Author Topic: Good Times, Bad Times (Read 8180 times)

willo · « **on:** June 08, 2006, 08:50:25 PM »

Today, I had some great news and some bad news.

The bad news, firstly. It appears that the neck of my beloved strat has warped in the temperature; the fingerboard has contracted slightly and $%&#ed the whole tuning. My tech guy is trying to fix the problem but a new neck might be on the cards. This is a shame, I love that neck and I love that guitar.

The good news? Well, I went for band practice today. We unfortunately got the time wrong and missed practise. However, speaking to our bassist, turns out he has got a new job as sound technician at the local university. The studio has just been kitted out with about £50,000 worth of new kit - a complete overhaul. Turns out we now, apparently, have been given free access to the whole studio for rehearsal and recording provided students aren't using it. So, basically, we can spend a whole Saturday in a pro studio for free.

This good news balances out the bad news!

jt · « **Reply #1 on:** June 08, 2006, 09:21:43 PM »

:D You Lucky Lucky B*rstard !! :lol: :lol: :lol:

So how long to we hear the "Willo" album !

Sorry to hear about the neck

:D 8)

willo · « **Reply #2 on:** June 08, 2006, 09:35:21 PM »

Quote from: jt

:D You Lucky Lucky B*rstard !! :lol: :lol: :lol:

So how long to we hear the "Willo" album !

Sorry to hear about the neck

:D 8)

You mean, how long before I inflict the Willo album on an unsuspecting public??? Ha, it will be a while I think!

However, we do have some rough stuff we've been working on, just some jams if you wanna hear em mate?

Plus, we always record what we do anyway, now we'll get real good recordings. And, it will all be good recordings of Bareknuckle Pickups, so I might get to finally record 'my tone' accurately, you know? Exciting!

Yeah, its a real shame about the neck. Hoping it can be fixed somehow, but it is what it is. No amount of worrying's gonna change whether or not there is a serious problem.

And the world cup starts tomorrow! Bring it on! :D

schmendict · « **Reply #3 on:** June 08, 2006, 10:28:56 PM »

Shame about the strat, but host some jams for us all to hear!

HTH AMPS · « **Reply #4 on:** June 08, 2006, 11:51:40 PM »

pisser about the guitar Willo, but nice one about the studio. if you want a Les Paul with Miracle Mans at your disposal you know where to find me. oh, I've also got a fair amount of studio experience myself & know how to get some tasty guitar tones :D

:twisted:

Searcher · « **Reply #5 on:** June 09, 2006, 12:26:46 AM »

How did you get the guitar that hot?! :o I gigged in Australia in 40?C and only had a problem once, when I stupidly left a guitar in the boot/trunk of a car parked in the sun.

But good to hear about your new reharshal space. That's really cool. I look forward to hearing what you are able to record with all this gear. :)

FELINEGUITARS · « **Reply #6 on:** June 09, 2006, 01:06:01 AM »

I'm interested in what went wrong with the neck?

Too hot?
Was it directly exposed to a lot of heat?
Has it shrunk?
Do say more as curious minds want to know

Let us know what your tech's verdict is.....

OD-Black_Fire · « **Reply #7 on:** June 09, 2006, 01:57:29 AM »

Hell yes! There aren't many pro recordings of BKPs, many of the sound clips are masked by shitety equipment.

Let those suckers breathe.

38thBeatle · « **Reply #8 on:** June 09, 2006, 07:33:14 AM »

I'd be interested in what happened to the neck too Willo. Great about the studio though.

willo · « **Reply #9 on:** June 09, 2006, 03:00:33 PM »

Quote from: HEAVIER THAN HELL

if you want a Les Paul with Miracle Mans at your disposal you know where to find me. oh, I've also got a fair amount of studio experience myself & know how to get some tasty guitar tones

Is that a subtle hint mate?

I never played ceramic pickups before, one day I might take you up on your offer, although I'm not much of a metal guitarist!

Quote from: Searcher

How did you get the guitar that hot?!

I got no idea; I'm waiting to hear back from the tech guy in town, see what the score is because it doesn't make much sense to me right now.

Quote from: FELINEGUITARS

I'm interested in what went wrong with the neck?

Me too! Well, all I noticed was that a few weeks back any note below the 9th fret was just not sounding, it was just choking. So I managed to get the money together for a set-up in town; I figured it was just some truss-rod problem. But when I took it to the tech, and he had a quick look at it, he reckons the fingerboard has contracted slightly - the frets feel a little rough on the edge of the board and are sticking out slightly now. The neck itself only has a sealant coat on it, no heavy varnish. But apparently the problem has occurred with the fingerboard itself; this is a bit confusing, I've only taken the guitar between Newcastle & Liverpool a couple of times - not that much climate change!

Will update you when I know more...

FELINEGUITARS · « **Reply #10 on:** June 09, 2006, 04:26:02 PM »

Ian
Dont rush to do anything
Even with a bit of shrinkage there shoud,nt usuallly be a reason to scr@p a neck.
Fret ends may stick out a bit, and maybe a few dead spots but nothing that a good fret dress and set up wont sort.

Get a second opinion if the forecast looks bleak

What make is the guitar?

Searcher · « **Reply #11 on:** June 09, 2006, 05:56:52 PM »

Hmm. We get that problem here a fair bit. It's not the heat; it's the humidity. Or lack of it, rather. In winter it gets so dry that the wood shrinks and the fret ends stick out a bit. Then in summer everything goes back to normal. Sometimes the neck will warp a little as well if it hasn't been properly humidified. I've only had this problem with my acoustic though, and only the once. It was an easy enough fix, too. After being properly humidified and tweaking the truss rod it all went back to a playable state.

I wonder if that's something like what's happened with your guitar?

willo · « **Reply #12 on:** June 09, 2006, 07:29:52 PM »

Hey Jonathon, well firstly, the guitar was actually a custom made for me. It is still, luckily, under warranty so if anything is seriously wrong I should be covered. Hence why my tech was suggesting that a new neck could be one option - we were talking about fret-dressing and other such solutions, and it ended up getting into the price range of a whole new neck anyway.

But if he can't sort it out easily, I'll take the neck off and post it back to the maker and get him to sort it.

Mark, that sounds like it. What do you mean by getting it properly humidified? Is this a process someone carries out on the wood, or do you mean I should keep a humidifier where I store my guitar? As you say, though, the problem is one that may well naturally rectify itself; my tech was saying that when the weather goes back to how it was when the guitar was made, then the neck should hopefully fix itself. Obviously though, this is not much of a solution if the neck is only perfect 6 months a year!

Searcher · « **Reply #13 on:** June 09, 2006, 07:45:30 PM »

For an electric guitar, you can use one of these. I have one and, err, I don't use it, because my electric is rock-solid. But they're supposed to be quite good.

I use a soundhole humidifier for my acoustic.

Oh, and I've heard that you should use filtered or deionised water for them.

headtheball · « **Reply #14 on:** June 10, 2006, 01:17:21 AM »

If you need ultra pure Deionised water, I'm your man, Pm me, i'll stick a bottle or two in the post.

Author Topic: Good Times, Bad Times (Read 8180 times)

schmendict