1,774 posts
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Post by MartinB on Mar 6, 2017 19:44:19 GMT
Might be essential dodger as I can't budge the truss rod. Wonder if old Japanese truss rods need different Allen keys? Sheesh, I'm starting to lose patience with this air box. Metric for Japan I think. |
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Post by Deleted on Mar 6, 2017 19:49:01 GMT
Great, then my Yamaha Pacifica one might do the trick. Thanks MartinB. |
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Post by marit on Mar 6, 2017 20:11:46 GMT
Well looks nice enough @defjef, bit of setting up and good to go in a few days hopefully! Those look like all silver strings, they sound any good? You can't ask the previous owner what gauge was on it? I do believe you can measure it, but you surely need a special measuring tool.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 6, 2017 20:34:48 GMT
It does look nice marit. It's sitting in my room all lovely and Sticky Fingers-ish. The strings are all silver and remarkably light and flexible and I have read that a zero fret can result in this kind of easier bending though I can't for the life of me understand how! I've always wanted to try this kind of stringing on an acoustic ever since I heard Frank Zappa and his buddy playing Sleep Dirt. It certainly recreates all that messy finger finger noise and is such a low action it is very like playing an electric. I'm not TOTALLY sure they are right for it though. Feel reminds me of when I experimented with a hardwood saddle once. Nice. And different but...hmmm. Few more shots of 'issues':    |
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Post by Deleted on Mar 7, 2017 10:51:24 GMT
Just struck me why the strings are so bendy. It's those Bridge Doctor bridge pins, isn't it? By having the string pass through the pin it makes the string a good 1.5 - 2cm shorter. This, no doubt, helps the Bridge Doctor do it's thing of releasing tension on the top but I think is changing the tonality and definitely the response of the strings. Yes I could go up a gauge or two but there is another issue with these pins that worried me from the start, even before I realised what they actually were. It's the fact that they are not stably holding the string in one position. A round peg in a round hole can turn - I know. I've tried - so tuning is not stable. I have never retuned a guitar as much as this one.
I think its days of looking all lovely in my house are now severely limited. I can believe these Suzuki Hummingbirds are pretty nice without these Bridge Doctors on them and I know that there is another version of the Doctor that is held in place, not by different bridge pins but by a screw through the bridge as recommended for 12 strings, but I don't want to be doing that. Think this type of pinned Bridge Doctor is a flawed concept and having written this it has helped me conclude that my head must rule my heart on this one. I don't need a sick elderly relative in my house right now, lovely as they are.
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Post by marit on Mar 7, 2017 11:30:09 GMT
Just struck me why the strings are so bendy. It's those Bridge Doctor bridge pins, isn't it? By having the string pass through the pin it makes the string a good 1.5 - 2cm shorter. This, no doubt, helps the Bridge Doctor do it's thing of releasing tension on the top but I think is changing the tonality and definitely the response of the strings. Yes I could go up a gauge or two but there is another issue with these pins that worried me from the start, even before I realised what they actually were. It's the fact that they are not stably holding the string in one position. A round peg in a round hole can turn - I know. I've tried - so tuning is not stable. I have never retuned a guitar as much as this one. I think its days of looking all lovely in my house are now severely limited. I can believe these Suzuki Hummingbirds are pretty nice without these Bridge Doctors on them and I know that there is another version of the Doctor that is held in place, not by different bridge pins but by a screw through the bridge as recommended for 12 strings, but I don't want to be doing that. Think this type of pinned Bridge Doctor is a flawed concept and having written this it has helped me conclude that my head must rule my heart on this one. I don't need a sick elderly relative in my house right now, lovely as they are. You can't just stick regular pins into the holes? |
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Post by Deleted on Mar 7, 2017 11:58:31 GMT
I could if I take the Bridge Doctor out marit but it wasn't put in there for nothing and I fear I will then inherit a new problem. If it had been the screw fixed type I might have been willing but these pins don't work for me. After all I was trying to get something close to my once in a lifetime beloved Gibson Hummingbird without selling my organs and some quick research suggested the Suzuki is a good match. They may be, but not this one. Shame.    I have just been given the OK to have a real good fiddle around inside this before sending back so I'm going to use it as a learning tool anyway. Take some pictures and if I still can't improve matters then back it will go. |
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Post by Deleted on Mar 7, 2017 12:50:08 GMT
Ooh hey now. I just discovered there is almost NO DIFFERENCE between the version that screws through the back of the bridge and the one that uses the pin mounting system that mine has. Look at this: Screw and Pin mount JLD BRIDGE DOCTOR SYTEMSSee, the only difference is that the unit is fixed about 1cm further back on the screw mount version and is held in place with ONE SCREW. The pin mount, such as mine, is that 1cm further forward so that ONE SCREW will pass through the D pin hole. ALL THE OTHER PINS are dummies that hold nothing in place! This gives me the option tonight of trying the guitar with 5 of the six strings plugged in properly with bridge pins - I've got six spare from that old Epiphone 12 string that I changed to 6 string and Nashville tuned (went down VERY well with this weekend's recording session, by the way). If this rescues all that is wrong with the guitar then I shall surely still keep it. If just that D sounds wrong then I can still use the same unit and move it back a cm, shorten the bracing rod by the same amount and fix it in place using either the old brass pin or a similar sized screw that I can countersink and cover with a piece of pearl shirt button. The rescue is on. This is like preserving the Marie Rose! 'cited again!  |
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Post by Surge on Mar 7, 2017 14:00:08 GMT
Good luck friend, try not to break it while trying to fix it!
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Post by Deleted on Mar 7, 2017 14:14:45 GMT
All I can break at the moment is probably the strings Surge and, as I still have the option of sending it back to Cash Converters as a pile of doodoo after their permission to give it a go I don't care! Heck, if I can find enough things to fix on it they might offer me an extra discount!   |
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1,110 posts
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Post by dodger on Mar 7, 2017 14:35:59 GMT
And you get the satisfaction of having a go at fixing it and hopefully getting it to your liking - result.
Good luck!
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Post by Deleted on Mar 7, 2017 17:13:08 GMT
Aha. I just got contacted by this lovely lady who has crunched a Bridge Doctor into a few guitars in her time and has offered to send me some instructions. Yamaki guitar Bridge Doctor project
See I wasn't wrong about using just one pin but she did point out that that particular G string likes to snap, possibly due to some rough edge on the brass pin. I'm mighty impressed with the power of the internet. I predict it could catch on. Where do I invest? |
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Post by Deleted on Mar 7, 2017 17:34:20 GMT
Nice guitar you've got there  |
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Post by Deleted on Mar 7, 2017 19:55:54 GMT
Shall I keep it then?
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Post by marit on Mar 7, 2017 22:20:57 GMT
I'm not sure I COMPLETELY understand this story (I'm just glad I can get pins in and out of my guitars - which isn't always an easy job). However I wish you the best of luck in getting the guitar to your liking. It wasn't a major investment and including the case it's surely worth the price!
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