"Dead" G

[Jack Gilvey]

Hey all,

I've been enjoying my Deluxe Player's Strat a lot, and have put a number of hours on it after having a professional setup done for .11's (D'Addario) a few weeks ago. I've noticed that my G doesn't ring, or resonate, quite like the others, whether fretted or open. Seems muted in comparison at times. What might cause this? Bridge, pickups? Should all the saddles be contacting each other, a continuous row? Is it the nature of plain strings as they get thick? I took a pic of the bridge to try and show height/spacing, etc.



Thanks,

Jack

[Wilko]

You got two string trees? If not, the G will have the longest open space between nut and tuner. Put more windings to increase breakover angle.

Fresh strings put on AFTER intonation?

Did you have a staggered pickup strat prior to this one? The raised pole makes G strings "loud" on those guitars, making your flat pole pickups seems quiet on the G. IMNSHO

[Stratoclutter]

This my friend Can be caused by an intonation issue imo : Check the intonation screws in the back of your bridge ( behind the 6 Springs ) and adjust the G Intonation if you still get Zilch

The problem is :

WhO In TaRnAtIoN puts elevens on a Strat ??????????

[Wilko]

Oh, look at the saddle height screw on t he right. Is t he bottom of it nicely shaped for good seating?

Make sure all screws set well and bear equal weight.

Who plays 11s? Lot's of folk, with great results. SRV went 12s and 13s.

[Stratoclutter]

thats crazy !!! My fingers would collapse

[lenbone]

try putting a piece of paper under the string at the nut,, this will not fix it but is a temp fix,,, if this does stop your problem you probably need a new nut . I hear the same problem all the time. Good luck.

[Stratoclutter]

Oh, look at the saddle height screw on t he right. Is t he bottom of it nicely shaped for good seating?

Make sure all screws set well and bear equal weight.

Who plays 11s? Lot's of folk, with great results. SRV went 12s and 13s.

You can fit 13's on the Strat ?

man SRV should have just used a Baritone lol !

All joking aside wasn'T there a rumour Cobain used Piano Strings ?

[lenbone]

11's mmm,,must have wicked tone or fingers like sausages !

[Wilko]

SRV tuned down a bit. that helps tremendously with heavier strings.

You can pout whatever you want there. SLot the nut wider and have at it.

I use .010" through .046" at standard pitch for most of my electric guitars.

[lenbone]

yes ,,check the saddle screw,,it don't look right . and that gauge of strings can't be helping either !!

[dbrowne]

Theres no issue w/ the string gauge. i use 11's on my EJ and it rings like a bell.

Probably a stupid question but have you tried it with a fresh set of strings? Would be the first thing to check. Maybe just a dud/split string.

If you had it setup profesionally and changing the string hasn't done the trick it bring it back to em. you did pay them after all to sort out any of these issues for you.

[Jack Gilvey]

Everyone, thanks...I'm going to run through your suggestions ASAP.

As far as the .11's, I do it for tone and attack, big improvement over the .09's the guitar came with. I am a fan of the meaty, SRV-type tone, and that has to start at the fingers/strings. I like to dig in, and I can't do that with light strings. I do tune to Eb. I have both my acoustics strung with .13's and spend lots of time on them, so .11's on a Strat are nothing. ;)

[Wilko]

As you know, 11s are fine.

Not only are they fine, but heavier strings are more stable and will intonate better overall for a number of reasons.

[jpap]

I don't see any pro setup, at least on your bridge screws (in your attached image): The high-e screw MUST be tightened more, like the low E-one...
Further, on your G-saddle: The right screw (as seen on the image) seems to me a little weaked off. Try to keep it more perpdendicular to the trem-plate, as most of the others do. If it's not possible (the G saddle is the highest, usually, and its screwa are way down into the saddle), you have to replace with a longer one, so that it fits into the saddle better, and can stay better (as, e.g. in your A-saddle).

[chaz498]

Not sure if it's the angle, reflection, or what but it looks like the mounting screws are not tightened down enough too.

[DopeyJake]

The g string on my strat used to sound dead and actually rattled a bit. Drove me nuts. I later found out it was caused by ther string hitting the top of the bridge pickup pole piece. I lowered the pickup a skootch and now it plays fine.

[hawkeye2u]

That bridge setup doesn't seem right to me
I thought the whole idea was to set your bridge up to the same arc as your fretboard radius
Yor G string is way higher that any of the closest strings, B & D.
Also check, as you state that its dead even when fretted, as some one else so truly said, is the string dead, pups to high, bridge saddle not right, or maybe you have a high fret some where that deadens the G string
I for sure wouldn't trust that prof setup by the way that bridge looks

[Camoradi]

I for sure wouldn't trust that prof setup by the way that bridge looks

That's what I was thinking. And if the bridge looks that bad, what is going on at the nut? BUT, a lot of it could be down to the angle of the photo and looking at receding saddles from a low viewpoint.

But back to the bridge. I'm sure I can see air under the outer treble side bridge mounting screw. Both outer bridge mounting screws should be screwed down so they 'just' touch the bridge plate. The other four middle ones should all be backed out so they 'just' have a gap under them. The ones in the photo are all over the place. It doesn't address the dead G, but it may be symptomatic of other problems.

I say that first and foremost try a new set of strings from a different maker, or indeed make sure the tech used the same strings you usually have when the setup was done.