Guitar Tech Insider: Hands on with Greg Howard

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January 6, 2009

Guitar Tech Insider: Hands on with Greg Howard

Friday, 17 October 2008 20:47

Greg Howard - GJD Contributor
GJD: Last time you spoke about different ways to string a “Gibson-style” guitar (3 per side). What about a “Fender-type” guitars (6 per side) ?

GREG H: First off, I’ve never really liked string trees. I don’t like strings getting hung up. I love Kluson tuners. On the wound E, A, & D strings. I’ll do it with one wind. On the G-string, I’ll use two or three winds and on the B and high E string, I’ll wind all the way down to the post and not use the string tree. Then once I have the strings on, I’ll leave some slack. Then I’ll stretch the heck out of them with both hands going up and down the neck.

GJD: How did you learn all that?

GREG H: Rob Flynn from Machine Head showed me that technique. He also showed me how to do it so that I wouldn’t shred my hands. But now I am so used to it that nothing seems to bother my hands.

GJD: Do you break a lot of strings when doing that stretching technique?

GREG H: Yes, a fair amount. But it’s a good test to see how tough each individual string is. Also, it’s better to have them break when you are stretching them as opposed to during a show. Another thing, some guys like to stretch their strings sideways because that’s more realistic of how the strings are played in a real life situation. But that can be tricky because you can destroy the nut and that would not be a good thing especially on a vintage instrument.

GJD: Let’s get back to the “Gibson-style” guitars again. A lot of folks have trouble keeping the G-string in tune. What do you do to alleviate that issue?

GREG H: Amazing enough the technique that I spoke in my last column about earlier seems to usually do the trick. However, if I’m still having an issue, I will adjust the tuning peg tension screw to the proper tension. That seems to really help.

GJD: What about locking tuners?

GREG H: I don’t like them very much because I find that the locking mechanism breaks the strings when it clamps down on them.

GJD: What are some other tuning systems that you’ve worked with before?

GREG H: One of my past clients was Brad Delson from Linkin Park. He is a PRS artist and I used to hate those old style channel tuners that were on PRS guitars. But after awhile, I learned to work with them and now I really like them. However, on his later guitars they switched to a newer system that reminds me of the Sperzel locking tuners, which as I mentioned earlier I do not like. So, I guess I can’t win and I just have to make due with what I’m working with.

GJD: Let me ask you one more thing. Do you think that the type of tuner
has a big change of the tone of the guitar?

GREG H: Absolutely without a doubt. But a lot of if has to do with the type
of guitar you have and what you trying to achieve.

GJD: Maybe we can get into that next time.

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