NGD and advice wanted

[hamo]

You got a new guitar! Awesome!

Did you sell your Epi?

Nope, candiman literally gave this one away.

[Pastasauce]

Choice!

[Vorbis]

Now, look in he mirror and say 'Candyman' 3 times.

[druz15]

Max Watt, what an awesome and conveniently appropriate name if he was in the high powered amplifier business

[hamo]

This is what I was talking about with the frets, although on second look it's maybe not as bad as I thought.


2012-12-08 17.49.29 by Hamish Denston, on Flickr

I would say that you should give the neck and frets a good cleanup with lemon oil or O'cedar or whatever you prefer and a clean cloth, put the your new strings on and play the guitar regularly for a month or two adjusting the action and playability (including bridge) to taste until you truly know whether the neck works for you as far as feel and buzz with and without string bends etc. As you lower/raise the action and adjust the neck tension rod (very slowly - a quarter to half a turn per day, with playing), you'll quickly learn where the problem points on the neck are, if they exist at all.

Then worry about replacing the neck vs dressing the frets vs refret vs ....

Cheers

Mike

This isn't a bad idea. I tend not to notice a lot of things when playing, so might not notice the things that need attention. I guess I should play it for a while to see whether the fret thing is particularly affecting play.

Money is stupidly tight right now, so a new set of strings is all I'm going to be able to do this year anyway.

Here's some more pics.


2012-12-08 16.49.46 by Hamish Denston, on Flickr


2012-12-08 16.49.23-2 by Hamish Denston, on Flickr


2012-12-08 16.49.01 by Hamish Denston, on Flickr


2012-12-08 16.48.46 by Hamish Denston, on Flickr


2012-12-08 16.48.37 by Hamish Denston, on Flickr

[WellyBlues]

But keep the lemon oil away from the rosewood, apparently.

[PlukkyBoy]

But keep the lemon oil away from the rosewood, apparently.

More info pls!

[hamo]

Buy a secondhand RG neck, Adrian might still have some floating about, full refret could be up to $400, neck ~$120

Out of interest, would an RG neck be a straight swap? What other necks would fit the bill?

[WellyBlues]

But keep the lemon oil away from the rosewood, apparently.

More info pls!

Uh-oh, I have got that the wrong way around. I knew you had to be careful. Ok on Rosewood, not on maple. Some debate about the maple thing on the interweb.

Here's what guitar tech expert Dan Erlewine says in his guitar maintenance book:
"Lemon oil is not for guitar finishes, although its highly touted by some people. I occasionally use it on ebony or rosewood fingerboards, but I don't use it elsewhere because it feels like I am wiping kerosene onto the finish. I believe that lemon oil works its way into and under the finish, especially on older vintage instruments that have a lovely checked patina. This could cause the finish to lift and the wood to become saturated with oil - possibly dampening tone. Lemon Pledge should not be used on guitars!"

So apologies to anyone who had a panic attack. I'll just f-off and STFU!

[hamo]

A little interneting gives me a 1986 date from the serial number and there's a sticker on the back of the headstock that says RG440. It's nice and light too.

A closer look at the Floyd and the rust seems to be mainly on the saddles. What's the best way to get the rust off? How hard is it to pull a Floyd apart and put it back together again?

[Single coil]

Depends how awesome you are at pulling shit apart, cleaning it, and putting it back together!
Perhaps steel wool or a small brass brush, but on black hardware the finish won't be the same at the end of it.
Also those frets look like dress and recrown material. If there's any buzzing, it will probably be another story.

[candiman]

Good luck and have fun hamo...

My inner engineer was kinda looking forward to that little project. My outer wife decided that because I already had a perfectly good guitar I wasn't prioritising my time correctly...

[Rog]

Can you put a hardtail bridge on to replace that fugly Floyd?

[hamo]

Can you put a hardtail bridge on to replace that fugly Floyd?

You can't fool me Rog, I know you're just trying to get me to give you the Floyd for your strat!

[hamo]

Good luck and have fun hamo...

My inner engineer was kinda looking forward to that little project. My outer wife decided that because I already had a perfectly good guitar I wasn't prioritising my time correctly...

My wife seemed ok with the idea of a project guitar when I mentioned it. Wonder off she realised that projects still require funding?