Playing cheap guitars

wrench
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Thu Mar 03, 2011 1:38 pm

Two things.

First, I find that as I have played nearly two years now, I have less difficulty with poorly setup guitars. Hydroman52 gave the example of turning over an ornery instrument to a seasoned player, who lit up the house. I think this comes over time with both hand strength and the numbness in the fingertips to tolerate fretting. I think Michele even noted somewhere that she was thinking of raising a saddle. I've done the same thing. I raised the action on all of my guitars. It just doesn't seem to be an issue anymore.

Second, and specific to Yamaha, you can make FG series Yamahas both sound great and play just easy as anything *and I mean ANYTHING* on the market (except very short scale guitars). For little money, Yamaha gives you a great unfinished guitar. I've been using a fleet of Yamaha FG's as luthiery cadavers for nearly two years, and I can tell you that, with some work, you can make them very good instruments. You do need to spend a little money on replacement nut and saddle material, but the rest is all courage and good old fashioned work. Results are all verified through spectrum analysis.

And I remember my 1969 Harmony exactly as Bear remembers his, except mine had a neck you could shoot arrows with.


tovo
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Thu Mar 03, 2011 1:49 pm

Rick thanks man. That all makes perfect sense to me.

Wrench! Great to "see" you, hope you are well. I agree with you, at the more affordable end of the scale I have always been very impressed when I have picked up a Yamaha guitar in the store. I think my workmate's Yamaha is the worst example I have come across.

Can I ask why you raise the action on your guitars? Is it only to avoid fret buzz or something else?


wrench
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Thu Mar 03, 2011 2:34 pm

tovo wrote:
Can I ask why you raise the action on your guitars? Is it only to avoid fret buzz or something else?
Three reasons. First, the difference in playability between 4/64 and 6/64 at the 12th fret seems negligible to me. I think playability is far more dependent on the action at the nut. Second, the higher action does add some buzz protection, although I don't feel plagued by buzz. Third, and most importantly to me, I want to maximize the break angle of the strings behind the saddle. Wiley noted somewhere that lowering the action will reduce volume and sustain. He is correct about that, and break angle is what causes it. The flatter the angle, the lower the force pressing the saddle into the bridge. There are ways to address that, which is part of the modification process I mentioned above on Yamaha guitars.


wrench
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Thu Mar 03, 2011 2:41 pm

tovo wrote:
Can I ask why you raise the action on your guitars? Is it only to avoid fret buzz or something else?
Three reasons. First, the difference in playability between 4/64 and 6/64 at the 12th fret seems negligible to me. I think playability is far more dependent on the action at the nut. Second, the higher action does add some buzz protection, although I don't feel plagued by buzz. Third, and most importantly to me, I want to maximize the break angle of the strings behind the saddle. Wiley noted somewhere that lowering the action will reduce volume and sustain. He is correct about that, and break angle is what causes it. The flatter the angle, the lower the force pressing the saddle into the bridge. There are ways to address that, which is part of the modification process I mentioned above on Yamaha guitars.


sws626
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Fri Mar 04, 2011 12:46 pm

Hi Tony,

I have this experience often since I more or less gave up on lugging a travel guitar and now rent something when I get where I'm going. These rentals are invariably as cheap as they come and are often badly set up. At first, this was a real downer. But if you put yourself in the right frame of mind, the wrestling match with a bad instrument can actually be an interesting challenge in itself. It forces you to think about the tone you are making in a way that you probably take for granted on your own instrument. I try to remind myself of the scenes of Jack White in "It Might Get Loud."


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