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G string problems...
- Thread starter Old Blue 2
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I find using a heavier gauge string on electrics helps.It has been a perennial problem for guitarists in keeping the 'G' string in tune with the rest of the strings on a guitar.
On my left-handed guitar, above, the 'G' string is the third one from the left, the third thinnest string.
The problem is with what is called 'tempered tuning'. Basically, with a 12-fret instrument, it will never be in totally perfect tune, and the string which grates on the human ear the most as being out of tune, is the 'G' string.
I'm sure many others have had problems with 'G' strings, as I have had...
As an SRV fan I went though a phase about 10 years ago of using 12's, but now I find 11's or 10's are ok.
12 fret nylon though.....
CahillsCornerFlag
Player Valuation: £70m
More often than not it's the b string out of tune which grates on me, but perhaps that's because I often downtune the top 2 strings and it's more noticeable.
Old Blue 2
Player Valuation: £35m
I use Elixir 9-46s on my Les Pauls. Expensive, but they last for ages (I usually get about 6 months out of them before I change to a new set).
In the late-'60s, when I got my first electric guitar, the only electric strings were Gibson Sonomatic, with a wound third string! Then we read in the music papers (Melody Maker, New Musical Express) that Clapton used a .008 banjo string as a first, and then a lot of local guitarists started doing the same thing, dropping the strings down one resulting in an unused 6th string, and having a plain 3rd (the old plain second).
Old Blue 2
Player Valuation: £35m
If you downtune during a set, and then tune back to normal, then you're breaking the stability of tuning, and those strings are more liable to go out of tune. That's why, even at local level, players will have one guitar in standard tuning, and another in open tuning for slide playing.
Here's the singer/rhythm guitar/harp player in my band playing in standard tuning:
And playing slide on an open-tuned Godin
Always wondered about those Elixir ones.
GBH73
Player Valuation: £1m
I'm not a fan of the Elixirs personally, don't like the sensation they give my fingers (which I can only poorly describe as 'slimy').
I use light gauge D'addario strings on my acoustic which I re-string after every 8-10 gigs - as I work as a muso full time and usually play 4-5 gigs a week I get through quite a few sets per year. I know other guitarists who rave about the longevity of the Elixirs so it might be worth you trying a set?
Penno
Player Valuation: £10m
I've got Elixirs 10s on my Electric. I only got the electric 6 months ago, still on the same set of strings and they are still in good condition. I've only been playing for a year and have yet to snap a string (i feel inadequate here), I have D'addario's 11s on my accoustic which need replacing much more often.
Baines' left foot
Player Valuation: £90m
This is an absolute currrr-lassic lol lol
Frank Gallagher
Player Valuation: £50m
what on earth is this all about. grandads playing geeee tar
yawns
yawns
Donald Twain
Vide cor meum
If I hear you playing ya trumpet in ya bedroom once more you're for it !
Old Blue 2
Player Valuation: £35m
Oh Man!!! Once you start, and the bug catches you, you never stop.
This is me, wizard, aged 20 in February 1971.
TrixyStevens
Player Valuation: £35m
Have the same problem also with a Gibson LP (Standard 09 model, also left handed!) although I think it's more an intonation issue, which can be adjusted at the bridge saddles by moving the string groove either backwards or forwards depending if the note is low or high. I shouldn't really complain though, as i bought an Epiphone LP copy for my 16th birthday in 2005 and still to this day the G constantly goes out of tune and the further up the fretboard, the worse the intonation gets.It has been a perennial problem for guitarists in keeping the 'G' string in tune with the rest of the strings on a guitar.
On my left-handed guitar, above, the 'G' string is the third one from the left, the third thinnest string.
The problem is with what is called 'tempered tuning'. Basically, with a 12-fret instrument, it will never be in totally perfect tune, and the string which grates on the human ear the most as being out of tune, is the 'G' string.
I'm sure many others have had problems with 'G' strings, as I have had...
Played a left handed Fender Mexican strat not so long ago and had no problems with it so it could be a fault with the scale length on the neck of the Les Paul... anyway, hope that was of some help! Cheers
Old Blue 2
Player Valuation: £35m
For the last four and a half years I've been in a blues band. Here's a studio track of a 1938 Blind Boy Fuller song called 'Pistol Slapper Blues'. The first 20 seconds is a bit of studio shenanigans by the guy who recorded us. Then the whole band kicks in. Being in the studio, we could lay down several guitar tracks, so the singer has a rhythm track, I have a rhythm track and I also put down an acoustic track on my Taylor 314. My electric tracks (includes outro solo) are with my Gibson Les Paul Junior.
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