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Joined:
November 2006
Posts: 3969
| This other thread made me wonder how people prefer to learn new riffs/licks/songs in terms of the action on your guitars.
I know one school of thought says to learn on a guitar with heavy action because it strengthens the hand and finger muscles, so when you then play on a low-action guitar it's easy and you're less prone to mistakes.
Personally, I like the opposite - I learn on a guitar with the lowest action so I can concentrate on proper finger position, tempo and overall technique, and that makes it easier for me to play later on any guitar regardless of the action.
Anybody else? |
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Joined:
September 2003
Posts: 9301
Location: south east Michigan | I like my strings on the light side, action on the low side.
Sure.... ya gotta build up some calleses.. (caulisis? kalisis? callusus?).... tough skin on your fingertips but that will happen soon enough with any gauge of strings. So why make it harder on yourself???
Argument#1.... You get better tone with heavy strings... Answer- Get a better guitar.
Argument#2.... You get more volume with heavy strings.... Answer- Thats what they make amps for.
Argument#3.... You have to have high action to play slide.... Answer- Watch Paul Templeman put my low action Breadwinner through it's paces.
Argument#4.... If you use light strings your manhood is in question.... Answer- Don't bother. It's a waste of time. |
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January 2002
Posts: 14127
Location: 6 String Ranch | lite strings, easier to play and learn on.
I have lites on my OMs, C10, and Ovations. The Dreads get mediums.
I find that I do try to learn the more complicated stuff on lighter strings before going to medium gauges. |
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October 2007
Posts: 8
Location: Carlisle, PA | For acoustic, light gauge for me. Extra light are too flimsy, don't stay in tune quite as well, and don't have as good a tone. Mediums and heavy are too thick and have too much tension for my playing style.
For electric, I prefer custom light gauge.
Just keep on playing. You'll get finger and hand strength no matter what gauge strings you use.
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Joined:
September 2006
Posts: 347
Location: Reno, NV | My guitar says with 12-53(54) and 3/32 at 12th fret all the time. Its a perfect balance of tone and playability. Like said before, I think anything lower or lighter just doesn't have the tone that inspires you to play better and better. Higher can get frustrating at times. |
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September 2006
Posts: 10777
Location: Keepin' It Weird in Portland, OR | Originally posted by g8r:
I know one school of thought says to learn on a guitar with heavy action because it strengthens the hand and finger muscles...
Anybody else? Tell you what strengthens my fingers.... Playing a 12-string.
Both of my 12-Strings have "regular-kinda-light-12-string" strings on them...
They both are easy to play. But after not-a-long-while, I notice how much work it is to push down all them strings.
Because of how light the strings are, it doesn't seem that difficult to fret them at first. Until I try bar-chords for awhile.
After that, I go back to a six-string, or even an electric, the the difference in the ease of playing is refreshing.
Just thinking out loud. :cool: |
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Joined:
March 2006
Posts: 482
Location: enid, ok | Electric, 10-46, low action. I do have a cheap acoustic with a higher guage and medium action for calisthenics.
By the way, it's "callouses". "Calluses" will also suffice. |
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November 2003
Posts: 11039
Location: Earth·SolarSystem·LocalInterstellarCloud·Local Bub | I just go by sound. |
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November 2004
Posts: 1330
Location: ms | Light gauge strings. 3/32 at the 12th fret when tuned to dadgad if I set it up. If it feels good I leave it alone.. |
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Joined:
August 2005
Posts: 616
Location: cincinnati, ohio | Like gulfcoast -- light gauge, 3/32" action at 12th fret (except in standard tuning).
The road to learning the guitar, to paraphrase Gordon Lightfoot, is littered with the bones of those who started out trying to learn on a cheap guitar with lousy action, or a good guitar with high action and/or heavy strings. They gave up thinking this was way too much work to ever be any fun. Why make it hard on yourself? |
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Learning new stuff: prefer heavy or light action?
