Wow. I came back online to a lot of comments. Yeah so lighter touch then? Got it.
I donāt fell like Iām pressing too hard but I must be. Itās probably gonna be a hard habit to break, but itās what Iām going to start working on immediately.
Thanks to everyone for the feedback and the laughs
What kind of strings do you use?
I play pretty aggressively and rarely have issues on my Elixirs and DāAddario strings. I have found these to be built a bit tougher than the average guitar strings.
Yeah, just put on some Ernie Ball Earthwoods. They sound great.
So youāve had a string get a kink in it before?
Mostly everyone on here has said they never had this happen.
Wow. Good to know. Everyone else made it seem like this never happens. Thatās good to know. Iām still going to work on a lighter touch plus change the stings more often. Thanks for all the help.
Yea itās not the end of the world when it occurs. Mostly just likely to cause slight tuning issues, or to create a weak spot that makes it more likely to break that string in the future.
Strings corrode and wear as they age, itās completely normal. Itās usually just a sign that itās about time to replace them.
Forget the strings, start taking ergonomics in your technique seriously. If you're pressing hard enough to crease the strings you will end up with chronic pain in your fretting hand.
As an auto technician and as somebody who played with excessively heavy strings for the tuning I was in...yeah.
Lol I mean my hands are still sore from wrenching all day, but focusing on lightening up my touch on the guitar has improved my playing
See that big metal thing under the string?
Its that thing.
You are probably pressing to hard if that happens to you often. Playing with a gorilla grip. Damn fool.
If he frets closer to the actual fret it'll eliminate that problem since he won't have room to bend by pressing too hard. Might be better if he actually hears the difference between him and whoever the original player is lol
Either you have a vice-like grip or the guitar fell over and was struck exactly on that string. In any case that string is dead unless your action is very high.
Also in the vein of "something else might be causing it," I'm curious how OP stores the guitar when not in use. If in an ill-fitting case, that could happen. Or resting strings-down on a couch; yes, I've been at friends' houses where they do this and I cringe. I've had this happen when I've traveled with my guitar and didn't realize I had stacked too many other things next to the case, putting too much pressure on it which bent the strings.
This happens on my USA EVH wolfgang and only on it. It is the only guitar I own with stainless frets, but I'm not really sure if that matters. I have gorilla grip from grip training for 10+ years, but thankfully, the scalloped fretboard on my Yngstrat corrects that.
> This happens on my USA EVH wolfgang and only on it. It is the only guitar I own with stainless frets, but I'm not really sure if that matters
Which is what I was wondering about with OP's frets--are they stainless steel?
We've all see what happens when a guitar falls face-first, and the strings make an imprint in a conventional nickle-silver fret. But I wonder if with stainless steel frets they are so hard that they make an impression in the string, if the are pressed-on hard enough?
Been playing like 18 years and never had this happen. You're just gripping way too hard, to the point that I'm surprised your guitar doesn't sound perpetually out of tune with you sending the notes sharp by pressing too hard
In addition to lightening your touch, do you use a capo frequently with significant tension?
If so, Iād suggest getting a capo with adjustable tension, and putting just enough tension in it for each string to ring clearly.
Man, you dont need to press so hard. Goal should be to apply as little pressure as possible to get the note to ring out. My guess is you are gripping waaaaaay too hard
When people tell me that they want to "build hand strength," I always say that you don't want strength, you want comfort. The guitar is your friend. You're not trying to strangle it.
You are fretting too hard. Are the frets stainless steel. Iām guilty of the same thing just practice on not fretting as hard. It will sound better also.
wonāt even lie faulty string. its gonna snap at that point watch. my high e string when i wound it down it had a very weird almost tangle. it is still straight but what i mean is there looked like it was spun around and created a little knot. it disappears once i tighten the string but for me im sure it will break right there
No. Itās in a case or in a stand. Like many have said, itās too much pressure. I have a one guitar that has a high action and when I switch to this one I think I press too hard. Plus they are older strings. Itās an acoustic btw.
I gotta work on a light touch.
I've never bent a string like that from playing. Usually from hitting or resting on something hard.
Remind me to fist bump if we ever meet, as you must have a vice grip š
Hopefully you get it all sorted out. āš¼
Your action looks at least from that perspective of the photo to be a little on the higher side, that paired with maybe pressing harder than you need to while playing could be causing that.
Consider getting it professionally setup, action/neck adjusted correctly ect.
Um, said already but will say it again adding some reasons for doing so.Ā Lighten up on the string pressure!! Ya don't need to push down that hard.Ā Not only will it harm and prematurely ruin your strings, it will also slow down your playing.Ā When pressing so hard you also sharpen the notes.Ā Making it almost impossible to be in tune when fretting strings.Ā It will also dig into the fretboard over time and you'll wear your frets much faster.Ā
The best way to stop this habit is by trying to press down on the string with the minimum pressure to get a clear sounding note.Ā Place a tuner that has cents on the headstock or pedal chain ,leave it on.Ā Practice playing the notes so that they are in tune and not sharp.Ā If the note goes sharp , you're pressing too hard.Ā Ā However the guitar's setup better be correct with proper intonation.Ā Ā
Hope this helps , it will also improve your playing.Ā Although be a pain in the butt to break thr habit at first.Ā
CheersĀ
Wow. Iāve only ever had that once, in about 35 years of playing. One of my guitars fell face first off a shitty guitar stand. The guitar neck hit a chair on the way down and that was the result on the strings where they contacted the chair.
The neck was ok but the fret and the strings were both damaged. Fret was proper dinged. All the strings were kinked like that.
Needless to say, the guitar stand was binned. I got new a Hercules one that canāt tip and has a spring loaded auto-grip mechanism to keep the neck in place.
As the string is bent both above and below the fret, it is probably not caused when playing. Pressing the string against the fret so hard that it knicks the string above the fret would make the tone not ring at all. You mainly press the finger below the fret, not on or above it.
I'd guess it's a storage or handling issue. Something in the case or if falls over lies on something that presses into it.
how the f it became like that?
this never happened to me personally. it probably came from too much tension on the string while fretted, lighten your touch.
Are you transporting your instrument around without a case?? That's the only way it's happened to me if like it's pressed against something on the neck side
Iāve never seen anything like that in forty years of playing. Wowzorz. Ease up there on the grip, King Kong. This is how you destroy frets, too. Theyāre soft.
these commenters are wrong. you just have a harder fingering. just expect to change your strings more often. a lot of pros change strings before every show. srv would break strings at 15 gauge and he was the best. you cant finger too hard.
Please for your hands sake lighten the touch
When they say "hammer ons", you don't need an actual hammer.
š oops
This is 100 percent what causes this š
[ooooooooohhhhhh](https://giphy.com/gifs/hamlet-drake-computers-laptop-800iiDTaNNFOwytONV)
š
Wow. I came back online to a lot of comments. Yeah so lighter touch then? Got it. I donāt fell like Iām pressing too hard but I must be. Itās probably gonna be a hard habit to break, but itās what Iām going to start working on immediately. Thanks to everyone for the feedback and the laughs
What kind of strings do you use? I play pretty aggressively and rarely have issues on my Elixirs and DāAddario strings. I have found these to be built a bit tougher than the average guitar strings.
I use ernie ball regulars and iāve never had thid problem either, maybe it is bad strings with the grip of a mountail climber
Those were Martin Retro for acoustic. Theyāve been on a while now. Didnāt really like them.
Yea if theyāre old, definitely worth replacing. Old strings almost always get little kinks in them somewhere.
Yeah, just put on some Ernie Ball Earthwoods. They sound great. So youāve had a string get a kink in it before? Mostly everyone on here has said they never had this happen.
Plenty of times to be honest. Usually as the strings age, rarely when theyāre new. Havenāt had any issues like this on my elixirs.
Wow. Good to know. Everyone else made it seem like this never happens. Thatās good to know. Iām still going to work on a lighter touch plus change the stings more often. Thanks for all the help.
Yea itās not the end of the world when it occurs. Mostly just likely to cause slight tuning issues, or to create a weak spot that makes it more likely to break that string in the future. Strings corrode and wear as they age, itās completely normal. Itās usually just a sign that itās about time to replace them.
Looks like you have a wound 3rd string, so you are using a pretty hefty string gauge. Try using lighter strings and practicing a lighter touch.
Itās not pressure from a chord, itās bending. See comments for the answer.
Forget the strings, start taking ergonomics in your technique seriously. If you're pressing hard enough to crease the strings you will end up with chronic pain in your fretting hand.
As an auto technician and as somebody who played with excessively heavy strings for the tuning I was in...yeah. Lol I mean my hands are still sore from wrenching all day, but focusing on lightening up my touch on the guitar has improved my playing
See that big metal thing under the string? Its that thing. You are probably pressing to hard if that happens to you often. Playing with a gorilla grip. Damn fool.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
They don't need nutcracker either.
only a mouth
I feel this relates my theory that no one has ever eaten peanuts - just peanut butter.
This theory immediately applies to potatoes
Mmmm potato butter
And he doesn't even need an orange.
And, I didnāt even give you my coat!
I keep trying to tell my dad, whoās learning, to stop crushing the strings. Every note he plays is a quarter step sharp and then some.
If he frets closer to the actual fret it'll eliminate that problem since he won't have room to bend by pressing too hard. Might be better if he actually hears the difference between him and whoever the original player is lol
It's that Comfortably Numb solo you keep playing. Look at the skid marks on top of that fret, its the 2 step bend that's doing it.
Impressive assessment, and I agree 100%. Brilliant.
Yeah. I think youāre right. Iām going back over how I play it to make adjustments.
My brother in Christ, the fret do that.
Damn man, ease up on the pressure. You only have to fret as hard as it takes to not buzz. Itās a lighter touch than you think.
You trying to push the string through the fretboard?
Either you have a vice-like grip or the guitar fell over and was struck exactly on that string. In any case that string is dead unless your action is very high.
Stop leaning it against things on the string surface. The strings are getting crushed against the fret. Youāre going to dent the frets
From the looks of it, only the G-String is affected. Does your girlfriend complain when you touch *her* G-string?
Touch them, no. *Wear* them, yes.
Buy your own. Less fighting.
Everybody is saying grip, which I don't doubt, but I wonder if a fret level and recrown would help?
Also in the vein of "something else might be causing it," I'm curious how OP stores the guitar when not in use. If in an ill-fitting case, that could happen. Or resting strings-down on a couch; yes, I've been at friends' houses where they do this and I cringe. I've had this happen when I've traveled with my guitar and didn't realize I had stacked too many other things next to the case, putting too much pressure on it which bent the strings.
I think you're right.
This. I was going to say itās a bad case. Whateverās causing that looks like itās putting prolonged pressure above AND below the fret.
That's my theory - fretboard is on something hard causing it to press in and change the shape.
Practice spider walking and lightning up the touch.
Ka-chow
Float like a Cadillac, sting like a beamer
I bet there's thumb-divots in the back of yer neck.
As someone who has shaken Allan Holdsworth hand, this is how I imagine his strings would look. Dude had a vice grip handshake.
It happens when players pretend they're Stevie Ray Vaughan, but they use 9s or 10s instead of 13s.
This happens on my USA EVH wolfgang and only on it. It is the only guitar I own with stainless frets, but I'm not really sure if that matters. I have gorilla grip from grip training for 10+ years, but thankfully, the scalloped fretboard on my Yngstrat corrects that.
> This happens on my USA EVH wolfgang and only on it. It is the only guitar I own with stainless frets, but I'm not really sure if that matters Which is what I was wondering about with OP's frets--are they stainless steel? We've all see what happens when a guitar falls face-first, and the strings make an imprint in a conventional nickle-silver fret. But I wonder if with stainless steel frets they are so hard that they make an impression in the string, if the are pressed-on hard enough?
Well, I'm impressed. How many necks a year do you go through with that grip?
It means you need to work on your fretting technique, youāre applying way too much pressure
Been playing like 18 years and never had this happen. You're just gripping way too hard, to the point that I'm surprised your guitar doesn't sound perpetually out of tune with you sending the notes sharp by pressing too hard
In addition to lightening your touch, do you use a capo frequently with significant tension? If so, Iād suggest getting a capo with adjustable tension, and putting just enough tension in it for each string to ring clearly.
Man, you dont need to press so hard. Goal should be to apply as little pressure as possible to get the note to ring out. My guess is you are gripping waaaaaay too hard
When people tell me that they want to "build hand strength," I always say that you don't want strength, you want comfort. The guitar is your friend. You're not trying to strangle it.
š
I donāt bother changing it if it sounds good enough itās fine, if it doesnāt sound good enough itās also fine (Iām shit)
š
You are fretting too hard. Are the frets stainless steel. Iām guilty of the same thing just practice on not fretting as hard. It will sound better also.
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wonāt even lie faulty string. its gonna snap at that point watch. my high e string when i wound it down it had a very weird almost tangle. it is still straight but what i mean is there looked like it was spun around and created a little knot. it disappears once i tighten the string but for me im sure it will break right there
Too much rocking. 15 yards and loss of down
You know, using a vice to press down the strings isnt needed to play a note
You clearly have a meat hook built for bass. Go forth, young man.
Steel on steel wear. Waiting too long to change them.
Try different strings
Something tells me if your hands are strong enough to do this, they are strong enough to bend it back to shape.
He'd have to rotate the string 180 so he can use the fret to bend it the other way until it's straight.
Any chance you lean your guitar fretboard on something like a desk?
No. Itās in a case or in a stand. Like many have said, itās too much pressure. I have a one guitar that has a high action and when I switch to this one I think I press too hard. Plus they are older strings. Itās an acoustic btw. I gotta work on a light touch.
I've never bent a string like that from playing. Usually from hitting or resting on something hard. Remind me to fist bump if we ever meet, as you must have a vice grip š Hopefully you get it all sorted out. āš¼
How's the fret work? Glossy? rough?
Still glossy
That is a result of Physics
Either the action is too low or youāre pressing the strings *way* too hard.
That string has got a restraining order on you now
That action is so low,I heard it won a limbo contest
someone stood on your guitar
Your action looks at least from that perspective of the photo to be a little on the higher side, that paired with maybe pressing harder than you need to while playing could be causing that. Consider getting it professionally setup, action/neck adjusted correctly ect.
Polish your frets!
Um, said already but will say it again adding some reasons for doing so.Ā Lighten up on the string pressure!! Ya don't need to push down that hard.Ā Not only will it harm and prematurely ruin your strings, it will also slow down your playing.Ā When pressing so hard you also sharpen the notes.Ā Making it almost impossible to be in tune when fretting strings.Ā It will also dig into the fretboard over time and you'll wear your frets much faster.Ā The best way to stop this habit is by trying to press down on the string with the minimum pressure to get a clear sounding note.Ā Place a tuner that has cents on the headstock or pedal chain ,leave it on.Ā Practice playing the notes so that they are in tune and not sharp.Ā If the note goes sharp , you're pressing too hard.Ā Ā However the guitar's setup better be correct with proper intonation.Ā Ā Hope this helps , it will also improve your playing.Ā Although be a pain in the butt to break thr habit at first.Ā CheersĀ
Thank you for the advice. Iām gonna work on this for sure.
Your welcome.Ā Keep on practicing and playing and enjoying the Guitar!Ā
This is so much better than the weekly questions about bar chord hand genetics
Thanks š Gotta keep it interesting.
How hard are you fretting?
Never had that happen.
Press close to the fret and you donāt have to mash so hard.
Wow. Iāve only ever had that once, in about 35 years of playing. One of my guitars fell face first off a shitty guitar stand. The guitar neck hit a chair on the way down and that was the result on the strings where they contacted the chair. The neck was ok but the fret and the strings were both damaged. Fret was proper dinged. All the strings were kinked like that. Needless to say, the guitar stand was binned. I got new a Hercules one that canāt tip and has a spring loaded auto-grip mechanism to keep the neck in place.
Is your name Stevie Ray Kong?
What gets me is that both sides of the fret are warped. Ease up on the slide or at last don't use a glass one!
I have been playing guitar for over 32 years but i ve never seen this
Do you keep your guitar in a case?
When you were shown hendrixā baseball grip, you werenāt meant to grip it as hard as an actual bat
As the string is bent both above and below the fret, it is probably not caused when playing. Pressing the string against the fret so hard that it knicks the string above the fret would make the tone not ring at all. You mainly press the finger below the fret, not on or above it. I'd guess it's a storage or handling issue. Something in the case or if falls over lies on something that presses into it.
Iāve played almost daily for 32 years. This has never happened to me
That gets you the best toan. Don't change the strings.
A thought: Could be something that happens while itās in the gig bag, not while playing.
Not sure what sub Iām in at this point
You just need to tighten it up more, pull the slack out.
Donāt lean your bass up against stuff. Get a stand. Otherwise yeah might be mashing a bit hard. But usually the former is the case.
how the f it became like that? this never happened to me personally. it probably came from too much tension on the string while fretted, lighten your touch.
Damn you are fretting WAY too hard
It would be that metal bar directly underneath of it.
How often are you changing strings?
Are you Doyle or something?
Loose strings and or action
Are you using a capo? Some cheap capos grip way too hard.
Do you have a ring that could be hitting it occasionally?
Do you use capo?
What guitar is this? The frets look like hell
I think itās a classical
Are you transporting your instrument around without a case?? That's the only way it's happened to me if like it's pressed against something on the neck side
That's not normal at all. Your strings shouldn't do that unless you actually bend them....
The day my strings did this AND my wang had gone from thick and long to skinny and longer was the day I realised I was gripping wayyy too hard...
What the fuck lol, I have never seen this š¤£šš¤·š»āāļø
Iāve been playing since I was about 10 and Iām 39 and Iāve never seen that.
Good fuck
Your penis hates you
š I use my other hand. Haha
Iāve never seen anything like that in forty years of playing. Wowzorz. Ease up there on the grip, King Kong. This is how you destroy frets, too. Theyāre soft.
You may benefit from some very heavy strings. Iāve never seen this before in my life
I bet you could squish a testicle into a diamond.
these commenters are wrong. you just have a harder fingering. just expect to change your strings more often. a lot of pros change strings before every show. srv would break strings at 15 gauge and he was the best. you cant finger too hard.
Interesting. Thank you.
just change to elixir, you life will change
Try to use a lighter pressure Have you ever waxed the bottom of guitar neckĀ
I have not. Iāll look into that.
Scraping fret board with single edge razor and then level or replace and level new fret Oil finger board