Weird behaviour from pickups? I think.
- Thread starter m165
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Jimi bent like a madman... like in Manic Depression, he frets 7 on the G and 5 on the B and BEEEENDS the G string up to almost the same note as on the B. That would be damn hard to do with 12s! (Believe me, I've tried)
I think Santana's tone sucks, too jazzy, just sounds dull to me.
Jimmy was the closest thing 1969 had to a shredder.
And Duane Allman used 10s.
I think Santana's tone sucks, too jazzy, just sounds dull to me.
Jimmy was the closest thing 1969 had to a shredder.
And Duane Allman used 10s.
jackthehack
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m165 said:
Not really; if you've never installed one typical placement is about on line with the A/5th string tuner. Loosen the E/B strings and place the retainer between and over the loosened strings to line it up properly and hold down with a finger to keep aligned while drilling the pilot hole with a 1/16ths bit, then screw it down and re-tighten the strings.
N
neilium
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dbw said:
He's also a complete nutter.
DiMitriR33
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granted tone IS in the fingers. my argument for .010's is tuning stability and less wolftones. even my tilt headstock ibanez never sounds in tune with .095 or less on it. and yes i've even tried the half sizes just to see what the best string would be.
now for the heavier string bending argument. if you can't bend .010's you must have carpral tunnel or arthritis. i play .011's on my strat tuned to pitch. sometimes .012's tuned 1/2 step down. i don't find it too hard to bend. stevie ray vaughan didn't either. he used .013's on some occasions. i don't mean to compare myself to great guitar players, but i can mimic some of them when i want to.
if you have a tilt headstock, fixed bridge, and humbuckers play all the .009's you want but on my tremolo and/or flat headstock guitars i wont go below a .010... ever.
and this is a thread to help a person diagnose a problem, i have similar problems with .009's. but if it is real bad i'll bet the string retainers will help. i didn't think of it, just assumed he had at least one but now that i see he doesn't i'll bet jack hit the nail on the head on that one.
now for the heavier string bending argument. if you can't bend .010's you must have carpral tunnel or arthritis. i play .011's on my strat tuned to pitch. sometimes .012's tuned 1/2 step down. i don't find it too hard to bend. stevie ray vaughan didn't either. he used .013's on some occasions. i don't mean to compare myself to great guitar players, but i can mimic some of them when i want to.
if you have a tilt headstock, fixed bridge, and humbuckers play all the .009's you want but on my tremolo and/or flat headstock guitars i wont go below a .010... ever.
and this is a thread to help a person diagnose a problem, i have similar problems with .009's. but if it is real bad i'll bet the string retainers will help. i didn't think of it, just assumed he had at least one but now that i see he doesn't i'll bet jack hit the nail on the head on that one.
I've had guitars that sounded bad with .009's and good with .011's, and vice versa. I personally dislike the "tub-tone" you get from over-fat strings, but some people love it - to each their own. Some people love to get dressed in diapers, tied to the bedposts & spanked - to each their own. Heavier strings have more output, so on an acoustic, with no amplifier and no volume control, they will be louder... Ed Packard has done some of the only research I've heard of actually testing strings, and he did prove that thinner strings sustain longer, and have a higher proportional output in the midrange and treble - (this is the same as "thinner-sounding" to those of you without tone controls on your amp). The big string = big tone story is largely fueled by the same forces driving the "thin nitro finish" crowd, i.e., a hangover from acoustic guitars.
I personally prefer Santana's tone to SRV, even though Stevie tuned down to Eb the big strings sounded tubby, and he was often forced to double -pick because they just didn't sustain well. I don't hold sustain alone in as high regard as many, but the factors that make a guitar sustain well also tend to lead to a tone that I prefer. Dick Dale sounds awful.... would you really want that tone? Also, Santana's tone is designed to mesh with his six-piece band, SRV was trying to fill a lot of frequencies. When anyone can honestly advance the "thin-strings = no-tone" argument in the face of overwhelming evidence to the contrary, I have to wonder how much of their discussion comes from personal experience, listening, and research, and how much is borrowed from guitar mag truisms. (Do let us know how the retainers work out.... :toothy12
I personally prefer Santana's tone to SRV, even though Stevie tuned down to Eb the big strings sounded tubby, and he was often forced to double -pick because they just didn't sustain well. I don't hold sustain alone in as high regard as many, but the factors that make a guitar sustain well also tend to lead to a tone that I prefer. Dick Dale sounds awful.... would you really want that tone? Also, Santana's tone is designed to mesh with his six-piece band, SRV was trying to fill a lot of frequencies. When anyone can honestly advance the "thin-strings = no-tone" argument in the face of overwhelming evidence to the contrary, I have to wonder how much of their discussion comes from personal experience, listening, and research, and how much is borrowed from guitar mag truisms. (Do let us know how the retainers work out.... :toothy12
Got the string retainer on now but no change, I will try a heavier guage string tomorrow and see how it goes, I have used 10s for years and only recently change to 9s so no problem for me to go back, I want to sort it out but kinda hope thats not the issue as I would like the option to use the 9s.
Also maybe worth mentioning that I changed brands at the same time as changing string size previously used D, Addario 10s & switched to Elixir 9s.
Also maybe worth mentioning that I changed brands at the same time as changing string size previously used D, Addario 10s & switched to Elixir 9s.
I just re-read this from the start (duh...) and see that the problem is happening on the un-fretted E & B strings only? Like, when you play anything above the first fret, it goes away? That sounds to me a whole lot like a problem with the nut - either the strings are vibrating against the sides of the nut slot, or the slot is not angled back so that the string "breaks" cleanly over a single point at the front edge (my first guess). It might just be too low too. Are the stings just hitting the frets? Who made the nut? This kind of thing can be fixed easily and pretty cheaply by someone who knows how, but nut-making takes a little bit of education. :-\
The nut was installed by Warmoth so I am presuming that its good, though maybe I should have it checked, also the problem is not only on the unfretted string (so maybe that rules out the nut being badly cut). I will try get a sound clip up here some where so you can hear what it I am hearing. The pickups are as low as I can get them so apart from using a heavier guage where do I go from here if its this magnetic pull issue mentioned earlier?.
Thanks
Thanks
jackthehack
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I seriously doubt the issue is being caused by magnetic string pull. If you have the pickups adjusted down as far as they will go, odds are they are down TOO far.
If you've installed the string retainer and still having the issue, I'd recommend taking it to a pro to check the setup. Did anyone do anything to the stock Warmoth installed nut? I've bought a lot of Warmoth necks and order factory installed nut on all of them. Typically the nut slots seem to come cut for light gauge, i.e., .009/.010 1st string sets. As I personally use strings of that gauge I've never had to have any additional work done on the nut, other than adding a string retainer for the B/E strings on non-angled necks (I've upgraded a couple necks on stock Fenders for people for people who use much heavier gauge strings that required the string notches in the nut to be reworked).
If you are have the same problem further up the neck, i.e., not just on your unfretted B/E strings, you probably have some additional setup issue with the neck and/or bridge setup. Again, I'd recommend taking it to someone with pro experience doing setups to take a look at it.
If you've installed the string retainer and still having the issue, I'd recommend taking it to a pro to check the setup. Did anyone do anything to the stock Warmoth installed nut? I've bought a lot of Warmoth necks and order factory installed nut on all of them. Typically the nut slots seem to come cut for light gauge, i.e., .009/.010 1st string sets. As I personally use strings of that gauge I've never had to have any additional work done on the nut, other than adding a string retainer for the B/E strings on non-angled necks (I've upgraded a couple necks on stock Fenders for people for people who use much heavier gauge strings that required the string notches in the nut to be reworked).
If you are have the same problem further up the neck, i.e., not just on your unfretted B/E strings, you probably have some additional setup issue with the neck and/or bridge setup. Again, I'd recommend taking it to someone with pro experience doing setups to take a look at it.
:hello2: P.S. ->
The actual very first person to use a light, unwound third string on a guitar is in dispute, but by the late 50's many blues and rockabilly guitarists like Carl Perkins, Roy Buchanan and Ike Turner were moving the whole standard six-string set over one space, and using a banjo .009, .010 or .011 on the high E. Light string sets back then were like .013 -.056, so you'd end up with about a "slinky" set. Ernie Ball began buying up bulk strings and repackaging them in the mid 1960's, but the banjo string trick persisted until 1967 or so when all the string manufacturers jumped on board.
The actual very first person to use a light, unwound third string on a guitar is in dispute, but by the late 50's many blues and rockabilly guitarists like Carl Perkins, Roy Buchanan and Ike Turner were moving the whole standard six-string set over one space, and using a banjo .009, .010 or .011 on the high E. Light string sets back then were like .013 -.056, so you'd end up with about a "slinky" set. Ernie Ball began buying up bulk strings and repackaging them in the mid 1960's, but the banjo string trick persisted until 1967 or so when all the string manufacturers jumped on board.
The nut has not been touched since it arrived from Warmoth, getting someone profesional to look at it is not going to be so easy where I live, so I will have to keep exploring the options, thanks for all the advice and tips, much appreciated. I will let you know if I get figured out. As this was my first build and there has not been any major problems up until now, its not so bad. Build number 2 & 3 are already on the way. Did somebody say this was adictive?
Is it noticeable when playing unplugged? Put your ear real close and see if there's a noticeable buzz, and whether it's coming from your nut or your bridge. Also back your pickups out even farther, maybe, to the point that you lose most of the volume, and see if it's definitely not the pickups; have you done all this already?
You could post a good closeup photo of your nut too. (just the guitar nut, thank you very much!)
You could post a good closeup photo of your nut too. (just the guitar nut, thank you very much!)
GoDrex
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My high e string sounds like crap unless I do vibrato on each note. If I just play a plain note anywhere on the high e it warbles. I can hear it when it's not plugged in.
I think the Gotoh TOM bridge is a piece of crap, but I can't be sure what it is. it will probably cost me more and more money to get it figured out. Maybe it's the hollow body. I have no idea.
I think the Gotoh TOM bridge is a piece of crap, but I can't be sure what it is. it will probably cost me more and more money to get it figured out. Maybe it's the hollow body. I have no idea.
Kind of late to this party, and it is hard to really understand based on the description "warble", but based on my interpretation I get something similar on occasion when my bridge saddles (vintage 6-hole strat) are not either: 1) pushed firmly against each other or 2) slightly lopsided due to the height screws not being equal. I have found that there is some warbling either the saddle or at the saddle in these cases. Normally squeezing all the saddles together stops it.
Sorry if the above sounds dumb, just something I've observed. Maybe it helps.
Jon
Sorry if the above sounds dumb, just something I've observed. Maybe it helps.
Jon
You know I was just thinking, after eliminating all this other stuff it might be a vibration or rattle in the bridge. All the saddles need to be pressing against the plate. Can you press down hard on the bridge, and push it left and right with your left hand, while you're picking a note with your right? If something is mechanically loose, it's find-able.
