Re: Why are some guitars 'Tighter' than others?
oh crap just had a revelation. so theoretically Floyd rose bridge guitars will feel tighter cause of the locking nut??? this kinda makes the guitar shorter in a way???
that is why my USACG is looser feeling that my Ibanez, cause the Ibanez has a floyd??????
It´s definitely a contributing to a tighter feel, because the "slinkiness" of a string has to do directly with the total stretchable length.
Let me explain: when you bend or fret a string, the string becomes stretched. This stretching happens along the entire "non locked" length of the string, including tuner windings. As a result, a string that has a longer "non speaking" length at either or both ends of the scale will rise in tension rising slower as it gets stretched, making it easier to bend but also increasing the distance (tension increase) needed to reach the same final pitch.
Bridge saddles have a lot to do with it. Pick up two similar strats, one with vintage bridge saddles and one with modern saddles. The vintage saddles will give it a slinkier looser feel.
Yes and no. Many modern strat bridge saddles cause the string to rest on the rear of the saddle in an attempt to increase the area of the contact surface between saddle and string. As a result, these saddles should in theory feel a bit slinkier.
BUT: our fingers can feel very minute changes in tension. The total difference between a .009 and a .010 is only about 3 pounds along the entire speaking length (approx. 13 lbs vs. approx. 16), so barely .12 lbs per inch. And that´s something I think we can all agree is a pretty apparent difference, a 9 vs a 10.
Knowing that, is easy to understand the kind of difference that can be actually felt can result from a MUCH lower tension increase, very literally .5mm in bridge saddle height can make a world of difference because of the slight action raise (= more stretching) as well as the resulting increase in string length between the saddle front and anchor hole. Though ironically the actually serves to counteract the effects of the raise, but since the speaking length is much longer in comparison than the 1nch or so from saddle to anchor, the action raise causes the significantly more pronounced effect on overall tension.
Play a top-wrapped TOM bridge and you will see what he is talking about. A steeper break over the saddle will give a tighter feel to the strings. It seems to me height and break at the nut would also play a part.
:bigok:
The stiffness of the neck material is also something to consider. My aluminum necked guitar is hella stiff for a 24.75" scale. It's almost neck-through and hollowed out on the inside....almost unbreakable. I've put 12's on tuned to Standard and the neck barely moves (no truss rod).
YES, most definitely. A neck (and joint) that flexes less transfers more of the energy your hand spends on fretting to the string itself, giving a slightly stiffer feel.
All things being equal (parts, construction, etc.) the truss rod adjustment will make the most difference in feel. I tend to set the truss rod according to feel as opposed to listening for buzzes. Under high gain (or even the clean channel), the extremely subtle buzzes aren't heard, but the guitar "feels" right.
While I set the rod the same way, I disagree strongly that it is the strongest factor in "slinkiness"... it is definitely a factor, as it affects relief and therby action, as well as slightly changing the angle at which the strings move compared to the fretboard by changing the curvature of the neck slightly. But in my experience many other factors are notably more pronounced.
[Simpleton]My Fender (style) guitars feel WAY stiffer than my Gibson (style) guitars.[/simpleton]
What do I win?
You get today´s "Captain Obvious" award, congratulations
:dance: :beerchug:
The Top wrap bridge makes most sense to me.
Ah, then you have undertood the general principle at least in part, good job
Kaffiman, i dont know if i agree about stiffer is better. i like the looseness of a guitar. to tight and it looses fattness.
Personal preference. I actually have guitars that I purposely keep a bit Looser because I like the way the feel influences my playing style in those particular tunings, but for the most part I too prefer for the guitar to be "stiffer" as it serves to give my fingers feedback on whether it likes what I´m doin or not
Plus loose guitars for me are way more comfy to play.
YAAA, especially when you just drop the strap 2 notches and let the grooves flow :headbang:
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