Reaching The Limits

Tried everything but still can’t play that solo no matter how much you practice? This seems to be a common problem for beginners – let’s try a different approach. The problem might not be you; it could actually be your guitar.

Most guitarists start playing on an inexpensive acoustic for obvious reasons: you don’t want to invest too much until you see whether you can really manage to learn playing the guitar. Or you start learning classical guitar on a nylon-string acoustic. Whichever the case, sooner or later you’ll face problems, which lie in the instrument itself. Simple, cheap acoustics have wide, thick necks, short fretboards, the high frets are unreachable, and extremely high action. (In case you wonder: the action is the distance between the strings and the fretboard.) These features can render playing really difficult. And the solution? Well, the possibilities range from some little DIY (“do it yourself”) to buying a new instrument.

Let’s see…

Wide, thick neck:

This cannot be repaired or adjusted, but read on anyway…

High action:

On most guitars – including acoustics – the action is adjustable at the instrument’s bridge (where the strings are attached to the body). I won’t go into details here – consult your favorite guitar shop. Most shop people are more than happy to do simple repairs like this for a reasonable cost. While they’re at it, you can also get them to check for other things they might be able to do to smooth out your instrument. The ultimate goal is to set the action as low as possible without any irritating fret buzz. This should help considerably.

Strings:

Nylon strings are easy to fret and bend, but most rock/blues/country players prefer steel strings. Electric guitars always have steel strings, except for the new “classical/electric” guitars that some manufacturers are producing lately. Note: you shouldn’t put steel strings on your nylon-string guitar – chances are that the neck will break because of the added strain. I learned this the hard way, but that’s another story…:-) Anyway the thing to look for in our case is lighter gauge (thinner) strings. Thin strings are easier to play on although they won’t sound as majestic as thick ones. If you don’t have a clue about your current string gauge, just take the old high e string to the guitar shop and they will tell you the gauge; buy a lighter set of strings. Another solution is mixing string sets. Most rhythm guitarists tend to concentrate on the lower strings (4th, 5th and 6th). One idea would be to buy two sets of strings one light (or extra light) and one medium (or heavy) and just use the appropriate three strings of each set. Of course, you can also buy strings individually or buy special sets optimized for this kind of use.

Picks:

Okay, the guitar pick is not part of the instrument, but using an appropriate pick should help, too. Just experiment with thinner and thicker picks. If you just strum chords all the time you should go for a flexible one (e.g. 0.50mm thick). More rigid picks give you more control during the solos.

Buying a new guitar:

Now, you don’t have to literally buy a brand new instrument: just try a friend’s or an expensive one in the shop. In a few minutes you will get the feel of the better guitar and how it would affect your playing. Or try an electric if you never played one – there’s a huge difference. Remember that as you upgrade your skills you might want to consider upgrading your equipment.

Just one last thought: don’t blame the guitar if you don’t practice enough. But bear in mind that the best guitarists get to play the best guitars available – it’s not just talent and practicing.

Abel also co-wrote Sustained Tones: An Animated Discussion with David Hodge.