Is there anything you clowns need to know about working on guitars?

[VOLVO)))]

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!

[Hemisaurus]

Shame, I've got an old Egmond from the 50's or 60's, and the frets are lifting.

[tossom]

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!

[Jake]

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?

[Discö Rice]

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.

[tossom]

4th post and you guys have already de-railed this?  Nice work!

[VOLVO)))]

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. You can do it two ways, right to left, or from the center out. Either one works.

[Discö Rice]

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. You can do it two ways, right to left, or from the center out. Either one works.

Don't change the subject.

[VOLVO)))]

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.

[VOLVO)))]

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? 

[tossom]

I like this thread a lot already

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.

[VOLVO)))]

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...




It will never intonate 100% unless you get one that is compensated... like this. The saddles, not the bridge itself, mind you...




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,

[bbottom]

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.



thanks!

[VOLVO)))]

What'd you pay for it? Lucky man, those are such rad instruments.

Does it have these tuners(?):

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.


or, if you want to go low-dollar...

http://www.guitarfetish.com/Fender-Style-Elephant-Ear-Tuners-Chrome_p_254.html

You can acquire both in black, as well.

[bbottom]

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

[VOLVO)))]

Anytime.

[inductorguitars]

I'm with Disco back to reaming and daisy dukes. 

[VOLVO)))]

Erik, feel free to chime in with any information/tips/tricks you feel like people should know.

[SpaceTrucker]

  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.

[VOLVO)))]

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

Do post pictures.

[VOLVO)))]

Also, come over to this side a little more... We need more people. 

[mortlock]

duct tape makes a great strap lock..

[VOLVO)))]

duct tape makes a great strap lock..

A bottle-cap and wood screws, too.

[tossom]

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.

[justinhedrick]

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.