Guitarists - String Guages?

[Granskog]

What string guages do you use?

Im asking because im having difficulties when playing "Romeo-style-string-skipping-tapping". I find it hard to pronounce a sound of decent volume. Especially on the highest frets of the lower strings. I also think its hard to ascend strings by hammering on with the left hand. Its WAY more easier to play descending than ascending.

I thought that my 10-52 (standard tuning) strings might be a reason for the problem.

Whats your views?

/Kalle

(Feel free to discuss general Romeo Tapping as well here. )

 

[Odysseus]

i personally use standard light gauge strings (elixer) 10, 13, 17, 26, 36, 46. Maybe your slightly thicker string gauge makes a little difference but there are other things that might affect playability too, like how high is your action? You'll definately want pretty low action for doing romeo kinda tapping Also, I'm not sure how long you've been playing or what your skill level is or anything, but sometimes i've found myself getting a kindof weak sound from hammer ons and pull offs when I'm just getting sloppy and not putting enough strength into it, so make sure you're not just half-assing it. Although in romeo's case he could quarter-ass it and it'd still sound perfect. One last thing I could think of... I remember when I was just starting to try the romeo tapping stuff I couldn't get a decent sound from the notes that I'd tap no matter how hard I'd hit it, and I eventually realized that accuracy in exactly where on the fret you tap is much more important than strength. I hope this helps. I also posted a sort of lesson which just showed the shapes of different arpeggios when they're tapped across 3 or 4 different strings on the powertab archive awhile ago but I think it got removed when they remodeled the website. Let me know if you're interested in seeing it... I might post it again if anybody's interested enough.

 

[ABQShredHead]

Your problem may be in the setting of your neck. You may have too much relief in the neck which will cause the notes in the higher registers to fret out on the higher frets. You can do a quick check of your relief by holding down the G string at the first fret with one hand and a fret where the neck meets the body (14th-18th fret) and then look to see how much distance there is between the G string and the other frets. If there is none, you need to add relief. If there is a lot, you need to tighten the truss rod to remove relief. I would take the guitar to a good tech to let them adjust it properly rather than fiddle with it myself. You may also need to shim the neck to ensure it is setting properly in the pocket.

Also, pickups could play a role here - maybe yours aren't hot enough to pick up all the sounds from the strings. Romeo uses Dimarzio's hottest models - X2N in the bridge and a Tone Zone in the neck. Odysseus' point about a weak, sloppy touch will be further expounded by weak pickups.

Finally, make sure you're muting the other strings. If they are vibrating, the energy they produce in the pickups may be stronger than the energy your smaller strings are producing when you're tapping.

I think a set of 11's may help as well, if you're tuning down to D as Romeo does. If you're in standard pitch, you shouldn't have problems with 9's or 10's.

 

[XeroX.]

please post ur lesson on tapping arpeggios

 

[Taliwakker]

Xerox wrote

please post ur lesson on tapping arpeggios

I thought you would have had that down after playing for 6 months........

 

[Odysseus]

Xerox wrote

I thought you would have had that down after playing for 6 months........

hehehehe I'll post it if you're serious about wanting it.

 

[Granskog]

Im pretty sure my guitar is set up properly. I use pretty high action however (not that high, just not super low), basically because i pick the notes pretty hard. Im trying to work away that because i waste a lot of movement and energy by picking so hard. Eventually i might get a little lighter strings and lower the action. It (thicker strings) is however very good for your legato as you work up your left hand strength.
My Ibanez stock pickups are pretty hot so i dont think that is a problem. And I thought Romeo used EMG's? Well thats just even hotter.


Ive played guitar for maybe 3-4 years but it wasnt until recently (march this year) i discovered symphony x. Ive PLAYED their stuff for even less time. Its probably as with all techniques, you have to work on it for a long time to get results.

I think youre right about the accuracy thing, i will check that out. And yeah the muting is probably the hardest part of it.


Accuracy and muting, thats what i'll be working on!

And yeah, Odysseus, that lesson would be great! (Although, the best lessons at this is probably Romeos solos. I like that 6 string jump in Inferno!!)

 

[Progbass]

Tap with bass few years and then try guitar, feels pretty light,

 

[XeroX.]

im serious, any new lesson is good lesson.
now please stop making fun of me, if u dont believe just dont make fun of me and dont mention it again

 

[XeroX.]

and dont say im a show off please! im not saying that I can play anything, there are lots of things that maybe for u are easy but for me difficult, like sweeping, but what the hell, I promised to stop talking about this

 

[dargormudshark]

9's

 

[dargormudshark]

i personally use standard light gauge strings (elixer) 10, 13, 17, 26, 36, 46. Maybe your slightly thicker string gauge makes a little difference but there are other things that might affect playability too, like how high is your action? You'll definately want pretty low action for doing romeo kinda tapping Also, I'm not sure how long you've been playing or what your skill level is or anything, but sometimes i've found myself getting a kindof weak sound from hammer ons and pull offs when I'm just getting sloppy and not putting enough strength into it, so make sure you're not just half-assing it. Although in romeo's case he could quarter-ass it and it'd still sound perfect. One last thing I could think of... I remember when I was just starting to try the romeo tapping stuff I couldn't get a decent sound from the notes that I'd tap no matter how hard I'd hit it, and I eventually realized that accuracy in exactly where on the fret you tap is much more important than strength. I hope this helps. I also posted a sort of lesson which just showed the shapes of different arpeggios when they're tapped across 3 or 4 different strings on the powertab archive awhile ago but I think it got removed when they remodeled the website. Let me know if you're interested in seeing it... I might post it again if anybody's interested enough.

I'm beginning on some simple descending E Diminished stuff. I'll mess with some actual Romeo stuff when I get those down Perfect. I try not to move on to anything harder unless I have it down perfectly clean.

 

[dargormudshark]

Your problem may be in the setting of your neck. You may have too much relief in the neck which will cause the notes in the higher registers to fret out on the higher frets. You can do a quick check of your relief by holding down the G string at the first fret with one hand and a fret where the neck meets the body (14th-18th fret) and then look to see how much distance there is between the G string and the other frets. If there is none, you need to add relief. If there is a lot, you need to tighten the truss rod to remove relief. I would take the guitar to a good tech to let them adjust it properly rather than fiddle with it myself. You may also need to shim the neck to ensure it is setting properly in the pocket.

Also, pickups could play a role here - maybe yours aren't hot enough to pick up all the sounds from the strings. Romeo uses Dimarzio's hottest models - X2N in the bridge and a Tone Zone in the neck. Odysseus' point about a weak, sloppy touch will be further expounded by weak pickups.

Finally, make sure you're muting the other strings. If they are vibrating, the energy they produce in the pickups may be stronger than the energy your smaller strings are producing when you're tapping.

I think a set of 11's may help as well, if you're tuning down to D as Romeo does. If you're in standard pitch, you shouldn't have problems with 9's or 10's.

What's your opinion on the DiMarzio Evolution pick-ups?

 

[Odysseus]

I'm beginning on some simple descending E Diminished stuff. I'll mess with some actual Romeo stuff when I get those down Perfect. I try not to move on to anything harder unless I have it down perfectly clean.

That's a good approach to practicing. I wish I could say I have that kind of discipline. I do think however that learning more difficult things even if you don't get the previous technique down PERFECT will make some areas that weren't perfect before easier without actually focusing on it. In this way you're sort of working at more than one thing at a time, but with your way you get perfect accuracy and more consistency. I wish i could be more patient dammit.

On a different note, I submitted my lesson to the powertab archive for those who were interested. I don't really know how long it'll take for it to actually be available for download, but I'll let ya know when and if it does get added.

 

[dargormudshark]

The fact is I'm a very impatient person. When I twelve and started to practice alot I would divide my stuff up sort of like John Petrucci. Instead of working on 32'nd notes for an hour with a metronome, then practicing sweeps for another hour and still not having it down the next night is annoying. I find it better to practice that one thing until you get it down at a comftorble speed and clearity. Once you get all the basic stuff down the harder stuff is'nt as hard.

 

[NGC 3370]

Standard Ernie Balls all the way for me.
Try diff brands because they all have their own sound to find the one for you

 

[TekChef]

On standard tuned Floyd loaded guitars, I use 9s.

I recently detuned my second guitar down to D to do Symph X stuff plus loads of other metal stuff that is downthere.(Think D tuning has replaced Eb as a popular metal tuning), and I think I am going to go to 10s on that one, even with a floyd.

On non floyd guitars, I like to have 10s in standard or D tuning. (I used to have a 79 Les Paul custom Silverburst. Great guitar..too bad it was so heavy it gave me back pain)

I agree it's most likley in your fingers. I suggest you go REALLY slow and focus on getting every note to ring out clearly and cleanly. You just might need to work up some finger strength.

 

[ABQShredHead]

What's your opinion on the DiMarzio Evolution pick-ups?

I was trying to buy a pair off eBay a few months ago but didn't get around to it and now money is tight. They're very nice sounding, as Steve Vai will atest to. They aren't as hot and pounding as Romeo's set up, especially in comparing the Evo neck to the Tone Zone in the neck position that Romeo uses. I would definitely like to have a set of these in a guitar. I love Vai's tone. But I've never played through a set; so, I can't really give you an opinion about their sound in my system.

You can check DiMarzio's website for tonal characteristics and ouput comparisons of all their pickups.

 

[SyXified]

Evos are really great in a lot of instances but you need a GOOD amp to do them justice. If you are just playing through a practice amp, I find evos blend everything into a big mush, and you can't get enough definition to even tell if you are playing correctly.

I have used 9s for a while but I have decided that you ultimatly have a much better control over vibrato and a better tonal quality as well with 10s. Tuning down a whole step or not with a Floyd shouldn't matter too much with tension because you can always adjust the springs in the back to compensate.

Playing like Romeo should be looked at in three sections: (my opinion of course)
Riffing, Lead Runs, and Solos

I'd say the main thing that all three need are solid alternate picking fundamentals. You have to be able to pop over strings and keep the up/down sequence going for the ultimatly best results. A good song to practice this on is Inferno. It gets you going on the lead alternate picking as well as the rhythm consistency in the chorus.

Getting MJR riffs down is just somthing that you can approach casually and just keep at it until it gets under your fingers. His style is like no one elses and so feels a bit foriegn when you start but eventually if you just rock out with some SX tunes will feel natural.

Lead Runs is all about metronomes, proper picking technique that you do the same way every time, and making sure you are playing as clean as possible. Try the intro to Out of the Ashes or the Breakdown in Fallen on the clean channel and make sure you alternate pick the whole thing on each.

Solos..... yeah...... are hard..... work on tapping and muting at the same time is my best advice. I still can't really pull off MJR solos well enough to say I can play them, and I can pull off a lot. It strikes me as being a lot of disciplined motion and good palm muting.

 

[Granskog]

A good song to practice this on is Inferno. It gets you going on the lead alternate picking as well as the rhythm consistency in the chorus.

Im can't agree more. Its really awesome in every way, alternate picking, strange rhythms, tapping, legato, sweeping(well, not TOO much) and whammy tricks, its all in there!