Good Guitar thread

Subject: Good Guitar thread
From: 53
Date: 16 May 02 - 08:40 PM

We need a good guitar thread here now. Any one out there have any neat things to say about guitars? Bob

Subject: RE: Good Guitar thread
From: Brendy
Date: 16 May 02 - 10:03 PM

I have many years been on the hunt for the long-wearing fret wire; I re-fret the top 7-8 frets every 6 months.

Another rainbow I have never reached the end of, is the one which reveals a bridge that doesn't take your D and G strings out with painful regularity.

Apart from that, the oul' Limited Washburn, which I got a guy to re-strut, and stick a tail-piece on, instead of pegging the strings behind the bridge, works and responds absolutely famously.

B.

Subject: RE: Good Guitar thread
From: pict
Date: 16 May 02 - 10:11 PM

If you regularly played in 5 different tunings would you prefer one really good top name guitar that you would have to retune for each tuning or would you choose 5 lesser name solid tops permanently tuned to each tuning?

Subject: RE: Good Guitar thread
From: Brendy
Date: 16 May 02 - 10:38 PM

I would say one guitar per tuning, but if you can afford it, the better the guitar is always the one to go for.

Not so much the brand name. As long as it suits what you want to do, and sounds the way you want it, price may not be the main problem; finding the right guitar can.

B.

Subject: RE: Good Guitar thread
From: michaelr
Date: 17 May 02 - 12:45 AM

Sorry, but I just got to plug Lowdens again, having read your posts. Brendy - my Lowden has a strings-through-the-bridge-plate (pinless) bridge. In 4 years of strumming (I'm no fingerpicker) I've never broken a string on it. I think it's in the design. And I'm just next week taking it in for a fret leveling. What in the world do you do to your guitar to have to RE-FRET it twice a year?!?

Pict - if you've ever seen Richard Tompson in solo performance, you'll know that he retunes his one Lowden guitar for just about every song. A stable guitar will take it, and be much more convenient than five. Of course it helps to have Richard's kind of witty stage banter! (and an electronic tuner in your pedalboard, permanently connected)

Cheers,
Michael

Subject: RE: Good Guitar thread
From: fogie
Date: 17 May 02 - 04:35 AM

I saw a couple of articles recently in one of the guitar publications. One was a guitar that was long enough in the neck for the strings to go down to D-d', and another about an acoustic guitar that had irregular(wavy) fretting to compensate for I think it was the b string. Also what exactly are those guitars that go from B to b' are they baritones what exactly do you do with them???

Subject: RE: Good Guitar thread
From: 53
Date: 17 May 02 - 02:09 PM

I've never tried a Lowden,mainly beczuse ther's no one in my area that carries them. I would love to be able to give one a test drive. Bob

Subject: RE: Good Guitar thread
From: GUEST,Dave Bennett
Date: 17 May 02 - 02:30 PM

I have a Guild D55, (1973, nearly thirty years), which I play every day, and have not had it refretted, although it is getting to the stage where I'm thinking about it. I rarely break strings, either, and I play fairly hard and sometimes with fingerpicks, though never with a plectrum. It also sounds heavenly, particularly with new strings but I only change those every 2 to 3 months! One of the things I take particular care with is making sure there are no sharp edges on either the nut or particularly the saddle where the strings run over them. I also use a trace of lubricant in the grooves of the nut to allow the strings to move smoothly as they are tuned or detuned . And wipe the strings with a smooth cloth after use!

Subject: RE: Good Guitar thread
From: Áine
Date: 17 May 02 - 05:39 PM

Dave,

What kind of strings do you use?

-- Áine

Subject: RE: Good Guitar thread
From: Brendy
Date: 18 May 02 - 02:36 AM

I have a Lowden and a Guild, and I use them in DADFAD and 1 semitone below Concert, respectively.

I've had the Lowden since the late 70's, and the Guild 11 years, and both are amazing instruments; re-fretted from time to time, granted, but they have never caused me any undue worry.

The Washburn is a piece of work in itself; I use it solely in DADGAD, and then only with a plectrum; the old Takamines stand for most of the finger-picking in the various tunings.

Playing Trad sets, first in G, then in F, then in A, and back to D, for instance, requires some changing of capo positions. Plus the fact that I use 60, 50, 39, 28, 17, 17, as my strings, I think you can appreciate, perhaps, where I might get the shorter lifetime out of my fret-wire.

I may have to change plectrums (Dunlop .60mm),4-5 times per 45 minute set, as they heat up between the fingers, and get too flexible (they do cool down after a while, mind you, otherwise my expenses would soar).

What I'm trying to say is that I play the poor thing pretty hard, and I know that it isn't a usual set-up I have on the Wash, which may well lead to the 'problems' I'm having.

I change the strings every night, have my own guitar monitor volume almost too loud, but still (from time to time), the dreaded Ds and Gs go, normally when one is getting to the really exciting parts :-)

The way it is with me, now, is that I have heard the 'string breaking' problem from so many Irish musicians, both famous, and not so, that perhaps it is only an occupational hazard, after all.

But always on the lookout for the latest Titanium innovations (or whatever the latest craze is), I just wondered....

Take it easy.

B.

Subject: RE: Good Guitar thread
From: C-flat
Date: 18 May 02 - 03:24 AM

Fogie, the guitars with the "wavy" frets are Frank Gambales signature Yamaha AES FG model which feature a new system called "fretwave". The idea behind it is to compensate for the inacuracies in the standard tuning/fretting system. This inacuracy is most noticable when playing a "third", for example,when you tune your guitar and play an E chord the "third"(Gsharp) is O.K. untill you play an A chord and it sounds slightly sharp. The same happens with the G and C chords and, although the difference is slight, you can find yourself going slightly mad constantly re-tuning depending on what key you're playing in. The "wave" in the first fret(behind the G string) and the second fret(behind the B string) makes you tune those strings slightly flatter which makes the whole instrument more in tune whatever chord you're playing. It was devised by a couple of Australian rock players who used a lot of E and A keys and it apparently has attracted the attention of a number of other guitar makers so we may get to see a lot more wavy frets around. Hope that doesn't raise more questions than it answered fogie, C-flat.

Subject: RE: Good Guitar thread
From: GUEST,Dave Bennett
Date: 18 May 02 - 04:07 AM

Aine, I use D'Addario phosphor bronze light gauge, 12-53. Funnily enough, an hour after replying to the thread,I broke a first string! It snapped at the machine head, so I'll check that there aren't any sharp edges there before I replace it. They've lasted since Xmas so I can't grumble. Generally, I use standard tuning, with dropped D fairly often, so I can understand that players who are constantly altering their tunings may have more problems. To follow up the point about Wavy frets and the intonation irregularities they are attempting to rectify, for most guitar players the worry is the the tendency for certain chords to sound wrong even after careful tuning. I have a hunch that this may be due to an overdependance on electronic tuners. I always make minor adjustments by ear after tuning. Dave

Subject: RE: Good Guitar thread
From: 53
Date: 18 May 02 - 06:46 PM

Thanks for the response to this thread.

Subject: RE: Good Guitar thread
From: kendall
Date: 18 May 02 - 07:31 PM

D'Addario strings, Taylor guitar. Nuff said