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will thicker strings help my poor intonation!?!?

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  • will thicker strings help my poor intonation!?!?

    My nut is set at the proper height, and my intonation is fairly good. I do it myself estimating my relative finger pressure. BUT I notice on the first 3 frets my intonation is fairly poor. I know this is normal with standard nuts, but in my case, I really notice it when recording. I have a fairly heavy touch and I play in Eb with 10-46 strings. Would going to a heavier set help out with my heavy touch?!? Its TOUGH to play lighter, I focus on it, and it affects my muscle memory..

    Any tips/advice?!?

  • #2
    Is the string height at the nut correct? If it were too high, it could create intonation issues there.
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    • #3
      yes, it's around .005 from the fret to the string when fretting at the 3rd fret.

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      • #4
        no. it will only cause you to change your intonation to accomidate the new thicker stings.

        if your intonation is set properly and your still having issues. the issues are caused by your technique, not your guitar.

        i have some of the same issues that you are talking about. i bend chords and notes out of tune without meaning to. sometimes i just squeeze too hard. or i'll fret one note of a chord right between the frets and another note right behind the fret causing my chord to not be intune with itself. you notice these things way more on playback than you do when playing with the band or just jamming by yourself.

        all you can do is practice and develope the right muslce memory in your fingers so that you don't have those problems anymore.
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        • #5
          Rebel, essentially it IS the root of my issues. However, i was thinking that more tension would mean it's HARDER to throw things out of whack? Does that not make sense?! Im not sure, but I love the tone im getting right now and my guitar is set up properly. It seems the WORST, is anytime I have to use the first fret, thats where I press the hardest!

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          • #6
            Originally posted by gemini8026 View Post
            However, i was thinking that more tension would mean it's HARDER to throw things out of whack?
            Is this possibly a "not used to playing with jumbo frets" issue? Heavier strings might help in that case (just a guess).
            _________________________________________________
            "Artists should be free to spend their days mastering their craft so that working people can toil away in a more beautiful world."
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            • #7
              nah, im used to jumbo frets, or at least I THINK I am, it's all I have ever really had.

              I have quite strong hands developed from what I do for work, I find it easy to clamp down on the strings too hard. When im "wrestling" with the guitar I really concentrate too hard and dig into them too far. I guess I do need to work on a lighter touch, but I also want to sound "aggressive"

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              • #8
                Originally posted by gemini8026 View Post
                nah, im used to jumbo frets, or at least I THINK I am, it's all I have ever really had.

                I have quite strong hands developed from what I do for work, I find it easy to clamp down on the strings too hard. When im "wrestling" with the guitar I really concentrate too hard and dig into them too far. I guess I do need to work on a lighter touch, but I also want to sound "aggressive"
                you can sound aggressive with a lighter touch...and really a lighter touch will probably be the only way to go. heavier strings may help, but theres a side effect of a heavy hand. youll eat up your guitars frets REALLY badly playing like that (i know, i did!) i used 10-56's on my guitars for years, tuned standard or dropped down a bit. i played very heavy, picking and fretting hand, and i had some of the same problems you did...even intonated correctly the guitar will go out of tune in the lower frets, even higher ones when bigger chords were played.

                changing your technique takes time...i worked on mine for a couple years and im still fighting the heavy hand syndrome from time to time. but i sound no less aggressive (and im even using lighter strings now...9-46...because of wrist/hand problems though). you have to work at it, but in time youll see it actually benefits you in the long run. thats my 2 cents anyways!
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                • #9
                  you can sound aggressive with a lighter touch...and really a lighter touch will probably be the only way to go. heavier strings may help, but theres a side effect of a heavy hand. youll eat up your guitars frets REALLY badly playing like that (i know, i did!)
                  +1. Excessive muscle tension & movement eats up not only your speed, agility, precision... but also your frets. Sometimes i look at guitars i've played regularly for over 10 years (both classical and electric) and they don't have much more fret wear then they did when i first got them.

                  And yeah, i'm able to get -very- agressive and heavy sounds without changing anything in my technique
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