Hi all. Would be grateful for some advice/comment on the following:
I'm not a musician and starting late in life (71). I got rid of an acoustic guitar because I found it too complicated. But looking at You Tube clips I was attracted to 3 string cigar box and bought one on ebay from a guy who makes them and from comments seems to know what he's doing.
I bought one of those electronic tuners and have tuned on both guitar and chromatic settings, but the chords don't sound the same when I compare them with You Tube clips. Fulsom prison bluees on an FCF chord for instance doesn't sound the same. Also GDG doesn't sound right for some of the blues numbers
Also, the guitar is fretted but I can only play with a slide, not fingers, yet clips again show guys playing 3 string fretted with fingers/slide.
Replies
You can check the height of the frets with a straight edge across the top of the fingerboard. If light appears between the (good) straight edge and the tops of the frets, you need to access the problem.
Is the neck straight or is it bowed backwards or ramped forward. A slight ramp forward is best cause it creates a situation were the lower fret(by the nut) is just slightly higher than the next fret towards the box and so on all the way up the board to the box. As long as the string height towards the box(higher frets) aren't too high. If the neck is in good shape move on to the frets.
Are the fret heights uneven? Mark across the top of the frets with a black permanent marker. Use a block sander(flat or radius) depending on your board. Sand across the top till all the black is gone, recheck with straight edge and repeat if necessary. When they are level you'll need to re-crown the frets with a small file.
If your neck is straight and the frets are level, look at the degree/pitch of the neck to the top of the body. Is the nut higher or lower than the bridge? Some is okay, too much is a problem. Is it the neck or the bridge height? Shims under the neck at the front of the neck pocket(towards the nut) will raise the nut, shim at the back of the pocket will lower the nut. If it's the bridge, raise it or lower it.
String height in the nut and bridge. Low strings cause buzzing or notes that disappear, high strings go sharp when fretted.
String break angle at nut and bridge. The nut and bridge on the fret board side should be straight while sloping down on the other side towards the headstock/body(usually not a problem with using a bolt as nut/bridge). The angle of the string going down towards the headstock/body should be at a good degree or you'll get weird buzzing noises.
Info overload, hope it's of some help to you. You might know this, but have overlooked something and it'll help you check over everything while teaching others. Everybody wins.
Thanks for your detailed advice Paul.
ChrisP
How it's tuned and how it's played takes time and a bit of "ear" this will come given time. Sit with it and fiddle with it while your watching TV. Make little note runs and play two strings together and generally just play about with it without having any goal. Trust me, this will work wonders to your playing.
Most of all you have to check out if the guitar is set up. If it's not set up properly then everything will sound off no matter how it's tuned and where you put your fingers.
The 12th fret note is (should be) at the middle of the string. For a beginner don't try to play it just measure it with a tape measure. If this is off or wrong then it might be that a moveable bridge has been moved out of place.
Playing any guitar takes time.. Give it time.
The first thing I played on guitar was 3 blind mice on one string.
Many thanks for these tips.
ChrisP
Yep, you need to be tuned the same as the video in question, your frets need to be in their proper place if you have them or placing the slide in the proper place if you don't have frets(above the place where the fret would be - not in the place between where the frets would be) and your intonation needs to be right.
Thanks Paul.
Regards
ChrisP
Regarding the playing with your fingers - are you able to post some pictures of your guitar from the front ideally showing the nut, fretboard, bridge visible and from the side showing string height? It will help to identify where the problem might be. No disrespect to the guitar builder it could be the frets are not very well fitted and at different heights. For playing slide it isn't an issue as the frets are used only for slide positioning. For finger style frets at different heights can lead to dead notes and buzzing. Additionally too high a string height can cause notes to play sharp (higher than expected pitch) due to the strings stretching as you push them down to the fretboard.
"Git" means guitar.
It is worth having a go at making your own CBG because you then realise it isn't difficult to do and more importantly you learn how to set the guitar exactly how you want it.
Regards,
David L.
Hi, Thanks for this info. I've taken a series of images trying to show string/fret depth, etc, but seem to be having trouble loading them via this site. Is it possible to let me have your email address so that I can do a file attachment.
Regards
ChrisP
Regards,
David L.
Well, there is a lot of territory in "doesn't sound right" but I'll try to give a couple of the most likely I can think of.
1) Intonation of the git - the open string and the 12th fret should register as the same note on your tuner, the 12th fret is one octave higher than the open string.. if the 12th fret goes sharp, move the saddle for that string away from the nut a little more, if the 12th fret goes flat, move the saddle for that string a little closer to the nut.
2) mismatched key of the song - if you are trying to play along to a johnny cash youtube, the chord sequence you found on a random website might not be in the same key as the video you are watching. One good example: John Denver's "country roads" youtube video is in the key of A but 90% of the web sites write it in the key of G.
Now if you are playing along to a 3 string lesson video, disreguard this and go back to #1 above.
3) Major/Minor/5 chords - again if you are playing along to a 3 string lesson video ignore this. If you are playing along to a video of a 6 string, read on.
on your 3 string, you are playing an X5 chord, where the 6 string on the video is playing an Xmajor or Xminor chord. They won't sound exactly the same, but they should sound like they go together. if not, refer to #2 and #1 above.
and If I've missed the mark, please provide more details, there is a wealth of knowledge here among the members, someone will be able to help you, eventually, once we understand the details.
-
1
-
2
of 2 Next