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Post by Deleted on Mar 10, 2017 13:20:44 GMT
My new lady friend in Mid West USA has given me loads of confidence to fix this up. Just by swapping out the E and A pins I'm already liking it more and the stability is back. The strings are oh so light which I like but I think I may need to go a bit heavier on the bottom E and maybe the A. I keep hearing an out of tune-ness when fretting the bottom E around the third fret in particular (playing a kind of 'Wish You Were Here' riff it was particularly noticeable), which I don't believe is an intonation problem, it's just that the pressure of fretting that string presses it sharp. I can accommodate it by tuning it subtly flat but think that a bit of heavier gauge here will solve the problem. Loving the playability and sound overall.
And now, here's a result. I lustily laid out all of my misgivings about these findings to Cash Converters, pointing out the Bridge Doctor and the weird pins and the misadvertised Gibson logo and guess what. They just offered me £25 discount to be refunded to me. Do I take it........?
Let me see: a cracking sounding 70's Japanese Hummingbird copy, highly regarded around the interweb, looks beautiful, Bridge Doctor included, a Gibson logo (so?) new strings and a case thrown in...for £71 all in? I should say so.
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1,110 posts
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Post by dodger on Mar 10, 2017 14:30:45 GMT
£71 wouldn't get you a decent night out but for something that looks (and sounds a bit) like a £3000 guitar from a distance? A decent case would surely cost that?
Sounds like a deal (or maybe a steal?).
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Post by Deleted on Mar 10, 2017 15:08:20 GMT
Just hope nobody thinks it is a Gibson Hummingbird next gig or it might be a steal.
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1,110 posts
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Post by dodger on Mar 10, 2017 16:56:58 GMT
Just hope nobody thinks it is a Gibson Hummingbird next gig or it might be a steal.  Round your way sounds like round our way! |
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Post by marit on Mar 12, 2017 11:29:20 GMT
Nice one, @defjef! That's definitely a keeper right there! Why don't you swap out all the bridge pins?
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Post by Deleted on Mar 12, 2017 12:01:47 GMT
The D pin is holding the Bridge Doctor in place inside the guitar, bracing the top against the end of the guitar. I like the tone that the Bridge Doctor seems to be giving. Now I've decided to keep it I will strip it right down and may try it without the Bridge doctor but at the moment things are sounding pretty much up my street.
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Post by marit on Mar 12, 2017 13:23:13 GMT
The D pin is holding the Bridge Doctor in place inside the guitar, bracing the top against the end of the guitar. I like the tone that the Bridge Doctor seems to be giving. Now I've decided to keep it I will strip it right down and may try it with outthe Bridge doctor but at the moment things are sounding pretty much up my street. Well alright then! Glad you finally found your Hummingbird! Now I want one too, just to tease you how amazing it is. |
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Post by Deleted on Jun 21, 2017 11:11:42 GMT
Oh dear, I think it might be a Hummingturd. I've loved this guitar and it has led me to compose three tunes on it (new guitars always seem to do that), but I think I've discovered a structural problem. It seems to me that way back in the 70s when the Japanese decided to copy the Hummingbird they first of all decided not to measure one. A Gibson's scale length measured from nut to saddle is around 628mm. Suzuki decided to go for something like 660mm from zero fret to saddle! Not a problem for me and this may explain the gorgeous sustain. But it may also explain increased tension and the regular complaint that these tend to belly bulge and hence the use of a Bridge Doctor inserted in this one. It might also explain the use of super light electric guitar strings being used on this and the beautiful playability that I've been experiencing using them. Now, none of this need be a problem if it sounds great and it sure does but, as I hinted earlier in this thread, I was worried that the Bridge Doctor pins were not helping the intonation and so I replaced the two lower ones with standard pins. However I have had continued problems intonating the bottom E in particular, constantly checking and adjusting the tuner depending on what I was playing, and any riff that required some kind of bottom three strings bottom three frets (think of that Wish You Were Here riff, for example, or Neil Young's My My, Hey Hey) was continually leading me to not like what I was hearing. In frustration I measured the scale length from zero fret to saddle and ... what the heck? Distance to 12 fret is 32.52cm but from 12th fret to saddle (on the bass side) is 33cm - almost half a centimetre out! Checking using the excellent free StewMac Fret Position Calculator I could tell that the distance between each fret is correct but it seems that the inexperienced Japanese guitar builders forgot that they were going to place a zero fret on the fingerboard  . That explains perfectly the odd half a centimetre difference. If I measure from NUT and not zero fret to 12th fret I get 33cm and I get the same from 12th to saddle. So these doofuses have mixed one scale length measurement and then spaced the frets correctly for that measurement whilst actually using a shorter scale length. I have two alternatives. I can remove the zero fret AND REPOSITION ALL THE OTHERS EXCEPT THE 12TH or else monkey about with the position of the bridge or the saddle slot and reposition the frets anyway. Or am I missing something? Happy days   |
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Post by Deleted on Jun 21, 2017 13:01:25 GMT
I would chop up that guitar for fire wood! My recent guitar journey had left a serious scar on my already hurt Mojo and reading this hurts me further more. At least you have bunch of guitars I'm only left with my beaten up ST-20 and a fine G&L with which I simply can not bond  (yes it is for sale now) ... I feel totally exhausted from this guitar chase ... Maybe mundharmonika is a better option for me ? ... |
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Post by Deleted on Jun 21, 2017 14:14:27 GMT
Oh no papache . Not again. I had a funny feeling that G + L wasn't going to stay with you. The high powered humbucker was the giveaway for me. I think you like cleaner lower power and your finger style seems very suited to that. It's a nightmare alright. I can only suggest a telecaster and hope you get a lucky one. I think I may have found a solution to my Hummingbird. Being a weird Japanese monster it has one of these adjustable bridges in it:  This is a godsend as the skinny saddle is held in a u-shaped metal footplate. This gives me a couple of choices. I can remove the whole device, giving me a big slot to fill with a giant bone saddle (if I can find a blank big enough) or I can replace the skinny saddle with either an oversized one shaped to fit in the slot and overhang the front edge so that it is 5mm closer to the nut. That might be tricky to shape and, again, I'm finding oversized ones hard to source even from Chinaland. So I may be able to glue two bone saddles together with superglue, one offset from the other so one sits in the slot and the other is stuck to the front face of it, giving me those vital 5mm. I tried a mock-up wedged in place and the intonation got pretty good at a 659mm scale length - and didn't sound bad either considering it was only wedged there - so I'm pretty sure this will work if superglue loves bone (and I think it does - any one know? blablas? intenselycalm?). I will then have a nice thick adjustable saddle that I can shape and intonate to my heart's content. I may be able to celebrate by running around in the next thunder storm.  |
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Post by salteedog on Jun 22, 2017 16:39:51 GMT
Uh oh....that's what happens when you measure!  Good thinking on the solution though - although it sounds like it could be tricky to get right. |
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Post by Deleted on Jun 22, 2017 18:25:43 GMT
I know. I have sourced some Corian offcuts from a nearby kitchen fitter so I can see how that goes. Might end up with a big Corian saddle. I've also been in touch with an antler and horn supplier in Scotland who makes walking stick handles and he's been very helpful too. I'm also still toying with sticking two bone saddle blanks together but I want to be sure I use the right glue. I have a feeling superglue might be a a bit brittle and wonder whether slow cure 2 part epoxy might be better. It would have a chance to get a grip into the bone at a molecular level and perhaps get a bit more grip. What is the best way to bond two pieces of bone? Perhaps just wrap it in plaster of paris and wait 6 weeks.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 23, 2017 12:03:36 GMT
I'm going with some acrylic worktop known as Mistral by Karonia. It's a kind of Corian copy stuff. The kitchen guy I spoke with was so helpful. He gave me a 10cm x 10cm polished sample block of the stuff in bone white and threw in a 5 x 5 similar coloured piece of Corian so I can experiment with making nuts too. I have no idea what the tone will be like so I'll make a quick simple mock up first to see if I like it before going down the serious shaping path. If it fails I've still got the choice of gluing two bone saddles together or trying the antlers. Interestingly the kitchen shop guy didn't like Corian for work tops because it scratches too easily under an earthenware mug. He finds the Mistral a little harder but easy to work with. I've got to recommend Crefft Kitchens in Barry, South Wales for all your guitar parts - though I suspect they'd prefer you to get your kitchens from them instead  |
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Post by Deleted on Jun 28, 2017 11:38:27 GMT
Lesson learned...for the second time. Change the strings before accusing a guitar of not intonating!  It happened to me before with a Shine ES335 that I thought was duff so I should have listened to my own experience. There's no point trying to save money by using old strings to set up a guitar. For all the shaping and smoothing of Corian, I couldn't get this guitar to intonate and was at the end of my tether. I just threw on some new strings in a last ditch attempt to solve the issues and, Holy Viola, it was almost bang on! I grabbed a bone saddle blank that had been kicking around for years in my spares box. Carefully marked it for intonation ramps and by the end of the day had a perfectly intonating, bone saddled acoustic. Now to sort these flippin' strings out. I'm finding acoustic ones a bit too heavy for what I want to do. |
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Post by Deleted on Aug 17, 2017 16:42:03 GMT
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