Bending difficulty due to extremely tight strings tension. how to solve this problem?

[Jimmy25]

alright, so I've decided to change the string gauge from .10s to .9s (D'Addario), and still, the strings tension is still almost as tight as with .10s strings. I don't see much difference. I don't understand, because long before my strings were easy to bend and they seems a bit loosen. I was able to bend the strings easily in tune without having to use so much force that kills my fingers so fast. And I tried other guitars in the shop when I went to buy the strings, other guitars were much easier to bend and not so tight like mine now. However, I didn't have this problem with my guitar until I had my pickup change to Lindy Fralin Blues Special and the tech might have done some change with the setup, perhaps it's the neck relief or truss rod or... idk. After that the tension becomes super tight, it just doesn't seem normal... I mean, I've been playing for a while already, "I used to be able to bend in tune"... but now, it just becomes so tight I don't know what happened. Even changing back to .9 doesn't seems to help much.

[kydave]

Pilgrim,
I've got medium .013's on my Martin and bend them... Play an acoustic for a while, then bending those skinny electric guitar strings will be a breeze!
Dave

I mean, I've been playing for a while already

What's "a while" ?

[Bobby1note]

Jimmy25, how's your fret-hand technique? Are you bending, using a single finger? Have you tried using two or more fingers for that bend?

Example; on the B-string, middle finger on the 5th fret, and your index finger bending the same string simultaneously, just above your index finger. You'll get a lot more bending power this way.

[HeimBrent]

It's a combination of finger strength and habits. That's all there is to it. I've been playing .10s for as long as I can remember i standard tuning, and one day I got a Les Paul which quickly became my new number one, and it had .11s on it. As the strings were brand new, and I couldn't be bothered going down to the local guitarstore to pick up a new set, I just kept the .11s figuring it would be fun to try something new. After a few weeks of playing the **** thing .11s just felt natural. The body is good at adapting. If you put it through the same thing over and over again, it will handle it better for each time.

But then I changed back to .10s. Why? I couldn't hear no real difference between .11s and .10s, and as all my other electrics had just been rest ringed with .10s, it just made more sense. But I'll tell you this much; after playing more or less exclusively on .11s for a couple of months, I needed a few days to get back into .10s.

[mc1]

Originally Posted by Jimmy25

alright, so I've decided to change the string gauge from .10s to .9s (D'Addario), and still, the strings tension is still almost as tight as with .10s strings. I don't see much difference. I don't understand, because long before my strings were easy to bend and they seems a bit loosen. I was able to bend the strings easily in tune without having to use so much force that kills my fingers so fast. And I tried other guitars in the shop when I went to buy the strings, other guitars were much easier to bend and not so tight like mine now. However, I didn't have this problem with my guitar until I had my pickup change to Lindy Fralin Blues Special and the tech might have done some change with the setup, perhaps it's the neck relief or truss rod or... idk. After that the tension becomes super tight, it just doesn't seem normal... I mean, I've been playing for a while already, "I used to be able to bend in tune"... but now, it just becomes so tight I don't know what happened. Even changing back to .9 doesn't seems to help much.

maybe he tightened the tremolo springs and previously the tremolo was moving more when you bent your strings, making it easier.

the other guitars in the shop may have had a shorter scale and that's why they were easier to bend.

[dmann]

how about using an eq pedal or a bbe sonic maximizer pedal