NGD - Can it be saved?

[Kiichi]

So I just finished the cleaning and restringing....wow I never wiped that much dirt of a fretboard, it was sickening to be honoust. But now itīs clean and....tada, the intonation is right!
Thanks a lot doomcaster for pointing the string thing out, it changed like 20-40 cents on the plain strings....just insane.
I still need to replace the bridge though, as the current one feels horrible when palm muting.
Also the nut has to go, I had to put a piece of plastic under the bass side so that it does not snarl.

I really see a lot of potential in this thing, but now it is first of all time to give it a good trial, but I think ultimatly I can make it into something you would think costs like 400bucks or more (BKPs not included).

Still, most stunning is that the stock sound is better than my stock Ibanez S Series and Dean Vendetta was, at least to me (I have strange taste). As said, it is (a bit) fizzy, thin and hairy, but does not muddy up (the axe seems even brighter than my ibanez S series) or so and just sounds rather good for a stock, which is really suprising to me.


If you got recommendations what I should do first besides the nut and bridge, go ahead! Iīll go on playing and planning in the meanwhile.

[Kiichi]

Hey, as I am moving along with the thoughts, I had to wonder what I would do about the Nut and how many problems fatter strings will carrie with them.

Now I want to put this guitar down to Drop A-sharp. With that in mind, do you have recomendations on:
1. Which strength of strings should I choose in order to get the feel of 10 set on normal tuning? (I will go for DR DDTs I think).
2. How much will this affect the intonation?
3. Which nut should I choose? (in general and with the thick strings in mind) I think graphtech nuts will do the trick at an acceptable priceleve, but what else is possible?

Cheers!

[doomcaster]

tuning that low will require at least 12-13s and maybe even baritone sets, I use 13s with a standard cheapo nut so it should be fine, most types of nut can be tweaked by a good shop, as long as you have the nut properly cut and lubed the material shouldn't make much difference.
The thick low e strings may not go through the tuners so this may need attention.
Thicker string sets will intonate in a more straight across pattern (particularly with a wound G), so as long as the bridge is located correctly it should be easy enough to intonate.

[Kiichi]

tuning that low will require at least 12-13s and maybe even baritone sets, I use 13s with a standard cheapo nut so it should be fine, most types of nut can be tweaked by a good shop, as long as you have the nut properly cut and lubed the material shouldn't make much difference.
The thick low e strings may not go through the tuners so this may need attention.
Thicker string sets will intonate in a more straight across pattern (particularly with a wound G), so as long as the bridge is located correctly it should be easy enough to intonate.

Thanks for the info!
Then I should be gettin a 12s or 13s DR DDT set as these strings are specifically for drop tunings. Probably no need for baritone.
Which to try first will be interresting though. On my accoustic I felt like 1 whole tone down brought 12s down to the feel of 11s. By that logic I should probably opt for the 13s.
Then again, will that still apply when all my other axes are fender scale or will 12s be better with a gibson scale then? I am confused....


The thing with the tuners may be a problem....I totally forgot about that. Was a pain putting in a low B on my seven string when I was using...was it a 62 or 64? Well it worked and the max DDT I can get is 60, so hopefully it will work.

[doomcaster]

Generally a Gibson scale will need bumping up a gauge to be similar to a Fender scale in feel for a given tuning, You can always enlarge tuner holes slightly with a small file or careful drilling