Just Not Bonding

[Templeton]

I finally managed to get myself a Lefty Axis SS about 8 months ago after alot of searching around UK,I had to buy used as I couldn't justify spending £1500 on a guitar at this point.
I had it setup after buying and on the whole it played nice though bending was always an issue,it just seemed uncomfortable and too easy to hit a wrong bend.
Last week i'd had enough and took it to another shop to be looked at,the guy there didn't rate the setup done previously nor the shop that had done it.
Now i've received it back after a second setup and the same problems are still there,bending is still a real problem and is putting me off playing it.
I'm just not sure what to do next,the worst part is that with being a lefty I can't get anyone else to test it and give their opinion.
I'm just not sure what to do next,despite alot of plus points i'm seriously considering selling it.

 

[kevin]

I'm just not sure what to do next,despite alot of plus points i'm seriously considering selling it.

you should contact Strings & Things to have them take a look at it, I just sent you an email regarding that. They do a great job. This guitar shipped from our Factory in October of 2000 so its tough to tell what types of conditions it may have been exposed to before you purchased it. Contact S&T, they'll help you out. In the meantime hang around the forum and have some fun...its a great place!


Cheers,

Kev
[email protected]

 

[candid_x]

I wouldn't feel badly about that. Not every model is for everyone. But neither would I give up on the EBMM brand, at least not before trying some other models. They're vastly different in terms of feel and sound. Have you tried a lefty Silo or Special yet?

 

[rlarino]

bending was always an issue,it just seemed uncomfortable and too easy to hit a wrong bend.

Not to sound like a jerk, but are you sure that the problem is not in your fingers?

The guitar may feel differently than you're used to and maybe there is more or less (probably less) resistance to bending due to tension, etc...

But fingers do all of the work on a bend and if there is a problem with the accuracy of a bend, unless something is seriously wrong with the guitar, then your bad bend is a direct result of your fingers not executing it well...

Whether you like the feel of the new guitar and want to adjust to it or not, the accuracy (or inaccuracies of bends and other techniques) really should not be blamed on the guitar... there are many guitarists out there who play phenomenally on all sorts of dramatically different guitars... it can be done.

(just my 2 cents)

 

[BigTony]

Hi Templeton,
you mention that bending is a problem? Sometimes I can be a bit thick, but what exactly is going wrong for you when you are bending the strings? Is you trem floating, hardtail, flat to the body? Just out of interest, what are you used to using?

Only reason, is that my first MM was an ASS, and yeah, it took me a little while to get used to it. MM guitars seemed to be more responsive than my usual models and what I found was that I had to play a little more accurate with the MM. They are just better set-up guitars with more response and feel. It all helps with acuracy and sound. Its hard top explain, but once I got used to it, each note seemed to matter that much more.

 

[Big Poppa]

Hey Templeton\

If you have already contacted customer service and we have taken the time to respond please let us do our job before posting a cs issue with a 7 year old guitar....IT just makes our lives easier!

Thanks!

 

[Templeton]

you should contact Strings & Things to have them take a look at it, I just sent you an email regarding that. They do a great job. This guitar shipped from our Factory in October of 2000 so its tough to tell what types of conditions it may have been exposed to before you purchased it. Contact S&T, they'll help you out. In the meantime hang around the forum and have some fun...its a great place!


Cheers,

Kev
[email protected]

Hi cheers for that just wondering how you knew it was a 2000 model?


The guitar is a Hardtail model,now since I got it I did tend to blame it on technique having only played for 3 years, however I've probably played 4 very different guitars in the last year and there's been no problem.Also I see a teacher although he can't shed any light on the problem he's doesn't think it's down to technique.

So I've been examining it closely to try and articulate the problem and i've began to notice something.
Now when playing another guitar even my acoustic when I bend I find the fingers doing the bend will go underneath the two strings directly above, if that makes sense.
But from looking closely at my Axis when bending it seems the two strings above seem to stack almost at the tips of my fingers,so whilst they're not making a sound most of the time, they are still adding alot of tension to my fingers.
So as a test I lifted the G and D string away from the fretboard and did a few bends on the B,there was definitely a marked improvement,not perfect but definitely improved.

Any thoughts?

 

[kevin]

I may have confused you with another UK customer that had just emailed me with the same problem, this must not be tony?

E-mail me your serial number and we'll go from there....

[email protected]

 

[Dizzy]

Now when playing another guitar even my acoustic when I bend I find the fingers doing the bend will go underneath the two strings directly above, if that makes sense.
But from looking closely at my Axis when bending it seems the two strings above seem to stack almost at the tips of my fingers,so whilst they're not making a sound most of the time, they are still adding alot of tension to my fingers.
So as a test I lifted the G and D string away from the fretboard and did a few bends on the B,there was definitely a marked improvement,not perfect but definitely improved.

Any thoughts?

Sorry to sound blunt, but this is a bit ridiculous.

If your fingers are passing UNDERNEATH the adjacent strings on a bend, your "other" guitars have sky high action.
THEY are the ones set up incorrectly and they have trained your technique very poorly.

Example :
A simple 2 fret bend on the 1st string around the 15th fret will require you to displace (bend) it just PAST the 3rd string, so yes, your fingers WILL obviously contact the adjacent strings, loading up on the B & G strings, therefore providing more resistance - requiring better technique and more strength.

Action Too high and you go underneath.
Too Low (with poor technique) and you end up grabbing the other strings too as they pass under your finger(s).

If I'm off target, slam me.
I'll put money on it that I'm Bullseye.

If all else fails, sell the ASS and get one of these (they will fix the problems associated with multiple strings (and are no problems for lefties)

 

[rlarino]

the two strings above seem to stack almost at the tips of my fingers,so whilst they're not making a sound most of the time, they are still adding alot of tension to my fingers.

as Dizzy said, there is nothing abnormal or wrong about this...

that's how you execute a bend on a guitar... if you're bending farther than about a half step then you might have to bend through some adjacent strings