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November 2003
Posts: 231
| The box was waiting for me when I came home today. It's always exciting to open the box, but I'm always a little nervous about what I might see. The guitar looked real nice, but I wasn't impressed with the sound. Really dead strings, so I knew what had to be done. I like medium strings on these deep bowls, so I strung it up with a new set of D'addario's. While I was at it I went ahead and adjusted the neck, way too much bow, and then set the action by removing the one shim that was installed. I'm at 6/32 at the twelth fret now. Plays great, and the tone is deep and nicely balanced. Very good volume, also. The finish is nearly perfect, except for two tiny laquer cracks where the neck joins the body. Really hard to see. Minor fret wear at the first few frets. My major concern is that I can see a hump directly behind the bridge, if you look at it in the right light. I can also feel it if I run my hand across the top. I first thought that the top was sunk in slightly on each side of the bridge, but I don't think that is the case. If I lay a straight edge across the top, it looks like the area behind the bridge is raised up some. The ends of the frets are also pretty sharp, especially down the neck toward the body. My questions are, are any of these concerns going to be a problem in the future, especially the one about the top? I look forward to hearing your opinions. Thanks.
Mike |
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August 2003
Posts: 430
Location: Lebanon, TN | Hmmm sounds like it might be humidity issues. Extensive period of humidification in a case and see what the hump is like then. |
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May 2002
Posts: 1445
Location: Nova Scotia, Canada | My brother has one of these and it is a great guitar but he had the same problem with the 12th fret hump and he had a refret (partial, maybe?) and the fretboard taken down a bit in this area to correct it but it sure is nice now.
Wayne |
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September 2006
Posts: 347
Location: Reno, NV | Originally posted by Roundback:
. I'm at 6/32 at the twelth fret now. Plays great, and the tone is deep and nicely balanced. Do you mean 6/64 ???
6/32 is pretty high... no, make that super high. |
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January 2005
Posts: 640
Location: boulder | Seems like this happens when the guitar is stored but the stings are still in tune. (wish someone designed a guitar with the soundhole somewhere else)...
short answer-keep it in humidfied room for awhile-see what happens....
long answer...
Not sure what the fix is, except to let it stabilize at your humidity for a while and see what happens. Try loosening up strings when not playing???I don't think it will get less pronounced, but it shouldn't keep raising.
The frets sticking out is also a humidity thing. The fretboard has shrunken..But If you keep it in a humid enviroment (45-55%) the fretboard might 'reabsorb' some water and expand again, at least this what happened to me.
Did I even answer the questions?? |
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November 2003
Posts: 231
| Correction. 6/64ths is what I meant to say. I would call it low, but it works for me. |
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December 2003
Posts: 1889
Location: Central Massachusetts | Isn't a certain amount of "belly bulge" a good thing? |
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November 2003
Posts: 231
| Dave, that's what I was thinking, especially with the sharp frets and all. I'm just trying to determine whether this happened during shipping, or was it already there. I've got an e-mail in to the seller. I have the humidifier running, and will put one in the soundhole tonight. I keep the house humidified, and have never had a problem with any of my guitars. We will see what happens. Thanks. |
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November 2003
Posts: 231
| Well, after humidifying for 24 hours or so, I can't see any difference. If I lay a straight edge across the top of the guitar, there is a valley, or what appears to be a sunken area, running the entire length of the top. It's most pronounced right at the ends of the bridge. It plays great and sounds awesome, but I don't know what to do now. I'm open to suggestions.
Mike |
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October 2006
Posts: 5576
Location: big island | keep up what you are doing. guitars tend to dry out some during the shipping process. give it another 48 hours. |
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May 2006
Posts: 4239
Location: Steeler Nation, Hudson Valley Contingent | Just joining the chorus:
I had the dame problems with a used 2005 Collectors. I put a humidifier in the soundhole, and both issues corrected themselves after about three days. It's a great playing guitar now. |
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May 2006
Posts: 4239
Location: Steeler Nation, Hudson Valley Contingent | BTW, "dame" isn't really a typo. It's...umm...a slang term for "same damn." :rolleyes: |
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March 2002
Posts: 1380
Location: Central Oregon | Originally posted by Roundback:
It plays great and sounds awesome, but I don't know what to do now.
Mike Play it & don't worry about it. Since it's apparently not broke I wouldn't start fixing it. As long as it "plays great & sounds awesome" I'd put the straightedge away & play it. |
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Posts: 10777
Location: Keepin' It Weird in Portland, OR | Thank You Nils... The voice of Sanity! |
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November 2003
Posts: 231
| That's exactly what I'm doing. Playing it. You know how it is when you get something new. You worry about those things. My old Legend has a large crack in the top from an accident when it was new, and the top is sunken in, but it still plays and sounds fine. Just hate to see that happen on one as nice as this one. Oh well, I bought it to play, so i'm not going to worry about it. |
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