Jeff R

$1500 for a 7-watt 1x10? $1800 for a 12-watt 1x12? For that money, I'd personally prefer to buy a Mesa/Boogie designed and built ... Mesa/Boogie. At least I'd get a couple channels and one will breathe some fire.

From a practical standpoint, no. Your only other option would be to reset the neck angle.

You don't want a flat neck, you want subtle relief, like the curve of a smile or a rocking chair's rockers but obviously not that exaggerated. A flat neck only makes sense if a string is not in motion. A struck/plucked string vibrates in an oval shape, with the peak of the wave at the center of the string length. You set relief to give that oval-shaped vibrating string the space it needs to vibrate as close to the frets as possible up and down the neck without audibly banging into the frets, better known as buzzing. The moving string's oval is subtle, so relief is subtle. I typically put about a business card's thickness of relief at the lowest point of the dip/curve, somewhere between F5 and F10 depending on the guitar in question, with the guitar lying flat on its back on the bench. That is why I rely so heavily on my notched straight edge ha. It goes without saying a finesse player needs less relief than a player who hits his instrument like a drum kit. Harder hit = more string motion = need for greater relief. String gauge, weird flat tunings with less pounds of string tension, all that stuff comes into play. And if you like changing tunings frequently on a particular guitar, you have to reset the relief each time or find a general setting for relief and action that allows all of one's tuning preferences. If you are setting relief as I have described above and you are fretting out, your action is too low and/or you are in need of fret leveling and/or possibly a partial or full refret that potentially includes a re-truing of the fingerboard.

The absolute GOAT and MVP of bench tools for set-ups is a notched straight edge. You ideally want to measure and set relief off the fingerboard, not the frets. Why? Because frets wear away over time, particularly in the case of guitars that are decades old like many of our Hamers. If you are measuring and setting relief off fretted strings using worn frets as your gauge, what you think is ideal relief could actually be dead flat due to worn, eroded frets. Notched straight edges typically have a 24.75 side and a 25.5 side. The 24.75 side works on PRS and anything else with 25.0. The one I use cost almost a hundred bucks from StewMac. But you can get a high quality clone on eBay made of steel for a fourth of that. There are notched straight edges for basses too, with 34 on one side and 35 on the other.

Depending on how deep you wanna go down the rabbit hole, there are some valuable tips for you in the 2019 post on my shop page linked below. Pay VERY CLOSE attention to the halfsie pencil that I drag across the cowboy chord frets, to make a dummy crest line for what would be F0. I strongly recommend you make one for this job. Not only do you use it to make a DO NOT PASS line, it will give you a better idea as to how deep you want to go with your slotting files compared to the crest line. EDITED TO ADD: Just dawned on me if you FIRST do the halfsie pencil test on one or two guitars you really like for playability that are similar to the one you're fixing, you will see how those guitars' nut slot depths compare to the crest of the pencil line. It will give you an idea of where the strings should sit in relation to the crest line. A few file drags can go a long way and it's a hella lot easier to take away a little more than to put it back. Plan to make a coupla of file drags and recheck, couple of file drags, recheck, couple of file drags, recheck. As you check your progress, play the guitar like you normally play. Ideal nut slot depth, like ideal neck relief, is a case by case thing relevant to the player. Light-handed finesse players can enjoy easier to fret, smaller fret-to-string gaps (action) compared to those who play their guitar like a drum kit. They need higher action everywhere including F0. HFC content: The guitar I'm working on in the gallery is one of JGale's he shipped to me for TLC. Linkie to the full gallery ... https://www.facebook.com/TheFretShack/posts/pfbid0GzUrXHeQcsYXpGm2YW4ps1U8ZfLwMjZCkru68jJJQz9XjatJGAgHLW9bYPfaBbeTl

As a guy who does this kinda stuff for a living, my hunch is the end product failed to at least meet if not exceed his own expectations ... and there was a high likelihood there was no way it was going to at least meet if not exceed your expectations either, Jim. The guy no question had time and money invested and still provided a full refund - that speaks volumes to me knowing what a true custom spec build entails. Whether you're doing it from scratch as I assume he is/was, or working with the globe's best subcontractors to make instruments come together (like I do for bodies, necks and paint). Thee latter is not easier, I assure and promise you all. And that potential gap in expectations between builder and buyer is why I respectfully decline work with clients who haven't actually played my guitars and/or are too far away to make an in-person happen on the front end. Simply put, there is as much to lose as their is to gain for both parties, but in particular the buyer. He's the one who's going to take the depreciation hit if and when he attempts to turn it. My conscience won't let me do that to people. On a related note, Jim ... Carondelet will be exhibiting for the first time at Philly's fall show this year, meaning I'll FINALLY be able to put one of my guitars in your hands and THEN we get to work on some badassery together.

Gotoh ghost built all the Original Edge trems on those MIJ Ibanez guitars in that era we love from the mid to late 80s into the 90s. The most notable difference between an OE and the modern 1996T is that Gotoh bettered the bar assembly. The OE's Achilles heel was that easy to break pop-in bar with nylon washer tensioners that failed to work if not replaced frequently. The current 1996T has a push in bar with a threaded hollow tip that then screws in after its pushed down completely. Combine 1996Ts push-then-screw-in bar with its nylon lined housing and the side tensioning grub screw in the bar housing (which OE didn't have)... it all makes for a simply better bar assembly. You absolutely can adjust drag resistance on a 1996T to taste using the screw in depth and the side tensioner. Having said all that, however, I prefer the modern collared bar assembly on a Floyd. I'm a Floyd dealer and I haven't been informed about a MIA series. I already have a good idea who may be the fabricator if this is more than rumor, but I'll keep that to myself for now. Regardless of who might fabricate, the only thing that "might" improve will be delivery times from manufacturing site to distributor and then from distributor to bulk-buy OEM builders and small quantity consumers like repair/tech workshops and retailers. Why? Popular OFRs (chrome and black Originals) are constantly in back-order in recent years for all its customers. That's part of why you see so many Gotoh and Lockmeister and FU-Tone converts in recent years. What I just described may also be the catalyst for a possible USA operation ... to supplement what's been an inadequate supply of "good" bridges from Schaller Germany.

LMI is the one that recently went out of business. StewMac also sells precut inlays.

Away from guitars, I bought a few pedals this year, the coolest being a 2007 Fulltone Choralflange that formerly resided on the board of the Doobie Brothers' Patrick Simmons. Truth be told, I am so close to jumping ship from my big tube amps to a modeler or profiler. Specifically, a small-in-one, all-in-one I can take in a carry bag and pair with a small powered cab at trade shows. We'll see if I take the plunge in 2024.

Holiday swing and shameless self-promotion ... that's a set of Carondelet Dreambuckers in my pal Spence's Ibanez ES-style!

Good, now we can all catch our breath, that's a serious haul!

Carondelet SN 051 is the first "dinky" in our archive ledger and our first to have a roasted version of the already superduper tricked out necks we are making in collaboration with Grover Jackson. This guitar exceeds every high watermark my five senses can dream up, it's absolutely flawless in every way I can assess it and it's in the top five of guitars I've ever experienced in 40 years as a player, consumer, repair tech, fabricator, whatever. Hubba hubba.

Carondelet SN 005 had hung around the workshop for over a year getting relatively limited love. It always had the Carondelet soapbar in the neck and originally a single-coil sized P-90 in the bridge. I got the wild hair to convert it to a MUCH more massive Gotoh H bridge and a Carondelet Modern 5, with a coil split for the H hidden in the tone knob. The mod was the Midas touch - it's now my favorite Tele ever and not for sale. And now everyone wants to buy it. Go figure.

2015 Martin OMCPA4 Custom Koa, one of a 10-guitar limited run for a dealer in Pennsylvania.

He also had a sickly cool Floyded 6IL Blitz he played most of the night when I saw them on the 7800 Degrees Fahrenheit tour opening for Ratt.

Done ... very nice stuff, love your color choices!

Based on the DCR, what appears to be wider spaced poles in/for the bridge position, and the grey insulated lead wire rather than braided shield lead ... my guess is 490R and 490T.

My fave non-locking is Gotoh 510. Maybe a non-fine tuner Floyd pulled from an 80s Kramer Striker? Ed had a NFT Floyd for a while on Frankie.

From left ... first name Floyd, middle name NOT Floyd

If you are setting it to deck against the body and drop only, the cheaper Asian-made Floyds are good enough. The Achilles heel of the Asian FR is softer alloys, meaning knife edges on the plate and the studs dull prematurely. But that only affects returning to perfect pitch when floating in my experience with them. I have three EVH Stripes with the decked-from-the-factory Asian Floyds and I have no problems keeping them in tune. If you want a bridge you can float or deck however you wish, consider Gotoh 1996T (my personal fave) and Schaller Lockmeister (Jim V. turned me/us on to it, definitely the best of the Schaller stamped stuff) alongside the tried and true German-made Floyd.

You wanted the best, you got the best. And you'll keep on getting it for as long as people are willing to throw their money at it. I find it kinda funny that the "band" that offered a casket as official memorabilia refuses to let itself rest in peace. And I agree, Jim ... I just posted this palate cleanser on my FB page. Nothing they've done in decades nor what's next from up their studded spandex sleeves can surpass this era. NOTHING.

I saw them in late '22, first time they'd been to Baton Rouge since I think the Screaming for Vengeance tour. To say they surpassed my expectations is a understatement. It was among the best concerts I've ever heard or seen. Just because they're seniors, don't dare write them off as past their prime - they are clearly still in it.

Got it. Doesn't change the remedies I offered.

I'll echoplex teflon plumber's tape as a fast, effective fix. A dot of wood glue works and the bond is easy to break if you have to remove the knob later. If you have no teflon tape and are a little braver ... get a very thin bladed flathead screwdriver and a small hammer. Put the tip of the screwdriver blade in the split in the stem. GENTLY GENTLY GENTLY GENTLY tap the hammer (just one GENTLE TAP) to ever so slightly and GENTLY spread the tabs a tad. Test the knob. If it's still a little spinny and needs a little more grip, repeat. No more than a GENTLE TAP! Why the emphasis on gentle and tap? Because those split ears are weak brass and too much screwdriver "wedge" in the split WILL break one of the stem ears off, creating more problems!

Stereo equipment or amp chassis compared to a Cali circuit or any other passive guitar or bass harness is apples and oranges in regard to voltage and potential dangers to components and/or servicing techs. Just clarifying as a guy who's been working on guitars for decades, as it relates to the subject of this thread ... you don't have to wait at least a half hour when you are Deoxit'ing passive guitar or bass circuitry. The can recommends a couple minutes, which is roughly the time that elapses between spraying pots, agitating them, wiping out any overspray residue, and replacing the cavity cover. False alarm on the "oops," Jimbilly.