Guitar thread

Those two really have some chops - very skilled!
Skills notwithstanding, I'm of the same school as that guy who said to Mozart in the movie "too many notes". I'd love to be able to play like that, but hope I would choose not to. The guitar solos and riffs that move me are always, well, simpler.
Matter of personal taste I know - flame away.

Nothing wrong with that. It is exactly why there are so many different styles. What is that saying about variety is the spics of life!?

OK, this is really cool. Wonder if it only works on Gibson electrics?

http://www2.gibson.com/Products/Min-ETune.aspx

Actually, I've had this idea for a long time, knew someone would do it eventually. Too bad I didn't patent. I'd have made 10's of dollars!

Here's a good video if you want to watch it work. (Jump to about 9:40)

<IFRAME height=315 src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/UDw2zPF0oD8" frameBorder=0 width=560 allowfullscreen></IFRAME>

It depends if the other guitar uses the same spacing as Gibson USA. Gibson Custom Shop uses different spacing as well. Gibson' had the Robot a few years back and that was a real mess. Instead of the tuner being on the head it was in the body. They used a special battery pack and were overall a flop. There have been other aftermarket robo tuners as well. I think Gibson's is nice since you can switch back to regular tuner heads easily.

Only on the tributes and next year's studios and then only factory installed.

Cool as fuck to watch the guitar tune itself, I wonder how it deals with string gauges.

My little Recording King resonator uke is my moto instrument. It has a good case and fits nicely across the Jesse bags behind me. Great for killing time around the campfire, and it has a pickup, so works for the occasional open mic etc. It's very fun to play.



I once took a guitar on an off road camp out. It ended badly for the guitar (and me :eek1)

I would bet that if that tuner thingy takes off others will offer it.

I wonder how it "hears" the strings.

You can buy it aftermarket from the same company that makes them for Gibson. http://www.tronical.com/tronicaltune/

Finally, proof for what we've known all along...
CHICKS LOVE GUITAR PLAYERS!
http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-women-men-guitar.html
(now if I can just convince my wife)

...oh snap.

Here's a photo of my rig that I have posted here before. But if you look closely you will see that it is not a "normal" strat.




It has a Kahler tailpiece that was all the rage in the '80's. It is sort of a "floating" tailpiece with fine tuners.




It also has a string lock at the nut that basically prevents you from using the tuners after it is locked.



At one time I was considering having the units replaced with the more traditional looking tail piece and string guides on the head. But lately, I have been reading that these are quite well loved by a lot of players. I really don't mind the setup, but it is a PIA to change strings and you really have to keep up with the allen wrenches or you are screwed. I've decided just to leave it as it is and learn to love it!

My son and I had several guitars (yes, I guess it was the '80's) with the Floyd Rose style bridge and nut lock. Great if you used the whammy bar - way more trouble than it's worth if you didn't. With the strings locked, those micro tuners tuned one string, but in doing that changed the tension on all the strings, ensuring that the guitar was consistently out of tune
At least with the old style whammy with the springs you could clamp it down if you didn't use it.

I never had any trouble tuning a Floyd Rose. Even the old Kahler I had was easy to tune and keep there. But it may very well vary from model to model, guitar to guitar. I've had a hardtail that wouldn't stay in tune before!

A couple things on 2-point vibrato bridges and tuning and whatnot:

Floyd licenses their bridges (I think Kahler might have before?) and the licensed versions are very typically a little lower in quality. However, Ibanez did improve upon the design a bit, eventually leading up to the ZR vibrato (not a Floyd product) that uses a cam style pivot (a la Kahler) and some other niceties to make a pretty fine bridge. Regardless, most licensed Floyd Rose bridges use a different route and typically don't hold tune as well.

A lot of folks will blame a bridge for tuning issues when it is, in fact, the nut gripping the string during tuning, bends, and thermal expansion/contraction. Beyond that, locking tuners also help. I would go as far to say that locking tuners and a standard nut that isn't binding do better for tuning than the locking nut by "clamping the string" most at its ends, rather than applying pressure just shy of the endpoint. Graphite nuts are good as they self-lubricate, but they do wear faster as well. A good compromise is a well-filed bone or brass nut with off-the-shelf lube (Big Bend's Nut Sauce I think).

Most importantly, almost no whammy bridge works well if it isn't set up right. As the knife edges wear on the pivots, it's like valves seating. You have to compensate for that periodically with spring adjustments, post replacement as the knife edges dig away at them, and eventually replacement of the unit once the hardened edges wear past "spec" (there is no spec). The licensed trems typically wear faster at this contact point. Changing string gauges or tunings will obviously throw the balance off as well with a change in tension.

I could get a bit more in-depth on setting up a vibrato, but I think I've forgotten half of what I knew back in the day. Also due to that, the ZR trem is probably old news in the guitar world now, but the best when it arrived, no doubt. It could compensate for tension changes up to and including a string breaking and still keep the rest in tune. Famously, Herman Li broke a string during a solo in the studio and kept on without issue. Also famously, Herman Li also sounds like Scooby Doo and plays too quickly with too many effects to decipher tuning in the first place.

If you really want a whammy bar and want it to work, try to aim for an official Floyd Rose rather than a licensed copy. Most guitars with the their own licensed version will require re-routing to fit an original. Also keep in mind that you won't be able to lift your string pitch with the unit too much, unless you have a countersunk route in the guitar, which requires some additional planning. Or buy something Ibanez makes. Even their non-locking Satellite series units coupled with a good nut and tuners do wonders. Kahlers are great as well for the cam system so there are no blade edges to wear out. But most use metal-to-metal rubbing to get the job done, so don't be cheap. Get one made by people who know a little about metallurgy and proper castings. Hint: most guitarists really don't know any of the science behind "good" and "bad" items.

Further reading should be done on the Tremol-no system if you like your whammy bar but not all the time. It's a pretty nifty device. Works especially well to improve performance with a decent non-locking tremolo.

For non-tremolo guitars, any decent non-locking tuner (Grover, Kluson, etc) will keep the guitar in tune. If it won't stay in tune with quality tuners, the problem is elsewhere. To help eliminate tuning problems:

• When the string is tuned to pitch, there should be at least two and preferably three wraps of the string around the tuner post. Thus prevents the string from slipping on the tuner.
• The nut should be kept well-lubed.
• When tuning always drop the string BELOW pitch and tune UP to pitch. If you've done the previous things, this will even the tension along the string from the tuner post to the tail piece. The string hanging up at the bridge or nut can lead to uneven tension and the string goes flat the first time you bend.

I've used the above on PRS and Fenders with non-locking tremolos and they stay in tune.

Tuning has never been an issue. It's hitting the bridge when you're playing down close. Accidental whammy!!

As the owner of a music store I get to re-string about a gazillion guitars a year and you know what pisses me off? Knots, double wrapping, or other tomfoolery at the machine heads. Anyone who thinks they need to do that in order to stay in tune should:
A: get a better guitar, or
B: get better strings, or
C: get a better setup done on their guitar, or
D: learn how to tune a guitar, or
E: quit playing entirely.

When presented with an argument for such idiotic techniques, I always do a gentle question and answer session with the proponent.

Q: What is a guitar manufacturer's job?
A: To sell guitars.

Q: How can they do that?
A: Make the guitar sound as good as they can and play as good as they can at a given price point.

Q: Name one guitar manufacturer that ships their guitars from the factory strung up in the manner that you are proposing.
A: There aren't any.

Why? Because it's not necessary.

OK. Rant over. Return to your regularly scheduled programming.

You mean like this? :huh (NOT my guitar!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

Then the Tremol-no might be something for you, if you're using a fully floating bridge. I like plain old wraparound bridges myself, but the occasional divebomb is missed on my SG.