Short stubby fingers = what guitar ?

baldy

Again, thanks for all the advice.
It is Justin Guitar I am following.
On the 12th fret I have the gap between the 6th string & fret at 2mm & on the 1st string & fret at 1.5mm.
That is the lowest action I can get by adjusting the bridge.
I was advised that that is a good height for a beginner , is that reasonable or should it be lower?
Any lower would require the nut being filed.
The neck is straight & I am using no 10 regular slinky"s.
My stepson, who has played guitar for nearly 20 years, has played mine & reckons it is not bad.
He has offered to give me some pointers but said that as he is self taught & knows that he has an awful lot of bad habits that i would be better off at least learning the basics properly first before he gets involved. 

Neill

Years ago, a lot of guitars at the cheaper end were truly awful and many potential guitarists must have fallen by the wayside not realising the thing they were trying to learn on was almost unplayable.  These days even the cheapest electric guitar will be fine, providing it has been reasonably well set up, so don't fall into the trap of thinking you need a different guitar because your hands don't seem to "fit" the fretboard. 

It is a common refrain that "my hands are the wrong size/shape" and I well remember thinking that mine were much too big to play a guitar.  Of course these days I think my hands are too small..

You may find, in time, that you prefer a particular scale length, a particular style/thickness of neck, fret size, string guage etc etc. but the important thing at this stage is to play what you have and get reasonably competent before wasting, sorry, spending, money on more guitars. 

IMHO it would be worth taking your LP to a good technician to get it properly set up. I appreciate you can do it yourself these days with youtube and that but a profession will do it better/more thoroughly.      

Modellista

baldy said:

Again, thanks for all the advice.
It is Justin Guitar I am following.
On the 12th fret I have the gap between the 6th string & fret at 2mm & on the 1st string & fret at 1.5mm.
That is the lowest action I can get by adjusting the bridge.
I was advised that that is a good height for a beginner , is that reasonable or should it be lower?
Any lower would require the nut being filed.
The neck is straight & I am using no 10 regular slinky"s.
My stepson, who has played guitar for nearly 20 years, has played mine & reckons it is not bad.
He has offered to give me some pointers but said that as he is self taught & knows that he has an awful lot of bad habits that i would be better off at least learning the basics properly first before he gets involved. 

That action's totally fine.

A common story you'll find on here is people starting on terrible instruments with heavy strings and high actions.  It makes initial progress very slow, but once you can play something dodgy like that, anything else is like a dream come true.  Learning on an electric with easy low action might give you quicker initial progress but you'll struggle again when moving to acoustic.   I'd always recommend learning the basics on an acoustic to start with for those reasons.  

As for your stepson, there's nothing wrong with being self-taught!  If he's a competent player he must have worked out decent technique for himself.  I would have thought the obvious thing would be to get him to check your technique over.  If you play him a few chords he could give you some pointers a lot more quickly than we can on here.  The A chord being a case in point - he'd straight away be able to advise the most suitable fingering for that chord if he can see your fingers in person as it were.

Voxman

I doubt your fingers are shorter or stubbier than Johnny Hiland:

Voxman

...and Tele necks are not exactly wide....

baldy

i am not saying being self taught is a bad thing at all.
What he (my stepson) said was that he wished he had learned to play properly (possibly properly is the wrong word but hopefully you know what I mean) first as he thinks that the way he taught himself & therefore plays has held him back & made things take longer than he now thinks they may have, if that makes sense.
BTW his playing sounds pretty damn fine to me & if I could be a quarter of the player he is I would be more than happy.
When he plays things like both lead parts from Painkiller & plays For the Love God it gets the hairs on the back of neck standing up.
He really is quite good.

Modellista

baldy said:

i am not saying being self taught is a bad thing at all.
What he (my stepson) said was that he wished he had learned to play properly (possibly properly is the wrong word but hopefully you know what I mean) first as he thinks that the way he taught himself & therefore plays has held him back & made things take longer than he now thinks they may have, if that makes sense.
BTW his playing sounds pretty damn fine to me & if I could be a quarter of the player he is I would be more than happy.
When he plays things like both lead parts from Painkiller & plays For the Love God it gets the hairs on the back of neck standing up.
He really is quite good.

I do agree with that, being self-taught is good in terms of having your own style, but it can take ages to work stuff out that a teacher could tell you in a few minutes.  In a way he's done all the hard work, all you have to do is steal it off him!!!

baldy

"In a way he's done all the hard work, all you have to do is steal it off him!!!"
Now that is an idea !

Dominic

p90fool said:

This guy is a fantastic player, he copes pretty well with fat fingers on a standard sized guitar neck. 
It can be done!

"That Guy " is Redd Volkaert .......played with Merle Travis for 25 years and one of the best Country and Western Swing players in the world .........yes ,his short ,fat stubby fingers stopped him being Steve Vai thank God

rico

You may find that a Fender scale length would provide you the precious extra space on the fretboard. 

p90fool

Lol, I know who he is, just thought the OP might not!

baldy

I tried someones tele earlier & immediately the neck felt more comfortable & open chords were easier for my hand & the guitar itself felt more comfortable & better balanced.
I think that both the tele & the strat are both 25.5" scale are the neck profiles fairly similar ?
If so I have the chance of a dirt cheap unused Squier Bullet Strat for £30.
I am wondering whether to get that or just stick with the LP copy I have ?
Obviously I just need to practice more but I wonder that if I find another style of guitar to the LP easier/more comfortable I may be better going with that to learn on ?

Teyeplayer

rico said:

You may find that a Fender scale length would provide you the precious extra space on the fretboard. 

This^ would also be my advice, particularly whilst you are getting used to playing. 

As for that pesky a-chord, I stopped playing it ‘correctly’ as soon as I found the 2-1-3 trick 20-odd years ago and have never looked back. There are loads of tricks like this which help each of us overcome hurdles as we progress. Hunt around for those tricks but also don’t be afraid of developing your own way of doing things. Yes, some will tell you that your technique is wrong but if it allows you to play what you want the way you want it, then go with what works for you -you’ll find most of us are self taught in this very way. 

Good luck with the journey of learning.

rossi

My hands are small and stubby .A span of 7 1/2 from little finger to thumb .I have tried to learn many chords trying to play jazz and never got there .I was on a train once reading a guitar mag and got talking to the guy sitting next to me who also played guitar .He told me that many of the great jazz players only played four strings anyway .That got me thinking and I now play jazz mainly inventing chords as I go along to suit .I even play at gigs .I cant do the proper blues shuffle so all my blues are A or  E  to suit or a sort of cheat shuffle  .After struggling through the 60's on cheap guitars  with thick horrible ,and crucially ,wide  necks I went back to playing  a few years ago  by buying a Fender with a 7.5 radius .It was only when I got a 9.5 radius  that I really felt at home .I had never played a Gibson  much until a few years ago and it clicked immediately .There is always a way round and if the books dont work ,just work it out yourself to suit .Django only had 2 fingers but he didnt play metal so who knows.I  have never played the A shape  chord further up the fret board .I just barre across  with two fingers  and dont play the top string .

baldy

Next stupid question on the same theme.
I missed out on the cheap bullet, but a "strat" type guitar definitely feels easier for me to play.
Today I tried a Chord, Yamaha Pacifica 012 & a Squier Affinity strat ,all with whammy bars & fitted with "9" guage strings.
They all felt easier, more comfortable & better balanced than the LP copy I have.
They ranged in price from £120 for the Chord to £200 for the Affinity with the Pacifica at £170.
The LP copy doesn"t sound or play bad, according to my stepson who can play, it has a lowish action & Wilkinson "Hot" Zebra pickups (I think) but the "strat" styles feel more comfortable to me.
So what I am after is recommendations for a "strat" style up to about £200, maybe £250 max.
I have been offered slightly more than I gave for the LP copy so selling it on won"t mean I have lost any money.

Neill

baldy said:

Next stupid question on the same theme.
I missed out on the cheap bullet, but a "strat" type guitar definitely feels easier for me to play.
Today I tried a Chord, Yamaha Pacifica 012 & a Squier Affinity strat ,all with whammy bars & fitted with "9" guage strings.
They all felt easier, more comfortable & better balanced than the LP copy I have.
They ranged in price from £120 for the Chord to £200 for the Affinity with the Pacifica at £170.
The LP copy doesn"t sound or play bad, according to my stepson who can play, it has a lowish action & Wilkinson "Hot" Zebra pickups (I think) but the "strat" styles feel more comfortable to me.
So what I am after is recommendations for a "strat" style up to about £200, maybe £250 max.
I have been offered slightly more than I gave for the LP copy so selling it on won"t mean I have lost any money.

If you can afford to I wouldn't part with the LP at least not just yet. 2 reasons,  first it's nice to have different sounding guitars, and when you are in this learning phase you might find you swap between the two as you encounter new things. For example the Strat might be easier for chords, the LP for soloing and riffs etc. 

Another consideration, and don't dismiss it at this stage, I bet you are playing sitting down?  Try playing standing up because guitars feel/play very different when "strapped on".  You might say you're a long way from playing with a band but even so, playing stood up is a different vibe - you may even find it easier, I do, in fact I never play sitting down though I should do at my age..  

As for the different rigs, it's difficult to find a bad strat style guitar even at budget prices.  I think the Pacifica is a terrific guitar but all the cheap Squiers are great value as well.  

One more thing, don't assume thinner strings = easier to play.  People use thin strings because they are easier to bend. That may not be an issue for you at this stage and there's a lot to be said for heavier strings if you are learning chords as you can have the action lower.

Maynehead

baldy said:

Next stupid question on the same theme.
I missed out on the cheap bullet, but a "strat" type guitar definitely feels easier for me to play.
Today I tried a Chord, Yamaha Pacifica 012 & a Squier Affinity strat ,all with whammy bars & fitted with "9" guage strings.
They all felt easier, more comfortable & better balanced than the LP copy I have.
They ranged in price from £120 for the Chord to £200 for the Affinity with the Pacifica at £170.
The LP copy doesn"t sound or play bad, according to my stepson who can play, it has a lowish action & Wilkinson "Hot" Zebra pickups (I think) but the "strat" styles feel more comfortable to me.
So what I am after is recommendations for a "strat" style up to about £200, maybe £250 max.
I have been offered slightly more than I gave for the LP copy so selling it on won"t mean I have lost any money.

I don’t think you can beat a Yamaha Pacifica in quality and playability at that price range.

However, I would recommend spending a little more on a 112V or 120H, depending on whether you’d like a single coil pickup option.

Both of those models will have better quality pickups than the 012, which was my only complaint about the one I had.

mikeyrob73

Have a hunt around for a Classic Vibe Strat, should pick one up for £250 ish, you really can’t go wrong with them, I sold my Fender because the CV was just better 

something like this 

https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.co.uk%2Fulk%2Fitm%2F222763005248

baldy

Thanks for the advice so far. 
Yes I don"t need to sell the LP copy to finance a new purchase so I could keep it.
I have also seen online so not tried, some used Ibanez & Washburn guitars that are "strat" style & in budget.

Plectrum

baldy said:

Again, thanks for all the advice.
It is Justin Guitar I am following.
On the 12th fret I have the gap between the 6th string & fret at 2mm & on the 1st string & fret at 1.5mm.
That is the lowest action I can get by adjusting the bridge.
I was advised that that is a good height for a beginner , is that reasonable or should it be lower?
Any lower would require the nut being filed.
The neck is straight & I am using no 10 regular slinky"s.
My stepson, who has played guitar for nearly 20 years, has played mine & reckons it is not bad.
He has offered to give me some pointers but said that as he is self taught & knows that he has an awful lot of bad habits that i would be better off at least learning the basics properly first before he gets involved. 

Go with your stepson's opinion on the guitar and carry on practicing is my advice. You've already discovered Justin's site so that's a big plus