Own 15 guitars, can't figure out why one is so hard to play (strength required)

[sgim43]

I have a Martin GPCPA1 and man is the thing difficult to play on some songs when there's a lot of bar chords or chords the require stretch. I don't understand it. String gauge is the same as other guitars. Action is on the higher end of normal but I have others just as high, yet the string tension on this thing seems nothing like any of my others. I don't get it. Anyone? I only play acoustics.

I suppose 15 guitars aren't all proper comparisons, as some are different scale lengths or ones I leave in non-standard tuning, but at least 6 guitars can be considered equal comparisons... not to mentioned other's I've owned over the last 10 years of my playing. I actually haven't played this one much until recently because of this issue until some significant issues occurred with my D18 ( ) and my guitar guy fell off the face of the earth so now have to find another.

Best things you can do are address the action and/or lighten the string gauge. And play it more -- I've had guitars that fought me until I flogged them into submission!

[AcousticDreams]

It is very possible that your nut depths are set too high. You can have the same height at the 12fret from guitar to guitar...so the action will appear to be the same. But they will feel totally different.

If it is hard to play in the first three frets...And especially at the very first fret...but not down at the 8 to 12 frets..then it could be that the nut string height is off. I would suggest you get some inexpensive spark plug feeler gauges from an automotive store. Under $5. They are thinner than standard feeler gauges at about 1/4 inch wide. You can measure accurately underneath neath the string up against the nut with this type.

If your string height on the first fret-at the nut is over .45 thousands...then this could be the problem. Frets are usually around .40 tall. Many say that ideally nut height, should be the same height as your frets.

I am dealing with the very same thing right now. Planning to take a trip to a great lutheir who will adjust it for myself.

[brencat]

Originally Posted by sgim43

I have a Martin GPCPA1 and man is the thing difficult to play on some songs when there's a lot of bar chords or chords the require stretch. I don't understand it. String gauge is the same as other guitars. Action is on the higher end of normal but I have others just as high, yet the string tension on this thing seems nothing like any of my others. I don't get it. Anyone? I only play acoustics.

I suppose 15 guitars aren't all proper comparisons, as some are different scale lengths or ones I leave in non-standard tuning, but at least 6 guitars can be considered equal comparisons... not to mentioned other's I've owned over the last 10 years of my playing. I actually haven't played this one much until recently because of this issue until some significant issues occurred with my D18 ( ) and my guitar guy fell off the face of the earth so now have to find another.

I'm betting your nut slot depth is not optimal. Time for a proper setup!

[MIGAS79]

The time this happened to me it was the nut. You are playing closer to the problem when it’s the nut (as opposed to a saddle issue) so it’s worse.

[DenverSteve]

I had one of these that played fantastically. I bet you just need a great set up and all will be fine.

[ii Cybershot ii]

First you should try to get it set up as perfectly as possible.

Then make your judgements again.

All of my guitars are setup exactly to my specs, I do everything myself using digital calipers, StewMac tools, and a ton of OCD Despite all that, each one of my guitars is unique and has a different "stiffness" to how it plays which is dependent on a lot of variables.

[nikpearson]

In my experience some guitars feel more stiff to play because their soundboards offer more resistance. One would think that with identical actions at nut and saddle, the same neck relief, scale length and string gauge, that guitars would feel the same to play but this really isn’t the case. There is certainly some correlation between feel and how easily the top and bridge move. This is most noticeable on a Bourgeois 00 all mahogany instrument with a 25” (635mm) scale length. The strings appear to have more tension than an instrument with 650mm scale length, all else being equal, but that cannot be true unless my grasp of physics is incorrect. The Bourgeois’ top feels does feel stiffer, I suspect in large part due to it being mahogany. I’ve accepted this feel because the guitar sounds superb and very different to my other instruments.

Certainly worth getting a quality setup though to remove any doubts.

[TBman]

Put a capo on the first fret and play it. If it is suddenly playing like a dream guitar, your nut slots are too high. The whole setup might need to be redone because if you lowered the saddle to try to make it easier to play without adjusting the nut and relief you'll need a new saddle or a shim for it.

I'm not a professional guitar tech, but I do my own set up tweaks in this order:

1. Neck relief
2. Nut slots
3. Saddle adjustments.

I play finger style though so I don't need/want a lot of neck relief. The flatter the neck the better.

[ljguitar]

Originally Posted by sgim43

I have a Martin GPCPA1 and man is the thing difficult to play on some songs…

HI sgim

Action and ease of play involve the nut slot depth, the saddle, neck relief, overall height of the action, neck angle, and the strings. If any of these is 'off' then the action will be affected.

Any guitar which is properly built (without neck or bridge issues) can be setup to play hard driving bluegrass lead or play smooth and easy jazz licks (opposites in terms of setup).

There is often no simple diagnosis without factoring everything together, so suggestions about nut-slot, string-weight, saddle-height, etc only have a 1-in3 or 1-in-4 chance of identifying the issue.

So we are just guessing from what you told us mixed with our past experience. If there are techs here commenting - listen to them, but I suggest you scout out local repair techs in your area and get to be friends with them.

If you live in an area where there is a really good local repair tech, or better yet a luthier who builds guitars, it's worth having a pro set-up done.





Can you do it yourself. Sure. There is YouTube, and places like Stewart McDonald have books and DVDs on the topic. And YouTube is your friend.

[1Charlie]

Frets also matter, both height and width.

I have fought with guitars before, and a good fret leveling/dressing helped a lot.

In one case, I elected to do an entire re-fret (which included leveling and re-radiusing of the fretboard) to achieve excellent playability in an heavily-used instrument.

If your Martin has a lot of playing time on it, just one more thing to consider.

[Tony Burns]

IMO having alot of guitars does throw a person off from time to time -
Thou they all bring something to the table , their are all individuals
( like people ) somedays I play A over B , and both are great guitars .
I have one guitar that does have a bit higher action , but to lower the action
would make it a different guitar . But you might want to take it to a tech and
do a set up .