A few questions

[notid]

Hi guys,

I'm nearly done assembling my new guitar. It's already strung up, and I think that it sounds great. It still needs a professional set up, though.

I have a few questions before taking it to a local luthier. Bear with me, because I'm still pretty new to this.

+ I have an issue that I think is related to grounding. I followed this wiring diagram. http://www.guitarelectronics.com/product/WDUHSS5L1204. Right now, I get some buzzing that mostly goes away when I touch the output jack and touch the strings. I don't really know what other detail might be important to know. The guitar is a S/S/H configuration with lindy fralins in the neck and middle, and a SD JB in the bridge.

+ The M/B setting sounds really thin and incredible bright (very bad). I'm wondering if this is related to using a single coil and humbucker at the same time. Each of these pickups sound fine on their own, and the middle sounds great with the neck. I'm fine if this is just what it's supposed to sound like, and I'll just avoid using this setting.

+ Will a luthier be able to make sure that the tremolo posts are hammered in enough and correct it if not? I had to do this task myself (a terrifying task), and my action is very high. I think it's because the posts might not be pushed in enough.

+ How far should the tremolo claw be screwed in when the strings are in?

Thanks,
Bryce

 

[Mor Paul]

Hi guys,

I'm nearly done assembling my new guitar. It's already strung up, and I think that it sounds great. It still needs a professional set up, though.

I have a few questions before taking it to a local luthier. Bear with me, because I'm still pretty new to this.

+ I have an issue that I think is related to grounding. I followed this wiring diagram. http://www.guitarelectronics.com/product/WDUHSS5L1204. Right now, I get some buzzing that mostly goes away when I touch the output jack and touch the strings. I don't really know what other detail might be important to know. The guitar is a S/S/H configuration with lindy fralins in the neck and middle, and a SD JB in the bridge.
Do you have a wire connecting the trem claw to the ground in your circuit?
+ The M/B setting sounds really thin and incredible bright (very bad). I'm wondering if this is related to using a single coil and humbucker at the same time. Each of these pickups sound fine on their own, and the middle sounds great with the neck. I'm fine if this is just what it's supposed to sound like, and I'll just avoid using this setting.
The diagram you show splits the humbucker. Split humbuckers are thinner than strat pups. I'd either try the other humbucker coil, or have the full humbucker and the strat pickup heard in that setting
+ Will a luthier be able to make sure that the tremolo posts are hammered in enough and correct it if not? I had to do this task myself (a terrifying task), and my action is very high. I think it's because the posts might not be pushed in enough.
They should be flush. Your body should also have an angled neck pocket. You might want to check just in case.

+ How far should the tremolo claw be screwed in when the strings are in?
As far as needed for the feel you want.

Thanks,
Bryce

 

[-CB-]

Two pickups sound thin together... er... phasing?

 

[Mor Paul]

Two pickups sound thin together... er... phasing?

If my basic electronics is right, checking all of the wiring should work, right? Especially the hot/grounds on the humbucker and middle pup.
If not, my next guess is checking the humbucker coil that's going with the strat pup.

 

[weldfish]

It sounds like the pickups are out of phase.

 

[tfarny]

Out of phase pickups + bad ground somewhere.

Since your pickups are from two different makers, this is always a possibility. Try reversing the negative and positive leads from the middle pickup - use one for the other and vice versa. If that works, you'll need to then reverse the neck as well. Don't worry, you won't hurt anything by trying this.

 

[notid]

Great. Thanks for the responses guys.

I do have a ground going from the top of one of the pots to the tremolo claw. For cleanliness though, I didn't ground every single wire to the same pot. The only thing grounded to the pot that is connected to the tremolo claw is the humbucker and a capacitor. Maybe if I connect all of the pots to the pot that is grounded to the tremolo claw, it would solve the problem?


With regards to the tremolo posts... I'm scared to hammer them in more. My strategy thus far has been putting a towel on the posts and hitting pretty hard with a hammer. Is there something better to do, or should I try to get the luthier to do it?

Photos coming soon!

Thanks a lot,
Bryce

 

[notid]

Another question: I just got off the phone with my local luthier (mike lull's repair shop) and he informed me that warmoth necks are notorious for needing fret dressing. I think that I've heard quite the opposite on this board.

Is there an easy way for me to verify that it does need this work before having him do it? I have a compound radius neck.

Thanks again,
Bryce

 

[-CB-]

Find a new luthier.....

In the, whats it now, seven necks I've gotten since 1996, never had to dress one.  Had one high fret on fret 22 of one neck, and it tapped into place nice and never lifted back up.

Warmoth has a rep for NOT needing dressing.

Having said all that, you DO need to scrape the finish off the maple fretboard's frets.  The finish covers the frets and you can either play (wear) it off or scrape it, or a bit of both.  Thats not fret dressing really.  Its just prep work.

 

[blue313]

Another question: I just got off the phone with my local luthier (mike lull's repair shop) and he informed me that warmoth necks are notorious for needing fret dressing. I think that I've heard quite the opposite on this board.

Is there an easy way for me to verify that it does need this work before having him do it? I have a compound radius neck.

Thanks again,
Bryce

I guess you'd have to define "Fret Dressing".  If he means dressing the ends only, then yes Warmoth doesn't do that since it's preferential like rolled edges.  If he means a complete level and crown....then I have to call BS.

The easy way to check if it needs work is to play up and down the neck while looking for buzzes or dead notes.  Make sure the neck is first set up for the amount of relief you need as a player.  Everyone has a different range of attack.

 

[tfarny]

I've had one neck out of - let's see - nine that needed a leveling. The need for fret end filing, which you can do yourself, varies both from neck to neck and your own personal preference. I've had the fret ends really rounded out and the edges rolled on two of mine, but it was only really necessary on one. Warmoth necks are notorious for being awesome, that's about all they are notorious for. Two of the guys who work at Rudy's music stop in Manhattan, possibly the best guitar shop in the country, are on record as saying that Warmoth necks are "the best".

 

[Super Turbo Deluxe Custom]

Be weary of the word "Luthier" too.  Someone that sets up and/or repairs guitars does not automatically make them a Luthier.

 

[OzziePete]

As I see it, Warmoth not only do their made to order stuff for us folks, but also do OEM work for several unnamed manufacturers. You don't get that sort of work if your reputation is for putting out stuff that still needs a lot of work.

As you are matching one piece of wood with another (neck to body) and then fine tuning it for music, there's always a fair amount of tweaking in the final setup.

I get the idea that most repairmen don't mind the setup work for Warmoth parts, just so long as the person who assembled it did a decent job to get it to that stage. I[ve had one of Australia's best, setup a Tele for me and he was happy to see it all properly assembled, shielded and grounded. So long as the guitar doesn't look like a dog's breakfast & near kill them when they plug it in, they should be happy to tweak it for you. As for full fret dressing, I'd doubt that is rarely needed.

 

[ByteFrenzy]

If he's the Mike Lull who advertises that he has a Plek Pro Computerized Fret Leveling setup, that could explain things...
Or maybe that's just their SOP: do a fret job whether it's needed or not. Work is paid, diagnostics often are not. Like step one in repairing a laptop is to format the disk and reinstall the OS. Even if it was sent in due to a cracked screen.

 

[notid]

Yes it is that mike lull.  That's why I mentioned his name, he has a good reputation here.I think that I'm just going to get a setup and if I get buzzing I'll take it back.

I'm going to tinker around to try to solve my ground issue. I still have to get those tremolo studs flush. Is there a better way to do it besides a rubber mallet? I've got about a quarter inch left and I'm scared of cracking...

Thanks,
Bryce

 

[AprioriMark]

You might want to clarify, because Mike Lull does awesome work in a timely manner, and he has rolled the edges of the frets on several necks for me and never suggested major fretwork.

-Mark

 

[tfarny]

Sounds like getting the studs in is a job for a pro, at this point. No more pounding them with a hammer, please!  :help:

 

[notid]

Thanks for the tips guys. I'm going to try to fix the grounding issue, fix the issue with the out of phase pickups, and take it to get the posts hammered and a final setup. Photos coming soon!

Bryce

 

[CrackedPepper]

I'm going to tinker around to try to solve my ground issue. I still have to get those tremolo studs flush. Is there a better way to do it besides a rubber mallet? I've got about a quarter inch left and I'm scared of cracking...

A drill press provides nice steady vertical pressure for installing studs if you have access to one...