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ASenileAnimal posted:its pretty playable and comfy enough when i raise it to where it doesnt buzz. while i do enjoy how it feels with lower action im hesitant to take it into a shop. is fret leveling expensive? i payed 80 bucks for the guitar and i feel like any tech would lmao if i brought this in to have work done on it. it's worth checking the relief anyway, the truss might need adjusting and that also affects the string height in a different way. So to get the strings as low as you can, you might need to alter the relief so one area isn't closer to the strings than the rest. If you're getting buzz at a few frets (and not just the 14th) that implies it's a neck thing rather than a problem with the 15th fret wire or whatever
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Nov 27, 2019 23:22
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ASenileAnimal posted:its pretty playable and comfy enough when i raise it to where it doesnt buzz. while i do enjoy how it feels with lower action im hesitant to take it into a shop. is fret leveling expensive? i payed 80 bucks for the guitar and i feel like any tech would lmao if i brought this in to have work done on it. $80 guitar sounds like a good candidate to learn DIY fret-leveling on, especially if it's just one bad fret.
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Nov 27, 2019 23:22
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The tools to do your own fret leveling aren't super expensive (though I'd highly suggest a diamond crowning file). I lived in a town that was 80 miles away from anywhere that could do a fret level a few years ago and just taught myself, it's not that hard. Kept doing it because a fret level where I live now costs $150 (or $300 for stainless). Sanding Beam w/ Abrasives: $57 Notched Straight Edge: $30 Diamond Crowning File: $58 or Normal Crowning File: $33 Plus some painter's tape, a sharpie, and something to polish the frets after crowning. I use those nail buffer thingies and then a dremel to polish but you could probably get way with the nail buffers if you don't care about it being pretty. How to level frets: 1) If it's bolt on take the neck off. Take off the strings. Use the notched straight edge to get the neck as straight as is possible via truss rod adjustments. (I'm convinced you don't need to wait more than 15 mins in between truss rod adjustments, and that's what Dan Erlewine says, but some people think you should wait overnight.) If you're really anal about precision, or like me decided to build a guitar with a scalloped fretboard, you can use feeler gauges to get the tops of the frets at level as possible, but that's probably excessive. 2) Tape off the space in between the frets with painters tape. This is the hardest and most time consuming part of the whole process. 3) Mark the frets with a sharpie. 4) Sand the frets with the sanding beam + sandpaper until you can see the metal at the top of every fret. Don't push that hard. I try to follow the path of the strings using the beam and sand gently in an oval shape along the path of each string. You don't need a lot of exposed metal, but every fret has to have exposed metal along the entire playing surface. Ta da, your frets are now technically level. 5) Mark all the frets with the sharpie again. Use the crowning file on each fret until you can only see a tiny narrow band of black sharpie at the top. There has to be some black sharpie, even if it's a super thin line, on all of the frets though, or you have to start over. 6) Polish 'em. I run over each fret a few times (not too much or you'll gently caress up the level) with the nail buffer than do the dremel thing.
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Nov 28, 2019 05:33
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If you're extremely cheap like me, you can make your own notched straight edge for about $6, as long as you already have a Dremel. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nnzms8dZdVM
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Nov 28, 2019 06:41
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I bought a piece of marble threshold from home depot years ago that I use for fret leveling. I epoxied a piece of wood to the back of it for a handle and use spray adhesive to attach the sandpaper to it. It makes quick work of it since it's heavy enough you don't really have to put any pressure on it. I'd reccomend getting a crowning file too trying to do it with a triangle file is where the real skill in it is. I just bought the cheaper one stew mac sells and am still using it many years later I figure if I ever wear it out I'll upgrade to a diamond one.
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Nov 28, 2019 06:49
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a carpenters level works great as a sanding beam since they have to be perfectly flat plus it also works as a level
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Nov 28, 2019 11:48
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NonzeroCircle posted:I just got the Audio Assault black Friday bundle ($49 down from $749 or some similarly ludicrous figure). Some very neat stuff in there and the stuff I will use outweighs the stuff I won't.
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Nov 28, 2019 17:55
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Man, why does my arm gently caress up the basic D-chord and feels all heavy? *looks at the clock* Oh, gently caress, I've been practising for over an hour?
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Nov 28, 2019 19:52
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Speaking of fret work, what do you guys think of this wear on my acoustic? Should I bring her in for work? Playability and sound is fine, I just wonder if this is the type of scenario where an oz of prevention is worth a lb of cure? I'm equipped to do setups pretty well, but fret work is not something I want to try on this guy and I'd rather delay the several hundred $ bill I'm sure that'll cost me if it's no issue.
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Nov 29, 2019 05:54
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Just my personal opinion, I think there is lots of good fretwire left there. A simple (and noways these seem few and hard to find) fret-leveling, with the appropriate neck and bridge adjustments should bring it back to life. In other words, yes: let a luthier level those divots out of the frets.
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Nov 29, 2019 07:13
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I'm pretty sure this is the least sellable guitar on Reverb: https://reverb.com/item/16904994-6554-honest-ron-custom-7-string-scalloped-lefty-w-hard-case
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Nov 30, 2019 01:13
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Anime Reference posted:I'm pretty sure this is the least sellable guitar on Reverb: I have a reverb filter for scalloped electric guitars and that thing comes up all the time. I would totally buy a non-trash right-handed scalloped 7 string but yeah I don't know what that guy was thinking. Agh I just checked my filter and there's an ESP Joe Stump that I totally do not have the money to buy without selling a ton of gear. Now I'm debating selling a ton of poo poo locally to a music store for 50% less than I'd get on reverb just to have some hope of buying it before someone else does...
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Nov 30, 2019 01:20
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Gnumonic posted:I have a reverb filter for scalloped electric guitars and that thing comes up all the time. I would totally buy a non-trash right-handed scalloped 7 string but yeah I don't know what that guy was thinking. Did you also see this https://reverb.com/item/27710564-it-s-your-guitar-the-blackmore-2019-arctic-white-scalloped-neck-alnico-v-pickups  Craftsmanship!
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Nov 30, 2019 01:30
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Dude just sat with it on his lap, filing away while watching The Office.
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Nov 30, 2019 01:50
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Yeah, that seller turns out a ton of horrific crap. It's kind of a shame because a nice scalloped neck is really a beauty to play on once you acclimate, but most people will only ever see that crap unless they stumble across an Yngwie strat. I'm kind of surprised more pro-scallop jobs don't show up on Reverb, there are a few places that do it in the US and there's a decent waiting list the last time I checked. But I suppose most people who end up getting that done to a guitar tend to really want it and are unwilling to part with it.
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Nov 30, 2019 01:52
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I'm curious what a scalloped neck feels like but not curious enough to actually buy one, and since I'm unlikely to run into a Yngwie strat at my local Guitar Center I guess it'll have to remain a mystery.
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Nov 30, 2019 02:07
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Anime Reference posted:I'm curious what a scalloped neck feels like but not curious enough to actually buy one, and since I'm unlikely to run into a Yngwie strat at my local Guitar Center I guess it'll have to remain a mystery. IIRC from the one day of playing an yngwie strat at GC like 15 years ago: it feels like the action is super high because the wood doesn't stop your fingers so you interpret it as high action, but you can do vibratos for days
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Nov 30, 2019 03:00
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if you never touch the wood anyway, does it matter if the scalloping is... bespoke? from a playing standpoint at least
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Nov 30, 2019 03:16
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baka kaba posted:if you never touch the wood anyway, does it matter if the scalloping is... bespoke? from a playing standpoint at least Probably not. I mean even a lovely scallop job will give you the effect I guess. But a big part of the reason to do it is that it looks cool, and if it's a halfassed scallop then what's the point? And yeah it does feel like the action is super high at first. There's not really an obvious benefit to it other than feel. Well kinda, it makes finger rolls around the high 'E' a little easier since you can get more of an angle. I think a scalloped board forces you to improve your technique though, since your playing will sound like rear end if you don't have a very light touch. My preference for scalloping isn't exactly rational but normal fretboards just don't feel right anymore.
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Nov 30, 2019 04:24
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Gnumonic posted:Yeah, that seller turns out a ton of horrific crap. I scored a nicely done Yngwie clone (based on a MIM strat) from a bulgarian luthier for all of 400 bucks on ebay. The scalloping is flawless. But I see a lot of amateur ones for sale around here and they look like utter poo poo. Like all woodworking it requires a bit of skill and effort.
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Nov 30, 2019 16:53
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baka kaba posted:if you never touch the wood anyway, does it matter if the scalloping is... bespoke? from a playing standpoint at least Besides looking like poo poo and eating up your inlays, apparently bad scalloping can also compromise the strength of the neck and ruin the stability. I think there's also the chance of running into the truss rod channel although that might only be for overambitious neck thinning.
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Nov 30, 2019 17:13
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So I'd like a slightly smaller size acoustic. Got a Yamaha AC3R which is awesome but wouldn't mind a second guitar that's just a tiny bit smaller. Went to the local store and tried a bunch and the Taylor 110ce-SB was the one that stuck out. Tried some fancier guitars (I could go up to around $2k or so) but for some reason this 899 dollar one felt and sounded the best to me. https://www.taylorguitars.com/guitars/acoustic/110ce-sb Obvious answer is "buy it" but should I make an active effort to look at alternatives and if so what?
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Nov 30, 2019 18:49
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That just looks like another full-size drednaught to me. I'd personally go looking for a drastic change and buy a really nice parlour.
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Nov 30, 2019 19:10
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Anime Reference posted:Besides looking like poo poo and eating up your inlays, apparently bad scalloping can also compromise the strength of the neck and ruin the stability. I think there's also the chance of running into the truss rod channel although that might only be for overambitious neck thinning. I'm gonna scallop my shovel guitar with a wood axe and there ain't a darn thing you can do about it!!! -jack white
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Nov 30, 2019 19:42
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Huxley posted:That just looks like another full-size drednaught to me. Tried a GS mini and didn't like it. Hit me up with suggestions.
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Nov 30, 2019 21:13
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AnimalChin posted:I keep having so much fun with this dipshit guitar: this got no love but the little mitchell OWNS
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Dec 1, 2019 04:27
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I too would like a really small parlor guitar. I live in a town of a million but sometimes I still feel like all the stuff I want exists in a town somewhere else where I’ll never get to play them.... Life’s hard man.
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Dec 1, 2019 05:27
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Captain Apollo posted:I too would like a really small parlor guitar. It is. Since I really like every Yamaha I've played I thought about tracking down a CSF3M to check out.
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Dec 1, 2019 14:02
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swapped in a set of gfs gold foil pickups on my favorite beater guitar ever. the kwikplug system makes it super easy to install and im surprised more companies dont do it. the hardest part was stripping the ground wire that was too fat to fit into the wire crimp thing because i didnt really have the proper tools for it. stoked to have a useable neck and middle pickup now! 
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Dec 1, 2019 14:34
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Clayton Bigsby posted:Tried a GS mini and didn't like it. Hit me up with suggestions. When I was shopping for something smaller to play lounging around the living room, I looked awful hard at Alvarez, which makes several across their range. Yairi is their lux line, all wood hand made in Japan. I ended up getting a tenor instead because I'm a first a mando player and lot more comfortable playing melody in 5ths. Taylor doesn't make anything in the "classic" parlor shape, but Martin calls it their 00 shape. A note: lot of these come in the VERY classic 12-fret style with a shorter scale length to match, but most makers are doing 14-frets and cutaways with the body style now, too. If you want to go all out, here's Chris Hadfield playing a https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lc8BcBZ0tAI (You can go all out either way, Collings and Larrivée are both $5k+ instruments.  )
Huxley fucked around with this message at 15:17 on Dec 1, 2019 |
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Dec 1, 2019 14:59
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Captain Apollo posted:I too would like a really small parlor guitar. https://www.shopgoodwill.com/Item/80941337 
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Dec 1, 2019 16:33
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Man. Joyo sure makes a lot of products.
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Dec 1, 2019 16:50
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I saw a Strat in a thrift store yesterday. Headstock was the right shape and the hardware felt great (very smooth pots etc), but no decals and no serial number that i can see. Body looked hand painted, was kind of a baby blue color. That was, like, *definitely* a knockoff right? It was proceed at $80 but they do rotating half off deals, I'm sorely tempted to go back and pick it up at $40 just for a goof.
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Dec 1, 2019 17:02
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Almost certainly, but if you buy it you can take the neck off and see if there are any identifying marks on it.
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Dec 1, 2019 17:13
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It's hard to lose on a $40 strat
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Dec 1, 2019 17:22
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Sweaty IT Nerd posted:It's hard to lose on a $40 strat 
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Dec 1, 2019 18:06
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Sweaty IT Nerd posted:Man. Joyo sure makes a lot of products. No joke, some of their pedals have some cool graphics too. Hmm...
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Dec 1, 2019 19:23
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Hah, we'll see if I'm that impulsive. My main guitar is already a Strat type (Ibanez GSA60 SSH) and idk if having a single coil bridge is worth $40 to me. Now if it was a Tele....
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Dec 1, 2019 20:06
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If the guitar's only $40 you could pretty easily remove the entire bridge/trem mechanism, slap some scrap wood in the cavity, dremel out the pickup cavity a little and install a tele bridge and bridge pickup. I love the ergonomics of the strat, but there's real magic in that whole tele bridge design.
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Dec 1, 2019 20:34
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ASenileAnimal posted:the kwikplug system makes it super easy to install and im surprised more companies dont do it. I used to wonder about this, then I realized how easy soldering is. Well, for years I thought soldering was nearly impossible, but it turns out that it is in fact super easy as long as you buy leaded solder and flux. Burned a few pots out before the old lead-free stuff I had would even melt, but it doesn't take me more than 5 mins to do the soldering part of installing pickups these days. Changing the strings is the most laborious part... ...unless your guitar has a floyd, in which case you can just loosen them and take the tremolo off. Probably my favorite thing about a floyd rose.
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Dec 2, 2019 00:28
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