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12-String
Tuning
Q I can't
figure out how to use my electronic tuner to get my new 12-string
into standard tuning. Are there specific tuners for 12-strings?
Can I use a chromatic tuner?
Kostas
Kritsilas
Calgary, Alberta, Canada
 A
A regular tuner should
be able to do the job, since the octave strings are tuned to the
same notes as a regular guitar's strings. With the exception of
expensive strobe tuners, there is no tuner that will tell you which
octave a string is tuned to, so just as you have to know by ear
whether your standard strings are within the range of standard tuning,
you'll need to train your ear to recognize when the additional strings
are in the approximate octave range. It may take some practice (I've
broken many an octave third string thinking I had to go higher than
I did), but you'll get the knack.
—Teja
Gerken
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Loosening
Your Grip
Q When I
play, I wrap my thumb around the neck to fret the fifth and sixth
strings. I've developed some pain in the heel of my fretting thumb,
and I'm wondering if my technique could be the cause.
Jody
Keeler
Epsom, New Hampshire
A
The joint at the
base of the thumb is quite complicated because of the many directions
and types of movements the thumb can make, so it's not unusual for
it to become irritated or sore. You can reduce the likelihood of
pain and inflammation by making sure you're not working your thumb
joint harder than necessary when you fret the strings of your guitar.
Hold your guitar comfortably
with your left hand touching the neck but not gripping it. Choose
a fret on the sixth string and touch the string with your thumb
without pressing the string down. Pluck the string. You won't get
any tone, just a dull sort of thud. Now, keep plucking the string
while gradually pressing down a little harder, then a little harder,
then harder still, until you hear a clear tone. Stop and notice
the amount of pressure it actually takes to produce that note. If
you're like most players, you'll discover that it takes a lot less
force than you've been using. Practice lightening your grip and
eliminating the excess pressure.
—Sue
Thompson
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Headstock
Repair
Q I
have a cheap old acoustic guitar with a cracked headstock. I would
like to make it at least playable again, but I don't want to spend
money repairing it. Is there any simple way to repair it on my own?
Rachel
Robinson
Central, South Carolina
A Repairing
a broken guitar headstock can be simply a matter of regluing the
stock with wood glue and clamping the pieces, just as you would
glue and clamp for general woodworking. The quality of the clamping
determines the quality of the glue job, just as it does for furniture
making. If you are confident as a woodworker, you should be able
to handle this, making suitable padded clamping blocks and using
standard woodworking glue.
Many times,
though, the headstock breaks along the grain lines, leaving precious
little gluing surface. As a guitar repairman, I'm often called on
to fix the "impossible" ones where there is no good gluing area,
parts are missing, or old repair efforts left the surfaces contaminated.
In those cases, I add structural reinforcement, often in the form
of a backstrap overlay. I'll remove a slice about À-inch thick from
the back of the peghead all the way down the back of the neck to
the area behind the second or third fret. Then, when I laminate
new wood over the area, I can be sure that the neck will be stronger
than before it was broken. The procedure I use is illustrated on
my website, www.frets.com.
—Frank
Ford
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Send Questions, tips, or observations to Acoustic
Guitar’s online discussion forums at www.acousticguitar.com
or write to Q&A, Acoustic Guitar, PO Box 767, San Anselmo,
CA 94979-0767.
Excerpted from
Acoustic Guitar magazine,
September
2002, No. 117.
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