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diablo175

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Picked her up today and as I suspected, this is one ba-a-a-a-ad mutha! The Murkat I acquired from our own Jeffro sounds bitchin' in this. She cleans up nicely, too! With the pull of the tone knob, that Murkat was as jangly and chimey as you might hope- sounded great thru a Fender twin in the tech's showroom. But that Murkat really came to life when run thru my rig at home- Marshall 50 watt JVM and a m412A with a Boss ME50 out front.

The OFR did not require the posts to be moved - aside from the lengthening of the pull up/recess cavity, the real estate remained relatively unmolested. And the OFR rocks as expected.

Wasn't cheap and it wasn't quick but this beauty is worth every bit of it!

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Jim that looks INCREDIBLE!  It's amazing how the lack of pickup rings make it look like it's been on a diet.  

The design is stunning and really suits the guitar.  It looks like an original piece Hamer would have produced - and thats a compliment!

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Couple of follow ups- the Murkat sounds absolutely blistering in this baby! It just flat out shreds. I could understand it not being everbody's cup of tea but hot damn, it suits my purposes. Harmonics just leap off and pick input is nicely articulated without it sounding like a hive of pissed off yellowjackets. The sweetness of it coil tapped is an added bonus.

One minor hiccup- the trem was promised to work perfectly and for the most part it does but it's not quite to the level of some of my other Floyded axes. Yeah, I can tell. Some folks can tell the difference between tone woods and some people can tell when a Floyd isn't working optimally. :lol:

Do I drag it back to the tech or take it to someone else? My money's on the posts not being perfectly positioned. The fact that the tech let it go out says that maybe he's not the best judge.

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10 hours ago, diablo175 said:

Do I drag it back to the tech or take it to someone else? My money's on the posts not being perfectly positioned. The fact that the tech let it go out says that maybe he's not the best judge.

Live with it for a while. Wank the snot outta the FR and see if it settles-in. 

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12 hours ago, RobB said:

Live with it for a while. Wank the snot outta the FR and see if it settles-in. 

 

I did one better- I fixed it myself and then wanked the snot outta it ;) . Abject lesson in "if you want something done right..."  within reason and my skill sets. Turns out the number of springs on it can make a difference even when the Floyd is set up properly, level to the body's surface or aligned to the neck pitch. My tech put three on and I almost always go w/ 2, especially since it's tuned down to D# and has 9- 42's. To be fair, the difference is likely indiscernible to most, akin to adding a brass or stone tone block, but I can tell if it's optimally functioning based on the nature of the flutter. i.e. duration and the waveform of the flutter. Not sure if that's the proper terminology that's the closest descriptor I can think of.

Interestingly enough, in my addressing the spring issue, I discovered that he had not successfully soldered the ground to the spring claw. There was a blob of solder on the wire but it did not adhere to the claw plate. Again, easily fixed but no less a raised eyebrow WTF moment.

 

 

 

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26 minutes ago, scottcald said:

Well, everyone can make mistakes, but it sounds maybe like you have the definite answer on that fellow. 

Been part of numerous discussions on the "maestro- syndrome" where guys calling themselves "luthiers" and certified luthiers and master luthiers then charge a premium for their services. Had a bad encounter with one of them a few years back after I was charged 300 bucks for a toggle and pot replacement in my Axcess. When I challenged him on it I was sent an email from his lawyer directing me to never contact him again. Anyway, the point is- this guy, who has done great work on the 4 or 5 re-frets I've had him do, shouldn't IMO be making those kinds of  novice errors and charging what he did. Sure, shit happens but quality control is an absolute necessity for protecting against it.

It's all good. I'm moving on and in all likelihood, that was the last re-fret I'll be needing. Certainly will be the last wiring/soldering/install I have him do. ;)

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7 minutes ago, diablo175 said:

Been part of numerous discussions on the "maestro- syndrome" where guys calling themselves "luthiers" and certified luthiers and master luthiers then charge a premium for their services. Had a bad encounter with one of them a few years back after I was charged 300 bucks for a toggle and pot replacement in my Axcess. When I challenged him on it I was sent an email from his lawyer directing me to never contact him again.

LOL what a tool.

"No more lutherie for you!"

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1 hour ago, diablo175 said:

Been part of numerous discussions on the "maestro- syndrome" where guys calling themselves "luthiers" and certified luthiers and master luthiers then charge a premium for their services. Had a bad encounter with one of them a few years back after I was charged 300 bucks for a toggle and pot replacement in my Axcess. When I challenged him on it I was sent an email from his lawyer directing me to never contact him again. Anyway, the point is- this guy, who has done great work on the 4 or 5 re-frets I've had him do, shouldn't IMO be making those kinds of  novice errors and charging what he did. Sure, shit happens but quality control is an absolute necessity for protecting against it.

It's all good. I'm moving on and in all likelihood, that was the last re-fret I'll be needing. Certainly will be the last wiring/soldering/install I have him do. ;)

Wow, an attorney had to be involved?  Sheesh. maybe the attorney should be at the front door of the biz.  

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38 minutes ago, scottcald said:

Wow, an attorney had to be involved?  Sheesh. maybe the attorney should be at the front door of the biz.  

No, the attorney didn't have to be involved. At all. It was a massive over reaction to a legitimate concern for the cost of the work done and the fact that prices were not discussed up front. Some of that blame lies with me as I didn't inquire up front figuring I had been to enough techs and repair people before hand and had, what I thought was, a reasonable feel for what it was gonna cost. Boy! Was I ever wrong.

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3 minutes ago, diablo175 said:

No, the attorney didn't have to be involved. At all. It was a massive over reaction to a legitimate concern for the cost of the work done and the fact that prices were not discussed up front. Some of that blame lies with me as I didn't inquire up front figuring I had been to enough techs and repair people before hand and had, what I thought was, a reasonable feel for what it was gonna cost. Boy! Was I ever wrong.

This is why I am incredibly hesitant to reach out for any guitar work at all - there seems to be a general reluctance to quote pricing among techs.  When I can't get a price up front, I drop it.  I've had to drop it numerous times and either figure out how to do it myself or just let it go / sell the guitar. 

Back to the victory at hand: that's one of the coolest guitars I've ever seen! 

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5 minutes ago, velorush said:

Back to the victory at hand: that's one of the coolest guitars I've ever seen! 

Mucho aprecio! I'm grateful it sounds and plays as good as it looks. :D

 

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14 hours ago, diablo175 said:

Turns out the number of springs on it can make a difference even when the Floyd is set up properly, level to the body's surface or aligned to the neck pitch. My tech put three on and I almost always go w/ 2, especially since it's tuned down to D# and has 9- 42's.

That makes sense. When a FR is set up right, it is a thing of beauty. 

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3 hours ago, RobB said:

That makes sense. When a FR is set up right, it is a thing of beauty. 

x 100!  :D

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9 minutes ago, DBraz said:

Interesting.  I have always gone with neck pitch angle.  

Likely a safe bet, David!  In my experience, if the neck pitch angle is less than 4.5 degrees, aligning the trem to be parallel to the body is usually called for. This is also indicative of the trem being recessed. The higher the trem sits off the body, the more pronounced the neck angle usually is. As all of mine are recessed, it's a safe assumption that trem alignment parallel to the body is acceptable. The only exception would be my Gibby LP Axcess. As I understand it, they're 4.5 degrees. For that one, I have it aligned with the neck pitch.

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20 minutes ago, diablo175 said:

Likely a safe bet, David!  In my experience, if the neck pitch angle is less than 4.5 degrees, aligning the trem to be parallel to the body is usually called for. This is also indicative of the trem being recessed. The higher the trem sits off the body, the more pronounced the neck angle usually is. As all of mine are recessed, it's a safe assumption that trem alignment parallel to the body is acceptable. The only exception would be my Gibby LP Axcess. As I understand it, they're 4.5 degrees. For that one, I have it aligned with the neck pitch.

I thought I had read that the parallel to the body was to maintain a right angle of knife edges against the posts?  

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32 minutes ago, scottcald said:

I thought I had read that the parallel to the body was to maintain a right angle of knife edges against the posts?  

Sounds reasonable. If that's accurate, seems to me, there's gotta be a balance somewhere between maintaining the 90 degrees to the post and aligned with neck pitch. We're talking less roughly 2 degrees variance in most cases. In the hypothetical case of a neck pitch steeper than 4.5, you would have to sink the posts at the appropriate angle to maintain a squared relation to the base plate of the trem and remaining in line with the neck.

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