Suggestions for guitar and amp for just starting to learn?

[Fitz]

lol

[Monkeyleg]

It's funny, Fitz, but it's also amazing to see and hear him play when he's stoned or drunk. On one of the last tours he was on a binge for two days straight, showed up a day late for sound check (showed on the afternoon of the concert), and I was told by a friend who did security that he was still blasted on stage. He sounded great.

Jimi Hendrix, Jim Morrison and a whole slew of other musicians we've seen were stoned, but sounded good.

I guess it's not that surprising. After 30 years as a photographer, I could probably have done a fine photograph when I was really drunk, but I never tried.

[Fitz]

It's funny, Fitz, but it's also amazing to see and hear him play when he's stoned or drunk. On one of the last tours he was on a binge for two days straight, showed up a day late for sound check (showed on the afternoon of the concert), and I was told by a friend who did security that he was still blasted on stage. He sounded great.

Jimi Hendrix, Jim Morrison and a whole slew of other musicians we've seen were stoned, but sounded good.

I guess it's not that surprising. After 30 years as a photographer, I could probably have done a fine photograph when I was really drunk, but I never tried.

Not that I would know or anything, but alcohol and drugs can remove the stage jitters, and make one much smoother and more confident

[Harold Tuttle]

start with smoke on the water

[geronimotwo]

pics of your new ax?

[Monkeyleg]

Pics from me, or manufacturer pics?

Not that I would know or anything, but alcohol and drugs can remove the stage jitters, and make one much smoother and more confident

Back when Rod Stewart started drawing big crowds at concerts after the "Every Picture Tells A Story" album, he used to run around and hide behind the big amplifiers when an instrumental portion of a song came along. Everybody just thought it was part of his act. It wasn't until years later that he admitted that he had really bad stage fright, and he had whiskey stashed behind the amps. He'd take a swig each time he hid.

[Doggy Daddy]

start with smoke on the water

You're not right, Harold! 

DD

[Monkeyleg]

A question for those of you who remember when you started playing: did you have pain in your wrists, elbows and shoulders from trying to contort yourself to play the notes?

The reason I ask is that the tendons in my shoulder and elbow now hurt, and my wrist is very sore. I have tendon damage in the both elbows and shoulders already, have I have to be very careful at the gym. If playing guitar aggravates this, there would be a problem with going to the gym as well.

[Fitz]

You are likely too tense, or in an improper position ... posture is important. Are you standing or sitting while playing? How are you situated ?

[geronimotwo]

the only pain i remember was in the tips of my fingers.  try to relax, and find a position that's comfortable for you.  you may also need your guitar setup, if the strings are too high you will need to press harder.  most beginners will strum, and pick harder than is needed.  take a deep breath, exhale, and carress the strings.  for your left hand try not to bear down on the chord, only use enough pressure that the string doesn't buzz.

[Monkeyleg]

For most chords and for individual notes, I don't have to press very hard. I'm getting accustomed to the proper amount of pressure needed for that. It's when I go to barre across three to five strings, then put two or three fingers on two other strings for a chord, that I wind up in pain.

I have the guitar about at my stomach, not slung low. It's the best I can do to minimize the degree to which I have to bend my wrist. Trying to do the first few chords for "Brown Sugar" isn't easy. The first chord is barring (is that the right spelling?) strings #2, 3 and 4 at fret #12 with the index finger,  then putting finger two on string #2 at fret 13 and and finger three on string 4 at fret 14.

The other difficult one is barring strings 2,3 and 4 at fret 1, and putting finger 2 on string 2 at fret 2, and finger 3 on string 4 at fret 3. The frets are so far apart, and it's down the neck so far, that I'm really contorting my wrist and hand.

I'm sure I don't have the finger strength to properly barre the strings.

[Fitz]

For most chords and for individual notes, I don't have to press very hard. I'm getting accustomed to the proper amount of pressure needed for that. It's when I go to barre across three to five strings, then put two or three fingers on two other strings for a chord, that I wind up in pain.

I have the guitar about at my stomach, not slung low. It's the best I can do to minimize the degree to which I have to bend my wrist. Trying to do the first few chords for "Brown Sugar" isn't easy. The first chord is barring (is that the right spelling?) strings #2, 3 and 4 at fret #12 with the index finger,  then putting finger two on string #2 at fret 13 and and finger three on string 4 at fret 14.

The other difficult one is barring strings 2,3 and 4 at fret 1, and putting finger 2 on string 2 at fret 2, and finger 3 on string 4 at fret 3. The frets are so far apart, and it's down the neck so far, that I'm really contorting my wrist and hand.

I'm sure I don't have the finger strength to properly barre the strings.

Barre chords are quite difficult initially. Don't beat yourself up. It will take lots of time to build up the requisite hand strength.

[geronimotwo]

heres a version for standard tuning that may be easier.
 
http://tabs.ultimate-guitar.com/r/rolling_stones/brown_sugar_ver2_crd.htm

ultimate guitar has more songs than you can learn in your lifetime, and many of them are charted 8 or more different ways so if you find it hard you can try another version.  of course, sometimes hard is the only way to get it to sound good.

you could try bringing the guitar neck up higher to get around it easier.

also, on the "A" based bar chords (like Bb) you can cheat and use your index finger to bar off the first fret then "bar" your pincky or ring finger on the d,g, and b strings at the 3rd.