Cutlass HSS BFR Issues

[ngjenkins]

Hey all,

I have a few problems on a Cutlass BFR I got through a trade and wanted some folks' opinions.

1. The 5-Way blade "leveler" switch needs to be replaced. Do I need a specific switch or will pretty much any 5-way blade switch work?

2. The bridge pickup sounds absolutely awful clean. Pinched, slightly distorted, and muddy. Through some bare minimum research this seems to possibly be normal for these guitars? But I can't find any examples of one of these being played clean. Anyone with any experience here?

3. Not a question but MAN every EBMM I've worked with has needed DRASTIC neck shimming. Good god!

 

[DrKev]

Hey all,

I have a few problems on a Cutlass BFR I got through a trade and wanted some folks' opinions.

1. The 5-Way blade "leveler" switch needs to be replaced. Do I need a specific switch or will pretty much any 5-way blade switch work?

2. The bridge pickup sounds absolutely awful clean. Pinched, slightly distorted, and muddy. Through some bare minimum research this seems to possibly be normal for these guitars? But I can't find any examples of one of these being played clean. Anyone with any experience here?

3. Not a question but MAN every EBMM I've worked with has needed DRASTIC neck shimming. Good god!

1. Any 5-way switch will work. See file below.

2. That does not sound like a pickup problem. No pickup can ever be distorted all on its own. Something else needs to distort the signal from the pickup. Could be a low battery. But my experience is that the tone does not change when the battery is low, it just sounds like there is a fuzz pedal somewhere in the background. If the battery is fresh I'd be looking for a circuit board issue. Previous owner may have stuffed something up?

3. That's definitely not the experience of just about all of us here. Sure, a shim is occasionally necessary but drastic and every time? No, not at all. Do you know how to / can you accurately measure neck relief and string height at the 12th fret? Where are they at right now? What specifically is the reason for you needing to shim?

 

[ngjenkins]

1. Any 5-way switch will work. See file below.

2. That does not sound like a pickup problem. No pickup can ever be distorted all on its own. Something else needs to distort the signal from the pickup. Could be a low battery. But my experience is that the tone does not change when the battery is low, it just sounds like there is a fuzz pedal somewhere in the background. If the battery is fresh I'd be looking for a circuit board issue. Previous owner may have stuffed something up?

3. That's definitely not the experience of just about all of us here. Sure, a shim is occasionally necessary but drastic and everytime? No, not at all. Do you know how to / can you accurately measure neck relief and string height at the 12th fret?

Thanks for the response!

1. Thank you for this!

2. Okay, that makes sense. The battery is brand new and it DOES sound a bit like a fuzz pedal on in the background somewhere. But, the single coils sound fine. It's just the Humbucker.

3. I do. In all three situations, it was with a double locking trem. Previous owners had CRANKED the neck to be back bowed to try and get useable action. So, after a lot of EBMM neck shims ordered, I got them fairly close to where they need to be. I'm wondering if there's something to roasted maple necks being way more apt to lose moisture and shrink?

 

[DrKev]

Thanks for the response!

1. Thank you for this!

2. Okay, that makes sense. The battery is brand new and it DOES sound a bit like a fuzz pedal on in the background somewhere. But, the single coils sound fine. It's just the Humbucker.

3. I do. In all three situations, it was with a double locking trem. Previous owners had CRANKED the neck to be back bowed to try and get useable action. So, after a lot of EBMM neck shims ordered, I got them fairly close to where they need to be. I'm wondering if there's something to roasted maple necks being way more apt to lose moisture and shrink?

Yes, the double locking trems on the Axis guitars don't have adjustable saddles so shimming is a *normal way* to adjust the action. But for other models with the regular trems, it's not often necessary.

Roasted maple is LESS likely to shrink because the moisture comes out during the roasting process before it hits the factory floor to be made into a neck. One of the reason so much of the guitar market uses it now - better dimensional stability, fewer warranty returns, happier customers, happier customer service reps, and looks nice too.

 

[Astrofreq]

I've shimmed every one of my EBMM over the years.

 

[ngjenkins]

Yes, the double locking trems on the Axis guitars don't have adjustable saddles so shimming is a *normal way* to adjust the action. But for other models with the regular trems, it's not often necessary.

Roasted maple is LESS likely to shrink because the moisture comes out during the roasting process before it hits the factory floor to be made into a neck. One of the reason so much of the guitar market uses it now - better dimensional stability, fewer warranty returns, happier customers, happier customer service reps, and looks nice too.

Ffffffascinating. I had no idea that happened in the roasting process but it makes sense.

 

[beej]

I've never shimmed any of my EBMMs. Just made bridge adjustments where necessary.

 

[ngjenkins]

I've never shimmed any of my EBMMs. Just made bridge adjustments where necessary.

The issue with the locking trems is you can't adjust them past a certain point because they'll angle.

 

[Sweat]

Owned many never had those issues

 

[beej]

The issue with the locking trems is you can't adjust them past a certain point because they'll angle.

Yes I understand that. But the comments about every EBMM requiring a shim aren't pointing out that the reference is to instruments with locking trems

 

[wired]

I've never shimmed any of my EBMMs. Just made bridge adjustments where necessary.

Same here - Have owned 10+ Axis & a couple of Lukes with the MM floyd, have never had to shim any of them.

 

[ngjenkins]

Same here - Have owned 10+ Axis & a couple of Lukes with the MM floyd, have never had to shim any of them.

2 x Axis, 1 x Cutlass, 2 x EVH Wolfgangs (not Music Mans, but the same bridge system).

ALL needed shims. This Cutlass needed a ton of shims to get it right.

 

[Astrofreq]

People like their guitars to play a certain way and I’m not saying people should or shouldn’t add a shim. For how I like my EBMM guitars set up, I added a shim in the neck pocket, roughly the thickness of a business card (an NYC Metrocard to be specific). If others haven’t needed to do so and tweaked their guitars in the various other ways, more power to them.

 

[ngjenkins]

Got the wiring fixed but the pickup still doesn't sound right. The tech was like, "Everything's right... this pickup just sounds... bad." lol

So, I'll probably work on getting a replacement pickup at some point. Not sure what the best option is, but I do love the DiMarzio custom that's in my Axis. We'll see!

 

[beej]

I didn't love that pickup either and swapped it out.

 

[ngjenkins]

I didn't love that pickup either and swapped it out.

What did you swap it to and how did you make that choice? AND, how do you feel about it now?

 

[beej]

My main guitar these days is an LIII with the MM pickups. Seeing as the singles are the same, I put a bridge pickup from an LIII in there. (Someone here sold me a set ... they're not commonly available.) Works pretty well.

That said, I'm pretty fond of the Dimarzio Transition bridge pickup, so I would have put one of those in there. (Or the 36th if you want less output.) There are a zillion humbuckers out there, but that's my preference.

 

[Astrofreq]

Obviously I haven't tried every pickup out there, but I've only found two bridge pickups that I felt sounded good on clean. It is possible that the sonics characteristics that people enjoy with a distorted bridge tone don't translate so much to the clean side. The two that I think work well on clean are the Kiesel Beryllium and the Xotic Raw Vintage RV-PAF. Both of those sound fantastic and worth checking out.

 

[ngjenkins]

These are all great suggestions. Unsure if I'm going to replace a pickup or just sell it. I do like the single coils A LOT, but it's just not fitting into my overall vibe yet. I may try to make it work in a show and see how I feel about it after that.