Learning guitar can be a very complicated thing. Your hands hurt from pressing the strings and contorting in ways that you are not used to. Hours of practice when you first start out can seem like nothing more than running in circles and that you not getting any better.

             Having your own private teacher can get expensive after only a few lessons. There are many things stacked up against you when you want to learn or get better on the instrument.

            The Fretlight Company attempts to easy some of these tensions and provides you with your very own tutor. Fretlight guitars use software on your computer and a unique fret board that lights up, illuminating where to play and what notes to hit next. It is almost like guitar hero with a real guitar.

            On each fret, there are six tiny LED lights (one for each string) which light up and tell the guitarist when to play a certain note. Once you download the software onto your computer and plug the guitar into the USB drive with a special cable, you are ready for a guitar lesson to begin.

            You can pick any number of songs to learn from the massive library that Fretlight has and play along to it. First the song will play with the guitar part in it, so that you can get used to how it sounds and the feel of the song.

            Then the background music will continue to play when you want to play along, but the guitar part will cut out and you will follow along with the song, being guided by the LED lights that flicker on and off. You can adjust the tempo of the song if it is too fast for you and slow it down to something more manageable.

            There are numerous types of software that you can download from the company to suit the style you want to play. If you just want to learn chords, there is software which teaches only chords.

            There is also software for how to get better at improvising, soloing, using different scales, and finger picking. The sound of your guitar plays through the speakers of your computer along with the background drums, bass and other elements.

             Fretlight guitars are perfect if you are just starting out and want to get used to playing simple notes and holding down the strings. The guitars are also great for guitarists how have been playing a long time and want to get better at a certain style. The guitars are also well made and sound great to play even when you are not using the teaching functions.

   Photo from WagnerGuitars.com        

              Adjusting, modifying and fixing your guitar can seem like an overwhelming experience at first. There are many factors that can greatly change the overall sound quality of your guitar; for better or for worse. It is important to take your guitar to someone who knows how to handle the subtle nuances that can improve your playing experience.

            Larry Wagner, based out of Maumee, Ohio has been playing guitar for over 50 years and has been customizing and fixing guitars for the last 30 years. Wagner owns his own guitar shop and is known in the area as one of the best at handling all questions and problems related to guitars. You can visit his website at www.wagnerguitars.com.

            Wagner has a few tips to fixing and maintain your guitar:

1.      Set up is very impotant

• Intonation and string length have to be correct.
• Factory set ups leave much to be desired and often need work.
• The truss rod should be checked and adjusted, along with the action and bridge.
• Fresh strings will always help the sound.

“All this will help the guitar sound better because it is in tune with itself and the player will be much more comfortable with it,” Wagner said

2.      How to fix fret buzz

• First step is to adjust the action.
• After that, the problem could be that the frets are uneven.
• Commonly, there could be fret wear due to a groove created from pressing down on the strings.
• Sometimes on a well-used guitar the frets come out of the fret board, especially if it has binding.
• Frets then need to be reseated and high spots need to be filled and re-crowned.
• Frets that are coming out of the fret board may need to be entirely removed and replaced.

3.      Fixing Cracks

• Moisture needs to be introduced to the guitar using a humidifier.
• A humidifier will swell the wood and will close the crack as much as possible.
• If the crack is not too bad, glue or a tape clamp might work.
• Small cleats of spruce may be added to the inside to reinforce the wood.

“Other times you may need an inside caul and a piece of Plexiglas on the outside along with a spreader clamp across the body of the guitar to hold things together while gluing,” Wagner said.

4.      How to care for your guitar regularly

• Proper humidity of 45 to 50% is key.
• Avoid extreme temperature changes.
• When finished playing, wipe the neck, strings and body of your guitar with a polishing cloth.
• When not in use, keep you guitar in the case or on a proper stand, this will prevent accidents
• When changing strings, clean the fret board and oil it once a year.

5.      Strings make a difference

• Strings can greatly change the sound from mellow to heavy.
• The gauge, outer wrap and inner core all affect the sound.
• There is old flat wound, nickel round wound or stainless steel wound.
• There is hex core or round core.
• There is light gauge or heavy gauge.
• GHS strings have a tone chat on their packaging. (www.ghsstrings.com)

6.      Pickups

• Pickups will sound like they look.
• Single coil will sound thinner and brighter.   
• Humbuckers will have more output and mid-range.
• Cheap guitars usually have bad pickups that can be replaced to get a much better sound

All these factors will help your guitar sound better and help to keep it sounding great for years to come.