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kidkissinger posted:Thanks y'all, this is helping ease the pain a lot I remembered watching a Dave's World video where he stabilizes the crack with some CA glue just to make sure nothing gets worse. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a0_iMxuIZsI Mine's got some pretty bad chips in it; just a part of what it is now. Love the thing.
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Apr 5, 2020 05:26
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Speaking of Guitar Maintenance, I'm puzzled as to why my poor, sweet hagstrom's bridge pickup isn't working.  Used guitar that I bought uhh, few years ago that I recently restarted playing. Noticed that the pickup selector switch was backwards. I opened the cavity and rotated the switch 180deg and all was well for a week. Bridge pickup started getting quieter and finally quit on me. Neck pickup is fine, thankfully! Things I've looked at: - Continuity between all of the wiring looks fine, thought that I had broken a solder joint. - Checked the volume pots to see if they were causing problems, but they don't seem to be. - Measured the voltage output of the pickups before they hit any of the Volume/Tone circuitry. I get about 20mV when the bridge is selected, 150mV or so when both, 230mV or some when just neck. (Just measuring general levels with a multimeter) I haven't yet hit the switches with contact cleaner (gotta borrow some from work) but does this mean that I should see if something happened to the pickup itself? It seems odd that I'm getting about 10% of the output when all the wiring looks fairly clean and undamaged. Or should I wait until I can take it into a guitar tech and see if I missed something silly?
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Apr 5, 2020 22:52
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Is it a three way gibson style switch? I've discovered those sometimes have trouble making contact and have to kinda be bent back to making contact, as well as cleaned often.
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Apr 5, 2020 22:53
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I recently picked up a FFLP and replaced the pickups with a set of AliExpress ProBuckers that someone linked in this thread. I feel like the installation went fine (even though there weren't any instructions) but I'm having trouble setting them up correctly. I followed a set of guides (here and here) for setting the pickup and polepiece heights. But, my neck pickup is still quite a bit hotter/brighter than bridge, which is kind of muddy. Are these guides I linked bad/wrong or maybe I hosed something up during the install? I haven't tried resetting the polepieces or anything, yet - I wanted to see if anyone had some sage advice for me.
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Apr 6, 2020 03:25
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wait, I thought he was dead! turns out it was Kenny Rogers.
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Apr 6, 2020 03:36
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pocket pool posted:I recently picked up a FFLP and replaced the pickups with a set of AliExpress ProBuckers that someone linked in this thread. I feel like the installation went fine (even though there weren't any instructions) but I'm having trouble setting them up correctly. Did you put the pickups in the wrong spots? It is easy to do... ask me how I know!
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Apr 6, 2020 04:21
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Lumpy posted:Did you put the pickups in the wrong spots? It is easy to do... ask me how I know! I was wondering that, too. Is there any way to tell which is which other than the sound? pocket pool fucked around with this message at 04:48 on Apr 6, 2020 |
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Apr 6, 2020 04:29
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So I'm a little at the end of my rope. I decided to plunge into the world of electrics late last year, and purchased a Firefly based on the thread's pulse. I feel like I've had tuning issues ever since, like it's never been stable at all and always sounds slightly sour. I put fresh NYXLs on there in December to try to ameliorate the problem and still, halfway through a song my G string is wandering. I don't feel like I have this problem with my acoustics! They sound nice and stable and sweet a week after I change the strings, especially if I gave them a good stretching. Is this something that's normal for electrics? Normal for inexpensive electrics? Fixable? I really would like advice on this because I'm having so much fun playing with effects and amp modulators and stuff but I sometimes feel like I have to use extra effects to ice over some sour notes. I don't want to give up and sell off my guitar to someone else, but at the same time I'm starting to feel like I'd rather have another acoustic or a bass or something if it's going to be such a pain in the rear end. Sorry if I sound emotional, but this is actually weirdly upsetting for me, I just want to love playing my electric. Edit: Swapping the machine heads has been suggested to me? Brawnfire fucked around with this message at 05:08 on Apr 6, 2020 |
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Apr 6, 2020 05:04
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My first electric was one of the Firefly hollow bodies, and I hated it. Wouldn't stay in tune, sounded bad clean, couldn't keep it from buzzing. I kept it less than a week and shipped it back. I think a lot of the reputation those have come from people who keep them as 2nd or 3rd electrics. People who are more impressed by the price of the playability than the playability itself because it's not their only instrument. I borrowed a $700 Tele for a month and it was a totally different experience. It felt right in every way the Firefly felt wrong. Buying that one was out of my budget, but it meant a lot to my shopping to know what a good electric felt like in my hands My $400 CV Thinline hasn't gone appreciably out of tune since I put 10s on it. It's just about in the middle price-wise between those two, but it's a hell of a lot closer to the Tele than the Firefly. I don't regret for a second spending three times the price of the Firefly on what will be my only electric for a long time.
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Apr 6, 2020 05:38
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The nut and the bridge can also be problems in the tuning stability question.
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Apr 6, 2020 05:39
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Not gonna lie, there's a lot of times I'm worried I got caught up in a wave. I wouldn't mind returning the thing and adding the money to a more expensive electric or go used from a trusted local dealer... Honestly, I should have done that in the first place but I liked how it looked and everyone was talking it up so I figured, why not?
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Apr 6, 2020 05:41
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pocket pool posted:I was wondering that, too. Is there any way to tell which is which other than the sound? A multimeter would be the easiest way, but if you dont have access to one then you could measure the mounting screw spacing. Most humbuckers have the screw holes spaced 2 inches apart at the bridge and 1 15/16ths at the neck. If you remove them from the body you can check that way. If they're the same, then whichever one is louder or hotter is generally the bridge pickup. Chip McFuck fucked around with this message at 05:59 on Apr 6, 2020 |
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Apr 6, 2020 05:57
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My 335 copy and LP copy have been FANTASTIC. I hear the hollow tele is the worst.
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Apr 6, 2020 05:58
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I've got the Firefly FF338.
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Apr 6, 2020 06:01
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Brawnfire posted:
This is a common thing with LP-style guitars. The D and G strings will be temperamental because those two inner strings have a significant break angle before they hit the nut. The sharp angle will bind the string against the side of the string's nut slot, which throws the guitar out of tune when your string moves through the nut during bends or really and playing at all. I've had good results from running a pencil tip through the nut slot to lube it up with graphite. There's also some lube made especially for it. Bob's Nut Slime or something like that.
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Apr 6, 2020 06:37
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Jyrraeth posted:Speaking of Guitar Maintenance, I'm puzzled as to why my poor, sweet hagstrom's bridge pickup isn't working. Check the output directly from the pickup before it hits the switch or anything. If that's low then the pickup is probably dead. It happens but not often. pocket pool posted:I recently picked up a FFLP and replaced the pickups with a set of AliExpress ProBuckers that someone linked in this thread. Multimeter to check outputs. Brawnfire posted:So I'm a little at the end of my rope. Get it setup properly. Sounds like a badly cut nut which will affect intonation and tuning across the fretboard.
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Apr 6, 2020 07:46
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Brawnfire posted:I feel like I've had tuning issues ever since, like it's never been stable at all and always sounds slightly sour. I put fresh NYXLs on there in December to try to ameliorate the problem and still, halfway through a song my G string is wandering. I don't feel like I have this problem with my acoustics! They sound nice and stable and sweet a week after I change the strings, especially if I gave them a good stretching. mostly likely it's a poorly cut nut causing the strings to bind. a cheap fix is to glue a bit of old string to the side of a popsicle stick and use that as a makeshift file and go over both the top and back end of each nut slot to round off the break angle a pre-slotted tusq xl is like $12 and those are pretty much a drop-in replacement if you don't want to go through that much effort
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Apr 6, 2020 10:59
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Chip McFuck posted:A multimeter would be the easiest way, but if you dont have access to one then you could measure the mounting screw spacing. Most humbuckers have the screw holes spaced 2 inches apart at the bridge and 1 15/16ths at the neck. If you remove them from the body you can check that way. If they're the same, then whichever one is louder or hotter is generally the bridge pickup. I can borrow a multimeter. I can’t seem to find mine. The higher resistance is the bridge, right?
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Apr 6, 2020 13:48
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Anyone recommend a decent but inexpensive replacement bridge for the FFLP? I've got mad buzzing happening at the bridge on the low E and would like to replace it if my ghetto file work doesn't solve the issue. I picked up one off allparts, but the post holes don't fit the FF. They're too wide and I really don't want to remove everything and fill and drill new holes for the posts.
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Apr 6, 2020 13:50
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stoopidmunkey posted:Anyone recommend a decent but inexpensive replacement bridge for the FFLP? I've got mad buzzing happening at the bridge on the low E and would like to replace it if my ghetto file work doesn't solve the issue. I picked up one off allparts, but the post holes don't fit the FF. They're too wide and I really don't want to remove everything and fill and drill new holes for the posts. If it's just that one saddle, just pick up a replacement saddle? Brawnfire posted:So I'm a little at the end of my rope. Sad to hear people are having bad times with their Fireflies. Mine have need some TLC (fret level, dressing the ends, intonation set, truss rod adjustment) which I expect on a guitar that costs as little as those, but they have been very solid players. As others have said, make sure there is graphite or something in the nut slots, make sure your intonation is set correctly, and if it's still giving you trouble, but only on that one sting, you may just have a badly cut nut slot, or a bum tuner. I replaced the stock tuners on one of mine for aesthetic reasons, so I'd be happy to ship you the full set of ones I pulled off so you can have a free drop-in replacement.
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Apr 6, 2020 14:18
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Thanks everyone! I think I'll try some of the quick fixes first, with the graphite and nut filing, tightening the screws. If that doesn't work I'm looking into replacing the tuners. I don't really know how to do much set up stuff properly myself, since this is my first and only electric, should I take it to someone maybe?
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Apr 6, 2020 15:10
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Dan Erlewines book how to make your electric guitar play great is a good book on how to do set ups and other general maintenance. A cheap but effective nut file set is to get a welding torch tip cleaner. Normally I'd say just go top home depot or whatever and pick one up but nowadays  Anyways here's one on Amazon Hobart 770084 File Tip Cleaners, Small https://www.amazon.com/dp/B002ACOXSQ/ref=cm_sw_r_em_apa_i_.VZIEbJKNKXEM Thumposaurus fucked around with this message at 15:30 on Apr 6, 2020 |
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Apr 6, 2020 15:27
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Brawnfire posted:Thanks everyone! I think I'll try some of the quick fixes first, with the graphite and nut filing, tightening the screws. It Depends™ Setting the pickup heights, action height, intonation, (most) truss rod adjustments, and putting graphite in a nut slot are all really basic things you can do with tools you most likely already have. Filing a nut slot, fretwork and so on tend to require more specialized tools (even if you make them yourself a la the "string on a popsicle stick") and can do things that cannot be un-done if you screw up. That said, a cheap guitar is great to learn on, and drop-in replacement nuts are pretty inexpensive =)
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Apr 6, 2020 15:30
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Intonation is definitely the one I have to read up on, I'm sure I've never done that up right because I barely know what it is, beyond the guitar being in tune with itself somewhat
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Apr 6, 2020 15:35
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Brawnfire posted:Intonation is definitely the one I have to read up on, I'm sure I've never done that up right because I barely know what it is, beyond the guitar being in tune with itself somewhat Get out your electronic tuner (or the one in your DAW... I always use Logic Pro's tuner to do intonation) and get the harmonic at the 12th fret to pitch. Fret the note with normal pressure at the 12th fret, and see what's up. If the fretted note is sharp, the string is too short between the bridge and 12th fret, so you need to make it longer by moving saddles back (away from the neck). If the fretted note is flat, the string is too long between 12th fret and bridge, and you need to shorten it by moving the saddles up (towards the neck). If they are the same, you are a winner. Note that some folks intentionally intonate certain strings slightly "off", but that's fancy. EDIT: One of my firefly guitars came with almost perfect intonation out of the box. One of the other ones.... 
Lumpy fucked around with this message at 15:52 on Apr 6, 2020 |
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Apr 6, 2020 15:50
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pocket pool posted:I can borrow a multimeter. I can’t seem to find mine. The higher resistance is the bridge, right? Yep, the higher resistance will generally be the bridge pickup.
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Apr 6, 2020 16:23
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Chip McFuck posted:Yep, the higher resistance will generally be the bridge pickup. And generally the neck will have a 'N', and the bridge will have a 'B' stamped on the back plate either all by its lonesome or as part of a string (ex: HVMN / HVMB). Despite this, I still put them in the wrong spots sometimes. But if they don't, that's the way to do it.
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Apr 6, 2020 16:39
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Only some manufacturers do that (and not even consistently when they do), unfortunately. I wish there was a universal standard because it would make digging through my box of pickups a lot easier.
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Apr 6, 2020 17:06
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Chip McFuck posted:Only some manufacturers do that (and not even consistently when they do), unfortunately. I wish there was a universal standard because it would make digging through my box of pickups a lot easier. I have one that has an N _and_ a B stamped on it right over each other. 
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Apr 6, 2020 17:19
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Lumpy posted:I have one that has an N _and_ a B stamped on it right over each other.
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Apr 6, 2020 17:31
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Lumpy posted:If it's just that one saddle, just pick up a replacement saddle? Way to use logic and make it easier  Really, this is a good idea and what I'm going to do. Thanks for the input!
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Apr 6, 2020 18:34
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My Dad and I both bought FF338s the same week. He hated the tuners and replaced them right away and hasn't had an issue since. He just dropped some new pickups in it and now it's one of his favorite guitars (he has several hollow-body jazz boxes and loves them all, but he's just really taken to this guitar.) I also have issues keeping mine in tune. I'm going to try lubricant at the nut but I think I will follow Dad's lead and put better tuners on it, and I can't wait to swap out the stock pickups (I really do not like them much at all) but I spent all my pickup money on finishing the Zion and need to take a break from spending money until my coronavirus hours reduction relief starts coming in. I want to post about that Zion every day and post pics every hour. I'm enthralled by this guitar. I'm fighting as hard as I can to leave you guys alone about it. I want to marry it and make babies. But I'm really glad I bought my FF338 and dammit if I ever actually find an FFLP in stock I might get one, but they are always sold out.
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Apr 6, 2020 21:39
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Regarding the Probuckers, mine were not marked for neck and bridge. The only obvious difference was the location of the screws in the pickup. You can look at photos of Epiphone guitars with Probuckers and see that the screws are closer to the headstock on the neck pickup and closer to the bridge on the bridge pickup. That's how I installed mine and they sound good.
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Apr 6, 2020 22:48
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Yeah after verifying with a multimeter I definitely installed my pickups backwards. Guess I’m re-stringing the guitar again, haha.
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Apr 6, 2020 23:23
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pocket pool posted:Yeah after verifying with a multimeter I definitely installed my pickups backwards. Guess I’m re-stringing the guitar again, haha. Welcome to the club!
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Apr 7, 2020 00:16
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 https://www.gumtree.com.au/s-ad/davidson/guitars-amps/electric-guitar-esp-ec-1-brand-new-unwanted-prize/1242270310 submitted without comment (i am not the seller)
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Apr 7, 2020 01:23
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What is a reasonable amount of money to offer someone on craigslist for the beat up telecaster in this listing https://minneapolis.craigslist.org/hnp/msg/d/minneapolis-fender-squire-telecaster/7098324288.html I am into beat up looking guitars if it doesn’t make it sound/play like crap but they’re asking a similar price a local used music store would charge for a much better condition version of the same guitar. Also for some reason it bugs me more than the body damage that the knobs and switch look like they were yoinked from a strat?? Thinking of offering them $90 and either they’ll yell at me or meet me somewhere in between
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Apr 7, 2020 05:34
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Well, on the one hand it sounds like this person knows what they're doing so is probably not all that terrible, but it's an affinity and is also real old, so it might have been back in squier's real iffy days. $90 might be fair if it's in decent shape (non-cosmetically) and is on the better end of what an older affinity might be, but it also might just kinda play and sound not great.
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Apr 7, 2020 06:00
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I wasn’t sure what to think about the age, I had a squier strat in ‘05 and it was fine but it wasn’t an affinity and I feel like the affinities had a very not good reputation when they were new. On the opposite side of that coin there’s this Fender Standard series tele, made in Mexico in ‘09 with a Seymour Duncan hot rails bridge pickup and a gig bag going for $400 https://minneapolis.craigslist.org/hnp/msg/d/minneapolis-standard-telecaster-with/7085573686.html It’s like twice what I wanted to spend but also seems like a really nice guitar for that price Unrelated to that but I want to try playing a danelectro guitar even though they all look like someone put the 60’s in a microwave
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Apr 7, 2020 06:36
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My 90s reissue U2 is easily my favorite guitar. The thing about the lipsticks, they sound a little thin at first but the magic is in the middle pickup position because they wire them in series and the middle is just big and loud and beefy. Lipsticks are weird pickups for a bunch of mechanical reasons, like the wire is wrapped randomly around a single magnet instead of evenly around a bobbin, so the field is scattered. Then instead of pole pieces focusing the field further there's just a big rear end metal tube around the whole thing so there's lots of string smear, and then on top of that the tube isn't potted so it's incredibly microphonic.
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Apr 7, 2020 06:45
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