Re-strung my electric guitar but...

Dr.Winston O'Boogie

I have both an acoustic and electric guitar, and while I re-string my acoustic quite a lot I have never done it with my electric. I tried and I seem to be making a bit of a balls of it, the top 2 strings seem really stretched and not at all how they should. They are really tense, and there is not much movement out of them when strumming. I definitely haven't wound them up too far because I have an electric tuner and its got the other 4 strings just right.

Could it be because of the height of the tremolo? Someone mentioned this to me? How are you supposed to know which height to leave it? Bear in mind its only affecting the top 2 strings, and the tremolo is basically flat.

rcaz

niallo24 wrote: »

They are really tense, and there is not much movement out of them when strumming ... I have an electric tuner and its got the other 4 strings just right.

So it didn't get the other two right, and they're not in tune?

What sort of guitar is it, what kind of tremolo setup does it have?

Setting up your bridge and tremolo is all a matter of taste and function - different ways of setting it up feel/act differently and allow you to do different things (like if you have a strat vibrato tightened all the way down, you won't be able to bend up - so if you wanted to bend up, you'd set it differently).

Dr.Winston O'Boogie

El Pr0n wrote: »

So it didn't get the other two right, and they're not in tune?

What sort of guitar is it, what kind of tremolo setup does it have?

Setting up your bridge and tremolo is all a matter of taste and function - different ways of setting it up feel/act differently and allow you to do different things (like if you have a strat vibrato tightened all the way down, you won't be able to bend up - so if you wanted to bend up, you'd set it differently).

The guitar is a Tanglewood copy of John Lennons Beatles replica, but the tremolo is your bog standard one really, kind of like this one:

http://luthierssupplies.com.au/images/Tremolo-GE101TS-2.jpg

I really don't know where I am going wrong here and why its just those 2 strings. And its not the strings either, I have tried 2 different sets and always the low E and A.

rcaz

niallo24 wrote: »

The guitar is a Tanglewood copy of John Lennons Beatles replica, but the tremolo is your bog standard one really, kind of like this one:

http://luthierssupplies.com.au/images/Tremolo-GE101TS-2.jpg

I really don't know where I am going wrong here and why its just those 2 strings. And its not the strings either, I have tried 2 different sets and always the low E and A.

What's wrong, though? There's too much tension - are they tuned sharp? The only reason a string would be 'too tense' is because it's been 'wound up too far' - can you not just flatten it to pitch? Is your bridge floating, or totally flat against the guitar body?

It could be that they're in tune when the tension in the springs in the back of the guitar is greater than the tension in the strings, and by the time you've tuned the six strings, the ratio has shifted the other way and the strings are pulling the bridge up, flattening the lower strings that were tuned when the bridge was solid. Try tuning over and over until it stays static.



Or if you'd rather, try tightening the two screws going into the left side of the cavity as above to 'lock' the vibrato and (kinda almost) effectively convert your guitar into a hardtail. This will solve your problem, if it's the problem I think it is, but you won't be able to bend up anymore with the vibrato.

Fingers Mcginty

Please post a pic of the headstock and bridge areas ...:)

Gary ITR

I've seen somebody do this before.... did you mix up the 5th and 6th string?

Dr.Winston O'Boogie

Onkle wrote: »

I've seen somebody do this before.... did you mix up the 5th and 6th string?

Well I have mangaged to sort this, not sure how or still don't know what I was doing wrong the first time (it definitely wasn't the strings in the wrong place), but I restrung the guitar and messed around with a few of the parts and its now fully in tune! So all's well that ends well eh?

Thanks anyone for all the advice, very helpful bunch around these parts!

Gary ITR

niallo24 wrote: »

Well I have mangaged to sort this, not sure how or still don't know what I was doing wrong the first time (it definitely wasn't the strings in the wrong place), but I restrung the guitar and messed around with a few of the parts and its now fully in tune! So all's well that ends well eh?

Thanks anyone for all the advice, very helpful bunch around these parts!

One of lifes mysteries

ball ox

You may have tuned the E & A an octave higher than the are supposed to be. That would explain why the tuner gave a positive reading but they felt like ****.

Malice

ball ox wrote: »

You may have tuned the E & A an octave higher than the are supposed to be.

Is it possible to do that without them snapping?

ball ox

Dunno..... maybe if they were 8's or something

Malice

ball ox wrote: »

Dunno..... maybe if they were 8's or something

I've managed to put a high B in place of a high E before. It didn't snap but tuning it up much higher than normal meant it was very stiff.