I was just curious in what you guys thought about GHS Fastfret. I was just browising musiciansfriend and i saw this. i bought this stuff once about a year ago, wasn't super impressed. what do you guys think, do you consider it cheating?
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GHS Fastfret, cheaters!?
- Thread starter Stephen Soto
- Start date
...why, though? What's the reasoning? I guess we'd better start calling anyone who uses moon gels on their drums, capos on their guitars, anyone who uses an electric tuner, et all, "cheaters".Stephen Soto said:
I have some, never used it. I'll probably use it when recording in the fall to reduce string noise -- not something I suffer from a lot by any means, but nonetheless, it shows up way more in recordings than practice or live playing for some reason, and I want my tracks to be as smooth and purely bass as I can without doing 932 takes.
I've used that stuff for ten years and never heard it called cheating. When you play a 3 hour set and someone comes up with a great invention to lighten up on hand fatigue, some loser has to come out and call it cheating. Tell that to any pro singer who uses that "Vocalist's Secret" stuff. The stuff is great. Don't buy the spray-on stuff as it used to cause a build up on the finish of your guitar. The one I use looks almost like those old school shaving cream applicators. I buy one about every 6 months. It makes your strings feel like they've been coated with silicone, very fast. Sliding feels great and your hands will hold up over long periods of time better due to less friction. If this makes me a cheater, a cheater I will continue to be. 
Stephen Soto said:
Why is it cheating?
Does it make all the notes you play "right"?
Does it make your intonation on fretless spot on?
Does it make your sightreading flawless?
Does it make your slapping sound like Marcus Miller's?
If it did, it would be a hell of a placebo.
Well moon gel is used to eliminate excess overtones etc so i dont see how thats relevant to a capo or anything as it doesnt affect how you play drums.Govithoy said:
I use fast fret about two times per four hour gig. What I don't like is the thin container it comes in. I put mine in a plastic container golf balls come in. The two golf ball container is the perfect size.
alright, first off... I NEVER SAID IT WAS CHEATING! like i said, i've used it, and am going to buy some again. i've heard people consider it cheating, thus i made this thread for opinions on it.
It also makes my strings last much longer. I love it. I use it before and after practice and before and between each set on a gig.
I've been using it for about a month. I like it. I've not been using it long enough to say whether it prolongs the life of your strings or not. But it does live up to the "Fast Fret" part of it's name. Makes the neck very smooth and easy to play.
It eliminates excess overtones so as to make the sound clearer...similar to how Fast Fret removes finger noise to make the sound clearer. Yes, it doesn't affect the playability, but it affects the sound in a positive manner that doesn't require you to put forth extra effort or a significant change in technique. I just used a capo as an example for guitarists because there's a huge stigma about it -- that anyone who uses it doesn't know anything but first position chords, etc. so they "cheat" by using a capo instead of barring (when there are a lot of chords that just physically cannot be barred, yet some twits still continue on with their capo-hate).Figjam said:
You can also put it on the fretboard to strengthen it or something and you can put it on the back of the neck so the neck is "slicker" for sliding and stuff. BTW is that tom from slayer in your avater.Stephen Soto said:
I'd never put it on the back of the neck. I don't put it on the fretboard either. For my fretboards, lemon oil is tops. I simply put it on the strings. After using it for a while you will develop certain time intervals duyring a gig where you will put it on. It does help with finger noise and I can tell you from experience that it does prolong string life. Just don't expect miracles. I'm usually getting Bass Boomers which I think have really low string life, but sound great when new, and I noticed a big difference when using Fast Fret.
