Show your GK Guitar

Started by Virtual Tone, February 22, 2008, 11:45:18 AM

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supernicd

Quote from: Elantric on November 02, 2013, 11:15:15 AM
I agree today's Squire Strats are amazing deals.

Anyone have experience with the Squire Telecasters?  I have always wanted a tele but don't know that I'd use it enough to justify the cost of even a MIM standard.  The Squire on the other hand would be justifiable if it played fairly well.  The ones I have seen don't have the same P/u configuration as the standards though - want to say they have humbuckers on the bridge and that makes me a little reluctant.
Strat w/ GK-3, Godin LGXT
VG-99, GR-55, GP-10
---------------------------------------------------------------

cooltouch

#476
When I was at GC, they had Squier Teles on sale for the same blowout price. Only problem was they all had a humbucker in the bidge position. And if I'm gonna buy a Tele, I want that big single coil down there at the bridge position. So I went for the Strat instead.

If you're like me and you don't have a lot of cash to spend on one, you might want to consider what I've been kicking around recently. Buy a kit and put it together. I've seen some pretty decent looking (and sounding) kits that sell in the $120-130 range. You can buy expensive kits if you want, too, far as that goes.

I followed a link posted over in the Strat forum to Rondo Guitars. Don't know anything about them but dang do they have some cheap gear. How about a new assembled Tele for $89?  Go here and check there stuff out. Can't vouch for quality though:

http://www.rondomusic.com/electricguitar.html
Best,
Michael

Elantric

I was playing in a surf band and needed a Jazzmaster type Vibrato to get that twang tone

Got one of these in 2007 from RondoMusic
http://www.rondomusic.com/liquidfmnr3ts.html


Worked OK - then got hooked on Los StraightJackets and got my avatar Galaxie IV (see my avatar pic on left )



Then I wanted a bit closer tone of a Jazzmaster
Here is our set when we opened for Dick Dale last year. We had Paul Johnson (Mr Moto) sitting in with us.


I'm on far right playing a GFS Xavier JT-100
http://www.guitarfetish.com/XV-JT100-Offset-Alder-Body-Alnico-JM90-Pickups-pickups-Vintage-Cream-_p_2203.html

http://www.guitarfetish.com/Xaviere-Electric-Guitars_c_116.html



Read about all my bands here
https://www.vguitarforums.com/smf/index.php?topic=82.0

cooltouch

#478
The Dentures indeed. Gave me a chuckle. Good job on the Jazzmaster lookalike. It's got a decent surf tone to it.  So, I take it that funky looking Rondo Jazzmaster plays and sounds OK? I bet it was cheap, too.  ;)   I'll swear, after browsing through Rondo's listings I was starting to feel like doing an impulse buy just because of some of their prices.

I've always kind of felt that the Mosrite owned the monicker "surf guitar." A good friend of mine who owns Front Porch Music in Bakersfield, California, worked for Semi Mosley in his Mosrite factory when it was located in Bakersfield. Nowadays he probably owns one of the largest, if not the largest, collections of Mosrites to be found anywhere. He's got Mosrites you probably didn't even know ever existed. One of the oddest I've ever seen was a lap steel that could still be worn with a strap and played standing up. Well, actually what I think it was was a Mel-O-Bar that used a Mosrite as its base. Anyway, I recall one time Artie showing me the Mosrite tremelo and a feature it has that probably most people haven't noticed. It looks sorta like a Bigsby tremelo but it makes the guitar sound different. If you look at the string holes in a Mosrite tremelo, they don't form a straight line. They are sort of staggered in a more or less random looking pattern. Artie claimed that Semi actually put some thought into the actual position of each string hole. Hey, dunno if it's true, but it makes for a good story, especially since Artie knew Semi as a friend, and not just an employee.  So anyway, when the Mosrite tremelo is used, it gives sort of an almost chorus like quality to the sound because of the way the strings detune. I've always thought that was kinda cool, even though I never could stand to play one of those fretless nightmares.

Wow. I just followed the above link over to your bio. Geez, I'm impressed, dude. You've achieved major goals in your life, and for the most part keeping music an integral part of it. Wish I could say the same for myself. I've had rather lengthy stretches in my life where I never picked up a guitar except for maybe giving it a few strums or licks. Fortunately I found that, when I did return to guitar in a serious way some 15 years ago, that I hadn't lost a step and, if anything, I was able to play stuff better than I had when I set my guitars down.

As I read through your bio, I realized that you and I have had a few parallels, mostly because of our ages, I suspect. I started playing in 1965 and early on was picking up tunes like "Walk Don't Run" by the Ventures and "Wipeout," and of course the perennial used-to-be-a-favorite-but-still-burned-out-on-it, "House of the Rising Sun." Yech. Surf music had sort of a silly fascination for me, and I was really into the Beach Boys early on. But as my horizons broadened somewhat I became a big fan of the Byrds and Roger McGuinn with his big Rickenbacker 12-string with "Rick-O-Sound." I had to have one, but I never got one. I even still recall the price of a new one in 1965 dollars at H&H Music here in Houston: $524.50.  That was a lot of moolah back then and I couldn't convince my parents to go for it, no matter how hard I tried. And H&H had just this stunningly gorgeous blonde semi-hollow body that I was deeply in love with.  For a 12-string, it played like a dream. To this very day, I wouldn't mind owning one, although I don't know what I'd do with it.

Heh, well, I didn't restore British cars -- I owned them, which perhaps means much the same thing. This was a period from about 1983 to 1990, and I lived in SoCal back then. First Bakersfield, and then Alhambra, Rosemead, and later Whittier. I owned a 1974-1/2 Jensen Healey and then later a 1976 Jensen GT back in those days. I did all my own work on them because I didn't trust anyone else to, especially when I'd tell the mechanic the name of the car and he'd nod his head knowingly and say, "Sure I know 'em -- sorta like the Austin Healey, ain't it?" I tell you what, I loved those little cars with their 2L 16v Lotus 907 engines. The GT, when I bought it, had some 3/4 cams in it that gave it a really lopey idle and a set of Weber DCOEs that the previous owner had installed. I put a Pacemaker exhaust system on it, which really bumped up the decibel level quite a bit, but back then Pacemaker was just about the only off-the-shelf exhaust system you could buy for those carsl Tell you what, thoug -- that car would scoot. Heh, whenever I had to take it in to get it smogged, I had to retard the hell out of the ignition advance to smooth out the idle and get it to pass. But as soon as I'd leave the place, I'd drive the car down a block or so away and advanced the timing back up, or else it would seriously overheat.  Crazy car. The PO had a British License plate that he kept attached but under the CA plate and would con his way through inspections each year, telling the tech that it was smogged for England and not the US. He claimed techs would go for it, but he wasn't willing to part with the UK plate so that left me in the lurch until I figured out the ignition retard angle. I only sold those cars because I was out of work. I still had several months worth of payments left through my credit union on the GT and the roadster was collecting dust in my garage with a burned valve that I couldn't get to because of the reason why I was out of work -- my back was in very bad shape and hurt like hell, plus I was dealing with a bad case of sciatica. This period was also when I sold my Boogiebodies Strat, a move I still regret to this day.  And not a week goes by when I don't miss those Jensens, either. I drive Volvos now.  :o

I moved back to Houston, my home town, back in 1998, after living in CA for about 24 years. I still miss it. I've never really cared much for Houston. Mostly because it's flat. And hot. True, it can get really hot in SoCal, but there's always cool places close by. There are in Houston too -- it's called air conditioning.  ::)

Also, now I know who to ask whenever I have an electric guitar setup or repair issue.  I build custom guitars, but my specialty is classicals. I've built one steel-string acoustic, but I built it for myself because I couldn't find what I wanted: a steel-string with a cutaway and a 1-7/8" nut. It was that nut width that was the big stumbling block. In all my searches I only found one guitar that came close -- a tired old beat-up Gibson that sounded as tired as it looked. But the real deal breaker to me was the guitar shop wanted $800 for it. I wouldn't have given them $400 for it. So then and there I decided to set aside my classical building techniques and dived into the steel string world. I used Cumpiano and Natelson's Guitar Making - Tradition and Technology tome as an approximate building guide, and I used a template I had made from tracing the outline of an Ibanez AE405TV for the guitar's body shape. To this day, Cumpiano and Natelson's book is still the best all-around resource out there for building an acoustic guitar, whether nylon or steel string. For electrics, I still prefer Melvyn Hiscock's book, Make Your Own Electric Guitar, because he uses a neck-through-body construction for his illustrated builds, plus he goes to the trouble to show how to do a carved top. Plus he's an all-around good guy. I've corresponded with him and he was helpful and down-to-Earth.

But building is a different world from repair and customization, which is where I hope I might call upon your expertise from time to time.
Best,
Michael

Elantric

#479
Mosrite Vibrato staggered string hole discussion here
http://www.mosriteforum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=20&t=1849

I understand the goal was a more consistent tension and relative in tune pitch across the strings when the term bar was used -

the Steinberger TransTrem is the best example of such a design


cooltouch

#480
Quote from: Elantric on November 03, 2013, 07:17:05 AM
Mosrite Vibrato staggered string hole discussion here
http://www.mosriteforum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=20&t=1849

I understand the goal was a more consistent tension across the strings when the term bar was used -


Very interesting and very useful. I've never been much for wang bars, but I can see ways I would seriously put that one to use. Do I have to buy a Steinberger guitar to get one? As for the Mosrite, well, the result was something else, as was mentioned in the above thread. The result being a rather curious detuning, if anything. I can't recall now if Artie mentioned anything about the consistent tension. It was a discussion we had over 30 years ago.
Best,
Michael

Elantric

#481
QuoteWow. I just followed the above link over to your bio. Geez, I'm impressed,

Thanks for reading it  - I have had my periods of being able to respond when opportunity knocked, and other times of bad luck and unemployment - been able to land on my feet as I view each event as a new opportunity to learn and gain knowledge.

The Valley Arts years were a mixed blessing - I was surrounded by cream of the crop guitarists, but I entered their world as "the guitar electronics guru / amp tech". and lets face it - most guitarists at the higher levels of achievement I find are scared of losing their stature, and at times my  electronic tech "chops" intimidated folks  - and then when they heard i could also play a decent improv guitar solo anytime by ear, this tended to close more doors to actually play guitar. i was labeled as the "guitar tech"  - and was keeping busy up until 1986 when I got married and landed the JPL/NASA gig . I only played guitar at home - occasionally buying a few studio tools - but no real guitar playing until 1994 when i got divorced and headed back to playing music / audio engineering.

Pre - Internet 1970'-80s Los Angeles area was actually the worst place to form a band  - as I would typically loose a drummer or bass player every other Thursday when the latest edition of the Recycler Newspaper / classified musician ads offered a "better" opportunity for them.  Might have had more music success staying in a Midwest College town and spending 3 years Co writing tunes with non distracted bandmates back when I was in my early 20's

I restored austin healeys purchased in Pasadena / Monrovia area and restored them at my home in San Gabriel Valley. Ended up selling em to a collector car dealer from Belgium who loaded them into a cargo container and shipped them from Long Beach to Brussels.
   
QuoteI've built one steel-string acoustic, but I built it for myself because I couldn't find what I wanted: a steel-string with a cutaway and a 1-7/8" nut. It was that nut width that was the big stumbling block. In all my searches I only found one guitar that came close -
CHECK OUT ZARLEY WIDE FRET GUITARS

http://zarleywideneckguitars.com
Features include our Wide Neck with 1 7/8" (47.625mm) nut width and .315" (8mm) string spacing.

http://www.zarleywideneckguitars.com/electric-guitars-category/zarley-player-series-electric-guitar.html

cooltouch

#482
I find myself agreeing with much of you said, especially about the guitarists at higher levels of achievement being "scared of losing their stature," although I view it as being a bit more elemental. More as if you're trying to dismantle their own little fiefdom or, to put it in the Chinese vernacular, which is perhaps even more to the point, "break their rice bowl." Too often those at the higher levels of the game see their competition as being out to destroy them. I've been there -- not one of the guys with the rice bowls to protect, but one of the outsiders, saying "let me in, dammit!"  It's tough and infuriating being ostracized out of fear of the unknown.

The Recycler was a real power house back in the pre-internet days, wasn't it?  I made a lot of money using that rag back in the late 80s through the mid-90s -- not with music, but with another business I sort of backed my way into.

Here in Houston we have a weekly freebie newspaper called The Houston Press. It has a bunch of free classified ads in the back, including bands seeking musicians and musicians seeking bands. The last band I put together I put together largely through the use of the Press. I can't blame the Press for its break-up, however. The bass player blew town in the middle of the night without telling us a word. All the way back to Mississippi. We were never able to find a replacement that fit as well as he did and after the many hours of hard work we had put into it, the band just sort of drifted away, and this time, ironically, the Press was no help replacing him.

Huh, I wonder if your Belgian friend might know a fellow in the Netherlands that does the same thing. My son in law, who lives in Chicago, exports classic old big Mopars to his home country of Austria via an importer in the Netherlands. He imports the big old sedans, most of which have been compacted over here -- like the old Dodge Polara and Plymouth Fury. Never been much of a collector interest over here, but apparently those big old Mopars are HOT over there. What's the appeal, I wonder?  Maybe the gangsta look?

A bit too late to check out Zarley Wide Fret Guitars, since I built mine about 8 years ago, although I guess it doesn't hurt to look over there. Might get an idea or two especially as an idea for any design improvements I make to the second one I plan to build.

Just went over there and had a look. All his guitars are electric. Tempting prices, though. I'm thinking that these are probably Chinese knockoffs where he's gotten together with the manufacturer and gotten them to cut the necks to a wider spec at the nut. If you meet their minimum order quantity, those Chinese manufacturers will make just about  anything you want.

Best,
Michael

supernicd

Rondo guitars, huh?  Wow, for the price of an American strat or a Les Paul Studio you could literally get a whole wall of guitars to show people and tell them not to touch  ;)!  That's actually kind of tempting.  I have one Chinese made guitar, a Pearl River.  The thing actually plays pretty darned well.  Where they cheaped out a bit was in the pickups, I think.  Replacing the bridge with a Seymour Duncan really improved the tone.  Building a guitar (from kit or scratch) sounds like something I'd really enjoy if I had some more time on my hands.  Maybe someday...

That was enjoyable watch, Elantric, of the the Dentures set. It's starting to get cold up here, so some good surf music and imagery was welcome.  What kind of amp did you run at that gig?  Not sure if the camera panned to it or not, but I didn't have my eyes on the video the entire time.
Strat w/ GK-3, Godin LGXT
VG-99, GR-55, GP-10
---------------------------------------------------------------

Elantric

My surf rig is 63 Fender Tube Reverb, Barber Tone Press Compressor, Roland Cube80XL set to "Clean Twin Blackface" Amp setting. All controls about 12 o clock.

dnedwek

Quote from: SuperNiCd on November 04, 2013, 03:24:07 AM
Rondo guitars, huh?  Wow, for the price of an American strat or a Les Paul Studio you could literally get a whole wall of guitars to show people and tell them not to touch  ;)!  That's actually kind of tempting.  I have one Chinese made guitar, a Pearl River.  The thing actually plays pretty darned well.

I picked up a Rondo when I was working North Carolina and my 'real' guitar was in Oregon. I spent a little more than the guitar cost to have a luthier re-set the frets and replace the nut and the switch ... but I ended up with a guitar that played better than the one I spent $1000 more on.
When I got back to Oregon, I took my 'real' guitar to a luthier there ... and now it again plays better than the one I got from Rondo. Not by much, though.

The lesson I took from this experience is no matter what you paid for your guitar, a good luthier will make it shine in ways a factory-set-up guitar usually doesn't.

Elantric

Quote
The lesson I took from this experience is no matter what you paid for your guitar, a good luthier will make it shine in ways a factory-set-up guitar usually doesn't.

+10000!
Guitars right off the sales floor rack or fresh out of the shipping box are Never any good for my needs.   
I take for granted that I know how to setup any guitar and always spend the time to remove the strings, polish the frets, adjust the truss rod, use Nut files to lower action at Nut, tighten loose tuners and then set up bridge / tremolo and Strobe intonate the bridge saddles for my string type / gauge. I might spend a few hours on every guitar I buy doing a setup procedure first before I play or judge any guitar. Also my opinions   / recommendations on guitars are always based upon POST SETUP playing experience.

kenact

#487
Quote from: cooltouch on November 02, 2013, 11:02:32 AM
Do you know your guitar's scale?
Mine (Danelectro Baritone neck ) has a 30" scale.
Godin Session & Montreal FTP, LGXT, LGX SA, Redline, ACS, A12, A11, A10, A4
Danoblaster Baritone w/GK-3
Gretsch Nashville, Viking
Fender Strats
Fret King Supermatic
Larrivee DV03RE
Parker Midi Fly
Seagull, S&P 12
VOX Phantom XII
GR-55, 33, 30, 20, GI-20, RC-50, US-20, VG-99, VP-7
Sentient 6
Cyr 7

kenact

Quote from: dnedwek on November 04, 2013, 10:40:00 AM
I picked up a Rondo when I was working North Carolina and my 'real' guitar was in Oregon.
dnedwek, is that a Godin Multiac Jazz in your profile pic, and is that your "real" guitar?
Godin Session & Montreal FTP, LGXT, LGX SA, Redline, ACS, A12, A11, A10, A4
Danoblaster Baritone w/GK-3
Gretsch Nashville, Viking
Fender Strats
Fret King Supermatic
Larrivee DV03RE
Parker Midi Fly
Seagull, S&P 12
VOX Phantom XII
GR-55, 33, 30, 20, GI-20, RC-50, US-20, VG-99, VP-7
Sentient 6
Cyr 7

whippinpost91850

Having 40yrs of having the knowledge and ability to do a proper setup , I can  say it never pays to assume a guitar is bad, it might just need to be setup correctly

cooltouch

Quote from: kenact on November 04, 2013, 11:10:27 AM
Mine (Danelectro Baritone neck ) has a 30" scale.

Yeah?  With a 30" scale, I'll bet your Dan Electro "baritone" is actually a 6-string bass. Google 'dan electro 6-string bass' and see if the info you run across doesn't seem to match what you have. I say that because 30" is rather long for a baritone scale. I'm used to seeing 28" or 28.5" for baris.
Best,
Michael

supernicd

Quote from: dnedwek on November 04, 2013, 10:40:00 AM
The lesson I took from this experience is no matter what you paid for your guitar, a good luthier will make it shine in ways a factory-set-up guitar usually doesn't.
This is a good reminder for me.  It's one of those lessons that I tend to forget and then wonder why some of my guitars play so much better than others.

QuoteI take for granted that I know how to setup any guitar
Wish I knew how to do this or myself - at least the basics.  Seems like something that would be tough and/or expensive [in the sense that you could probably really screw up a guitar] to learn without some live guidance.
Strat w/ GK-3, Godin LGXT
VG-99, GR-55, GP-10
---------------------------------------------------------------

datsunrobbie

Quote from: SuperNiCd on November 05, 2013, 04:40:36 AM
This is a good reminder for me.  It's one of those lessons that I tend to forget and then wonder why some of my guitars play so much better than others.
Wish I knew how to do this or myself - at least the basics.  Seems like something that would be tough and/or expensive [in the sense that you could probably really screw up a guitar] to learn without some live guidance.

Learning to do setups does not have to be expensive. I got started on guitars rescued from the dump back in the early 1980s. Find a couple of cheap guitars through ebay, craigslist, guitar center, Rondo, GFS, whatever. I recommend starting with a strat or tele, as they are designed to be easily maintained. There are tons of good resources for doing a setup on a strat - I like The Fender Stratocaster Handbook
http://www.amazon.com/The-Fender-Stratocaster-Handbook-Edition/dp/0760342431/ref=pd_sim_sbs_b_1/188-2912443-2002342
because it covers the basics clearly and has lots of photos. It also warns you when you start looking at jobs that can really foul up your guitar, like truss-rod adjustment. Grab something cheap and start tweaking. Don't expect to turn a $100 Rondo into a $2000 custom shop guitar, but you may be pleasantly surprised just what you can accomplish with a screwdriver and a couple of allen wrenches  :o

cooltouch

#493
Datsunrobbie has the right idea, and the right mindset in my view. But I'd like to add to this, if I may, and I'll come at it from a luthier's perspective. No, I'm not a repair-type luthier. I build guitars. But when it comes to setups, especially with custom guitars, which is what I do, they have to be right on a custom guitar. The client isn't going to expect that he'll need to take it to a repair guy for it to play right.  I specialize in acoustics, but still certain things are rather universal.

You should start with basic playability issues. First, action. Tune the strings up to pitch -- and these should be the strings you plan to use, not those that came with the guitar.  Now let's set your action. Fenders require an Allen wrench for this; Gibsons just need you to detune the strings some so you can spin the wheels used to raise and lower the bridge. Action height tends to be a personal preference. Most players like their action as low as they can get it. This is not always the wisest choice because a lower than optimum action often results in buzzes, especially in the bass strings, fretting out, and can make it more difficult to bend strings. I like to set my guitars up with about 3/32" clearance with the 6th string at the 12th fret and about 1/16" clearance with the 1st string at the 12th fret. This will get you into the ballpark and you can fine-tune it to your preference from there.

Next we need to look at neck bow. Sight down the fingerboard toward the pickups and check for bowing.  Do this to both the 6th string side and the 1st string side of the fngerboard. The amount of bow should be the same on either side. If there is a slight amount of bow, this is normal -- even beneficial. You don't want a ramrod straight neck. Guitars with a bit of neck relief play best.  You can measure the amount of neck relief you guitar has by fretting the 12th fret of each string, one at a time, with your left had and then with your right index finger, press down on each string at the 7th fret.  The string should move slightly -- the amount of movement is approximately the same as the thickness of a business card -- about 1/64". If it's less than that, you might want to think about putting more bow into your neck. If it's more, you'll need to adjust the trussrod to straighten the neck somewhat.

When it comes to trussrod adjustment, one universal rule should be followed: Easy Does It. Move your trussrod wrench in small increments and check the new bow as well as 7th fret string displacement after each tweak of the wrench. You sort of want to creep up to the right amount. Easy Does It. After trussrod adjustments have been made, if any, you should probably go back and check action height. Readjust as necessary.

Once this is done, it's time to intonate your strings. You have already decided on, and installed the gauge you prefer. Next, invest in an electronic guitar tuner if you don't already have one. I prefer a chromatic tuner with a needle, but any style will work that has a needle or a reasonably precise readout that will tell you how far under or over the note your string is, in fairly small increments. Then you'll need a screwdriver or Allen wrench -- whichever is required to move the bridge saddles on your guitar. Next, with the tuner on, fret each string at the 12th fret. Pluck the string, but not too hard. Doing so will cause the string to sound sharp, so Easy Does It. Observe the pitch on the tuner. Then pluck the 12th fret harmonic. If both readouts agree, the string's intonation is good. If not, you will need to adjust the saddle. Moving the saddle away from the 12th fret lengthens the string and lowers the pitch of both the harmonic and the fretted note, but because the frets are in a fixed position, the distance between the 12th fret and the bridge will have increased slightly, out of proportion to the rest of the string, such that the fretted note will be lower in pitch in relation to the harmonic. Conversely, moving the saddle toward the 12th fret causes the fretted note to rise in pitch in relation to the harmonic. As you move across the strings, make adjustments as necessary, bringing the fretted pitches and harmonics in agreement with each other.

Finally, you might want to take a look at pickup height. Each manufacturer will have specs on what they consider correct height for their pickups. Me, I've never been all that concerned about it. I'll just set the height to what looks about right to me. No fancy gauges or measurements or anything.

Once you've finished intonating your instrument and setting pickup height, you've taken things just about as far as a non-luthier can take things. The guitar may need additional nut work, for example. I see new guitars that have nut heights that are way higher than they should be, for example. But changing nut height requires the right set of tools and even more of an Easy Does It mindset. Best to let your repair guy do this.  Or the edges of the frets on the fingerboard may be kind of sharp and ragged and may need to be filed down and polished. This is a situation mostly found on cheaper guitars, not on the better, higher-end ones. Also, if you've run into a situation where the guitar buzzes or frets out in places -- this could be due to fret heights that aren't consistent with each other. This often requires the frets to be leveled, but it may only require that one or two need to be dressed and not the whole fingerboard. You'll want a luthier to do this, for sure.

That about sums it up. Above all, don't be intimidated by your guitar. The setups I mentioned above that can be performed by a novice owner are all imminently reversible if you feel you've made an error. Just take notes, indicating where your starting point was, and take things back to that starting point if you feel that your adjustments made things worse. But I think that if you follow what I've written, this won't happen and you'll end up with a fun-to-play guitar as a result.

EDIT: I just read through the past several posts in this thread and I came across where Elantric likes to polish the frets on a guitar as part of the setup process. This is a good step, especially if there's been any fretwork, such as leveling, etc. For this sort of setting, though, the time to polish frets is right before installing the strings you're gonna use from now on out, so polishing will be one of the first things you'll do.  When I polish frets, it is a two step process. I get some very fine sandpaper -- say around 1500 grit and a soft pad to wrap it around and then just scrub down the frets with this setup. The soft pad allows the sandpaper to work against the sides of the frets as well as the tops of them.  And then for step two, I take some 0000 steel wool and rub the snot out of the fretboard with it.  That will usually give the frets a dull luster and a nice smoothness that can be appreciated especially when bending strings.
Best,
Michael

supernicd

Thanks for the reading recommendations and the detailed guidance, here.  Perhaps I'll find an inexpensive guitar to try this out on so as to limit my risk, and (hopefully) end up with an inexpensive gem - even if it's more of a garnet than a diamond. :)

This is the kind of information I was looking for. I'm not looking to put any luthiers out of a job.  But I know there are some periodic maintenance items that I could probably do myself that are more likely to get deferred for longer than they should (e.g. until the guitar develops a real issue) if I have to take it to someone else.
Strat w/ GK-3, Godin LGXT
VG-99, GR-55, GP-10
---------------------------------------------------------------

Elantric

#495
To learn how to work on Guitars - find a local Craigslist guitar - or Find a guitar you like here to practice your success and make Errors with.

There are new guitars starting at $51 with free shipping here

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=sr_st?bbn=1294700011&qid=1383671859&rh=n%3A11091801%2Cn%3A!12923151%2Cn%3A1294700011%2Cn%3A11971241%2Cp_8%3A2229048011%2Cp_6%3AATVPDKIKX0DER&sort=price


Cooltouch wrote some great Guitar setup tips here
https://www.vguitarforums.com/smf/index.php?topic=359.msg70671#msg70671


Back when I was employed at Valley Arts Guitar in Studio City, CA - every new guitar we sold was sent through a setup  / intonation process by advanced luthiers. Many customers would tell us that when shopping for guitars they had tried the same make/model guitar at a competitors store, but left un-impressed  - until they played the same make/model guitar at the Valley Arts Store  - AFTER it had been properly setup. While you cant work miracles  - its true that any guitar will play easier and sound better AFTER a proper setup.

Learn how here:
These are worth viewing / reading
Stew-Mac  / Dan Erlewine Trade Secrets Videos
https://www.vguitarforums.com/smf/index.php?topic=8776.0

How to Make Your Electric Guitar Play Great - Second Edition Paperback
http://www.amazon.com/Make-Your-Electric-Guitar-Great/dp/0879309989




datsunrobbie

Great tips from cooltouch and elantric, on both resources and what is best left to an experienced luthier. As far as fretwork and reworking the nut, these are certainly not to be taken lightly. Take a look at the GFS website in the clearance section if you want some cheap parts to use for learning. I picked up one of their necks a few months ago. It obviously had not made it to the end of the production line, as the frets were quite jagged. I picked up a few files and have been using that neck to practice. I have a long way to go before I'm going to refret my #1 strat, but I'm no longer afraid to knock down a sharp spot or tweak a truss rod.

Do go VERY easy on truss rod adjustment. The neck on the Dick Dale "Beast" tribute I made earlier this year had been on a strat set up for 9s. Now it is set up with 16/18/20p/38/48/56. I turn the truss rod only about 1/4 turn at a time, then string to pitch and let it sit for at least two days. The switch from 9s to bridge cables only required two adjustments (1/2 a turn), so a little does go a long way.

If everybody sends this sort of work to an experienced luthier, where's the next generation of luthiers going to come from? I was lucky enough to hang around and pick up a lot of knowledge from Claymon Sawyer when he ran a music shop in Elizabeth City, NC in the 1980s. He told me he was no luthier, he just "worked at it til it works". Locals would show up with pieces of guitars (acoustic and electric) and donate them, and Claymon would turn parts from several guitars into something playable. We spent hours swapping parts to come up with stuff that worked. He gave away quite a few of these resurrected guitars to kids who could not afford one, and I remember some of those give-away guitars being given back when the kid was ready to move up to a "real" guitar.

http://www.guitarfetish.com/Factory-Buyout-Clearance-Sale_c_411.html

neophytte

Quote from: Elantric on November 05, 2013, 08:14:55 AM

How to Make Your Electric Guitar Play Great - Second Edition Paperback
http://www.amazon.com/Make-Your-Electric-Guitar-Great/dp/0879309989


I just got this book (about a month ago) and it gets my thumbs up too!! I also got his "Guitar Players Repair Guide", which is also a handy reference.

Cheers

Richard

cooltouch

Quote from: datsunrobbie on November 05, 2013, 11:34:21 AM
If everybody sends this sort of work to an experienced luthier, where's the next generation of luthiers going to come from? I was lucky enough to hang around and pick up a lot of knowledge from Claymon Sawyer when he ran a music shop in Elizabeth City, NC in the 1980s. He told me he was no luthier, he just "worked at it til it works". Locals would show up with pieces of guitars (acoustic and electric) and donate them, and Claymon would turn parts from several guitars into something playable. We spent hours swapping parts to come up with stuff that worked. He gave away quite a few of these resurrected guitars to kids who could not afford one, and I remember some of those give-away guitars being given back when the kid was ready to move up to a "real" guitar.

What a great story!  Hopefully some 20 to 30 years later, Claymon Sawyer has inspired one or more people to follow in his footsteps at lutherie. Whether building or repairing, it is a craft to be honored and respected, since it is involved in either the creation or the continuation of beautiful stringed instruments. (The term 'luthier', which comes from the word 'lute' refers specifically to the builder or repair-er of stringed instruments. I dunno what the woodwind or brass equivalent would be.)

I have a favorite guitar repairman here in Houston, a guy named Neil Sargent. He's a complete iconoclast, charges way too little for the quality of work he provides, and has an extremely loyal following here in this town (and I'm one of them).  I am hopeful that one day Neil will find a person willing to apprentice under him, a person with the same work ethic, so that on the sad day when he hangs up his chisels and soldering iron for the last time, his replacement will be well groomed and willing to step into the middle of things, hopefully without missing a beat. Who am I kidding, though. Neil attended a guitar repair school in Florida, as I recall, and spent a year there, I think, developing his skills. So whoever his replacement will be, and I sincerely hope that will be many years in the future, will most likely have to have the same sort of pedigree as Neil if he has any hopes of filling the master's shoes.

But your question remains a good one: "Where's the next generation of lutheirs going to come from?" Because it does take a certain special type of individual to want this sort of lot in life.
Best,
Michael

romero

Hey guys here is my new Stadium ST-420 guitar modified. I have wanted a semihollow guitar for a while, these are the mods i have done to make it work for me.

1.Roland gk3. Had to use screws and springs for it to work properly with this setup.
2.Stetsbar tremolo system. Works great after proper setup. I had to remove the front bushings for better fit
3.Hipshot locking tuners. Post holes fit fine just had to redrill set screw holes
4 tusq xl nut. Epiphone preslotted style was close but still needed sizing
5.Custom lighting

I am still tweaking my roland GR-55 pickup parameters as i go, overall i am very pleased. I would like to ad some Duncan STK-P1's in the future, but for now I am only using the GR-55 & GK3 exclusively.