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My Site - Instruction

[This message was edited by Doug Beaumier on 05 December 2006 at 11:09 PM.]

quote:

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A drifting and wandering mind can raise havoc with an avowal to maintain regular practice sessions... Mixing priorities has a slight damnifying effect..

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You can say that again!

Nothing interferes with my practice sessions. That's because I practice in my teaching studio, not at home. When I go there I shut out the world for a few hours and do the woodshedding that needs to be done. No phone calls, no TV, no internet, no one around, no distractions. It's amazing how much one can accomplish without distractions.

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My Site - Instruction

Violin Mastery

Piano Mastery

[This message was edited by David Mason on 06 December 2006 at 02:17 AM.]

Did you ever drift out , wile in the middle of a song on stage ?

Ed. to correct implement... early morning posts have stalled my ability to avoid careless errors.

[This message was edited by Bill Hankey on 07 December 2006 at 08:10 AM.]

" irksome "interloper" !! That part I understand !
The same may be said of my self in other musical
settings ! I'm only the side man , & at least try to play
REAL music .

" in maintaining designated musical preferences. "

In other words !

we really %&*# up in allowing
this to happen !
Meaning No affiance to the mans capability !
Just the wrong place for it .

Topic Wondering mind - I have suffered - Wondering mind -
and played the wrong tune on my ride ! Keeps you humble .

[This message was edited by Bill Hankey on 18 December 2006 at 05:52 AM.]

Itzhak Perlman once said that he practices watching a baseball game. Sometimes I think you need to vary your routine, or work on a new song or technique -- something to keep your mind pre-occupied. Or meditate which is even better. When I toured France and Switzerland with Le Quan Ninh and Sean Meehan, we would split up for a half an hour or so before each performance and find a place to sit quietly. When it was time to perform, I really felt we were focused -- we played and improvised for an hour or more without stopping (in other words without pausing between "songs"). When the performance was over, we never discussed it, nor did we discuss it the next day. I feel that this gave us a really nice added dimension to our music together. To do anything well, you need to be in the right frame of mind. And to navigate those waters, you can only rely on yourself.

[This message was edited by Susan Alcorn on 07 December 2006 at 05:47 PM.]

"String stretching in place of the use of tremelo bars is another irksome mistreatment of musical instruments."

Bill, are you saying that players who bend wtrings...or use vibrato...or use a Stringbender...are all somehow inferior? If so, to who? Are you stating this just as your personal taste in guitar playing, or trying to convince the reader that a 6-string player who bends strings lacks talent?

Considering that six-string players from Chet Arkins to James Burton to Clarence White to Brent Mason have bent strings as a normal part of playing, any way I read your comment it seems quite a reach.

And it's hardly a "new country sound".

[This message was edited by Bill Hankey on 19 December 2006 at 02:04 AM.]

I just don't understand 1) where the idea of "new" comes from, since "stretching" or "bending" strings has been around in country and rock since the 50's, and the Stringbender since the 60's., and 2) whether you are saying you don't like it in country, rock...or both. Also, if you could give an example of what you mean, it might be put in a clearer context. I'm not arguing with you - just trying to clarify precisely what you're referring to.

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http://home.comcast.net/~steves_garage

[This message was edited by Pete Finney on 18 December 2006 at 02:16 PM.]

I believe that an "incredulous amusement" is a healthier and more appropriate response to some of the incredibly strange opinions and ideas in this thread...

[This message was edited by Pete Finney on 18 December 2006 at 02:21 PM.]

I've seen no proof EVER that stringbending - manual or mechanical - causes "excessive wear and tear" on an instrument. "Benders" also don't use light strings any more than anyone else; I tend to use 10's even 11's (common 6-string nomenclature for describing a set based on the 1st string); I know a few who use 9's but not many anymore. Stevie Ray Vaughan used huge strings. The gage issue...well, isn't one. Additionally, some of the biggest "offenders" in bending are known for stellar tone: James Burton, Clarence White, Jeff Beck, Eric Clapton, Stevie Ray Vaughan, B.B. King....

As far as "wear and tear", Bob Warford bends both using a mechanical B-string bender and manually; the Tele he plays he's played since 1967 - he got it from Clarence White, who got it from Buck Owens, who had the frets installed.

They were installed in about 1962 and show zero wear. None. Neither does the fretboard, save a small bit of lacquer wear. No wood loss. I doubt they are the only frets like that.

I recently sold one of my Stringbender guitars, and I did lots of 1st, 3rd and 6th string manual bends. I had the guitar custom-built to specs in 1993, and after 13 years and thousands of hours of playing rock, blues and some country-rock, the frets were like new and I didn't even need to dress them prior to sale.

But even when wear does occur, it's considered a natural part of the instrument's life cycle. Frets are like tires on a a car - do you not drive because you'll put wear on the tires? Leo designed the Esquire (later Broadcaster, later Telecaster) originally with the thought of a bolt-on neck for one reason - when the frets showed wear, the player could simply replace the neck with a new one.

As it happened, almost nobody followed through with that method, but it was an anticipated part of an instrument's life cycle by one of the innovators of electric guitar.

I find it fascinating, though, that keeping an instrument "pretty" would be more important than making music the way you want to with it. I get the feeling it's more a negative preference regarding string bending rather than an instrument wear issue. But if it's truly a wear problem that concerns you, I'd advise against playing fretted instruments at all - even the slightest pressure causes friction, and the most wear I've every seen on any guitar is on various Martin and Gibson acoustics - all below the 5th fret, and all not the result of bending, but instead the so-called "cowboy chord" wear.

And the "guitar smashing" description was another non-issue. Yes, Hendrix and Townsend smashed guitars back in the 60's, but your average club player isn't going to take one of his two electric guitars and turn it into firewood, then explain to Mrs. Guitar Player that they're eating noodels for a month while saves up for a new guitar. It's as isolated as cases of smallpox in Brentwood.

"Jim S., I have a distaste for rhetorical outbursts, misquotes, and misinterpretations."

Those groovings have nothing to do with string bending or "stretching"

They have to do with simply playing the guitar.

Ooohhh - loook! An aggie! Pretty!

First, it's worth asking if string bending adds more wear, because it adds more stress and friction. As several here point out, I suspect that this wear would probably be undetectable. On the other hand, Bill's point makes me wonder how much bending I'd do on a collector that I wanted to preserve.

Second, heavier guages put more stress on acoustics. Here I suspect Bill is giving good advice: lighter guages probably reduce the chances for needing to reset the neck or flatten the top.

VERY important point. I didn't know that until a few years ago. You can get a set of 12s that pull less than a set of 11s.

Do you know of a site that gives both the gauge and the tension of most brands of strings? Juststrings.com has some info on that, but not enough. A couple of years ago, I searched the net to find complete info but no luck.

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"Most people's favorite music is from the era before they got married." --Earnest Bovine

[This message was edited by Darryl Hattenhauer on 19 December 2006 at 11:10 PM.]

Here's something I was surprised to find. I've always heard that silk and steel is less tension. But here is a GHS silk and steel set with a .26 that has more tension than than the .26 in GHS bronze sets. http://juststrings.com/ghs-345.html

http://juststrings.com/ghs-ccbb10.html

http://juststrings.com/ghs-vn-ul.html

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We're all in this alone.
--Lily Tomlin

[This message was edited by Darryl Hattenhauer on 21 December 2006 at 07:08 PM.]

But this 80/20 .26 is 17 lbs, yet the .42 is the same 14 lbs.
http://juststrings.com/ghs-bb60x.html

This is the kind of head scratcher that makes me want to quit thinking and start playing. But a real expert could probably understand all of this very easily.

I doubt there is any difference in tension among plain strings, unless there's an unusal type of steel used I haven't heard about. However, it is clear that the wound-string tension does vary by string construction.

As far as bending and making it less dmaging - you could always go to as short a scale guitar as possible, making require less effort; that owul likely lessen the pressure needed on the frets and fingerboard.

I still think it's such a non issue - maintenance vs music - that I would choose the music first and deal with fretwear, if any (which does not seem to be a proven issue related to stringbending) later.

As far as fingerboard wear, if musch of the wear seen is in the "cowboy chord" positions, it would seem unrelated to beinding strings and simply to playing in the same positions repeatedly.

So my overall response is "bend away!"

I understood your reply perfectly .

From what I'm reading here ! your opinion , has been misunderstood .
I to have nothing against the rock musician ! But if they are invited into
different setting , I would think they would try to blend in !
I totally agree that extra wear can result from string stretching ! we see that
all the time on our pedal steels , As for the 6 stringers , the wear cant
happen fast enough ! Just My opinion Bill
I don't have any studies to refer you to ! so you will just have to take
my word for this .

enjoy your Christmas
Hick

[This message was edited by Bob Hickish on 22 December 2006 at 10:33 AM.]

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This set was designed for players who like to tune a step or half step low. The wound strings are made with extra-large cores. These core sizes allow a smaller gauge string to vibrate with the limited “travel” of a larger gauge string when plucked. This design avoids the greater tension caused by the mass of a larger string.

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