Fender Custom Shop PostModern Strat set up
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- čas přidán 29. 04. 2024
- Rohit sent me his Fender Custom Shop Postmodern Strat for two things: first, to 'sample' the neck profile for a Partscaster I'm putting together for him and second for some set up work. Before anyone yells "But for £3.5k it should be set up perfick..." yes, it was pretty good. But my set up is about finding that extra bit of improvement; that 'icing on the cake' - if possible. This guitar has a great feeling neck and is very nice to play; period. But - like any guitar with a low action, it has some 'fret slap' on the wound strings. And - believe it or not - it also bunches up slightly under longitudinal compression i.e. when loaded. This 'bunching' is what I'm intent on taming; it's microscopic BUT smoothing it out slightly is what alleviates the fret slap on those lower strings. So is it worth spending another £120 on a £3.5k guitar? I reckon it is... and we'll let the owner be the judge of that. There are some interesting 'contextual' decisions along the way here: I would ordinarily have changed the nut because this one has quite seriously inconsistent 1st fret action heights BUT... 'originality' is critical to a Custom Shop Guitar AND Rohit has already told me how much he loves this guitar... ALREADY. The last thing I want to do is override that AND, as a bonus, reduce its originality for my technical obsession. So it stays - because it's original, because Rohit already loves how it feels and because, inconsistencies aside, it plays.
I go off on a ramble on this video, musing on the Government's plans to encourage people with physical and mental infirmities back into work... but I'm not taking a side; more like coming from an outside perspective which wonders why nobody is talking about the real issue here: that the familiar train (the way 'it used to be') has come off the rails. Yelling at, or threatening, people to get back on a train that's going nowhere isn't going to achieve anything.
At the end, I got a surprise to find the finish flaking slightly at the edge of the fingerboard. Only where there IS finish (most of it has been removed on this neck anyway) but the very edge came away with the low tack masking tape. How is it that I can spray a neck with nitrocellulose and later do a full fret level including masking and polishing etc and nothing comes off?? Is this some special 'E-Z-Relic' formula that Fender uses? Being serious for a moment, it very well could be. Anyway, I'm going to touch it up with amber nitro with a very fine brush, so no biggie. But it IS annoying Fender.
And no. I didn't play the guitar on camera. I watched some good players playing it and I definitely loved the pickup tones coming out of this thing. But I wouldn't be able to do it justice, so look for some demos / reviews if you want to hear how it sounds.
One final thing: it IS a great example of credible 'relic'ing'. They do this well, do Custom Shop. - Jak na to + styl
Having owned several Custom Shop strats i have found that they don't always
give you the quality you would expect.
A good sample of a USA made strat with a pro set up is just as good at a far
lower price.
For a person who doesn’t worry, you sure tend to talk alot about potentially worrying things, in this video you even got me worried and I don’t worry easily. Good work there Sam and I’m sure you’ll be reloving guitars when you’re 85!
Sorry! Lol. I don't experience it as 'worry' - as in I don't feel stressed about it or depressed. I suspect that things are falling apart very quickly - as I said, the 'get a job, work, do the right thing, buy a home, retire on a nice pension' train is already off the rails - we're just mostly not admitting it yet. I think a LOT of people know that this is the case... and depression and anxiety (I think - I'm no expert) might come from knowing it but not looking at it, so that it eats away at you subconsciously while you plod on as if you believed it was all going to be different and rosy...
@@SamDeeksRelovedGuitars Many of us feel the same, I fear for my grand children the way things are going. What is unbelievable is that we are doing this to ourselves, or at least someone is leading us in that direction.
Pre historical modernist post avant-garde surreal bit of wood.
Thanks for posting this Sam 😁👍 🎸
Random thoughts
Neck profile templates. Maybe lead strips or solder could be pressed onto the neck, and hold shape long enough to draw onto card etc. 🤔
Nuts. Once ot twice I've seen low slots filled with bone dust and super glue to build them up, then recut. I've heard of baking powder + superglue but never seen it done. Maybe something like that could've evened out the original nut.
Interesting monologue on the state of the country. One aspect that (to me) maybe also contributes is that in my lifetime (slightly shorter than your own) I've never known trust in politicians in the UK to be this low. A drip feed of self interest scandals (expenses, cash for questions/honours, partygate, PPE contracts to ministers siblings and donors, failed economic experiments from short lived prime ministers) have built a feeling of contempt for the public. Where UK politicians used to maybe dissemble, dodge and spin uncomfortable questions, the rise of fakenews/Bannon/Trump openly weaponised outright lying. It all seems to have created an environment where the public reaction to a minister saying "do this, it will be good for you" is to think "yeh, you mean it will be good for you". The trust that government advice comes from an impartial moral high ground and genuine national interest seems to have diminished in general, and disconnected for a few.
That guitar gives me Gilmourish Vibes! Awesome work Sam.
And that 2nd tone brings in the neck pickup too - so it does the Gilmourish thing.
@@SamDeeksRelovedGuitars wow! That's so awesome. Thank you for posting another great video.
You can make a piece of new bone look aged. After using a complete jar of mustard, when it has very little bit left in put the bone in the jar over night the fumes make the bone look yellowed. I wouldn't put a nut in that doesn't touch all the wood. There's radius blocks you can use to make the bottom of the nut natch the radius of the fretboard. I only put a couple drops of wood glue in to hold the nut. The nut should stay in by itself. But just alittle, very little wood glue holds it in place. If later work needs to be done on the neck you can tap it loose with a flat block of wood and light taps on the wood block with the end of a screwdriver. On all the screwdriver and tools I can do it to I put heat shrink around the shaft of the screwdriver with just the end sticking out. That way if I need to reach somewhere there may be a finish it doesn't harm it.
Some good ideas there.
If that nut doesn't angle back it will not play exactly in tune and the strings can get caught onto the nut if bending or using the trem. The strings should leave the nut right where the nut meets the fingerboard. I also slightly round the edges of the nut where the wound strings sit. That way the wound strings go back into pitch without catching on the edges of the front and back of the nut. I use pencil graphite in the string slots. The unwound strings sit low in the nut and the wound strings sit at least 1/2 of the thickness of the wound string, can be a little less than half. It seems the tech your using would still effect the the string when bending or fretting in certain areas. I level my frets by marking but using a somewhat high grit sandpaper for metal.
When I use Tusq nuts I've found no requirement for graphite in slots. Agree with you on the importance of the clean pivot point / launch point at the front of the nut.
H Sam i, we've had temperature of 100+ with high humidity of >75% for some weeks now. Also no rain since mid December. Nighttime only just drops below 90. So slightly envious of British weather.
Love the guitar, just not the awkward truss rod access. I would be reluctant to remove the neck of my strat as it feels like it's been adjusted to get high e away from the edge.
You can easily get it back into the alignment you want on re-fitting the neck Glenn. Just lightly tighten 1 screw (body end of heel), lightly place the other 3 without any tightening. Do up the 1st until it just about holds the neck in place, push into ideal position for alignment with strings semi-tight, then when in place, tighten the 2nd (diagonal opposite to the 1st). Then tighten the 1st all the way up, then 3 and 4.
@@SamDeeksRelovedGuitars thanks Sam, I'll give it a go when I change tuners and put on new strings. 👍
That's a sweet guitar.
I too am of a logical mind set and totally agree with you on the whole covid issue. There are no there valid conclusions to make.
When new information / evidence convinces me I change my mind. It's what all logical people should do. :)
If I change something like hardware, nut screws I save them in a baggie and put a piece of paper with the SN# and guitar it goes to. If it's someone else's 😮guitar, I give them the parts and tell them to keep them in case they want to put them back on if they decide to sell it. The person who is buying the guitar will play the guitar as I have it set up and if they want it back to original then either they can put the parts on or I will if it affects the selling price. I believe they should take it in playing condition and take the parts. I explain to them why I changed the parts.
Sorry Dr. Adams - missed your comments (CZcams doesn't do a great job informing me!); didn't mean to sound rude. Agree with you.
If he wanted to make it look relic the back plate isn't correct . If you take the finish off a maple neck it absorbs moisture. You can take the finish off and take superglue and wipe thin coat alittle at a time on the wood. It seals the wood pores but it feels natural. VanHalen use to do this on his guitars. Also when the finish wears off the neck next to the frets can cause problems. If you look at vintage maple necks even new maple necks they spray the finish on the neck with the frets on to seal the area where the frets go into the fretboard.
"If he..." ? Who? The person in the factory? That's where the 'relic'ing' is done..
As for profiling the neck, what about putting mildly adhesive sandpaper on the back of the neck, and then rubbing a plastic thingie against the neck? Should get you there also. 3 sample points for exemple.
It's a neat thought... but you would have to slide quite hard side to side blurring the profile.. Maybe if you had a relatively soft, crumbly plate instead of the scratchplate material. It's definitely one of those problems that are fun to ponder on - i.e. how to innovate! I even tried in the past (on a test neck) with that thermoplastic (heat it up it becomes clear and semi liquid, then cools opaque and can be repeatedly heated) but I really didn't like the amount of heat involved going into the neck...!
1/4 sawn wood should be used for the complete guitar.
You would hope so... but cost, cost cost cost...
There isn't anyway I would pay the amount of money to have a custom shop aged guitar. I know exactly how to age a nitrocellulose finish myself. That nut looks extremely bad. Did they do nuts that way back in the day? No
The sitar thing is incredibly irritating.
Why are you measuring with the neck laying on a rest. To get the correct measurements shouldn't you be measuring with the guitar in the playing position. I do all my necks measurements in playing position. Even when I use shims I check measurements in playing position.
If / when I do something with the guitar on its back it will be because the effect of gravity on the neck is actually irrelevant for the particular operation. Too many people come from a 'you MUST...' mindset. Yes, you must when there is a tangible reason to do so... in other areas / times it isn't critical. Without watching back this whole video I don't know what operation or at what point you're objecting to... If you can be specific I can tell you why I did what I did.
You should 100% replace that nut with a new quality bone nut. This is not a vintage guitar. It needs to be optimally playable.
Do something make up your mind
If that nut doesn't angle back it will not play exactly in tune and the strings can get caught onto the nut if bending or using the trem. The strings should leave the nut right where the nut meets the fingerboard. I also slightly round the edges of the nut where the wound strings sit. That way the wound strings go back into pitch without catching on the edges of the front and back of the nut. I use pencil graphite in the string slots. The unwound strings sit low in the nut and the wound strings sit at least 1/2 of the thickness of the wound string, can be a little less than half.