New Guitar is more difficult to play!

Gear & Tools Talk 🎸 Guitars, Instruments & Maintenance
1

Hi all.

I’ve been following, and reached the end of ‘Grade 1’ having started with zero experience.

I’ve just upgraded my acoustic guitar from a ‘Tiger AG4’ to a Tanglewood Sundance Performance Pro X45 NSE’.

The newer guitar seems much more difficult to play; specifically the A chord seems almost impossible to make sound right.

I feel like I could get away with my index finger being further back from the fret and therefore making more room for my other fingers in the same space on my old guitar.

On the new guitar I’m getting the muted/ buzz coming from the index finger on G string.

I can apply WAY more pressure when practicing the chord to make it sound correct, but it’s painful and not really feasible whilst actually playing.

Is this a common thing? Does it need adjustment? Do I just have to suck it up and practice more for even bigger calluses!?

2

you should go to a luthier to get it set up :slight_smile:

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3

I was wondering if that was the case. :+1:

4

Yeah, sounds like you need the action lowered. Acoustic guitars usually come with a high action because it’s easier to lower it than raise it.

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5

If you bought it at a music store they may have a free set-up in the first year policy.
The place I deal with does.

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6

That makes sense, but I bought it online from a private seller on ebay.

7

In addition to a higher action, the new guitar may have thicker strings on it than your previous guitar. I suggest changing strings to the same gauge you had on your old guitar as part of a fresh set-up on the new guitar.

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8

I was going to say strings also. They often will put heftier strings on new guitar than are necessary IMO. Depending on how comfortable / confident you are, you may consider a truss rod adjustment. It is free and might fix the problem easily.

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9

I would recommend to let a luthier change the strings gauge and touch the truss rod

when you change the strings gauge you also change the tension on the neck so its better to let a pro do the work

10

I would not discourage @davidhodges from learning to change strings and adjust the truss rod himself. Justin has a tutorial on string selection and changing, and there are good on-line resources for basic maintenance including truss rod adjustment. Dave may still want to take it to a luthier for a look since he got it used.

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11

Thanks everyone.

I’ve dropped a local luthier a line to get it booked in.

I don’t know enough about the technical set up myself, so would prefer it was adjusted by a professional.

Thanks again for your quick replies.

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12

This is a common problem… Especially if you use Justin’s recommended fingering for the A chord.

The Luthier should give you the final verdict, but while you are waiting on them, a temporary fix could be to tune your guitar to E flat, and put a capo on the first fret.

13

Hi David & Welcome to the Community!!!

It wouldn’t hurt to ask the luthier if you can watch him/her work on your guitar… also let them know that you are relatively new to the guitar & want to learn how to keep your instrument in good working order! I venture to say that most luthiers/guitar technicians like to talk about their methods… at least the ones I’ve met do! You can learn a lot & the opportunity to directly interact is better than watching videos!
Good luck & let us know how it works out!!!
:grin:
Tod

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14

what she said
I had similar symptoms on my first guitar, but was such a newb didn’t know it was how the guitar was set up and thought it was me. You might want to do some research among your guitar playing friends to find a good luthier. I’ve had from bad to excellent results with three different luthiers. I found that the online reviews didn’t properly reflect the quality of their work. Stick with first hand reviews if you have access to those folks.

Cheers,
Bruce

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15

I had this issue changing to a better acoustic, as it was up a gauge size compared to my first guitar. I’m used to it now, but may go down a gauge on the next string change to see if I like it better.

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