Minnesota Flats
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WARNING: wordy saga to follow!
So...I use D'Addario ECB 81M Chromes (medium-scale, 45-65-80-100) on my SFs. Over a period of time, I've had a nagging, if minor issue with string-to-string tonal balance. When the lower 3 strings were EQ-ed to my liking, the "G" sounded comparatively brassier and too trebley: not an ideal "match", if you will. But if I EQ-ed for the "G", the lower 3 started losing punch and definition, so I kept ending up feeling like I was having to settle for a compromise. (BTW: the pups in question are the Guild NS Bi-Sonic re-pops).
I twiddled extensively with my amp EQ section, my pedalboard pre-amp, pole piece height, gain levels etc. but still kept feeling like I wasn't really completely happy.
Looked at ECB 82 Chromes (50-70-85-105), thinking that heavier strings might help, but those are available in long-scale only. Medium-scale Chromes fit the SF perfectly, with 34" of wound length, putting the start of the string taper on the nut end right between the nut and the tuner posts.
Unfortunately, the advertised, wound, (ball-end-to-taper) length of D'Addario's long-scale sets (like the ECB 82 Chromes) is 37.1", which puts the un-tapered, flat windings wrapping around the "E" and "G" tuner posts, making those strings more susceptible to breakage.
I like the feel and generally the sound of Chromes and they don't react to the chemistry of my sweat. Other flats I've tried do, making them feel "sticky".
So what was a boy to do?
Fast forward to now: you know what they say: sometimes, when you verbalize a problem, a new, possible solution appears.
Awhile back, I replaced the rosewood bridge saddles on the Starfire II in question with brass ones. Because I changed some other aspects of my rig at about the same time, I didn't correlate the saddle change with the issue described above, maybe because it wasn't a really severe problem but was one of those that begins to grate on you over time.
Then, while I was cataloging the stuff (above) I had tried in search of a solution and wracking my brain for something else to try, the brass saddles suddenly snapped into focus: "oh, yeah...what about THOSE?"
So, just for giggles, I replaced only the brass "G" saddle with the original rosewood one and then dropped the "G" pole piece just a bit. That really seemed to bring the strings into better tonal balance, just enough to take the "harsh", offending "edge" off the "G".
Maybe, you may say, this is mostly an object lesson in the power of auto-suggestion. But I really don't think I'm imagining the better, if subtle, tonal balance.
I'd be curious to know if anyone else here has had a similar experience chasing their own tail in this regard...
So...I use D'Addario ECB 81M Chromes (medium-scale, 45-65-80-100) on my SFs. Over a period of time, I've had a nagging, if minor issue with string-to-string tonal balance. When the lower 3 strings were EQ-ed to my liking, the "G" sounded comparatively brassier and too trebley: not an ideal "match", if you will. But if I EQ-ed for the "G", the lower 3 started losing punch and definition, so I kept ending up feeling like I was having to settle for a compromise. (BTW: the pups in question are the Guild NS Bi-Sonic re-pops).
I twiddled extensively with my amp EQ section, my pedalboard pre-amp, pole piece height, gain levels etc. but still kept feeling like I wasn't really completely happy.
Looked at ECB 82 Chromes (50-70-85-105), thinking that heavier strings might help, but those are available in long-scale only. Medium-scale Chromes fit the SF perfectly, with 34" of wound length, putting the start of the string taper on the nut end right between the nut and the tuner posts.
Unfortunately, the advertised, wound, (ball-end-to-taper) length of D'Addario's long-scale sets (like the ECB 82 Chromes) is 37.1", which puts the un-tapered, flat windings wrapping around the "E" and "G" tuner posts, making those strings more susceptible to breakage.
I like the feel and generally the sound of Chromes and they don't react to the chemistry of my sweat. Other flats I've tried do, making them feel "sticky".
So what was a boy to do?
Fast forward to now: you know what they say: sometimes, when you verbalize a problem, a new, possible solution appears.
Awhile back, I replaced the rosewood bridge saddles on the Starfire II in question with brass ones. Because I changed some other aspects of my rig at about the same time, I didn't correlate the saddle change with the issue described above, maybe because it wasn't a really severe problem but was one of those that begins to grate on you over time.
Then, while I was cataloging the stuff (above) I had tried in search of a solution and wracking my brain for something else to try, the brass saddles suddenly snapped into focus: "oh, yeah...what about THOSE?"
So, just for giggles, I replaced only the brass "G" saddle with the original rosewood one and then dropped the "G" pole piece just a bit. That really seemed to bring the strings into better tonal balance, just enough to take the "harsh", offending "edge" off the "G".
Maybe, you may say, this is mostly an object lesson in the power of auto-suggestion. But I really don't think I'm imagining the better, if subtle, tonal balance.
I'd be curious to know if anyone else here has had a similar experience chasing their own tail in this regard...