the g string

Have you ever played a guitar with an Earvana Compensated nut?

Intonation on the g string can be tough. I know what you mean, I have experienced that as well. I have found a combination of making sure the slots in the nut are set right, and clean, and there is no slack string buzz - well stretched and wound strings, with very solid tuning keys, can help it a bit. I have often wondered why I dislike the g string so much and it seems to be the first that I hear going out of tune (followed in a close 2nd by the B)

Sean

The G string has long been my nemesis. why oh why does it always sound sour. i have owned four guitars in my short career as a wanting guitarist, and always does the g string sound sour. i have been through a dozen professional setups trying to rid myself of this seemingly incurable malady and yet i am still haunted. oh woe and despair.

Have you tried using a wound G string instead of a plain one? Sometimes that helps . . .

I heard that the third string, G, is the bluesman string; it is the one that is bent the most when playing those blue notes. I am not surprised that this string goes sour so much due to the constant workout.
one remedy is to secure it to the string post with extra winds.

A bit of lube helps. Even pencil. (graphite). Helps to keep strings moving smoothly. I apply on both nut and saddle.

From the title of this thread i thought it was going to be about womens underwear :lol: :lol: (do they call it the g-string in the US?)

I also have the same problem, the G string is always the first to go out of tune, in fact i get so paranoid about it now that when im gigging i quickly check it is in tune after every song.

From the title of this thread i thought it was going to be about womens underwear :lol: :lol: (do they call it the g-string in the US?)

Absolutely.
Makes fo ra good joke whenever someone has to change a string on stage (any string).
"Excuse me for a moment, I just broke my G-string"
Followed by a rimshot from the drummer... :lol: :lol:

wow...i barely figured out where the g string is on my guitar..and im already enjoying it....funny stuff! :lol: :lol:

Someone around here suggested "got my finger caught in a g-string" as a cover for an obvious mistake, as well. ;-)

I never have problems with the g-string going out of tune too easy- probably because, before it's had a chance to get that worn, I break it.

Best,

Ande

I think it depends on the guitar, the strings, and the setup. On my Martin, using Thomastik-Infeld strings, the G isn't a problem - it's often the B that's a hair off. On my main classical guitar, a Gianinni with Savarez strings, it's ALWAYS the G I'm tweaking before I practice. On my Strat with Fender Bullets, the E goes awry before the others.... usually, that is. On the last set of strings, it was the A.

The main difference is where the strings change from wound to plain. That seems to be where string stretch/environmental changes pop up first. My recent experience with the Bullets I'm writing off as a bad set. But I'll keep an eye on it - I keep a little notebook for recording string changes/impressions. That's led me to change brands in the past when problems kept recurring... a factory can change the way they do things, and if you don't keep track of your impressions, it's easy to forget what it was like over a few weeks (or months/years for many folks) between changes.

From the title of this thread i thought it was going to be about womens underwear :lol: :lol: (do they call it the g-string in the US?)

Absolutely.
Makes fo ra good joke whenever someone has to change a string on stage (any string).
"Excuse me for a moment, I just broke my G-string"
Followed by a rimshot from the drummer... :lol: :lol:

that's when you ask the ladies in the audience to toss you theirs.

hey noteboat, why don't you post some of your string observations online for the rest of us poor players to check out sometime. i'm sure it'd be helpful.

I don't think my observations would be generically helpful, Jason, for a few reasons.

First is gear. On electrics, whether you're using humbuckers or single coils makes a difference in the tone of a string, and if you've got active pickups or passive makes a big difference too. On acoustics, the bracing and body style makes a difference. My gear probably isn't the same as most players, and the strings I prefer vary from one guitar to another as a result. In fact, I've got three different classical guitars, two of which are the same brand (Gianinni), but I'm using different strings on them - Savarez on the cedar top one, La Bella Studio on the spruce top.

Second is my sound goals. Because I make my living as a guitar teacher, and my students are working on very different types of music, my string selection is really shooting for a decent generic sound that can handle AC/DC, Taylor Swift, Freddie Green, or My Chemical Romance within the space of a couple of hours. But if I've got to do a gig or recording session, I'll change strings to better suit that particular style of music.

Third is playing style. The angle of pick attack and the grip you use makes a huge difference in tone. Some students tell me they don't understand why they don't get the same sound as I do with identical amp settings; when we trade rigs, I still sound like me, and they still don't. So what's best for me isn't going to be what's best for anybody else.

Fourth, I don't like to draw generic "this is better" attention to one manufacturer or another. Years ago I switched from Martin Studio SP+ strings to Elixir polywebs on one guitar, because I noticed the lifespan of the Martins was getting shorter with each set of strings. My speculation was a change in their manufacturing, but there could be lots of other factors - for example, maybe there was a regional distributor in the supply chain who changed the way they stored them. It's entirely possible that what I was experiencing in Chicago wasn't happening in Chula Vista or Charleston. With that uncertainty, I don't want to unfairly characterize one brand or another as good or bad.

Finally, hearing differences in string tone takes active listening. I think most players would be much better served by listening closely to the differences for themselves, rather than taking my word for it.

But I'm happy to share my method: I've got a notebook and I'll jot down the date, the guitar, and the strings when I change them. I'll make note of anything unusual - I've got a "slippery trebles!" notation on one set of classical strings where I had to take extra care to get the knot right. And I'll jot down my initial impression of the tone. About three days later, I'll put down my impression of the tone again, after they've settled a little bit.

Then I'll set it aside until it's time to change strings. The strings tell me when to do this, unless one broke - so the time between string changes for a guitar gives me a rough idea of how well they hold intonation (I'm not trying to track things like playing hours). If a string broke, I find the section for that string change and write down which string, what I was doing (a huge bend?), and where it broke (at the 17th fret, at the ball end, etc). If two sets break in the same place, I take a close look at the guitar - maybe I've got a burr on a fret or saddle piece. And if I changed for a different reason, like a gig, I make note of that too.

I end up with a way to judge for myself how well strings behave for me, and the listening alone is a good exercise.