Is a slight choking of the tone (or it becoming more treble) charactersic of strats when bending notes beyond a whole step?
Been playing strats for about 15 years, hard rock, classic rock, blues, the works. I have two and they both do it. (1) is tuned to 440 with 10s, (2) is tuned one-half step down with 11s. I set my action a bit high. I maintain a slight relief in the neck. (2) the micro adjustment is flush with the pick guard (helps me in a lot of ways playing lead up there - fret hand muting and making the only notes singing are the ones I am playing/bending).
Anyway, my technique can go from subtle coxing to digging and grinding. I bend and vibrato the heck out of my strings (mainly G,B,E) . When bending a note up a whole step it sounds like the tone choking, almost going into fret buzz making it more treble, when getting up there. I am not losing sustain. I can control alot of this in my technique or I should say that If I don't nail it 100% then it is more pronounced. It doesn't matter where on the fretboard. I think the technique issue might be that I may be lifting the string slightly off the fretboard when bending it way up. I am also wondering if I may have a neck relief issue with respect to the way I play. Maybe too much or not enough.
Years ago a buddy of mine told me that it was a strat and they all kind of do it. It doesn't sound bad but hey I am on David Gilmore kick at the moment so that you know where I am trying to go.
Thanks for the advise
I noticed that too, when I switched from a Les Paul to a Strat years ago. It, I think, also has something to do with the radius of the fretboard. The older Fenders were 7.5" radius I think, and the newer ones are a bit flatter.
My guess would be the shorter radius.
"Work hard, rock hard, eat hard, sleep hard,
grow big, wear glasses if you need 'em."
-- The Webb Wilder Credo --
The heavy Blues guitar players that use lots of 2-fret and 3-fret bends like to use special made guitars with fretboards that don´t have any radius.
The flat fretboard makes it easier to hold the string vibration during a heavy bend. With a radius fretboard the bended strings will hit higher numbers fret and kill the tone.
Tanglewood TW28STE (Shadow P7 EQ) acoustic
Yamaha RGX 320FZ electric guitar/Egnater Tweaker 15 amp.
Yamaha RBX 270 bass/Laney DB 150 amp.
http://www.soundclick.com/kalleinsweden
OK, I get it. One of my other guitars that I am not playing, a US Master Works, has a compound radius fretboard that flattens out as it goes toward the heel. No choking there. I just don't hardly ever pick that guitar up.
I notice some compound radius necks on ebay for strats that go from 9.5" to 12". I am a bit superstitious about that and also about butchering up these guitars but... There are some producers of just the compound radius fretboard. I would rather trade one of the strats in for one that would fit the bill but it took me a long time to find these two keepers and even still they have their quirks.
Yeh, Strats are famous for being quirky, but that's the fun about them.
I bought a 22 fret (extension) neck for my Strat years ago (Performance Guitars), and got to gigging and never really got to put it on. In retrospect, I'm glad I didn't because I got used to the original.
For your babies, I'd say leave 'em as-is and maybe fine yourself a 'project guitar' like a Squier or MIM, and get one of those compound radius things from Warmoth or eBay like you said, and modify that guitar instead.
Could be fun.
I've wanted to do something like that, but with a V-shaped back of neck profile. My wife has an old Harmony 4-string tenor acoustic with a V profile, and it just feels so nice to play.
DemoEtc - Thanks for the idea. Yep, I think I will enjoy a project just as you suggest.
