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October 2003
Posts: 8
Location: Tennessee | I've just begun to notice some unpleasant vibrations (there's probably a technical or slang term for this, sorry I don't know what it is) on the first E string at the 6th and 12th frets on my Custom Balladeer which I bought a few months ago. They're apparently caused by interference from the fret just above them. Is there any way to solve this problem short of adjusting the neck, which is a can of worms I don't want to open up? |
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March 2002
Posts: 1380
Location: Central Oregon | Originally posted by super70s:
I've just begun to notice some unpleasant vibrations (there's probably a technical or slang term for this, sorry I don't know what it is) on the first E string at the 6th and 12th frets on my Custom Balladeer which I bought a few months ago. They're apparently caused by interference from the fret just above them. Is there any way to solve this problem short of adjusting the neck, which is a can of worms I don't want to open up?
Adjusting the neck is more like a piece of cake than a can of worms. Really, there's nothing to it. Back off (counter clockwise) the truss rod nut 1/8th turn with a 3/16ths" allen wrench & see if that fixes it. Apparently you can write the factory & they'll send you the correct tool (oversized 3/16ths allen wrench) for the asking.
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October 2003
Posts: 8
Location: Tennessee | Well the guy at the local guitar shop who restringed it for me (with D'Addario EXP16's) said it was easy to mess it up if you didn't know what you were doing. |
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May 2002
Posts: 1445
Location: Nova Scotia, Canada | Well the guy at the local guitar shop who restringed it for me said it was easy to mess it up if you didn't know what you were doing...
Thats' called "Job Security".
Wayne |
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March 2002
Posts: 1380
Location: Central Oregon | I can understand you reluctance, but believe me it is rediculously easy to adjust the neck, & even if it doesn't fix the problem you can be back where you were in approximately 8 seconds. Really. I have a (1612) Custom Balladeer too. When it arrived the nut had come loose & fallen off in shipping somehow so I had to learn how to adjust it. On a CB you don't even have to loosen the strings. I just slide the short L of the wrench in between the D & G strings, put it through the little hole in the brace right below the fingerboard apparently provided for that purpose, feel around until the wrench slips into the nut, eyeball the the angle, loosen it a tad (I'd try an eighth turn +/- for starters), thump the back of the neck gently a few times, check the tuning & try it. If it fixes the problem, great. If it's better, repeat as needed. If it's worse put it back where it was & add a shim under the saddle or change strings to something a tad heavier. That's what I'd try anyway.
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Location: Las Cruces, NM | Super70s
It's your guitar, don't be afraid of making adjustments. The chance of finding other people that are competent is dwindling, I would even be suspicious of the store clerk who told you such a thing. Other than major repairs, we are more and more left on our own. There have ben some good discussions of neck adjustment on the board and if you want some great insight into guitar repair try this URL but be sure to come back here.fret not repair in VA
Bailey |
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February 2002
Posts: 5750
Location: Scotland | If the problem is the result of uneven frets then a rod-adjustment is not the answer. You need to have the frets dressed. If you have the tools & skills it's a DIY job, but it's not a job for the novice. |
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October 2003
Posts: 8
Location: Tennessee | >If the problem is the result of uneven frets
>then a rod-adjustment is not the answer.
>You need to have the frets dressed. If you
>have the tools & skills it's a DIY job, but it's
>not a job for the novice.
Thanks Paul, I guess that's the answer I was really looking for. I would not want to attempt dressing the frets myself on this $400 1977 baby, but I'm only 70 miles away from Nashville. Got any idea what a reasonable charge for this service would be? Thanks again. |
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February 2002
Posts: 5750
Location: Scotland | Going by UK standards I'd guess around $100+ for a complete dress. If it just needs some spot leveling it'll probably be less. My buddy in Nashville Bob Cheevers uses a tech who he recommends highly. I can get a number for you if you like. |
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July 2002
Posts: 280
Location: Waterloo, IL | I was able to get the frets dressed and trus rod adjusted for $25 by the luthier (Ovation Approved) at GC last summer. He really did a good job on them. It took less than 30 minutes and he did it while I was waiting. I had seen a lot of his work in there, and also saw how happy several people were when they picked up their guitars before he worked on mine. |
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February 2002
Posts: 5750
Location: Scotland | I realise it may vary from store to store but from my relatively limited experiences of GC as a visting Brit I wouldn't let a GC employee clean my car, never mind work on my guitars. 30 minutes on a fret dress? I don't think so. It could be a new olympic sport..."Speed Set-ups" The Chinese would lead the field. Hey, but at 50 bucks an hour, $400+ a day, that's either a good living for a guitar tech or indicative of the GC philosopy. |
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March 2002
Posts: 15664
Location: SoCal | Temp's being overly cynical. I'd let the GC wash my car. Wouldn't let them near my guitar tho'. |
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July 2002
Posts: 280
Location: Waterloo, IL | The guy only had to dress three frets, and they were only lightly worn. He doesn't actually work for GC. There is a contract between them. He has his little shop in the store, they give him space to work and store his stuff. He is near the front door so he gets lots of visibility. After seeing some of the guitars he works on, it looks like he does a pretty good job. I am sure it would have taken substantially longer to dress all the frets or if the frets had really been badly worn. Seeing how I am limited as to were I can take my O's around here... |
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February 2002
Posts: 5750
Location: Scotland | As I said in my initial post, spot levelling should not be as expensive as a full dressing. GC as a company, even to me across the pond appear to be commission-driven box-shifters, staffed by retards, with customer service way down on the list. Unfortunately their business model is showing signs of taking root in the UK & Europe. |
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Bad Vibrations