help! I cant hear 3rd string G#

[Ben Godard]

I know this problem has been talked about before but i wanted to see what people think.

The high G# (3rd string) greatly loses volume past the 12 fret. It's always been this way but I have kinda worked around it. but sometimes it just too dificult to do. My guitar is a Franklin D10 and I use Paul Franklin's signature strings. That being said, the 3rd string is .012 instead of .011. I have read a little on the forum about this problem but i would like to hear your input.

Please feel free to comment

[Bob Tuttle]

This may or may not relate to your problem, but I discovered recently that my high frequency hearing has deteriorated to the point that I can't hear sounds in that frequency range any more. I was listening to a violinist on TV the other night, and when he played up high on the neck on the high strings, the sound just disappeared. Too many years sitting in front of a loud amplifier I guess.

[Lane Gray]

Also, what speaker? Some bass speakers will start weakening earlier, and even the "full-range" ones will crap out about fret 26 or 27 on the 3rd string.

[Bo Legg]

I don't have a Franklin but I had that problem with my Stage One. I solved it to a great degree by using a heavier than 10 gauge string on the 3rd string G# and by using lighter gauge strings on strings 1, 2 and 4. Those strings still sustain well even with lighter gauges which allows me to get more bar pressure on the G# string.
What was occurring with a 14 gauge on the 4 and a 14 gauge on the 2 I wasn't getting enough presure on the 3rd string.
Since you're using a 12 on the G# I suspicion a problem with the nut roller like loose part or oil cares etc.
I used some “paper shedder oil” on the nut roller for lube and it totally killed the sustain on one of my Sho-Buds until I got it completely washed out.

[Tony Williamson]

have you tried messing with the eq? maybe a new brighter pickup, and my hearing has a big drop in the high freq range.

[Carson Leighton]

If there is no dirt under the string at the roller nut and your are sure that your cords are good,,then I am going out on a limb and say it's your pick-up...If you raise your F# to G# on the first string and don't have a problem with the volume on that string,,then that should tell you something...I had a problem like that one time,,and it was the pick-up.. It could be your ears too.....Carson

[Jack Stoner]

I had that problem with an amp. Moving to a different amp and everything above the 12th fret opened up.

I have a Franklin D-10 (I use George L's strings) but I don't think the string brand is causing the problem.

Guitar Cords can also cause loss of high frequencies. I was using Belden guitar cable and switched to George L's and it too opened up the high frequencies.

Do you have the same problems on both necks or just the E9th? If its just the E9th it could be a bad pickup.

[Henry Matthews]

Get you an adjustable pole pickup like a Telonics or on of those other brands that are adjustable. I was having same problem as you with 3rd string and also 1st string and as Bob Tuttle was talking about, probably my hearing but anyway, I put a Telonics 84 on mine and was able to adjust that out and they are great sounding pickups. Solved My problem.

[John Billings]

If you're pressing down on the strings with your bar, and you have fingers damping the strings behind the bar, how is the roller nut even involved in the equation? The tone bar has become the "roller nut," the physical end of the vibrating string.

When you're up that high, that thin, high tension string is not doing a whole lotta vibratin' in the pickup's magnetic field. Thus creating a weaker signal. EQ or pup change may be the only answers. I'd try EQ first, fur shure!

[Ben Godard]

Thanks guys. I've been meaning to get back to my steel to investigate it further but I have been busy this weekend. I will take everyones advice. That was a whole lot of good info. I would love to try the telonics pickup idea but i hate to stray away from a stock BL710 pickup. The sound I am use to is produced by the BL710 and I hate to start from scratch again.

My 1st string sounds OK as far as I can tell but its a .013 not a .012 like my 3rd string.

[John Billings]

Well,,,,, now we're talking about physics,,,, perhaps. Magnetism, voltage generated, etc.. It may be that a fatter string sounds good up to the mid fingerboard, but a thinner string might sound better higher up. IOW, it might have a larger "perambulation" in the pup's magnetic field, and actually generate a stronger signal than a very high-tensioned, fatter string. I frankly don't know! But I still feel the roller nut is not, in any way, a factor!

[David Mason]

The "bigger string for a bigger tone" idea, which is a hangover from acoustic guitars, just isn't true on electrics. It is true that fiddling with the ratio of sizes can change things, but if you start mixing brands to do so who knows what will happen. You could ask Billy Gibbons which brand of .008's he uses...

[chris ivey]

maybe it's the brand of steel. my zum doesn't seem to have a problem like that.

nor did any of my emmons' or sho-buds.

[Jack Stoner]

I have BL710's on my Franklin. Do you have them set 3/16" from the strings (on both ends)? That is how I have mine set and Mr Franklin (Sr) looked at mine and said I have them set correctly.

I'm using a .011 3rd string.

[Ben Godard]

Ok. What I will do is check the roller nut and finger, check the pup height, and i will try a new G# string. I will first try another .012. If that doesn't help, then I'll go down to a .011.

I let you know what I find.

thanks

[Steve Lipsey]

And check your amp EQ- cutting back on the mid control, which a lot of people do, directly hits the fundamental of the third string above the 12th fret....