Members Jody Butt Posted October 22, 2006 Members Share Posted October 22, 2006 [This is basically a cross-post from another thread.] It amazes me that unwound thirds are still sold today, and are in fact the vast majority when they sound like total crap. People talk about tone all day long, but then they overlook something as major as the fact that the string itself sounds awful. Has no one else experienced this? I experienced this on all of my guitars. I thought it was old strings, the brand of string, the gauge of string, my amp, or maybe a pedal. I could NOT for the life of me figure out what was wrong. I searched, and searched the internet in an attempt to diagnose the problem. I searched the net for days, and I found only one article. Thank goodness for the guy who posted this article!! For anyone not using a wound third, read this for the explanation: http://images.onstagemag.com/files/46/0202Setuptxt.html One excerpt: This tone/intonation problem can be heard most clearly when playing with heavy overdrive; instead of a producing a smooth, stable note, holding a sustained note will produce a pulsating, or "beating" warble, similar to playing unison pitches on two strings, while tuning one of the strings to the other. This is the sound of the string Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members wilmer Posted October 22, 2006 Members Share Posted October 22, 2006 Yeah, sure. Why are people using un-wound B a high E? The same theory must be applied? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Jody Butt Posted October 22, 2006 Author Members Share Posted October 22, 2006 Originally posted by wilmer Yeah, sure. Why are people using un-wound B a high E? The same theory must be applied? No, it's just the unwound G string. The B and E strings are correctly engineered. [Read the article.] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members No Soul Posted October 22, 2006 Members Share Posted October 22, 2006 sorry guy, but Im looking at the stuff youre using in your sig, youve got bigger things to worry about than 3rd strings Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members GRANKOR Posted October 22, 2006 Members Share Posted October 22, 2006 wound thirds feel like ass, and I've never had the problem you describe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Jody Butt Posted October 22, 2006 Author Members Share Posted October 22, 2006 Originally posted by No Soul sorry guy, but Im looking at the stuff youre using in your sig, youve got bigger things to worry about than 3rd strings lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Jody Butt Posted October 22, 2006 Author Members Share Posted October 22, 2006 Originally posted by GRANKOR wound thirds feel like ass, and I've never had the problem you describe. Try playing the G string at the 12th fret with high gain. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members LaXu Posted October 22, 2006 Members Share Posted October 22, 2006 Try bending an unwound G and then a wound G. I found that to bend the wound string I had to really bend it with a lot of force to get it to go up enough for some things I'm used to playing with unwound G. I thought the unwound G sounded better but because it's not as easy to bend like 2 steps up I decided to go back to plain G strings. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members the russ Posted October 22, 2006 Members Share Posted October 22, 2006 bending. and this is a stupid question. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members wilmer Posted October 22, 2006 Members Share Posted October 22, 2006 All rock guitarists have used un-wound G since the late 60s. I don Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members xupernaut Posted October 22, 2006 Members Share Posted October 22, 2006 I tried using a wound g for awhile like the way it sounds,stays in tune better.but like it's been said too hard to bend plus i tend to try and bend it like a unwound g and end up {censored}ing up my hand. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members tlbonehead Posted October 22, 2006 Members Share Posted October 22, 2006 Originally posted by Jody Butt [This is basically a cross-post from another thread.] It amazes me that unwound thirds are still sold today, and are in fact the vast majority when they sound like total crap. People talk about tone all day long, but then they overlook something as major as the fact that the string itself sounds awful. Has no one else experienced this? I experienced this on all of my guitars. I thought it was old strings, the brand of string, the gauge of string, my amp, or maybe a pedal. I could NOT for the life of me figure out what was wrong. I searched, and searched the internet in an attempt to diagnose the problem. I searched the net for days, and I found only one article. Thank goodness for the guy who posted this article!! For anyone not using a wound third, read this for the explanation: http://images.onstagemag.com/files/46/0202Setuptxt.html One excerpt: This tone/intonation problem can be heard most clearly when playing with heavy overdrive; instead of a producing a smooth, stable note, holding a sustained note will produce a pulsating, or "beating" warble, similar to playing unison pitches on two strings, while tuning one of the strings to the other. This is the sound of the string Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members tlbonehead Posted October 22, 2006 Members Share Posted October 22, 2006 Originally posted by Jody Butt Try playing the G string at the 12th fret with high gain. You don't think almost all of the players here play the G string at the 12th fret with high gain occasionally? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Jody Butt Posted October 22, 2006 Author Members Share Posted October 22, 2006 Originally posted by tlbonehead You don't think almost all of the players here play the G string at the 12th fret with high gain occasionally? No, of course not. I didn't mean to sound snide or anything. It irritated me so much that I'll never use unwound thirds again. It's really only a problem if you are aiming for sustain without vibrato. With vibrato, it's not too bad. If its held for a very short duration, it's not too bad. . . . but if you need to hold it without using much vibrato . . . total suckage. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members mc5nrg Posted October 22, 2006 Members Share Posted October 22, 2006 Sometimes I use a wound third.Pushing a wound G in the .018-.020 range is doable.Used to love those old Sonomatic 340L sets and on some guitars still use similar gauges. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Ancient Mariner Posted October 22, 2006 Members Share Posted October 22, 2006 Most people here will have used a wound G - on an acoustic. And that's where they belong most of the time. You talk about tone - wound strings do not have the same tone as unwound, they don't *sing* like an unwound and they don't have that purity of tone. For me, this would be compelling enough to not use a wound G. My observation is that some guitars suffer the beating tone more than others, especially bolt-neck guitars, and it's very common with strats. Sure it can be unpleasant around the 12th fret, but move up to the 15th or down to the 9th and it effectively disappears. Part of the skill of using your instrument is knowing what you can play where and what you can do to make it sound better. If your chose instrument has a weakness in a particular part of the fingerboard then avoid going there. So, yup, it annoys me too but I won't get in a strop over it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members larryguitar Posted October 22, 2006 Members Share Posted October 22, 2006 I'm going to read that article, but I will say this: Having set up quite a few guitars and played/tuned many more, the G string is ALWAYS the primary problem. On just about any guitar I've ever used, it goes out of tune the quickest, and requires the highest action to play cleanly-sometimes radically so. So I always suspected there was something 'wrong' with the engineering of the G string, but never considered that the guitar was designed for wound Gs. Hmmmm...... Larry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members bullhead Posted October 22, 2006 Members Share Posted October 22, 2006 Originally posted by wilmer All rock guitarists have used un-wound G since the late 60s. I don Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Burningleaves Posted October 22, 2006 Members Share Posted October 22, 2006 The only problem I have ever noticed with an unwound G is that on some guitars...(most of them Fender Strat types) is that the unwound G string can have an unbalanced volume compared to the other strings. I always attributed that to the guitars neck angle design and pickup design. The best part of this article for me is when White mentions that that the unwound G was a "Historical fluke" because PLAYERS were switching out the strings. I like that part. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Burningleaves Posted October 22, 2006 Members Share Posted October 22, 2006 Originally posted by bullhead Angus & Malcolm Young, but i can't think of anyone else. i've tried it, and i went back to my unwound G. like previously mentioned, i like the singing quality that the unwound strings have, that the wound ones don't. I have never read anywhere that Angus uses a wound G. Read a few interviews were Malcolm mentions he does. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members guitarNed Posted October 22, 2006 Members Share Posted October 22, 2006 Originally posted by No Soul sorry guy, but Im looking at the stuff youre using in your sig, youve got bigger things to worry about than 3rd strings Ha. Made me laugh. You are a bad person! I did note that he had a G2 unit, which I also have and which I think is quite good. (I don't have the nasty expression pedal on mine, which is not an accident.) And, FWIW, I also prefer wound 3rd strings. I haven't had the dramatic results described but, overall, I think I get fewer screwy artifacts with a wound third. As many smart people have said, (elsewhere) there tend to be funky things that happen with the 3rd string on a guitar. I think it has something to do with the equal nature of the intervals on a guitar, necessary because of the way frets are distributed (shared and not-shared) among the notes on the 6 strings. (Unlike a piano, for example, where each note can be tuned independently.) Anyway, ha -- I just looked at my Strat, leaning against my computer table, 6 inches from my knee, and it has an UNWOUND 3rd string! But I do prefer wound G strings. I think the things Jody Butt said are generally mostly true, (or true-ish) even if he has some equipment challenges! I am kidding. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members jerry_picker Posted October 22, 2006 Members Share Posted October 22, 2006 Originally posted by Jody Butt [This is basically a cross-post from another thread.]http://images.onstagemag.com/files/46/0202Setuptxt.html 1. Bending is the only really good reason to have a solid G. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Burgess Posted October 22, 2006 Members Share Posted October 22, 2006 Personally, I think the unwound string sounds great. Lotsa bite and I lke that myself. In addition, the unwound strings bends better and for my chops that works out quite well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Raymar Posted October 22, 2006 Members Share Posted October 22, 2006 I have a Charvel strat copy with the standard unwound G string and tried playing it with hi gain at the 12th fret and it really does modulate compared to the others. I've been playing for over forty years and never noticed it before! Learn something new all the time. I'm sticking with it though, its no big deal. BTW, my classical guitar also has an unwound third string. If I ever get around to getting a jazz guitar I'd go for flatwound strings with a flat wound G string. Different types of guitars use different types of strings to go with different types of music involving different mindsets and personalities. That said I'm going to be messing with my synths today. Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Sparkytfl Posted October 22, 2006 Members Share Posted October 22, 2006 The G on a classical always sounds weird and honkey, but never noticed a problem on an electric. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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