Lacuna-ZA
Hi Guys/Gals
I haven't posted in a while, not that I think anyone would notice ?.
Right, so about a year and half ago, I bought an steel string acoustic guitar (tanglewood). At the time I didn't know much about guitars (like now ? ) and said I had 2 grand to spend, what do they recommend. So they gave me this guitar and it sounded great. The little I played on it.
So I get home and notice a fret buzz. I take it back and they say there's not much they can do and they don't have any other stock. So I beg them to just try and they did.
Home again and no more fret buzz. Great. But I soon realise that the string tension is ludicriously high. I reckon the problem is with my noob hands not use to the guitar. So I keep at it (playing electric and acoustic) and even now, I have problems playing for longer than an hour. If I play mostly barre chords I can barely play 30 minutes.
Are steel string acoustics really THIS hard to play? Even for someone with a little experience under their belt? Is there anything they can do that could help? I'm not sure about the gauge of the strings but they are damn thick too. Right now, I feel like I've wasted about 2.8k on a beautifull guitar that I can't play.
ANY advise or help would be greatly appreciated!
Ray
Well, someone with a lot more experience will happen along and tell you what's up. But before then please explain to the group why you havent posted in while. Everybody's been talking about it y'know!
That was a year ago and you ostill have the same strings on the guitar?
DaFiz
There should not be more than about 5mm from the top of the last fret to the bottom of the strings or they've raised the bridge too much.
The string gauge starting at 0.10mm (first E) to about 0.52 ( I used d'Addario custom light... 0.11 to 0.52)
On the finger nut side the distance from fret to string less than a millimetre.
Many guitars on shop shelves have too much clearance and are difficult to play. It may be well worth your while to have someone make some adjustments to the intonation and make the action easier...
before you lose heart and give up guitaring. ?
chris77
Welcome back... I reckon its first of all your action and maybe then your string guage. Try the Net for tips on how to adjust your neck and nut and/or saddle. (or wait for Alan ?) Most guitars arent badly made, just badly set up.
Heath
i recently got a cort acoustic as a gift , the setup was terrible and exactly how you described it . dropped the action considerably (it was so bad i could put a pencil under the string at the 20th fret) and put on some rotosound 11 on the guitar . now plays like a dream . so definetly have your setup checked and not by the same place either . if you in jhb , take it to andys .
AlanRatcliffe
I'll add my voice to the chorus - have it properly set up and drop the gauge of the strings to .011s.
TomCat
Not sure who does a good setup in Bloem but in J-burg there is Any McGibbons and Music Connection.
Bob-Dubery
We don't KNOW what they did, and it seems that things got worse after they did whatever they did. Given their earlier reluctance it seems that they either don't have a workshop or don't have anybody who can do a set up. So I'd bet they just adjusted the truss rod. If they slackened that then the action would go up (NB! the truss rod is not really there for adjusting action, it's there for adjusting neck relief)
Is there a good guitar tech in your town? It sounds like it needs to be set up properly.
This link
http://www.frets.com/FRETSPages/Musician/GenSetup/TrussRods/TrussRodAdj/tradj.html
Will give you a good way of checking if there's too much relief in the neck. Even if you don't want to adjust the truss rod yourself it's a good thing to know how to check for these things.
What strings do you have fitted? Different compounds and different brands will have more tension. EG all else being equal you'll have more tension with phosphor bronze strings than with 80:20 bronze.
Fingerpicker
This is a dumb one, but are you tuning with a tuner? (string tension high).
What you can do if you do have a decent tuner is take the tuning down a semitone. May make it easier on the hands.
Lacuna-ZA
Thank you guys so much for replying. Thing is, in this town (Bloem) there is only 1 decent music shop. To my knowledge there are no luthiers. These guys know guitars, but I don't think they know how to setup them properly.
I'm scared to try and mess with it myself, but I get this bad feeling that'll be my only option.
I'm not sure what the string gauge is, as I bought it that way. But I hvae 10s on my electric and they are MUCH thicker than that. I'm guessing maybe 12s.
Bob-Dubery
Lacuna ZA wrote:
Thank you guys so much for replying. Thing is, in this town (Bloem) there is only 1 decent music shop. To my knowledge there are no luthiers. These guys know guitars, but I don't think they know how to setup them properly.
I'm scared to try and mess with it myself, but I get this bad feeling that'll be my only option.
Check the neck relief first. You don't have to actually change anything ?
IMO you need to get it somewhere for a setup - or get the shop to arrange that. It may well be the case that you get the neck right and then you run into that fret buzz again. Unless you are sure you want to deal with the nut, the frets and everything else get it done by a pro.
CDee
Lacuna ZA wrote:
Right, so about a year and half ago, I bought an steel string acoustic guitar (tanglewood). At the time I didn't know much about guitars (like now ? ) and said I had 2 grand to spend, what do they recommend. So they gave me this guitar and it sounded great. The little I played on it.
Lacuna ZA wrote:
I'm not sure what the string gauge is, as I bought it that way.
So you have not changed the strings then in almost a year and a half? That is a problem in itself. The strings they give you as part of the guitar when you buy is normally not the best. Get new, good quality strings and see if that makes a difference? I think you'll find a huge improvement already. (Try 11's or even .10's)
?
Lacuna-ZA
Cool, I think I'll try that first.
Even try and "install" the strings myself
EDIT:I wonder, if one could possible ship the guitar to a luthier? But I guess its pointless if I'm not there to test it myself.
Bob-Dubery
Maybe check with the shop or with the manufacturer's web site to see what strings are fitted as standard. I'd start with those - not necessarily the same brand, but the same gauge. If you're averse to changing strings on a regular basis then shell out for a set of Elixirs.
CDee
X-rated Bob wrote:
If you're averse to changing strings on a regular basis then shell out for a set of Elixirs.
+1. I try to only use Elixirs. Swop them out every 2 months. Regular D'Addarios I swop out every 2-3 weeks.
Bob-Dubery
Another thing (Darren). Acoustic guitars can be a bit more physically taxing than electrics because of the heavier strings. However that should pass once your hands get used to the extra effort involved. It sounds like you've been playing this for a while now and yet you're still struggling - this leads me to think that there's something not lekker with the setup.
Attila
Hey the Lacun ......bloem my old stomping ground .... I may have mentioned this 16 times or so
Perhaps you can get hold of Andy Crawford from bloem and see who does his guitars
Lacuna-ZA
Right, so I finally restringed the guitar (by myself for the first time ? )
I got Elixirs as suggest and a thinner gauge (10s). The difference is HUGE. You still need a little dexterity to play, but I can now easily jam on it. Thank you guys for the advice.
Though, I still think there is something wrong. The tone is just so thin with the 10s (playability over tone any day), so I still think there should be a way to put a thicker gauge on without making it impossible to play. I took it to the shop so they can check it, and they said everything is about normal. I doubt it. They are players, not luthiers. (With all due respect)
I think I'll either have to sell one day or track down a luthier somehow.
Heath
i will bet that the action is to high , take a photo from the side of the guitar , so we can see the height of the strings in relation to the fret and bridge .
Bob-Dubery
Tailon. wrote:
i will bet that the action is to high , take a photo from the side of the guitar , so we can see the height of the strings in relation to the fret and bridge .
Better still. Revisit that article on frets.com (URL Previously posted in this thread) and using capos and/or hands press the strings all the way to the fret at 1st and 14th fret. Then take a shot from the side - making sure that the range from about 5th to 8th fret is clearly in view. Get a ruler or something of known thickness in the shot so that we can extrapolate the clearances shown to real life.
