Re: Guitar Repair Necessary?

I think Cyberserf hit some good points below, and I interject some comments.

As far as having to turn the bass down on the amp, you might want to lower the pickups some. If they are always too dark, and if you do the ..001 treble bleed cap across the volume, you can try playing at about 9 to 9.5 out of 10, because they will play slightly brighter by dialing volume down just a touch. But you may also find that you'd prefer a pickup swap. In passives, I prefer Seymour Duncan Jazz/JB, which will give you some more high end compared to Gibson pickups I've tried. Or, and EQ pedal may work for you.

Cyberserf wrote:
On Dec 5, 9:58 pm, Kerry <kbro...@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:

I used to take my guitar into a store to give it a "tune-up" (like a
car gets a tune-up). I never notice any difference except for the
intonation. Is there any other purpose in getting a "tune-up"? Does
anyone else do this regularly? Should I take it some place where they
will do more?

I play a 1990 Les Paul Studio. My biggest concern is that I usually
have to turn the bass way down on any amp, so I thought maybe that
could be fixed somehow (tone-pot cleaning?). My 1st fret has a tiny
dent in it over the low E, and the case that holds my neck pickup is
cracked so that the pickup is not sitting correctly. But it still
plays and sounds great (except for having to turn down the bass), so I
don't want to spend too much to fix it.

Thanks,
Hos


You know, if you are controlling the environment that the instrument
is in (e.g. it is kept in the same place with the same humidity and
temperature), then there is not that much need to have a "tune-up"
unless you notice something askew or an accident should occur.

A guy should pay attention to how much relief he has, and if that changes, adjust the truss rod. You can check this by fretting the first fret, and towards the heel, or where the neck meets the body. A capo helps. Then look at the gap between the string and the fret half way in between.


The modification to the tone pot would not be a cleaning (though that
may be good if it is scratchy), but rather you would probably want to
get a different capacitor value on the tone pot, (a smaller value will
not turn to mud as quickly...something like a .02mf)

Good advice, and I now use .010 microfarad.


...and maybe a .
001 uf on the volume pot (a treble bleed) to allow for less mud at
lower volume.

I do that, also.


You can also get a different reaction by replacing the
pot with a 250K Audio Taper (Gibson uses 500K pots in the LPs, which
is nice with the humbuckers...warm and growly...250K are more single
coil friendly (aka Fender)...but some people like the modification).

That will roll off some highs, and I'm not sure he wants to do that.


Replacing the Pup Ring is very simple and you can easily order the
part you need online (www.stewmac.com or www.lmii.com cost: about $4
mounting screws included in cream or black...heck, you can do the pair
of 'em).

Sight unseen, I will hazard a guess that the dent in your first fret
is actually a groove caused, in this case, by playing an F over and
over again in the same spot. Stop that...play an F somewhere else. In
any event, it can be easily taken out if it isn't too deep with a
quick recrown and polish, with special focus in this area.

If I wasn't getting a buzz when fretting an F, I'd probably just polish it with some 0000 steel wool at the next string change. Eventually I'd bring it to my luthier for a level crown and polish, and perhaps replacement of that fret.


As for the purpose of a "tune up"...this is really your call. I have
players bring me their axes religiously every year for what they call
a check up or tune up...it isn't something I market as a service...and
you're right, I really don't do much to many of these past a slight
adjustment here and there. These are home players with boutique
instruments that they coddle like a newborn infant. They humidify in
the winter, dehumidify in the summer and keep everything polished and
slick. I check them over, tighten what is loose, clean the fretboard
and charge them for the strings . Mostly they do it for their own
peace of mind. On the other hand, I have other players bring me their
axes religiously because they have to. Their instruments are exposed
to road life and constant useage. They have very limited control over
humidity and temperature fluctuations, and sometimes the fluctuations
can be extreme as beer and sweat combine on the upper bout. Popped
braces and cracked tops are not rare. These guys need to have their
instrument examined a little more regularly...they tend to accumulate
patches and fixes over the course of whatever tour they're on and
then, once the tour is over, a critical mass is met and they end up at
my door with some pretty sad examples of abuse.

You have had the benefit of knowing how your guitar should play when
it is well setup and properly maintained...with this knowledge in
mind, my advice (FWIW) would be to forego the "regular tune ups" in
favour of visiting your technician early when you start to get a
feeling that the instrument is no longer playing optimally...you'll
know when the time is right...meanwhile, get these niggling details
addressed before they get worse and go play your guitar.

Regards, CS
.

Relevant Pages

  • Learning guitar, looking for exercises and information
    ... I bought a guitar about 6 months ago. ... play an instrument rather than sitting my ass in front of the pc when I ... months after that I can't play shit. ... barre on any fret and it seems to me that I could rest my entire house on ...
    (alt.guitar.beginner)
  • Re: Psychology of rhythm
    ... Supposing that the only way to express music is through an instrument then ... composer and not be able to play any instrument fluently. ... understanding of. ... There's your fundamentals. ...
    (rec.music.theory)
  • Re: Doubling on clarinet? What are the basic transition problems?
    ... In other words you can't back up your assertion with any physics. ... Anyone wishing to test this should simply play a mouthpiece alone and ... instrument, and even the playability, depending on the player. ... the clarinet and saxophone are different ...
    (rec.music.makers.saxophone)
  • Re: Why do you like Mozarts music?
    ... play it like there are different ways to play modern instruments, ... the very basic parameters are the same as when the instrument was ... we can actually reconstruct a lot of these playing styles. ... It is like deciding which kind of hat to put in a historic painting ...
    (rec.music.classical.recordings)
  • Re: What Constitutes a Plagiarist
    ... note, 6th string, the note "F". ... obviously where you would jump forward on a string a fret or two away ... Now, play the Dorian form there, starting of course at A, ... to learn to play guitar is up to you. ...
    (alt.guitar.amps)
Loading