Yes, Gerry's going on about neck shimming again.
But it's important, you see. I'm on a quest. A quest to stamp out bad shimming.
Join me…
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Another case of hidden screws. Because these are the sorts of things that slowed me up in the past, when I come across one (and when I remember to photograph it), I'll pass it on and hopefully help others in the future.
The original Taylor Expression System used a pair of AA batteries. Usually, these are problem free but, sometimes, a battery can get stuck in its housing. Grrr.
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I worked on a Strat-style guitar recently. It was a HSS configuration and there was no output from either of the single coil pickups.
I opened it up to start troubleshooting and spotted the (slightly odd) problem pretty quickly.
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I've been noticing a number of Gibson guitars with damage to their truss rod adjustment nuts. The damage is, almost certainly, from the factory. The nuts have a large (relatively speaking) portion 'ground away'.
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Most players face the UPGRADE Vs NEW GUITAR dilemma at some point (or at many points). It can be a difficult decision to make. Sometimes the way forward is clear but sometimes there's no easy answer. Before you make the call, here's a little food for thought.
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Haze Guitars appointments are now available again.
Normal service has been resumed.
And, I really, really have to say a MASSIVE thank you to all of the people who said they'd wait until I was taking in repairs again. That means a lot. Thank you.
If you'd like to book an appointment, click to Read More and you'll see the button.
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TL;DR: It depends. Ok, see ya!
It really does depend, though. Here are a few things to consider.
Before we get too far, though…
First up, and most importantly, is to get to know your current setup. Once you’ve got that starting reference point, you’ll be in a much better position to gauge when it’s time for some setup tweaks.
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Cementing my status as guitar-building nerd (or maybe nerdy guitar builder — not sure which), I'm interviewed on The Sweet Setup* about my techie bits. I talk about the hardware and apps that I use for day-to-day stuff and what I used to create Sketchy Setups.
*Note for guitar nerds: Different kind of 'setup'. 😉
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“Dude, I can’t get that big bend. What’s the deal?”
That’s choke-out.
Choke-out is that ‘dying’ of a note. A note that failed to ring out, or one that dies off as you bend is said to have choked.
Choking is often experienced when a player tries for a biggish bend, and most often on vintage-style guitars.
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From time to time I encounter an ’S-Shaped’ Neck. This means that you may well come across one too, so it’s good to know what the story is.
WHAT IS AN S-SHAPED NECK?
It’s a guitar or bass neck that has (usually) two humps.
It’s not that uncommon for any neck to develop a hump—sometimes called a ‘ski-slope’—at the last few frets (and there are some things that can aggravate this).
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If you’ve read Sketchy Setups, you’ll probably have spotted that I mention the importance of using the right sized wrench for adjusting your truss rod.
Well, let me just mention it again:
IT’S REALLY IMPORTANT TO USE THE RIGHT SIZED WRENCH!!!
Seriously. Really important.
This is especially true of guitars and basses that use an hex/allen wrench.
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