Comment

Comment by Gdawg on July 1, 2011 at 11:38am

I just updated my home page with pictures of my first build. It turned out surprisingly well. Now I can't wait to start another one. Its amazing how much you learn as you go. CBG#1 was built with a red oak neck. The next one will be from some curly maple I picked up and a walnut fretboard. This is adicting!

Comment by Gustavo sanchez on July 1, 2011 at 10:25am

Rand :  Woowwww, I see that you and me come form two different schools; I started as Good Mexican suing Nylon string guitars; studied alittle bit classical, and now I have even a Flamenco Guitar; but is exactly my curiosity to move to a different sound that I have used Brzone strings in a flatop I have plus in a Fender Dobro and a Yamanha Pacifica (Electric Guitar) .... but becaue all of them have the regular Scale size I have seen a small difference between electric and Bronze Vs. Nylon, but nothing I can't handle; but in the case of the "Tenor" CBG I did I found that the strings are extemely hard to play (may is the brand Im using), or is the extreme High action I have for the moment. I was just wondering if in this case, electric guitar strings could be softer or easier to play ....,  anayway, I will lower the bridge and see what happens.  keep you in touch.

Comment by Rand Moore on June 28, 2011 at 2:14pm

Hi Gustavo,

I have never used/played a real electric guitar - just acoustic and acoustic with piezo pickup (just been doing this for a bit over a year, starting with one-string canjos, evolving to CBGs, home-made box "guitars", a mountain dulcimer, and a dulcijo. All my CBGs and box guitars are actually diatonicaly fretted and so are more like stick dulcimers (strum sticks, picking sticks, strummers, or what ever you like to call 'em). All acoustic, al though on one I expermented with using a pair of piezo pickups under the sound board on either side of the bridge, but didn't like the"finger noise" that it picks up as well, This year I plan to play with a few magnetic pickups ("pups"). So, to date I have never used elcetric guitar strings. The only "softer" strings I know of are nylon (or nylgut) and "cat gut". To electrify these, you'll need to go piezo or external microphone.

-Rand.

Comment by Gustavo sanchez on June 28, 2011 at 8:47am

Rand:

Another question about the strings .... In your opinion which strings are "softer" Steel (for electric guitar) or Bronze (acoustic)?

 

Comment by Gustavo sanchez on June 28, 2011 at 8:42am

Rand

Comment by Gustavo sanchez on June 28, 2011 at 8:42am

Rand

Comment by Gustavo sanchez on June 28, 2011 at 8:38am

Rand : Thanks a lot for the tip. I do have some US coins with me from my trips and I beleive it will help me to figure out a proper height.

At the moment my Nut height is more or less ok; but at the 12th Fret I beielve I have the height of a 5 cent coin ... but not on the thick side (1.95mm) but at the total coins height!! (around 22 mm ) !!! .... So  I guess I have a lot of wood to file off the bridge nut.

Comment by Rand Moore on June 28, 2011 at 3:20am

Hi Gustavo,

The "rule of thumb" regarding string height (at least in the U.S.A.) is as follows:

1.) At the nut the strings should be a dime's height off the neck. The U.S. dime (a coin worth 10 cents or 0.10 dollars) is 1.35 mm thick.

2.) At the 12th fret, the strings should be a nickel's height off the neck. The U.S. nickel (a coin worth 5 cents or 0.05 dollars) is 1.95 mm thick.

So, as the strings pass higher numbered frets they gradually rise higher over the fretboard so that when you stop (press down on) a string it is stopped by that fret and not one further up the neck. When fretting a guitar, you need to check that all your frets are the same height off the neck, or you may discover one fret doesn't work because the next fret up the neck is too high. This is also why you should fret the guitar with the same type of fret wire. Even "medium" fret wire from different manufacturers can have a different height.

-Rand.

Comment by Rand Moore on June 28, 2011 at 2:51am

Hi Gustavo,

The high action is what's causing your bronze strings to be so hard to play (and hard on your fingers). As compared with nylon strings, steel (& bronze) strings are under a lot more tension and the further you have to go to press them down to make good contact with the frets, the more pressure you must apply and the harder they are on your fingers. So, you will want to get the action as low as you can get it without introducing buzz when you stop any of your strings at any fret. There are some rules about how to do it using coins to measure how high the strings are off the fretboard, but being rather old I always forget. I should look it up and get back with you, as this is the second time in a week that this question has come my way. But as I recall it was a U.S. dime at the nut, and either a U.S. penny or a nickel at the 12th fret. And because you are in Mexico, this is probably useless info as you probably don't happen to be carrying any U.S. coins in your pocket. So, let me see how thick these coins are and get back with you.

-Rand.

 

Comment by Gustavo sanchez on June 28, 2011 at 2:31am

Thanks Rand & Sean for all your advices.... last weekend I went to many different musical instruments stores in downtown; and was able to find a couple of them how ususally handle FretWire; but they did not have it for the moment ... =(

The good news is they will get more in a couple of weeks ...(hopefully).

 

For the moment; I just fisnished and stringed my guitar using cable tie wrappers and as I feared I cannot go further than Fret 19 due the small gap between them and the wrap too thick. Plus my lower bridge is too high and my string action therefore is too high. Coming from beeing a nylon string player, I am used somehow to this kind of action or height; but with Bronze strings; is too much for my fingers, plus my style is more fingersyle rather than chords or slide; which is incompatible with high action strings.

I will first take some pictures to share my little "creature" to you and will play with it for a while. Once I get the Fretwire; I'll remove the strings and the lower bridge to remove some height.

I have a question to you. My CBG is 21" scale lenght (tenor size), The broze strings seem to be too hard to play with in such size. isther somehting wrong with my strings or shall I use another type of strings for a softer action? what do you recomend?

 

• ‹ Previous
• 1
• …
• 213
• 214
• 215
• 216
• 217
• …
• 300
• Next ›
• Page