"Playing a Guitar in"

[MetalManiac]

Fact or Fiction?
Does a guitar need to be , or will it benefit from being 'played in', action wise?
Obviously I'm not talking about a master crafted instrument here..more like a parts guitar.
I just finished a fret level on my tele, and after 10 minutes of playing its responding much better.
Does this type of process continue, or does it end quickly.Do you play in your action for the life of the frets?

 

[MetalManiac]

Re: "Playing a Guitar in"

Okay. I understand people dont wann get involved in this. They dont need proper action on their cheap guitars. They arent in this for keeps like I am.
I have 30 guitars I have spent years dialing in. All of those cheap guiatrs you guys have and I have need ****loads of fretwork- they are junk out of the box, but you don't know any better. Ignorance is bliss-unless you are a slide player, and i'm not drunk..well sort of.
Either my guitar plays like a 5 grand master crafted custom shop, or I dump it, and I have all of them playing like that now, except my Tele IM working on which needs more work.

 

[CTN]

Re: "Playing a Guitar in"

I have a cheap parts strat. It plays better than any of my other more expensive guitars.

As for playing in...I dunno. When I first put it together, I hadn't got the set up exactly to where I like it. After fiddling around with it a bit, I got it to its sweet spot, and it's been there ever since. I dunno if I'd call that playing it in though.

If anything, new strings need to be played in until they lose that nasty "new string" jangle and sheen. Put a few hours on them, and then they hold tuning better, have more controlled highs and more solid lows. I hate the sound of fresh strings. Throws the whole sound of my rig completely off.

 

[Chickenwings]

Re: "Playing a Guitar in"

i think in 10 minutes of playing its more likely to be your fingers adjusting to the guitar than anything else.

 

[MetalManiac]

Re: "Playing a Guitar in"

i think in 10 minutes of playing its more likely to be your fingers adjusting to the guitar than anything else.

Actually, the first few minutes after a fret levell can meake a considerable difference, but , as I found out, won't fix a effed up neck.

I actually do think that a guiotar can be played in thouhg. lets hear Moar.
And Gibson175- can you remove that disturbing image please in your sig? I hate violence of any sort.I don't find it amusing someone is injured in their head.

 

[frankfalbo]

Re: "Playing a Guitar in"

After a fret level, unless the buff is really pro, playing the guitar in smooths the surface. The string grinds into the fret, and it feels slicker after 20 minutes.

 

[appar111]

Re: "Playing a Guitar in"

If your tech is any good, they'll use micro mesh on the frets which will get them as slick as they're ever gonna get. Frank, what you're talking about is essentially the string "burnishing" the fret at the meeting surface, right?

 

[DrNewcenstein]

Re: "Playing a Guitar in"

Actually I find that pic hilarious. Dude gets smacked in the face by a guitar on stage, but keeps going.

And yes, it's more likely that your fingers are getting accustomed to a given guitar's quirks, and not the guitar getting "worn in" like a pair of shoes.


Unless you've got a truly crapass neck made of some cheap wood that is a similar color to maple, and it's flexing under the warmth of your hand.

 

[Chickenwings]

Re: "Playing a Guitar in"

ask and you shall receive jerry!

 

[jmh151]

My PRS needed to be played in when I got it new- it didn't take long, may have been my ears and fingers adjusting more than anything else since it was much more precise than my other guitars

 

[frankfalbo]

Re: "Playing a Guitar in"

Frank, what you're talking about is essentially the string "burnishing" the fret at the meeting surface, right?

Yeah except it only occurs to the degree that the fret surface contains micro abrasions from the paper or steel wool. A well buffed fret feels right from the moment you string it up. So I don't know that what I'm referring to meets the technical definition of burnishing, depending on the guitar and the individual fret dress in question.

 

[tonello]

Re: "Playing a Guitar in"

I spend more time finding the sweet spot than I do trying to break in a guitar. I break in strings, and that's it. All my pedals have sweet spots that I have found, my amps have sweet spots that I have found, and yes my guitars have sweet spots I have found. When i get new gear, I spend about an average of an hour (on things like MXR's 10 Band EQ's I spent an entire Saturday testing out diffrent settings) looking for the sound. My Wah pedal has a real good spot, that when you find it, it works as a great treble booster (I use it for mostly harmonics boosting).