i'm a heavy hitter, i'm noticing i'm picking my strings so hard they go sharp. have any of you dealt with this? jaguar with 12's. might bump up to 13's. problems is mostly low E picking. would more tension reduce the amount of 'bending' possible from picking hard?
hitting less hard isn't an option.
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SurfGuitar101 Forums » Surf Musician »
trem picking strings out of tune!
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Joined: Jul 04, 2010 Posts: 369 Ottawa 
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Posted on Oct 30 2011 08:05 PM
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Joined: Feb 26, 2006 Posts: 12159 Seattle 
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Posted on Oct 30 2011 08:25 PM
You shouldn't be able to detune your strings by trem picking. I've never been able to do it and I use to be heavy handed. My jags/jazzmasters would pretty much stay in tune for a week, several rehearsals worth. Temperature and transportation were about the only things that could detune them. Also, strings wouldn't go sharp from picking, they'd go flat. Are you sure your string isn't jumping places in the saddle? And my opinion on the string gauge, I used .13s for a time. You can't do anything with .13s, even .12s. Your ability for dynamics is limited, you have to work harder to get an average picked note. Less bend on the strings limits the vibrato you can manually add. I use .11s round on all of my guitars these days, you can actually do more than play average surf music with those. With the .13s I was just bullshit guitarist who thought he was creating decent music by trem picking the shit out of the strings. |
Joined: Feb 15, 2007 Posts: 2858 Fredericksburg, Virginia 
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Posted on Oct 30 2011 08:43 PM
My guess would be the saddle. A great inexpensive way to stop that from happening is replace the stock bridge with a Mustang bridge. Others swear by the buzz-stop, which in my opinion gets in the way of the trem. Still, there are more expensive bridges out there (Tune-o-matic) you can replace the stock bridge with, it's just that the Mustang bridge is the most logical and cost-effective choice. Matt "tha Kat" Lentz |
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Joined: Feb 26, 2006 Posts: 12159 Seattle
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Posted on Oct 30 2011 09:11 PM
I just don't get how he is having the notes end up sharp, if the saddle was dropping it would go flat... wouldn't it? Bad tuners, flat. Trem issues, flat. Bad friction from the nut or saddles could cause some sharpness when the trem is used. That is very rare, in my experience. Jumping saddle notches could cause it to be sharp as well. |
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Joined: Feb 15, 2007 Posts: 2858 Fredericksburg, Virginia
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Posted on Oct 30 2011 09:28 PM
Could be going down to Eb, or D# I agree that they should be going flat instead of sharp, unless if on his up-picking he's moving the string away from the A-string, or when the string is replaced on the saddle it's not going back in the exact slot in which it was in tune. Matt "tha Kat" Lentz |
Joined: Mar 15, 2011 Posts: 8528 Back in Piitsburgh, Pennsylvania, where I grew up.
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Posted on Oct 30 2011 09:34 PM
Oops! See below for the brain-fade. —This is Noel. Reverb's at maximum an' I'm givin' 'er all she's got. Last edited: Oct 31, 2011 05:49:13 |
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Joined: Feb 26, 2006 Posts: 12159 Seattle
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Posted on Oct 30 2011 09:40 PM
The saddle would have to move forward. I just don't see how he would do it. Maybe the intonation is just off in the first place. |
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Joined: Mar 15, 2011 Posts: 8528 Back in Piitsburgh, Pennsylvania, where I grew up.
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Posted on Oct 30 2011 09:44 PM
Never mind. Noel wrote: — This is Noel. Reverb's at maximum an' I'm givin' 'er all she's got. Last edited: Oct 30, 2011 21:46:43 |
Joined: Mar 02, 2006 Posts: 11076 Berkeley, CA
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Posted on Oct 30 2011 10:06 PM
JakeDobner wrote:
That'd be my guess. —Danny Snyder I am now playing trumpet with Prince Buster tribute band 'Balzac' Playing keys and guitar with Combo Tezeta Formerly a guitarist in The TomorrowMen and Meshugga Beach Party Latest surf project - Now That's What I Call SURF |
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Joined: Mar 15, 2011 Posts: 8528 Back in Piitsburgh, Pennsylvania, where I grew up.
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Posted on Oct 30 2011 10:09 PM
If the saddle moves forward, wouldn't that shorten the distance to the nut, reducing string tension, and make the guitar go flat? —This is Noel. Reverb's at maximum an' I'm givin' 'er all she's got. |
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Joined: Feb 26, 2006 Posts: 12159 Seattle
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Posted on Oct 30 2011 10:12 PM
Forward creates a shorter string, shorter strings vibrate faster, which is a higher pitch. i.e. fretting. |
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Joined: Mar 15, 2011 Posts: 8528 Back in Piitsburgh, Pennsylvania, where I grew up.
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Posted on Oct 30 2011 10:16 PM
Even under less tension? JakeDobner wrote: — This is Noel. Reverb's at maximum an' I'm givin' 'er all she's got. |
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Joined: Feb 26, 2006 Posts: 12159 Seattle
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Posted on Oct 30 2011 10:16 PM
This is a pretty interesting project relating to visualizing string lengths and how it looks in comparison to music. http://blog.chenalexander.com/2011/baroque-bach-cello/ The video is what the actual site does when you click on it: http://www.baroque.me/ |
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Joined: Feb 26, 2006 Posts: 12159 Seattle
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Posted on Oct 30 2011 10:34 PM
Noel wrote:
Tension/gauge of string is what determines the pitch on a guitar. You microtune to reach the intonation by adjusting the saddle(changing the length of the string). So length of a string on a guitar is not a good example to visualize with. |
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Joined: Mar 15, 2011 Posts: 8528 Back in Piitsburgh, Pennsylvania, where I grew up.
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Posted on Oct 31 2011 05:47 AM
I figured it out before I looked at the website. I forgot that string length and tension don't change just because the contact point (bridge saddle) moves. I should've remembered that. I had a guitar with a worn-out and loose bridge. It caused all sorts of tuning problems. —This is Noel. Reverb's at maximum an' I'm givin' 'er all she's got. |
Joined: Feb 25, 2006 Posts: 19342 Des Moines, Iowa, USA
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Posted on Oct 31 2011 11:34 AM
You can make your notes go sharp by pressing down harder on the string when fretting. Perhaps when you dig in to double pick you are also fretting harder. I used to have that issue. —Site dude - S3 Agent #202 "It starts... when it begins" -- Ralf Kilauea |
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Joined: Feb 26, 2006 Posts: 12159 Seattle
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Posted on Oct 31 2011 11:48 AM
I forgot that a Jag/Jazz bridge rocks back and forth(I made sure mine don't). So part of the problem might be trem use and the bridge getting stuck a little more forward. |
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Joined: Feb 15, 2007 Posts: 2858 Fredericksburg, Virginia
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Posted on Oct 31 2011 12:01 PM
JakeDobner wrote:
I also forgot about that. The bridge could be repositioning itself and, therefore, throwing the intonation out of whack. Matt "tha Kat" Lentz |
Joined: Dec 08, 2007 Posts: 1305
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Posted on Oct 31 2011 02:13 PM
If you hit a string hard enough, you can make it sound sharp. Example: https://www.facebook.com/coffindagger |
Joined: Aug 23, 2006 Posts: 2123 The jungle 
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Posted on Oct 31 2011 05:21 PM
My guess is that the nut slots are not cut properly for 12s and are binding. If strings go sharp during play or trem use, then that is usually the cause. — |
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