Saturday, February 8, 2014

Why are my acoustic guitar's strings sounding like this?




Danny


I have an Ovation Celebrity (cc-28) with the DâAddario EXP16 strings it came with when I got it Christmas of 2011

The E, A, D and G strings all make buzz like sounds rather than the brilliant sounds they used to make, no matter what tuning the guitar is in, or what notes are fretted (open note buzzes too).

This isn't fret buzz. What's going on with my strings and what can I do about it (without potentially harming my guitar) ?
Also, they are copper coated strings which I've heard last longer.

I've been hesitant to change them because the stock strings they come with are pretty expensive compared to the Ernie-Balls I have on my other guitars, and I don't want to waste a set of strings if I potentially don't need to



Answer
How do you know if you need new guitar strings?

For Acoustic and Electric guitars
Couple of questions to answer:

1) Have you had the same strings on for over 2 months?
2) Are your strings rusty?
3) Are your strings rough?
4) Do your strings sound dull?
5) Had a string break recently?

If you answered yes to any of the above, its probably time to replace your strings.

Because of moisture on your fingers and in the atmosphere, strings corrode and rust over time and their ablility to vibrate diminishes. This not only causes the sound to dull but even worse, the feel of the strings becomes rough and will hurt or even damage your fingers.

Strings can also become brittle from too much vibration, just think of how a paper clip snaps if you twist it too much, the same happens to strings - especially if you use a lot of different tunings.

If you play a lot, say for 2 hours a day every day, then you should look at changing your guitar strings every month.
If you play less, but still strum most days, the max you should leave them on the guitar would be 2 months.

Strings are quite cheap, about £5 for a set of 6.

There is an alternative to changing your strings this often. You can buy coated strings. These last longer due to a coating on the strings that prevent dirt build up and corrosion. Coated guitar strings tend to last 3 to 5 times longer than normal strings, so you can leave them on for longer. These still need to be changed though. At least every 6 months these should be changed as they are also prone to breaking because of the vibrations of the string as explained earlier using the paper clip analogy.
Coated strings do cost more, about £12 for a set of 6, but last longer, so can work out more cost effective.

Ernie Ball Coated Strings have titanium reinforcement to make them stronger and less prone to break.

For Bass Guitars, the strings are much more substantial and tend to last longer and hold their tone. Change bass strings at least once a year.

For Classical Guitars with nylon based strings, again because of the way they are made, they don't rust, so last longer. They do age though, so do need replacing. When they age they tend to stretch and become hard to keep in tune. If you don't want to wait till this starts happening, you should look at changing them every 3 to 4 months.

So to summarise:
Change your Electric / Acoustic uncoated strings at least every 2 months.
Change your coated Electric / Acoustic strings at least every 6 months.
Change your Bass guitar strings at least once a year.
Change your Classical guitar strings at least every 4 months.

Details of guitar strings can be found at the Guitarbitz Guitar Strings page.
http://www.guitarbitz.com/guitar-strings-c42/acoustic-guitar-strings-c43

Is this acoustic guitar good for a lifetime guitar?




Yoshi


The Ibanez AEG10NE Acoustic-Electric Guitar (in black) is the one I wanna purchase. It'll be my first guitar and I don't plan on purchasing any new guitars in the future so if I buy it, it'll be my one and only lifetime guitar. Is it good for a lifetime guitar? Pros and cons? I really like the shape and the fact that it has a built-in tuner and standard amp connection.

Here's the link to the website for this guitar:
http://www.ibanez.co.jp/products/ag_page11.php?area_id=2&data_id=22&color=CL02&year=2011&cat_id=3&series_id=414

Here's a quick video review of the guitar:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X0jVlNahY_U

Thanks in advanced for any help!



Answer
Nope, that guitar will not last a lifetime. It's a nice guitar for a beginner, but there are a few things to keep in mind:

1. That particular model is a nylon stringed classical guitar. Are you sure you want to play classical guitar?
2. For $300 it doesn't even have a solid wood top. Any good guitar will minimally have a solid wood top and preferably solid wood back & sides as well.
3. You're paying a lot of extra money to get electronics on a classical guitar. I don't see a lot of sense in that.
4. Almost any musician (regardless of instrument) will start on a lesser quality instrument and, if they find they enjoy the instrument and get good at it, will continue to move up to better quality instruments. It's unrealistic to think you'd be happy with this guitar if you continue playing and get more skilled.

Anyway, that's a fine beginner guitar although I wouldn't waste money on electronics and would spend that money to get a solid wood guitar instead.




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