Hallmark 60's Custom & string change problems

[sleeperNY]

Are you getting a good ballance with the wound 3rd set from D-addario? I was thinking about trying a set on the Custom.


LOSTVENTURE
Yes I like the sound of a wound 3rd string but then again I started playing when almost everything had a wound 3rd. I have used many sets of strings with a plain 3rd but none of them sound good to me on my Gretsch guitars. Maybe because they have a bar bridge I'm not sure. I am thinking about trying some 110w's on my 60 Custom and even have them but just never think about them when I change strings. As far as balance goes you just have to adj. the pickup poles a bit and your off and playing.


Jim

[LOSTVENTURE]

Good morning SleeperNY,
I have also used wound 3rd's on my hollow body Getsches. They seem to react much better to those big bodies. At the time I had just purchased a 10-pack of D'addario EXL110's, so when I decided to try the wound 3rd's I bought a 10-pack of the singles from Guitar Center. I have tried them on some of my solid bodies and seem to have a problem getting the pick-ups to balance the overall sound, particularly for soloing. That's why I was asking. I do have to admit that the singles I got were Ernie Ball, and The difference in nickle content may be my problem. If you are having better luck with the D'addario 115W, then that may be what I have to try.
Thanks for your reply.

[sleeperNY]

Depending on what gauge you want,Daddario's are available in both 10 (exl110w) and 11 (exl115w) gauge. I never had great luck buying singles and having them match like I wanted. Maybe just me but they never sounded like the sets for some reason. I would also dare bet that most of the recordings from the 60's and back were done with strings with a wound 3rd.

Jim

[sleeperNY]

http://gretschpages.com/articles/mals-b ... eshooting/

Check this out fore setup info and it also has a pic of how to setup pickups for both plain and wound 3rd's
I have this saves on my computer because I think it has some great info.

Jim

[Veenture]

http://gretschpages.com/articles/mals-big-guide-guitar-setup-and-troubleshooting/

Jim, that is a great link and well worth saving to keep on coming back to it, thanks for pointing it out.

[mark1]

LOSTVENTURE wrote:
I didn't know exactly where to put this question, but since it involves my new 60 Custom I thought this might be appropriate.
I palyed the guitar for two weeks with the GHS 10's that came on it. No problems whatsoever. Then I changed to my ususal set of D'addario 10's and my world fell apart. The neck went straight overnight, no visable relief at all and buzzing and flat string responce, as you would imagine were all over the place. I adjusted the truss rod untill I had some relief, and then a little more because that did not help the problem. I am really afraid to do much more since I don't want to damage that little neck, but right now the guitar is not playable and I'm not happy. Any ideas?
Don


Did you change the strings one at a time or did you take all the old ones off all at once? These necks are thin and can go straight fast.Changing one at a time helps keep tension on the neck. It might take a day or so for the tension to bring it back.Also ,I see that you are in N.Y. state. I'm in western Ma. and if your having the same humidity that I am that can affect a neck a LOT!!

[LOSTVENTURE]

Hi Mark1,
Actually I am in North Carolina, but the humidity has been particularly high the last couple of weeks here too.
I originally changed the strings one at a time. However when I saw the relief start to decay I had to remove tension on all of the strings in order to remove the neck pick-up, which is required in order to adjust the truss rod. I did this maybe a half a dozen times, making small incremental adjustments each time before I could see a change in the relief. That was around 8:00pm. The next morning I had to start the process over again because the relief had over compensated overnight. Live and learn. I just figured that that little neck was stronger than I realized. It may well have been the humidity (although the house is constantly air conditioned) and I do raise the temperature slightly overnight.
Strangely enough that second round of adjustment may have done the trick. Again it took overnight for the neck to respond completely, but now the buzzing has been cleared up to the point that I just raised the bridge slightly and I seem to have a fully operational guitar again. YEA !!!
Thanks for bringing the humidity factor onto it. I'll just wait for winter before I make any drastic truss rod changes, Ha Ha.
Don

[mark1]

If you made that many adjustments it might take a few more to get it where it should be.
As the humidity rises so does the center of the neck causing buzzing and rattles.

[LOSTVENTURE]

Thanks Mark1, I plan to keep a close eye on it for a while. So far it seems pretty constant.
I appreciate your input.
Don

ps: I picked up my tele this afternoon and felt like something was missing. I really missed that big body of the Hallmark.

[TimR]

Looks like you guys about have this sorted out now, but I'll just add that I also changed out the GHS strings on my C60, to D'Addario EXL110's (plain 3rd). I had no problems. I did notice however that the trem bar sat a little bit higher than before, which tells me the new strings had less tension. I then switched out the spring with the extra one that came with it. This is apparently the lower tension spring, as it lowered the bar considerably -which I like better.

Also, I am in KY., where the humidity lately has been horrendous. I have made absolutely no adjustments to truss rod or bridge. It is still perfect.

Tim