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The Fret Files: the guitar workshop podcast

Started by The General, January 11, 2014, 12:11:00 PM


The General

Quote from: analog kid on February 08, 2014, 08:23:59 PM
I'm in the woods in South Louisiana.
Ah. I was thinking of someone else then.  Yeah, I don't know anyone in that area. 
Hmmm.  Can you sight the neck?  Does it look straight?  When you sight the neck, does it form a straight line that aims right where the bridge and saddle meet?  How high is the action at the 12th fret?  (from the top of the fret to the bottom of the string, low E and hi E)  Maybe we can diagnose this bugger.


analog kid

Sorry for the late reply. I'm on antibiotics for an ear infection, they're making me drowsy and aren't helping anyway. Have to wait another month to see a doctor. I'll have to pick this up possibly in the future some time.

The General

Quote from: analog kid on February 10, 2014, 07:20:48 PM
Sorry for the late reply. I'm on antibiotics for an ear infection, they're making me drowsy and aren't helping anyway. Have to wait another month to see a doctor. I'll have to pick this up possibly in the future some time.
Well, there's your problem right there.

eddie dean

Quote from: The General on February 10, 2014, 07:39:56 PM
Well, there's your problem right there.

Wow! I had no idea guitars were susceptible to infections. ;D
Althought I've been known to murder a B flat-Maj 9th or even an entire song, from time to time. :-[

The General

New episode is in the can and will be posted shortly....

This month, I'm unveiling a new segment, "Guitar News with Red."  That's (Redacted).

Heather Wade

Quote from: The General on February 12, 2014, 11:07:34 PM
New episode is in the can and will be posted shortly....

This month, I'm unveiling a new segment, "Guitar News with Red."  That's (Redacted).

8) 


analog kid

I'll say one more thing
Quote from: The General on February 10, 2014, 07:39:56 PM
Well, there's your problem right there.

I'll just say one more thing on it and shut up and go away, but to my untrained eye, I can't see any problems when sighting the neck, and the action is two quarters' width and the Hi E 12th and about three quarters' and the Low E. I believe I'll wait until spring or so to see if the change in humidity here has any dramatic effect on it. Thanks for offering the assistance, too, General.

The General

Quote from: analog kid on February 14, 2014, 06:52:52 AM
I'll say one more thing
I'll just say one more thing on it and shut up and go away, but to my untrained eye, I can't see any problems when sighting the neck, and the action is two quarters' width and the Hi E 12th and about three quarters' and the Low E. I believe I'll wait until spring or so to see if the change in humidity here has any dramatic effect on it. Thanks for offering the assistance, too, General.
That's pretty high action, which alone is enough to cause intonation and playability problems.
If the neck is straight, the saddle needs to be lowered.  To do that, you have to remove the saddle from its slot and sand it down from the bottom.  Hope that helps.

Heather Wade

Quote from: The General on February 14, 2014, 12:12:07 PM
That's pretty high action, which alone is enough to cause intonation and playability problems.
If the neck is straight, the saddle needs to be lowered.  To do that, you have to remove the saddle from its slot and sand it down from the bottom.  Hope that helps.

I know someone here will pervert this, but, nut height is critical to the quality of your action.   ;D

The General

Quote from: (Redacted) on February 14, 2014, 03:03:30 PM
I know someone here will pervert this, but, nut height is critical to the quality of your action.   ;D
And lubrication helps.


analog kid

I lubricate my nuts with big bends nut sauce.

There are actually no euphemisms in that sentence.

georgesucks

Quote from: analog kid on February 14, 2014, 03:51:35 PM
I lubricate my nuts with big bends nut sauce.

There are actually no euphemisms in that sentence.
But it still sounds dirty. ;)

saucerlike

Glad to see the new episode up, will be listening as soon as I can. 


ziznak

really wish you would do more than one show a month but... baby steps right? sorry about the slacker comment ;P

The General

Quote from: ziznak on February 16, 2014, 01:20:09 AM
really wish you would do more than one show a month but... baby steps right? sorry about the slacker comment ;P
haha, no problem Ziz. 
I wish I had more time, I'd love to do a weekly show but I have so many guitars to fix.

ziznak

the lil bit you guys did on tuning sort of came back to me just earlier this morning er last night when I picked up the ol axe to write some stuff w a friend of mine.  I've been using an android app to tune for a lil while now and I've had tuners in the past that I've used.  Tuners and apps like "g-strings" are great for the lazy or stupid but I've found that without one I'm a lil hit or miss when it comes to changing a whole set of strings without some other instrument to align with... like if you put me in a room with an unstrung guitar and some strings I would get the thing strung and sounding fine by itself... but that thing could be tuned up or down a few steps.  Where or what in the natural non-internet/non-tuner equiped world is like a good standard for tuning that low E when there are no other stringed instruments to base the tone off of?

Also, whats the avg life expectancy for a standard set of Ernie's... it seems to me that if you go with the weakest link then it comes down to that lightest gauge of string.  I consider strings old when my high E and B start to feel like they're not so slinky anymore. Whats your estimate in time for an avg set of strings on a cared for guitar?  I keep mine out of a case but wrapped in a kind of silky blanket... I usually lean it so my nuts are against the wall... assume the environment is a fairly dry 75 degrees or so.

go ahead take those last few lines out of context .
oh and I usually snag these...

aldousburbank

When all else fails, you can always count on Neil Young's "Down By The River" for your low and high E's.

The General

Quote from: ziznak on February 16, 2014, 09:08:22 AMWhere or what in the natural non-internet/non-tuner equiped world is like a good standard for tuning that low E when there are no other stringed instruments to base the tone off of?
I use an A440 tuning fork, a big hefty one, to get the A string perfect and then go from there. 
I can get really close with nothing, but since I'm not on a deserted island...
[attachimg=1]

Quote from: ziznak on February 16, 2014, 09:08:22 AM
Also, whats the avg life expectancy for a standard set of Ernie's... it seems to me that if you go with the weakest link then it comes down to that lightest gauge of string.  I consider strings old when my high E and B start to feel like they're not so slinky anymore. Whats your estimate in time for an avg set of strings on a cared for guitar?
Once a month isn't too often if you play a lot.  It's hard to give an estimate though, I work with a dude that can roach a fresh set in about an hour.  He plays really hard and his sweat is really acidic.  It's amazing, you'd swear his strings are six months old after one day of playing.  Poor guy.  My strings stay good a long time, I don't know why.  I do love fresh strings, though.  D'addario is my favorite brand.  I actually use flatwounds, most of the time, but that's another story.

The General

Quote from: aldousburbank on February 16, 2014, 09:17:30 AM
When all else fails, you can always count on Neil Young's "Down By The River" for your low and high E's.

That good for nothing hippie?
Count on Neil Young for anything and you'll be living in a van "Down By The River."

[attachimg=1]

If all else fails, the first note from the Beatles' "Day Tripper" is a low E.

Heather Wade

Quote from: The General on February 16, 2014, 09:49:07 AM
That good for nothing hippie?
Count on Neil Young for anything and you'll be living in a van "Down By The River."

[attachimg=1]

If all else fails, the first note from the Beatles' "Day Tripper" is a low E.

"Dazed and Confused" intro is a low E too, or sometimes I'd use "Crazy Train" or "Suicide Solution" riffs to get that low E, and go from there. 

The General

Quote from: (Redacted) on February 16, 2014, 02:03:56 PM
"Dazed and Confused" intro is a low E too, or sometimes I'd use "Crazy Train" or "Suicide Solution" riffs to get that low E, and go from there.
You dang kids and your rock n roll!

saucerlike

Nothing Else Matters by Metallica:  Intro is all open strings - low e (6), g (3), b (2), high e (1), b (2), g (3), etc.

ziznak

was thinking more along the lines of some sort of large cat mating call... damn lions just laying around the house ya know? might as well do something useful!

but seriously thanks for all of these song suggestions ya'll are covering the genres pretty well... I used to have a tuning fork but threw it out when I saw jorch having issues.

I totally knew that beginning for "nothing else matters" but it had become forgotten knowledge... disgraceful...

aldousburbank

Quote from: The General on February 16, 2014, 09:49:07 AM
That good for nothing hippie?
Count on Neil Young for anything and you'll be living in a van "Down By The River."
But it's a nice van and the other river people give me my space.

You can also tune to your dial tone on your telephone. It's so fresh!

In North America, it's an F (first fret on your low e).

The General

Quote from: guildnavigator on February 17, 2014, 08:23:12 AM
You can also tune to your dial tone on your telephone. It's so fresh!

In North America, it's an F (first fret on your low e).
God, I miss dial tones.

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