Low action and Cathederal Strings used by Hank Marvin

[bor64]

Well Roger,
I reckon that paper doesn't any good for a clear sounding string....
When looking close to the paper it's sticking out on both sides of the nut, so maybe the part towards the frets is dampen the string.....who knows?


Cheers Rob

[roger bayliss]

Yes good point Rob

[Uncle Fiesta]

I seem to remember Hank mentioning that at first he couldn't get on with the heavy gauge strings that were on his Strat when he got it. If he later replaced them with lighter ones, this could well have caused rattling in the nut, which would have been cut for the original strings.

[JimN]

I seem to remember Hank mentioning that at first he couldn't get on with the heavy gauge strings that were on his Strat when he got it. If he later replaced them with lighter ones, this could well have caused rattling in the nut, which would have been cut for the original strings.

Nevertheless, the strings on the Antoria (flatwound, judging from photos in high res) or the Hofner (Cathedral or whatever was on it from new) are hardly likely to have been any lighter, though each will have had a slightly lower tension feel than did the Strat, due to their tailpiece arrangements.

The Strat and Tele each make the same set of strings feel more "taut" other guitars due to the sharp string angle over the bridge.

[cockroach]

Well, back then, the two most important things to players were the lowest, easiest action (heaven after the cheap things we had to learn on) and as much treble as possible!

Flatwounds don't tend to rattle and buzz as much as roundwounds- I played a three hour gig last night using only a Strat copy with 12-52 Monopole flatwounds with a reasonably low action...no buzzes etc but they are pretty dead sounding however (got another gig tomorrow night too, will be using the same guitar)

Using roundwounds after flats might give rise to some buzzes etc - maybe that's why Hank had a problem which he fixed as best as he could..

Not really knowing exactly what type of strings he used doesn't help- apart from the original strings on 34346, which were probably Fender flatwounds about 13-56, who knows what strings he used as time went by? He must have broken a few strings and restrung with new sets sometime. Sooner or later, he would have used up the OE strings and the spare sets which were ordered and presumably supplied with the guitar.

Also, back then he was young, energetic, and as video clips show, he played pretty hard and used the vibrato arm a lot- he was likely to have broken a few strings!

Who knows what available strings he may have used when the Fender strings were gone- Cathedral, Hofner etc?

[roger bayliss]

Well, back then, the two most important things to players were the lowest, easiest action (heaven after the cheap things we had to learn on) and as much treble as possible!

Flatwounds don't tend to rattle and buzz as much as roundwounds- I played a three hour gig last night using only a Strat copy with 12-52 Monopole flatwounds with a reasonably low action...no buzzes etc but they are pretty dead sounding however (got another gig tomorrow night too, will be using the same guitar)

Using roundwounds after flats might give rise to some buzzes etc - maybe that's why Hank had a problem which he fixed as best as he could..

Not really knowing exactly what type of strings he used doesn't help- apart from the original strings on 34346, which were probably Fender flatwounds about 13-56, who knows what strings he used as time went by? He must have broken a few strings and restrung with new sets sometime. Sooner or later, he would have used up the OE strings and the spare sets which were ordered and presumably supplied with the guitar.

Also, back then he was young, energetic, and as video clips show, he played pretty hard and used the vibrato arm a lot- he was likely to have broken a few strings!

Who knows what available strings he may have used when the Fender strings were gone- Cathedral, Hofner etc?

I bought an Ibanez Jazz guitar (Artcore) a few months back at a really good price. It was fitted with roundwound strings of a fairly light gauge which I considered to be 10s. I did not like the strings at all as they rattled lots when I dropped the action down. I tried to get some ideas on what George Benson had as a setup by watching some UTube videos of him playing solo so I could hear his guitar sound clearly. There was a noticeable buzzing coming from the low strings when he was playing and I concluded that he must have the neck quite straight and the action set low.

When I put the flat wounds on the Ibanez Artcore I had, I immediately found the rattles from the strings had reduced a lot and I could get the action down much lower. So yes flat wounds do help in respect of low action.

Maybe in the first months of owning the strat with the supplied flat wounds, Hank had dropped the action successfully with the flat wounds and then when he few sets of supplied strings he had with the guitar ran out and he switched strings to roundwound that was when the rattles came ? Possibly.

Here is a video of GB playing solo listen to his low strings and you should hear how low the action is.

[cockroach]

That's a distinctive sound on the lower strings which I would describe as the heavy flatwound bottom strings 'flapping' a little- it's not a buzz or that sitar type whine you get with roundwpounds that are too low. George plays pretty hard for a jazz player too (I've seen him play live twice BTW..) Many jazz players prefer flatwounds and often go for a very low action to aid speed and ease of fingering- often lower action than other players may prefer..the low action and flatwounds also tend to reduce sustain compared with roundwounds..

[Hank2k]

with regards strings i do wonder whether Hanks strings were as old as we all believe. In the book "The Shadows By Themselves" from i think 1960 Hank says he changed his strings often (every week or two) as he was so scared of snapping a string when playing after an incident where it snapped and touched something else mid set and gave him an electric shock.

[JimN]

George Benson uses his own signature custom set of flatwound Thomastik-Infeld strings.

Check whether you think they're worth it at the asking price:

http://tinyurl.com/hufbsuz

[roger bayliss]

with regards strings i do wonder whether Hanks strings were as old as we all believe. In the book "The Shadows By Themselves" from i think 1960 Hank says he changed his strings often (every week or two) as he was so scared of snapping a string when playing after an incident where it snapped and touched something else mid set and gave him an electric shock.

Yes I would think that when the hits started coming and he had a regular job in a band he had some more cash to start doing string changes more often and it was said Bruce changed his strings for him for studio recording so he had fresh strings on to record. I think when he had the Hofner, he must have been short of money till he got established and I think Cathedral strings were fairly cheap back then.