I need help with an article

[MechaGodzilla]

Proper intonation and set-up would be useful for me. I'm not afraid to rewire pickups, or swap out pots or whatever, but when it comes to the neck of the guitar, I'm at a loss. I am terrified of the truss rod. I remember starting out with guitar, people would tell me stories of adjusting it too quickly, and having the entire neck split down the middle.

Shrug.

At any rate, I'll read it.

Peace,
A

[object88]

Here's another "yay" vote for more guitar tech articles, esp. with the multi-part, introduction to advanced suggestion. It may seem like the recording crowd would know the basics, but my backgroud is in synths; I know next-to-nothing about guitars.

Anything that helps me look like less of any idiot around Guitar Center would be appreciated.

[Flight Feathers]

Anything that helps me look like less of any idiot around Guitar Center would be appreciated.

wipe off any drool, and you got half of em beat!

[object88]

Anything that helps me look like less of any idiot around Guitar Center would be appreciated.

wipe off any drool, and you got half of em beat!

Ah, shit, and here I was adding extra drool to impress them! Thanks!

[@?,*???&?]

The treated guitar.

How would treat a particular instrument?

I once rolled a small piece of paper up and ran it alternatingly between the strings of an acoustic guitar near the bridge for a loose, tight, chacky, sloppy strum sound. It's in the bridge of this track called "I'm feelin' down"...

http://www.garageband.com/artist/paulsisemore

...is a link to the song. I'd be looking for more ideas as ways to innovate and create tones that aren't supposed to emanate from a guitar, but that you can pretty easily dial-in. But not something as obvious as the ebow because it is overused.

[black mariah]

Yipe. Thanks for all the input. I had the tuning article in mind when I set about doing this. I've had a couple of rough drafts but I've been worried that they're too technical and try to cram too much information into one thing. A multi-part approach would be good, and I'll probably end up doing that, but right now I'm trying to write one article that will cover a few of the more nagging problems for possibly submitting to the magazine. Intonation will play a big part, for sure.

I forgot I wrote this. This is about what my previous attempts with the other article were like as far as technical jargon. Can any of you understand it? It was written for another forum I go to, so it's a bit sillier than I'd make something for here.
http://www.onlinerock.com/musicians/hie ... myths.html

Yeah, I'm the guy that wrote the Floyd Rose letter. You don't have to be stuck in the 80's to use a Floyd Rose style bridge. I'm sure many of you see double locking tremolo systems on a regular basis, usually while recording bad metal bands with Ibanez guitars (*SHUDDER*). If they're set up properly, they're just as stable as a fixed bridge when it comes to tuning, but I'd say that most techs that work with them on a regular basis don't know how to set them up right. I used to do QC at Jackson Guitars. Imagine setting up 50-100 Floyd-equipped guitars per day. You get pretty good at it after a while.

Professor: Am I right in saying that all you have to do to overcome crappy drum heads is to hit them harder? No, of course not. That would at best be a band-aid fix, if it worked at all. Intonation is partially in the hands of the player, but the majority of it is determined at the bridge.

bobbydj: Move the fret.

And for everyone: The scarf joint is the area of the neck where the headstock is glued on. Not all guitars have one, only ones with tilt-back headstocks.

[bobbydj]

bobbydj: Move the fret.
.

Haha - you say that, but this one part of the guitar is a right fucking bastard. I dunno with it's mentioned in the Endino article but apparently second fret G is a miserable bastard and most guitars are wrong there, regardless of how much bridge adjusting is made.

[Roman Sokal]

Here's another "yay" vote for more guitar tech articles, esp. with the multi-part, introduction to advanced suggestion. It may seem like the recording crowd would know the basics, but my backgroud is in synths; I know next-to-nothing about guitars.

Anything that helps me look like less of any idiot around Guitar Center would be appreciated.

i've always thought that endino's 2 part article on guitar tuning in tape op was among the top ten articles in the mag's history thus far- very very very useful!

[bobbydj]

It was excellent.

[black mariah]

I say that, and I'm completely serious. The only way to get that note in tune is to actually, physically, move the fret to a different location. It's the fault of Pythagoras. He determined the formula that luthiers use to place frets, and it's a good system, but there are a couple of errors. One, the intervals are never in tune with any other intervals. You can tune a guitar so that the fifths are in tune or the thirds, but never so they're both in tune. Not PERFECTLY, at any rate. You can get close. That was covered much more in-depth in the Endino article. Second, it doesn't take string tension into account. Down by the nut (and close to the bridge) the string tension is increased, and it takes less movement to send the string sharp. This is why open chords are a bitch to keep in tune if you want to be able to play elsewhere on the neck as well.

[Rodgre]

a few actual useful tips.

Give me a useful tip on how to make the second fret on the G sound an A.

Ha! I second this one. After you figure that one out, try working on a cure for the common cold.

Roger

[bobbydj]

Thanks Roger. I wondered if I'd got it all wrong again. I have a studio owning friend who has been tormented by this one issue for the last 4 years.

I say that, and I'm completely serious. The only way to get that note in tune is to actually, physically, move the fret to a different location. It's the fault of Pythagoras. He determined the formula that luthiers use to place frets, and it's a good system, but there are a couple of errors. One, the intervals are never in tune with any other intervals. You can tune a guitar so that the fifths are in tune or the thirds, but never so they're both in tune. Not PERFECTLY, at any rate. You can get close. That was covered much more in-depth in the Endino article. Second, it doesn't take string tension into account. Down by the nut (and close to the bridge) the string tension is increased, and it takes less movement to send the string sharp. This is why open chords are a bitch to keep in tune if you want to be able to play elsewhere on the neck as well.

So would I be right in assuming that the problem fret in question will produce a sharp 'A' (given its close proximity to the bridge)?

[black mariah]

Yep. On all guitars ever built using Pythagoras's formula. Some guitars just aren't effected as much as others. It's not your imagination or his. What's REALLY a pain in the ass is tuning down to C like I do most of the time.

[bobbydj]

You must be a real Meckle Mutha. Do you play your axe with a face like this OR this ? Which one please.

[antilog]

I got started modifying guitar electronics when I bought a $150 Ibanez Roadster(sp?) and didn't care if I ruined it. It was a great learning experience, gave me confidance to do it on more valuable guitars.

hope that helps