Fitting a new bolt-on neck should be a relatively straightforward process. However, sometimes necks can fight back a little. Check it out…
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Why do some tuners have pins sticking out the back and no screw-holes? How would you go about installing tuners like this on your guitar? Well, it’s a little more involved than a screw-secured tuner but it’s still pretty straightforward.
Check it out…
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Swapping out your modern sealed tuners for more of a vintage vibe presents a problem. Those newer tuners mean you’ve got a bigger hole in the headstock than you need. Here’s how to fix that.
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Fender nuts usually have an arc along their bottom. This mates with a similar curve in the nut slot itself. If you’re installing a new nut, you’ll have to match this radius closely for a good fit.
Find out how…
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So, after publishing the advice to always tune UP to a note for stability, I had a lot of questions about some advice from Fender saying the opposite when using locking tuners. Should you always tune up or should you sometimes go past the note and tune down?
Where’s my Debunking Hat?
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We’ve dealt with Gibson nuts. Now let’s look at getting a Fender-style guitar or bass nut safely out.
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More ranting. Now it’s staggered height tuners that feel my wrath. Well, not wrath exactly but I do have a bit of a problem with them.
Check it out…
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Fender-style truss rods that adjust at the body-end of the neck can be a bit of a pain. Sometimes (not often enough), manufacturers build in some concessions to those setting up instruments but even some of these can bring their own challenges.
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For the best playability, it's important that your string heights match the radius of the fingerboard. But what happens when you can't actually adjust each saddle height?
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After setting up a Precision Bass, I frequently get asked about the pickups. Players notice I've done something different there.
Well, it's an easy job to balance out the string output on a P-Bass. Check it out…
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What we generally refer to as the ‘offset’ Fenders (Jazzmaster, Jaguar, Mustang, Jag-Stang) can sometimes be a quirky bunch and one of their more common annoyances is the bridge.
Often, notes can suffer from a lack of focus and sustain. Strings can ‘jump’ from their slots if played even a little too hard, and the bridge itself can be buzzy and rattly. Sometimes you’ll even have saddle height screws vibrating loose and rattling, or even falling out.
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So, I want to talk about a few tips related to string ‘break angle’ — the angle the string takes over the nut or saddle. However, I reckon that it might be useful to explain what I mean and to give a little background on this area first.
Let's start with the break angle at the nut — that's the angle at which the string leaves the nut and heads for the tuner.
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