Barb Wire Blues!

[Ol Boy Rivers]

Howdy yall, Ol'boy here. This is a topic on a little information i need. Ive jumped up from .10's to 13 gauge strings on my strat. ( AKA BarbWire ) Now...When i did it the first thing that happened was all five springs were put on and my Trem' cover was put at the Butt of the Tremolo to hold it off of the body. Strings went on next ( I used a set of DD's 7string packs, And just left out the top string for a even Fatter sound ) Next thing was the Truss bar. I turned the HELL out of that thing untill i looked down the neck and felt it was straight enough. Next thing to be adjusted was the string hidth ( I went as high as the screws would let me go, Im pretty sure they are the 3/8 hex barrels. ) And then played it. I was stunned....Untill i got down and tried to play any note behind the third fret. It buzzes so bad that you cant hear the notes AT ALL. I rechecked my neck to see if it was set right. Its straight for the most part, Cept near the end its bowed just a tad. I THINK this might be the problem but i want expert advice before i go and put that neck through more hell then its allready been through. Its that OR i need to go and order the 1/2 hex barrels for the saddle adjustments. Thanks for the help.

[Ricardo.]

Hmm, every time I look at my truss rod I can never tell whether it's straight. So turning it to Hell is a part that worries me. Anyways, maybe they aren't high enough at the nut? If you had lower-type action before that may be it? I hope I know something...

[Ol Boy Rivers]

When the string is open it doesnt buzz a bit. I actually like the action where it is when im past the 3rd fret....But before the third you cant play WHATSOEVER which is killing me because alot of my Signiture Riffs are Blues licks that right around that area. Tomarrow im takin' her up to TME and see if they can figure out how to make this buzz stop.

[The Geoff]

You've taken too much relief out of the neck. There should be a *tiny* bit of bow left in it, just to give the string an envelope in which to vibrate.

 

Dan Erlewine, in his book, says he now leans toward *almost* straight necks.

 

If it worked ok before & now buzzes, it's most likely too much taken on the truss rod.

 

You should never take more than 1/4 to 1/2 a turn out of it per day. It sometimes takes hours for the neck to adjust and settle each time.

 

PUT THE HELL BACK INTO IT :0) and then you'll probably have to drop the saddles again.

 

Geoff

[Bbach1]

Definately give the wood some time to move to your adjustments. I know we live in a want it now world, but wood doesn't work like that in general. The changes you are making are drastic so give it some time or you may end up with a cracked neck or might break the truss rod nut loose. Small steps ol boy, small steps.

[miroslav]

Yes...you've made the neck too straight....relax the truss rod a 1/4 - 1/2 turn...and check it again after an hour.

 

Worst case...you can put in a new nut to lift the strings up a bit.

[Ol Boy Rivers]

Woooowsers. Thanks yall, Had new clue i had to wait a little while. Yeah then, Soon as i get off of here ill go put in half a turn and let it sit for an hour and go from there. Thanks again yall.

[Chad Thorne]

BTW...don't you guys in Texas pronounce that "bob wahr"?...

[Ol Boy Rivers]

HAH! You listen hurr' City Boy', I aint have'in nona' that! Yeah, Messed with the truss about a full turn and it cleared it up right as rain. Im gunna borrow a friend of mines RackTuner so i can get the Intonation set real nice and all. Thanks for the help yall, Chad...Well...You chad

[Big Red 67]

My fav is youain'tfromaroundhereareya! Who did that song?

[Ol Boy Rivers]

Well dont ask me. The only guy that plays blues around here that i know of is Tommy castro, Ever heard of em'?

[Ol Boy Rivers]

Oooo Update on the 13's. They arnt as bad as i thought they would be to play, But that still be pretty stiff. It sounds like a wet dream, But its allmost to the point where im working to hard to enjoy a good song. Vibrato is killer when i want a nice one, Full bends on the forth is also an UBER issue. Its not the finger tips that is getting to me, Its the finger strength that i dont gots yet. Again, Ill try to find a way to get some sound samples up and see if anyone can give me some advice on finger exersize. All and all, I like Em'. I was hoping on sheding some blood but dosent lok like itle happen, Just the strength that needs to be built. Once more, Thanks for the help on fixin my kinks, 'Priciate it.

[Big Red 67]

Originally posted by Ol' Boy Rivers:

Well dont ask me. The only guy that plays blues around here that i know of is Tommy castro, Ever heard of em'?

Yeah, I haven't seen him for a long time! I run into his sister at the art thingy second saturday from time to time.

 

OT: I play 12's with a wound G. I ended up with a little ice to make sure I didn't hurt my self.

[Ol Boy Rivers]

tommy castro is the most. I love his song " Cant keep a good man down " And id KILL To beable to watch in in concert. Get this, I was in a H&H laying down some SRV licks on a LP when this guy walks up and goes " A Teenager playing Blues, I guess theres hope after all " So we had ourselfs a little jam session and he walked out to his car and gave me the CD, I was thought HE was actually tommy casto. I said cool, Got his number and all thought. When i played this stuff i was near amased. Awsome music, AWSOME Jam. ( And to the Statement of the 12's. I have the same Setup on the thirteens, I bought 7 string Guitar strings and left out the Ten Top. SO Four strings are wound, Two Steely. Personally i think its fatter and more balenced that way. )

[Big Red 67]

I bet the 7string sets are proably cheeper than the 12's I get. I can only get a good deal by, ordering a box, then going home to search for the best price. Otherwise they are 6 or 7 bucks a shot!

 

I bet you could sell the tens online!

[Guitarzan]

have fun trying to bend that wound G. brutal.

i had a wound G on my LG last summer and it would take some serious movement to change the pitch a whole tone.

[Ol Boy Rivers]

Thats the exact problem im coming agenst zan. I do alot of blues up on the neck and even MORE blues on that string. Its certinly a gonador trying to get a FULL bend out of it without your teeh gritting. Its a tradeoff, Sound for work, Work for sound. But its so fat...So beautiful! I litterally had to turn down the middle on my amp cause' it was so deep. Im thinking about getting some LipStick pickups after this VJ im working on and seeing if i can add some awsome sparkle to the deep tone.

[Chad Thorne]

Well, of course, SRV solved the bending-fat-strings problem by tuning down a half step.

 

And who are you calling a "City Boy"? I live on a farm in rural Maine with 7 dogs, 24 chickens, and soon about a half dozen sheep. (I anticipated a lot of smarmy jokes about the unnatural relationship between shepherds and their sheep, but then I remembered our new "family-friendly" format. Mods, please note: I can outdo anybody on this board with those jokes, I've heard them all, and I won't be outdone! Probably best not to let it get started.) It's not South Fork, but it's not "city" either.

 

I used to live in Austin, and I love Texas (except for the death penalty - c'mon, Texans are better than that)and its accents, so I wasn't picking on you, OBR! The only problems I had with Austin were that it doesn't ever get cold (40 degrees F. isn't cold, Bubba) and it's too far from the Atlantic Ocean. And it's not home.

 

So you go on with your bad self playin' them "bob wahr" strings*, and have fun!

 

 

* What's the difference between a violin and a fiddle? A violin has strings, and a fiddle has "strangs"...

[Big Red 67]

You'll get it. I can bend my Gstring off the neck (toward my nose not my toes) from about the 7th fret to the 17th fret. I have to "work out" when I spend any time off the guitar.

[Dr. Ellwood]

Originally posted by Ol' Boy Rivers:

Well dont ask me. The only guy that plays blues around here that i know of is Tommy castro, Ever heard of em'?

when did he move? last I knew he was still living in SF.

[Big Red 67]

Originally posted by ellwood:

Originally posted by Ol' Boy Rivers:

Well dont ask me. The only guy that plays blues around here that i know of is Tommy castro, Ever heard of em'?

when did he move? last I knew he was still living in SF.

Don't remember, but I know he gets around!

[Ol Boy Rivers]

I dunno eitherm, He had an AWSOME voice though. And You crack me up chad. On that note, though, I never liked Downtuning because i couldnt handle certin bend'riffs. Personally i think its cheating, But lots of peopl.e have to do it anyways just to get their voices Aline with their guitar. I dont have to worry 'bout that one, I cant sing worth a snivle anyways.

[skipclone 1]

well I had a weird accident recently while trying to do some finger strength exercises, and someone said you don`t need to use anything to build strength, just do isotonic type motions. I disagree. To build grip strength ( a motion similar to fretting or picking an instrument) you need something to grip. I like to get a big wad of gum eraser, like they sell at art supply stores. It`s to avoid scraping the heck out of fine paper. get four or five blocks of that stuff, mash it together and work it like cookie dough.

[Ol Boy Rivers]

Hmm...Imm have to look into it. At the moment im using Weight Bar Pinches and RC-Car Shocks between differnt fingers. Im probally going to get that little spring held finger trainer alot of music stores sell. On idea that came from a friend says drink a coke out of the plastic bottles, Blow some air and tie on the cap at the time and start sqeezing that. Anywho...I got a job out in conroe, Ill see yall later.

[Zephyr]

I just made the same sort of string leap, i went from 9's to 12's and man, they're awesome, still working out some finger issues, but it's getting there, and man ive never sounded better.