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PART 18 "ALL YOU NEED IS EARS OR USING THE PAST TO LOOK INTO THE FUTURE" (tech talk)
Up until now, we've been using the past to further your understanding of WHY strings are the most crucial part of your sound chain. We have used particular songs as examples of a certain sound you may have been trying to acheive or duplicate. I really feel that we need to take a quick break from the past musical trends, if momentarily , to examine what the heck we can do to create new musical sounds and trends.Just the other day, I was thinking about our modern day "contemporary " sounds. This hit me in quite a big flash...when I listen to today's music, "something" is missing! That particular "something" has to do with the guitar's strings. You can use all the stomp boxes, signal processors and amps you want to produce a sound you're searching for, but wouldn't it be nice to forget all about that heavy rack-mount shit et al, and get a brand new sound without that gear (keeping the amp and guitar, of course) clogging up your signal?
What I'm getting down to here, is that we NEED to develop a new technology string from the ground up instead of just re-hashing the same old metalurgical materials. Nobody out there has come up with a string that can be considered really innovative, yet have a "new" sound, a sound that hasn't been heard yet! To do this feat, it will require a tremendous amount of research and development to create that special "something" that I'm hearing inside my head.
More importantly, it will take the desire, patience and caring of the people who manufacture the wire and so forth to allow us to realize our next new sonic possibilities.
Lately, I've been doing a lot of homework and just downright guessing "what" is going to create that new sound I hear. I've been in touch with quite a few wire manufacturers worldwide and I believe in a short time we will have a new string that will be completely different than any other string design ever before. I feel like quoting Monty Python's John Cleese: "And now, for something completely DIFFERENT!"
As stated before the key to realising our new sonic tones is in the hands of the wire manufacturers. I believe that the European manufacturers are much more open to exploring the development of new metalurgic combinations or what we could call "potions". The American wire makers seem to be less open to exploring this area. It sometimes seems that getting something different out of them is like pulling out all your teeth.
Now, ponder this; What type of "new" sounds are you hearing? In this day of advertising hyperbola, I get real suspicious of the so-called "lastest improvements" when I see the ads in various magazines. Of course, I have tested quite a few of the new strings that have hit the market recently. In all honesty, they all have come up short in one area or another.
Examples are things like these; the upper harmonics won't chime, the string's orbit is out of balance and doesn't vibrate properly, leaving you with weird tones that are very annoying. Most of the strings out there just sound cold and harsh to my ears without really being "musical". Personally, I like strings that sound alive and full of "soul" even when they're halfway dead. I would rather be playing the darn guitar instead of worrying about changing strings all the time.
With today's modern technology, it's extremely probable that you could make ANYTHING right provided you have done your myriad of tests and experiments beforehand. Additionally, nothing gets my goat more than a string that won't stay in tune and hold it's pitch until the harmonics die and your intonation goes out the window. To me, that's when you install a new set.
One hot little tip from Stephen White: Use cigarette lighter fluid to clean your strings. Brands like Zippo and Ronsonall work just great...not only does the dirt and grime dissolve, but so does the acid from your hands. This trick is especially handy when someone else has been playing your ax, because the lighter fluid will neutralize their finger acids.
When two separate chemistries play on the same set of strings, that set will lose it's lifespan dramatically in most cases that I've encountered. I have gotten six months out of one set of strings by using this cleaning hint. For about $2.00, you can save a lot of time and money on your strings. Now, is this cost effective or what?!! Now, for the infamous disclaimer: Only use a few drops on a piece of soft cloth making sure that you get the cloth/liquid underneath the string. Gently move the cloth along the length of the string listening for that "squeak". DO NOT smoke around the guitar while you are doing this cleaning proceedure, or be close to any sort of open flame as lighter fluid can be extremely hazardous to your health, guitar, not to mention your home!
Fortunately, lighter fluid evaporates very quickly, and leaves a harmless residue on your strings, which makes the strings feel a little silky to the touch. Back to the future...Guitar manufacturers like Martin, as an example, have been experimenting with alternative woods and composite materials besides wood for future guitar making. This is simply because the wood supply of mahogany, ebony, rosewood, and the like are going to dissapear eventually if we keep on turning the world's forests into parking lots!
Using my Steinberger guitar as an example, it is made out of an epoxy resin fiber material. Anyone who has played a Steinberger knows that they are very different in their tonality. They have a very quick transient response that will sit nicely in the mix if you use them for rhythm parts, for example. I've always wondered what it would sound like if we could've used a new type of composite/alternative material string on a composite instrument such as the Steinberger. When you think about it, this gives us a whole lot of possibilities, doesn't it?
If you have a futuristic guitar made of different materials, would it not make sense to have alternative string types that would complement/match the new guitar's sound? Hey, an alternative-type string just might sound better on our vintage instruments, too! So, we have to ask ourselves some questions as to what it is that we're really looking for. Do we want a string that will NEVER wear out and keep it's tone forever (what a concept, eh)? How will a "new" string actually change our picking techniques, left-hand bending, our amplifier/speaker's reactions to our touch?
Most importantly, how will it change our music and the way we play it because of the timbral and kinetic differences? As you can see, there is is myriad of choices to be had if everyone pitches in and REALLY takes a hard, intelligent look at this issue. It has been said that human beings only effectively use about four percent of their brains in the course of one's lifetime. What about the other 96 percent that we "don't" use? Believe me, it's all in there, we just have to open up our minds and intuitively tap into the area known as "pure potentiality" to reach our goals. We are the only ones that can start or stop ourselves in our progression.
If we're open and creative enough, having the amount of will to make changes for the benefit of everyone, no one can stand in the way. I would like to do a VG reader survey to analyze the needs or desires of the players that are relevant to this commentary. Please let us know what you're looking for so we can get on the stick and just make it happen! The future can happen right in the present time with your input. It's time to put on your "thinking caps"! See you next month.
Copyright 1995 by Dean L. Farley
Reprinted from "Vintage Guitar" August 1995 issue.