Squeaky Strings

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What do you all do to avoid it? If I make a chord shape on one fret, a barre chord say, and just drag it up the neck, I often end up getting that squeaky sound. Up until now I've been ignoring it, but recently I started thinking about exactly what to do, which fingers to lift up how far, and now I just thought I'd ask you nice people for your thoughts.

― k/l (Ken L), Wednesday, 7 December 2005 20:39 (nineteen years ago)

3 options:
-use flatwounds
-learn to lift your fingers up
-don't worry about it

― walter kranz (walterkranz), Wednesday, 7 December 2005 20:48 (nineteen years ago)

Possibly: leave you strings on longer? (They seem to do this less as they age.) Slide with just the barre finger and not the others (since side-of-finger doesn't squeak)? Lower action? Run rosin-type stuff onto your wound strings for smoother slide? (The squeak we're talking ahout is your calluses running over the ridges of the wound strings, right?)

There are some recordings that use that chord-shifting scrape to really wonderful effect, but yeah -- obviously you wouldn't necessarily want that all the time. I dunno, I think I usually just wind up letting the last stroke of a given chord go kinda bum/open while moving my left hand, in the standard fashion. (Another thing that's been used to wonderful effect -- I think like 90% of Nirvana songs are all about that one bum chord during the switch.)

― nabisco (nabisco), Wednesday, 7 December 2005 20:50 (nineteen years ago)

It's weird, usually I don't notice/care about string scrapes on recordings, but every now and then I will key on it and not be able to listen to anything else.

― Jordan (Jordan), Wednesday, 7 December 2005 20:57 (nineteen years ago)

you know, i used to worry about it, but then my playing just kind of got better, more fluid or something, and it became much less noticable. I do kind of like the sound though, it's kind of idiosyncratic and makes me think of/picture the actual instrument being played - which i like, but maybe that's just cuz im a musician too?

― AaronK (AaronK), Wednesday, 7 December 2005 21:07 (nineteen years ago)

also, they sell string lubricators in little bottles that you can apply to the strings. generally it's kind of an all-purpose solvent/oil solution that cleans your strings and instrument, lubricates the strings to minimize squeak, and makes it smell nice.

― AaronK (AaronK), Wednesday, 7 December 2005 21:08 (nineteen years ago)

Some players I know rub lotion onto their calluses to keep the skin a little softer to lessen the squeak. Don't forget, if you're playing electric, you can actually EQ it down! I've even noticed some OD/dist pedals make the squeak more noticable, no doubt because of their natural EQ.

Personally I've never noticed mine to be all that obtrusive so I just ignore.

Also, FWIW the side of my barre finger sometimes DOES squeak! The whole side of that finger is a very mild callus though. Does that make me a freak?

― martin m. (mushrush), Wednesday, 7 December 2005 22:19 (nineteen years ago)

yes.

― AaronK (AaronK), Thursday, 8 December 2005 00:07 (nineteen years ago)

eight months pass...

― captain reverend gandalf jesus (nickalicious), Wednesday, 23 August 2006 13:27 (nineteen years ago)

You can go emo like Elliot Smith did and emphasize the string-squeak.

― Shoes say, yeah, no hands clap your good bra. (goodbra), Thursday, 24 August 2006 03:30 (nineteen years ago)

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