A couple of days ago I went to my
local music shop, which specialises in guitars and equipment etc. The reason why i took the visit was because I wanted some professional advice on 'how to get a good sound', after I had put 10-60 strings my RG7620 on and detuned to A.
After having little to say, they referred me to their 'guitar set-up guy', who apparently did all the set-ups on the guitars in the shop (so, I thought to myself he must know his 'stuff')
My visit with him was only a short one, mainly because it seemed as though he didn't have the time to bother with the difficulties I was having with my guitar. However, I will let you decide if you think that was the case after I tell my story.
After first meeting him, I described the problem I was having with my guitar. I told him that I de-tuned to A, with fatter strings on it, and I am finding my tone not quite as good as I would like. He's immediate response was, 'that's your problem - you detuned it'. He then went on to say that stupid people go out and get a 7 string and then de-tune it and expect it to sound good... 'it's not going to happen'. I followed up immediately by saying 'except for KORN'. He followed up by saying that KORN have a multi million dollar budget, and that's why they sound good. He then said that 'KORN could make a fart sound good'.
I was always aware of KORN's huge budget, but I doubt that KORN spend millions of dollars on sound processing to fix a problem/cover up a problem with the guitar.
It didn't take me long to realise that I was not going to get any help from this guy. but instead of just leaving, I thought I would argue some of the SH** he was talking about. And anyway, he still had not heard the entirety of my problem description (to say the least).
So, I started to argue that despite the fact with KORN's budget 'they could make a fart sound good', I doubt that KORN's guitars have the same problems that mine does. (My guitar is an RG7620, and KORN use a K7 - both very similar guitars).
I then began to further describe my problem. I said that the low A doesn't seem to give a stable tone/pitch (on open fret, and that it's not just on open fret when this is a problem). He then pointed out that my trem angle was not perfect, and also suggested that I check my intonation.
I responded by asking him how this could possibly account for an open fretted A, which fails to maintain a steady tone/pitch. I followed up by talking about what the factors are that contribute to the pitch of a guitar string. Those of which are:
string length
string tension
and the string gauge
so I then followed by saying, why would the trem angle have anything to do with my 'unstable pitch/tone problem - when I am using an open fret. (how is a slightly offset trem angle going to change any of those 3 factors which determine pitch) - before I had a chance to also reject the intonation suggestion, he butted in by telling me that I am not considering the string gauge (someone explain that to me).
I began to reject his suggestion that my intonation could be out by asking him how this could be the problem. Once again, open fretted note. (Single string, the A string - the problem: unstable pitch) What should it matter if the string is 1mm too long, the fact is, if it was, then there would be more tension on the string, which inevitably makes it to the pitch of A. (this would only become a problem if I was fretting notes)
At this point, he decided to try and take a cheap opinion of me, and tried to tell me that i probably can't tune my guitar, and without even asking me what equipment/tuner i have, told me that my tuner would not even pick up a low A.
I responded by telling him that I use the 12th fret harmonic to tune my guitar. He then responded by asking me which of the 5 harmonics do you think my tuner is actually listening to. I said "the 12th fret harmonic" , he responded by telling me that there are 5 harmonics which occur when using the 12th fret harmonic.
Regardless of whether this statement is bullsh** or not, I very much doubt it gives a reason for not using the 12th fret harmonic whilst tuning a guitar. Whenever you successfully tune a string on a guitar, you always find that the 12th fret harmonic is in tune too.
But, please, let's argue this statement anyway. I am aware that you can get different harmonics from a single string. Such as:
*12th fret
*7th or 19th fret
*5th fret
However, essentially, his statement was suggesting that my method's of tuning my guitar were ineffective, and therefore my guitar would be out of tune.
All of which, even if was truth, is irrelevant to my problem, an unstable pitch on my 'A' string. (Who cares if the string is really just a tiny bit flat from A)
*From my experience, whenever I compare the pitch of an open fretted string, to the 12th fret harmonic on the same string (on a tuner), I always get the rest result.
does anyone disagree about this?
At this point, it was very clear that he was not the slightest bit interested in helping me, and it was time for me to leave. I don't have anything against people who don't have time for other people, for whatever the reason. I am familiar with the concept of ROI (Return On Investment), in this case, the investment for this 'guitar guy' was time, which could ultimately be equated to money. Perhaps he could not justify spending any time on helping me solve my problem. Fair enough.
However, I would have appreciated (if this was the case), that he simply told me that he doesn't have time for this, instead of telling me that 'my problem is that it is de-tuned - without adequate proof). I am sure if I told the members on this section of the forum that de-tuning is a problem period. "and that your stupid if you de-tune", that the majority would disagree.
So I conclude my post by making my own statement about this "guitar guy" by saying:
The guy likes to back-up/justify his statements by either of the following:
bullsh**
facts which do not prove his initial statement to be true
, and then he likes to iterate this process
As for my problem, I am sure it can be fixed but I don't know how yet. I am still working on it, and this forum is the best place I have found so far which has offered help. There are a lot of like minded people who are sharing the same problems as I am experiencing with my guitar at the moment. If anyone would like to know more about my problem I have posts under the following threads:
http://www.jemsite.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=29307
http://www.jemsite.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=29311
or don't hesitiate to ask me questions on this thread
