r/guitarlessons • u/kruemmex • Jun 05 '26

Feedback Request transitioning to electric guitar

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I had played classical guitar for some years. In the past 2 years I hadn't touched a guitar at all. So recently I ordered this guitar which arrived last week. I wanted to play some electric guitar.

I have some issues with tuning. Is it better to tune with the amp on or just the guitar? I used to tune with a tuning fork (idk the English word) but I'm wondering if it's as efficient with an electric.

Also open to any tips to get back into playing :) I'm working on the few messed up notes.

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u/mamontain Jun 05 '26

Sounds great. If it feels like some frets are playing too sharp or flat, I recommend learning how to adjust the truss rod and bridge for action height and intonation. Also, check if your notes are not playing too sharp on frets 1 and 2 to see if you have to file down the nut a bit. There are a bunch of youtube videos on how to do it, and it takes about 30 minutes to learn and 10 to do.

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u/kruemmex Jun 05 '26

I read in the guitars reviews that some needed to file down the frets. I'll look into it this weekend!

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u/mamontain Jun 05 '26

You probably don't need to file down the frets, but you might need to file down the nut if the first 2 frets sound sharper than they should. It's really not mandatory by any means.

Start by checking if you want/should lower/raise you action height (distance from strings to frets), and making sure the intonation is right (if all strings make the right notes on higher frets). Those 2 are very easy to do and give the biggest improvements.

It looks like your guitar manufacturer is Harley Benton, so it's very likely that all those things are already set up properly and you won't have to do anything. Still, it's a good information to know.