Official Luthiers Forum!

Can you give me an idea if what adjustments are made when changing to a heavier string guages during a set up ? such as going from lights to mediums . thanks Jody

I woudl evaluate whether or not he gutiar can handle a larger gauge first - if the top is already bellying I woudl advise against them. But ...

Most guitars will only need a slight truss rod adjustment, unless they have necks of steel. A couple other things to check are the nut slots, they might bind on the new larger gauges, and as well, the bridge pin slots if the strings and pins dont seat well. You will need to access the action after stringing up .. adjust to suit.

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Tony Karol
www.karol-guitars.com
"let my passion .. fulfill yours"

well its the guitar I am building , the x braces are a bit larger than many guys use , and the top in that area is a bit thicker than most would use . since its a dread I am trying to get that ringing bluegrass chord sound . my main concern/thought was will I need to lenghthen the scale ( ie move the location of the saddle back )a tad to adjust for heavier strings , as compared to lighter guage strings ? thanks Jody

hmm the same post posted twice... Jody

Jody,
If you lengthen the scale, the strings will have to be tighter to reach the same pitch. A shorter scale would require less tension. I use medium gauge strings on my dreads (.013 - .056) with no problems on a 25.4 inch scale. My braces are no heavier than usual and my tops end up at about .110" after voicing.

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"To live a creative life, we must lose our fear of being wrong"
- Joseph Chilton Pearce

String travel do to oscillation is proportionally smaller the larger the gauge, but is a greater measured distance. Clearance and relief need to accounted for in your set-up

The real builders here (*not me*) can probably address the issue better, however, I am of the opinion that a great bluegrass guitar is built to sound its best just before it flies apart from the tension. It needs to be built just heavy enough that a slight belly is okay with medium strings and such that the top doesn't move enough to make tuning unstable from the pull of the strings. It should also have a "throaty" sound when finished (i.e., midrange just as prominent as the bass and has a "quack" to it). The best example I've ever heard of a great bluegrass guitar is found in the recording of "Sally Goodin" off Tony Rice's "Unit Of Measure" CD-- it's a live performance and both Tony and Wyatt's guitars almost sound like dobros crossed with stratocaster middle/bridge pickups because of the "quack" in the instruments. It doesn't need to be loud, just strong and clear in all registers. This is kinda esoteric too, but I've noticed that on the great guitars I've played the strings sort of "bounce" when you pick them and the notes "jump" out of the guitar rather than sort of "walk" out of it. I don't know if that helps at all, but those are a couple of things I've picked up.

Yeah! It will throw the intonation a bit! It depends on your playing style, some would not notice it but the intonation changes.

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Billy Dean Thomas
Covina, CA

"Multi famam, conscientiam, pauci verentur."
(Many fear their reputation, few their conscience)