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Posted by: kaznie_NL Mar 15 2009, 03:53 PM

Hey guys,

I wondered whether there is something I can adjust on my Ibanez to make it easier to bend and do vibrato... ATM, I cando both fine, but not as wide and easy as in the lessons.... I know I could higher the action a bit. Anyting else?

Posted by: 29a Mar 15 2009, 04:02 PM

What string gauge are you using? Thicker strings tend to be more difficult to bend. Also on guitars with longer necks like Ibanez also put more tension on the strings.

Jonas

Posted by: Xuestor Mar 15 2009, 05:16 PM

practice and more practice

I can do bends on my les paul with 11's on it in standard tuning. It's just about to work up some muscle strength in the fingers.

Posted by: Pedja Simovic Mar 15 2009, 07:43 PM

You can drop the tuning, it would make bending easier. Also, get lighter string gauge, that can help as well

Posted by: kaznie_NL Mar 15 2009, 08:07 PM

Well I have 0.09 so that's light enough Muris makes his vibrato look so easy, so that's just hard work Am I right when I say that there is a little difference in between guitars? For instance a cheap strat copy will have tighter strings then a high end ibanez?

Posted by: Ivan Milenkovic Mar 15 2009, 10:06 PM

Doing bends and vibratos is all about technique, there is very small amount of effort into them once you master the technique. You just need to focus a bit more on practicing bendings, and it will come very soon. It's a boring exercise, but works wonders.
Regarding guitars, yeah hi end guitars are often "softer", but practice is the most important thing. Hi end guitar doesn't really make anything more accurate than it is, it just makes things more smoother and nicer to play

Posted by: 29a Mar 16 2009, 09:31 AM

Actually it's possibly harder to bend the strings on a expensive JEM than on a cheap Epiphone Les Paul because of the different scale length. You should also make sure that you bend with the strength of your arm not with your fingers. I'm sure there is a lesson that explains this somewhere on gmc.

- Jonas

Posted by: -Zion- Mar 16 2009, 09:56 AM

i think practice is the way to go..

i was learning a solo this weekend, and it had a 2 step bend.. man, it was difficult, but after a while it wasn't that big a deal.. it just became easier and easier..

Posted by: sted Mar 16 2009, 12:02 PM

I got 9's on my strat and 10's on my Les Paul and the difference is immense, the scale length of the strat makes bending very easy, too easy with 9's tbh but the LP is much shorter and a real workout for bends, especially when i'm trying to gary moore stuff when you have to hold the bend in tune, going from one to the other is really weird, but i got to say i prefer the fatter strings sound and feel, its somehow easier to control with that bit more resistance behind the string!

Posted by: ZakkWylde Mar 16 2009, 01:17 PM

Buy a set of 11s or even 12 gauge strings, put them on and practice bendings and vibrato - IT WILL KILL YOUR FINGERS but after a month you will hafve built up strength and precision and when you switch back to 9s, you will bend 4step bends like nothing and your vibrato will be MUCH BETTER!

IT WORKS!

Posted by: kaznie_NL Mar 16 2009, 02:39 PM

I BELIEVE YOU!

Posted by: ZakkWylde Mar 16 2009, 05:43 PM

Believe me it's not much fun, especially when you overdo it and get blisters but the increased finger strength improves not only vibrato and bends but also legato and coordination... I keep the strength up by useing my downtuning guitar (with heavy strings) in standard tuning from time to time