Stupid guitar related questions you have been afraid to ask

[Larry]

How do I take off the trem bar on the Luke? Sorry its my first trem. I saw the guy at the shop do it and informed him the case was recessed, he thought that was cool and put it back on.

If you pull in a upwards motion it will "pop out"

 

[beej]

1. I mentioned this before... My bridge pup on my RW 20th is thinner, and brighter than the Maple 20th bridge pup. The RW one has piezo, and the Maple one is standard trem. What's the reason? I can't get any bass response out of the bridge pup on the RW one. Is it the Piezo saddles? Or wiring? or a faulty pup? what? I'm stumped. I've managed to even the tones out of both, but the disparity is still great. The maple one I have is just perfect.

Huh, that's interesting. The piezo saddles are different, I find them to be brighter than the vintage saddles. But that wouldn't account for the lack of bass. Other factors could be the wood itself (every guitar sounds a bit different), or a variation in components- most pots are off by a significant %, that can have an effect.

First thing I'd probably do is measure the pots and see that they're close to spec. Then adjust the pickup to be similar to the maple one, maybe raise the bass more to see if you can get it there. Did you get it new? Wonder if someone wired up the tone control incorrectly. It it both pickups, or just the bridge?

If it's drastically different and you don't like it, it could well be that your pickup is off slightly. But I'd certainly check everything else first, and test the output through the mag only (passive) output, so as to rule out the piezo preamp as a contributing factor.

2. The piezo on the RW20th on the A string is softer than the low E and the D. What's the problem? Can this be repaired? It's not like adjustable pole pieces which I can fix, I'm clueless when it comes to these piezo saddles. The piezo saddles on my JP6 are working perfectly, and no problems, so I thought this one shoudl be the same.

Sounds like it's the piezo saddle. If you're game, swap the saddles between the A and your loudest string and see if that fixes it. If it's really off, you'll see it this way and then can get a replacement. Also check that the string is sitting correctly in the groove and there aren't any burrs preventing it from seating correctly.

Hope that helps man.

 

[francric]

I don't have a guitar related stupid question at the moment but the question I always wanted ask but was afraid is..............................

BP, can I PM you ???

 

[leftyguitarblue]

I don't have a guitar related stupid question at the moment but the question I always wanted ask but was afraid is..............................

BP, can I PM you ???

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO, HE'LL MAKE YOU A LEFTY, DON'T DO IT!!!

 

[ShaneV]

Here's one:

Does the lip on the back of the MM trem (the bit where 'musicman' is written) provide any practical benefits, or is it just there to look cool (which it does)?

 

[whitestrat]

Huh, that's interesting. The piezo saddles are different, I find them to be brighter than the vintage saddles. But that wouldn't account for the lack of bass. Other factors could be the wood itself (every guitar sounds a bit different), or a variation in components- most pots are off by a significant %, that can have an effect.

First thing I'd probably do is measure the pots and see that they're close to spec. Then adjust the pickup to be similar to the maple one, maybe raise the bass more to see if you can get it there. Did you get it new? Wonder if someone wired up the tone control incorrectly. It it both pickups, or just the bridge?

If it's drastically different and you don't like it, it could well be that your pickup is off slightly. But I'd certainly check everything else first, and test the output through the mag only (passive) output, so as to rule out the piezo preamp as a contributing factor.

I tried what you suggested, as in adjusting the pickup similar to the maple one. No juice. I think I'll have to check the pots. But both pickups run thru the same pots ya? It's only the bridge that's problematic. The neck is fine, and EXACTLY like the one on the maple. How do I chekc if the pickup is off? What do I look for? I checked all connections, and they were fine. The guitar used to belong to petruccirocks02, but it was only a week old before he sold it to me.

Sounds like it's the piezo saddle. If you're game, swap the saddles between the A and your loudest string and see if that fixes it. If it's really off, you'll see it this way and then can get a replacement. Also check that the string is sitting correctly in the groove and there aren't any burrs preventing it from seating correctly.

Hope that helps man.

Petruccirocks02 advised me to raise the saddle a bit to have more tension on the saddle. It's worked slightly, and now isn't as prominent as it used to be. But there's still a difference. I can't raise it too much or it'll be ridiculous. But this slight difference is now acceptable.

 

[whitestrat]

Here's one:

Does the lip on the back of the MM trem (the bit where 'musicman' is written) provide any practical benefits, or is it just there to look cool (which it does)?

For someone like me who doesn't like to use the bar, I think it's useful for small occasional chord vibratos... heheheh...

 

[candid_x]

Here's one:

Does the lip on the back of the MM trem (the bit where 'musicman' is written) provide any practical benefits, or is it just there to look cool (which it does)?

It can act as a pick hand rest or mount. (unless you're lefty, in which case you'd have to rest your picking hand on the nut. I really shouldn't be posting this early in the morning.)

And like White said, you can "goose" it without the trem bar.

 

[ShaneV]

For someone like me who doesn't like to use the bar, I think it's useful for small occasional chord vibratos... heheheh...

I've done that on occasion, but I was talking more along the line of design elements, i.e. does it distribute the weight better, etc.

Here's another ne while we're at it:

Did EB tremolo blocks change from steel to brass at some point? My '97 Silo Special is definitely steel, but when I play new Balls in stores the blocks seem to be brass (or some other shiny golden colored metal, so far they haven't been keen to let me take off the trem plate and poke around.) Why the change? I always thought steel sounded plenty good!

 

[candid_x]

Great question, Shane.

 

[RocketRalf]

Totally noob question here!! what does G.A.S. stand for? I guess it's something along the lines of Gear Acquiring Syndrome but I'm not sure, can anyone illuminate my lesser non natively english speaker mind?

 

[robelinda2]

What does GAS mean? Go Ask Steve.

 

[RobW]

Totally noob question here!! what does G.A.S. stand for? I guess it's something along the lines of Gear Acquiring Syndrome but I'm not sure, can anyone illuminate my lesser non natively english speaker mind?

Gear Acquisition Syndrome:

G.A.S. Attack by Walter Becker - www.steelydan.com/gas.html

G.A.S.
by Walter Becker
(appeared originally in Guitar Player)

I have decided to break my long standing editorial silence to draw the attention of the musical community at large and guitar players and guitar owners in particular to a grave situation whose tragic dimension is constantly expanding and is in fact threatening to engulf us all. Picture this:

I am in the family room of a well appointed home in the North Hollywood area of the San Fernando Valley which is the neighborhood favored by many if not most of the top studios players in the L.A. basin. Every third house on this block belongs to a session player and contains a demo studio full of midi gear. This is the home of well known and endlessly talented picker of long acquaintance who for obvious reasons must remain nameless*. The gent in question is a devoted husband and a doting father, but right now there is no family in the family room; there's no room for the family in the family room. All horizontal surfaces are covered by guitars - acoustics, electrics, lap steels, old ones, new ones, weird little ukulelelike things with no proper names - and, as I sit strumming the last treasure to be produced for my delectation, my pal disappears out of the room asking if he'd ever showed me his Delvecchio which I gather is some sort of Brazilian rosewood dobro- and mind you this roomful of strings and frets are only the ones that he has sitting around the house and ALMOST NEVER USES AT THE GIG -

Or consider this:

I'm working at a studio in town with another well known session cat who has had roughly the same readily identifiable and winning sound for the last twelve years or so - but I've noticed that he never shows up for a call with the same guitar twice - true, they all sound about the same but for some reason these excellent sounding (and looking) axes are constantly falling out of favor and being replaced by sonically indistinguishable ones - and further probing reveals that each one of these guitars has been extensively modified and remodified using the latest space age (or is it now post space age) materials and techniques ("this bridge here is made of unobtanium - so rare you can't get any of it anywhere"), only to be rejected and discarded AFTER TWO WEEKS OR LESS-

What's up with these guys?

It's called G.A.S. - Guitar Acquisition Syndrome. You undoubtedly know someone who has it. Reading this rag, you probably have it yourself. Or will have it someday soon or would like to have it. You may think it's cool. But it's not cool. Not anymore. How many Strats do you need to be happy? How many Strat copies, each extensively modified to be able to produce the variations in tone that once would have required maybe four different guitars? How many knobs and switches does that Strat need? Consider this: I am settling up my account for yet another mod to my custom semi solid all Koa Strat clone with the rewound Fender low impedance hum canceling pickups and the Pau Ferro neck, at the shop of a well-known luthier-to-the-stars type guy who says to me, "Stick around, Buzzard should be through any time now - he comes in every Saturday about this time to drop off and pick up guitars -" word is out that Buzzard is going to be the Poster Boy for G.A.S. this year- and now it's Guitar Modification Syndrome, a dangerous complication to the original syndrome, that seems in more advanced cases to be doing most of the damage. In fact I am told by said luthier (one of several who work on Buzzard's and my guitars, since evidently no one luthier can create an ax that will satisfy our jaded sensibilities) that the Buzzard recently returned with a freshly modified guitar that he had impulsively hacked up with a butter knife or some other semiblunt instrument, in a crude and spectacularly unsuccessful attempt to Modify the Modifications - and this THE DAY AFTER HE GOT THE GUITAR OUT OF THE SHOP -

The horror stories could fill this whole magazine (not a bad idea) but what matters most at this time of crisis is, What can be done to stamp out this menace before it makes YOUR life a living hell? Here are a couple of ideas which should be reviewed by any sufferer on the brink of yet another G.A.S. attack:

1. Consider for a moment the karmic implications of owning all those guitars. Picture yourself dragging your ass through eternity with all those guitars strapped to your back. In hardshell cases, not gig bags.

2. Who's gonna tune those buggers? Who's gonna change the strings? (this won't work for guys who are buying and selling with great frequency, i.e., if you don't keep them long enough to change the strings)

3. Imagine that your wife finds out how many guitars you actually have ("Is that another new guitar?" "Oh, no, honey - this one's about twenty five years old!")

4. Pretend you are a clarinet player - how many clarinets do you own?

5. Ask yourself: would I like to be thought of and remembered as a guitar player or as a guitar owner?

6. Imagine that you are in whatever vintage guitar shop you visit frequently and are dealing with the owner of the shop. He is of course severely stricken with G.A.S. Now imagine that you are taking on his personality,with each new purchase you become more and more like him. This one exercise, done properly, will do more to stem the tide of new G.A.S. sufferers than anything else I can think of right now.


* Dean Parks
*5/31/96*

 

[RocketRalf]

LOL I almost guessed, not bad for someone who hasn't dropped by a gear forum before heh I love the tips at the end. Fortunately I won't ever acquire GAS because I cannot justify having more than one instrument different than my primary (violin) and the best guitar that can be bought new is ridiculously cheap compared to the best new violin so I won't ever have money for that

OK next question... do electric guitars also sound better with age or they just pick up rust and fade away to collector items, getting replaced with more modern designs? That obviously doesn't happen to violins, which essentially reached their current design about 350 years ago...

 

[whitestrat]

Huh, that's interesting. The piezo saddles are different, I find them to be brighter than the vintage saddles. But that wouldn't account for the lack of bass. Other factors could be the wood itself (every guitar sounds a bit different), or a variation in components- most pots are off by a significant %, that can have an effect.

First thing I'd probably do is measure the pots and see that they're close to spec. Then adjust the pickup to be similar to the maple one, maybe raise the bass more to see if you can get it there. Did you get it new? Wonder if someone wired up the tone control incorrectly. It it both pickups, or just the bridge?

If it's drastically different and you don't like it, it could well be that your pickup is off slightly. But I'd certainly check everything else first, and test the output through the mag only (passive) output, so as to rule out the piezo preamp as a contributing factor.

Beej, I think I got it. It's even weirder than I suspected.

I was jamming tonight with this 20th, and the bridge sounded like a single coil! And not even The usual bridge position single coil That position bites. No. This was more like a position 2 on a 5 way switch. You know what I mean? I'm suspecting that of the 4 connectors for the pickup, there's one wire that's loose. But the circuit board side is intact. It might be the pickup side. The thing that even confirms this is, when I switch to the bridge pickup, there's NOISE!!!! And I mean slight humming and a lot of hiss. While the neck it pretty silent...

Can a pickup like this be repaired? It's as if one of the coils is useless, and the whole humbucker is now functioning with just one coil active.

Hmm? Help?

 

[Sub1 Zero]

What kind of paint is used on the Subs? It feels similar to truckbed liner...

 

[beej]

It's even weirder than I suspected ... the bridge sounded like a single coil!

Bummer. Ok, well is the wiring for that pickup ok? I don't have mine handy, but for Dimarzios the Green should go to ground, the Red to the selector switch, and Black & White should be soldered together (with nothing else touching them). Want to make sure the Black & White aren't grounding out, which would make it hum and sound like a single coil. Also check that the other wires aren't accidentally grounding on anything, etc.

If it is wired up correctly, then likely there's something wrong with the pickup. It's possible that the coils are shorting out, which would sound as you're describing it.

Check 'er out and then give MM customer service a call- you should be able to buy a replacement pickup and that would fix all of your woes.

 

[whitestrat]

Bummer. Ok, well is the wiring for that pickup ok? I don't have mine handy, but for Dimarzios the Green should go to ground, the Red to the selector switch, and Black & White should be soldered together (with nothing else touching them). Want to make sure the Black & White aren't grounding out, which would make it hum and sound like a single coil. Also check that the other wires aren't accidentally grounding on anything, etc.

If it is wired up correctly, then likely there's something wrong with the pickup. It's possible that the coils are shorting out, which would sound as you're describing it.

Check 'er out and then give MM customer service a call- you should be able to buy a replacement pickup and that would fix all of your woes.

I've just checked the wiring. It's fine. Looks like it's the problem with the pickup... Thing is, the white is at GND, the red and green are soldered together, and the black is separate. This is for both pickups. The wiring is identical for both.

Hmm... Time to experiment!!! New pups! I was worried that it was the prblem with the circuit board instead, and there's a dead trace on the board or something... Oh well... Looks like I get to throw in a PAF Joe and Steve's Special in this one...

 

[DavidOfOz]

Here's one:

Does the lip on the back of the MM trem (the bit where 'musicman' is written) provide any practical benefits, or is it just there to look cool (which it does)?

Watch Lucious in Toto's "Live in Amsterdam" or "Falling in Between Live" DVDs. The lip is specially and cleverly provided for - and I quote - "Going Spaz". (That's how my daughter and her friends describe it.)

(For example: [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HwQ6KCHBD-I"]YouTube - Toto - Africa (Live in Amsterdam)[/ame])

 

[beej]

I've just checked the wiring. It's fine. Looks like it's the problem with the pickup... Thing is, the white is at GND, the red and green are soldered together, and the black is separate. This is for both pickups. The wiring is identical for both.

On mine, it kinda looks like that until you remove the switch. Then you can see that the B & W are soldered together on the board and the Red is hot. For both pickups. And that's Dimarzio's standard wiring scheme, so it makes sense.