| How to Celebrate Earth Day Posted: 21 Apr 2016 05:00 PM PDT The celebration of Earth Day is on April 22nd and it began 1970. It has grown into a global event recognized by over 192 countries. Devoting special a day to helping for the earth is a way to demonstrate how much we care about the future of our planet. No matter what you like to do best, there's a way to get involved in Earth Day. You could plant a tree, make a meal with locally-grown vegetables, educate a family member, clean up trash in your neighborhood, set up a bird feeder or save power — the possibilities are endless. Remember, you don't have to wait for Earth Day to show your love for the planet we call home. EditGetting Engaged - Learn more about the environment. Earth Day is a good time to make a commitment to learning more about the environment and how you can help to protect it. Read articles to get up to date on the current issues affecting the environment, like pollution, water shortages, and climate change. Or, learn about a region you've never considered before, like the Arctic, the deserts, or the rain forests. Not sure where to start? Check out your local news sources for information about environmental issues in your own backyard.
- Understand how climate change works, and what you can do about it.[1]
- If you live in a city, look into urban environmental issues like contaminated drinking water and energy conservation.[2]
- If you live near a body of water, do research to find out whether it's healthy or in need of help.[3]
- Learn more about fracking, which is affecting many communities in the United States.[4]
- Find out which species native to your area are under threat of extinction.[5]
- Join an environmental group. Think about the issues that concern you the most and if you haven't done so already, join a local group that undertakes activities to help protect the environment in your area. Earth Day is a great day to start getting involved. In almost any community, you'll find local groups that do the following:[6]
- Host clean-ups of local bodies of water and their shores
- Fight air and water pollution
- Plant trees and install community gardens
- Protect habitats under threat of getting developed
- Can't find a group? Consider starting your own.
- Spread the word. Everyone has environmental knowledge they can share with others. Just talking about the environment with people who may not think about it that much is a good way to celebrate Earth Day. Talk to your parents, friends, teachers, siblings, and anyone else you'd like about the issues you care about most. Here are a few ways to educate others about the earth:
- Give a speech at your local library on how to compost with worms
- Take a group of children down to the recycling center to show them how things are recycled
- Recite nature poems in the park
- Offer to teach your office colleagues how to make environmentally-friendly choices at work during lunch hour
- Encourage people to respond and if they have no opinions or they seem to not know much, help them learn some more by imparting your environmental knowledge in a friendly and helpful manner.
- Get a group of friends to wear green and brown. When people ask you why you're dressed like a tree, take the opportunity to talk about Earth Day.
- Go to an Earth Day fair. Maybe your school, your street, or your local neighborhood is holding an environmental fair. If your community doesn't have one planned, consider starting one yourself. It's the perfect day to get together for a fun and educational celebration of the earth. Money raised can go towards a local environmental restoration project or to an environmental group agreed upon by all the participants running the fair. These offerings are common at Earth Day fairs:
- Demonstrations of environmentally-friendly products
- Children's earth-themed artwork
- Healthy/locally grown foods to eat
- Animal care demonstrations (including wildlife rescue)
- Games for the children made of recycled products
- Musicians and actors performing environmental music and skits
- Stalls for recycling unwanted treasures and books
- Local environmental organizations presenting their issues and wares.
- Enjoy Earth Day entertainment. There are many Earth Day song lyrics available on the Internet. Most follow well-known tunes so people can easily sing along. These make a fantastic classroom activity and help younger children to become interested in environmental topics. iTunes has many songs about the Earth for downloading: try searching for words such as "planet", "Earth", "endangered", "pollution" etc.
- Cook a special Earth Day meal. Invite friends and family over for a meal, and plan a menu that uses locally produced foods, is healthy and has minimal impact on the environment. Favor vegetables, fruit and other produce, as these use less resources to grow than mass-farmed meat. If you still would like meat, look for locally produced, organic meat. Try to have organic food completely.
- To decorate for the meal, use recycled decorations made by you and your friends instead of buying brand-new decorations.
- When you wash up after the meal, use the low-water dishwashing method. Teach those who are helping how to use it, too.
- Remember that every day is Earth Day. Anything to help our environment is a perfect thing to do on Earth Day and every day. Don't restrict yourself to just one day a year; learn about how you can make a difference to environmental protection all the time. It's going to take a lot of work to heal our planet. Leading by example will help others remember that the earth is important every day of the year.
EditCaring for Trees, Plants and Animals - Plant trees. As the date of Earth Day roughly coincides with U.S. Arbor Day, planting trees is a popular Earth Day activity. Trees helps to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, clean pollution, secure soil in place to prevent erosion, and provide homes for many birds, insects and other animals. There's almost no more important, long-lasting act you can do to celebrate Earth Day.
- Pick a tree that you know can survive in your climate. It's best to find a species native to where you live. If you're unsure about what that might be, ask an employee at your local garden shop, or inside the garden department of a big-box store.
- To ensure that the tree grows tall and strong, make sure you plant it correctly. Choose the correct planting spot to meet its needs, dig a properly-sized hole, and water the tree well to give it a good start.
- Plant wildflowers. Choose flowers that are native to your area and plant them in your garden or on nature strips where plants are usually grown. Restoring the local plant life will help attract native bird life, pollinators and local mammals. Here are a few examples of common flowers that will draw wildlife:
- If you want to attract Monarch butterflies, plant milkweed, pansies or goldenrod.[7]
- If you want to attract bees, plant bee balm, lavender or sage.
- If you want to attract hummingbirds, plant foxglove, petunias or lilies.[8]
- Welcome animals into your yard. You can do a lot for the creatures of the earth starting in your own yard or neighborhood. In their quest for the perfect lawn, many people drive out the insects, rodents, birds and reptiles that need a place to call home just as much as we do. Starting on Earth Day, why not welcome these nonhuman neighbors into your yard? Here's how to do it.
- Instead of mowing the entire yard, leave a few sections unmowed. Bees, butterflies, and many other insects will find this inviting. If you're worried about them coming inside, have the unmowed area in the back of the yard instead of right next to the house.
- Install a bird feeder, bat feeder, squirrel feeder, hummingbird feeder, or any other type of feeder to attract more wild animals.
- Provide a source of water, like a bird bath or a small pond.
- Don't try to get rid of snakes, lizards, frogs, moles, squirrels, and the other creatures who want to hang out in your yard. Many of these animals are beneficial; they aerate your yard, eat mosquitoes and improve biodiversity in the area. Live and let live. Tell your neighbors to do the same!
- Talk to your neighbors about going organic. Pesticides and herbicides can harm wild animals, native plants, trees, pets, and even humans. Make Earth Day the day you stop using chemicals in your yard and try organic methods of weed and pest removal instead. Consider talking to your neighbors about making the whole neighborhood organic.
- Getting rid of pests the old-fashioned way can actually be more effective than using pesticides. Try planting native plants to control the insect population. Use water to spray common insects like aphids off of your vegetable plants.
- When it comes to weeds, pulling them out by hand works better than any other method.
- Commit to protecting local wild places. Whether you live near an ocean, river, forest, mountain, swamp or lake, wild areas like these need protection. They are home to many plants and animals who rely on them for food and shelter. On Earth Day, commit to protecting the wild places in your community by doing the following:
- Join a group working to protect these areas from pollution and developments.
- Encourage people to respect wild spaces by not damaging animal habitats, littering, and dumping in the water.
- Clean up litter in your community. Many groups use the weekend of Earth Day to clear roadways, highways and neighborhood streets of litter that has accumulated since the last clean-up day.[9] Many companies donate gloves and bags for clean-up groups and villages organize bag pick ups. Once the group has collected the trash and placed the recycled bags along the road, get the village public works department to pick the bags up. It's a wonderful community project that you can do as an individual or with a group.
EditEating Earth-Friendly Food - Eat food from local sources. Eating food that was grown or raised as close to your home as possible is important for a variety of reasons. Locally-grown food doesn't require as much gas to arrive in your town and end up on the shelves in your grocery store. The closer to your home it was grown, the more environmentally friendly it is.[10]
- Farmer's markets are a great place to find local foods. Most foods available in farmer's markets were grown within a 50-mile vicinity.
- Some grocery stores have a section devoted to locally-grown foods. Look for foods that were produced in your state, or better yet, within 50 miles of your town.
- Look for foods that were produced on small farms, rather than manufactured at factories.
- Plant a vegetable garden. When it comes to eating local, you can't get much closer to home than your own yard. You can grow a lot of different vegetables in a relatively small space. Earth Day falls during the perfect time of year to plant a garden. Try clearing a bit of grass away and planting a few different varieties to try out during the summer.
- Squash is a great choice, since one plant produces enough to feed a small family for several weeks.
- Tomatoes are popular among novice gardeners.
- Beans are relatively low-maintenance.
- Herbs take up very little room, and can be grown in pots.
- Don't have space for a garden? See if there's a community garden in your area where you can start using a plot.
- Consider a vegetarian or vegan diet. Most meat is manufactured in an industrial setting under conditions that pollute the environment and are cruel to the animals.[11]Mass-produced meat is normally pumped full of hormones, making it unhealthy for humans to consume. Eliminating meat from your diet is considered a great way to do your part to help the environment. Why not make April 22 your first meatless day?
- A vegetarian diet is free of meat and fish, while a vegan diet is free of all animal products (including eggs, honey and dairy products). Choose the diet that works best for your health needs.
- If you don't want to give up meat entirely, consider buying your meat products only from local farms where you know how the animals were treated. Look for farms that allow animals space to roam and feed them healthy food.[12]
- Cook from scratch. Pre-made, processed foods require preservatives and a lot of packaging to keep them from going bad before you eat them. Check out the list of ingredients on items like frozen dinners, packaged snack foods and other common grocery store items. They likely contain extra sugars, chemical flavorings and other ingredients that aren't good for the environment or our bodies. The solution is to buy foods in their natural form and cook from scratch.
- Even if a product is labeled "natural," check the ingredients. If you see words you can't pronounce, you probably don't need to eat it.
- Not sure you know how to cook from scratch? Start with easy dishes like omelets, casseroles, smoothies, or steamed vegetables. Once you learn some basic techniques, you'll be able to cook more and more dishes from scratch.
EditReducing Waste - Reduce, reuse and recycle. Buy as little as possible and avoid items that come in lots of packaging. Start good habits on Earth Day and carry them through all year long. Here are a few ways you can reduce, reuse and recycle:
- Support local growers and producers of food and products. These don't have to travel as far and so reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
- Take your drink container with you, and don't use any disposable plates or cutlery. Recycle all the things you do use for the day or find other uses for things that you no longer use.
- Carry a cloth bag for carrying things in and recycle your plastic bags.
- Buy or make Earth-friendly cleaning products. Try making up a simple vinegar-and-water counter cleaner, or swapping out your bleach cleaner for a less-toxic orange-based one. Making your own cleaning products saves money and packaging. Homemade cleaning products also often work just as well as industrial-strength chemicals.
- A solution of half vinegar, half water can be used to clean floors, bathrooms, cabinets, counters, and just about anything else in your home.
- To remove stains from carpeting, clothing or other fabrics, make a paste with baking soda and water. Let it sit on the stain for a few minutes, then scrub it away with a toothbrush.
- Entertain kids with homemade crafts and toys. Instead of using store-bought toys, help kids appreciate the beauty of reusing something old to make it fun and new. Tell kids to get creative and come up with their own ideas for how to make something around the house into a toy. Here are a few ideas:
- Sell or donate used items instead of throwing them away. Hold a garage sale, donate, or reuse household items. Many of us take up a lot of natural resources with stuff we don't really need, want or use. Ironically, there's a still lot of people who don't have basic necessities. Plus, a lot of your unwanted clutter can be used by local charities to resell for much-needed cash.
- Another idea is to hold a clothing swap. This can be a fun, free way for friends, relatives, co-workers, neighbors, and the like to find new wardrobe finds. (You can combine with an Earth Day lunch or dinner, too!)
- Learn about product exchange communities like Freecycle and other alternatives.
- Start a compost bin.[13] Instead of throwing out your food scraps, turn them into soil for your garden. This process is called composting. Banana peels, egg shells, carrot tops and avocado skins don't belong in the trash, where they'll just end up in a landfill. To start composting,
- Collect all of your food scraps (except for meat and dairy products) in a closed bin.
- Add leaves, sticks, grass clippings and other organic items to the mix.
- Turn the mixture every few days using a pitchfork.
- The compost will break down into a rich, brown soil after several months of turning.
EditSaving Energy and Water - Consider buying a carbon offset. This is designed to make up for the greenhouse gas emissions you create on the other 364 days of the year.[14] Carbon offsets fund reductions in greenhouse gas emissions through projects such as wind farms, that displaces energy from fossil fuels.
- Ride your bike. Use your bicycle or other forms of human powered transportation to commute to work or school and to run errands. This is a lot more environmentally friendly than relying on cars to get wherever you're going.
- If your school or work is too far to bike, look for a form of public transportation you can take. A bus, train or shuttle is better for the environment than driving alone in your car.
- Or consider carpooling with a few friends who are going in the same direction.
- Conserve water in your house. Do you tend to use more water than you need while going about your daily chores and business? There are little things you can do that make a big difference in how much water you use. Plus, conserving water will keep your water bill down.[15] Try adopting these habits:
- While brushing your teeth or washing your hands, turn the water off when not in use. Turn the water off when you are brushing.
- If you are washing your hands, turn the water off when you are scrubbing your hands with soap.
- Take shorter showers every day from Earth Day on.
- Install a grey water system in your home. Recycle water from the house for the garden.
- Wash your car using a bucket rather than the hose. Drive the car onto grass for cleaning, so that the water you do use also waters the grass.
- Save electricity. It's one of the first ways many of us are taught to be environmentally friendly, yet we all need help remembering how important it is to do things like turn off the lights when you leave the room. There are many ways you can save more electricity on a daily basis:[16]
- Vow to use less air conditioning in the summer, and less heat in the winter.
- Turn off all appliances and electronics when you aren't using them.
- Use energy-saving light bulbs or install skylights on your house's roof. You could also make mason jar luminaries as well.
- Switch to low-energy appliances.
- Search the Internet for many more ideas. Earth Day is celebrated in many different ways. A really good way to find more information is to surf the internet and look at what other people have done. There is so much there that it cannot be replicated here!
- Simple things, such as asking young children to use less paper to dry their hands or asking work colleagues to turn the lights off when they leave the office at night are great "small starters" to encourage bigger changes. You don't need to feel that you haven't time to contribute; every little changed habit that benefits the environment adds up and you are setting a good example to others.
- The other Earth Day is celebrated usually on March 21, which is the equinox for spring in the Northern Hemisphere and for autumn in the Southern Hemisphere. This Earth Day is supported by the United Nations and the Japanese Peace Bell is rung at the New York United Nations to remind everyone of our place in the human family on our precious planet Earth. See International Earth Day Official Site for further information.
- Cleaning up part of your local area can be a great way to celebrate Earth Day, but make sure all participants are properly attired or outfitted. Gloves are an absolute must and if you are collecting litter, sticks with prongs for picking it up are useful. Warn participants to be careful of sticking their fingers into dark places where biting animals might reside and to be careful of syringes and other dangerous items.
EditRelated wikiHows EditSources and Citations
Cite error: <ref> tags exist, but no <references/> tag was found
|
| How to Lower Blood Pressure Posted: 21 Apr 2016 09:00 AM PDT High blood pressure is also called hypertension. Two factors contribute to high blood pressure: the quantity of blood your heart pumps and how narrow your arteries are. High blood pressure raises your risk of heart problems and strokes.[1] Most people have no symptoms, so the best way to detect it is to get screened during a checkup at your doctor's office at least every year. If you do have high blood pressure, there are some dietary and lifestyle changes that can help you lower your blood pressure.[2] EditEating on the DASH Diet - Lower your sodium intake. Many people eat as much as 3,500 mg of sodium per day. The DASH diet, which is short for Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension, recommends no more than 2,300 mg of sodium per day. Sodium is in salt, so the best way to reduce your sodium intake is to eat less salt. You can do this by:[3]
- Not adding table salt to your food. This may also include reducing the amount of salt you use when cooking. Easy ways to do this include not salting meats and not adding salt to the water when you cook rice or pasta.
- Avoiding salty snacks and processed food such as chips, pretzels, and salted nuts. They often have large amounts of salt added to them. If you do purchase prepared foods, look to see if you can get a low-salt version. Check the contents of canned food, premixed seasonings, bouillon cubes, canned soups, jerkies, and sports drinks to see if they have salt added to them.
- Eat six to eight servings of grains per day. Whole grains are better than processed white rice or processed white flour because they have more fiber and nutrients. A serving is a slice of bread or a half a cup of cooked rice or pasta. You can eat more whole grains by:[4]
- Buying whole wheat flour and pasta instead of white. Many whole wheat bread products will say on the packaging that they are whole wheat.
- Oatmeal and brown rice are also excellent sources of nutrients and fiber.
- Load up on fruits and vegetables. You should eat four to five servings of fruit and four to five servings of vegetables each day. A serving is a half a cup of leafy vegetables or a ½ cup of cooked vegetables. Fruits and vegetables are great sources of potassium and magnesium which help to lower your blood pressure. Excellent ways to get your fruits and vegetables include:[5]
- Eating salads with your meals. You can keep them interesting by varying what you put in them. You can add a sweet element by putting apple or orange slices on a salad. Leave on the peels of thin-skinned fruits like apples because they also contain nutrients. You can also go more traditional with fresh greens, carrots, and tomatoes. But go easy on the salad dressings: they often have a lot of salt and fatty oils.
- Making vegetables a side dish. Instead of cooking pasta, try putting the main dish over a sweet potato or next to a side of squash.
- Snacking on fruits and vegetables between meals. Take an apple, banana, carrot, cucumber or green pepper with you to work or school.
- Buying fresh and frozen vegetables. If you are worried about having fresh produce go bad before you eat it, frozen vegetables are an excellent choice. You can put them in the freezer until you need them and when you thaw them, they will still be packed with nutrients.
- Add low-fat dairy products. Dairy is an important source of calcium and vitamin D, but it is important to choose carefully to avoid eating too much fat and salt. A cup is a serving. Aim for two to three servings per day.[6]
- Cheese is often high in salt, so eat it sparingly.
- When you eat yogurt and drink milk, go for the low-fat or skim varieties. Both are great with whole-grain cereals for breakfast.
- Eat lean meat, poultry and fish in moderation. Meats and fish are excellent sources of protein, vitamins, iron and zinc, but some kinds can be high in fat and cholesterol. Since fat and cholesterol can clog your arteries, it is best to not eat too much. Eat no more than six servings per day. A serving is an ounce of meat or an egg.[7]
- Avoid fatty red meats, and if you do eat them, cut the fat off as much as possible. When you cook, don't fry your meats. Healthier alternatives include baking, grilling, or roasting.
- Salmon, herring and tuna are great sources of omega-3 fatty acids. Eating these fish can help control your cholesterol and they are high in protein.
- Control your fat consumption. Fat increases your risk of heart disease. To protect your heart, restrict your fat intake to a maximum of three servings per day. A tablespoon of butter is a serving. Easy ways to reduce your fat intake include:[8]
- Not spreading butter or mayonnaise on breads. In addition, you can reduce the amount of oil you cook with. Substitute skim milk for whole milk and avoid heavy cream, lard, solid shortenings, palm and coconut oils.
- Supplement your diet with nuts, seeds, and legumes. They are relatively high in fat, but they also have magnesium, potassium, fiber, and protein. Because of this, the DASH diet recommends eating only four or five servings per week. A serving is 1/3 of a cup of nuts.
- Nuts and seeds make an excellent addition to salads or, when unsalted, a healthy snack.
- For vegetarians, tofu is an excellent meat substitute because it is high in protein.
- Restrict your sugar consumption. Processed sugars add calories to your diet without providing you with the nutrients that will make you feel satisfied. Reduce your consumption of sweets to, at most, five per week. A serving is a tablespoon of sugar or jelly.[9]
- You can use artificial sweeteners like Splenda, NutraSweet, and Equal, but use them sparingly.
EditMaking Lifestyle Changes - Exercise. Being physically active can lower your blood pressure by helping to control your weight and manage stress.[10]
- For the best results try to do 75–150 minutes of physical activity per week. You can choose what you like to do best. Great options include walking, running, dancing, biking, swimming, and playing sports such as basketball or soccer.
- Do strength training, such as weight lifting, twice a week to maintain bone density and build muscle.
- Reduce your alcohol intake. Alcohol abuse is bad for your heart. In addition, alcoholic beverages are high in calories and make you more prone to obesity. You can lower your blood pressure by quitting drinking or drinking only in moderation.[11]
- Men over 65 and women should limit themselves to, at most, one drink per day.
- Men under 65 should have no more than two drinks per day.
- A 12 oz beer, 5 oz glass of wine, or 1.5 oz of hard liquor qualifies as a drink.
- Don't smoke or chew tobacco. Using tobacco can harden your arteries and cause them to become narrower, which will increase your blood pressure. Secondhand smoke also causes these effects. There are many resources available to help you quit smoking:[12][13]
- Talking to your doctor or seeing a counselor
- Joining support groups or calling hotlines
- Using medications or nicotine replacement therapy
- Evaluate your medications and don't use street drugs. If you think your medications might be causing high blood pressure, consult your doctor. Your doctor may be able to help you find a medication that is more suitable for you. Don't stop taking your medications without clearing it with your doctor first. The following substances and medications may increase blood pressure:[14]
- Cocaine, crystal methamphetamines, and amphetamines
- Some birth control pills
- Some decongestants and cold medications
- Over-the-counter nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (Ibuprofen and others)
- Reduce your stress. While stress is an unavoidable part of life, you can use relaxation techniques to help you deal with it better. Common techniques include:[15]
EditSeeing a Doctor - Call emergency medical responders if you think you might be having a heart attack or stroke. Both are emergencies and every minute counts.
- Signs of a heart attack include pressure or pain the chest, pain in one or both arms, neck, back, jaw, or abdomen, shortness of breath, sweating, nausea, or dizziness. In some, sudden onset reflux symptoms or pain just below the sternum may be experienced. Both men and women are vulnerable to heart attacks.[16]
- Symptoms of a stroke include: drooping face, difficulty speaking or understanding speech, numbness or weakness in an arm, leg, or the face, confusion, vision problems in one or both eyes, dizziness, loss of coordination, headache, [17]
- Go to the emergency room if you have symptoms of high blood pressure. Most people do not have symptoms, so the best way to find out is to get your blood pressure checked every year at your annual checkup. That being said, when people show symptoms, they may include:[18]
- Headaches that don't go away
- Blurred vision or seeing double
- Frequent nosebleeds
- Shortness of breath
- Take medications if your doctor feels it is needed. It is very important to take the medications following your doctor's instructions. If you skip doses or don't take them correctly, they may not be effective. Your doctor may prescribe:[19]
- ACE inhibitors. ACE stands for Angiotensin-converting enzyme. This medication relaxes your blood vessels. It may give you a cough as a side effect. It can interact with other medications, including over-the-counter medications. Don't take any other medications, including over-the-counter medications, supplements, and herbal remedies without consulting your doctor first.
- Calcium channel blockers. This medication widens your arteries. Ask your doctor about side effects and interactions.
- Diuretics. These medications reduce your salt levels by causing you to urinate.
- Beta-blockers. These medications slow your heartbeat and make it less forceful. This is generally a last resort for when other medications and lifestyle changes have not been sufficient.
EditRelated wikiHows EditSources and Citations
Cite error: <ref> tags exist, but no <references/> tag was found
|
| How to Choose a Beginner Electric Guitar and Amp on a Budget Posted: 21 Apr 2016 01:00 AM PDT Choosing which guitar and amplifier to start out with can become a hair-pulling task. But here are some ways to make it easier. - Consider what type of music you'd like to play.
 - If you never intend to do octave high vibrato bar stuff or play music in the style of bands like PANTERA (hard, fast metal, with lots of high note bending leads), or Jimi Hendrix (psychedelic rock), then exclude any floating or fancy bridge (also called a tailpiece). Non-floating tail pieces are usually more stable (keeping tune and intonation) and cheaper to buy.
- You should visit a local guitar shop to purchase your first guitar. You will benefit immensely from their experience, and they will be able to support you after the sale. Avoid places like Walmart, Best Buy, etc., because all they can do is sell you a guitar, and a poor one at that. Most local guitar shops have gone to great lengths to select guitar lines that are serviceable, and play and sound good. As a beginner, you will appreciate their service and commitment to you, even though a local shops pricing may be a touch higher. Most local shops offer lessons, as well.
- Avoid mega chain music stores such as Guitar Center or Sam Ash. The customer service record is poor for the most part, and the atmosphere is not conducive to a beginner picking out their first instrument. Also, they offer no in-house service department, and no lesson studios, either.
- Neck thickness. Do you want an all-around guitar, or do you have a certain style you know you are going to want to play? Slide blues players should look for a neck that is wider and has a nice arch on the backside for support. If you want to play popular metal or rock, you should go for a nice narrow neck. It's easier to move the fingers.
- Look at the action. Action is the distance between the fingerboard and the string at any given time. Make sure you hear no buzzing from the guitar when playing a note at a normal weight. Try it at the 5, 10, 12, fret, etc. and listen for the 'buzz' of strings banging on the frets below it. If any guitar is like this, ask the music store (any good one will do this for you) to adjust the neck if you can try it out in playable condition. If they can adjust it for you, then there is no problem, it just needed adjustment.
- Inspect for fret wear, cracks, etc. The obvious stuff.
- Get it tuned up and play it in the store. Some people may find this uncomfortable, being a newbie and all. If you don't want to play it, just start bending strings, up and down, using the whammy bar; think of it as 'guitar stretching'. Then see how well it stays in tune. If this guitar has no locking nuts on the head, and it still stays in tune, it's a winner. But if you have to re-tune more than a little, and almost all the strings, pass on it. You will grow frustrated by it very quickly.
- Hook it up to an amp, and see if you like the sound. If you are new to this, your taste for tone will likely change. Just get something that sounds close to what you want. Think in terms of clarity, tinniness, depth, colour.
- Have a realistic budget and stick to it. Look around until you find something in your range. You can expect to find something in the $200 to $450 range for beginners.
- Go for tone with the amp. Try more than ten different types before you decide. You may need to buy a processor as well, so consider whether the amp has inbuilt effects or not.
- Take a guitarist friend with you to help you filter out the lower quality guitars.
- The best guitars for a lower price won't be the major brands. The majors may offer guitars in your price range but they are usually poorly made in China, or who knows where. When you get better award yourself with a major brand and the major price tag that goes with it.
- Don't buy on brand name.
- Listen, observe. Get a good idea of what you want by listening and sampling; don't buy on a whim. Take a few weeks if you have to. Just make sure components are in good condition, and function as you would like them to.
- Retail store guitars-DO NOT buy a guitar from Target, Walmart, Best Buy, Etc. These guitars look very flashy, but have bad pickups, low quality wood, and go out-of-tune after about 30 seconds (for real).
- DANDY DIME ADS- This is a great way to get a deal on new gear. Just be careful, some people will say anything to get you to buy. With a smooth tongue to back it up, a cheap guitar can look like a top-liner to a novice. Don't buy into a story, get the model numbers and Google it.
- Tremolo bars - Many lower-end guitars are designed to look cool and are equipped with floating bridges for super tremolo bends and flutter. They look cool , but a sad fact is many of these lower end models have low quality hardware. There is nothing more frustrating than being a newbie, buying a hot looking guitar, and have to fine-tune it every 2 minutes. Avoid this, or buy a decent bridge for around $100.00 extra and install it.
EditRelated wikiHows |
No comments:
Post a Comment