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Usually when you restring an acoustic guitar, it will feel, and play, slightly different for a while. New strings that are fresh on the guitar tend to feel a little firmer and heavier to the fingers, but as time goes by they will start to feel a little less tense as they begin to stretch. Are you absolutely sure that they are the same gauge strings? The ...

There are those of us out there who have a "heavy hand" when it comes to pick attack. The reasons for this are many. For example, I developed a heavy hand because I learned how to play on an acoustic guitar first--and I play expressively. Expressive players, the ubiquitous example of which is a blues player, need a little extra space to accomodate variations ...

First of all, I would check whether the neck is straight. Place a ruler against the frets (the edge of the ruler against the frets) and if there is any space between any of the frets and the ruler, the neck is not entirely straight. If there is no access to any sort of truss rod adjustment, then you will probably have to put up with the high action. If ...

Short answer: Yes, you're in for more fret buzz, and the solution will require a truss rod adjustment. Long answer: The 10's have more string tension than 9's will have. This means the 10's will exert a stronger tendency to bow the neck than the 9's, and therefore your guitar tech had to tighten the truss rod to compensate. When you put the 9's on, the ...

It sounds like the neck is not straight. Ensure it is bolted or otherwise attached to the body, and then check up at the nut for an allen wrench slot. Many necks have an adjustable tension (truss) rod. ( see: http://www.tunemybass.com/bass_setup/adjusting_neck_relief.html ) When done improperly, this can break the neck, so...don't break the neck.

"Fret buzz" is normally caused by the vibrating string touching a fret in between the fretted note and the bridge. Usually, about midway as that's where the amplitude of vibration (the amount the string moves) is the greatest. Causes are normally a too-low action, a raised fret, a warped neck.... As noted, the truss rod adjusts the neck relief between the ...

There are a few things that come to mind in this situation, especially for an older instrument. These are in decreasing order of probability, at least in my experience. The nut is worn There could be one or more frets that are higher than the others There could be a loose fret at the lower end of the neck that needs to be reseated. Just FYI, adjusting ...

This distance is known as the "action". Three things affect the action. The height of the nut - adjustable by shaving, shimming, replacing The height of the bridge - method of adjusting depends on the guitar type The curvature of the neck - on steel strung guitars, adjusted using the truss rod All of these can be adjusted, but it's really a job for a ...

Have it set up by a professional guitar tech. They can adjust the nut, the bridge and the truss rod to reduce the action. The action being too high will also explain your difficulty bending. You've already bent the string some amount just by fretting. The higher the action, the more tension you have to add.

The benefits of higher action go to lack of buzz. You can pick harder, which is nice for certain musics. I think it helps harmonics a little. I suppose there's some "You gotta want it, Rocky!" aspects, but really, yeah, high action is mostly something that'll keep beginners from moving forward.

It's a balancing act between playability and buzz, given that the guitar is set up properly to begin with. Yes, if you are getting buzz with 10s going to a lighter gauge will likely make it worse. If you have an adjustable bridge, raising the action slightly at the bridge should improve things. Are the open strings buzzing? If not, then the action at the ...

"As close as you're gonna get... all electric guitars have some buzz when not plugged in" This is actually pretty true. Removing all traces from buzz requires a machine precision fret job, a perfect setup, and a ton of preventative maintainence (your frets wear, thus throwing the alignment off etc.). It also depends on how heavy handed you are. People who ...

First for the selector. Is the crackle sound just when switched or persistent when in one position? In the first case, compressed air and contact cleaner have always worked well for me on my near-20 years old Strat. In the second case might as well be the wires/soldering/pickups. For the tuning part, "tremolo" bridges need always a little more work to get ...

I agree on the set-up. Many guitars are shipped with the action purposefully high, as the manufacturer knows picky experienced guitarists will adjust to taste. The action at the nut is critical for playing ease. A good set-up will let you use heavier strings as well, which will likely improve sound.

The fact that the gap at high frets is increasing would make me think of a bend in the neck or the front of the body of the guitar first. Can you check to see if the neck is true and straight? If the neck is bent you may be able to adjust it if it has a truss rod, but if it doesn't then your only option is top take it to a luthier or guitar repair shop.

Re: the tuning. It is always best to have a pro do this, but with adjustable saddle and an electric tuner, you can try doing it yourself first. The basic idea is to tune all the open strings according to the tuner, then fret the note at the 12th fret(one octave up). The 12th fret note should be in tune. If the 12th fret note is off, adjust the saddle, retune ...