Bends Cut Out Options

[Tom_Cop]

Hoping to find a solution to this problem:
When i try and and do a full string bend on the high E string past the 12th fret the note cuts out and doesnt ring. Dont think its my technique which is the problem because i can do them fine everywhere else on the neck. Ive tried playing through a range of different tones as well to see if it was due to the noise gate or compressor but that made no difference, may it be the set up of my guitar (Gibson SG)? If so what can i do about it?

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[MickeM]

I know this
Your pickup is likely too close to the strings. So when you bend the string moves out of the area where the core can pick up string vibrations.
Lower your pickups a few mm and try if it's become any better.

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[Ajmurrell]

I have this problem too on my strat, never thought about pickup height - thanks MickeM!

I always presumed it was a truss rod issue on the strat, and didn't dare touch it untill I took it to a guitar tech.

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This post has been edited by Ajmurrell: Jan 30 2009, 05:39 PM

[Tom_Cop]

well one of the screws is actually lose so thanks for making me notice that one!! But still no change, its not the pickups, it does it even when not hooked up to the amp? Any more suggestions?

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This post has been edited by Tom_Cop: Jan 30 2009, 07:09 PM

[Velvet Roger]

This has most probably to do with:

1) Bad neck relief (to be adjusted with the truss rod).
2) If the neck relief is ok, the action should be a bit higher in order to be able to bend 1 whole tone.

It took me quite a while on my strat to get the right action and neck relief in order to easily bend 1 whole step from the 12th fret onwards on the high e string, but now I am more than happy with it.

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[MickeM]

Oh and I was so sure

I suggest you look at what Velver Roger suggested then. I had a guitar like this which had no sustain what so ever. The tone just died.
There was no fixing that one, that guitar was a cheap one and it sucked both in hardware and wood. Simple as that. Hope yours is better and fixable.

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[Ramiro Delforte]

Roger is right, that sounds like a truss rod problem. Check if your neck is straight, if not you can adjust the truss rod yourself or if you don't know how to do it get the guitar to a repairment shop.

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[Muris Varajic]

Could be also just a fret, not necessary truss rod,just a thought.

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[John In Socal]

yeah I am going to guess it's a fret issue, had the same problem on my strat when bending due to uneven fret wear. Try raising the action, but if you have to raise it too high then you probably need to take it in for a fret dressing.

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[Zephyr]

Sounds like an action problem to me - but if raising the action slightly doesn't help, then the truss rod may need adjusting. There are ways to check if the truss rod should be adjusted, though, and I wouldn't do it unless it had to be done.

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[Sensible Jones]

Sounds to me like it's 'choking' out on a higher fret. As others have mentioned, this could be caused by either the neck alignment being wrongly adjusted or a high fret above the 12th. Try raising the string action until the 'choking' stops and also check that the frets are seated into the fretboard properly. I had a case where the 14th fret was lifting out of the fretboard and 'choking' the top E and B strings!

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[Ivan Milenkovic]

Truss rod and the fret layout are usually the problem in those situations. I would advise taking it to guitar tech for a proper setup. Perhaps he can adjust it so that you can have a better relief/action ratio.

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[buttmonk]

Yes, could be several things.

Pickups: If the pickup poles are more than 4mm away from the strings when not fretted (or 2mm when fretted on last fret) then that is probably not the issue, you can try lowering both pickups a long way (8mm or something) and then testing. Remember to make a note of how far away they were before so that you can put them back again. If you leave them far away from the strings it affects tone (power and attack reduced).

Neck bow: Check this on both high and low Es. Stick a capo on the first fret then hold down the string at the last fret (24, 22, 21, depends on how many frets you have), then see how much space there is between the string and the frets around frets 7-12 (the middle of the neck). There should be about .25-.4mm (a slight forward neck bow), if the string is tounching the fret, the neck is either flat or back bowed and it needs a truss rod adjusment. Similarly if it is significantly more than .5mm then it is too forward bowed and probably needs a truss rod adjustment, but I think this is less likely likely to be causing ur problem (actually, it would prolly help it).

String height (action): This is the height the strings are above the frets when not fretted. If the neck and setup are good this should be adjustable down to 1.5 to 2mm without issue. If your action is lower than this then try raising the bridge a bit, for your issue, maybe just raise it on the offending side. If you check the other things I mention here first and they are not the issue, you could just try raising the bridge a little bit at a time on the little E side until u are able to do the full bend, if the action is significantly more than 2mm tho at this point it would suggest that something else is a wrong.

Bad fretwork: Check this with a straight edge (e.g. credit card, may need something shorter at that end of the neck since frets are close). Check all the frets below (towards the bridge) where your problem is, and check at the same place where the string is that has the issue. Take 3 frets at a time and place the straight edge so that it is resting ONLY on these 3 frets, if all 3 are the same height then of course you won't see any gaps and you will not be able to rock the straight edge up and down. Do this test using each fret as the middle fret until u have covered all the frets. If you find a fret that is higher it is probably the cause of ur problem. It may have popped up and needs to be pushed back down into the fret slot, else it may need levelling, either way u likely would want a luthier to fix it.

Warped or twisted neck: If u are really unlucky this is the cause of ur problem, and there is not much that can be done about this other than replace the neck or guitar. However, this is almost certainly not ur issue since u state that u have only 1 specific and small problem. If the cause of this was a small neck twist or something, it anyways sounds so slight that would be corrected by a fret levelling job done a by a luthier/guitar tech. Actually, probably there is no such thing as a neck that does not have some sort of very slight twisting or whatever.

hope this helps

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This post has been edited by buttmonk: Feb 1 2009, 06:57 PM