Okay, so I got my Fender Squier around 2004, and I haven't taken very good care of it. It wasn't until last year, late 2009, that I decided to take up the guitar again. But the guitar has seen better days, and I'm in need of a new guitarist. What do you recommend?

And more on the topic,

I've self-taught myself guitar, but only the basics. The only chords I know are G, A, D, E, Em, and C. I don't like having to work with solos and stuff, so I prefer playing Rhythm Guitar.

Right now, I am trying to learn the song, "MELT," by Hatsune Miku, using her version (apparently, the boys version is a few keys higher). However, I came across this site:
http://detail.chiebukuro.yahoo.co.jp/qa/question_detail/q1415099554
And reading it, i couldn't make heads or tails of what this means. What do the /s and -s signify? Do they determine how many beats I have to play a certain chord?

Its your choice with what guitar you want to get. It also depends on what type of music you want to play. Fenders use single coil pickups which have a more smoother and hollow sound. While Gibsons use Humbucker pickups, which can either give a more hard rock sound, or a more classic acoustic sound. However both can be set up to play JPOP songs and have relatively the same tone. I personally prefer Gibsons, or any good clone of the Les Paul model, I just think the sound is more purer and is more easily adjusted to what you want; I've played in a jazz and metal band, and the Les Paul can be adjusted to both. Also I've played many JPOP songs and have quite easily adjusted it to give it that JPOP sound. Most of the changes are just simple playing techniques and amp settings (like gain on/off). The only thing is a real Gibson Les Paul will set you back about 2.5k - 5k depending on the model. So if you're going to buy a clone of the Les Paul, do some research first.

As for teaching yourself, that's fine. I taught myself and can play along with anyone in any arrangement quite easily. Just depends on how much initiative you have really in wanting to learn. You might want to start working on playing melody though, note melody doesn't mean solo's! It'll really get your fingers working and it'll teach you where individual notes are.

With the tabs though; I actually disprove of them full stop. Tabs may be easier to learn in the short term, but sheet music wins hands down. So with the tabs in the link, it's impossible to know what to do there without the person who wrote them stating what they mean. Or you could just listen to the song and try and figure out what they mean yourself.

So all in all, if just comes down to what you can afford and what you like in finding a new guitar. Hope that helps and sorry for all the writing. :heh: