Still learning...

 

I was feeling the need to put a fresh set of strings on the Traveler guitar (the little teal blue one).  I expected it to be a pain... I wasn't wrong.

A couple days ago, while looking on the internet (the source of all knowledge) I learned about "the luthier's knot."  I don't know how I've gone 60 years of playing and working with guitars, but didn't know about this.  It is a knot (of sorts) that you use when restringing a guitar.  Looked easy enough, and it is supposed to "lock" the string on itself to help eliminate that time after a string change when you have to constantly retune.  Of course, I didn't see anyone doing this with a Traveler guitar.  That should have been a sign.

The "recommended" way of string changing on the Traveler site looks like it would have potential for the strings to "slip," meaning: constant re-tuning.  I am not just a pretty face - I decided to restring my Emerald X10 (which was due for fresh strings) first, giving me the chance to practice that luthier's knot.  Six times...

 Half way done on those images above, and it went slick.  I tuned the guitar up, and it stayed in tune.  Which is pretty much what happens with all my Emeralds.  Changing strings takes time, but it is generally kind of a zen thing for me - I know the guitar will sound and feel better with fresh strings.

Time to give it a try with the Traveler Speedster Deluxe.  Mark had told me that string changes on the Traveler were "brutal."  Turns out, he undersold that description...

 It felt like I needed 4 hands to do this.  I gave up on that luthier's knot 15 minutes into the first string.  Well, it did take take a couple minutes to get the strings off one side of the guitar before putting on that first new string.  That's OK - I was getting a bit rusty on frustration... this got me up to speed right quickly.  Four strings in and... twang!  I broke the A-string.  In all these years of playing, I have never busted an A string during a string change.

And for fun, when that string snapped, it flung a necessary piece out of the saddle.  A little bitty necessary piece.  I looked all over my desk - nope.  I carefully went through that Hawaiian print quilt I use for padding when working on a guitar - also nope.  I got down on my hands and knees (and that isn't easy for this septuagenarian) and started looking through all the fibers in the carpet.  A scant 20 minutes later, I found it.  Well, I found some of it.  The piece is a miniscule barrel shape with a notch (where the string runs over it), with a small shaft that runs through the barrel piece.  I never did find that tiny shaft.  I decided that with tweezers and my magnifying glasses I could put that tiny barrel shape piece in place, then using 3 of the 4 hands necessary for this task bring the string over that piece and run it around the back of the guitar... and then thread it into the tuning peg... and try to get some tension on the string before losing that teeny-tiny piece again.

I only had to do that twice.  Nothing zen about it - I was making up new swear words.  Somehow, I got it all in place.  Not sure I would ever be able to do that again.  My hand muscles ache, my back hurts, and I have a headache from the eye strain.  But, other than that, I am fine.  And only one more string to go.

Thankfully, that last string went easier than the 5th string.  Not because of any newly acquired skill; more like dumb luck.  Regardless, I'll take it.

I tuned up the guitar and... retuned it about a hundred times.  I really like this Traveler guitar, but string changes are, indeed, a royal pain in the ass.  Once it seemed that the strings had stopped slipping, I checked the intonation and action... well, this is new: on the high E-string, there is a buzz at the 10th, 11th, and 12th frets.  It is fine above that and below.  Seems to me the best way to deal with this is with a truss rod adjustment rather than raising the saddle, since the sound is good everywhere else on the neck.

I hold my breath when adjusting the truss rod on a new-to-me guitar... no idea if any adjustment has ever been made with it previously.  A quarter turn and... nothing broke, and there was a bit less buzz.  Looks like I am going the right direction.  Three more small adjustments (more than I have had to do on any other guitar) and this little guitar is buzz-free and the action is still good.

I played it for a while.  Even though my hand muscles were aching, it was somewhat therapeutic.  Well, good for my mental state.  And good to know I didn't ruin this guitar by working on it.

Fun... except not.

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More guitar content: I got together with Mark this afternoon; worked up 3 or 4 new songs for when the big group gets together next week.  It's always a good time when he and I are making music together - we just mesh.

My fingers are a bit sore after all the guitar playing the last few days.