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Joe Bonamassa Forum → Joe's Guitars, Amps and Gear → Classic Player 60's Strat
Anyone ever played these? Opinions? I had a roadworn strat and absolutely hated it...mainly because the strings were just impossible to bend...this one has a 12" radius...If I'm not mistaken that means easier bending?
Man, I think you just need to be hard on your hands for a while. Use 13's for a couple of months just to strengthen your hands, that's what I did and I can now easily bend 2 tones with 11's on a strat.
All the best from Aus,
- Stefan
Man, I think you just need to be hard on your hands for a while. Use 13's for a couple of months just to strengthen your hands, that's what I did and I can now easily bend 2 tones with 11's on a strat.
All the best from Aus,
- Stefan
Be very very.... careful do not want to develop carpal tunnel syndrome. For those of you that do not know what this is ( I am sure you all do) you should read up on it.
Cheers Ron
Nah my hands are pretty solid...I use 11s on my LP and I can bend no problem...definitely something to do with the strat I had
Yeah your strat has 7.25 radius so if you think of it like a ball the smaller the the ball the smaller the radius which gives you big curves. The bigger the number the flatter the curve. So if your walling up hill you've got resistance. If your bending up a curve your going to have more resistance. If your walking on a flat there is less resistance then walking up the hill. Bending on a flatter radius will be less resistance. If your guitar has .011 and the radius is 7.25 you need to have a floating bridge and raise the action up higher. If your bridge is decked go for the .010's and keep the strings up higher. SRV used a 7.25 neck but used large dunlop frets the big frets allowed him to have the neck leveled then when he had the crowns on the frets the guitar done the frets were tall enough that it was basically flat across the board more like a 12" radius. Your going to run into this every vintage style guitar you try. Unless of course its got a flatter radius.
Yeah your strat has 7.25 radius so if you think of it like a ball the smaller the the ball the smaller the radius which gives you big curves. The bigger the number the flatter the curve. So if your walling up hill you've got resistance. If your bending up a curve your going to have more resistance. If your walking on a flat there is less resistance then walking up the hill. Bending on a flatter radius will be less resistance. If your guitar has .011 and the radius is 7.25 you need to have a floating bridge and raise the action up higher. If your bridge is decked go for the .010's and keep the strings up higher. SRV used a 7.25 neck but used large dunlop frets the big frets allowed him to have the neck leveled then when he had the crowns on the frets the guitar done the frets were tall enough that it was basically flat across the board more like a 12" radius. Your going to run into this every vintage style guitar you try. Unless of course its got a flatter radius.
Thanks for the info..the classic player has a 12" radius which sounds good to me.
You told me that two tone bends are impossible Jonny.... They're pretty easy man... Curvier fretboards are harder but it's not so bad, they force you to play less and in the case of vintage fenders the difficultly to play ends up being rewarding in tone!
The actual physical difference between a 7.25" and a 12" radius fretboard is not that great. You'll only really notice it if you're using a low action and skinny frets. The Roadworn guitars come with medium jumbo frets and I never could tell the difference between my Roadworn 60's (7.25") and my SRV (12")...though I use 11's and a medium-to-high action...
Back to the Classic Player 60's Strat though: they're amazing guitars for the money - easily as good as an American Standard in my opinion and yes they have a 12" board which is the same as a Les Paul. And they now come in my favourite colour for a Strat - Candy Apple Red..!! (I will at some point own a CAR Strat with rosewood board and tortoiseshell scratchplate with white plastics...)
You told me that two tone bends are impossible Jonny.... They're pretty easy man... Curvier fretboards are harder but it's not so bad, they force you to play less and in the case of vintage fenders the difficultly to play ends up being rewarding in tone!
Stefan a 2 tone bend is a 4 fret bend...That's extremely hard to do on any other string than the low E...I think you're mistaken between a tone and semi-tone..a 3 fret bend on the higher strings...maybe just.
Thanks for the advice Adrian! Will definitely head down to the shop and try them out.
I CAN BEND 4 NOTES!! I know I can do it man, I know what a tone is.
I CAN BEND 4 NOTES!! I know I can do it man, I know what a tone is.
We all can...but saying it's easy is just silly..chill out!
It's not that much harder than a tone.... You told me before that they are impossible.... But now you say we all can?
No issues man, just confused.
If you have the same gauge strings on a Fender and a Gibson, the Gibson will bend easier because it has a shorter scale length. I usually put 10's on my Fenders and 11's on my Gibsons, that way they feel similar.
I ususally bend it till I find it. 
I ususally bend it till I find it.
Thats how I get through many guitar solos..sometimes it ain't pretty but you just make a face and act like you meant to do it..
It's not that much harder than a tone.... You told me before that they are impossible.... But now you say we all can?
No issues man, just confused.
I dunno..it's just my opinion..I can do them but especially on the B and E they are a huge struggle and often would cause a string breakage...
Sorry about the confusion..didn't mean it to sound bad 
And Seth 
made me smile
Hey if Neil Young can make money at it so can I right?
AD3THREE wrote:I ususally bend it till I find it.
Thats how I get through many guitar solos..sometimes it ain't pretty but you just make a face and act like you meant to do it..
As for bending a 4 notes up, I can do 2 no prob. But it seriously takes me giving it all I got to bend any more then that to the point of testing my man hood. Not saying it can't be done but I'm just saying it might be easier on the finger tips to just move up a couple frets and then bend. 
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