Recent content by Tony Raven

I have a near-new Washburn D46 with "the Buzz Feiten Tuning System," basically a compensated nut & a few other tweaks. SRP was like $1,020. I have an Alvarez 5019 I bought used back in 1995 for $250. The nut was shattered when some jerkoff kicked it over in 1999. I replaced it with a...

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/accessories/roland-gk-kit-gt3-gr-synth-driver-kit http://www.rolandus.com/products/details/235 When a commercial guitar is "Roland-ready," it's got a GK-KIT in it. Fender uses it; I've got one in my Switch Innovo. Regularly discussed on vGuitarForums.com -- the...

Resale values on Big Name guitars are kinda weird. The Blue Book makes clear that -- for "collectibility" at least -- one-off factory custom work actually reduces value below that of a stock unit (unless you've got hardcore proof that it was made for SRV or suchlike). More usually, a new axe is...

Before I forget: if you do get a benchtop model, bolt it down. Okay, it could be a safety thing, but I knew a guy who did some furniture & had a small press mounted right at the corner of his bench. When he wanted to drill into the end of a table leg or some such thing, all he did was turn the...

Oh, yah -- +1 (at least!) on the cross-slide!! I'm thinking of getting a small compound table (same x/y principle) for reworking pickup routs -- freehanding with a router makes me twitchy. I got my press on sale at Tractor Supply for $150. Big ol' floor-standing model, a "Black Bull" or...

Yeah, you've just added more volume controls. The typical tone pot uses a capacitor to "scrape off" tones above a certain frequency (determined by value in microFarads). If you're scraping off 100%, then you've missed the cap entirely.

Consider a Gibson M-6: http://reverb.com/item/25617-gibson-a-style-m6-mandolin-black The short-lived model (2002?) never sold well, in part because it is most definitely NOT a mandolin -- it's an octave guitar, 14.125" scale (per Elderly Instruments), made in Nashville. The MSRP has gotten...

Yah, the TV thing -- it's easy entertainment 99% of the time. Like, when I'm at work, assembling pneumatic components (a.k.a. building brass), I sometimes plot out a piece I'm writing, or rehearse a song to keep my voice loose -- the job doesn't use a whole lot of the brain. And 99% of TV...

IME, when I start trying to pick up something new on guitar, I tense my lower neck (C3-C5) -- according to the various chiropractors I've had over the years. This pulls stuff out of line, & results eventually in shooting pains down my left arm, not unlike electric shocks from a bad ground. Part...

http://www.wdmusic.com/wilkinson_5_1_hole_tremolo_steel_block_chrome.html

Just chiming in to support naked fretboards. When I first started on fretless bass, I was kinda panicky. An experienced player told me, "Trust your hands." I set myself to scales & runs, unplugged, not worrying about accuracy, just getting used to the feel. After a few weeks, I hardly looked at...

Huh -- never noticed that about Warmoth's Schallers. Good catch! I mean, civilizations won't fall or anything, but straightening it out might save Warmoth from customer hassles later. Way back when I first started my guitar obsession, Schaller were "the other brand" after Grover; Gotoh was just...

The Filter'Tron family is basically "cooler" underwound HBs. Don't quote me, but as I remember the current TV Jones series has two coils, but there's less wire so the bobbins can be smaller & thus closer-spaced. Have you gone out & actually TRIED any pickups? I feel a little like I'm trying to...

Back to the OP. The Auto-Trim tuners appeal strongly to my geek/hacker side, but I still prefer to use a pair of side-nipper pliers to cut wire. My cutters get trued up once in a while, & tossed for scrap when they stop working; in a tuner, it just seems like one more thing to wear out...

What was the thread's headline again? :icon_biggrin: I was uncertain as to what was meant by "simple" -- easy to install? minimal parts? requires no maintenance? Although something like a Kahler is truly non-simple, a basic floating trem still has dozens of parts, from springs to teensy Allen...