The lowdown on the hoedown that's goin' down in sound town

[ed_zeppelin]

There's a little trick you can do to minimize being stabbed by string ends: just before you cut the excess string off, bent it hard in the opposite direction, then cut it. Instead of sticking straight out of the hole, the string stub will be bent and any contact will either brush against your finger (rather than stabbing it) or miss it entirely.
 
That style of peghead is called a pegbox and goes back at least 500 years (just imagine a scroll on top). I've never seen it on a guitar before, though.

[elwoodblue]

That is the method I usually use, I must have been lazy or distracted after the last string change.
Those tuners have the auto-cut feature,but if I used it I couldn't get the strings back on if I decided to do some fretwork etc.
   I thought that bending over the string end was a foolproof way to avoid snags.I was wrong.
My guitar and I ended up being sprayed with a fine mist of pepsi light as the other guitarist somehow brushed an unopened can
 against the end of the 'b' string and being hooked over it grabbed and pierced the can towards the bottom
...it took us several moments to figure out what had just happened.
I was glad I had brought a graphite neck ax that day,it made clean-up quick and easy.
 Since then I've add an extra bend so the string end is tucked a bit more towards the post.  
 
 If someone asked my what kind of wood the body is, I couldn't tell them for sure...any ideas?

[ed_zeppelin]

There are so many things I like about that guitar, but a few that make me want to beat my head against the sidewalk.
 
Mainly, the beautiful piece of quilted maple as an armrest is striking, but then ruining it by using a Harbor Freight stamp kit to stamp his name and rather unwieldy serial number in it - without even bothering to line it up correctly - is an abomination. It's like one day he made the guitar body, then skipped his meds for a couple of days before giving in to the voices and breaking out the hammer and stamp kit. Why, oh why? (To be honest, at first glance I thought it had a sanitized for your protection banner on it.)
 
That groovy headstock ... glued on with a butt joint? Go ahead, show me a guitar anywhere that costs more than fifty bucks - new - with a headstock glued on with a butt joint. All I'm going by is what's visible (let's hope there's something hidden, like bolts, biscuits, dowels, anything other than Elmer's on a flat butt joint).
 
Which brings me to my next point. A Floyd Rose. My old nemesis. Words cannot describe how I loathe those things, because intonation is a nightmare. Excuse me, six nightmares. It's like herding cats, because every time you get five in tune, you have to go back and redo everything to get the sixth, etc.
 
Those little blocks get jammed in the slots and nothing short of explosives will knock them loose.
 
This thing is a godsend:  http://www.stewmac.com/Luthier_Tools/Tools_by_Job/Bridges/The_Key.html
 
Instead of nudging the saddles around, it gives you precise control with a screw. Buy two. You'll see why.
 
Or better yet, build a trebuchet with your friends, stick that damn Floyd in a pumpkin and see how far away from you it'll go. (That's what we call dynamic range) and drop a Wilkinson in there: http://www.stewmac.com/Hardware_and_Parts/Bridges_and_Tailpieces/Electric_Guitar/Tremolos/Wilkinson_Gotoh_VSVG_Vintage_Tremolo.html
 
For consistent whammosity a Hipshot Tremsetter should keep it in tune way mo bedda, and prevents open strings from going flat after dive-bombing : http://www.stewmac.com/Hardware_and_Parts/Bridges_and_Tailpieces/Electric_Guitar/Hipshot_Tremsetter.html
 
Besides, with a graphite nut already on there a locking nut isn't going to make enough difference to bother. Might as well make the bridge work right.
 
Just to be clear, I love that guitar. I really do. The little touches, like the fitted covers, hollow body, really lovely neck heel, nifty switches and layout make it a truly unique guitar, and I haven't even heard it!

[elwoodblue]

the serial # ...like he ever built a second (which would  be 1288102?)
the bridge...look at the string spacing at the end of the fretboard, me thinks he was to heavy with the shaping file. I need to find something that has less than F spacing.
the butt joint...no idea what's under it's skin,maybe that's not a truss rod but a lonnnng bolt ??  
 It is comfy to play and offers up some really good tones.

[pauldo]

Elwood, being an ex-can maker I can reveal that the lower body of aluminum cans these days are somewhere around .003 thick.  They found great cost savings by shaving thousandths of a gram off the weight of the can so that the already profitable business would reap even more rewards (I call it the law of Corruptionism).
 
The end result is what you experienced, or as others probably have - drop a can while trying to put it in the fridge and it explodes . . .  
 
Sorry for the hi-Jack; we now return you to your regularly scheduled thread.

[elwoodblue]

I remember when all the cans had pop-tops(70's),  
thick,unforgiving,and caused many foot lacerations on a sandy beach  
 
(Message edited by elwoodblue on October 27, 2015)

[ed_zeppelin]

I blew out my flip-flop,
Stepped on a pop-top,
Cut my heel, had to cruise on back home,
But there's booze in the blender,
And soon it will render,
That frozen concoction I trademarked and market in the form of four-hundred-dollar blenders http://www.margaritavillecargo.com/party-machines/ drink mixes and snacks http://www.margaritaville.com/party and tropical resorts that are like Disneyland for drunks http://www.margaritaville.com/dine ...  
that help me hang on ...

[elwoodblue]

Amazing designs,check out the gallery too.
Harpguitars are a bit too many strings for me(at least for late night reading), but it's easy to stare at this guy's wood work (and paper mache' in at least one case).
http://www.beyondthetrees.com/taprootphotos.html
 
(Message edited by elwoodblue on October 27, 2015)

[lbpesq]

I've been working on some interesting guitars recently.  First, I started some repair and restoration on a 1960's Custom Kraft Super Zapp.  Next I did a repair, fretboard/lemon oil treatment, and full set up on a Lindert Loco-Motive T.  Then I installed bridge and tuners from a donor beater Daion Power Mark X onto a Power Mark XX (my all-time favorite production line guitar), followed by the oil treatment and a full set-up.  Finally, I clicked on Joey's famous post and set up my bass player's Epic.
 
Bill, tgo

[ed_zeppelin]

The late, great Michael Hedges plays the prelude to Bach's Cello Suite #1 in G Major on a 1922 Dyer Harp guitar:
 
Great sound, lousy video: http://youtu.be/GULw2wLX8DY
 
Great video, lousy sound: http://youtu.be/dfnm__lNNUg

[elwoodblue]

I'll watch (and listen to) that.
I saw him once at the Moore in Seattle.What a treat that was!
Alex DeGrassi is another favorite of mine.

[ed_zeppelin]

The reason I listed two videos is because Michael Hedges was obsessed with sound quality. To save us all eyestrain, click here and scroll down to the harp-guitar section. You'll see what I mean:
 
http://www.nomadland.com/Stage_Rig.htm#8
 
Rick Turner designed that system. He put a Sunrise pickup on the 6 string, which he'd also put in Bob Weir and Jerry Garcia's guitars. (It's worth checking out their website, gentlemen. They're the Alembic of soundhole pickups.)
 
 Something that gets buried in that list that is the Autoharp Magnetic Pickup for all 11 strings, which is actually the heart of the system. It goes off to some TC Electronics magic injectors (that's when you had to go to Denmark to get 'em, too).
 
Note that it splits at that point. He glued - GLUED - FRAP transducers (Flat Response Acoustic Pickups, they're like Barcus Berry sugar cubes) on the basses, and sent that off to TC Electronics magic injectors. (On his 1913 Knutsen harp-guitar, he wedged a rattlesnake's tail under the bass strings at the headstock, that you can hear in the sympathetic vibrations. It's nuts.)
 
The reason I'm pointing this out is to let you know it's there. Put it on your list. It's physical. That's the only way I can even attempt to describe it. Hear it for yourself, preferably with headphones, from the best quality format you can find. It's worth it.
 
I just realized that I can segue this thread back on topic like Fred Astaire. Here's a picture of Michael Hedges with his Steve Klein/Steinberger Trans-trem harp-thing.
 

[pauldo]

Can't say anything bad about Hedges.  
Saw him at Shank Hall once, greatest show ever.  
 
He would play a song.
 
The audience would give a quick polite applause and then lean forward to the front of the chairs eagerly anticipating the next song.
 
That man had everyone in the room in the palm of his hand.
Brilliant.
 
Dazzling circles slow to soon
RIP Michael

[elwoodblue]

at around 9:00 Micheal talks about one of his guitars,a bit later Mr. Manring shows up on a fretless...sounds like watching wet watercolors  
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kBPKmyH1f2w

[elwoodblue]

damn..like a rolling stone (44:00) has got me all verklempt..