Weird reoccurring problem....

matt1973 · April 2014

Right. This, I think issue is somewhat odd but it would be interesting to see if others have encountered anything similar....

I use gauge 10 strings and for the most part they're absolutely fine. However, when I gig -and this is the weird part- it feels as though they turn into a set of 9s; they feel really floppy! Like rubber bands. I have to consciously lay off the guitar to get my mojo working.

I have to say, this one has me really quite perplexed so any help is appreciated

ToneControl · April 2014

adrenaline?

matt1973 · April 2014

I more or less eliminated that - I don't get any anxiety whatsoever going on stage or during a performance. It could be primal thing of some sort I guess. God I'm confused about this. Lol.

BenSirAmos · April 2014

Heat on stage - causes the metal in the strings to expand and go floppy.

Or adrenaline, linked with the sweat in your mitts which coats the strings and makes them feel floppy.

I'm sure the opposite happens if you use cat-gut strings on an acoustic.

ICBM · April 2014

Adrenaline - or the effect of volume making you instinctively dig into the strings harder.

Use 11s...

hywelg · April 2014

BenSirAmos said:

Heat on stage - causes the metal in the strings to expand and go floppy.

In which case they would go badly out of tune and you'd retune them back to their original tension.

midlifecrisis · April 2014

similar problem I have not limited to a particular guitar, at home my guitars stay in tune for what seems like days on end but at a gig I seem to have to retune for nearly every song. I put this down to more enthusiastic digging in.

ICBM · April 2014

midlifecrisis said:

similar problem I have not limited to a particular guitar, at home my guitars stay in tune for what seems like days on end but at a gig I seem to have to retune for nearly every song. I put this down to more enthusiastic digging in.

That could definitely be temperture-related - especially if they go constantly flat. The venue warms up as the night goes on.

Well usually anyway… unlike one of my previous jobs, when I was stage-teching at a Hogmanay show in Princes Street Gardens

. Luckily I had the foresight to leave all the guitars out on stands for two hours before the band went on, so they had stabilised at several degrees below zero!

The tech for a more famous band playing just before the one I was working for didn't… with resulting horrendous tuning issues.

jpfamps · April 2014

I try to leave my guitar on stage before a gig so that it can be at the same temperature as the stage (at least at the start of the gig).

I'll tune guitar before leaving it on stage, and recheck the tuning just before the show starts.

For example on Saturday we were playing at a club where the temperature was warm in the audience, but there is air conditioning on the stage.

Cirrus · April 2014

Yeah, it's all in your head. Happened to me a couple of times. I remember one gig way back when, it was like the strings weren't even there. Even if you don't feel nervous, your brain still changes gear when you're on stage performing. It takes an effort of self-awareness to realise it.

matt1973 · April 2014

Cirrus said:

Yeah, it's all in your head. Happened to me a couple of times. I remember one gig way back when, it was like the strings weren't even there. Even if you don't feel nervous, your brain still changes gear when you're on stage performing. It takes an effort of self-awareness to realise it.

Thank you. I feel this most appropriately describes what's happening. It's such an odd problem and nigh impossible to design practice routine to overcome it.

The multitude of events that can occur in live performance can sometimes amount to a heavy cognitive load which has an subtle but key affect on ones motor skills which, in turn, plays games with my normal thought processes.

"An effort of self-awareness" pretty much sums up what I am trying to do when playing live and, to a lesser extent, in my practice routine. Hopefully this can get me playing somewhere near my full potential.

It's reassuring to hear I am not alone in these experiences

thanks again.

randomhandclaps · April 2014

It's always a relief to discover your gear is fine and it's just that you're a weirdo I feel.

matt1973 · April 2014

Definately

koneguitarist · April 2014

Didn't SRV practice with a lighter gauge for this very reason. I tune up in march and September, but I use a tele!

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Weird reoccurring problem....

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