, although I really don't know how to play an electric guitar. I played a bit of acoustic guitar, so I know how to hold a guitar and how to play, however, all these tone/distortion/this funny rod thing sticking out at the end of the strings/amp things are weirding me out.

Is there any site that explains how a guitar works, and how to play an electric guitar? (I just need to know the basics of how to hold/stand/etc.)

 

[Atrail]

Just go to google and type beginner guitar lessons. There are lots of sites to help you.
First you will learn the basic chords. Try to practice at least 15-30 minutes a day and you will see improvement.
Best of Luck!

 

[mrCide]

cyberfret

musician forums

mxtabs

harmony central

 

[wolf papa]

Funny rod thing = whammy bar = good way to get a guitar out of tune

 

[NewSc2]

Originally posted by: wolf papa
Funny rod thing = whammy bar = good way to get a guitar out of tune

why do they put it there then...

 

[NewSc2]

Originally posted by: Atrail
Just go to google and type beginner guitar lessons. There are lots of sites to help you.
First you will learn the basic chords. Try to practice at least 15-30 minutes a day and you will see improvement.
Best of Luck!

looking at the 1st google searched link now

 

[yellowperil]

The rod thing is a tremolo bar. You use it by screwing it in (not too tight, just so it hangs freely) and then pulling it away from the guitar *gently* back and forth. What it does is pull the bridge away from the guitar (the metal thing where the strings come out of) so it creates that vintage 'wavey' sound. I never use it but it's a standard fixture on most Strats. It will mess up the tuning if you pull it too hard (and even possibly pull the bridge out - not good).

The tone knobs are like an EQ knob, turn it down and it takes off the high end off and up and vice versa. There's also this 5-way selector switch, that controls which pickups are 'active'. Position 1 selects the pickup closest to the neck, 2 selects the neck and the middle pickup, 3 selects all three, 4 the middle and the pickup closest to the bridge, and 5 the bridge only. For a Squier I would stick to position 2 for rhythm playing and 4 for lead playing.