Muddy middle G# and B on an S12 keyless with a 25 1/2"

J D Sauser · From: Wellington, Florida

I have an Excel Superb which was custom made for a friend.
It came with a wound 20 or wound 22 for the middle G#. I've long plaid "normal" PSG's with a wound string on that position and thought it sounded better... but on that guitar, the wound G# had some "funny" ghost/over tones I could not get to develop much love for.
So, I installed a plain 20 and reset it's pulls accordingly (shorter pull). It sounds OK... by itself and the strange overtones were gone.
The guitar is pretty Cristal clear, the treble strings are not piercing and the "bass" strings sound lively and bright... BUT the middle pair of G# and B... sound oddly muddy, compared to the rest, really somewhat DEAD. I think I got an 18 or 17 gauge on the B.
Fist I thought it was the amp, the room, the picks... what ever... but it's those two strings and it annoys the heck out of me.

Sure, Even compared to a 24" scale guitar with a keyhead, THOSE two strings are actually SHORTER on the keyless 25 1/2" scale guitar, as those strings will usually be the two which will have to reach ALL the way across the key head, being in the middle.

Should I go to a p22 on G# and... I don't know... on the B?

Have others experienced that phenomenon with their Excel Superbs?

Thanks! ... J-D.
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The uses of Tablature is addictive and has been linked to reduced musical fertility.
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Rick Kreuziger · From: Merrillan, Wisconsin

I have a 2007 Excel Superb U12 and can't say I've noticed anything like that...
Mine has a BLXR16 pup with .022 wound 6th & .018 5th strings.
Could it be a pickup problem?

Ken Metcalf · From: San Antonio Texas USA

I do not have an Excel but have noticed that effect using Fender tube amps.
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MSA 12 String E9th/B6th Universal.
Little Walter PF-89.
Bunch of stomp boxes

Barry Hyman · From: upstate New York, USA

JD -- I've been wanting to tell you for a long time. The past tense of "play" is "played." "Plaid" is a type of fabric... Sorry to be the "spelling nazi" but you always do this, and your posts are otherwise so intelligent and thoughtful that I had to speak up...

Don't know what could be making those strings muddy, though. Lower poles on the pickup? Old strings? Both a wound and an unwound string should be bright enough... Good luck, bro.
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b0b · From: Cloverdale, CA, USA

What brand of strings, JD? I've plaid Evil Twisted

strings that were dead right out of the package because they had been sitting on a store shelf for 5 years.

Also, is there anything unusual in how the strings are attached at either end? Sometimes a string will ring bad if it isn't centered right, or if the ball winding is too long and it suspends the string above the changer finger.
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J D Sauser · From: Wellington, Florida

Sorry for having disappeared for a while, on my own thread. I've been traveling.

Thanks for the spelling hint... I deducted "pay = paid" so play HAD to be plaid. English is obviously built on ONE rule only... exceptions Very Happy

But thanks I appreciate. I pride myself of trying to write well.

b0b, I think I currently have Ernie Balls on it.
The CARTER U12 set with the plain o.o20 for G#.
I know other E9th setups may have a o.o22p on that position which may have been substituted on the Universal package with the o.o20 for two reasons:
1-longer head stock... that string usually is in the middle of the tuning and thus reaches further back on a 12 string than on a 10 string.
2-the G# to Bb whole tone pulls on the B6th pedals?

As I said, the guitar came with a wound string on it, and contrary to my previous experience with o.o22w string on that position, I found that it generated "funny" over tones.

... J-D.
_________________
__________________________________________________________

Was it JFK who said: Ask Not What TAB Can Do For You - Rather Ask Yourself "What Would B.B. King Do?"

A Little Mental Health Warning:

Tablature KILLS SKILLS.
The uses of Tablature is addictive and has been linked to reduced musical fertility.
Those who produce Tablature did never use it.

I say it humorously, but I mean it.

b0b · From: Cloverdale, CA, USA

Some guitars have strange overtones on the longest strings. As a test, deaden those two strings in the keyhead by stuffing a piece of cloth between them. If it sounds better, a rubber grommet between the strings will do the trick without looking tacky.
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J D Sauser · From: Wellington, Florida

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