[DavidR8]

Hi all, I have a Yamaha FG330, not fancy, but it has nice tone and it was free! In any event, I had it setup by a recommended local pro in January. He lowered the action for me and re-strung it with a wound B string. It played and sounded great for a while but now the B string sounds dead. I don't understand why only the B string has changed.

Any thoughts?

Thanks
David

This post has been edited by DavidR8: 21 August 2009 - 11:50 PM

[okiejohn]

A new set of strings only sound good for a few days. Your B string went first...they gotta start somewhere.

I change strings at least once a month, but they are always bad before that.

If you're playing alot a week to ten days is about as long as a set will be at their peak.

[billy16]

A wound B string? What gauge is it?

[DavidR8]

A wound B string? What gauge is it?

No idea actually...

[dadfad]

Except in cases where a guitar is strung for a very specialized tuning or application I've never heard of a wound-B. He probably strung it with odd strings he had around (or broke the B and didn't want to take one out of another new set and so just used an extra smaller guage wound he had laying around). Start by changing that single string to a solid in the .014" to .017" guage area.

[DavidR8]

Except in cases where a guitar is strung for a very specialized tuning or application I've never heard of a wound-B. He probably strung it with odd strings he had around (or broke the B and didn't want to take one out of another new set and so just used an extra smaller guage wound he had laying around). Start by changing that single string to a solid in the .014" to .017" guage area.

Sorry all, the G string is wound, not the B. My apologies....

[dadfad]

If he strung it in January your strings are overdue for changing anyway. I don't know why the B would necessrily go "dead" before the others. Usually they all start to deteriorate in sound-quality over time. Is your B-string possibly starting to make light contact with a fret which could sort of mute it? As strings get older and start to stretch and fatigue, the tension on your neck decreases slightly and sometimes this decrease in tension will allow a string(s) to get too close to one of the frets, slightly muting (sometimes buzzing) the tone of the string. (Try playing that string up the neck one fret at a time to see if it changes.)

[billy16]

I've never had the B string go dead sooner, but I've had other strings go a bit dead soon. For me, it was the wound strings that gave me trouble. Even though I cleaned them, they would still go dead after maybe a week or two. I'm not sure if it was humidity or what. Once I moved out of Baltimore and to West Virginia, I haven't had this problem.

[DavidR8]

Thanks all, I will drag it out tonight and give it a go again.

One thing I forgot to mention was when I picked it up from the luthier that did the setup, I commented on the fact that the G string had never sounded great no matter how new the strings, brand etc. I asked if it was because the G was wound and he said no, that in fact it was designed to have a wound G string and not a plain string.

Would this be the case on a low-end Yamaha?

David

[dadfad]

Most acoustic guitars were made to use a wound-G. On guitars that I use only for playing slide, I'll sometimes substitute a solid .020" or .022" bought separately for the wound-G. (I usually have to have them ordered from GHS.) But wound-G strings are normal on acoustic guitars. Try a new set of good strings. My preference on that guitar would probably be D'Addario Phosphor Bronze Lights, but any good quality is okay. It may have been set up with the action really low, which of course is good for playing, but it might be so close that just the little bit of tension change when the strings start to stretch and fatigue might allow that string to start to fret out, muting it a bit.

Before you change strings, try this. Take a tiny square of a hard thin material, like say a 1/8" x 1/8" piece of a tin-can top with a slight bend in the middle. (Bend it with a pair of pliers before you cut the short piece off the longer strip.) (Be careful, it's pretty sharp.) (You want it to look sort of like this... ^ ). Anyway, loosen your G-string up quite a bit, then take the little piece with the slight bend in it and slide it on the saddle under the G-string. (The bend is to help it lay over the saddle better. Then tighten it back up to pitch. If the G-string was beginning to fret out from being too low, that little bit of lift should cause it to stop.

Of course this isn't a permanent fix or anything, but it can give an indication that this is the problem.

[DavidR8]

Most acoustic guitars were made to use a wound-G. On guitars that I use only for playing slide, I'll sometimes substitute a solid .020" or .022" bought separately for the wound-G. (I usually have to have them ordered from GHS.) But wound-G strings are normal on acoustic guitars. Try a new set of good strings. My preference on that guitar would probably be D'Addario Phosphor Bronze Lights, but any good quality is okay. It may have been set up with the action really low, which of course is good for playing, but it might be so close that just the little bit of tension change when the strings start to stretch and fatigue might allow that string to start to fret out, muting it a bit.

Before you change strings, try this. Take a tiny square of a hard thin material, like say a 1/8" x 1/8" piece of a tin-can top with a slight bend in the middle. (Bend it with a pair of pliers before you cut the short piece off the longer strip.) (Be careful, it's pretty sharp.) (You want it to look sort of like this... ^ ). Anyway, loosen your G-string up quite a bit, then take the little piece with the slight bend in it and slide it on the saddle under the G-string. (The bend is to help it lay over the saddle better. Then tighten it back up to pitch. If the G-string was beginning to fret out from being too low, that little bit of lift should cause it to stop.

Of course this isn't a permanent fix or anything, but it can give an indication that this is the problem.

Great information, thanks so much. I will give it a shot. I really like the guitar but don't play it as much because of this problem.

Two days on the site and it has been a wealth of information!

Cheers,
David

[DavidR8]

Most acoustic guitars were made to use a wound-G. On guitars that I use only for playing slide, I'll sometimes substitute a solid .020" or .022" bought separately for the wound-G. (I usually have to have them ordered from GHS.) But wound-G strings are normal on acoustic guitars. Try a new set of good strings. My preference on that guitar would probably be D'Addario Phosphor Bronze Lights, but any good quality is okay. It may have been set up with the action really low, which of course is good for playing, but it might be so close that just the little bit of tension change when the strings start to stretch and fatigue might allow that string to start to fret out, muting it a bit.



Of course this isn't a permanent fix or anything, but it can give an indication that this is the problem.

Great information, thanks so much. I will give it a shot. I really like the guitar but don't play it as much because of this problem.

Two days on the site and it has been a wealth of information!

Cheers,
David

I gave the old Yammy a whirl last night and for some reason she sounded better than I remembered. In any event, I checked for any first fret contact and came up empty so gave the strings a wipe with denatured alcohol and they brightened up again. Problem solved!

Thanks everyone
David

[antoinnette343]

Hi There!
This is antoinnette!
Im new in this site!
Most acoustic guitars were made to use a wound-G. On guitars that I use only for playing slide, I'll sometimes substitute a solid .020" or .022" bought separately for the wound-G. (I usually have to have them ordered from GHS.) But wound-G strings are normal on acoustic guitars. Try a new set of good strings.
Thanks!...
Have a nice Day to all!....

[ninjato]

G strings tend to be the "weakest" of the 6 hence the reason they go dead faster. If they are uncoated strings, you definitely need to change them.