Push pull on neck to get slight vibrato technique, bad for guitar?

Only on a guitar that has a weakness to begin with. Within reason, it shouldn't be a problem.

 

Telecasters view it as foreplay.

 

OK, that was funny.

 

Slash had a neck explode on him when he did that once and it gave him a new piercing.

 

As a looongtime Tele player, this gets my "Post of the Year" award reccomendation.

I do it so much on my hardtail Strat these days that I don't even notice, until someone points it out - just part of the technique I reckon.

 

you can get a lovely vibrato on a sustaining open string by just holding the guitar up and shaking it.

 

Maple neck? I do it all the time without issue. Never tried with mahogany.

 

i won't push on my LP neck, but my tele gets its share. they both get the "shaken baby" treatment, though.

 

Yeah but he was probably playing a Gibson.

 

I use to do that all the time on guitars, I did the intro to Baracuda by bending the neck.
But I don't do it now. I think it probably over time changes the necks shape.
I seen a guy crack a neck doing that once, a neck on a vintage SG. He wasn't a real strong big guy either, he was kind of slight. I suppose he just did it one too many times, the air humidity was just right, or something.

 

to be fair, you can crack an SG by looking at it wrong.

 

That is true, particularly and old dried up one.
But I just don't do it anymore, I am just too fond of my instruments now.

 

i do it on all my non-trem guitars.

 

I block the trem on all my guitars do I remember to do it.

How about we get a list of guitars NOT to do it on going?

-Gibson SG (though Frisell did play one for a while, maybe his exploded too.)

I had to dowel and redrill some neck screws as a result of doing it on a Yamaha Pacifica 112 many years ago, but to be fair that was after demonstrating the durability of a bolt on neck design to a friend by throwing my guitar off of his 20 ft back deck into the yard. It wasn't even out of tune when I went to go pick it up.

Man, seventh grade was fun.

 

Close runner up here.

 

I second this nomination.

 

Flash-back .....

Back in my punk days kneeling on a stage, SG screaming with feedback as I hold it up in front of me with both hands shaking the thing.

You can really dive-bomb an SG by bending the neck.

Never did break it or do it harm like that. Did it more damage with a router and learning how to work on guitars. That poor thing has been so many different colors. Had a Dimarzio super distort that I dewound by a bunch of turns. And of course a Leo Quan bridge and Grovers and a brass nut.

I really gotta resurrect that guitar.

 

One other little goodie...if you're a few cents off onstage, see if you're holding tension on the neck as you play...easy to do if you're not relaxed. Also a handy way to fine-tune an errant string when you don't have a free hand. But it's always been use-with-caution in my book...never knew whether it was actually bad or not, didn't want to find out. Now we're finding out.

--Ray