I was wondering if the distance from the strings is the same on all guitars.
So, if I have an electric, I could pick up someone's acoustic and pretty much play it without having a problem due to different distances between strings? (I might have other problems though . . . but not string distance?)
I imagine a bass guitar might have them further apart?
Thanks for sharing your wisdom,
Minstrel wannabe
It's the rock that gives the stream its music . . . and the stream that gives the rock its roll.
The height of the strings is called the "action", and it can be different on every guitar. It depends on the type of guitar, the preference of the player, and what style and techniques the guitar is used for. Bottleneck slide playing calls for a higher action, fast lead playing can call for a lower action, it all depends.
Isaac
The distance between strings can vary as well, but I think there's only two popular widths, and they're very close. I'm sure someone more knowledgable can verify or correct what I just said.
Most electrics have lighter strings from the factories than most accoustics. You'd have a harder time fretting the strings because of this. Still, you'd be able to play it to some extent near what you can your electric.
Roy
"I wonder if a composer ever intentionally composed a piece that was physically impossible to play and stuck it away to be found years later after his death, knowing it would forever drive perfectionist musicians crazy." - George Carlin
The distance between strings can vary as well, but I think there's only two popular widths, and they're very close. I'm sure someone more knowledgable can verify or correct what I just said.
Well I'm not more knowledgable, but I would agree with that :) As said, the numbers involved are typically quite small, but you can definately feel the difference. But I found the first time I tried a different width neck (for me it was moving from a wider neck on my first guitar to a narrower one) that 5 or 10 minutes is all it took to be feeling pretty comfortable.
I think it depend of the neck.
I have an Ibanez and someone noticed that the neck was wider than "normal" guitar.. I tried a Fender Squier last week and it's a different feeling. The neck was narrower (strange word, don't know if it's right..) and I felt a bit stuck with my finger on it, but I got use to it a few minutes later.
It's a small difference. It was easier to do barre chords on he Squier, but for the overall comfortability, I'd stay with my Ibanez.
My cousin (who own the Squier) had difficulty to play on my Ibanez, cause he's only 10 and have small finger
" First time I heard the music
I thought it was my own
I could feel it in my heartbeat
I could feel it in my bones
... Blame it on the love of Rock'n'Roll! "
Also some guitars may have more frets (or fewer?) which will create smaller frets, if you understand what I mean.
I don't think you'd have a problem playing a different guitar. The differences will be small enough for you to get used to quickly.
Denny
Distance between adjacent strings: My SG has more space between strings than Stratocasters.
Guitar string scale/length: Most Les Paul's are 24.75" while most Strats are 25.5" and I always notice the difference.
"Nothing...can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts."
It's amazing how much a tiny difference in distance between the strings can be noticed. I bought a ukulele and noticed what seemed like quite a significant increase in the distance between the strings as compared to my acoustic guitar. I took a closer look at them both with a ruler and it turned out the difference was quite tiny, i was just noticing it a lot more. It didn't take me long to adapt though.
I ran around for years telling everyone that my smaller electric of the two was 3/4 scale (there's probably a few posts on here saying the same), but I measured it the other day and it's not (it's about an inch or so shorter), it just feels like it is. The guitar itself is smaller, and the strings are closer together, and that's what caught me out. All six strings are as wide as just 5 on my other guitar. Like Saryu says, the difference in feel is huge.
The main reason I was asking is that I felt it would be easier to play a guitar with strings a little further apart than on my Squier Fender Strat.
I noticed that Claudine's Ibanez had a wider neck which made me wonder if the strings were further apart. She confirmed it.
I find my fingers are often touching adjacent strings causing buzz.
I can adjust my hand to prevent it though. Just have to contort a little (what feels like contorting anyway).
Technique. Workin' on it.
Next time I'm in Guitar Center, I'm going to look at guitars with wider fretboards.
I try to avoid that place though. I'm like a kid in a candy store. I WANT IT ALL!!!
I covet Clau's guitar,
Ken
It's the rock that gives the stream its music . . . and the stream that gives the rock its roll.
It really depends. On the extreme side a classical guitar has MUCH wider string-spacing then my strat.
The main reason I was asking is that I felt it would be easier to play a guitar with strings a little further apart than on my Squier Fender Strat.
I noticed that Claudine's Ibanez had a wider neck which made me wonder if the strings were further apart. She confirmed it.
I find my fingers are often touching adjacent strings causing buzz.
I can adjust my hand to prevent it though. Just have to contort a little (what feels like contorting anyway).
Technique. Workin' on it.
Next time I'm in Guitar Center, I'm going to look at guitars with wider fretboards.
I try to avoid that place though. I'm like a kid in a candy store. I WANT IT ALL!!!
I covet Clau's guitar,
Ken
I love my guitar too :wink:
I have thin finger so it doesn't make any difference for me... Even if I felt a bit "stuck" when I played on a Squier... But to play barre chords, little more easier on the Squier.
" First time I heard the music
I thought it was my own
I could feel it in my heartbeat
I could feel it in my bones
... Blame it on the love of Rock'n'Roll! "
