Easy Playin' ?

[Danny]

12 fret is definitely something to consider.  While I'm not a fan of the short scale tone, you can lower string tension by tuning down and using a capo if needed (which has a similar effect).  Don't know if it's been mentioned, but a good set up is a must on a Larrivee. Mine were very uncomfortable for me until I really worked the saddle and nut.

Yup, always need to do or get a good setup. I bring the strings down as low as I can without getting a buzz. It does help the aching fingers. Though sometimes I'd like the extra volume from a higher set of strings, on one of my strummers.

[tulk1]

Yup, always need to do or get a good setup. I bring the strings down as low as I can without getting a buzz. It does help the aching fingers. Though sometimes I'd like the extra volume from a higher set of strings, on one of my strummers.

I know that a great deal of what I'm experiencing is due to old hands. Been playing some sort of stringed instrument since I was 9. And that was ... oh, lord!! a long time ago. And I have no plans for stopping now. But it does take some adjustment. Fortunately I can still handle 10's on my electrics, since I think anything smaller sounds thinner. But 10's on my acoustics just doesn't sound good. So, it's a minimum of 11's. Trying out some "low tension" strings right now 11 - 49. The E/A are okay. The D/G/B/E will take some getting used to tonally. And if I stay with them, it may require a new nut. They seem to be just thin enough to not ride in the nut properly. I thought 11's were 11's, but apparently not.

[ST]

As time goes by I have to be more disciplined about taking breaks for my hands.

It's not as bad now as it has been. I used to have to plunge my hands into jugs of ice water between (stupidly) long sets. I was in a jam band and we would sometimes get caught up in what we were doing and play three to four hours non-stop.

I was playing electric guitar with 11's and 12's.

These days, it doesn't matter what's going on, we don't play more than an hour at a time.

Where I get into trouble is when I'm on my own, I can get lost in it for hours. This is most likely to happen when I'm working on new material or rehearsing on the day of a gig. It's a balancing act. If rehearse early in the day and give my hands time to recover it's fine. The problem is when I lose track of time and play for three hours on the day of the gig. Then there's no time to recover and things are rough at the show.  I'm trying to be more disciplined about that. If I don't start rehearsing until an hour before I have to leave, that time blocks the rehearsal time but then there's no real recovery time.

Okay - it's clear I know what to do. I'm just not doing it yet.

Lord, I was born a ramblin' man. Maybe the ramblin' came later.

[webberink]

Ageing! Oh joy!  .  I once viewed a video of Andre Segovia playing in his old age.  His hands looked like a cluster of suaseges, and yet he made them work so incredibly.  To me the challenge  it seems to be a mix of instrument, discipline and routine.  One thing I didn't mention last post was how much fret board radius and neckiprofile has become with regards to ease of playing, to wit Larrivee's standard fret board radius and neck profile is not always the best choice for me.  Older Gibson's usually feel good to my hands but I don't usually like the tonal aspects of the brand.  So for me in my last purchase it became a custom made guitar by an ex Larrivee luthier and I could not be happier.

[ST]

If I'm smart and I give some conscious thought to my hands, I change guitars frequently. That seems to alleviate some of the problems especially if I'm at home with boundless time to play.

I have no sense that one guitar plays or feels better than the others. They are all excellent players. And they are all different (scale length, neck radius, neck shape, nut width, fret style, body style).

If a change is as good as a rest, that explains why I do better if I switch guitars between sets.

Sometimes a certain guitar is better suited to a song, but I'm not that analytical. As I'm walking out the door, sometimes I just feel like taking a big old semi-acoustic, sometimes I want a shredder and sometimes I just grab the guitar that's closest to the door. And if I'm smart I take something different too.

[rbpicker]

My Gibson J45 is the easiest acoustic I've ever played. Well,set up, short scale, light gauge strings. Just wonderful. A,good,Gibson is hard to beat. Sometimes it take a while to find a real good one, however.

Rb

[Danny]

My Gibson J45 is the easiest acoustic I've ever played. Well,set up, short scale, light gauge strings. Just wonderful. A,good,Gibson is hard to beat. Sometimes it take a while to find a real good one, however.

Rb

The Gibby neck radius helps a whole lot as well.

[Mikeymac]

My easiest playing acoustic is my Larrivee OM-05 - while it has a 1 3/4" nut, it has one of the slimmest, fastest, most comfortable necks I've ever touched on an acoustic (including Taylors).

After the OM-05, my two Martins are very comfortable (one 1 11/16" nut, one 1 3/4" nut). My Gibson J-45 is in the same ballpark, then my other Larrivees; the C-10, and finally the '79 L-19, which has a very bulky neck. I'm thinking about having it reshaped someday - probably like the Martin D-18, which is very comfortable and same nut width. The only thing that scares me about having the neck reshaped is losing tone...

[ST]

Easy playin' acoustics



and check out the upper fret access on the Composite Acoustics Cargo