Snap and pop sound suddenly gone 535

[JazzyPete]

I recently bought a 2015 H535 and had a local tech do a light service on it. When it came back it had new strings, which was fine. Except that it no longer had all those great poppy and snappy 'spanky" sounds that  it had before it went in. Could that be due to different strings? It all plays great but I suddenly noticed .. hey where's all that "attitude" gone that it had before ?

[kennyv4]

Strings can make a difference in how a guitar sounds.  Try asking the tech what make and gauge of strings he put on your guitar and if he remembers the gauge of the strings he took off.  I would doubt he would know the make the old strings were.  I'm guessing he put on a 10 gauge set of strings because that's what H535 are strung with at Heritage.  At least my last one was.

[Spectrum13]

Play it for a few days. Don't know what a light service is but if I remove all the strings, clean and polish the frets make a minor adjustment in action/relief it takes a little playing once the neck is back under tension for things to settle in. If there was adjustment to the pickup height below the strings, that would be a different thing.

[DetroitBlues]

Pure nickel strings are less "sparkly" than plated strings.  That could be the difference.  

I believe Heritage uses GFS Strings (local brand to Kalamazoo BTW).  

However, usually when I change the strings, my guitar sound brighter.  Doesn't seem to be the case with these.

[JazzyPete]

Let me enlarge on the light service ? the g string slid (under light string bending) laterally across the bridge. Hence the tech cut the notches into something a touch deeper just to stop the string sliding out of the previously 'somewhat minute hint of a notch'. So now the g string is more fixed and doesn't slip sideways. He raised the action a little as the b string was buzzing a bit. Now, nothing buzzes, the action is still absolutely fine, and the notches are just that much more defined to stop string slip. Plus a new set of 10s, so all pretty minor-ish tweaks. 

However the really nuanced snap and spank has gone. I raised the pickups to compensate for any signal loss caused by the strings being slightly raised,  but aside from more volume, still no spank. My gut feeling is that it was the strings but we don't know what those original ones were. But yeah I'm not imagining it. That squeally poppy snap sound is no longer there.  I really liked that. I wonder what string make Heritage fit out of the factory?

[DetroitBlues]

17 minutes ago, JazzyPete said:

Let me enlarge on the light service ? the g string slid (under light string bending) laterally across the bridge. Hence the tech cut the notches into something a touch deeper just to stop the string sliding out of the previously 'somewhat minute hint of a notch'. So now the g string is more fixed and doesn't slip sideways. He raised the action a little as the b string was buzzing a bit. Now, nothing buzzes, the action is still absolutely fine, and the notches are just that much more defined to stop string slip. Plus a new set of 10s, so all pretty minor-ish tweaks. 

However the really nuanced snap and spank has gone. I raised the pickups to compensate for any signal loss caused by the strings being slightly raised,  but aside from more volume, still no spank. My gut feeling is that it was the strings but we don't know what those original ones were. But yeah I'm not imagining it. That squeally poppy snap sound is no longer there.  I really liked that. I wonder what string make Heritage fit out of the factory?

GFS Boomers.

[JazzyPete]

Ah thanks

[tsp17]

what he said...

30 minutes ago, DetroitBlues said:

GFS Boomers.

sounds like string change to me, but let them settle a bit.  at least a couple hours of play.  often after some play and an overnight good sleep (I'm not kidding), my stings will settle and sound right the next day,   but it may be the string composition or just a dud set. so in the end a snappy string change could do the trick.  

[davesultra]

You could try some GHS Super Steels. Those have a Stainless Steel wrap which would be brighter.

[skydog52]

GHS

[JazzyPete]

I found I was originally using a 3mm acoustic bass pick (the thick end).  When I used it again, the snap came back. Happy surprise.

[TalismanRich]

Ah HA!  

Yes,   changing picks can make a HUGE difference in your sound.   Its surprising how few people understand that.   

[ElNumero]

3 hours ago, TalismanRich said:

Ah HA!  

Yes,   changing picks can make a HUGE difference in your sound.   Its surprising how few people understand that.   

Likewise dropping the picks and using fingers only!

[rockabilly69]

On 9/26/2019 at 11:19 AM, TalismanRich said:

Ah HA!  

Yes,   changing picks can make a HUGE difference in your sound.   Its surprising how few people understand that.   

I use two different picks throughout my performances. 

Everly Star pick .50mm: 

light strumming where I want a slightly thinner sound and not as much volume,

they are definitely brighter in tone to me and lack mids (which I'm looking for!)

I also use them for songs where I switch back and forth between fingerpicking and flatpicking.

 

Everly Star pick .60mm:

medium strumming where I want more mids for a fuller sound, old Beatle songs

and early Neil Young Songs seem to suit the sound of these slightly thicker picks.

 

 

[LK155]

Once, while doing a recording using a medium-thickness pick, I dropped it.  It disappeared under my equipment rack, so I just, er, picked up another one, which was a bit lighter, and carried on.  In editing, I found a huge difference in the recorded sound before and after the pick change, and no amount of EQ'ing could make them sound the same.  Ended up re-doing the track (without dropping anything this time).

 

[ElNumero]

19 hours ago, LK155 said:

Once, while doing a recording using a medium-thickness pick, I dropped it.  It disappeared under my equipment rack, so I just, er, picked up another one, which was a bit lighter, and carried on.  In editing, I found a huge difference in the recorded sound before and after the pick change, and no amount of EQ'ing could make them sound the same.  Ended up re-doing the track (without dropping anything this time).

 

Dropping a drumstick has much less of a dramatic effect. 

[bobmeyrick]

On 9/26/2019 at 10:03 PM, ElNumero said:

Likewise dropping the picks and using fingers only!

It worked for Jeff Beck!