GarethFlatlands

OK, I decided to stop procrastinating and just try a neck shim on the grounds that it costs nothing and takes about 15 minutes. I don't know how legit it is but I used 2 pieces of card, on the full width of the neck and one half width to make the bass side slightly higher to try and compensate for the curve. It seems to have worked out quite well, the action on the bass side is certainly lower and apart from a little buzzing in places, it plays significantly better. There are a couple of small jobs that need doing before I re-string and set the intonation but it's looking like it's a viable backup guitar if not a favourite in it's current state. I may post it in the guitar porn thread if it turns out alright.

The closer I look, the more it seems like the first few frets aren't level. It looks like there's a slight twist in the neck and there's definitely a more pronounced curve on the bass side of the neck. Straightening it seems like it's beyond my abilities so I need to decide now whether to get a new neck, live with the problem or sell it on as a work in progress. I just wish I'd noticed before I'd dropped £17 on a new scratchplate and £40 on a replacement pickup! I still need a 2nd opinion though so all might not be lost.

Looks OK from the 3rd fret test but looking at the neck side on, I'm not sure it's not warped actually. I'll take it in to my tech guy, he's a friend so he'd probably diagnose the problem for cheap and I can look at how to fix it in the new year when I've hopefully got some money. It's been sat in a case in our practice room for months untouched so I wouldn't be surprised if the neck has suffered. Thanks for the info though, at least I know the nut seems to be alright.

Just rediscovered this thread as I'm doing up an old homemade tele I've had lying round for years. Sadly, most of it is way beyond me but it's an inspiring read anyway. If you can do all this, I can manage the small number of jobs that my guitar needs doing!

I'm fixing up an old telecaster and the action is currently too high for my liking. However, when I fret the first and last frets and check the string height at the height is around .8mm which means the neck should be reasonably straight. The higher strings aren't too bad but the lower strings seem very high from the frets, the low E (actually C#) is over 2mm from 12th fret. Lowering the string height at the bridge just causes a lot of buzzing problems on the lower strings. It's a very cheap homebrew model I bought 2nd hand so it could be a variety of problems and I don't have the knowledge to be able to pinpoint it. Similarly, as it was £80, I don't want to spend a lot of money on it so I won't be taking it to the guy who usually sets up and repairs my guitars for me. Any ideas? I can provide pictures if anyone thinks they might know but needs to have a look and see. Thanks

[quote name='booboo' timestamp='1386714627' post='2303691'] a grumpy old bugger nowadays apparently. [/quote] Join the club, we've got.... basses. And jackets.

Shame, I had a good experience dealing with her although the pedal was way too over the top for my playing style. Good of her to admit to making errors and to offer refunds out of her own pocket.

YMCA. The constant octave bounces with my tiny hands are a nightmare. I ended up using an odd 2 finger and thumb technique for that song alone.

[quote name='Thunderbird' timestamp='1385211844' post='2285641'] Try this Tonerider link there is some soundclips if it helps and easily within budget [url="http://www.tonerider.com/"]http://www.tonerider.com/[/url] [/quote] I got a humbucker sized P90 by Tonerider for £40 and it's really good. A lot of love for them online too. Worth a shot for the £30 or so replacing one pickup will set you back.

[quote name='uncle psychosis' timestamp='1384693942' post='2279504'] Danelectro U2. [/quote] Extra kudos for being the guitar 'Kashmir' was played on.

[quote name='Jonnyboy Rotten' timestamp='1384188234' post='2273728'] I just tried it and the host server is down because of the traffic. This is the same video on Youtube [/quote] Interesting, might be worth a pop. I wouldn't leave it unattended though, and it means a trip to the dreaded Ikea.

25 of the rarest, most valuable basses on the planet and no-one seems too fussed, me included. A lot of truly hideous basses on there and a small handful I'd like to get my hands on. We're a practical lot aren't we?

[url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S1LmYsCzAgw"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S1LmYsCzAgw[/url]

Just made an enquiry about getting one for my homebrew telecaster that's proving troubleseome. This thread came along at the right time!

Sounds pretty good, I'm impressed!

Talk to Tom at COG if you're not finding what you want commercially.

I've seen a couple of vids of the mutes on a Jazz and it's pretty impressive the difference they make. Gave a very double bass sound on one them.

Well if it aint broke! I'd consider a new nut as they look like plastic on the ones I saw on e-bay and I just don't like 'em. I'd be interested to hear how the pickups sound, might be worth considering as a backup guitar.

Nice, you looking to give it an upgrade and setup?

[quote name='bakerster135' timestamp='1382393094' post='2251747'] You know the Fulltone Bass Drive is actually just a Full Drive, tweaked to handle bass frequencies? The earliest BDs even came in a FD case, with "bass" crudely stuck over the "full"!... [/quote] I didn't, never tried one but I've heard good things. They seem to hold their relatively high price though so I'm put off giving one a whirl.

Fulltone Full Drive maybe?

[quote name='Prime_BASS' timestamp='1382247432' post='2249630'] I'd like to know what else is out there? And what's any good? [/quote] You mean in terms of TS derivatives or other overdrive pedals? If it's other pedals, I made a BYOC clone of the Marshall Bluesbreaker which I love for milder OD. Very moddable too. Personally I'm not a fan of TS pedals, they never seem very flexible to me and I find the midrange boost very grating.

"Just stick to the root notes. Play it how the other guy did on our demo." Didn't stay long in that band.

Good idea, knowing your way around a piano keyboard is never a bad thing either.