Guitar playing question

[Username_In_Use]

How to remedy dead/muffled strings?

I hold the guitar properly, I use the proper form when holding the fretboard, I use proper form when holding down frets, and I don't have sausage fingers, yet when I attempt to play most any chord, I get dead strings. Google doesn't help other than to tell me that I'm not holding it right(when I am) and to replace the strings, which I've done. I used to be able to play guitar in high school, yet now, with no seemingly significant increase in fingertip size, I can't even play a chord.

I'm trying to avoid going into a guitar shop for repairs to the tuning pegs/bridge/whatever the hell else it could be.

 

[breezyblue]

hi there, you probably know more about guitar playing than i do but the reason i usually get dead strings is because i am not pressing hard enough and the string ends up vibrating past the fret i am pressing on = soft boundary when i really want a hard one in terms of waves. perhaps try pressing more firmly?

 

[rosco rathbone]

What happens when you fret a note on one string and play it? Do you get a dead sound then?

It could be a lot of things--bad string, bad technique, fret or bridge problems, or any combination.

 

[Weird Harold]

How to remedy dead/muffled strings?

I hold the guitar properly, I use the proper form when holding the fretboard, I use proper form when holding down frets, and I don't have sausage fingers, yet when I attempt to play most any chord, I get dead strings. Google doesn't help other than to tell me that I'm not holding it right(when I am) and to replace the strings, which I've done. I used to be able to play guitar in high school, yet now, with no seemingly significant increase in fingertip size, I can't even play a chord.

I'm trying to avoid going into a guitar shop for repairs to the tuning pegs/bridge/whatever the hell else it could be.

If you're doing everything right and still getting dead strings, then you're going to have to take the guitar to a repair shop to get the frets rpaired or replaced.

Before you go to that extreme, go to an instrument shop and try out a few different guitars; if the problem follows you to from guitar to guitar a repair shop won't be able to help, but an instructor might.

 

[EjAcKuLaToR]

These are all very good suggestions. Particularly going to a music shop and seeing if your problem is YOU or your guitar. It may be that your guitar needs to have the action adjusted and there's nothing at all wrong with the way you're playing.

If the problem turns out to be you, maybe the problem is that your fingering isn't as close to the sound-hole side of the fret as possible. If your fingering is to the HEAD side of the fret, you're gonna have problems. Even in the middle can cause some problems. I know it's not a perfect world...and not everything is possible to finger an exact chord perfectly every time (at least not for me).

Maybe you need to make sure you're not the problem, make sure the guitar isn't the problem and then don't worry so much about a dead string or two. Play your songs and love them. Forget about one missed note here or there.

Jack

 

[MikeS1]

I know I had this problem when I first started playing. Since you haven't played in awhile maybe your fingertips have gone soft. Once I got my calluses on my fret hand the dead strings became less and less frequent. This might be all there is to your problem.

 

[EjAcKuLaToR]

Good point Mike. The callouses do make a big difference.
Jack

 

[Username_In_Use]

Thanks people, part of the problem was my lack of fingertip callouses(forgot about that), while most of the problem was the actually fretboard. I had a guitar buddy of mine come over and he said that the fretboard was too small for the size of my hands(thats what I get for a $40 impulse buy of a Les Paul Jr....) and that I needed to go into Guitar Center or something equivalent and his brother would hook me up with an Epiphone G-400 SG that's still in good condition(since he knows I'm in love with SG's).

Well, happy ending, the guitar works fine, my chords are a bit muffled yet much clearer than with my other guitar(I'm attributing that to my buttersoft fingertips...). Now I just need to scrap up some money for some Gibson pickups and a better amp, maybe a decent effects pedal....shit I forgot how expensive guitars can be. Not as expensive as drums though.

 

[Username_In_Use]

Thanks people, part of the problem was my lack of fingertip callouses(forgot about that), while most of the problem was the actually fretboard. I had a guitar buddy of mine come over and he said that the fretboard was too small for the size of my hands(thats what I get for a $40 impulse buy of a Les Paul Jr....) and that I needed to go into Guitar Center or something equivalent and his brother would hook me up with an Epiphone G-400 SG that's still in good condition(since he knows I'm in love with SG's).

Well, happy ending, the guitar works fine, my chords are a bit muffled yet much clearer than with my other guitar(I'm attributing that to my buttersoft fingertips...). Now I just need to scrap up some money for some Gibson pickups and a better amp, maybe a decent effects pedal....shit I forgot how expensive guitars can be. Not as expensive as drums though.