"It's like a journey..."

Even if you were fortunate enough to inherit your first guitar from a family member or extremely good friend, buying your first guitar is the starting point of a journey with a myriad of choices and decisions that will leave you more confused than trying to understand a utility bill.

The instrument choices and equipment configurations are bewildering. Every manufacturer has its plusses and minuses and every day you’re likely to learn something new that will add a little more complexity and time to that decision making process. But in those wise words of Miley Cyrus, it’s not about how fast you get there, it’s the climb.

WHO AM I?

You may be a total novice with no stringed instrument experience, a musician of a different discipline or perhaps coming back to guitar after a 20-30 year hiatus while busy building a family.

WHY AM I INTERESTED?

Your ambitions may be musical (”yeah, let’s get the band back together”) or just for plain old fun. In fact, nobody really minds what the motivation is behind your passion - after all it is your passion…which you might share with others.

Maintaining that passion requires a few things - dedication, detail and discipline. Dedication sometimes appears from nowhere and other times you have to grind away to get a result. Positive progress really helps maintain that dedication - keeping things enjoyable and wanting more rather than over indulging and burning out.

You should be disciplined enough to set aside time to practice. Practice does make perfect, and learning musical theory and new playing techniques will bring your guitar to life. Little-and-often rather than all-you-can-eat would be a good suggestion. So if you only have 10 minutes a day, but stick to it, that’s better than nothing for the whole week and cramming everything into a 1 hour session.

The detail in the instrument will be what makes it either easy to play or difficult and discouraging. A comfortable neck, and action. The correct weight strings and tuning machines that actually hold tuning. If you are not using an acoustic guitar, an electric practice set-up that is easy and quick to connect. Volume may be a consideration, especially if you share a house with people who are not guitar-inclined.

WHAT ABOUT FU GUITARS?

Fixed Up Guitars was born out of this shared passion, first purely from a playing and pastime perspective. As the journey continued, and it always does, the interest flourished into a wider, expansive field from musical learning to workshop craft and the history and knowledge underpinning the entire experience. Many students’ first guitars will be simple acoustics or entry level solid body electrics. I’ve spent a few years taking these guitars, performing ‘set-ups’ of varying degrees of refinement, and transforming them into affordable and enjoyable players.

Even when purchased new, most cheaper solid body electrics from South East Asia are not properly set up. You could liken them to ‘frozen pizzas’ - eaten right out of the packaging, you don’t expect it to taste great. However, stick in the oven for a few minutes and some magic happens. It's a similar principle with the guitar set-up. Go for Gold and embellish on the toppings. Give it that extra oomph by changing the strings, nut, pickups and tuning/bridge hardware, all of which will make a contribution to the final taste. Still may not be wood-fired, but more on that later…

WHERE NEXT

The internet is an amazing place for learning with sooo much information. Often it’s about knowing where to look. After spending the last few years galavanting the web, attending trade shows, buying books (yes, actual books) and learning the craft I have accumulated knowledge from a humbling number of fellow passion people. What’s more, I’m still learning and enjoying it more than ever.

Through my blogs I hope to share information you will find useful in making that first step into next generation ownership that will see you develop as a guitarist, musician, and connoisseur of fine art and craft.

I welcome your feedback, comments and learning experiences and invite you to join the FU Community to wax lyrical and extol the virtues of the guitar!