String Question

[That Canadian Guy]

So, I just got a Gretsch (finally) and I put new strings on but for some reason they all have this tin-ish sound and when I put pressure on the strings (like to play a note) the strings sound kind of dead and they resonate and just sounds....not right. It's hard to describe but it's like a tinny, metallic sound that echos when the string is played. Does anyone have any idea what I'm talking about based on my horrible discription? And does anyone know how to fix it? Thanks.

[Kevin]

it's probably the strings hitting other frets along the guitar, meaning the action is a bit too low. fritz would probably be the man to talk to about setting up a gretsch properly, but you could tighten your truss rod in the neck of the guitar, and then fine tune the intonation on the bridge.

a heavier gauge of strings might help too, as they're slightly tighter

[Neo]

I get that on my guitar too. When I re-string I pull the string while tightening them and that helps a bit, as well as keeping it in tune better. but the more I play, the more that sound starts to dissapear. I think it just might be because they are new strings on that type of guitar, because it doesn't happen on my strat.

[Sammas]

New strings always sound kind of tinny and nasal.

But check for fret buzz, does the sound get worse as you play harder? You should probably get the guitar set up professionally. Messing with the truss rod and bridge can be devastating if you don't know what you are doing.

If you change the gauge of strings on the guitar it will need to be set up again.

[thelivingvines]

When I buy a guitar I always make sure I get a couple of free set ups with it to make sure it is set just how I like it. From my experience Gretsch set their guitars up pretty nicely so unless its been sat around in a store for a while it should be pretty good. Congrats on the new purchase!

[That Canadian Guy]

I've gotten the sound on my Les Paul before with new strings, so I'm assuming that it's just that, this is just a little more than usual and is lasting a little longer. Hopefuly after a few jam sessions it'll be gone. Can't really notice it through an amp though which is really all that matters.

[damo0945]

so if i go from the standard strings on my guitar (.009 to .042) to say .010s or .011s will it need to be fully set up again?

[Fritz]

if you have a bigsby its most probably the bigsby vibrating. they all do it and it takes some time getting used to hearing that sound.

[Armistice]

My low E string does that also, and sometimes the A. The E starts about the 5th fret and the A a bit farther down. I've never put new strings on it, seeing that I've only had it since May.

[That Canadian Guy]

You haven't changed strings since May? Wow, that's impressive, I can't go 2 weeks without breaking one. And no, I don't have a bigsby.

[Kevin]

you must be thrashing them if you break one a fortnight

[Jawn]

My strings last about a year. Elixir's for the win.

[thelivingvines]

yeah i use the elixirs- the nanoweb ones yeah? great strings; I try and change em round more often than that though. they say every 3 months you are supposed to change them, but i do it every 4 or 5.

[Kevin]

i use d'addarios mainly, ernie ball occasionally, but i can't tell the difference (maybe cause they're both cheap strings)

[damo0945]

I didn't think guitarists ever left their strings on for that long, ive had my bass for a year and the strings on that are still OK, ive got new ones to put on just havent got around to it.
On guitars i personally love the sound of fresh new strings, so full and bright.
I used to break a fair few D strings doing bends on a classical acoustic, but I guess thats just asking for trouble.

[Jawn]

A lot of guitarists say not to leave the strings on that long. But mine are still good after that long, and I'm not going to change strings just because some pro guitarist said I gotta change them once every x months when my strings are fine. Besides, playing with rusty broken strings is the blues. And I play the blues.

[thelivingvines]

haha, yeah I guess so. I just like the sound of a fresh pair of strings when they have settled down and are really hitting their strides. I'm religious about keeping them clean as well. I get the worst dead skin on them ever- sorry!- I think if you don't change your strings often enough you become accustomed to a worstening sound and a horrible feel compared to what your guitar should be giving you.

[Neo]

i use d'addarios mainly, ernie ball occasionally, but i can't tell the difference (maybe cause they're both cheap strings)
I used to use d'addarios, but they kept breaking. I find that earnie ball skinny top, heavy bottom (10-52 gauge) are absoluetly perfect for me. Major difference to the d'adarios.

[BonesTLE]

I guess it all depends on the individual as to how often strings get changed.
Everyone has their own opinions. It would also depend on the amount and style of playing. I personally change mine fairly regularly but I probably don't need to do it as often as I do.
I enjoy tinkering, so I'll strip my guitar down and clean it, restringing and resetting when I'm finished.
Also, if you're inclined to play beer bottle solos and drench your guitar with beer, that may have an impact on the amount you change your stings :D

[Johnny_Wah]

Ernie Ball all the way. I once tried D'Addario 9-42, sounded awesome but not awesome enough. I've converted to the Ernie Ball Skinny Top, Heavy bottom.

Nice and fat

[Fritz]

ive been playing acoustic ssooo much lately so now im really really used to heavy strings. ive been putting 13-56's on my electrics. Maybe a guage one guage lighter if im doing alot of lead playing.

[Armistice]

You haven't changed strings since May? Wow, that's impressive, I can't go 2 weeks without breaking one.

My God! Well, I also just started really playing in May, since it was a bday present. I don't and can't play anything hard that would break the strings anyways

My dad replaced the strings on our acoustic(my mom's dad's guit). However it was 20yrs ago. I started off playing on 20yr old stings, haha... and I was mostly doing metal on them... CHildren of Bodom, haha :D

But on the topic, how do you get that sound to stop. Someone said something about a neck adustment?

[Kevin]

Someone said something about a neck adustment?

i was thinking it's the strings hitting the frets further down the neck, so the solution would be to raise the strings up a bit. the truss rod in the neck will bend the neck up or down, but screwing around with that could screw the guitar, but alot of guitars have a way to adjust the bridge, either by raising it from the bigsby, or you could get a replacement little plastic bridge that appear on acoustics to raise the strings a little

[That Canadian Guy]

Ah, I love you guys. Put some tigher strings on and adjusted the bridge a little bit and it sounds beautiful. Thanks for all the help everyone, this is a great forum for guitarists.

[tainted_love]

Edit: Ignore this post, someone already said what I said above.

[Armistice]

i was thinking it's the strings hitting the frets further down the neck, so the solution would be to raise the strings up a bit. the truss rod in the neck will bend the neck up or down, but screwing around with that could screw the guitar, but alot of guitars have a way to adjust the bridge, either by raising it from the bigsby, or you could get a replacement little plastic bridge that appear on acoustics to raise the strings a little

How much of a diff can I get height wise. I like the action and would like to keep it the same. If it's a matter of .001 cm/mm(just for exaggeration), then I could try that. Mine seem to be barely touching(I'd have to look again) so an über small increment may help. Funny that they would make them like that, unless it's the whole "no 2 are the same," so I just got a bad(you could say) one?

And what's a "bigsby"?

[damo0945]

first question: no idea, sorry

A bigsby is a tremolo system (i.e. whammy bar sorta thing), you press on it (on a standard tremolo anyway, not sure about bigsbys) and it moves the bridge and henceforth lowers the pitch of the strings

[WHITE FALCON]

bigsby is a old school tremolo system.

http://img101.imageshack.us/img101/1122/6128tdsv1024x768rx1.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

http://img101.imageshack.us/img101/4972/bigsbyij5.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

as you may or may not be able to see the strings go around that bridge and when you pull the arm down it rotates the bridge loosening the strings tension making the note flat and if you pull it up and it rotates the bridge tightening the strings tension therefore making the note sharp.

[Armistice]

Actually, I noticed that the part where I my strings go on the bigsby have a little nut that it seems could push the strings up. Perhaps messing with those on the strings that hit the frets? I could grab a pic if needed