Andy Eagle ( Guitar repair tech for 30 years )

FuzzyAce said:
Something about the feel and tone doesn't jive with me. Mostly a feel thing and the hardness. Gold pushes the limits in hardness for me but the tone and playability is awesome.
I haven't worked with SS personally but have heard it can be rough on certain tools.
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Yes it eats a lot of so called Luthier tools. I make most of my own tools by modifying high quality engineering ones, they have no problems with it.. I like it for me but it's not right for everyone.
 
FuzzyAce said:
Something about the feel and tone doesn't jive with me. Mostly a feel thing and the hardness. Gold pushes the limits in hardness for me but the tone and playability is awesome.
I haven't worked with SS personally but have heard it can be rough on certain tools.
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I don't think I've ever played a guitar with SS frets. I need to check one out next time I'm in a guitar store just to see if I can tell any real difference.
 
SillyOctpuss said:
I don't think I've ever played a guitar with SS frets. I need to check one out next time I'm in a guitar store just to see if I can tell any real difference.
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If properly dressed they are much nicer for bending, really smooth. I personally don’t think there is a noticeable difference in tone. If you compare 57110 nickel to 57110 ss on the same guitar you will find that it is almost impossible to hear a difference.
 
Warmart said:
Someone should change every other fret to SS just for science :grin
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That wouldn’t be a very useful experiment as you couldn’t compare specific fretted positions. Warmoth did a video comparing which was fairly comprehensive and scientific. The results were very minor but audible difference.
 
I have a Gretsch Jet that I love the sound of, and it is super lightweight and looks awesome on stage. It’s a bit of a bear to play though.

It’s short scale, has a longish headstock, and with the bigsby B3 that I put on it there’s a lot of string behind the bridge too. It has a pretty shallow break angle over the bridge, but enough to hold decent pressure on the saddles. Currently set up with 10-46 strings and action that is about as low as I can take it without execessive fret buzzing. It is not super low though, I can comfortably play slide on it.

When I take it to a gig, I find that I’m hurting after a while if it’s a set where I’m doing a lot of string bending. This is mostly lack of conditioning on my part, but it is what it is life is not gonna slow down any time soon for me so I’ve just got to work with the time I have. I’ve decided that it’s got a lot of tension due to the total string length.

I’ve thought about going to 8s or 9s, but then the action will go up and I may not have enough tension over the saddles. I’ve also thought that going up in string gauge might be a good idea because I could take the action a smidge lower and you don’t have to bend as far to get the same pitch.

Maybe it’s all just a wash and I should leave it right where it is? For a guitar like this, what have you found to work best?

D
 
dk_ace said:
I have a Gretsch Jet that I love the sound of, and it is super lightweight and looks awesome on stage. It’s a bit of a bear to play though.

It’s short scale, has a longish headstock, and with the bigsby B3 that I put on it there’s a lot of string behind the bridge too. It has a pretty shallow break angle over the bridge, but enough to hold decent pressure on the saddles. Currently set up with 10-46 strings and action that is about as low as I can take it without execessive fret buzzing. It is not super low though, I can comfortably play slide on it.

When I take it to a gig, I find that I’m hurting after a while if it’s a set where I’m doing a lot of string bending. This is mostly lack of conditioning on my part, but it is what it is life is not gonna slow down any time soon for me so I’ve just got to work with the time I have. I’ve decided that it’s got a lot of tension due to the total string length.

I’ve thought about going to 8s or 9s, but then the action will go up and I may not have enough tension over the saddles. I’ve also thought that going up in string gauge might be a good idea because I could take the action a smidge lower and you don’t have to bend as far to get the same pitch.

Maybe it’s all just a wash and I should leave it right where it is? For a guitar like this, what have you found to work best?

D
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No harm in trying a set of 9s or even 9.5s.
 
Eagle said:
No harm in trying a set of 9s or even 9.5s.
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I’ll get around to it soon, I think I’ve got a set of 9s that I ordered to experiment with floating around somewhere.

Here’s another question I’ve wondered about: when cutting/lowering nut slots, how much bigger of a file do you think is ideal relative to the string size?

D
 
dk_ace said:
I’ll get around to it soon, I think I’ve got a set of 9s that I ordered to experiment with floating around somewhere.

Here’s another question I’ve wondered about: when cutting/lowering nut slots, how much bigger of a file do you think is ideal relative to the string size?

D
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The same size is always the starting point. I cut a nut with the slot opening slightly to the back and rolled away from the string at the head side bottom of the slot . The right size is a small as possible without any hint of pinching.
 
Eagle said:
The same size is always the starting point. I cut a nut with the slot opening slightly to the back and rolled away from the string at the head side bottom of the slot . The right size is a small as possible without any hint of pinching.
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That’s pretty much what I do to. But it’s tedious and I was hoping you would say I could jump up to a larger size and save some time…

D
 
Hello @Eagle ,
I've enjoyed reading this thread. Thank you!
Can you tell me your thoughts on this:
I have a PRS S2 singlecut that I love. It was sounding like a sitar on the high E string - even on the highest fret so I figured it was the bridge. I purchased a new bridge (MannMade USA Intonatable Stoptail Bridge) and it has the same issue. It's really only the high E that does this. The B makes a bit of a rattling noise but I don't notice it playing. When I go to play the high E live though, I shy away from it because it feels and sounds so different.



 
TravisG406 said:
Hello @Eagle ,
I've enjoyed reading this thread. Thank you!
Can you tell me your thoughts on this:
I have a PRS S2 singlecut that I love. It was sounding like a sitar on the high E string - even on the highest fret so I figured it was the bridge. I purchased a new bridge (MannMade USA Intonatable Stoptail Bridge) and it has the same issue. It's really only the high E that does this. The B makes a bit of a rattling noise but I don't notice it playing. When I go to play the high E live though, I shy away from it because it feels and sounds so different.



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The string slot has a burr in it . You need to file the string slot to remove it with a needle file .
 
@Eagle a question about trem springs. Can they wear out?

I've never really thought about it before but recently my 2000 ce22's trem hasn't been as stable as I'm used to. The nuts definitely fine, the bridge plate knife edge is seated properly in the screws and it's floating at the correct height.

Could it be the trem springs being slightly stretched out and not returning to the correct position?
 
SillyOctpuss said:
@Eagle a question about trem springs. Can they wear out?

I've never really thought about it before but recently my 2000 ce22's trem hasn't been as stable as I'm used to. The nuts definitely fine, the bridge plate knife edge is seated properly in the screws and it's floating at the correct height.

Could it be the trem springs being slightly stretched out and not returning to the correct position?
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They absolutely can wear out. On a MII Jackson I bought last year I can already remove the springs totally by hand. Need to order replacements asap.
 
SillyOctpuss said:
@Eagle a question about trem springs. Can they wear out?

I've never really thought about it before but recently my 2000 ce22's trem hasn't been as stable as I'm used to. The nuts definitely fine, the bridge plate knife edge is seated properly in the screws and it's floating at the correct height.

Could it be the trem springs being slightly stretched out and not returning to the correct position?
Click to expand...
Yes springs fatigue and loose their reliability.
 
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Hello Andy, this stop tail here can that fit on any Tune o Matic bridge? and will it only work (Magnetize) using those posts that come with the stop bar?
Also I don't think it has any effect on the tone as advertised

graphtech.com

ResoMax NV Tailpiece (Select Finish)

ResoMax NV tailpiece is made from our lightweight, high-strength Resomax material that will increase harmonic content and leave your guitar dripping with tone. This is a great option to upgrade or replace the existing tailpiece on any electric guitar that currently has a standard tune-o-matic...
graphtech.com graphtech.com

thank you again for your expertise
 
Stone said:
Hello Andy, this stop tail here can that fit on any Tune o Matic bridge? and will it only work (Magnetize) using those posts that come with the stop bar?
Also I don't think it has any effect on the tone as advertised

graphtech.com

ResoMax NV Tailpiece (Select Finish)

ResoMax NV tailpiece is made from our lightweight, high-strength Resomax material that will increase harmonic content and leave your guitar dripping with tone. This is a great option to upgrade or replace the existing tailpiece on any electric guitar that currently has a standard tune-o-matic...
graphtech.com graphtech.com

thank you again for your expertise
Click to expand...
You had me at "dripping"! :crazy
 
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