Little Things That Could Be Making It Harder

[Jak Angelescu]

Hey guys and dolls! I was practicing yesterday and I literally felt like I was fighting my strings and my tone. I’ve always been bad about cleaning my strings or changing my strings or even cleaning my guitar because I didn’t think it was a big deal. However, my singer cleaned my guitar for me REALLY well about a month ago and the guitar was AMAZING to the touch. I was sliding better, it felt smoother on my hands, and my tone was brighter and I felt like the strings rung out really well.
So the other day I felt like I was fighting “dead string” sound. Where you literally feel like you’re struggling to make anything sound good. My fingers wouldn’t slide well, the strings felt thick and cutting. So I decided to clean my strings really well and WOW!!! It made a HUGE difference!! They were disgusting! There was so much grime on the cloth! Also, I have been a die-hard Ernie Ball user since I got into electric guitar. But I remember one time I had NO strings and someone at my work said “Here, they’re 13 gauge but it’s better than nothing.” I got use to them and fell in love with the tone but I downgraded to 12s to make it a little easier. They were D’addario’s. Now on even 10’s I feel like Ernie’s don’t have as much ‘slink’ or ‘give’ for bending as D’addario’s so I’m actually getting inspired to try other string brands. I will admit though, Ernie’s sound REALLY good. I am thinking on trying the Paradigm kind.
My final thought is picks. I have seen SO many people talking about picks and how many different kinds they use and I have been sold forever on my Dunlop Tortex .88. However, I lost a pick I had been using for roughly two months so I was forced to get a new one out of the package. I actually found my old one, compared the two, and the old one started to warp and bend from all the impact! I had been struggling with sweeps for several weeks and was like “Why the hell is this so hard now?!” The curve and warping of the pick was making it harder!
So things to keep in mind I think (and maybe everyone else does and i’m new to the game) but I’ve really been inspired to really think about what I’m doing and making sure I’m taking good care of these things. So I thought I’d share my thoughts. I think it wise to make sure you clean your strings and change them regularly, don’t be afraid to experiment with different strings to see what really works for you, clean your guitar’s fretboard of any gunk and grime so it doesn’t make your sliding harder and rougher, and watch your picks to make sure they’re not getting overused. I think it’s the little details that sometimes we could overlook but they can have such a big impact.
Hope everyone’s doing good so far this week!

 

[Dominik Gräber]

Good Tips I would not have thought about! Although I know how damn nice a new set of strings feels^^
If you are not into changing your strings often and want to try something different going with the paradigms might really be a good decicion as they are supposed to hold on for ages. I read they even have a guarantee, buut I think this is only for them breaking.

 

[Noah Berends]

I definitely agree and have the same experiences. If you do decide you like D’Addario, most Guitar Centers sell 3 and 10-packs for a very good price. I did try Paradigms at one point, but they corroded unusually fast. They actually rusted down by the bridge within a month, which for some people is a great lifespan, but given the price I don’t really wanna spend $15/mo on strings for just one of my guitar…lol. I tried some NYXL’s from D’Addario and after a month they’ve just now lost the metallic luster. In my experience, they definitely last longer. I’d say EB has better tone, but just barely. Once they get broken in and worn and used I bet there’s no discernable difference.
Also, for cleaning a fingerboard, some Lemon Oil cleaner is definitely the way to go. Water can dry out the fretboard, which is bad for the wood, but a lemon oil cleaner will moisturize the wood and improve tone and life. I usually do a lemon oil cleaning every time I change strings since that tends to be about every month/month and a half.
Regular maintainence like this can also improve how long the guitar itself lasts, very important. Thanks for sharing Jak!

 

[Jak Angelescu]

Noah!! Thank you so much for all that info! I’ve been so curious about what to use to clean stuff with. Where do you recommend I buy it? And also BIG help on the strings!
Dominik, thank you for the feedback about the Paradigm strings

 

[Andrew Fernandes]

Cool fact which is i think is a fact some people when they play guitar actually pay the frets cleaner because of their skin ph and others make it more oily and dirtier because of their skin ph. skin ph can be changed by the foods you eat i think.

 

[Noah Berends]

@jak, I buy everything at my local Guitar Center. Mine specifically has a wall section dedicated to instrument maintenance, and that’s where I can find it all in my store. There’s a good few brands and options available. An employee should also be able to help find it if it’s in a weird place in the store.