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Post by paulo on Jan 10, 2020 23:16:30 GMT
Firstly - hi everyone and thanks for all the info on this board. It made a huge difference.
I just picked up my SC450 last week and think it's a great beginner's guitar. I've gone over the whole guitar to check the basics and it looks like it was set up pretty well by the guys at Thomann. For reference, mine was checked by "Ray" on 15 Oct 2019. Action was set reasonably low already (0.75mm on high E, 1.5 on low E at 12th fret) and further adjustments to lower strings caused problems so I left it as is. Intonation seems reasonably sound and I'll keep an eye on tuning over the next few weeks as the strings settle in. The finish is high quality - frets were in good condition with only 1-2 sharp edges(I've tested much more expensive guitars that had horrible fretwork) and the top of the guitar looks like the photos (contrary to the rumours I'd heard about mismatching or strangely coloured tops). The guitar definitely sings - I've put my ear to the body and the struck notes and related harmonics carry for a long while. Sustain is phenomenal. The body seems to be made of 4-5 thick layers of wood which would definitely assist with rigidity and acoustic consistency across production - I know folks like "solid mahogany" but that was actually a selling point for me because I was buying blind. The only problem I have come across so far is with a persistent hum and pots that don't work that great. The idiosyncratic pots have been mentioned elsewhere on this forum but the hum seems to be poor grounding of the electricals because it goes away when I touch the strings or bridge. The switch was also a bit loose on arrival so I pulled out a cone wrench to snug the top nut down.
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Post by LeoThunder on Jan 11, 2020 16:02:25 GMT
I never had such low action. 0.75 mm on the high E is exceptional. I took mine down to 1.15 at the 12th fret and was very happy. Low E went down to 1.25 mm. Post pictures! I had colour surprises with mine, it's not a rumour, and I saw others just like mine in videos. Here:
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Post by LeoThunder on Jan 12, 2020 7:24:53 GMT
Just out of curiosity, does the SC-450 Plus have coil splitting? Yes. Two of them, which is even better. I like a split neck with a full bridge. And if you want to do some soldering, you can change them to series/parallel switches without extra parts except additional wires, which adds a lttle high end and preserves the hum cancelling function.
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eddie
Harley Benton Club Member
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Post by eddie on Jan 12, 2020 15:20:47 GMT
Just out of curiosity, does the SC-450 Plus have coil splitting? Yes. Two of them, which is even better. I like a split neck with a full bridge. And if you want to do some soldering, you can change them to series/parallel switches without extra parts except additional wires, which adds a lttle high end and preserves the hum cancelling function. Thank you. This rules !!!
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Post by paulo on Jan 20, 2020 12:27:47 GMT
Just out of curiosity, does the SC-450 Plus have coil splitting? Yes. Two of them, which is even better. I like a split neck with a full bridge. And if you want to do some soldering, you can change them to series/parallel switches without extra parts except additional wires, which adds a lttle high end and preserves the hum cancelling function. Funny - I opened the back of my SC-450 and the wiring looks nothing like that at all. For example, the caps do not bridge the volume and tone pots - they are soldered to the tone pot and have one leg grounded to the back of the tone pot.
Further update on quality issues - the "kluson" tuner knobs started spinning around the shafts and stopped gripping. Finally they started coming right off. It's a 2 week-old guitar so Thomann are sending out replacement tuners.
As for the weird hum/buzz, I know there is something wrong based on the way it occurs but Thomann refuse to accept that there is any problem even after sending video of the issue. I will probably go down the route of switching out the electronics with better pots and caps.
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Post by LeoThunder on Jan 20, 2020 12:42:33 GMT
Funny - I opened the back of my SC-450 and the wiring looks nothing like that at all. For example, the caps do not bridge the volume and tone pots - they are soldered to the tone pot and have one leg grounded to the back of the tone pot. As for the weird hum/buzz, I know there is something wrong based on the way it occurs but Thomann refuse to accept that there is any problem even after sending video of the issue. I will probably go down the route of switching out the electronics with better pots.
Yes, that's the way it's done. It makes no difference. Pot and capacitor are in series between pick-up output and ground. The order is irrelevant. "Better" pots make no difference. They are not causing the noise.
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Post by LeoThunder on Jan 20, 2020 14:13:07 GMT
I have no practical experience with shielding but I assume covering the cavities with conductive foil or paint and wrapping the wires that travel to the pick-up selector would do the trick. I think the pick-ups have shielded wires, with the ground surrounding the others so that part should be done already. Changing components will do nothing but making sure the strings and bridge go to ground through the amp and isolating the cavity should be enough.
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chubbles
Harley Benton Club Junior Member
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Post by chubbles on Jan 24, 2020 2:38:25 GMT
Amazon sells a ton of cheap conductive adhesive copper tape. I bought a life time supply for $7.00. I've used it on almost every guitar I own because it prevents hum and because I have a little OCD. Don't forget to ground it.
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Post by LeoThunder on Jan 24, 2020 5:13:06 GMT
There's a really simple but handy video about buzz here paulo . Check it out: Buzz is a common typo for fuzz. Or is it the other way around? We just need smarter spell-checkers.
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Post by jmuerte on Jan 28, 2020 22:04:26 GMT
Hi! Could someone with a SC450 measure the nut? My question relates to the GT model with P90 pickups, but I'm assuming all the different models have the same neck/nut specs
Thanks in advance!
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Post by blindwilly3fingers on Jan 29, 2020 1:49:20 GMT
Using a digital caliper 42.72mm that's a 450GTP90 purchased in September2019.
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Post by jmuerte on Jan 29, 2020 5:46:34 GMT
Using a digital caliper 42.72mm that's a 450GTP90 purchased in September2019. Thank you! Could I trouble you to check the height and thickness too?
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