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Post by blindwilly3fingers on Aug 8, 2019 17:57:01 GMT
I've seen nut slots that are very nearly ruined due to too much glue. The viscosity of super glue enables a tight fit with good adhesion in a small area. If if future the nut needs to be removed a gentle tap usually dislodge it. But as I said that's my preference.
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Post by blindwilly3fingers on Aug 8, 2019 18:01:59 GMT
By the way it looks a very nice guitar, good price too. Nice one đź‘Ť
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Post by LeoThunder on Aug 8, 2019 18:45:40 GMT
I've seen nut slots that are very nearly ruined due to too much glue. The viscosity of super glue enables a tight fit with good adhesion in a small area. If if future the nut needs to be removed a gentle tap usually dislodge it. But as I said that's my preference. Interesting points. I know nothing about glue.
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Post by LeoThunder on Aug 9, 2019 7:12:17 GMT
Set-up work and measurements are now done.
Weight: ~3.75 Kg Neck: 21.3 mm at 1st fret, 23.5 mm at 12th fret Action: 1.25-1.45 mm at 12th fret (was 2.3 on arrival, 4 frets were levelled) Tuner ratio: 15:1
Neck relief needed no adjustment. Bridge pick-up was very high and tilted (treble side higher). Someone had set it to match the funny action. Intonation is good.
The wraparound bridge requires loosening strings whenever it needs adjusting in height, which is somewhat cumbersome. I'm not sure why I didn't have to do this with Tune-o-matic bridges in the past.
The fingerboard has retained its good looks overnight. I hope it stays so. If not, I'll have to find some more permanent polish.
This "deko" item is now near flawless. All that bothers me are the two "D" stamped on the back of the neck and body.
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Post by hallon on Aug 9, 2019 7:14:58 GMT
congratz, your new axe looks really nice!
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Post by blindwilly3fingers on Aug 9, 2019 9:30:52 GMT
You could use a damp towel and eithe a soldering iron or normal clothes iron carefully to try and raise the D stamp out. You would obviously have to touch up the finish after. Alternatively you could fill the D stamp with something like car body filler, again you would have to touch up the finish. All depends on how much the D stamp bothers you LeoThunder. Ammendment Regarding the fretboard treatment I do it once a year or there abouts. My Epiphone LP has a dark rosewood board that was treated over a year ago and is starting to look dull and dirty. So that will be done again very shortly. You may be lucky and find once is enough with vaseline, I have never used it so have no idea.
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Post by LeoThunder on Aug 9, 2019 10:29:03 GMT
Vaseline is a solid paste, not a liquid oil, so it might just stay there forever, or be soaked into the finger's skin. I'll just have to see. The D doesn't really bother me. It is just what will make the Harley Benton legend 50 years from now. The fixed "deko" guitars will be relics of the good old days, heritage of the true cheapskate pioneers
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DefJef
THBC Moderator
Due to musical differences I've decided I can't work with myself any more.
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Post by DefJef on Aug 10, 2019 13:12:32 GMT
Interesting what you are saying about the ergonomics of this PRS style LeoThunder . Particularly about palm muting that bridge. I don't know anyone with a PRS so have not had an opportunity to play one but I'd be interested to check that element out. I'm no fan of most PRS finishes but I think I did see a daphne blue one recently. I'll have to keep my eyes peeled or else check out an HB with a spray can in my hand and some weedkiller to knock back that annoying bindweed that seems to keep coming back and engulfing the fingerboard. I wonder if that jammed bridge height adjustment under tension has anything to do with machining tolerances? Maybe that's something that money buys too? I can imagine that the bridge raising screws, if they are all a bit loose in their housing or just a bit coarsely cast, tend to lean a bit under tension and begin to bind in the threads. May be worth working some vaseline in there too. It might help?
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Post by LeoThunder on Aug 10, 2019 13:29:19 GMT
Just for documentation sake, I tried to take similar pictures of the fingerboard as I received it and two days later with a very thin coat of Vaseline. There is no cleaning involved, it's only a matter of reflecting light in a different way and it makes it look a lot better. I still wish it were black rather than this dark grey but at least it looks right, not wretched:
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Post by LeoThunder on Aug 10, 2019 13:39:09 GMT
I wonder if that jammed bridge height adjustment under tension has anything to do with machining tolerances? Maybe that's something that money buys too? I can imagine that the bridge raising screws, if they are all a bit loose in their housing or just a bit coarsely cast, tend to lean a bit under tension and begin to bind in the threads. May be worth working some vaseline in there too. It might help? This would be worth trying. I also noticed that a lateral angle would block the bridge. I could not take it all the way down on one side then the other, it had to be done each side a bit at a time. Machine tolerance, quality of the metal or simply the addition of a lubricant can possibly explain this. EDIT: the angle explains this, of course. Lubricant or tolerances might help the bridge move under string tension. As far as I am concerned, this is the kind of cheap inconvenient I am willing to take. After all I don't set-up my guitar too often. Next time could be when I change the string gauge, if I do and even that should not affect the bridge height, only intonation. I like the weed. I was getting bored with dots…
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Post by blindwilly3fingers on Aug 10, 2019 13:43:27 GMT
"I like the weed, I was getting bored with dots"
That can be taken a couple of ways! Then again I don't know the sort of clubs you frequent?
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Post by LeoThunder on Aug 11, 2019 14:06:12 GMT
I'm trying to remember if I have ever tried to fully lower one side of a tun-o-matic to see if the the other side binds. I can see why it would but it's interesting how neither of us have noticed the problem of string tension generally on lowering one. Out of interest, and despite your dot boredom, does this one come with side dots? I'm not sure I would ever follow which leaf represented a fret mark. I lowered every Tune-o-matic I ever got my hands on. It always went under full string tension but this one screw wouldn't turn. The other would just a little. I stopped before I did something stupid with that flat screwdriver that filled only half the slit. These screws are the size of those on the tail piece of a Les Paul. I ran into the angle problem because the bridge was so ridiculously high. Yes, there are side dots. I hoped for buds but no. They are not quite centred but better than on the SC-7 (no wonder that model was discontinued…) and the same as on the SC-450 Plus. Those on my B-5000 and BZ-7000 are perfect. See, money gets you real dot positioning on a Harley Benton.
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Post by LeoThunder on Aug 11, 2019 14:19:50 GMT
The sound difference between this guitar and the SC-450 Plus, using the same pick-ups, wouldn't leave me in peace. Did I dream it? No. Direct comparison, pick-up by pick-up, sat on the same spot confirmed my immediate impression: more clarity on the CST-24HB. So I checked the pick-up height, compared it, aligned it even, improved and made it more to my taste on both. Still that same high end on the CST and a generally more pleasant sound to me. There is a difference in timbre, not just in rough EQ as you get when blending bridge and neck to various degrees (I know it's still all EQ but timbre requires more bands). Of course the neck is not at the same position: Still, either the pick-ups are not quite consistent, which should not be a surprise, or the rest of the guitar plays a role. Do I hear an effect from the semi-hollow construction? Does a HB-35 Plus sound different from a SC-450 Plus?
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