I’ve done some minor fixes and set-up over the weekend. The guitar is now very playable and the neck is really really nice! The finish is OK but I should have sanded more before I started painting it…
I have still some minor buzz when playing open string on the A and G string. I hope I can solve this by some more filing on the plastic nut. If not, I will buy a string retainer/string guide bar and press down all strings into the string guide before the zero fret (but, that would seriously ruin some of the design).
And, the buzz is not (off course) there when playing power cords. The intonation is (now) PERFECT! Playing a full barre chord on the 10th fret with a lot of distortion sounds as good as on any of my guitars (some high end).
I have tested both the Seymour Duncan lill 59 (a single coil sized “PAF”) and the DiMarzio FS-1 (the same as Johnny used). Using the DiMarzio gives a very “Ramones-ish” sound but I was not fully pleased. It might be the wood (Ash instead of Basswood), my Marshall or technique etc. Anyhow, I was not fully pleased. BUT, with the SD 59, WOW what a sound!
It is not the Ramones sound I was looking for, but it IS the Green Day sound of the American Idiot album to 99,99%! I have previously copied that sound using a Fender Stratocaster with a Seymour Duncan JB in the bridge, reaching a very similar sound but not as similar as I have with this guitar. Might post a sample/video later.
I will keep the provided mini humbucker as it sounds pretty nice, looks good, AND, will not be used that much…
So, as I have an Alderite “Mosrite” coming from US, my original plan was to make a “wall hanger Ramones tribute” out of this axe, BUT, now it will live as THE Green Day guitar (with the signatures of the original Ramones members in the finish).
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