String Tension Issue

[mralmostpopular]

Ok guys, I have an issue with my Gibson acoustic that I just can not seem to figure out. Maybe someone here has an idea.

A couple of years ago I had a little accident with my main acoustic. Alright, alright. I ran inside and left it in the car for a few minutes, not realizing the car would heat up so fast. Well, the bridge glue melted. Dummy. So I sent it in to Gibson repair. These guys jerked me around for a while and it would take about 6 months for me to get the guitar back. Well before this incident, this guitar was a dream to play. Everything was fluid and it sounded great. Now a bridge re-glue isn't the type of repair that should kill a great guitar, especially not from the Gibson factory.

So the problem is the string tension. It's WAY too high. When I say way too high, I mean it. The strings are on the verge of snapping (and actually several have) just keeping it in standard tuning. Now it's definitely not the strings. I've been using these strings for years (both on this guitar and on all of my other guitars). And I'm not just talking about new string tension. The tension is high even after a long break-in period. And yes, I have tried different strings (of different tensions) just to confirm that the strings weren't causing the issue. I tend to use lighter strings anyways. The guitar sound suffers too. It sounds dead. The strings just can't vibrate like they're supposed to. In fact, in certain areas on the fret board, it's like you get barely any notes out of it at all (mostly middle area). It's like the strings are constantly muted.

The string height is fine. In fact, it can't go any lower without buzzing. The neck SEEMS to be straight, but I don't have the tools to measure the relief. I would imagine it would have to be pretty far off, though, to cause this big an issue. The bridge is right where it's supposed to be. There's no bunching up at the nut. So what in the heck is going on? Any ideas?


Btw, sending it back to Gibson is not an option. I will take it to someone local, but I want to have some idea of what the issue might be before taking it to anyone. I don't want to play musical repairs (it's happened before).

[imwjl]

Originally Posted by mralmostpopular

Ok guys, I have an issue with my Gibson acoustic that I just can not seem to figure out. Maybe someone here has an idea.

A couple of years ago I had a little accident with my main acoustic. Alright, alright. I ran inside and left it in the car for a few minutes, not realizing the car would heat up so fast. Well, the bridge glue melted. Dummy. So I sent it in to Gibson repair. These guys jerked me around for a while and it would take about 6 months for me to get the guitar back. Well before this incident, this guitar was a dream to play. Everything was fluid and it sounded great. Now a bridge re-glue isn't the type of repair that should kill a great guitar, especially not from the Gibson factory.

So the problem is the string tension. It's WAY too high. When I say way too high, I mean it. The strings are on the verge of snapping (and actually several have) just keeping it in standard tuning. Now it's definitely not the strings. I've been using these strings for years (both on this guitar and on all of my other guitars). And I'm not just talking about new string tension. The tension is high even after a long break-in period. And yes, I have tried different strings (of different tensions) just to confirm that the strings weren't causing the issue. I tend to use lighter strings anyways. The guitar sound suffers too. It sounds dead. The strings just can't vibrate like they're supposed to. In fact, in certain areas on the fret board, it's like you get barely any notes out of it at all (mostly middle area). It's like the strings are constantly muted.

The string height is fine. In fact, it can't go any lower without buzzing. The neck SEEMS to be straight, but I don't have the tools to measure the relief. I would imagine it would have to be pretty far off, though, to cause this big an issue. The bridge is right where it's supposed to be. There's no bunching up at the nut. So what in the heck is going on? Any ideas?


Btw, sending it back to Gibson is not an option. I will take it to someone local, but I want to have some idea of what the issue might be before taking it to anyone. I don't want to play musical repairs (it's happened before).

I'm not a luthier but one guitar I have (Ovation) that had a bridge repair at factory was not done well, and I think of a used Martin that interested me that did not play so well and I saw glue from repair when I looked at the underside with mirror. I know it does not have to be that way because I played a Martin jumbo that was repaired by my local Martin warranty agent and it was superb.

I don't know where the strings are breaking but wonder about the finish of the saddle and nut.

Have you measured it? Checked how flat the top is, how much between saddle and bridge? The measurement tools are cheap and you can get guidelines via books in library or some web searches.

It really seems like you have to get it to a good repair person who knows to check all of the important dimensions and get the setup right. I've watched the way two great luthiers by me work and they assess everything relative to the top, sometimes do a neck reset, but get guitars to play and sound well if they have the potential in them.

FWIW: The wait times for repairs can very and get long with the local shops too. The good ones by me do not allow all the staff to do all the work so the owners at each of them can get back logs at times.

[mralmostpopular]

Originally Posted by imwjl

FWIW: The wait times for repairs can very and get long with the local shops too. The good ones by me do not allow all the staff to do all the work so the owners at each of them can get back logs at times.

Well, it wasn't about wait times. I won't go into the details, but I wasn't pleased with Gibson customer service.

If it's something as simple as a set-up, I would be as giddy as a gumdrop. A set-up is simple/cheap. I've just never seen a set-up that would make a guitar this bad, and I've had some guitars with really bad set-ups.