It is currently Mon Mar 16, 2020 10:56 pm

All times are UTC - 7 hours



Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 5 posts ] 
Author Message
Post subject: String Bending on a Tele vs. a Strat
Posted: Sat Mar 14, 2015 1:49 pm
Offline
Hobbyist
Hobbyist

Joined: Tue Aug 28, 2012 8:42 pm
Posts: 7
Hi all. It's been a while since I was last on here. Last spring I picked up an '06 American Standard Tele and instantly fell in love with it. After playing it for a while, I picked up my Strat and found that bending the strings was quite a bit more difficult than I remember. Why might that be? Could the neck radius play a part in this? The Tele has a modern C shape neck, which is thinner than the thicker V on my Strat. The Tele bridge is obviously set, while the Strat has that floating trem. I've heard bending the strings causes the trem to come up slightly and reduce tension on the strings, making you work harder for the same pitch. Regardless, both are set up with 11's. I just have to dig harder to grip and bend the strings on the Strat, where as the Tele is much easier. Any thoughts? Anything I can do here at home to remedy this? Thanks! :)

_________________
1966 Fender Mustang
1967 Fender Princeton Silverface
1995 MIJ Stratocaster
2012 Blues Deluxe Reissue
2006 American Standard Diamond Anniversary Tele


Top
Profile
Fender Play Winter Sale 2020
Post subject: Re: String Bending on a Tele vs. a Strat
Posted: Sat Mar 14, 2015 2:11 pm
Offline
Rock Star
Rock Star
User avatar

Joined: Mon Jan 12, 2009 4:50 pm
Posts: 7998
Location: ʎɹʇunoɔ ǝsoɹ pןıʍ
Pitch is directly related to tension for a given string gauge. You are not being required to push harder on the string in question if the trem moves but you are being made to push further. The tension on the string in question does not have to be higher to achieve the desired pitch. The reason it feels harder is because by pushing further you reach farther into the other string's territories, bending them farther thereby increasing the total force required to bend the note.

Try running 10's.

_________________
Image
Just think of how awesome a guitar player you could have been by now if you had only spent the last 10 years practicing instead of obsessing over pickups and roasted maple necks.


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: String Bending on a Tele vs. a Strat
Posted: Sat Mar 14, 2015 2:38 pm
Offline
Rock Icon
Rock Icon
User avatar

Joined: Wed Mar 31, 2010 12:48 am
Posts: 26417
Location: Tombstone Territory
BMW-KTM wrote:
Try running 10's.


+1

Arjay

_________________
"Here's why reliability is job one: A great sounding amp that breaks down goes from being a favorite piece of gear to a useless piece of crap in less time than it takes to read this sentence." -- BRUCE ZINKY


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: String Bending on a Tele vs. a Strat
Posted: Sat Mar 14, 2015 2:50 pm
Offline
Hobbyist
Hobbyist
User avatar

Joined: Wed Apr 16, 2014 2:28 pm
Posts: 82
BMW-KTM wrote:
The reason it feels harder is because by pushing further you reach farther into the other string's territories, bending them farther thereby increasing the total force required to bend the note.

Try running 10's.


+1
I feel the same with my Strats and Tele. IUse 11's on both Tele and Strat with a decked bridge, I use 10's on the Strat with floating bridge. I feel like they are comparable in terms of required force for bending.


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: String Bending on a Tele vs. a Strat
Posted: Sat Mar 14, 2015 2:52 pm
Offline
Aspiring Musician
Aspiring Musician

Joined: Sun Jul 01, 2007 12:20 pm
Posts: 496
FenderFanatic228 wrote:
Hi all. It's been a while since I was last on here. Last spring I picked up an '06 American Standard Tele and instantly fell in love with it. After playing it for a while, I picked up my Strat and found that bending the strings was quite a bit more difficult than I remember. Why might that be? Could the neck radius play a part in this? The Tele has a modern C shape neck, which is thinner than the thicker V on my Strat. The Tele bridge is obviously set, while the Strat has that floating trem. I've heard bending the strings causes the trem to come up slightly and reduce tension on the strings, making you work harder for the same pitch. Regardless, both are set up with 11's. I just have to dig harder to grip and bend the strings on the Strat, where as the Tele is much easier. Any thoughts? Anything I can do here at home to remedy this? Thanks! :)


Welcome back!
I've got the same problem with my MIM Strat except it doesn't just lift the trem slightly - can see it lift WAY up whenever I do a bend. It was suggested that I tighten the claw in some more and then add more springs if that doesn't work. 3 springs should hold the trem down with the 9's I have on it now but aren't and I want to change to 10's or 11's.

So that is my project for tonight. Swipe a couple springs from an old Squier that doesn't get played and see if I can get the MIM trem to behave with heavier strings.

As far as the thicker V vs the thinner modern C, if anything the V seems easier to me.


Top
Profile
Display posts from previous:  Sort by  
Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 5 posts ] 

All times are UTC - 7 hours

Fender Play Winter Sale 2020

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 1 guest


You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum

Search for:
Jump to: