Having to fight my guitar...

[B2D]

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?

 

[Gearjoneser]

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.

 

[Vasshu the humanoid typhoon]

Re: Having to fight my guitar...

I played with 0.9's in the beginning, then I shifted to 0.10's...on a ST-40 Tokai total standart strat...singlecoils and all.
Someguitars are just stiff from birth, and almost no matter what strings you use or how you setup the thing, it just remains stiff and hard to play.
Anyways as Joneser said, it is rewarding playing on a hard to play guitar.
Make it too easy and you loose out in someways later on.

 

[Ken]

Re: Having to fight my guitar...

Well, for the D'addario vs. Fender dealy...

Perhaps they use different ratios of nickel in their strings? Different purities, that sort of thing?

More or less of a certiain metal would forseeably affect malleability.

 

[Curly]

Re: Having to fight my guitar...

1. different string brands have different tension at the same guage.

2. I'm very used to 1-5/8" nut, but chords are easier to play on 1-11/16".

3. 6100 frets will give you a scalloped feel, and make bending easier - just try a G & L, because most of them have Dunlop 6100 frets. BTW, Warmoth doesn't use Dunlop frets, so their nominal sizes are a little different in feel to me. I like 6100's, but I have a warmoth strat with 6150's that I like, too. The frets on the US Fenders actually seems just about right to me.

It would be hard for me to justify the cost of scalloping or refretting a MIM Fender.

 

[TwofacePimp]

Re: Having to fight my guitar...

If you've been using the same guitar, setup the same, with the same strings for the past six years, and there's only a problem now, you have to examine where the problem is actually coming from. Is your guitar the problem, or did something change in you? I imagine that your playing has changed quite a bit in the last six years, and I'm sure that your taste in guitars has changed a little too. Your technique probably also changed. And sometimes if you're having a bad day (or week) it will seem harder to play. I only say this because it doesn't sound like something is actually broken in your strat, but instead you think other guitars have features that are "better."

I feel like that from time to time, which usually ends up with me buying another guitar, pickups, amp, pedal, etc. Luckily I'm pretty happy with the guitars I own, but I'm horrible about blaming my other gear for poor tone when it's really my attitude that is the problem. I'm not saying to stop buying new gear (especially on this board!), but don't toss aside your old friends because things aren't going well for a little while. What I would do in this case is get a professional setup with a good tech, which will correct the action and intonation and have the guitar playing the way it should. It might also just be time to upgrade to a MIA or even another type of guitar altogether. But your attitude is the most important factor when you're talking about something feeling right.

By the way, how much did it cost to refret your strat? Was it worth it, being that is a MIM?

 

[B2D]

Re: Having to fight my guitar...

a few responses...

Gearjoneser - As much evidence as there is for using beefy necks and heavy strings making for better tone... I still believe a large part of it is in the fingers. I've heard some pretty weak tones coming from a Paul with 11's and some badass fatness coming from a Strat with 9's. What I'm trying to point out is that it's not the guage I'm concerned with, it's the fact that The fender 9's were easier to wrangle than the d'addarios and that the Ernie Ball 10's felt just like those D'addario 9's, tension-wise. And I've always managed to get the best tone from 9's guage strings when they're nickel wound, that's all. I actually used to use D'addario 10's for a few years but switched back to 9's cuz I didn't feel or hear any difference. And I pride myself on having excellent tone and intonation.

I use medium low action as well, it allows notes to sing out a little more.

Rid - The guitar has always felt pretty consistent but I'm starting to notice that a lot of other guitars play easier. and not just expensive ones either... could be differences in the necks and such.

Curly - I'm only 5'5 tall and I have kinda small hands, and I've been able to get around town on 1 11/16th nuts and even 1 3/4 wide necks just fine but it wasn;t until I tried 1 5/8ths that I realized how much harder I'd been working... it's much more comfortable.

TwoFacePimp - The guitar isn't broken at all, in fact it's in perfect working order. My gear is pretty top-level at this point (check the signature list) so tone isn't really a trouble issue.

...even though my tastes and style have changed over the past I still love strats as a basic design. However things have still subtly changed. Music Man Silhouettes are everything I've ever wanted in a custom instrument but they still can't quite nail a good strat tone, so it's a compromise between the two. the neck feel and playability is a VITAL part of the instrument to me so I tend to put a lot of focus on that. I've found over the years that, aside from nut width...

- I don't like low or small frets
- I like radiuses around 10-12
- I like one-peice necks with straight headstocks (70's Strat necks)
- I tend to lean towards a shallow C shape neck

Oh yeah I also know hoe to set up guitars and basses very well so that cuts down on tech bills.

It did cost a lot to refret, though. 250 and that included a setup and stuff. I'd really rather keep the original neck on because it's my first guitar and it's been through thick and thin and served me faithfully so far... sentimental value and personal attachment, you know?

i have an MIA and it's a little easier to play. I prefer it over the MIM standing up...

Oh yeah I thought about it and I realized that some of this may be due to exhaustion. I've been very very tired a lot lately and this is probably detrimental to my concentration in playing as well.

I'll post back again when I'm rested to see if my problems magically go away... but some of these observations I've made have been consistent in the past few months.

any more comments?

 

[Mincer]

Re: Having to fight my guitar...

Scalloping feels nothing like big frets. I hate playing on big frets, yet love scalloped boards. A mexican strat is a perfect guitar to experiment on. Or just by a scalloped neck from warmoth- if you dont like it, sell it, and put the old one back on.

 

[B2D]

Re: Having to fight my guitar...

Scalloping feels nothing like big frets. I hate playing on big frets, yet love scalloped boards. A mexican strat is a perfect guitar to experiment on. Or just by a scalloped neck from warmoth- if you dont like it, sell it, and put the old one back on.

I like frets that are taller but not necessarily wider... a friend of mine has an "84 Strat that he had tall gibson frets put into and it's a GREAT player.

Scalloped fretboards are completely different from jumbo frets... anyone who tells you otherwise has most likely not spent time with a scalloped neck enough to know the difference.

Well after a few days it turns out that yeah my recent exhaustion was a big factor in having diffuculty playing, but the Fender strings are still easier to bend and those EB/MM necks still rule... I guess It's just a case of liking certain features better than others.

 

[Hellion]

Re: Having to fight my guitar...

I've never had a Fender instrument that DIDN'T fight to some extent. I had to stop playing my Gibsons for awhile, just because Fenders altered my playing to such a large degree. My current main stage guitars are a Tele and a Paul, they both are strung with a 10 on the top and a 52 on the bottom. I used to use the same guages on my Strat, but that made it fight just a bit too much. I just attributed it to the fact that you caress a Gibson, you attack a Fender.

 

[midnite_man]

Re: Having to fight my guitar...

I agree with having to "attack" the Strat. It's a guitar that even when set-up properly it's still an axe to reckoned with. But, it's one thing I like and respect about the guitar. I know that going from a Strat to a Les Paul, and visa versa, takes some getting used to at first....both being totally different animals.
I use 10-46ga. Fender Bullets on both my Fenders, and have tried D'Addarios, GHS Boomers, Ernie Ball Slinky's, and a few others. I've always gone back to the Bullets for the same reason you stated earlier, B2D. They just play like what they were meant for.
They're great strings for Strats.

 

[BornToShred]

Re: Having to fight my guitar...

I don't think that heavier strings necessarily give you better tone. Just different.
Light gauges sound more twangy, and heavy gauges sound fatter. It comes down to personal preference.
I use a DR 9-46 set. Easy bending, but not as thin sounding on the low strings as a 9-42 set. Sounds killer.

I think a big part of Billy Gibbons' tone comes from light strings. I think he uses an 8-42 set or something like that. No one else can get that kind of wicked twang out of a Les Paul.

 

[Mattt]

Re: Having to fight my guitar...

GearJoneser has some good points...

But then Shawn Lane used 8's on his guitars, and his tone was amazing.

 

[Gearjoneser]

Re: Having to fight my guitar...

I guess the longer you play, the more your eye's, ears, and hands start to zero in on what you really love. Sometimes, you have to come to the realization that some guitars, amps, and strings, are "you", and the rest are "someone else's taste."

My only point is that forcing your hands to get used to anything will only help your hand control in the long run. If you can pickup a strat, paul, or Floyd guitar, which all have different necks and string tension, and get used to them, it's amazing that your bends will eventually be perfect on all guitars. At first, you put down a strat, then pickup a Paul and overbend sharp, or visa versa. It's a good thing, I think, to get used to all your guitars equally, even if it means tailoring your string gauge to give a more consistent feel from guitar to guitar.

 

[Grandor]

Re: Having to fight my guitar...

I played an '02 mexi strat yesterday.

Man Did I dig in.
If only it didnt hum like a bumble bee on flowers. Damn!

I dug in big and the tone was sweet when on the middle and bridge pups, could do with a better amp than the one i used tho (marshall valvestate 100 (hybrid tube preamp crap) )...

I think A fat strat would be sik, and get it properly shielded.
I'm keen, Although - I couldnt shred on it like my LP.

 

[B2D]

Re: Having to fight my guitar...

I guess the longer you play, the more your eye's, ears, and hands start to zero in on what you really love. Sometimes, you have to come to the realization that some guitars, amps, and strings, are "you", and the rest are "someone else's taste."

My only point is that forcing your hands to get used to anything will only help your hand control in the long run. If you can pickup a strat, paul, or Floyd guitar, which all have different necks and string tension, and get used to them, it's amazing that your bends will eventually be perfect on all guitars. At first, you put down a strat, then pickup a Paul and overbend sharp, or visa versa. It's a good thing, I think, to get used to all your guitars equally, even if it means tailoring your string gauge to give a more consistent feel from guitar to guitar.

Another good point! Whenever I pick up a guitar that's set up VERY differently from my own (like that Les Paul with a scalloped board and 11's) it usually takes me a minute or so to get used to it but generally I can get around on any guitar I want just fine. On Gibsons it's always so easy to race around on the fretboard but then I have to make sure I don't overbend (fixed bridge) and the strings don;t slip out from under me (low frets).

I've been playing a lot more acoustic guitar (friend's steel strings and my mom's Fernandes classical) and after about an hour of running through all my usual stuff on that electrics feel reeeaaallly good.

After looking at it, on a scale of 1-10 (1 being impossible to play, 10 being effortless) I'd say most acoustics to me are a 4 or 5, my strat is a 7 and those EBMM's are 9.

 

[rspst14]

Re: Having to fight my guitar...

I played an '02 mexi strat yesterday.

Man Did I dig in.
If only it didnt hum like a bumble bee on flowers. Damn!

I dug in big and the tone was sweet when on the middle and bridge pups, could do with a better amp than the one i used tho (marshall valvestate 100 (hybrid tube preamp crap) )...

I think A fat strat would be sik, and get it properly shielded.
I'm keen, Although - I couldnt shred on it like my LP.

A simple star-grounding rewire would likely cut down on the hum quite a bit. Lots of good information about that at www.guitarnuts.com. You could also get some shielding tape and cover the control cavities with it. I just bought some from www.guitarelectronics.com, and I was able to shield an entire guitar with one square foot. Proper shielding and wiring can greatly reduce the hum from single coils.

Ryan

 

[Biu]

Re: Having to fight my guitar...

I have the same problem, B2D, but I'm sorta lucky because my Ibanez's posess that "easy-bending/playability" thing. It could be the fact that I use DR 09-42's, but I think some of it may have more to do with the neck somehow. Maybe even the bridge (My RG3120 has Edge Pro and my SA160QM has a Wilkinson-esque bridge). I know what you mean about other guitars being tougher to play. My Epiphone Explorer is like that. I use 10's on it and once (looong ago!) brought it down to a set of Ernie Ball 9's. Strings broke faster that way, but it did get that easier feel. Maybe you just need to try a different brand of strings?