Having to fight my guitar...

Re: Having to fight my guitar...

Your hands get used to whatever you use. The easier you make it on yourself, the more your hands get spoiled. If there weren't tonal benefits to using guitars with beefier necks and heavier strings, nobody would use them. You really should wean yourself off 9's. Sure, they're easier to play, which is why guitar companies put them on new guitars, but to most players, they're like fishing string. The tone improves greatly by going up to at least 10's, if not 11's. There's more boldness under your fingers and less string warble with 10's or higher.

I like playing on guitars with medium low action, because you've got all the tone, but still have good playability with any string gauge. If you've got to work a little, that's fine. Then, you can rip on any guitar. I always love playing acoustic for several weeks, then picking up my electrics. You can feel how much more control your fingers have, because they've been forced to get stronger.

Recently I've been having to fight with my '95 Mexican Strat a lot, it just doesn't seem to be as easy to play as it used to be... I was wondering how I could remedy this without making any major modifications but in the process of examining the problem I've made a few discoveries...

1. Fender Strings - I've been using D'adario 9-42 sets for the past 6 years. I've noticed that the Fender guitars we have in the store are strung with 9-42 gauge Fender Super 250's which seem REALLY easy to bend in comparison with the D'addarios of the same guage. I commented on this to a fellow co-worker who uses Blue Steels, asking if it was just me or if I was on to something. He said it wasn't just me and the stiffness of the D'addario 9's bothered him as well and that's why he didn't use them... I also played a friend's Steve Morse model MusicMan (WOW!!) and the strings felt similar and I asked him and he said he used Ernie Ball 10's. What's going on here?

2. Nut width - MusicMan Silhouette guitars have 1 5/8ths inch nut width and a slightly shallower back than a strat... and I find it to be the most wonderfully-playing neck I've ever encountered. MM Axis guitars have the same nut width but are fatter than your average strat, and I like them a lot as well. Sitting down the strat's neck width is fine but standing up (it's 1 11/6ths and a normal c shape) It's been bugging me more than usual. It doesn't hurt my hands but it is beginning to annoy me. But with those Silhouette necks it just effortless!

3. Frets/Scalloping - The first time I had my guitar refretted I requested Dunlop 6105 fretwire and I'm told that that's what I got... but I've compared it to a guitar in the store that I know FOR SURE has 6105's and that guitars frets are much taller and narrower... could I have gotten 6150's by mistake? I tried a Strat with Jumbo frets once and it felt wonderful... I've noticed I don't like the frets on Les Paul Standard cuz they're too low, but the frets on those Les Paul Specials (these http://www.gibson.com/products/gibson/lespaul/lpsh.html ) felt GREAT... just right. Also I've only tried about 4 or 5 guitars with scalloped fretboards and I've liked all of them a lot, because of the ease in bending and vibrato.... I had to adjust my playing style a little bit but once I did that it seemed like the guitar was a lot easier to play. I know scalloping is not for everyone but I think it may be for me...

I'd really rather not replace the necks on either of the guitars that I have but I'm not ruling it out... maybe the next time I need to refret I should just order a Custom neck from warmoth with a 1 5/8ths nut, standard back (I'm told the standard is like an MIA Std Strat shape) and jumbo frets. I'm just tired of fighting against my guitar and getting frustrated. My small hands need some help!

Any thoughts/ideas/advice?

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