Forum - Banjo Ben Clark

Relief and Setup

#61

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I’m seriously thinking about getting atleast my D18 slotted to see if I can hear a difference.

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My D18 is now slotted. While searching for a mystery noise on it, I noticed that my B string pin was a bit loose when seated. I had noted when I bought the guitar that the previous owner had apparently done a little work towards slotting it and either stopped short of slotting it altogether or had much lighter gauge strings (or maybe different pins). I ended up just needing to tweak the slots a little and the pins are flipped backwards.
As far as tone differences, I have been messing with my pick grip so my tone and my ear are totally out of whack (I basically went to a closed hand grip like in Bens pick speed video). With that said, I think it made the tone a bit better. The most describable difference is a sharper attack and tighter bass. The notes seem to “pop” a bit more percussively.

There is a much higher ramp angle (like most every Martin) on the lower strings and I am thinking I might ramp the slots on the G, B and high E strings to give it a bit more high end punch. Since I had my little saw out, I thought about going ahead and doing it, but I want to make the various changes incrementally to see what effect I could determine. The slots did seem to make a minor improvement, but again, my attack and ear are pretty out of whack.

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#62

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(I basically went to a closed hand grip like in Bens pick speed video)

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How was your right hand position before? Were you anchoring somewhere, or dragging your fingers?

#63

My hand was open and I wasn’t anchoring. I wouldn’t say I was dragging fingers (like Sutton and others intentionally do), but my pinky would sometimes make contact with the top. The biggest change was to move my pointer and thumb to where it is more overlapping (like if you were going to make a puppet out of your hand). The pick is closer in to the hand and it has much more meat on it. I am not dragging on the bridge anymore (with a “better” wrist angle). Surprisingly accuracy hasn’t been a big problem (I thought my position sense relied a bit on the bridge brushing). I am getting much more wristy movement. It shows promise of better speed with less effort. It’s not all roses though. I did bleed a bit (just like Bryan Adams) as my fingers are taking a bit of time to learn to stay up and out of the way of the strings. As I mentioned before, I am not getting the tone I like. It does seem to be improving, but it still sounds like crap to my ear. It might be a while to adjust, and it might just be a trade off I have to learn to love. I am about a week in and still learning how and when to apply pressure, and how NOT to apply pressure. Part of the grossly awful tone issues early on had to do with attack angle and how firmly I was holding the pick (think Vader Death Grip). In case you are wondering why the change… I felt like I needed to fundamentally change if I was going to have a chance to significantly improve. I had been hanging out at a plateau for a long time. It was fast enough to be usable, but my playing wasn’t as even as I wanted unless I was backed off a bit. I just figured I would give it a shot.

#64

I think I understand your grip change… the pick was more parallel to your index finger and thumb before and now it’s more perpendicular?

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my fingers are taking a bit of time to learn to stay up and out of the way of the strings

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I struggle with this, too. I have a hard time keeping my hand curled up like Ben does without feeling like I’m making a fist, but when I relax a little, I’ll often notice my fingers drifting down towards the pick guard (and with fast rhythm playing my hand really wants to fly open).

#65

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I think I understand your grip change… the pick was more parallel to your index finger and thumb before and now it’s more perpendicular?

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That’s correct. Another way of looking at it is that my thumb tip was previously around the outermost pointer finger joint, and now it’s closer to the next joint in.

#66

I am sitting in for a a guy twice this weekend on bass. I have had my 70’s PBass since 1986. It was starting to need some attention, so this was just the motivation I needed. I did a fret dress and overall setup. It hadn’t seen any real attention since about the time I got it. I set it up when I got it and then just played it for almost 3 decades (man, that makes me feel old). I probably spent about 10 hours working on it. The frets took the vast majority of the time. There’s a lot more real estate than on a ukulele. Someone who does it for a living would of course have been quicker, but it really made me appreciate what they do. If you find a good guitar tech, give 'em a hug.
[attachment=0]PBass.jpg[/attachment]

#67

That is something I would never have the nerve to attempt. Did you get some training or learn by trial-and-error?

#68

I didn’t receive any training, but I learned alot from reading and from conversations with those more knowledgable. Once you get a general understanding, most of it is really not difficult, it’s just time consuming. You could screw things up if you worked at it. I have had to replace saddles that I got too low, but that’s gonna happen when you are picky. Certainly someone who is more experienced can get the same or better results in much less time. I just enjoy doing it. I haven’t had great luck replacing frets (I got more chip-out than I would have liked). I haven’t tried a neck removal/reset, but other than that, I’ve been happy working on my instruments.