After setting up my Fender American Deluxe Strat for 10 gauge strings, I noticed that my guitar now has several "sweet spots". For example, if I play the 10th fret of the B string the note feeds back and sustains really long. This has been amazing for leads :D . Two other octaves of the note also do this but not quite as well.
I've played many guitars in the past 14 years and never had one resonate like this. This is especially cool because I love the David Gilmore/Trey Anastasio sustain. Does anyone else have a "sweet spot" on their guitar?
I am too much of a novice to really tell the difference, but I remember reading a comment, I think by Joe Satriani, about finding the sweet spots, much like a violin player would. His point was that there was a sweet spot even for every note even though the guitar is a fretted instrument.
--vink
"Life is either an adventure or nothing" -- Helen Keller
Mine definitely has them. But I recently added another spring in my tremolo cavity and the sweet spots all changed in ways which I'm not sure that I like very much. So now I'm thinking about taking the extra spring back out. I only added it to see if it would improve my tuning stability, but unfortunatly it didn't (or at least not enough to be very noticable). I have an older strat with a vintage style tremolo, so one can easliy see my predicament. :?
Yes! As a matter of fact, I am with you. ;-)
Mine definitely has them. But I recently added another spring in my tremolo cavity and the sweet spots all changed in ways which I'm not sure that I like very much. So now I'm thinking about taking the extra spring back out. I only added it to see if it would improve my tuning stability, but unfortunatly it didn't (or at least not enough to be very noticable). I have an older strat with a vintage style tremolo, so one can easliy see my predicament. :?
Maybe you already know this: https://www.guitarnoise.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=27044&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=15 (Read about 2/3 down on stabilizing a synchronous 'vintage' trem.)
-=tension & release=-
My sweet spots are definitely a result of tightening my tremolo spring tension for heavier strings. I didn't have those spots before the setup. I luckily havent suffered any tuning problems with my two-point synchronized tremolo bridge.
when you have an American Fender you have the sweet spots.
MIA and MIM just dont have that built in quality. IMHO
Ive found both B and G strings to be especially responsive.
Hmm... Sweet spots. I think of sonic resonance. I have a '96 lonestar (maple fret board) and an '06 american standard (rosewood). I string both with 10s. The lonestar is tuned one-half step down. The sweet spots on these two guitars are totally different. Also, their sweet spots are accentuated by the tube amp I play out of at the time. It really gets sweet when I can feel the guitar resonating and it feels like it is in sinc with the tube resonance. I don't know if that actually occurs or how to explain it but you get the feeling that the tubes, your guitar, and the notes you play are in perfect sinc.
I used to jam with a friend many years ago who was an exceptional player and made his old 70s strat sound like the entire thing was a sweet spot with harmonics envy. I thought it was his guitar and fender 4X10 combo tube amp but when he let me play it, it became sonically wanting. And when he would play my guitar it just did not sound as good as when he played his.
I am always finding new sweet spots depending on how I am playing, what I am playing, how hard I am driving the amp etc. And because of this I am totally addicted to tube amps - unfortunately. :D
I've only been playing out of my Fender Blues Deville recently when I noticed the sweet spots. They occured with the volume knob on 2. I can't wait till I can crank my amp up and experiment more. I'll have to try it out with my solid state (or "hybrid" rather) marshall amp. I think you may be right about the tubes accentuating the resonance.
I would love to be able to fix up my guitar to have the entire thing be a sweet spot!
Maybe you already know this: https://www.guitarnoise.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=27044&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=15 (Read about 2/3 down on stabilizing a synchronous 'vintage' trem.)
Thanks, gnease, for the tuning stability tip. I'd setup my trem for down only awhile back. But I'm wanting to try floating again. Not on my cuurent strat, however. I'm saving my money for the Jeff Beck Signature Strat. I actually have a "Strat Kitty" at home which even my dear sweet wife contributes to occasionally. You can get the JB Strat at Musician's Friend for $1,400 now. Not bad, considering the type of strat that it is.
And speaking of Jeff Beck, that's why I'm going for the floating trem. I'm trying to assimilate some of his playing styles, but that's impossible to do without the floating trem. Jeff is a whammy bar geniuos/virtuoso (do a search for "Jeff Beck" on YouTube and watch some of the videos. Freakin' incredible!). But Jeff's one in 10 million, so I'm not saying that I'm ever going to play "just like Jeff." But I do want to swipe a few of his whammy bar tricks. The Jeff Beck Signature Strat has all the right hardware for that. Anybody out there own one? If so, please let my know what you think about its tuning stability, etc. Thanks in advance! :)
Yes! As a matter of fact, I am with you. ;-)
Don't have to convince me. JB is one of my faves.
-=tension & release=-
