Hello,

I've finally taken the plunge and purchased a ten string stick. I've got it set up now so that it plays OK and the intonation is set. I'm having trouble with the two outer strings however.

The highest pitched bass string and the highest pitched melody string do not have the volume the inner strings do. It seems that I have to strike these strings a lot harder to get a decent sound as compared to the other strings.

I've set the pickup height as high as it will go without buzzing. I know I can reduce the height of the magnets for the other strings to compensate but the outer two strings just don't seem to have the same feel as the others.

This may be resolved with more practice but I'm wondering if it's a setup issue. When I received the stick the two outer strings were wound the same as all of the others which is contrary to what Emmett recommends in Free Hands. Could this be causing a poor response/feel on these strings?

Has anyone else encountered this? Thanks in advance.

Yes, I had that issue with my 12 stringed Grand when using light strings. Switching to Medium strings solved my problems.

Thanks for the reply . I'll give the medium strings a try. Looks like a new set from Stick Enterprises is $36.

You might want to consider a pre-amp to level out the volumes.

New strings are always cool. I recently switched from worn out lights to brand new mediums and it made a HUGE difference

I've currently got the melody strings running through a Digitech guitar effects pedal and into the high gain input on my Peavey guitar amp. The bass strings are going through a Digitech bass effects pedal into the low gain of the Peavey. This gives me a really wide range of sounds but I still haven't got a good basic uniform sound across the board.

The warmth of the tube amp is great but I'm a little bit leary of putting bass frequencies through the 12" speaker.

What sort of pre-amp would you suggest? I can't afford a Step About at this stage of the game. I saw a neat little effects rig built out of a tool box on this site. There was an inexpensive pre-amp incorporated into that rig.

I'm currently trying to avoid compression until I get my basic technique down. How does everyone feel about compression?

You have a really good concept of developing touch and technique first. Bake the cake first and then add the icing!

I look at compression as an instrument. Well, almost. Anyway, if you practice it you get better at making music with it. With the STick I love compression! I think it can give both a three dimensional depth and an up-your-face feel, when used first on the two sides individually and then on the stereo sum. Compressor settings has to balance the energy in your playing in a subtle way. Look at it as putting a pair of awesome walking shoes on your feet! It doesn't really change what is, but gives a better definition to what is happening.

With respect to Per's suggestion about medium strings, there could be a lot of reasons why you aren't getting the response you expect.

1. The action might simple be too high at the bridge on those strings. There should be a downward slope on the underside of the strings as you go from thicker to thinner strings, so the thinner ones should be considerably lower at the bridge.

2. There could be an issue with the way the pickup is adjusted, too. Where did you get your instrument from? Used Sticks are often set up badly, but can be easily corrected.

3. Are the strings old? the thinnest ones suffer the most from age, I think

4. Also if the truss is too tight, that will "choke" the outside strings off first.

If you can take a picture of the bridge and/or pickup and post it, that would be very helpful.

Let's get it sorted out.

Dubyasee's right. Do avoid compression. Each of your hands is a 5 channel compressor. There's an incredible dynamic range to play with. Use it unless you're already a victim of the loudness war