12 String Theory

For those days that a 4x12 isn't enough...yikes!

As I clear out repairs, here's my PSA for one that's a little fussy.

Sometimes the saddles on a tuneomatic type bridge do not have enough travel to intonate all of the strings. This happens more often than one may expect, and isn't only on cheap guitars.

The saddles can almost always be flipped to increase travel, but some manufacturers have these little E clips holding the screws in place. If one is careful, they can be popped off and reinstalled....just don't let them rocket across the room!

Gibson string guide from 1972...it's a little different from the commodity sizes (9-42 or 10-46) which everyone accepts as good enough today :D. This is the kind of thing the forum goblins would look at and say 'How could those sizes possibly work' without trying.

Sometimes I'm sent links to videos showing people testing guitars to basically prove nothing matters but the pickups, or wood doesn't matter, or whatever. I think sometimes the problem is that when you process the crap out of the sound (like through a pedal board or by making a compressed sound file) then maybe it doesn't matter! These same folks also seem to never use the tone and volume controls on the guitar....

Strings are a big deal to me because it is the 2nd most simple and inexpensive way to tweak the sound, and leaving them on until they break usually doesn't help the sound...assuming strings matter! (see above)

Turning things into commodities can be great for the consumer, because then everything comes down to price. Think $3.699 gallon at Sheetz vs $3.799 at Circle K. And yes, I did add the stupid 9/10 of a cent on the end because I'm amazed we still have it.

So maybe those 10-46 strings on Amazon or Temu are basically the same as D'Addario, GHS, Ernie Ball, or whomever. Of course, maybe everything isn't exactly the same.

Case in point - if you compare a GHS 011 to a D'Addario 011, the GHS tension spec is about 10% higher. Neither is wrong, but they are different. The reason I don't use Ernie Ball any more is they don't publish specs, so aside from the diameter I don't know what I'm buying.

Some of my guitars get standard sizes, and some don't, but trust me when I say I have experimented a lot to find good combos! Example: I often use GHS 9-42 extra lights with a 0.014 G instead of the 0.016 as it's easier to bend and a little less loud. To me, they don't sound (or feel) the same as D'Addario 9-42s, but that shouldn't be a surprise as they are different strings from different companies. Maybe Temu 9-42s sound better, but because they might be made out of old Pontiacs I won't buy them.

For standard sets, the D'Addario 9-40 balanced tension set is amazing on most 24 3/4 ish scale guitars with humbuckers. On a good guitar (assuming anything matters, see above) set up right, and assuming that the player has enough self control to not bash and/or strangle strings, it can almost feel like it wants to play itself. And mind you, that's not only playing lead....that set works really well in general.

I have a custom D'Addario 12 string set I use on the Danelectros because it makes them much, much easier to play and it sounds much tighter compared to the generic 10-46 light gauge strings they are sold with. Seriously, unless you want a muddy mess, whoever decided heavy strings like the E3 26W and E2 46W on a 12 string really doesn't understand how they work. You still need to tune it though....

BTW, the easiest thing is use a different pick. That's even cheaper.

Also in stock and on sale, the EHX OD Glove, for $70 including tax. This is basically a clone of the Fulltone OCD pedal for a lot less money, so come by and check it out in person.

Godin makes beautiful classical guitars, but because my shop is small I generally do not stock them. However, I think it's time to always have at least one on hand to show how good they are. This one just came in, their top of the line Collection model in a combination of cedar, rosewood, and mahogany. No laminates, all solid wood, and made in Canada.

On a well built instrument like this the sound and projection is outstanding. These are worth checking out for anyone in the market.

A slightly fussy bridge repair on a 30 year old Taylor. The bridge had come off, and it looked like it had been originally glued over part of the finish based on the glossy stuff around the edges.

Before I cleaned up the bottom of the bridge I scribed an outline on the top, and used that as a guide to scrape the finish off to expose a good surface to glue to. The finish was very brittle, so I was basically shearing if off the top. Not a factory perfect finish, but it works.