Guitarist's Forum

[Nuthouse]

Now folks .... you know that we are going to be 'yellow carded' for this, but in the interests of helping Pel' I know that it's worth it

Clearly, if he has not been cured after Jude's autoharps then he will need to be referred as an emergency to Auntie Ces's Agony Agency

[david stevenson]

I have to confess to enjoying changing strings, but for the results rather than the task.  Clean guitar, brighter sound etc.  Also confess to ludicrous intervals in changing my 12-string, despite the wonderful sound.

However, this is not an offer to do it for anyone else - changing strings is good for the soul!

David

[Nuthouse]

However, this is not an offer to do it for anyone else

Dammit 

....changing strings is good for the soul!

Huh 

[peluche (Chris)]

I agree with David above ... I enjoy a change of strings for the bright sound

May I say .. I do NOT do 12 strings FOC, nor mandolins, nor violins ... etc ...

However, a stall at Cropedy could be a goer !!!!!

[Henrik]

Maybe I'm an oddball 
But I quite enjoy changing strings. I can get to clean all the little nooks and crannies that I can't reach when the strings are on - plus the lovely bright sound of new strings just makes it all worth while !!

Henrik, I always wrap twice round peg, then through hole and between the two previous wraps !!!

Cheers, Chris

Hi Chris 

Aha !? - well, to me that sounds a bit different from "Ralph's" method as described in the Songs for Six Strings tab book.
( inserting string with 90 degree bend and then tightening the string with overlapping turns to keep ity in place )
But maybe your method is faster ? 

So do you change them one string at a time ? Or all off at once ?  And would the first method be better for the guitar ? (because of less change of stress )

Yes, getting a chance to clean the board is really nice - so do you use anything to remove the dirt ?


Btw. I forgot to download your Clare tab - do you think you could possibly upload it again or email it to me ?
Thank you.

Henrik

[Al]

aahhh, the old "one at a time" or "all at once" question 

Well, my take on it is to do 'em one at a time unless doing set up work or whatever. You have to remember that the strings are pulling the neck one way and the truss rod is pushing the other way. Under tension your neck has a slight upwards curve ( it should not be straight ) - when you take the strings off it will go straight(er) or even bow the other way because of the tension in the truss rod. When you put the strings back on it ( hopefully ! ) gets pulled up into a nice curve to allow for the strings to vibrate without banging against your frets. Its only slight but vital. You can measure it and see it happening. So, removing and replacing all the strings at once is doing significant flexing things to your neck really, which has never seemed like a good idea to me unless absolutely necessary

When I string a new guitar that I've just made for the first time its been interesting watching the neck respond, initially to the tension of the strings and then to the adjustments made via the truss rod.  It makes you realize that a properly adjusted neck under string tension is quite finely balanced really. As the strings exert tension for the first time it takes a while for the forward bow to appear. A couple of times the neck has taken on the right anount of bow without any use of the truss rod but most times after an hour or so but some adjustment is necessary to bring it under control and straighten it out a little.

After that its general stable but only because the strings and the truss rod are in a kind of balance. To keep disturbing this balance so drastically as to remove all the strings at once each time you change them seems too much to me.

[MAJ]

Very good points to keep in mind Al.  I had a vague knowledge of this but you have explained it very well.  I changed the strings on my new toy one by one.  Phew!

MAJ

[david stevenson]

aahhh, the old "one at a time" or "all at once" question 

Well, my take on it is to do 'em one at a time unless doing set up work or whatever. You have to remember that the strings are pulling the neck one way and the truss rod is pushing the other way. Under tension your neck has a slight upwards curve ( it should not be straight ) - when you take the strings off it will go straight(er) or even bow the other way because of the tension in the truss rod. When you put the strings back on it ( hopefully ! ) gets pulled up into a nice curve to allow for the strings to vibrate without banging against your frets. Its only slight but vital. You can measure it and see it happening. So, removing and replacing all the strings at once is doing significant flexing things to your neck really, which has never seemed like a good idea to me unless absolutely necessary

When I string a new guitar that I've just made for the first time its been interesting watching the neck respond, initially to the tension of the strings and then to the adjustments made via the truss rod.  It makes you realize that a properly adjusted neck under string tension is quite finely balanced really. As the strings exert tension for the first time it takes a while for the forward bow to appear. A couple of times the neck has taken on the right anount of bow without any use of the truss rod but most times after an hour or so but some adjustment is necessary to bring it under control and straighten it out a little.

After that its general stable but only because the strings and the truss rod are in a kind of balance. To keep disturbing this balance so drastically as to remove all the strings at once each time you change them seems too much to me.

Al

I know you're right, but I tend to do a complete change every few weeks depending on the amount of playing I've done and also whether I'm doing gigs.  I always feel that you're somehow cheating the audience if you play with old strings.  It's better since I changed to D'Addario coated extended play strings.  My compromise is to change the non-wound strings between changes as they lose their brightness faster than the bass strings.  Kyser's string oil before and after playing also aids string longevity.  My other fetish (pardon??) on changing strings is that I do like to service my guitars regularly, and with the older ones, eg. my 50's J45, I rub linseed oil into the fretboard every other change, which is not easy to do unless you've got the whole fretboard available.

BTW, most bizarre string change I ever saw was at the Corn Exchange in Cambridge a couple of years ago when the solo singer guitarist supporting Eddi Reader changed a string while he continued the song - sounds impossible but I saw it done, quite a party trick.

Hmm, as I reread this before posting it occurs to me that as far as guitars go I might just be suffering from obsessive compulsive disorder...

David

[david stevenson]

Now, who got them. Al, did you get one of them this time?

Nope not yet, I did try the pounce at the last minute trick but the bids wre over my head - I did buy a new guitar this week though to compensate, as Ralph says himself "A man can never have too many guitars" 

This should probably end up on the Guitarists' Forum - Maj??  - but I'm intrigued to know what a man who builds guitars looks for when he hands over folding money for one.  I'm starting to think of upgrading (evil euphemism for spending lots of money on a replacement) my workhorse Takamine EAN16CX to either a Lowden/Avalon auditorium/jumbo or a Martin D28.  Ebay could be the source so there's a link of sorts but not a Ralph one...

David

MAJ says: moved from another thread as twas veering off topic.

[Al]

Hmm, as I reread this before posting it occurs to me that as far as guitars go I might just be suffering from obsessive compulsive disorder...

David

Hi David,
I thought "obsessive compulsive disorder" described all guitar lovers one way or another  For imstance, I suffer every time you mention that '50s J-45 of yours   

You know what, I must confess to being extremely lazy when it comes to oiling the fingeboard, but in my defence I have noticed over the years that I don't seem to have very oily fingers if you know what I mean. I do notice how grubby some other people's
fingerboards are compared with mine and if I comment they often say they cleaned it not long ago 

Also, I guess the fact I don't gig  these days helps too  Sounds like you do ?

[Al]

This should probably end up on the Guitarists' Forum - Maj?? - but I'm intrigued to know what a man who builds guitars looks for when he hands over folding money for one.
David

Hi David, maybe we'll wake up in the Guitarist's forum 

I might make guitars but I never said they were as good as the expensive ones I've handed money over for  Although, to be fair, every one I have made has gone to a good home and is being well played etc.  But I am getting there, its a compulsive, obessive hobby for sure 

The guitar I bought though was a custom Fylde Aerial, one of the single malt models. These are the ones made from old whiskey casks ( oak ) and a washback vessel ( Oregon Pine ) that came from the Talisker distillery. As a lover of fine lutherie and fine malts its the perfect mix. Sounds great, of course, and the olfactory experience is amazing    As the woods are from barrels and stuff they all have very individual looks and I have yet to take pics of mine ( too busy playing and sniffing )  but there's some pics of a similar one here  ( http://www.guitargal.com/fylde.html - look for the Fylde Aerial Single Malt  ) and on the Fylde website ( www.fyldeguitars.com follow  links to 'guitars' and 'Whiskey Guitar' , and also look for 'Single Malt' on the press reviews page ).

Love to see pics of your J-45 if you have any  BTW

MAJ says: Shazzam! You are now in the Forum with some of David's posts as they were off topic elsewhere.

[MAJ]

This should probably end up on the Guitarists' Forum - Maj?? 

or a Martin D28.  Ebay could be the source so there's a link of sorts but not a Ralph one... 

Hi David, maybe we'll wake up in the Guitarist's forum

Hi Al, David,

Are you suggesting my housekeeping is quirky, Al?

Tenuous link to the thread there David, but I'll let it go for now.  But after I have had a hoover around you might find yourselves in Chatter, who knows....

MAJ
Mrs Mopp

[david stevenson]

Al

Wow! As an exiled Scot and a global business traveller for much of my professional life, I've built up a formidable stock of malts - must be near 100.  The thought of having a guitar which combines two of my greatest passions is fantastic.  Maybe I should add a Fylde to my shortlist, and my daughter is at university in Preston, so.....

Love to hear it some time.  Bob Fox who is a great favourite of mine and a good interpreter of Ralph's songs to boot, plays a Fylde and it always sounds beautiful.  Pics of J45 sometime soon once I take them and upload them.

See you on the Guitarists' Forum.

David

[david stevenson]

Tenuous link to the thread there David, but I'll let it go for now.  But after I have had a hoover around you might find yourselves in Chatter, who knows....

MAJ
Mrs Mopp

Maj

When you've read my most recent post I'm sure we're destined for the Guitarists' Forum, unless you feel that a new thread for Guitarists' Alcoholics Anonymous is where we should go!

As regards your Hoover and housekeeping, I can't do better than the slogan which came with our Dyson - "Goodbye inefficient bag."

Don't take it personally!!  Seriously, you do a wonderful job.

David

[david stevenson]

Al

I just like to have a smart guitar.   They are investments, they become friends, and they are also tools of the trade if you perform.

Strangely enough, I polish and service the acoustics pretty religiously but can be relatively slapdash with my electrics (Strat and Tele) . Mind you, don't play them as much, but the sound doesn't depend on the integrity of the wood as it does on the acoustics.

David

[Curt]

Quote:
'Strangely enough, I polish and service the acoustics pretty religiously but can be relatively slapdash with my electrics (Strat and Tele)'

Ahh ha - that is what has been called in Guitarist mag Fender user syndrome - I bet you wouldn't do the same if you had a Les Paul

(by the way I am a Fender fanatic - my pride being a 1982 Squier 'JV' series Strat with Bare Knuckle pups installed - which incidently knocks the socks off of anything being made sub custom shop that I have played - and yes every scratch, dink or hole has a memory like a tattoo - sad or what)

[Al]

Tenuous link to the thread there David, but I'll let it go for now.  But after I have had a hoover around you might find yourselves in Chatter, who knows....

MAJ
Mrs Mopp

Maj

When you've read my most recent post I'm sure we're destined for the Guitarists' Forum, unless you feel that a new thread for Guitarists' Alcoholics Anonymous is where we should go!

As regards your Hoover and housekeeping, I can't do better than the slogan which came with our Dyson - "Goodbye inefficient bag."

Don't take it personally!! Seriously, you do a wonderful job.

David

David

 

[Al]

The thought of having a guitar which combines two of my greatest passions is fantastic.  Maybe I should add a Fylde to my shortlist, and my daughter is at university in Preston, so.....

Love to hear it some time.  Bob Fox who is a great favourite of mine and a good interpreter of Ralph's songs to boot, plays a Fylde and it always sounds beautiful.  Pics of J45 sometime soon once I take them and upload them.

See you on the Guitarists' Forum.

David

Well, I can heartily recommend a visit to the Fykde factory, they have one on display you can try ( or they did last time I was in touch with them ).

I have been a great admirer of Bob Fox ever since the days with Stu Luckley, great voice and no dullard on the guitar either. I sold a  Fylde Oberon on Ebay  a while ago and he bid on it - I was hoping he would win so I could have the great pleasure of meeting him etc but someone outbid him !! I thought about cancelling their bid but did not think it would go down well .. "I cancelled your bid cos I wanted to meet someone more famous than you " 

[david stevenson]

Curt

Not quite - my Tele is a handmade beauty, ash body made by Richard Pendell at Alconbury, a special pressie from my family for a big birthday a couple of years ago.  Richard even put on a folk width neck for me!  Quite blew me away and still does.  Strat is candy-apple red Mexican build, about 5 years old.  Like them both, but as I'm mostly an acoustic player and follow Ralph's 1st position dictum (hah!), the Tele is much more my type of guitar.  I enjoy the fatter sound and it seems to be particularly good for country and folk picking.  My Fender hero is Robbie Robertson from the Band, especially on their many live recordings - what a player!

David

[peluche (Chris)]

Strat is candy-apple red ...

Wife and I sold many prized possesions when we left the UK in the 90's ... I think most sorely missed was my candy-apple red Strat. Maple neck, mid-80's build ... gorgeous. Also ditched the Tascam mini-studio, all my effects pedals, etc. Did hang onto my '81 Ovation though, there was just enough room to squeeze that on the van !!

Tele's are OK to play ... buy they just don't look as cool !!!   
Cheers, Chris