How Your Opinions On Gear Change When You Play Everyday:

[Inspector #20]

I was chatting with @Mitch Pearrow SJMP this morning and thought some of you might find this post interesting.

As many of you know, I am a super loud, super rough player. I also use bass and resonance settings that frequently knock pictures off the wall in my home. A recent video I posted shows this effect actually happening. Since out band lineup has recently changed, "The Governor" who held everyone back is now gone and as a result, we are all able to play much more freely and without any drama. Here's a listing of some of my experiences:

Bought two brand new Greenbacks from Sweetwater. Blew the surrounds off the cones in 2 weeks.

You cannot return speakers to Sweetwater (or any other supplier that I know of) so I just had to write off the loss. I gave the blown speakers to a chum who likes to recone them.

In retaliation, I bought 2 brand new 75 watt Creambacks from Sweetwater - blew the surrounds off of those in two weeks. Another loss.

The ONLY speakers that have survived my amp settings are the 50 Watt WGS Reaper 55Hz and the Jensen Neodymium Stealth 80 Watt

I am now breaking at least 1 string every 4 hour show. I am breaking them midway down the length of the string. They never break at the break-over point at the bridge or the nut. I've just accepted this and build alternate solos into my practice routine and try to switch guitars mid way through a live set.

I sent the broken string and these photos to Ernie ball and got 100 sets of strings in return.

Now, I've just gotten to the point where I have to change strings after every show.

Many times, I can make the warp on my 'G' string "choke up" on the string during 2-1/2 step bends in songs like Buddy Guy's "I Smell A Rat."

Wore the frets on a 2019 Schecter Hellraiser C!FR flat in just over a year of use.

Wore out the Graph Tech Tusq XL nut on my new Warmoth neck from .020" first fret clearance to .009" in less than 2 months

Collapsed (2) Gotoh Nashville Bridges and one Gotoh ABR-1's in less than 1 year, at standard tuning (Ernie Ball .046" x .009") without the strings contacting the bridge.

Gotoh's tech department thinks this is partly due to my extreme string bends, how I slam my hand down on the bridge while playing rhythm and my habit of pressing down on the strings between the stop bar and bridge to simulate a tremolo.

I now use only the Aluminum ABR-1 from Philadelphia Luthier Tools (# LPC-1272/1143-NK ) and I now use the Aluminum Nashville (# LPB-1218 ) and add roller saddles to them. Problem solved.

I could go on and on about the failures I have experienced, but this should give you an idea of what I am up against trying to keep all this gear running with daily/nightly use.

 

[Mitch Pearrow SJMP]

My string breakage is always in the same location, regardless of instrument or what I am playing, always the bridge, and 90% of the time the D string..
But on one occasion I broke the low E -A-D in one swipe, this was on my V
Heavy handed I presume, because I sure ain’t bending them in solos.

 

[Inspector #20]

And my #2 rant:

Guitars that CANNOT be correctly intonated because of bridge and/or fret misplacement. I had two brand new Gibson Les Paul's that suffered from this anomaly. That drove me absolutely nuts and short of plugging and re-drilling/re-slotting, you have to live with it. My frequent use of open chords makes it impossible to tolerate this condition...

Anybody else have this kind of problem???

 

[Inspector #20]

My string breakage is always in the same location, regardless of instrument or what I am playing, always the bridge, and 90% of the time the D string..
But on one occasion I broke the low E -A-D in one swipe, this was on my V
Heavy handed I presume, because I sure ain’t bending them in solos.

You can correct that by how you profile the saddles. I've had a guy laugh in my face because I told him this and he argued that it "just couldn't affect all of his guitars," and yet it did. I fixed the problem...

 

[SG John]

Haven't broken a string in years. Since I grew up playing a Gibson SG all of the time, I have had to learn to play with a light, and articulate touch in order to not bend the neck, and knock things out of tune all the time. Still play that way no matter which guitar I play. I like to get a bit more aggressive with a Les Paul, but still have the same touch for the most part.

 

[marshalltsl]

I use thin nylon picks(Dunlop 0,63mm or 0,73mm). It helps you not to break the strings. But I'm really used to nylon picks.

 

[Inspector #20]

Haven't broken a string in years. Since I grew up playing a Gibson SG all of the time, I have had to learn to play with a light, and articulate touch in order to not bend the neck, and knock things out of tune all the time. Still play that way no matter which guitar I play. I like to get a bit more aggressive with a Les Paul, but still have the same touch for the most part.

Interesting!!!!

I had a new Gibson SG that had a lot of neck flex and intonation anomalies. I ended up trading it straight across to @eSGEe for a Chibson Slash AFD Replica that had near perfect bridge placement and intonation. Interestingly, nobody has kept that guitar more than a few months, despite the small fortune I spent on it.

(I'm curious if you have ever encountered a guitar with factory incorrect bridge and/or fret placement that made intonation impossible???)

I tend to gravitate towards guitars that I can play without having to think about. For example, one studio I work for has a 1959 Gibson Les Paul that they will allow a select group of players to use on some recordings. There are some notes on that guitar that mute out because of fret wear and bridge collapse, so you have to avoid certain parts of the necks. I find this ;level of thought exhausting, even in a sit-down studio environment.

Joe Bonnamassa talks about some of his antique Gibson's that he won't use on certain songs because of these similar issues. I cannot stand that. I will trash can a guitar so fast because of this sort of thing. I simply cannot and will not tolerate having to play it or hold it a certain way, or not play in direct sunlight, or avoid a certain area of the neck.

All my real Gibson Les Paul's could be "beaten" out of tune. I had to play them very gently to coax them through a show. I ended up getting rid of ALL of them because of this problem. It made me feel restricted, like wearing a show that's too small.

I also gravitate towards guitars with uncanny intonation accuracy.

I am still hoping that I can find one decent genuine Gibson Les Paul to build a heavy relic stage guitar out of that will pass all of my "tests," but the more I think about it, the neck flex is due to mahogany being relatively malleable and the design of the neck joint.

 

[Inspector #20]

I use thin nylon picks(Dunlop 0,63mm or 0,73mm). It helps you not to break the strings. But I'm really used to nylon picks.

I use only trans red tortoise Fender mediums. That's my pick of choice....

I break several nightly...



I also play with the big shoulder and not the tip. I believe I developed this technique to miss the middle pickup back in 1984 on my Ibanez DT-555 Destroyer and I just never changed back to using the tip.

Here's how I hold my picks:



This is a pick after a show, if I am lucky and it doesn't break.



@Mitch Pearrow SJMP was present at primo Rehearsal Studios in Riverside when i smoked this pick during a set with our Judas Priest Tribute.

If you look at the tab on the left of the pick, I actually wore it through at an angle, and the thinned-out tab finally broke off:

 

[SG John]

The thing is, the way I play... I don't think about it. It's just the way I play. It's why I can jump from an SG to a Firebird, to a Strat, to a Rickenbacker, and not care about how the neck feels, or how wide it is, etc.

 

[Inspector #20]

I don't break strings either. Been many moons since that's happened during playing. But I've had a few bunk strings that break during setup over the years.

I brake at least one string every show. D'Addario, Ernie Ball, or GHS, makes no difference which brand I use, I will brake one midway down the neck every single show....

 

[Inspector #20]

More than I care to admit. I've had to beat it into the heads of some of the guys that brought their babies for setups. They just couldn't fathom that Gibson could even do that. Eventually I got thru to one of them when I explained only a fill and drill could fix the intonation and he sold the guitar to another guy, the next day, who still refuses to believe me. Please sell those guitars to someone I don't know, jeez.

I'm not bashing Gibson here, only sharing my experience. What shocks me was how I got 5 in a row with either misplaced frets/bridge, humped fretboards and/or necks that had an extreme angle. I'm like a magnet for bad guitars!!!!

I gotta be honest and I know that I am looked down upon (herein) for my use of a fake Slash/AFD, but it is the only Les Paul I have ever had that intonates dead-on the money everywhere on the neck and has no saddles maxed out.

 

[Mitch Pearrow SJMP]

The thing is, the way I play... I don't think about it. It's just the way I play. It's why I can jump from an SG to a Firebird, to a Strat, to a Rickenbacker, and not care about how the neck feels, or how wide it is, etc.

I am the same, I don’t think about the shape of the neck , I just play them, only thing is I like a wider nut, because it’s easier for open chords.
Cheers

 

[Mitch Pearrow SJMP]

I'm not bashing Gibson here, only sharing my experience. What shocks me was how I got 5 in a row with either misplaced frets/bridge, humped fretboards and/or necks that had an extreme angle. I'm like a magnet for bad guitars!!!!

I gotta be honest and I know that I am looked down upon (herein) for my use of a fake Slash/AFD, but it is the only Les Paul I have ever had that intonates dead-on the money everywhere on the neck and has no saddles maxed out.

Whenever I have intonated mine I only check open and 12’th fret if it works there, then I am good to go.

 

[Inspector #20]

I am the same, I don’t think about the shape of the neck , I just play them, only thing is I like a wider nut, because it’s easier for open chords.
Cheers

My fingers are so big, I had to learn to play an open 'A' with the middle, ring and pinky. When I had Warmoth make this neck 1-3/4" wide, it was a great step in the right direction, but if I had it to do over again, I would have gone 1-7/8" wide.

 

[Inspector #20]

The thing is, the way I play... I don't think about it. It's just the way I play. It's why I can jump from an SG to a Firebird, to a Strat, to a Rickenbacker, and not care about how the neck feels, or how wide it is, etc.

Wow, you are truly blessed!!!!

See if this makes sense...

On a lot of guitars that I play, I find certain passages difficult to nail "cleanly" and cleanly means near perfect pitch without an deviation. A good example is the ascending pattern intro to the eagle's "Already Gone,' where you play a series of notes, then a tight bend at the second fret, then into a chord, then a walk down. On the narrower necks, I kind of struggle with that. On wider necks, I can nail the technique effortlessly.

Now in the studio, it makes absolutely no difference because I can re-take it as many times as I need, but live I want to feel confident, and I don't get that with a lot of guitars.

Another example is the open chords in Hotel California, which I find tough to play cleanly because of how crowded the neck is with dime-sized fingertips.

I have really downsized my guitars because of this, but the reward is great. Although my circle of guitars is shrinking, I can play flat-out, the entire 4-6 hour set, without knocking them out of tune and without having to pull-up on a chord to make it ring out in pitch.

If all I played were barre chords, I double the neck width would affect me as much as it does, but with lots of open chords and hybrid chords, that depend on accurately placed open phrasings, the wider string spacing is absolutely critical.

 

[Ramo]

I was chatting with @Mitch Pearrow SJMP this morning and thought some of you might find this post interesting.

As many of you know, I am a super loud, super rough player. I also use bass and resonance settings that frequently knock pictures off the wall in my home. A recent video I posted shows this effect actually happening. Since out band lineup has recently changed, "The Governor" who held everyone back is now gone and as a result, we are all able to play much more freely and without any drama. Here's a listing of some of my experiences:

Bought two brand new Greenbacks from Sweetwater. Blew the surrounds off the cones in 2 weeks.

You cannot return speakers to Sweetwater (or any other supplier that I know of) so I just had to write off the loss. I gave the blown speakers to a chum who likes to recone them.

In retaliation, I bought 2 brand new 75 watt Creambacks from Sweetwater - blew the surrounds off of those in two weeks. Another loss.

The ONLY speakers that have survived my amp settings are the 50 Watt WGS Reaper 55Hz and the Jensen Neodymium Stealth 80 Watt

I am now breaking at least 1 string every 4 hour show. I am breaking them midway down the length of the string. They never break at the break-over point at the bridge or the nut. I've just accepted this and build alternate solos into my practice routine and try to switch guitars mid way through a live set.

I sent the broken string and these photos to Ernie ball and got 100 sets of strings in return.

Now, I've just gotten to the point where I have to change strings after every show.

Many times, I can make the warp on my 'G' string "choke up" on the string during 2-1/2 step bends in songs like Buddy Guy's "I Smell A Rat."

Wore the frets on a 2019 Schecter Hellraiser C!FR flat in just over a year of use.

Wore out the Graph Tech Tusq XL nut on my new Warmoth neck from .020" first fret clearance to .009" in less than 2 months

Collapsed (2) Gotoh Nashville Bridges and one Gotoh ABR-1's in less than 1 year, at standard tuning (Ernie Ball .046" x .009") without the strings contacting the bridge.

Gotoh's tech department thinks this is partly due to my extreme string bends, how I slam my hand down on the bridge while playing rhythm and my habit of pressing down on the strings between the stop bar and bridge to simulate a tremolo.

I now use only the Aluminum ABR-1 from Philadelphia Luthier Tools (# LPC-1272/1143-NK ) and I now use the Aluminum Nashville (# LPB-1218 ) and add roller saddles to them. Problem solved.

I could go on and on about the failures I have experienced, but this should give you an idea of what I am up against trying to keep all this gear running with daily/nightly use.


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get NYXL. I used to use Ernie Ball and kept breaking them no matter how heavy I picked. Now I use NYXL after @Clockworkmike my advisor's recommendation, they are more expensive but they take the abuse really well.

 

[Inspector #20]

@SG John ,

When I am 100% comfortable with my guitar, I put on a better show. I throw them around my neck and just really play my heart out. On nights where I have played a friend's guitar, the tips were only average. On night's where I play my homemade double neck or my fake Slash/SFD, we will get 4 or 5 times the amount of tips. Whether they think they are "real" or perhaps they just enjoy the show, I don't know, but I cannot deliver that kind of show with just any guitar. It's like I have to really trust it...

 

[Inspector #20]

get NYXL. I used to use Ernie Ball and kept breaking them no matter how heavy I picked. Now I use NYXL after @Clockworkmike my advisor's recommendation, they are more expensive but they take the abuse really well.

The guitar tech has put a set of NYXL 009 x 046 on my Yellow Stratocaster. Ill be trying them out at rehearsal tomorrow....I typically break a string every rehearsal, so it should be a good test.

 

[Ramo]

The guitar tech has put a set of NYXL 009 x 046 on my Yellow Stratocaster. Ill be trying them out at rehearsal tomorrow....I typically break a string every rehearsal, so it should be a good test.

let me know how it goes.

 

[Ramo]

The guitar tech has put a set of NYXL 009 x 046 on my Yellow Stratocaster. Ill be trying them out at rehearsal tomorrow....I typically break a string every rehearsal, so it should be a good test.

I put 10s on my ltd and been playing it most compare other guitars. i do crazy bends heavy down pick chaga chug and still going strong after 2 month