***The Official Guitar Thread***

[L85A2]

Please tell me this is not going to just be hung on some wall and never played.

 

[SexyGreyFox]

Please tell me this is not going to just be hung on some wall and never played.

Probably, the White one sold for 1.8 million.
There's an interview on Ultimate Guitar where he says the white Strat is from 1954 and he believes that since that Strat, numbered 0001, there has been no major changes, he's probably right. All the Strats I've had have really only been cosmetic.
I suppose what he is saying that he'll just go in a shop and buy a Strat and it won't sound any different. That's also what Ritchie Blackmore used to do but obviously it got handed to his guitar tech first.

 

[easyrider]

https://www.clientearth.org/david-gilmour-to-donate-proceeds-from-guitar-auction-to-clientearth/

 

[uncle_rufus]

Please tell me this is not going to just be hung on some wall and never played.

From what I read the buyer (of the Black Strat) is the owner of an NFL football team and is a collector of various iconic instruments, which he has in the past lent out to various museums etc. to be part of special exhibits...

So yeah, probably never played, but at least it may be seen again and not simply locked away on the wall of some rich guy's super-yacht forever

 

[G-MAN2004]

Damn, that's crazy money. Very nice of him to donate the proceeds to a great cause too.

I think the only guitar in existence which could beat that is Hendrix's Black Beauty Strat, which was last seen in public in 1995. Unfortunately it's been locked away in a vault for most of the years since. I'm sure someone offered up to 8 or 9 million dollars for it at one point.

 

[Nitefly]

I was actually considering putting a cheeky bit on a tele in the auction, which had an estimate of £2-3k. Just one he probably never played. Went for over £100k :s

 

[a1ex2001]

Utterly bonkers!

 

[L85A2]

Cheap compared to a violin or cello though if you want to look at it that way.

 

[uncle_rufus]

Bugger... Decided for the first time in maybe 15 years to try some other strings out... I normally use good old regular Slinky's. Love how they play, dislike how quickly they dull... I know I don't like "coated" strings like Elixers, but have been reading there are some other good options that last a bit better these days...

So I decided to try out D'Addario NYXL based on the good reviews online etc. and maybe it's a bad omen but the D string just snapped on me as I was putting it on (not bringing it up to tension even; just light tension as I put on the other strings and bang!)... I'm positive it wasn't anything I directly did (e.g. the classic "turning the wrong tuning peg" type thing, I always play and listen to the string I'm tuning up as I do it) - I've changed my strings 1,000s of times at this point and I haven't ever had one go instantly like that...

RIP D'Addario, I'm sure it was just a random defect but I'll not be using them ever again... £12 down the toilet as well could have bought 2 sets of my beloved Slinky's for that. Ordered a set of Paradigm Slinky's off Amazon so will see how they go...

 

[Andrew_McP]

I've changed my strings 1,000s of times at this point and I haven't ever had one go instantly like that...

I'm far less experienced, and every time I change strings (not often enough, probably) I get a mild anxiety attack, because despite my advancing years and the fact metal technology seems to work pretty darned reliably from guitar strings to suspension bridges, I still don't trust wire. It defies my version of reality that I can abuse my acoustic's strings for months on end without them giving up the ghost.

Of course the main threat is usually me stabbing myself with the end of a string rather than one snapping. Which brings me onto the reason I'm visiting the thread tonight...

Things Guitar Players Should Not Do on a Sunday Evening When Weary, part 43: Prune bushes in the front garden.

I appear to have got away with a half inch, clean slice up the outside of my left pinky, but there was this funny moment where the secateurs went through something firm and I thought "that didn't feel very bushy". Then I started bleeding.... hopefully enough to avoid tetanus.

And there was me worrying about breaking a nail on my right hand! But I can repair them, usually, with nail glue and strong kitchen towel (long fibres, sets really nicely and lasts). Mind you, I should probably have used the nail glue on my pinkie, now I come to think of it, rather than steristrips.

 

[SexyGreyFox]

Two ways of doing your strings:

1) Take one off and put one on

2) Take them all off but don't try and tune to the note until all strings are on, this is especially true if you have a trem.

Saying that my mate is a guitar tech for bands (eg Leo Sayer, Climax Blues Band) and he was fitting some Ernie Ball Paradigm strings (THE STRONGEST STRINGS KNOWN TO MAN) and he broke two.

 

[easyrider]

This is great

Marr gets heckled by a young kid and then invites him on stage to play! The kid nails it on Marrs Guitar

 

[uncle_rufus]

Two ways of doing your strings:

1) Take one off and put one on

2) Take them all off but don't try and tune to the note until all strings are on, this is especially true if you have a trem.

Saying that my mate is a guitar tech for bands (eg Leo Sayer, Climax Blues Band) and he was fitting some Ernie Ball Paradigm strings (THE STRONGEST STRINGS KNOWN TO MAN) and he broke two.

I've always done 2, as I like to give the neck a bit of a wipe-down (and maybe oil if the right kind of fretboard) while all the strings are off...

Got Paradigms coming on Tuesday, until then I will play the 5 string NYXLs for a bit anyway and see what I think of how they feel

 

[L85A2]

I think it very much depends on your guitar and the strings. The only types I would say always go one string at a time would be if you use nylon, silk and steel or Argentines.

 

[a1ex2001]

I’m firmly in the take them all off clean the guitar (oil fretboard twice a year(ish)) then stick a new set on and i’ll even admit to tuning each string as I go then tweaking them once all the strings are on works fine for me. I change my strings roughly every three months.

 

[SexyGreyFox]

Just started watching a documentary called Carmine Street Guitars if you can find it.

 

[Raymond Lin]

I’m firmly in the take them all off clean the guitar (oil fretboard twice a year(ish)) then stick a new set on and i’ll even admit to tuning each string as I go then tweaking them once all the strings are on works fine for me. I change my strings roughly every three months.

Want to come restring all mine? I’ll buy you a beer

 

[uncle_rufus]

I’m firmly in the take them all off clean the guitar (oil fretboard twice a year(ish)) then stick a new set on and i’ll even admit to tuning each string as I go then tweaking them once all the strings are on works fine for me. I change my strings roughly every three months.

Same way I do it... though 3 months?! I probably do mine once a month at the very latest, by that point they feel awful to play and don't sound great at all

 

[L85A2]

My first job was in the local music service I spent half my week changing strings for kids who never practiced on loaned guitars. It was soul destroying. Sir, I've broke a string... How you've not even learned the two bars I taught you last week.

 

[timebomb26]

So I bought a metronome again and have started the menial task of improving picking speed and accuracy. Realised that for 15 years I've been holding the pick funny, with it slightly resting on my middle finger also. Fine for normal playing but for any kind of speed it is too flimsy.

Goes to show you what actually having at least one lesson may have done for me. I can play fine with the pick re-seated between thumb and side of index finger, but it doesn't half feel weird at the moment.