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Post by blindwilly3fingers on Jan 29, 2020 5:58:02 GMT
Height 8.91mm thickness 5.76mm.
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3,457 posts
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Post by LeoThunder on Jan 29, 2020 6:42:02 GMT
SC-450 Plus, Sep. 2018 Width:42.9 mm Height: 7.5 mm Thickness at base: 5.5 mm
The last two are difficult to measure accurately without removing the nut.
Bonus measurement E to E string outside width: 35.8 mm
Things seem to vary either across model, with time or even both.
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Post by blindwilly3fingers on Jan 29, 2020 7:29:40 GMT
Tbh I would expect the size of the nut to vary on each individual guitar if the nut is fitted correctly. Ideally you fit the nut as tight as possible at the back and bottom with no gaps on an LP (on a strat/telly etc back and front). The height is not as much of a concern as your slot depth (the height really only needs to be enough to stop the strings jumping out).
Whatever material the nut is made of it generally needs sanding/grinding to fit the guitar it is installed on. The nut is probably the most important part of the guitar.
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Post by jmuerte on Jan 29, 2020 7:58:03 GMT
Thanks guys, extremely helpful stuff! I've got to say, I'm very impressed by the general helpful attitude I've seen on this forum.
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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 Jan 29, 2020 11:32:03 GMT
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Post by paulo on Mar 5, 2020 14:47:12 GMT
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. Just a quick update on this one because it was driving me mad and I suspected that something wasn't right. First I left the standard parts in and simply shielded the cavities and lids with a hand-cut and shaped aluminium trays (the thin ones you use at BBQs). I used a spudge to tuck in the aluminium into the corners and crevices and grounded the lot. Some hum and buzz was removed but not most.
That wasn't enough for me so I decided to go all out: changed the pots and caps out to better quality Japanese pots (they weren't expensive as the guitar shop had them loose with old pricing on them). Finally, the hum, buzz and crackle completely eliminated and pots work very nicely. Took a bit of futzing around but I had fun pulling out the soldering iron and making the cardboard jig to hold the pots in place while I wired things together.
Now that I've got that sorted, it's time to get another HB and get to work!
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3,457 posts
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Post by LeoThunder on Mar 6, 2020 8:16:27 GMT
That wasn't enough for me so I decided to go all out: changed the pots and caps out to better quality Japanese pots (they weren't expensive as the guitar shop had them loose with old pricing on them). Finally, the hum, buzz and crackle completely eliminated and pots work very nicely. Took a bit of futzing around but I had fun pulling out the soldering iron and making the cardboard jig to hold the pots in place while I wired things together. I wonder how replacing pots removes hum or buzz. Maybe redoing the soldering joints is what it takes to perfect a grounding? Did you change the value or type of the pots you replaced? If not, do they work differently in terms of sweep?
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Post by Deleted on Mar 6, 2020 23:43:04 GMT
paulo Which "Japanese pots" did you use? Brand and specification please.
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Post by paulo on Mar 7, 2020 17:00:31 GMT
I wonder how replacing pots removes hum or buzz. Maybe redoing the soldering joints is what it takes to perfect a grounding? Did you change the value or type of the pots you replaced? If not, do they work differently in terms of sweep? Pots remained 500K audio pots on both volume and tone with one exception - I kept the pots simple and didn't go with push-pull. Coil splitting wasn't enough of a feature for me and I wanted to keep the wiring simple. From my perspective in Australia, the advantage of the Alpha (Asian made pots) over other pots (such as Bourns or CTS) was twofold:
1. No drilling out required - the Alpha pots simply slide in and replace the HB ones.
2. The Alpha pots have the same number of splines as the HB pots so no need to buy new knobs.
Maybe you can find pots by Bourns/CTS with matching specs but I did some research and it seemed like a real PITA to hunt them down.
Before I re-built the internals, I tested the original wiring and components and it seemed sound in terms of isolation and grounding (although the bridge wire needed to be pushed in a bit deeper.)
It is a mystery as to why re-wiring with new components made any difference because I did try shielding first before I took more drastic steps. The good news is that after the very simple (and cost-effective) changes, the guitar was significantly more quiet. There's still a small bit of hum but nothing like before. The HB pots crackled a bit too so that issue was gone as well.
paulo Which "Japanese pots" did you use? Brand and specification please. The local store had some Alpha 500K pots so I went with those (marked "Made in Japan" but who knows). They have to be long posts (threaded portion at least 9.5mm) Alphas have some "texture" when you turn them but it's barely noticeable once the knobs are back on.
Caps were "upgraded" to 600v polymer caps available in Australia. Not sure this was as great an upgrade as changing out the pots but they weren't expensive and made the rewiring more simple.
I also re-wired in the 50s style for something different. This video explains it very clearly with some good tips for rigging it together:
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