JohnMac Posted January 26, 2012 Share Posted January 26, 2012 Hi Folks, I have a '69 Heritage and I wonder if the playability could be improved. It really has a big voice when using a plectrum (I noticed that the word pick isn't used much here) but not so much with finger picking. It seems to be pretty responsive to the left hand stuff, HO, PO, bends and slides, but is difficult to barre. Are these older Gibsons more suited for one type of playing than another? I not a very experienced player but have found other some guitars easier to play than this one. Any suggestions will be much appreciated. John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
retrorod Posted January 26, 2012 Share Posted January 26, 2012 Plectrum/picks rule in my realm! I fingerpick also, but have no nails, so more like "nub-Pickin"..... <_< Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnMac Posted January 26, 2012 Author Share Posted January 26, 2012 I have a little Martin that is very nice for "nub pickin". It does have pretty light strings though. It's much easier to barre too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jedzep Posted January 26, 2012 Share Posted January 26, 2012 We don't know anything about the details of your setup, string height, etc. But if your action is anything above 1/4 inch at the twelfth fret you have a starting point as to the difficulty in playability. Med/light strings will give you a little relief. I use 11's on everything because of the age of my acoustics. If it needs a neck reset there is little you can do to make it easier to play, but you may as well just take it on down to your local music shop as it may be a minor adjustment. Neck set will run you a few hundred bucks, but you'll just be frustrated playing it if you don't have it done. Good luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnMac Posted January 26, 2012 Author Share Posted January 26, 2012 I just checked the string height at the 12th fret and it is about 5/32s of an inch from the top of the fret to the bottom of the string so we're pretty good there. I wouldn't say that it is very difficult to play. I think there are 12s on it so maybe going a little lighter would help. That, and the fact that I haven't played for a while and am a bit out of shape. I had a local shop owner check it out and he thought it was pretty good but suggested that I take it to a well respected luthier that is just a town away. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jedzep Posted January 26, 2012 Share Posted January 26, 2012 I just checked the string height at the 12th fret and it is about 5/32s of an inch from the top of the fret to the bottom of the string so we're pretty good there. I wouldn't say that it is very difficult to play. I think there are 12s on it so maybe going a little lighter would help. That, and the fact that I haven't played for a while and am a bit out of shape. I had a local shop owner check it out and he thought it was pretty good but suggested that I take it to a well respected luthier that is just a town away. Sounds like your hand strength is a big deal. Hours of fun ahead, but you'll notice the dif if you play a solid 45 min a day, preferably twice a day. Pentatonic minor and blues scales and any song you can learn to play, over and over and over until your family runs screaming into the night to get away from it. Enjoy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j45nick Posted January 26, 2012 Share Posted January 26, 2012 I just checked the string height at the 12th fret and it is about 5/32s of an inch from the top of the fret to the bottom of the string so we're pretty good there. I wouldn't say that it is very difficult to play. I think there are 12s on it so maybe going a little lighter would help. That, and the fact that I haven't played for a while and am a bit out of shape. I had a local shop owner check it out and he thought it was pretty good but suggested that I take it to a well respected luthier that is just a town away. The action height sounds reasonable, if a tiny bit high. Most guitars are a lot quieter when fingerpicked, unless you are using plastic or metal fingerpicks. As far as difficulty playing barre chords goes, that is usually more a matter of practice and technique than it is any particular characteristic of the guitar itself, provided the action is set at a reasonable height, which yours appears to be. I play with barre chords constantly, and find that they take a lot of work to ring out clearly consistently. Generally, it's a good idea to start out working with them on the 5th-7th frets, and work down from there. I just practice barre chord progressions all the way up and down the neck, for example alternating the major, 7th, and minor forms, for a good 15 minutes during each practice session. It does get better. Normally, 12's would be just fine on this guitar. Every guitar is a little different when it comes to ease of playing. I don't have any two that play alike, but generally speaking, older Gibsons like your Heritage are adaptable of a wide variety of styles. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danner Posted January 26, 2012 Share Posted January 26, 2012 Oh snap!! I thought a plectrum was one of those guitars with a metal grill instead of spruce Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnMac Posted January 26, 2012 Author Share Posted January 26, 2012 That is funny. I have sent my family screaming into the night more than once. I'm no kid. I've actually been relentlessly trying to get somewhere with this instrument that I love for some time. In the basement with a cheap electric guitar and amp playing the same intro or hook over and over and again. After an event just short of an intervention I put them all away. Then I got the Heritage and am once again inspired. Oops. I should have quoted jedzep. Two posts while I typed this one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnMac Posted January 26, 2012 Author Share Posted January 26, 2012 Perhaps you meant 1/8 inch. 1/4 is equal to 16/64, which would be ridiculously high. To clarify, I knew what jedzep meant. I'm just a hair over 1/8 inch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jedzep Posted January 26, 2012 Share Posted January 26, 2012 Perhaps you meant 1/8 inch. 1/4 is equal to 16/64, which would be ridiculously high. Right, thanks for the correction. I've been cutting moulding all day and crossed my points of reference. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pfox14 Posted January 26, 2012 Share Posted January 26, 2012 Sounds like your guitar just needs some set up work. Maybe lighter strings will help, but it may need the saddle shaved to lower the action or possibly a neck reset. A good luthier should be able to get it to where you want it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnMac Posted January 26, 2012 Author Share Posted January 26, 2012 I think I'll play it as is for a while. As I mentioned, I'm pretty rusty and it will force me to work on hand strength and technique. Then I may take it to luthier for an assessment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jedzep Posted January 26, 2012 Share Posted January 26, 2012 I think I'll play it as is for a while. As I mentioned, I'm pretty rusty and it will force me to work on hand strength and technique. Then I may take it to luthier for an assessment. When you tire, capoing up a fret or two will give you a fresh start. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnMac Posted January 26, 2012 Author Share Posted January 26, 2012 I've noticed that, especially on this guitar. I'd love for it to play as easily without the capo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zombywoof Posted January 26, 2012 Share Posted January 26, 2012 I like a bit higher action than most seem to prefer. I know folks though who swear by a guitar setup with 3/32 at the 12th fret low E and, if I recall something like a .007 neck relief for lighter guage strings. The one thing I would think that comes into play when setting up a later 1960s Gibson would be to try and compensate for the heavier top bracing they started putting in their guitars in 1968. You would want to set the guitar up to coax as much top vibration out of it as possible, especially on the low end. So I would think leaving the action where it is and going to heavier guage strings would be the ticket. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j45nick Posted January 26, 2012 Share Posted January 26, 2012 I like a bit higher action than most seem to prefer. I know folks though who swear by a guitar setup with 3/32 at the 12th fret low E and, if I recall something like a .007 neck relief for lighter guage strings. The one thing I would think that comes into play when setting up a later 1960s Gibson would be to try and compensate for the heavier top bracing they started putting in their guitars in 1968. You would want to set the guitar up to coax as much top vibration out of it as possible, especially on the low end. So I would think leaving the action where it is and going to heavier guage strings would be the ticket. For tone and volume, I agree with you. For playability, maybe lower action would be better (if you can do it with no buzz). It's all a matter of playing style, and what makes you comfortable. It's no fun to play a guitar if it hurts all the time. Since I play every day, the "hurt" goes away pretty quickly, except for those that have to listen to me. If you aren't playing every day, a guitar with slightly lower action may be more comfortable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zombywoof Posted January 27, 2012 Share Posted January 27, 2012 Since I play every day, the "hurt" goes away pretty quickly, except for those that have to listen to me. If you aren't playing every day, a guitar with slightly lower action may be more comfortable. Amen Brother. Even playing alot after a long night out with a guitar strung with heavy strings my hands still feel like hamburger at the end of the night. The pain aside, a guitar as recent as a 1969, especially one with a heavy braced top, can certainly handle heavvy guage strings. But even I don't use heavy guage strings on my oldest guitars which I tend to string with round core medium guage. It also helps that I usually tune down at least a whole step. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blindboygrunt Posted January 27, 2012 Share Posted January 27, 2012 tuning down a half or whole step is a good idea . also take a look at newtone strings , they make low tension strings , and for vintage guitars they have heritage strings , all 6 strings put out the same amount of tension..... google newtone strings and all the blurb is on their site :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zombywoof Posted January 27, 2012 Share Posted January 27, 2012 tuning down a half or whole step is a good idea . also take a look at newtone strings , they make low tension strings , and for vintage guitars they have heritage strings , all 6 strings put out the same amount of tension..... google newtone strings and all the blurb is on their site :-) The low tension strings are all wrapped on a round core instead of a hexagonal core. I have tried the Newtone strings but not the Heritage. Thanks for the tip and I will give them a look. In 13s I really like the D'Aquisto Tony Rice Nickel Customs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blindboygrunt Posted January 27, 2012 Share Posted January 27, 2012 The low tension strings are all wrapped on a round core instead of a hexagonal core. I have tried the Newtone strings but not the Heritage. Thanks for the tip and I will give them a look. In 13s I really like the D'Aquisto Tony Rice Nickel Customs. i played them a few years ago during a try a lot of different strings phase . was on aD28, liked them a lot but , at that time anyway, werent always in stock .and that put me off their track. really really easy to bend and very kind to fingertips. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnMac Posted January 27, 2012 Author Share Posted January 27, 2012 I'll look into some different strings. Meanwhile I tuned it down a half step which helped a little but seemed to take a little punch punch out of the tone. I got my little Martin OOOM out and although a bit easier on the hands it sure sounded timid compared to the Gibson. Just need to be more aggressive with the Gibson. At this point there is skin sluffing off of my fingers on both hands. Not raw though, just getting hard. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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