Cliff notes / tl;dr:
- I restrung my guitar.
- Fix for vibrating Tremolo Springs in Strat.
- What strings do you use?
I was hoping my posts would draw some folk out the woodwork... it'd be nice to see some regulars, new or old in here! I know there are plenty of guitar players lurking out there so get your ass in here now!
I've just been re-stringing my guitar. I've owned LP style guitars up until a couple of years ago, which I was able to re-string perfectly. However, I hadn't yet picked up the knack of re-stringing on a Strat since I've only re-strung it once or twice since I bought it. Not sure why I usually re-string every 3 months but had got lazy. Anyway, I came across a great video:
I bought 2 pairs of strings & used 1 set to practice... I'd got the locking part right previously but I was ending up with the string at the top of the peg instead of the bottom. Turns out I'd forgotten about putting my finger over the string & holding it down beside the peg whilst keeping tension. On an LP you can do that just up by the nut but you need to do it beside the peg on a Strat. If it wasn't for the fact I got the 3rd & 4th strings muddled, it's have been perfection almost! Guess I'll be buying a 3rd set tomorrow but at least I'll have some spares then. My handy work:
I thought my 1st & 2nd strings weren't sounding right because it was old strings but my last re-string hadn't changed it. This time, having the string going to the bottom of the peg, it made the difference... something that video had mentioned. I guess I always knew it was preferable to have them that way but never realised it could make so much difference to your sound.
Another thing, I'd mentioned that build quality of Fender American Standard Strats wasn't as good as back in the 60s & 70s, well it seems one reasonably common problem is with the tremolo springs vibrating. When I first heard it I thought it was a string but it didn't quite sound like it & I realised on damping the strings it was elsewhere. Soon sourced it to the tremolo springs... found a great piece of advice that you could put a thin bit of foam on top of them & screw the back plate back on. As such:
I'm not sure if this is something that affects just American Standards or the Mexican ones as well, or even Squier's too but there's your fix if you have that problem!
I really want to play guitar but can't until I replace the 3rd & 4th strings... will have to wait for tomorrow but I'm waiting for a delivery so can't go out until that comes. It's a good delivery though, will tell all tomorrow
So, what type/weight of strings do you guys use? I'm using D'Addario EXL 9s on the Stratocaster... they seem roughly equivalent to using 10s on my old Epi LP. I used to use Ernie Ball's, varying between Regular & Super Slinky
(9s/10s) years ago, which were really great for bending but I found they seem to lack in tone a bit.