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Topic: 14 String Bar |
Dave Little
From:
Atlanta
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Posted 8 Mar 2007 3:27 pm |
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Who makes a long bar for a 14 string guitar? Or do you 14 string players just use a bar for a 12 string - 3-3/4" to 3-7/8" overall?
Dave Little |
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Michael Johnstone
From:
Sylmar,Ca. USA
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Posted 8 Mar 2007 6:32 pm
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| I've always used a 4" bar for a 12 string. I've got a couple so called 12-string bars that are a tad under 4" but they don't cover all 12 strings - especially up the neck. And you can use up 3 3/4" right quick on long slants across 12 strings.For a 14 stringer I'd find out what it takes to do what I need to do and get a bar made to that length. I have a 15/16ths x 4" Bullet bar and I like it real well. A 4" bar may work for you depending on what kind of reach you're going for. |
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Dave Little
From:
Atlanta
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Posted 8 Mar 2007 8:50 pm
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The 14 string (25 year old) Sierra I just obtained measures just under 4" (out/out, 1st to 14th) at the 12th fret. If I covered all the strings there, I would need a bar about 4-1/2" (min) including the nose. I just haven't seen a bar this long advertised at any of the maker's web sites I've checked. I suppose "special order" may be the only way to get one.
Dave Little |
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Michael Johnstone
From:
Sylmar,Ca. USA
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Glenn Suchan
From:
Austin, Texas
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Posted 9 Mar 2007 11:01 pm
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Dave, I played a Sierra SCM SE14 (14-stringer) for better than 10 years. Prior to that my main horn was an Emmons S10 push-pull. Shortly after I got the 14-stringer I had a bar made specifically for the Sierra. It was made by a friend who works in the machine shop at the Physics Department at The University of Texas. I had him machine the bar to my specs from a billet of type 410 stainless steel. Aside from the radius on the nose and a chamfer I specified on the circumference of the butt end (I can't recall my specs for those), the dimensions are 4" length x 1" diameter. The bar had tremendous tone for the Sierra especially with the .080" low E string. However, after awhile, I went back to the 10-string bar I already had. The reason: It is much easier to move quickly and accurately than the bigger bar. Frankly, I never had any problems using a 10-string bar on a 14-string neck, or a 12-string neck, for that matter.
I included the custom bar when I sold the Sierra a few years ago.
Keep on pickin'!
Glenn |
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Brian Henry
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Posted 10 Mar 2007 7:38 am
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Dave, You will never have to cover all the strings. Just stick with a regular 10 string bar.
_________________
LOOKOUT MOUNTAIN GEORGIA |
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Earnest Bovine
From:
Los Angeles CA USA
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Posted 10 Mar 2007 8:19 am
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| Once in a while I need to cover first and last string on my 12 string. So I use a 4 inch bar. But it is more important that you are comfortable and can handle the bar the other 99.9% of the time. |
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Michael Johnstone
From:
Sylmar,Ca. USA
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Posted 10 Mar 2007 9:17 am
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| I also need to catch strings 1 and 12 at the same time occasionally. I used a GeorgeL 1" x 4" bar which you can buy off the shelf and it's a big heavy bar by most guys standards. I played it for about 7 or 8 years and got pretty good at slinging it around as fast as I needed to. Slants were cake and vibrato was easy to keep smooth. One thing I really liked about it was that you could get your fingers around it to pick it up for "tipping" real easy. A couple years ago I got that 15/16ths x 4" Bullet and it's a tad lighter while maintaining all the attributes I need. |
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