Oh dear Dano day...

[AndyR]

So, I wandered up the smoke, tried a few things, managed to keep my money to myself...

And then just at the last moment I walked in a shop I'd not been in before and found another of these. I tried them a few weeks back as some of you know, and found them a bit variable.

It's been nagging at me though. So I gave it a go, it was better than the others, so I bought it :roll:

At the moment it's tuned to G and is playing In My Time Of Dying all by itself...

If I'm not going to keep it as a slide-only guitar (which it is very good at) I'll have to do something about the metal nut - a) it's too high, and b) the strings are catching in it big time... action's ok for my manly fingers :lol: but I am having a few intonation and tuning stability problems, especially with whatever @rse unstretched strings it has on it...

Also I think I'll replace the tone pot - it's got a 500 in, not doing a great deal for me, I've got a spare 250 somewhere.

Looks the BUSINESS though!

All in all though, a nice additional novelty instrument to join my little family :)

She needs a name now, and I think it's Debra - she reminds me of someone else's wife I use to know when I was a bit younger :?   :lol:

Sorry for pic stolen from elsewhere, the missus has selfishly taken her camera on holiday (and I can't make the wretched thing work properly anyway!)

[dave_mc]

haha, nice! :)

[FernandoDuarte]

Hehehehehehehehehehehehehehe Would Tim rewound these pickups?? :twisted:
:P

[Philly Q]

:lol: Andy, you're getting as bad as the rest of us!  This forum is a dangerous place... 

[indysmith]

She needs a name now, and I think it's Debra

That's the name of the mannequin head I keep my headphones on.
Sweet guitar! Wouldn't mind a clip or two ;)

[Kilby]

nice :)

It would also give some nice early Floyd tones (as Barrett played one too)

[AndyR]

When I went to bed last night, I was sure I'd made a mistake buying it. Couldn't get it to stay in tune, wasn't sure about the sounds, etc, etc. :roll:

But this morning I gave it a thorough work out and I don't think I have.

The only big problem is the nut. I'm not sure whether it needs lowering or not - I do need to tighten the truss-rod a smidgeon when I restring it, and the height of the nut might be acceptable then (especially if I want to keep playing slide on it). But it does have a big problem on the nut slots, they all grab a bit, but the bottom E and A are especially bad. The combination of this and the fairly springy neck make it almost impossible to get in tune - when you sort out the A, the E gathers up behind the nut and goes sharp, then when you sort the E, it puts the A sharp the same way! I found out how to do it: aim flat for both and they kind of balance out - it's in tune at the moment.

I've been looking at pictures of originals, and they all seem to have these metal nuts screwed on to the end of the fretboard, so it looks like I need to sort the slots on this one, rather than get a pre-cut tusk or something. Looks like it might be a job for someone else though, I'm not too confident about nut slots.

When its in tune, the sounds are something else though - starting to love it :D It's not quite like anything else I've evr played. I was initially confused by the bridge pup, because it's so close to the bridge, it's very bright but not so much output available as the neck. The middle position sound like they're in series not parallel - lot more output than either on their own.

It makes a whole load of Led Zeppelin sounds. Don't know much about early Pink Floyd, but I see what you mean. There are 60s pop sounds in abundance, and it fulfills a basic "strap on a guitar with a big crunchy fender type amp sound... then start playing the blues at full volume..." requirement very well.

I'm keen enough on the sounds now that I'll need to get the nut issues sorted asap.

And yeah Philly - it's all the fault of this forum!! :lol:

[Philly Q]

I imagine with a metal nut it'll be very important to get the grooves as smooth and straight as possible.  Once that's done, maybe this stuff will help:

http://www.wdmusic.co.uk/product/Big_Bends_Nut_Sauce_-_Groove_Luber_1101010

[AndyR]

I've heard of but haven't tried that nut sauce Philly. I'm a 2B graphite man, possibly mixed with vaseline if necessary, but I haven't done that for years (since I last had a metal nut actually!!)

I'm not too fond of metal nuts because of this very problem. It looks like they're catching on the back edge (nearer the pegs).

Problem is I don't have the tools. I keep wondering about getting a set of nut files - I'm sure I could cut decent nuts with a bit of practice, it would only take me about 4 or 5 blanks per finished nut! - but the files seem like an expensive investment (it does seem more attractive with each guitar I acquire!).

So far, I'll happily lower any nut by taking it off and sanding the underside, even the curved Fender types (my Baja's replacement tusq nut is even shimmed because I took it too low! That was a last ditch fix before getting a new one, but it's stable and hasn't affected tone, so what the hell!) But the sand the underside approach isn't an easy option on this one - the thing's held in place by a single screw into the end of the fretboard.

[Philly Q]

I've got a set of the Stewart-MacDonald double-sided nut files.  I know what you mean, it does seem a big investment, but I didn't bother with the bigger sizes (no downtuned 7-strings for me!).  And I got them a couple at a time when I was ordering other things, to lessen the blow.  Hopefully they'll last a very long time.

[Elliot]

Surely pencil lead and vaseline/chapstick will sort that problem out pretty quickly?

[AndyR]

That's exactly what I'm hoping Elliot :D

It does seem to be gradually stabilising. Let's see what happens when I change strings.

I'm looking at the Stew-Mac nut files - thanks Philly - I think I'll get these anyway in the near future.