Re: Medium strings and set-up / pinging Wade especially

Both David and Ed offered good advice.

The nut and neck angle both have a lot to do with how easily medium
gauge strings will play. And I would expand on what David said by
suggesting that you take not one but two new sets of strings into your
set-up guy. The reason for that is that repeatedly tightening and
loosening the strings will kill them faster than anything else you can
do, and it's necessary to detune and retune the instrument several
times over the course of a set-up job like this.

If you take in two sets, the luthier can use one set to get things
calibrated properly, then put a fresh set on once he's finished. That
way the strings won't be half-dead already once you get the guitar
back, which they will be if you just take in one set when you get the
work done.

As for measurements, we tend to use "English measurements" rather than
metric. But it seems to me that my guitars usually get set at
5/32cnds and 3/32cnds or 4/32cnds and 2/32cnds, depending on the
instrument.

There's a lot of geometry involved, and I guess it can really vary as
to what's possible on any given guitar. The neck set angle, amount of
relief, and so forth all come into play, so it's not just the strings
and the saddle.

But once you get it where it's comfortable, medium strings are a joy
in terms of tone, volume, projection, and - perhaps surprisingly -
staying in tune. They just hold up better than lights will or can.

It's probably important to understand that there's a certain quality
of resistance and what I call "bounce back" that's inevitably going to
be different with mediums, because there's simply more mass there than
there is with lights. If your playing is highly dependent on string-
bending, no matter how well set-up the guitar is mediums won't bend as
easily as lights.

You can still bend strings, but the technique takes a little more
getting used to.

Anyway, it's certainly worth a try, and once you get it comfortably
set-up, you'll probably be pleased with the results.

Hope this helps.


Wade Hampton Miller
Chugiak, Alaska
.

Relevant Pages

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  • Re: Question for the luthiers and other knowledgeable folks
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  • Re: A set-up tale
    ... him the guitar was worth much more and that he should definitely keep it. ... He watched as I removed the strings which were worn out and tarnished. ... When he played the instrument he couldn't believe the difference. ... Almost every guitar can benefit from a quick set-up like this. ...
    (rec.music.makers.guitar.jazz)
  • Re: I hate guitar shopping but here i go again
    ... so which ones do you think can handle medium strings? ... > the strings you want to use first. ... >> more on one of the low end Martins or Guilds if I think it's worth it. ... >> I need a strong guitar that can handle medium guage strings. ...
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