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Heat and setups


fretmeister

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I hate this weather. Not only is it just too sweaty the setups on my guitars are all over the place.

 

Amusingly the most stable one I've got is the thinnest - an Ibanez Jem. Not moved a mm.

 

Took me a sodding hour to get my Stingray back to a sensible action though. And I'll have to re-do it in a couple of weeks when the weather gets back to normal.

I miss my Status.

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Yep, I've been round a few basses this week and made with the tweakage.

This led me to have a fiiddle with the truss rod on my Tele only to find that it was completely loose ! I've had it for 25 years and obviously never tweaked it.

I'm rather surprised at myself, not even having had the neck off in all that time (heel access, Pah !) - everything else must have been in bits three times :)

 

 

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Ha, so it's not just me having to re-tune my Warwicks at least twice a day, and tweak the truss rod every few days. (And that's for home noodling, they never leave the house). I imagine the combination of heat and humidity in the air is never sitting steady, and our woods feel the constant changes.

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I did a mid day gig yesterday - 40 minutes outside at about 11:30am. No shade.

It was for the educational music trust I play with. It was the summer concert and awards for the kids. Most of the show was inside but for some reason they like the interval for the summer show to have refreshments and entertainment outside. It's great fun having to get my gear off the stage and reset it all outside in about 5 mins.

 

My Marleaux did very well considering but I was still re-tuning between most songs. I'm very glad I didn't take the Ray.

 

 

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What I have found is that a very slight amount of fret buzz on the Thunderbird at home equates to perfect in a hot and sweaty pub, of course if any on the upcoming ones turn out to be air conditioned I could be stuffed! I have been amazed how much difference there has been and am pleased to see it’s not just me.

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Two gigs this weekend, one outdoors (through at least 6 18” subs to assist my sole One10!).

My JV never fails to keep tune - I only have a tuner as a security blanket type thing - my trusty P always plays great. Either that or I’m a lumbering sausage fingered oaf!

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I think some setups are more forgiving than others. When you take adjustment to the edge of what's possible it doesn't take much to push them over that edge.

Obviously instrument quality has a part to play, my Yamaha 5er is very consistent :)

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Funnily enough, my Dingwall Combustion came out of its case, after three months, and was perfectly in tune and sounding really great, even after an hour in a hot car. I refused to take the Roscoe yesterday for precisely the reasons above.

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27 minutes ago, Lozz196 said:

Good old Fender Precisions with graphite rods in the neck, no bother come hot or cold.

I have a Precision set up BEAD and it’s the worst of the lot. Luckily I only use it for a couple of songs so easily left out. 

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Played Scarisbrick (Southport) Marina Festival yesterday and this afternoon - took care to keep my GMR 5 out of the sun, and she held her tuning pretty well. (As she always does, she's rock-solid 🙂 ) But I did find the little adjustments I needed today were different, the lower strings needed to come up a bit and the higher strings down. She's usually consistent, all either up or down. Almost as if the neck had warped - ? 😞 I'll have a good look and keep a close eye on it and take her to a good guitar tech if there seems to be a real problem. 

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Played a scorching beer festival set last week with the Bruce Thomas Profile - very slight tuning adjustment, but it was the neck finish that saved the day. No tackiness at all despite the near 30° heat! Love it.

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My Matt Freeman doesn't seem to move, regardless of what the weather does. I went from some skinny D'Addario rounds (.040 to .100) to some heavy Fender flats (.055 to .110) a few weeks ago and expected to have to tweak the neck after a day or two of settling in, but so far I've not had to do anything. A "strong and stable" bass.

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This past couple of weeks have been a revelation for me. My Elwood L5, from my oppressively hot flat, to the oven-like car, then an air conditioned practice room and back again.... And My Jake 5, from my partners', slightly less oppressively hot house, into an oven-like car, then into an air conditioned practice room.... both barely out of tune!

Even my super cheap HB fretless 5 has barely moved. Looks like I got lucky.

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It's "one" of the reasons I will never switch from Vigier. I remember the days of constantly shifting necks on my Bongo's, Warwick's and Yamaha's - it drove me to distraction 😂 The Dingwall's were pretty good actually but with my Vigier's, there is never, ever any movement. What goes in the case, comes back out the same in any climate. Perfect 😉

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  • 3 weeks later...

The weather has had me adjusting my the truss rods on my Maruszczyks more than ever before. However, despite the usual pillorying of the Rickenbacker system, this one has been steady as a rock.

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