How To Make Your Electric Guitar Play Great!: Dealing with intonation

Intonation is tricky to deal with while tuning your guitar. This is the authors way of addressing intonation. "Play the open string. With the note still ringing in your mind or displayed on a tuner, play the fretted note at the 12th fret. The two notes should be the same-a perfect octave" (Erlewine 115). He references " playing a fretted note at the 12th fret", that means playing an open string, ensuring it is in tune, and on that string press down the 12th fret and play the same string. The note should be exactly the same. The 3rd, 5th, 7th, and 12th frets are commonly marked on guitars with a white dot on the neck.




















That is a quick way to get to that 12th fret. If your intonation isn't set, (The note is not the same on the open string and 12th fret) there are a couple of options of what you can do to fix that issue.

 1. Ensure that the frets are level and the strings have a clear path through the neck. If that is your issue, going to a professional is your best bet.
2. If your strings are new, stretch them out before you install them.
3. If your problem persists, once again, a professional is the best way to go.

Intonation is tough to deal with but it is very relevant while playing the higher notes on your instrument. Has anybody had to deal with intonation on any instruments besides guitar? I would be interested to hear what you had to do. 

How To Make Your Electric Guitar Play Great!: Stringing a guitar

When I first thought of re-stringing a guitar I was kind of intimated by the task, I didn't want to mess up the guitar somehow but the strings were wearing down and I knew it was time to replace them. Once again, I used my friends Fender to accomplish this. Cleaning the fret-board was a perfect opportunity to take off the strings to replace them. Once I had completed cleaning the guitar, it was time to re-string. Restringing a Fender guitar is a little bit tricky, you cannot cut the strings close to the tremolo bridge, or the string will be lost inside, and you will have to spend time fishing it out.

If you have cut the strings correctly, the neck should look like this. You then have to thread the strings through the tremolo bridge and up into the neck of the guitar where the strings are wrapped around the pegs.

 On one of the last rotations around the peg, make sure to tuck the string underneath itself, so it doesn't slide out while you're playing. "This extra string length creates enough winds around the post to force the string down close to the peg head... If you use too many winds, you're inviting the string to stretch and the tuning will slip" (Erlewine 11). Leave about a quarter of an inch excess of the string, then cut the string. Repeat that for each of the 5 following strings until you are finished. 

How to Make Your Electric Guitar Play Great!: Cleaning the fretboard

Cleaning the fret-board of the guitar is a very simple task and should take no more than 10 minutes to complete. "In the absence of deionized water, substitute warm water. Again, user this sparingly on a clean rag" (Erlewine 18).  To accomplish this, I had to first take the strings off of the guitar. I used my friends Fender for this objective. I unscrewed the back cabinet of the guitar and cut the strings out and pulled them from the guitar. I then took a slightly damp rag and wiped down each fret individually until each fret was clean. 

I wiped the rag in a circular motion to ensure that the entire fret was clean. I was surprised to see how much residue I had removed from the guitar by the time I had finished. This build up is very bad to have on a guitar because it messes up the sound. It adds a static-like noise which is not wanted while playing. 

How To Make Your Electric Guitar Play Great!: Changing Knobs

When I went to the music store to pick out my guitar I wanted something cool, something that I could personalize and make my own while also sounding great. I settled on a black Les Paul, I thought black would be a good color because it can contrast well with other colors. Looking on Amazon, I decided to buy some knobs with a green and blue marbled look. Knobs are found on the lower part of the body of the guitar and control the volume and tone outputs to an amp. They are an easy way to adjust your sound quickly without having to fumble around with your amp while you are playing. Removing the stock knobs that came with my guitar was very simple, and took under five minutes to complete. "A rag tucked under the knob, then twisted, becomes a useful knob puller" (Erlewine 39).

These are the knobs that I had purchased, sitting on my floor before putting them on my guitar.

I am using a rag to help pull the knob away from the guitar, very little force is needed to complete this.

That is a close up view of the new knobs on my guitar.

How to Make Your Electric Guitar Play Great!: Alternate Guitar Tuning: DADGAD

I have recently started playing guitar, starting back up with the acoustic I got when I was younger and never got around to playing then quickly I set my eyes on an electric Les Paul. I have never done anything out of the ordinary with guitar, nothing like Tom Morello playing his guitar with the audio cable even to Mark Knopflers advanced finger picking. I have decided to start my guitar journey off simple with changing my tuning. The standard form of tuning a guitar starting with the bottom string and working your way upwards is EBGDAE."This method of tuning was described in the Guild of American Luthiers data sheets..." (Erlewine 116). This is the standard form of tuning because it has the most versatility when it comes to playing triads and having an open range of sound.

This an example of what standard tuning sounds like on an acoustic guitar. Its very melodic and has more of an upbeat sound. 

"Open tunings such as DADGAD... sound much more pleasant on guitar..." (Erlewine 119). The tuning is called DADGAD because instead of the top and bottom strings being tuned to E like the standard form, it is tuned down to D. A similar ting occurs for the B string, being tuned to A. The author refers to an open tuning, open tuning is when a chord, such as D can be played on a single string, instead of using multiple. Legendary rockers such as Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin and Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones use open tuning, making chords easier to play and complex progressions simpler. 

That is the DADGAD tuning demonstrated on a electric Les Paul guitar.  The DADGAD tuning is used in typically folk and Gaelic music. 

                                         

That is the song Kashmir by Led Zeppelin, played by guitarist Jimmy Page, the open tuning gives the riff a somber, more mellow feel. What songs would you guys be interested in hearing me play as I progress through the process of playing and modifying my guitar? I am open to hearing suggestions and willing to hear feedback.