Press with just enough force to let the note ring clearly, and that’s it! Guitar necks come with different heights of fret wire and there are advantages and disadvantages to both tall and short frets. A neck with short frets lets the fretboard wood stop your finger from pressing any harder – but if you rely on that, you may already be pressing too hard. Not pressing too hard on the string allows your fingers to work more efficiently, and that means faster, smoother movement. That is essential for playing the way you want to sound, with good tone, in tune and in time.
Taller frets (or a scalloped fretboard) make string bending fairly easy. There’s plenty of space between the string and the fingerboard to let you get a good grip. Hammer-ons, pull-offs and the like are also easier. Taller frets might lead to intonation issues though from players pushing too hard (with no fingerboard to stop them) and making the note sharper than intended. I’ve read that going to taller frets also can present a bit of a learning curve for many players. You’ll generally get longer wear out of a taller fret and you can have it dressed more often, although a fret made with harder metal (stainless steel instead of nickel) might solve that problem.
A medium-height fret is probably a better choice for most players. The majority of guitars come with medium frets installed and most of us are quite happy to play on them. If properly installed, they can usually be dressed a few times before re-fretting or neck replacement is required. If you’re unsure about fret height, go with medium.
Diy Adjusting String Action On Acoustic Guitar
Here’s the crux of the biscuit: press until the string hits the wood just enough to make a clear, buzz- free sound. You only need to form a little bridge between the bridge and the fret wire with the string… and you want that bridge to be straight, with the correct tension. If you press any harder, you are flexing the string downward and you are actually bending the note slightly! (John Lagreca points out that if you are playing a long sustained note and you hear it as a little flat, that extra pressure can push your note into the proper intonation). If your intent is to bend the note, you can get more mileage out of a lateral (sideways-on-the-neck) bend than a downward one for sure.
If you learn to use the proper amount of pressure early in your guitar playing that pressure becomes engrained in your muscle memory. You don’t need the fingerboard wood to stop you from pressing too hard, and you’ll sound great on any neck – short, medium or tall frets notwithstanding.: Practice & Theory Stack Exchange is a question and answer site for ians, students, and enthusiasts. It only takes a minute to sign up.
I recently bought a Seagull entourage rustic, after trying it out in a store. It was really easy to play. The one I ordered (2nd hand), however, is really hard to play. I can't play a barre F chord in the 1st fret, and I can't play anything for more than 30-40 minutes before my wrist starts to hurt. I first thought that my fingers had gotten weaker since I didn't play for about a year. But then the situation didn't change for a few months of practice. And it's ridiculously hard to play anything in the 1st fret. Moreover, I do not remember any problem I had while playing the guitar in the shop, and I did play for 40-50 minutes.
Solved (d) Bob Learns That He Can Make A Higher Note By
I use D'Addario's custom light strings, so they are not too thick. I noticed that the action is a bit too high. However, I did not attempt to adjust the truss rod myself. The neck seems pretty flat. I am not sure whether giving the neck a forward bow to lower the action a bit will help with the 1st fret either. The bridge seems a bit high, although I cannot gauge whether this is normal.
Since I did try another Seagull entourage rustic and did not have any of these problems, I am assuming it should be fixable. I am not sure, however, what needs to be tuned exactly. What could be the problem?
This sounds like your nut action is too high, i.e. the nut slots are not deep enough. This makes it hard to play on the first few frets, and it also causes bad intonation on the first few frets. This page has some information on how you can check your nut action. This page is likely to have more information than you want to know. If you haven't done it before I would recommend that you have your nut action fixed by an experienced guitar repairman.
Ways To Set Up A Guitar
EDIT: Judging from your pictures, your nut is very likely a bit too high. Other factors might also play a role, but I would start with the nut because this will have the biggest effect on playability on the first few frets. Again, when in doubt take it to a professional, your guitar is worth it!
From what you have described and from the pictures you provided, I believe you need to have the guitar properly set up. As part of a complete set up, you can have the actioned lowered as much as possible to make the guitar easier to play.
Lighter gauge strings might help but it appears from the pictures that the action has room to be lowered. Lowering the action can be accomplished in numerous ways. 1) The saddle (in the bridge) can be lowered by removing and carefully and evenly sanding the bottom of the saddle. 2) The nut can be lowered by carefully removing it and sanding the bottom (same as saddle). This is more difficult as the nut is not as easy to remove as the saddle. filing the nut slots deeper can lower the action as well but will diminish the quality of the tone. 3) Adjusting the truss rod to take some relief out of the neck. This is usually done after any needed adjustments are made to the saddle height and the nut height. But you might try adjusting the neck with the truss rod first as this is easily reversible, unlike sanding the nut or saddle which is more difficult to reverse.
How To Lock Your Guitar Strings In Place So They Always Stay In Tune… Even If You Don't Have Locking Tuners
I recommend that you engage the services of a luthier or qualified guitar repair technician to do the set up for you. Sanding the nut or saddle too much can make the guitar impossible to play without major fret buzz.
One other thing you might check since you purchased a used guitar, is the fret height. A guitar that is played often by a guitarist with a heavy fretting hand can exhibit excessive fret wear. If the frets are worn to the point where they are closer to the fretboard, the guitar will be more difficult to play. It appears that your first fret is fine but its hard to tell about the other.
It does appear from the picture that lowering the height of the nut might be helpful. But it's possible that lowering the nut height could necessitate raising the height of the saddle. This can be accomplished with a shim or a new saddle.
What Causes Fret Buzz And How To Fix It?
If you can't take the guitar to a professional for a proper set up at this time, you might consider looking closely at the neck to see if adjusting the truss rod might help. Ideally you want the neck to have just a slight relief in the center to prevent fret buzz. Check the amount of relief by pressing the low E string down so it is touching the first fret and the 14th fret (where the neck joins the body of an acoustic guitar). You have the optimal amount of relief if the string barely clears all the frets in between with the most clearance at around the 7th fret. If several frets are touching the string between the two you are holding it against, there is insufficient relief. If there is much clearance at all at the 7th fret, you may have too much relief.
If you think you have too much relief, try turning the truss rod adjustment screw clockwise (righty tighty) an eighth to a quarter turn at a time and check again. You can continue to make slight adjustments until you start to get some fret buzz and then turn it back in the other direction an eighth of a turn.
Another thing you can do to temporarily make your guitar more playable is to detune the guitar by half a step (half step flat) and put a capo on the first fret and leave it there. This will effectively make your first fret serve as a lowered nut and make the first position F barre chord (and all other barre chords) much easier to play.
Can't Seem To Be Able To Press Down Multiple Strings With One Finger, What Am I Doing Wrong With My Hand?
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