Strat trem question

He was pissing on ALL fenders. Thats just dumb, they are what they are and some of them are even better than that.:D

Still I got my wrists slapped and told not to be a naughty boy again and all is well now.:thumbs up:

BTW, I forgot to mention one thing that is often an issue with those things. When did you last change the strings. I had a similar job in the other day, the guy was moaning because the trem wasn't holding tune. I swapped the strings and bingo.
 
muttley600 said:
He was pissing on ALL fenders. Thats just dumb, they are what they are and some of them are even better than that.:D

Still I got my wrists slapped and told not to be a naughty boy again and all is well now.:thumbs up:

BTW, I forgot to mention one thing that is often an issue with those things. When did you last change the strings. I had a similar job in the other day, the guy was moaning because the trem wasn't holding tune. I swapped the strings and bingo.
Click to expand...

The strings are pretty new. Maybe a couple months old but with very little play time.
 
Greg_L said:
The strings are pretty new. Maybe a couple months old but with very little play time.
Click to expand...

OK, probably not an issue then. It can be when those little niks from the frets get bad they stick in the slots as the string loses it's uniform round section. Just a thought...
 
My bet would be on the gauge of the strings. Have you tried it with 11's or 12's? Higher gauge hold pitch and intonation much better. So I was told.
 
Mr Clean said:
My bet would be on the gauge of the strings. Have you tried it with 11's or 12's? Higher gauge hold pitch and intonation much better. So I was told.
Click to expand...

I can't see a logical reason why that would be the case. Lighter gauge strings will age quicker beacuse they lose that uniform mass per unit length faster but that is all.
 
Greg_L said:
Lol. No, I saw it. That dude dropped the N-word. Funny meltdown.
Click to expand...

I missed it - stupid family. I need to spend more time watching people go mad on the internet.

I've no experience of your problem or Strats generally, Greg, but I'm willing to bet that it's your tuners that's the problem :D.
 
Well I always used to use 9's and bending strings made them go shockingly out of tune. I now use 11's and the tune holds a lot better. Although I'm talking about an acoustic guitar, it shouldn't make a difference.

I was told this information by a luthier who refretted my acoustic. If nothing else works surely it's worth a try?
 
If anything heavier strings are going to stick in the nut and saddle causing problems unless they are slotted to accommodate the new gauge. A string is uniform along its length and the gauge is largely unimportant when tuning is concerned. There is no physical reason why lighter gauges would cause tuning problems as long as the set up is correct. I would like to know what his reasoning was?
 
muttley600 said:
I would like to know what his reasoning was?
Click to expand...

That I can't answer and the man could be dead now for all I know. It was just what I was told. He was an old boy, played in bands in the 50's and 60's, he seemed to know what he was talking about. When I went to collect the guitar from being fretted, he'd put 11's on it and the were really sharp/tough on my fingers. I asked him about the strings and said I usually play 9's and he said (with a wink) I'd be better off with 11's as they keep intonation and hold tuning better than lower gauge strings. And that my fingers would soon get used to them. I thank him, paid him and left.

I've been using 11's since and my fingers are fine.
 
I always advocate heavier strings if you can handle them. They have a better dynamic range you can pretty much discount them holding tune better though as long as the guitar is set up right pretty much any gauge string will be OK. On all my setups I ask what strings are normal and set up accordingly...
 
Moreover from that. I don't know what people know about the history of strings for guitars but they were generally one gauge back in the 30's/40's/50's. what's now generally known as 11's or possibly 12's or 13's. Fender in the 50's would have been shipped with such strings. I watched a Documentary a while back about some band or something and they talked of the strings being really thick.

On this website 1950s Strats: String gauge? [Archive] - The Gear Page some old boy is talking about string gauges and Fenders.

I was there, and we did do that in the '60's. In fact, it was commonplace - Ernie Ball saw the demand for those lighter gauge strings and created the "Super Slinky". Before Super Slinky Light Guage sets, nobody concerned themselves with whether a 1st was a .012 or an .011; it was just a "high E string" - you had NO IDEA what guage of string you were playing. Also, those "flat wound" strings were terrible - the actually sounded "dead" right out the box.

It is worth remembering that Fender Guitars of the 1950's were built for Heavy Gauge strings - "bending notes" was not even a consideration in the design of those guitars (hence the low "neck radius")... Also, every time you cuss that Strat Tremolo system, remember that it was designed for use with HEAVY GUAGE STRINGS .
If you have not experienced the joys of playing on those old "Black Diamond" or "Mapes" brand strings, you have missed absolutely nothing...
Guitars in those days had actions somewhat similar to that of a pitchfork.
Click to expand...
 
muttley600 said:
I always advocate heavier strings if you can handle them. They have a better dynamic range you can pretty much discount them holding tune better though as long as the guitar is set up right pretty much any gauge string will be OK. On all my setups I ask what strings are normal and set up accordingly...
Click to expand...

Still worth a try. If 9's aren't holding tune then by definition, 11's shouldn't either. But maybe, they will. Personally I've always played 12's on electric, but that's me.
 
Mr Clean said:
Moreover from that. I don't know what people know about the history of strings for guitars but they were generally one gauge back in the 30's/40's/50's. what's now generally known as 11's or possibly 12's or 13's. Fender in the 50's would have been shipped with such strings. I watched a Documentary a while back about some band or something and they talked of the strings being really thick.

On this website 1950s Strats: String gauge? [Archive] - The Gear Page some old boy is talking about string gauges and Fenders.
Click to expand...

I know a fair bit....

The common string gauge in the 20's 30's and 40's was 14 on the top not because others weren't available they were and were used on mandolin etc.. The reason was that the guitar then had to compete unamplified against a full big band or orchestra. Consequently necks were big and actions high as chords were thumped out four to the bar. As Charlie Christian broke and the amplified sound crept in lighter strings became more common although not that common. Folks were used to heavier strings then.

Flat wound string are supposed to sound that way.

A vibrato will work regardless of the gauge of string put on it. All it has to do is equal the tension that the strings put on the neck. Any less and it will pull forward anymore and it will pull back. Thats the physics and there aint really a lot more to it. The tension on a set of strings is also constant and will not change for a given gauge and pitch.
 
Hey muttley ..... a question for ya'.
I frequently see guitar reviews in magazines where the reviewer will say something like, 'the extra long tail piece or headstock means it has longer strings and thus a higher tension' etc ......

That's not possible right?
Seems to me the tension over the 'speaking length' of the string HAS to be a specific tension ( IF it's the same guage and scale length) regardless of whether or not there is an extra long headstock of tailpiece.

In fact, if you stretched a string out 20 feet and then tuned it over a 25.5" scale neck wouldn't the tension over that 25.5 inches be the same as any 25.5" guitar despite the fact that there is 8 feet of string sticking out on either end?
 
Lt. Bob said:
Hey muttley ..... a question for ya'.
I frequently see guitar reviews in magazines where the reviewer will say something like, 'the extra long tail piece or headstock means it has longer strings and thus a higher tension' etc ......

That's not possible right?
Seems to me the tension over the 'speaking length' of the string HAS to be a specific tension ( IF it's the same guage and scale length) regardless of whether or not there is an extra long headstock of tailpiece.

In fact, if you stretched a string out 20 feet and then tuned it over a 25.5" scale neck wouldn't the tension over that 25.5 inches be the same as any 25.5" guitar despite the fact that there is 8 feet of string sticking out on either end?
Click to expand...

You are correct.

The tension in the sounding string length of any vibration string is a product of it's mass per unit length and it's pitch. Change one and you change the other. The constants are the mass per unit length and the sounding string length. The variables are the tension and the pitch.

Of course on a guitar we can also change the sounding string length. We don't change any of the other components as we do so though.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top