Spyke
As with most of us, I have a few friends that also play instruments, I work with a few too. One such friend is Uber Soldat who works with me. After my hit-and-miss documentation of my Strat mods and my plans for the Epi, he's brought a few guitars 'round for me to fiddle with. I'm no luthier but I'm no fool either I think. With the knowledge gained from this forum and Alan's site and advice, I've ventured further into Hot-Rodding, setups and the like with a good deal of confidence.
Uber brought another axe for me to play 'round with. I usually just do a restring and basic setup but this one is extending into repairs. The nut is cracked and one of the pots are faulty. It's a el-cheapo Sunny, strat style with a single bridge humbucker. Laughable quality but the owner is going to use it to teach a friend to play.
I'd love to do a complete makeover of this guitar, re spray, the works. The finish is bad and the bridge and pup are mounted skew. The fret board is a painted item and the frets really need to be replaced (past the point of just dressing to rectify).
In short I'll just be replacing the nut, repairing / replacing the pot, restringing and a full setup.
I'll charge for supplies and maybe a little extra for a pack of smokes or something! Probably no more than R150... I'm quite enjoying doing this on the sideline. Just don't tell Andy's or Music Connection! ?
AlanRatcliffe
Good, good. ? And it's far better to learn and get the practice on a Sunny than on someone's PRS or LP.
Spyke
Alan Ratcliffe wrote
Good, good. ? And it's far better to learn and get the practice on a Sunny than on someone's PRS or LP.
I second that!
Malkav
Well if you really wanna get into the re-fretting thing I can only recommend www.stewmac.com if you're interested in purchasing the correct tools for the job. Also their re-fret kit comes with an instructional book ?
Spyke
Ok, so it's official. The Sunny is a POS... like bad.
I fixed up the nut, this required quite a bit of work to get right. Fixed a bad connection on the Vol pot and did a restring an setup.
This has the worst bridge I've ever come across. The holes for the strings are way too small and the one for the E had to be opened up to allow the string to seat properly. The screws for the saddles, when the intonation is 'set', dig into the strings, such is the angle.
Then the bridge and pup don't line up with the neck (which is just painted wood btw)...
As soon as I can get pics uploaded I'll post some
Malkav
Sounds horrifying in that I just gotta see this kinda way ?
Spyke
Here's the pics.
Please note how nothing lines up...
and how the saddle screws interfere with the strings...
LMinnie
Yikes!!
Not even my shitmiller was that bad!! :-[
Garth-S
Thats so bad its scary.. how can somebody sell something like that!?
Heath
there is nothing on that guitar that is straight .......
personally i would rip the bridge off *it looks to far forward* , line it and the pickup properly , cos hell that pickup is badly misaligned . cover the holes with some body filler and respray it . would make it almost a decent guitar
Spyke
Tailon wrote
snip
...would make it almost a decent guitar
The thought crossed my mind but after seeing the quality of the wood and the soldering, i figured you'd be building a guitar from scratch eventually.
driving to a forest to go pick out a tree to cut down with an axe so that you can get the wood to make a body would be less effort... >☹
LMinnie
You asked for it....maybe the reason he brought it to you is not your lutheiring skills but rather cos he was too embarrassed to take it too a shop techie!!? ?
Spyke
That wouldn't surprise me in the slightest...
Makes me appreciate my guitars even more.
AlanRatcliffe
Ooh! Lots of practice for you there!
Bridge is too far forward, too far to the left and skew. Two ways to go:
Loosen the neck, pull to the right (if it will go) and tighten it again - this will centre the strings on the neck and also line 'em up a bit better with the pickup. Then use shorter intonation screws (or cut those back.. Also tilt the neck back with a shim so that the bridge saddles can be raised higher and get those palm-ripping height adjustment screws screwed further into the saddles.
The other thing is to do it properly - remove the bridge, fill the holes and reposition properly. Still tilt the neck...
The pickup may still need repositioning too, but that's easy, just fill the four holes in the body for the mounting ring and reposition it - there is usually enough play in a humbucker rout to more the pickup around a bit.
Heath
whats a good angle for the neck to be tilted down ????
Spyke
That neck wouldn't budge, I tried but there was minimal room for adjustment. As it is the body has small cracks running from the neck recession and the strap pegs.
The shim and shortening the screws would be the best bet IMHO - but the owner isn't looking to spend huge amounts.
Hmmm... idea for a thread - General discussion.
LMinnie
I reckon you arent enjoying it anymore 'ey? ?
Spyke
Na, I still am.
Did a setup and restring for Dean, one of our guitarists, on the weekend for mahala. The look on his face when he picked it up after I was done was worth the time and money...
His speed improved and i think he came up with three new pieces right there and then that night, just because he liked the sound and feel of his 'new' guitar.
LMinnie
I meant the Sunny poephol!
Spyke
? ? ?
I know what you mean, I've already handed it back to the 'owner'.
I still enjoy doing the mods and setups...
