Business is picking up, and I'm doing a shitload of different styles of repairs. A combination of techniques from the old/new schools, and a few from the woodworking world. Is there anything you guys can think up, off the top of your head, that you'd like to see a step-by-step of? Only thing I can't do, because I haven't been able to buy the 300 dollars worth of tools, is refrets. Just post your requests in this thread, for shit you'd like to see. Shit as simple as set-ups, even. Feel free to PM me questions, anytime, too, though I'd rather them be public so everybody can see. It's a communal learning experience.
GO!
Shame, I've got an old Egmond from the 50's or 60's, and the frets are lifting.
I'd like to see a set of truss rod set ups for 70s 3 bolt fenders, since I have 2!
An extra - My 76 tele custom has developed a really odd quirk, when switching to the back pickup sometimes the level drops off alarmingly - can still hear it but it will noticeably drop. It can be solved with an aggressive downstroke or a quick whack on top of the pickup! Thought it was the switch to start with, went inside a look and didn't see any loose wires. Any ideas? If not, it kinda amuses me anyway so will prob live with it for a bit!
Do you work on them with your shirt off? Do you get all sweaty and when you take water breaks, dump half of the glass on your head and shake your hair side to side and in slow motion?
Quote from: Jake on April 09, 2011, 04:41:10 PM
Do you work on them with your shirt off? Do you get all sweaty and when you take water breaks, dump half of the glass on your head and shake your hair side to side and in slow motion?
My pants are all sticky now. Gonna go lick em 'til my tongue bleeds.
4th post and you guys have already de-railed this? Nice work! ;D
Quote from: Hemisaurus on April 09, 2011, 03:46:26 PM
Shame, I've got an old Egmond from the 50's or 60's, and the frets are lifting.
You can knock those back in, real easy, Herb. A plastic faced/brass faced mallet with a light touch will put them right back into the slots. I said REFRETS, I know how to do fret work, polishing/dressing/leveling. :D You can do it two ways, right to left, or from the center out. Either one works.
Quote from: SunnO))) on April 09, 2011, 07:22:24 PM
Quote from: Hemisaurus on April 09, 2011, 03:46:26 PM
Shame, I've got an old Egmond from the 50's or 60's, and the frets are lifting.
You can knock those back in, real easy, Herb. A plastic faced/brass faced mallet with a light touch will put them right back into the slots. I said REFRETS, I know how to do fret work, polishing/dressing/leveling. :D You can do it two ways, right to left, or from the center out. Either one works.
Don't change the subject.
Quote from: tossom on April 09, 2011, 04:07:26 PM
I'd like to see a set of truss rod set ups for 70s 3 bolt fenders, since I have 2!
An extra - My 76 tele custom has developed a really odd quirk, when switching to the back pickup sometimes the level drops off alarmingly - can still hear it but it will noticeably drop. It can be solved with an aggressive downstroke or a quick whack on top of the pickup! Thought it was the switch to start with, went inside a look and didn't see any loose wires. Any ideas? If not, it kinda amuses me anyway so will prob live with it for a bit!
Those have the truss rods at the base of the neck, instead of the headstock, correct? That's no biggie, tightening the rod straightens the neck. Loosening allows it to bow towards the bridge. I've got a Custom shop strat at my shop that has that going on. I'll shoot a few pictures. With truss rods, a "little" is actually "a lot."
The tele problem, clean your switch/pots. Clean all the connections. If the pickups aren't wax potted, you can also blow all the dirt and shit out of the bobbin with an air blast.
It sounds like whenever you give it a solid jolt, it gives you the full connection on the switch, it's probably resting on some kind of corrosion or dirt. Deoxit works fine, or you can get some real high grade contact cleaner with silicone lubricant for about 14 bucks a can. I use it on everything, works great for cleaning shit out of bridges, tuners, any electronics... I order it by the case. It also works great on pots in amps, and it evaporates faster than acetone. It's greaaaattt shit.
Quote from: Jake on April 09, 2011, 04:41:10 PM
Do you work on them with your shirt off? Do you get all sweaty and when you take water breaks, dump half of the glass on your head and shake your hair side to side and in slow motion?
I work exclusively in a sleeveless Michael Bolton t-shirt, and daisy dukes. I wear Crocs or Sandals, and My hair is mid back. Does anybody want to come over and let me play with their whammy bar? :o
I like this thread a lot already 8)
My strat has a bullet style truss adjustor at the top of the neck, will have to check the tele. Pretty sure the tele has it at the bottom of the neck. One of my best friend's Dad is an electrician, will get a can of contact cleaner and have a go at it! Thanks for tips sir.
When I was younger I used to tech for bands, so as far as replacing strings, basic soldering and intonation I am fine but my strat pissed me off so much I sent it to a repairer for a set up. It came back like an entirely different guitar - both in a good and a bad sense.
Good - the intonation is as good as it can be I think, given the 3 boltness.
Bad - the action is pretty high. I solved this by tuning to C#. Plays like a bitch in standard.
Having three bolts has nothing to do with the intonation. The saddle position, that's how you adjust the intonation in the first place. Fender scale is 25.5. That is just a ROUGH estimate. It's just long enough to put the strings in the ~ballpark~ for being intonated. You can get almost a FULL step out of adjusting your saddles. If you'd like, soon as the trem block for the strat I'm setting up gets in, I'll shoot the intonation process. As for the tele, if it had one of these bridges...
(http://www.grguitars.com/tele%20brg_%203%20gold.jpg)
It will never intonate 100% unless you get one that is compensated... like this. The saddles, not the bridge itself, mind you...
(http://www.diyguitars.net/pictures/wilkinson%20bridge/WTBC-CR.jpg)
Now, how high is the action? If you have a depth gauge handy, you can find out. At the Nut, and the 12th fret. HIGH action at the 12th fret, .60 and higher, could indicate the neck needing a shim. How much adjustment do you have on the saddles - up and down? Also, remember, 99% of all fenders have a neck radius... so, E and E can be lower than A and B. D and G being the highest. Sight down your fretboard, you'll see what I mean.
A shim is easy, it usually only takes something the thickness of a business card, or thinner to make a WORLD of difference. If your saddles are bottomed out, you need a shim. If they're in the middle, you need to adjust them down(while paying attention to the radius.) If they're maxed out, just lower the action, and assume the dude who did it originally was a fucking hack.
Now, another angle, he had to raise it that high to make it play in the higher register due to lifting, or generally uneven frets. Blah blah Fret wear, blah blah fret leveling, blah blah make sure you don't fuck up the radius by leveling it out, blah blah look down the neck and see if you see any high frets by just eyeballing it, blah blah use a straightedge or a fret rocker to check for high or lifting frets
blah blah blah blah blah, :D
I recently picked up an old fakenbacker (pretty sure that it's an Aria) and besides a good set up and new strings (the neon isn't doing it for me) I need to get new tuning machines for it. The ones on it are kind of tough to crank and they rattle a lot.
What kind would you suggest that I look into and how do I go about figuring out what is going to fit? Also I would like the tuners to be black and in the same style as the ones that are already on it.
(http://img715.imageshack.us/img715/7657/picture001dd.jpg)
thanks!
What'd you pay for it? Lucky man, those are such rad instruments.
Does it have these tuners(?): (http://t0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcS5M9K4MFAWKmT20dZIuVaV858_pusrBXTqrBejHRzjfkMtlRTiPw&t=1)
If so, it's just a standard bass tuner than comes on any old bass.
If you want to go high-dollar...
Grover titans, they may take a wee bit of reaming on the holes (oh man, try and explain that to a woman without sounding like a pervert,) but they should work just fine. SUPER good tuners, too.
(http://www.guitarpartscanada.com/images/bassparts/tuners/Grover%20titan.jpg)
or, if you want to go low-dollar...
http://www.guitarfetish.com/Fender-Style-Elephant-Ear-Tuners-Chrome_p_254.html (http://www.guitarfetish.com/Fender-Style-Elephant-Ear-Tuners-Chrome_p_254.html)
You can acquire both in black, as well.
Thanks dude. Yea the tuners are just like that.
I only paid $250 for it which is why I scooped it up. It needs some work but it will be a kick ass bass once I'm all done with it. Thanks again
Anytime.
I'm with Disco back to reaming and daisy dukes. ;D
Erik, feel free to chime in with any information/tips/tricks you feel like people should know.
(http://www.ronalfy.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/06/man_long_hair.jpg)
??? I Got a t 40 that has a buzz on the G string 9th fret, I tried banging it out(no pun intended) but didn't want to fuck anything up. Should I hit the 10th fret harder or try something else? also the intonation is off a hair on all the strings at around the 10th on up. Should I just adjust the saddles?
Also, it has a neck tilt thing. And a problem with the pots scratching. Should I hit them with some contact cleaner?(and maybe take a hit of it myself cause of my damn bass) Of course it is a 78 or 79 so Its to be expected. I really need to fix the barrel style jack on it.
My neighbor painted it and when I put it back together it hasn't been exactly right. I did good though. I just put some labella flats on it so I don't want to take it apart again. I should post a picture its badass.
The T-40 and the T-60 were revolutionary instruments. Not only were they the first massively produced guitars done on CNC machines, but they had a SHITLOAD of before-their-time features.
That neck tilt-thing is a built-in-shim. Instead of using some sort of foreign material like a business card, they thought ahead. All it is is a T-bolt that you can use to adjust how high the front of the neck sits in the pocket. It's a way to lower the action, or raise it. It's just another angle of adjustment. BRILLIANT idea.
The buzz may be due to a fret being low OR high. Play it, and find exactly where it's buzzing. It becomes pretty apparent. If the buzz is at 9 when you play it, 10 may be high or 9 may be low. Fret wear also makes a difference, if there's a huge pit on 9, it'll buzz on 10 unless you raise the action.
Contact cleaner will clean up the pots in a jif, and the jack:
http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Electronics,_pickups/Components:_Jacks/Flush-mount_Output_Jack.html (http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Electronics,_pickups/Components:_Jacks/Flush-mount_Output_Jack.html)
Do post pictures.
Also, come over to this side a little more... We need more people. ;D
duct tape makes a great strap lock..
Quote from: mortlock on April 10, 2011, 09:52:01 PM
duct tape makes a great strap lock..
A bottle-cap and wood screws, too.
Awesome thread! Action on my tele is amazing, really low and not a hint of choking. The intonation on the tele is pretty good, my strat however... Even after a pro set up it is still slightly off on the low E.
Quote from: tossom on April 11, 2011, 05:17:08 PM
Awesome thread! Action on my tele is amazing, really low and not a hint of choking. The intonation on the tele is pretty good, my strat however... Even after a pro set up it is still slightly off on the low E.
i have the same problem on my strat and my 9 string. i have them set up for drop D and i just can't quite get it there.
Bloody annoying eh? Mine is tuned either to E flat or C#, regardless of tuning and despite the pro set up it is off. Plays like a pig, high action but by god does it sound good!
Quote from: tossom on April 11, 2011, 06:50:06 PM
Bloody annoying eh? Mine is tuned either to E flat or C#, regardless of tuning and despite the pro set up it is off. Plays like a pig, high action but by god does it sound good!
Start over from scratch. Reseat the neck, set the lowest action on the bridge and if it has the 5th hole use that to adjust the neck angle. then adjust the bridge action. It might take a couple of times to get it correct. Lastly get it it intonated. Hmm you just might need a new nut, depending on how old it is.
If you press harder than the guy who does the intonation it will be off.
T-40s have nickle nuts.
Quote from: inductorguitars on April 11, 2011, 07:59:38 PM
Quote from: tossom on April 11, 2011, 06:50:06 PM
Bloody annoying eh? Mine is tuned either to E flat or C#, regardless of tuning and despite the pro set up it is off. Plays like a pig, high action but by god does it sound good!
Start over from scratch. Reseat the neck, set the lowest action on the bridge and if it has the 5th hole use that to adjust the neck angle. then adjust the bridge action. It might take a couple of times to get it correct. Lastly get it it intonated. Hmm you just might need a new nut, depending on how old it is.
If you press harder than the guy who does the intonation it will be off.
78, it has had a new nut fitted and is playing much better than it has in years. The neck was reseated too, the neck used to move - the joys of 3 bolt - but is sitting pretty good now. I think its just a pig of a guitar, kinda matches the owner! ;D Will have a go at setting my own intonation, I play pretty hard so your point about pressing harder is one that hadn't crossed my mind so ta for that.
You need a strobe tuner to intonate properly. You can get close without one.
So, apparently, a lot of the upper end Peavey bolt-on's have those built in shims. I set up a Dyna-bass today, and it was a fucking dream working that shim bolt into perfection. Looooveeeee.
Besides you, which sites are reputable from anything such as proper intonation to changing out electronics and nut?
WHAT? Don't trust us? hater. :D
(http://www.downeu.com/uploads/posts/2011-03-27/334942-0.jpg)
The best 30 dollars you will EVER spend. Straight up, it's got everything in an easy-to-understand format.
Dan's been doing this shit for years. It can walk you through pretty much whatever you want.
(http://www.seymourduncan.com/images/support/schematics/2h_2v_2t_3w.jpg)
Duncan has every damn wiring diagram KNOWN TO MAN, pretty much. EASY to understand and pretty damn straightforward. No smoke, no mirrors.
I like Guitar Nuts, they're pickup potting article is good too
http://www.guitarnuts.com/wiring/menu.php (http://www.guitarnuts.com/wiring/menu.php)
there's a site I'm trying to find, where the guy has every variation, with coil taps, phase reversal switches etc. etc., trying to find the URL.
Found it
http://www.1728.com/guitar.htm (http://www.1728.com/guitar.htm)
(http://www.1728.com/2hmbuckz.gif)(http://www.1728.com/jeff.gif)
I want to recycle these Washburn humbuckers to make a spring machine. Basically, I'll stretch a bunch of springs over the pickups so I can amplify them. It's been a while since I looked at the pickups (I swapped some GFS pickups into a semi-hollow Oscar Schmidt Delta King... badly... a few years ago) so I was surprised that there was only one wire emerging from the casing. Just to be sure I didn't stupidly snip the ground wire off way too close to the casing, I opened it up. Viola!
(http://img62.imageshack.us/img62/9484/pickups.jpg)
1. Is that bare wire the ground, and by touching the back plate, it's grounded? If I wanted to hook this up to a 1/4" jack, do I merely attach the main wire (seems too easy).
2. Any reason I would need a pot or a switch in the chain? The spring machine would go into a small mixer, where I can ride the volume and affect the EQ. Am I missing out, or asking for trouble if I skip a volume pot? I'm wondering about uncontrollable feedback or other technical headaches. Maybe the pots do some filtering that I want. Low pass or high pass or something, I don't know - I'm just asking.
If I just need to solder a jack to this wire, I think I can handle this project. ;) Maybe :(
Unless you want a tone or vol knob there isn't any reason to wire in a pot if you are going into a mixer. Tho you might want to someday put it through an amp...
Anyway. It's pretty easy. I'm guessing you're only using one humbucker for the spring machine. Do I hear KMFDM or Einstürzende Neubauten??
Wire the yellow wire to hot(tip) of the jack and then solder the ground coming out of the PU to the base plate plus an extra wire (from the solder point on the base plate) going to the ground (sleeve) of the jack.
Quote from: inductorguitars on June 23, 2011, 07:45:51 PM
Unless you want a tone or vol knob there isn't any reason to wire in a pot if you are going into a mixer. Tho you might want to someday put it through an amp...
Anyway. It's pretty easy. I'm guessing you're only using one humbucker for the spring machine. Do I hear KMFDM or Einstürzende Neubauten??
Wire the yellow wire to hot(tip) of the jack and then solder the ground coming out of the PU to the base plate plus an extra wire (from the solder point on the base plate) going to the ground (sleeve) of the jack.
Cool! Thanks.
Where do you get and what are the best nut flies?
http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Nuts,_saddles/Special_tools_for:_Nuts_and_saddles/Double-edge_Nut_Files.html (http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Nuts,_saddles/Special_tools_for:_Nuts_and_saddles/Double-edge_Nut_Files.html)
http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Nuts,_saddles/Special_tools_for:_Nuts_and_saddles/Mitchell_Abrasive_Cord.html (http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Nuts,_saddles/Special_tools_for:_Nuts_and_saddles/Mitchell_Abrasive_Cord.html)
http://www.lmii.com/CartTwo/thirdproducts.asp?CategoryName=Nuts+%26+Saddles&NameProdHeader=Nut+%26+Saddle+Files (http://www.lmii.com/CartTwo/thirdproducts.asp?CategoryName=Nuts+%26+Saddles&NameProdHeader=Nut+%26+Saddle+Files)
Quote from: inductorguitars on June 23, 2011, 07:45:51 PM
Unless you want a tone or vol knob there isn't any reason to wire in a pot if you are going into a mixer. Tho you might want to someday put it through an amp...
Anyway. It's pretty easy. I'm guessing you're only using one humbucker for the spring machine. Do I hear KMFDM or Einstürzende Neubauten??
Wire the yellow wire to hot(tip) of the jack and then solder the ground coming out of the PU to the base plate plus an extra wire (from the solder point on the base plate) going to the ground (sleeve) of the jack.
The solder won't adhere to the base plate so I'm just going to thread the ground wires through the screwhole of the base plate... when I screw the pickup into the board, that should keep them in place. Also, the white wire runs up through the core of the yellow wire... do I strip the white wire's tip, and twine white/yellow together, or keep them apart?
:confused:
Also, I recycled the input jacks from a broken amp... they have 3 spades. Any reason I shouldn't use these jacks?
I could experiment and try hooking the wires up in various ways, but the wires are so short, I'm skeered. God dammit.
Quote from: Lumpy on June 24, 2011, 02:56:55 AM
The solder won't adhere to the base plate so I'm just going to thread the ground wires through the screwhole of the base plate... when I screw the pickup into the board, that should keep them in place. Also, the white wire runs up through the core of the yellow wire... do I strip the white wire's tip, and twine white/yellow together, or keep them apart?
No, the white wire is the signal, the surrounding braid is ground. Use the white wire.
Quote
:confused:
Also, I recycled the input jacks from a broken amp... they have 3 spades. Any reason I shouldn't use these jacks?
Go ahead, just figure out which is tip, and which is sleeve, the third spade is either ring, or a switch :)
Quote from: Hemisaurus on June 24, 2011, 05:55:00 AM
No, the white wire is the signal, the surrounding braid is ground. Use the white wire.
What do I do with the surrounding wire?
If I had lots of leeway, I wouldn't mind experimenting but I'm working with a short leash...
It's the ground, rather than trusting the groundbthrough chassis idea, just connect to the ground on yourbjack.
Quote from: Hemisaurus on June 24, 2011, 05:37:59 PM
It's the ground, rather than trusting the groundbthrough chassis idea, just connect to the ground on yourbjack.
Yea what Hemi said. I figured he might want to extend the wire it would be an easy way to do it if you had a good soldering iron...
Double grounded, to make extra sure.
"Tone is in the 2nd ground"
That should be OK in this instance, but be careful two ground paths is how you get ground loops and hum :-\