I finally managed to change the strings on my guitar. Well, except the bottom E string that broke in the process - so I put the old one back on. I was more than a little disappointed by the sound I was getting from said guitar but after much fumbling around it now sounds half decent. As decent as I can make it sound anyway. I have owned my current guitar for the last 7 years and I am ashamed to say that I have had the same set of strings on it since John bought it for me as a birthday present all those years ago. Having since looked up on the internet what strings the guitar came with (D'Addario EXP 16) I found out that they are meant to last 4 or 5 times longer than others. Strings are normally changed at least every 3 month, depending on wear, so I think mine have done rather well! The strings did of course loose their tone after 7 years.
My guitar playing is coming along; although I am still very much a novice and don't intend playing in public just yet. It strikes me that our own spirituality often has tuning problems. We keep playing the same tune on the same set of strings and wonder why we are getting the same toneless tune. We loose the top and bottom ends of the notes because we fail to change our strings regularly. It is not that we stop hearing God altogether but we do miss out on all that he has to say. Should we not at least try to change the way in which we approach our spirituality from time to time in order that we can fully appreciate all that God has for us. Or are we too lazy or too set in our ways to try? Why just listen to the bass notes in a song when there is so much more on offer? Don't get me wrong every now and then it is good to crank up the bass - but variety is the spice of life as they say. It is all too easy to get stuck in a rut and fail to explore all that God has for us. But if we are to move on in our own spirituality and in our relationship with our creator then change is a necessity. It might take a while to get the tuning right and you might find that something doesn't work. Don't worry if you really don't like it you can go back to you old strings. But new strings will enhance your experience and lead you to new songs that are waiting to be played.
Incidently I don't really like my new strings (Martin custom lights) and have ordered some D'Addarios off the internet. I have ordered two set - which means I intend to change them a bit more regularly!!!
P.S. I think my strings deserve a sabbatical - what about you?
You have reminded me that I really should change the strings on my guitar. You sound a lot like me though, I am not really up to playing it in front of people, and wish I could be better at it, but I just don't seem to have the time to really practice!
ReplyDeleteI am also the kind of person who likes to short cut things, and just wants to be able to play, without having to do all the hard work that it takes to get to the stage of being able to play it in front of people.