Oh and I think there's a problem with the finish. I removed the scratch plate for some tinkering to find light patches around where the scratch plate holes were drilled. So it seems like some layers have separated. It also seems very soft still.
But that's okay for the time being. There's a growing list of issues with the finish that I can fix second time around - maybe later in the year when #2 is complete.
You can 'burnish' the copper with a rounded edge metal object to almost flatten it and remove the ridges. I often use the blunt end of a scalpel. The tape I use is very thin stuff, and I've never cut myself on it at all. Being thinner than some shielding copper, it can tear when doing internal corners, but another bit of tape over the top fixes that.
Les Paul really had very little to do with the design of the LP, and Gibson were just following on from the design of their jazz guitars with the positioning. Ergonomically, the switch is both out of the way there and also nearer where most jazz players had their picking hand. Skim through this video of several jazz greats on stage together and you'll see that they all play up near the neck pickup, from where it's much easier to flick a pickup selector switch on that upper bout than reach back down to somewhere near the volume controls. The LP was supposed to be a solid bodied jazz guitar, so was designed to suit jazz players.
When Gibson switched to the SG in 1961, it wasn't designed to be a jazz guitar, but more suited to rock'n'roll and playing by the bridge, so they moved the selector switch. It also made manufacturing a bit easier as well.
The upper bout is not a bad place for a selector switch. I don't have any problem with it on my LPs. Some people find the switch position on Strats and Teles gets in the way, certainly those with big arm/hand movements can, so you can't please everyone.
Yes, it makes it harder to wire and requires more hole drilling (on a solid body at least - not a problem on hollow bodies). But as a switch position it's not bad. certainly it's better IMO that the ergonomic nightmare of most Gretsch guitars with switches and pots all over the place!
P90s can be about the most hum-prone pickups there are - far worse than Fender single coils. Most just have plastic covers (much like a Strat pickup), so there's no shielding for the coil. And being physically wider and with more turns than a Strat pickup (typically 10k vs 8k), there's a greater length of wire on the bobbin so that will always pick up more hum. Very few P90s have had metal covers, mainly those on Epiphone Casinos and Gibson 330s from the later 1960s (and modern copies thereof), which is strange as it can reduce hum considerably. The nickel cover does add capacitance and change the tonality a bit, and takes off some treble, but maybe people just preferred the black or cream plastic.
All the humbucker-sized P90s I know of have metal covers, so they have a lot better screening than most standard P90s. That and the fact that the coil isn't physically as long as a true P90 means that a humbucker-sized P90 will never sound quite like a true P90. But they can get pretty close and it doesn't stop them being nice sounding pickups, especially as they are electrically quieter.
You'll almost certainly need to fit a string tree for the top B and E strings. If the D and G strings sound OK, then you don't need to fit a string tree. I know a lot of Fenders have two string trees fitted as standard, but if the nut wasn't cut well, the fitting two string trees guaranteed less problems when played in guitar stores, so it was cheaper to fit an extra string tree than to set up the nut properly. Also, the height from the nut to the headstock face has changed a bit over time, and when the height difference was small, the break angle reduced so two trees were needed. With a greater difference, then one will often suffice. Also, winding the strings to near the bottom of the string posts also helps.
A 12th fret string buzz can mean that you might need a touch more neck relief, the saddle needs to come up, the 12th fret is slightly low or the 13th is slightly high.
Looks good (apart from being... ahem... knob-less).
I can't say I have never cut myself using shielding tape, but haven't exactly "cut my fingers to shreds". Like Simon I've used lots of things for smoothing like the rounded end of pen, or even a rubber eraser.
I have a very old Tamiya modeller's knife that also has attachments for doing old-school rub-on letter transfers (remember them???) and those work great with the shielding tape. But anyway, you get the idea...
My only other comment would be the wound strings are sitting much higher in the slots than I would have it. Especially the bass E. Hopefully there is enough material under them that you can deepen the slots without making the action at the first fret too low.
Making the world a better place; one guitar at a time...
^^^ Yes.
I was going to mention that we can't see the string heights above the 1st fret in the photos, so a shot from the two sides would be helpful.
The knobs are.. ahem... coming... on Tuesday hopefully.Originally Posted by McCreed
I used the copper tape that came with the kit (DingoTone?). I must have ticked the box twice because I ended up with two lots in the package and I needed all of it. After cutting my self the first time I used the handle of an old tooth brush the flatten it (maybe it needs to be metal). But some while casually fiddling with it during conference calls on Friday I cut myself some more! (never learn)
Yes, the wound strings need to come down. But I'm not sure there is enough height for that. I have some feel gauge so I'll measure it. Looking at the pics the nut slot seems too wide for the nut and there's this add channel at the front of the slot which is preventing it from sitting flat.
It almost looks like the nut position has been cut for a zero-fret, and then routed for a nut. I had a touch of that on the GST-1. But either the nut is slightly too narrow for the slot, so it's being pulled forwards, or else the base of the slot has been cut at an angle. Or it could be a bit of both. But it does rather look like the slot is at a very slight angle. You can level the base with a needle file if you wish.
It does look like all the string slots could come down slightly, though they are better than on a lot of guitars I've seen.
If you've got your nut files coming, then yes, it's just a question of cutting down to size, filing and sanding (wear a mask as bone isn't a nice dust to inhale). You don't want to file the fretboard side of the slot at all, or you'll affect the intonation, albeit very slightly. Just do enough to remove any glue from the front face of the slot, and concentrate any filing on the floor of the slot, (and the rear if you must). Better the blank is a bit wider than the slot, so you can then sand the blank down to fit the slot after the slot has been filed.
Yeah, that's a pretty ordinary job of cutting the nut slot for sure.
I have a 3mm jeweller's screwdriver that I filed into a "chisel" (more of a scraper really) that's perfect for removing glue from the bottom of strat/tele nut slots. It also works on the sides without the danger of widening or distorting the slot as can happen with a file. The sides are easily scraped with a hobby knife blade as well.Just do enough to remove any glue from the front face of the slot, and concentrate any filing on the floor of the slot,
Making the world a better place; one guitar at a time...
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