Quote:
Originally Posted by wjp01908
Hi Sentry
My advice, at least at this stage, is to stick with what you have got.
Many, many beginners have hands and fingers that are far to big,small pudgy,weak - that will never do X,Y or Z etc etc.
It does come together with practice.
|
Well, I hadn't planned on doing anything for two or three months at least; during which time I practice nearly every single day. I feel that it's quite possible for me to get accurate enough not to touch adjacent strings, but getting my fingers to be able span four frets near the nut
might not be possible ever. My index fingers are curved inwards towards my middle fingers and my pinky fingers are curved inwards towards my ring fingers. Quite a lot. When I try spanning four frets, at maximum stretch my pinky finger touches the string just after the third fret while my index finger is fretting as close as possible to the first. It's hard to get a note to ring true when you're fretting closer to the fret above than the fret you want. Maybe eventually my pinky will get strong enough to do it, but I doubt it will ever stretch further.
Quote:
Originally Posted by wjp01908
Maybe borrow a shorter scale guitar for a while to see if it does actually help before making a big cash commitment
|
Actually, since I posted I discovered that my girlfriend's Gibson SG has a 24.75" scale length and the neck width at the nut is about 1/16" more than that of my strat. 1/16" wider and 3/4" shorter scale length doesn't sound like it should make much difference, but I tried it out last night and amazingly it does. Her guitar is
much easier for me to play. My pinky still won't reach to just before the fourth fret where it should be, it lands about halfway between the 3rd and 4th, but it's easier. Why don't I try to talk her into trading guitars? Because I don't like the feel of her SG's ebony fingerboard and I like the looks of my strat better. Perhaps those are silly reasons, but.... *shrugs*.
Quote:
Originally Posted by fly135
Sentry, a conversion neck is a different story. I didn't even know anyone made them. They are designed specifically to make the 12 fret divide the string length in half. Then the position of all the frets is calculated to readjust the scale.
|
Yup, I didn't mean that I'd just stick a neck from a 24.75" scale length guitar on my strat. I lack playing experience but I have as much technical knowledge of how a guitar actually works as the internet can give, so I
know that wouldn't work. What I don't know is what the ramifications of using a conversion neck would be.
By the way, so far I've found two companies that make conversion necks for strats (and other 25.5" scale length guitars with bolt-on necks).
USA Custom Guitars and
Warmoth.
At any rate, I would
not be laying out any cash at all for a couple months at least. I'm wondering if through use my fingers will "learn" to stretch further apart than they do now, or get stronger, or both. I'd still like to know the answers to the following questions:
1) Would the reduced string tension of a shorter scale mean I have to raise my action to keep the strings from buzzing?
2) If the answer to 1 is "yes", could I compensate by going to a heavier gauge string and thus have roughly the same string tension as before?
3) If the answer to 1 is "yes" and the answer to 2 is also "yes", would heavier gauge strings produce a "warmer" or "twangier" sound? I know a heavier string creates a greater disturbance in the pups magnetic field and thus greater/louder output, but in what ways do they affect the sound?
4) Would the shorter scale length result in a twangier sound due to shorter strings or warmer due to narrower harmonics? (yes, I realize that neck wood, body wood and fingerboard wood are critical factors in wether the sound is "warm" or "twangy", and that bolt-on necks are usually twangier than glued-on necks like my gf's SG. I think I've decided on mahogany neck and rosewood fingerboard for the conversion neck if I get one. I
believe my current neck to be maple neck with rosewood fingerboard. I think the body is basswood because some googling tells me that most MIJ strats have basswood bodies, but I'm not sure)
What I'm looking for:
A) Increased playability
B) A slightly "fatter"/"warmer" tonal quality than the strat has now, but not as fat as my gf's SG
Anyway, I don't want to replace the entire guitar, even if doing so would be cheaper. I love this guitar. I love the way it looks (silly, I suppose), I love the way the body fits against my body. The forearm cutout feels like it was made for my forearm, the rib cutout feels like it was made for my torso. Besides, my gf gave it to me and that in itself makes the guitar very special to me.
So if anyone knows the answers to questions 1-4, please don't be shy of answering. I fully realize that if I ruin my guitar, go bankrupt, and wind up all alone under a bridge somewhere with nothing for company other than an unplayable guitar the responsibility for that is 100% my own. Besides, since I've discovered that at least two companies make conversion necks that don't require modifying the body, ones that fit the body's existing neck heel cutout, then if it doesn't work out I could still put the original neck back on. I'm willing to risk the roughly $450
if I like the answers to my questions 1-4.