Hey guys, long time no see. Godin Montreal Premiere question

[jaz]

Anyone play one? Thoughts compared to some of the other semis out there?

[TFPainter]

On Apr 5, 9:34 am, jaz <jackzuc...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Anyone play one? Thoughts compared to some of the other semis out there?

I knew you couldn't stay away Jack :-)

6lbs 3oz, I'm interested too.
http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/MontrealPNat/

[jaz]

On Friday, April 5, 2013 11:22:12 AM UTC-4, TFPainter wrote:
> On Apr 5, 9:34 am, jaz <jackzuc...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > Anyone play one? Thoughts compared to some of the other semis out there?
>
>
>
> I knew you couldn't stay away Jack :-)

Surprised you're not making one Tom!!!

[jaz]

On Friday, April 5, 2013 9:34:27 AM UTC-4, jaz wrote:
> Anyone play one? Thoughts compared to some of the other semis out there?

and of course the inevitable question is, "how does this compare to the comins CGS ES1

[dunlop212]

Should not reply because I have not played one ... but what the heck.

Did not check every spec, but it appears to be a shameless copy of a Gibson 446 (for a lot less dough, I am guessing), and I *did* own one of those. The "carved spruce" in the description (of both) was silly on the Gibson; very thick carve with no acoustic sound to speak of. It did sound terrific plugged in. My main issue with the 446 IIRC was that the neck was kind of plain for the guitar style. Something that pretty should have a high end bound neck.

[dunlop212]

Wow; just looked at the Comins. Here's one for $1300:

http://www.jazzguitar.be/forum/sale/28530-comins-gcs-es1.html

[jaz]

On Friday, April 5, 2013 1:51:51 PM UTC-4, dunlop212 wrote:
> Wow; just looked at the Comins. Here's one for $1300:
>
>
>
> http://www.jazzguitar.be/forum/sale/28530-comins-gcs-es1.html

yes, I saw that one. One concern on the comins is that it's a spliced neck which I usually associate with lower end instruments like samick but that may just be my bias.

[TFPainter]

Just a little market research!

[ic]

I think the Godin looks better than the Gibson 446, but I prefer 4 knobs on
2 HBs or at least a blend knob.
--

icarusi

[jaz]

On Friday, April 5, 2013 4:46:16 PM UTC-4, ic wrote:
> I think the Godin looks better than the Gibson 446, but I prefer 4 knobs on
>
> 2 HBs or at least a blend knob.

not me, i like 2 knobs. I'd rather set the blend with the pickup height and not have to worry about it. I don't think it's really anything like a 446. Thicker and the block does not go all the way through the body and the block isn't part of the back and the block is spruce and the body material is cherry with a maple top,etc.

[Mark Kleinhaut]

Brother Jack!!!

[Lord Valve]

jaz wrote:

> Anyone play one? Thoughts compared to some of the other semis out there?

No thoughts at all, but hi, Jack. ;-)

LV

[ic]

"jaz" <jackz...@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:2b8e28b2-9809-4630...@googlegroups.com...

I used to do that, but now I usually add a hint of bridge pu to the neck pu
and vice versa, so I could probably manage without the pickup selector
switch.
--

icarusi

[Joey Goldstein]

On 4/5/13 9:34 AM, jaz wrote:
> Anyone play one? Thoughts compared to some of the other semis out there?
>

I have yet to play any Godin guitar that I really like the sound of,
especially their fully-hollow archtops.
Maybe they got lucky with this thinline, but I doubt it.

Good luck.

Nice to see you back here.
Getting bored of taking all those pics of all those beautiful women yet?

--
Joey Goldstein
<http://www.joeygoldstein.com>
<http://home.primus.ca/~joegold/AudioClips/audio.htm>

[Jazzer]

On Apr 6, 6:29 pm, Joey Goldstein <nos...@nowhere.net> wrote:

> I have yet to play any Godin guitar that I really like the sound of,
> especially their fully-hollow archtops.
> Maybe they got lucky with this thinline, but I doubt it.

I would tend to agree with one exception, their Multiac Nylon string,
which I have.

It's not so much the sound that is appealing, but the whole package:
-nylon strings
-acoustic/electric
-pickup in the bridge
-Midi-capable
-light weight

It is still my first-grab guitar and has been for many years.

One thing though I would change on the guitar if I could is the scale
length (25.5")

I recently wrote Godin to see if they would make a custom neck for me
(24.75") but they declined.

Even my local luthier declined a year or two ago. :(

Anyone have ideas on this? It would make it a much more comfortable
guitar for me.

[jaz]

On Saturday, April 6, 2013 6:29:12 PM UTC-4, Joey Goldstein wrote:
> I have yet to play any Godin guitar that I really like the sound of,
>
> especially their fully-hollow archtops.

Haven't played any of their fully hollows but all their other guitars I've played have always had something about them that was really annoying to me.

> Maybe they got lucky with this thinline, but I doubt it.

You're probably right. Have you played the comins?

> Nice to see you back here.
>
> Getting bored of taking all those pics of all those beautiful women yet?

Not yet. :)

[jaz]

On Saturday, April 6, 2013 8:53:41 AM UTC-4, Mark Kleinhaut wrote:
> Brother Jack!!!

Yo Mark,

How's it going?

[Tony Done]

Warmoth?

--
Tony Done

http://www.soundclick.com/bands/default.cfm?bandID=784456

http://www.flickr.com/photos/done_family/

[Jazzer]

On Apr 8, 4:40 pm, Tony Done <tonyd...@bigpond.com> wrote:

> > One thing though I would change on the guitar if I could is the scale
> > length (25.5")
>
> > I recently wrote Godin to see if they would make a custom neck for me
> > (24.75") but they declined.
>
> > Even my local luthier declined a year or two ago.  :(
>
> > Anyone have ideas on this? It would make it a much more comfortable
> > guitar for me.
>
> Warmoth?

Thanks Tony.

Yeah I was thinking of that as a possibility.

The only thing that is deterring me though is a failed attempt at
changing the neck on my Squier Strat.

I spent around $400 on a 24.75" neck from USA Custom Guitars and the
end result was not very satisfying looks-wise or playability-wise.

I ended up putting back the original neck.

I may write them and see if they've done any Multiacs before.

[Tony Done]

I have a Warmoth Pro short scale neck on my bitsa strat, that I got at
a good price s/h. I'm not at all neck-sensitive, and it works fine for
me in terms of both playability and looks. What was the problem you
had?

[Jazzer]

On Apr 8, 7:13 pm, Tony Done <tonyd...@bigpond.com> wrote:

> I have a Warmoth Pro short scale neck on my bitsa strat, that I got at
> a good price s/h. I'm not at all neck-sensitive, and it works fine for
> me in terms of both playability and looks. What was the problem you
> had?

Maybe it was just USA Custom Guitars?

Looks-wise, the neck was basically unfinished (as requested, a little
cheaper) but the quality of the wood looked really cheap, almost
'plastic-ey'.
When I got the neck attached and set up I lost my strat sound!

From what I read this was because the shorter scale length was placing
the pickups at the wrong place for the string vibrations.

Anyhow, the whole thing looked and felt weird, so I just went back to
stock.
If anyone wants to buy 24.75" strat neck let me know. :)

[Tony Done]

I don't buy the pickup position thing, because every fret is in a
different position for its harmonic content relative to the pickups
anyway. It's only half a fret difference between a 25.5" and a 24.75"
scale. In terms of strings gauges, it is also somewhat less than the
difference in tension between a 0.01" and a 0.015" 1st string. You
would, however, expect the neck materials to have an effect on the
tone of the guitar, because the neck constitutes the major part of the
string's supporting structure. So, whatever your original neck (that
you liked) was made of, go for the same combination if you want to
play safe, or work from Warmoth's info on tone choices if you want to
be a bit more adventurous. I've gone for maple/maple and bright
pickups, because if you play clean, you can take out top end but you
can't add it without active tone controls somewhere in the
amplification chain. - Which I prefer to do without.

[Greger Hoel]

On Mon, 08 Apr 2013 01:01:42 +0200, Jazzer <google...@yahoo.com> wrote:

> Anyone have ideas on this? It would make it a much more comfortable
> guitar for me.

Replace the fingerboard and have the new one set up with a zero fret at
where the nut would be on a 24 3/4" scale. Then have the fret slots and
markers cut from that point.

--
Using Opera's revolutionary email client: http://www.opera.com/mail/

[Greger Hoel]

On Tue, 09 Apr 2013 08:53:54 +0200, Greger Hoel <nob...@home.fu> wrote:

> On Mon, 08 Apr 2013 01:01:42 +0200, Jazzer <google...@yahoo.com>
> wrote:
>
>> Anyone have ideas on this? It would make it a much more comfortable
>> guitar for me.
>
> Replace the fingerboard and have the new one set up with a zero fret at
> where the nut would be on a 24 3/4" scale. Then have the fret slots and
> markers cut from that point.

It's gonna look like shit, though. A cheaper option would be tuning down a
half step and slapping on a capo permanently in the 1st position,
effectively giving you a Byrdland territory scale length.

[Jazzer]

On Apr 9, 1:46 am, Tony Done <tonyd...@bigpond.com> wrote:

> I don't buy the pickup position thing, because every fret is in a
> different position for its harmonic content relative to the pickups
> anyway. It's only half a fret difference between a 25.5" and a 24.75"
> scale. In terms of strings gauges, it is also somewhat less than the
> difference in tension between a 0.01" and a 0.015" 1st string.

OK, that makes sense.

> You would, however, expect the neck materials to have an effect on the
> tone of the guitar, because the neck constitutes the major part of the
> string's supporting structure. So, whatever your original neck (that
> you liked) was made of, go for the same combination if you want to
> play safe,

Very interesting.
Besides the maple neck looky really wonky wood-wise, I also had it
made with a rosewood fingerboard. I prefer rosewood fingerboards and
couldn't get one a long time ago when I bought my Squier (wasn't in
stock).
Maybe the rosewood is affecting the sound too?


> ... or work from Warmoth's info on tone choices if you want to

> be a bit more adventurous. I've gone for maple/maple and bright
> pickups, because if you play clean, you can take out top end but you
> can't add it without active tone controls somewhere in the
> amplification chain. - Which I prefer to do without.

I'll have to go over to the Warmoth site and read up on this.
If I could get a guarantee that whatever I choose will sound the same
as my current setup I might spring for it.
But right now I'd be hesitant. Reason?

My guitar cost around $400, about 30 years ago.
I bought the U.S. Custom neck for about $400 and now it's pretty much
useless.
How much more should I sink into the guitar? :)

[Jazzer]

On Apr 9, 3:28 am, "Greger Hoel" <nob...@home.fu> wrote:
> On Tue, 09 Apr 2013 08:53:54 +0200, Greger Hoel <nob...@home.fu> wrote:

> > Replace the fingerboard and have the new one set up with a zero fret at
> > where the nut would be on a 24 3/4" scale. Then have the fret slots and
> > markers cut from that point.
>
> It's gonna look like shit, though. A cheaper option would be tuning down a
> half step and slapping on a capo permanently in the 1st position,
> effectively giving you a Byrdland territory scale length.

I'm not sure if the looks would bother me or not.
I'm more of a playability type of guy. Interesting idea.

The tuning down would be OK except for those damn fretboard dots! :)

[Tony Done]

On 10/04/2013 7:23 AM, Jazzer wrote:
> On Apr 9, 1:46 am, Tony Done <tonyd...@bigpond.com> wrote:
>
>> I don't buy the pickup position thing, because every fret is in a
>> different position for its harmonic content relative to the pickups
>> anyway. It's only half a fret difference between a 25.5" and a 24.75"
>> scale. In terms of strings gauges, it is also somewhat less than the
>> difference in tension between a 0.01" and a 0.015" 1st string.
>
> OK, that makes sense.
>
>
>> You would, however, expect the neck materials to have an effect on the
>> tone of the guitar, because the neck constitutes the major part of the
>> string's supporting structure. So, whatever your original neck (that
>> you liked) was made of, go for the same combination if you want to
>> play safe,
>
> Very interesting.
> Besides the maple neck looky really wonky wood-wise, I also had it
> made with a rosewood fingerboard. I prefer rosewood fingerboards and
> couldn't get one a long time ago when I bought my Squier (wasn't in
> stock).
> Maybe the rosewood is affecting the sound too?
>

Quite possible. It is often claimed that rosewood is warmer sounding
than maple for boards.

>
>> ... or work from Warmoth's info on tone choices if you want to
>> be a bit more adventurous. I've gone for maple/maple and bright
>> pickups, because if you play clean, you can take out top end but you
>> can't add it without active tone controls somewhere in the
>> amplification chain. - Which I prefer to do without.
>
> I'll have to go over to the Warmoth site and read up on this.
> If I could get a guarantee that whatever I choose will sound the same
> as my current setup I might spring for it.
> But right now I'd be hesitant. Reason?
>
> My guitar cost around $400, about 30 years ago.
> I bought the U.S. Custom neck for about $400 and now it's pretty much
> useless.
> How much more should I sink into the guitar? :)
>

Your decision. What you can be sure of is that there is very little
resale value in these mods. <g> We do these things for love, not money,
and it would be hard to find a replacement for your Godin.

[Joey Goldstein]

On 4/8/13 6:35 PM, Jazzer wrote:
> On Apr 8, 4:40 pm, Tony Done <tonyd...@bigpond.com> wrote:
>
>>> One thing though I would change on the guitar if I could is the scale
>>> length (25.5")
>>
>>> I recently wrote Godin to see if they would make a custom neck for me
>>> (24.75") but they declined.
>>
>>> Even my local luthier declined a year or two ago. :(
>>
>>> Anyone have ideas on this? It would make it a much more comfortable
>>> guitar for me.
>>
>> Warmoth?
>
>
> Thanks Tony.
>
> Yeah I was thinking of that as a possibility.
>
> The only thing that is deterring me though is a failed attempt at
> changing the neck on my Squier Strat.
>
> I spent around $400 on a 24.75" neck from USA Custom Guitars and the
> end result was not very satisfying looks-wise or playability-wise.

Hmm.
What style of guitar, Tele or Strat?
I've been using USACG 24.75" conversion necks on my Teles for years.
Never any problems with playability or looks.

I agree about the Multiacs though.
Nice feature set.

> I ended up putting back the original neck.
>
> I may write them and see if they've done any Multiacs before.
>

[Joey Goldstein]

On 4/9/13 12:35 AM, Jazzer wrote:
> On Apr 8, 7:13 pm, Tony Done <tonyd...@bigpond.com> wrote:
>
>> I have a Warmoth Pro short scale neck on my bitsa strat, that I got at
>> a good price s/h. I'm not at all neck-sensitive, and it works fine for
>> me in terms of both playability and looks. What was the problem you
>> had?
>
>
> Maybe it was just USA Custom Guitars?
>
> Looks-wise, the neck was basically unfinished (as requested, a little
> cheaper) but the quality of the wood looked really cheap, almost
> 'plastic-ey'.
> When I got the neck attached and set up I lost my strat sound!

Yeah, well, the Strat sound is predicated on a 25" scale neck.

> From what I read this was because the shorter scale length was placing
> the pickups at the wrong place for the string vibrations.

Not just that.
You should have found that the neck pup pole pieces were still at an
octave node when using the conversion neck on a Strat body.
The pole pieces of the other pickups might be oriented slightly
differently along the string length compared to a stock neck and that
would affect the tone too.
But the real thing going on IMO is just that shorter scale necks have
less top and bottom end.
The result is a more mid-rangey tone, which is what I'm after on my jazz
Teles.

> Anyhow, the whole thing looked and felt weird, so I just went back to
> stock.
> If anyone wants to buy 24.75" strat neck let me know. :)
>

[Joey Goldstein]

Try it on one of your Teles with a humbucker in the neck position.
And don't expect it to sound like a "Tele" anymore.

[Greger Hoel]

On Tue, 09 Apr 2013 23:54:50 +0200, Jazzer <google...@yahoo.com> wrote:

> The tuning down would be OK except for those damn fretboard dots! :)

Would be a simple and quick job for a repairman to shift them. But then
you'd really have to commit to having the capo on.

[Jazzer]

On Apr 10, 6:49 pm, Joey Goldstein <nos...@nowhere.net> wrote:

> But the real thing going on IMO is just that shorter scale necks have
> less top and bottom end.
> The result is a more mid-rangey tone, which is what I'm after on my jazz
> Teles.
>

Yeah, I would tend to agree with you about losing the highs and lows.
It just sounded very 'non-straty'
Like it was neutered. :)

[Jazzer]

On Apr 10, 6:44 pm, Joey Goldstein <nos...@nowhere.net> wrote:
> On 4/8/13 6:35 PM, Jazzer wrote:

> > The only thing that is deterring me though is a failed attempt at
> > changing the neck on my Squier Strat.
>
> > I spent around $400 on a 24.75" neck from USA Custom Guitars and the
> > end result was not very satisfying looks-wise or playability-wise.
>
> Hmm.
> What style of guitar, Tele or Strat?

As mentioned, it was a Squier Strat (made in Japan)

> I've been using USACG 24.75" conversion necks on my Teles for years.
> Never any problems with playability or looks.

I didn't have a good experience with them, but it was only one
purchase.
It also took them a heck of a long time to cut the neck.

[Tony Done]

'm more of a playability type of guy. Interesting idea.
>
> The tuning down would be OK except for those damn fretboard dots! :)
>
>
>

<g> Easily fixed with a dab of Mission Brown acrylic satin paint. Been
there, done that. Interesting thing about that. If you apply it to
plastic dots, it sticks much harder to the plastic than the wood. So if
you get a few smudges on the fretboard, you can wipe them off, and the
paint remains stuck to the dot. It looks very neat and professional.

[Gerry]

On 2013-04-12 19:35:50 +0000, Tony Done said:

> 'm more of a playability type of guy. Interesting idea.
>>
>> The tuning down would be OK except for those damn fretboard dots! :)
>
> <g> Easily fixed with a dab of Mission Brown acrylic satin paint. Been
> there, done that. Interesting thing about that. If you apply it to
> plastic dots, it sticks much harder to the plastic than the wood. So if
> you get a few smudges on the fretboard, you can wipe them off, and the
> paint remains stuck to the dot. It looks very neat and professional.

For years on my classicals I put a little dot of white-out on the
inside (upside) binding to provide reference points.
--
Music is the best means we have of digesting time. -- W. H. Auden

[Tony Done]

Yeah, I've put permanent side dots on a lot of things - eg my Baby
Taylor and a couple of ukes. For a really neat permanent job, aluminium
mig (metal inert gas welding) wire is ideal. It is just the right size
for both dot and drill bit, soft enough that it can be filed and then
polished down to the existing finish, and contrasts with both white
binding and dark wood. Taylor used to use it, I don't know whether they
still do. FWIW, I chuck small bits in an Xacto handle, not a drill, for
better control.

[thomas]

On Friday, April 12, 2013 3:30:52 PM UTC-6, Gerry wrote:
>
> For years on my classicals I put a little dot of white-out on the
> inside (upside) binding to provide reference points.

I've never done that. I just accept that I'm going to jump to the wrong fret every once in a while.

[Gerry]

That saves money on white-out, I guess. But even with the white out,
you can still accept this "flexibility".

[TD]

Sometimes we can't see the dots for the dashes.

[Mark Kleinhaut]

All good jack, I replied to your pm. Great hearing from you.

[Joey Goldstein]

I started using USACG because I had a bad experience with a Warmoth
conversion neck that wouldn't intonate properly on one of my Strat
bodies unless I used these really long screws I found for the bridge
saddles.
Warmoth refused to refund me and insisted on sending me a replacement
25.5" scale neck instead (a neck that I've never liked either because
they use a slab of rosewood that's at least 1/3 thicker than a standard
rosewood slab on a real Fender neck, no truss rod adjustment at the
headstock, crappy finish, compound radius - which I've never liked, etc.).

The USACG conversion necks were less expensive, intonated properly on
all my guitars and have the truss rod nut at the headstock rather than
the heel.
They make their headstocks smaller than real Fender necks, for patent
purposes I guess, and they don't look great. But looks weren't what I
was after on these projects, so I was fine with that.

I love my current USACG conversion neck (mahogany, 22 med-jumbo frets,
forget the profile - but it's pretty chunky, 1 11/16 wide at the nut,
etc.) which is currently on a Warmoth chambered mahogany Tele-style body
with a flame maple top (love the tummy and forearm cuts on a Tele body -
much more comfortable to play).
It's a little bit too flashy looking for me, but other folks seem to
like it.

It sounds almost archtop-ish (which was my design goal), actually a bit
like a flat top acoustic.
Kind of like a solidbody version of my ES175 with its mahogany back and
sides.
I can get a real dark, lower-mid-centric jazz tone without it getting
boomy on the bass strings, and even with heavy-ish strings I can rock
out on it when I have too.
Currently my main jazz guitar.
Sounds nothing like a real Tele though.

[Tony Done]

Just a bit of info on Warmoth necks. Their Pro series has a side
accessible adjustment (rh only) that works very well on the one I have -
a short scale strat. You can choose a series that offers headstock
adjustment rather than bridge end. FWIW, mine is on a very cheap old
strat body (Chaser brand) and the saddle screws are exactly right with
10-46 strings.

There is one cosmetic nicety I particularly like. The 22 fret neck is
cut off square at the end, which I think makes the birdseye board look
good against the dark pickguard. There's a pic on my Flickr page in my
sig; it also shows the location of the saddles.

[Jazzer]

On Apr 13, 11:43 am, Joey Goldstein <nos...@nowhere.net> wrote:

Thanks for the 'heads up' on your 'neck experience'. :)

> Warmoth refused to refund me and insisted on sending me a replacement
> 25.5" scale neck instead (a neck that I've never liked either because

They sent you a 25.5" instead of a 24.75"?

> They make their headstocks smaller than real Fender necks, for patent
> purposes I guess, and they don't look great. But looks weren't what I
> was after on these projects, so I was fine with that.

Actually for mine, the headstock was about the same size, just a
different shape.
Mine was an earlier Fender design with the smaller headstock. But
you're right, they couldn't copy it exactly, which is crazy because
there is no logo on the headstock.

> I love my current USACG conversion neck (mahogany, 22 med-jumbo frets,
> forget the profile - but it's pretty chunky, 1 11/16 wide at the nut,

Sounds cool. I prefer a more tapered (less chunky) neck though.

> It sounds almost archtop-ish (which was my design goal), actually a bit
> like a flat top acoustic.
> Kind of like a solidbody version of my ES175 with its mahogany back and
> sides.
> I can get a real dark, lower-mid-centric jazz tone without it getting
> boomy on the bass strings, and even with heavy-ish strings I can rock
> out on it when I have too.
> Currently my main jazz guitar.
> Sounds nothing like a real Tele though.

I didn't realize they also make bodies.
So you mean they custom designed a chambered body for you?
Very nice!

You've inspired me to dig out my USACG neck and give it another try.
Any tips on how to get the nut cut properly the first time?

I really buggered up my nut (uneven spacing).

[Tony Done]

> You've inspired me to dig out my USACG neck and give it another try.
> Any tips on how to get the nut cut properly the first time?
>
> I really buggered up my nut (uneven spacing).
>

I know of three different ways to get the spacing even:

Make a slotted spacing gauge that you are happy with, or use an old nut.

Buy a slot spacing rule from Stewmac. These have increasing spaces with
slots and you choose a section of the rule for the spacing you want. It
leaves the bass strings at a wider spacing than the treble ones, so that
the *gaps* between the strings appear equal. Some luthiers are using it,
I don't know from experience, but it looks like a good idea to me.

Install the uncut new nut and string up the guitar. Space the strings on
top of the nut to your liking, then gently tap them with a hammer to
make a small indentation. If the saddle is very hard you could paint (eg
nail polish) the top of it so that the mark is left in the paint. The
paint is easily removed during saddle finishing.

I've used methods 1 and 3, and they both work fine.

[Joey Goldstein]

When I first started doing this they did not offer that feature.
Good to know it works.

> a short scale strat. You can choose a series that offers headstock
> adjustment rather than bridge end. FWIW, mine is on a very cheap old
> strat body (Chaser brand) and the saddle screws are exactly right with
> 10-46 strings.
>
> There is one cosmetic nicety I particularly like. The 22 fret neck is
> cut off square at the end, which I think makes the birdseye board look
> good against the dark pickguard. There's a pic on my Flickr page in my
> sig; it also shows the location of the saddles.
>

--

[Joey Goldstein]

On 4/13/13 6:01 PM, Jazzer wrote:
> On Apr 13, 11:43 am, Joey Goldstein <nos...@nowhere.net> wrote:
>
> Thanks for the 'heads up' on your 'neck experience'. :)
>
>> Warmoth refused to refund me and insisted on sending me a replacement
>> 25.5" scale neck instead (a neck that I've never liked either because
>
> They sent you a 25.5" instead of a 24.75"?

Yeah. They insisted that it was my fault that the conversion neck
wouldn't intonate properly.
In hindsight, they were partially right.
Both the Strat bodies that I had at the time to use that neck on, had
been modded into hardtail bodies after previously having had Floyd Rose
trems on them.
And when they positioned my hard tail Strat bridges and
string-through-body holes they might have positioned everything a bit
too much (i.e. a mm or 2) towards the endpin.
Still, I never had any trouble intonating a 25.5" scale neck on either
of those bodies.
So, from their perspective they were being overly generous by accepting
a return and then sending me a working neck.

>> They make their headstocks smaller than real Fender necks, for patent
>> purposes I guess, and they don't look great. But looks weren't what I
>> was after on these projects, so I was fine with that.
>
> Actually for mine, the headstock was about the same size, just a
> different shape.
> Mine was an earlier Fender design with the smaller headstock. But
> you're right, they couldn't copy it exactly, which is crazy because
> there is no logo on the headstock.

I think that Fender and Gibson have patents for the headstock shapes of
their instruments.
Warmoth might pay them a license fee. USACH probably not.

>> I love my current USACG conversion neck (mahogany, 22 med-jumbo frets,
>> forget the profile - but it's pretty chunky, 1 11/16 wide at the nut,
>
> Sounds cool. I prefer a more tapered (less chunky) neck though.
>
>
>> It sounds almost archtop-ish (which was my design goal), actually a bit
>> like a flat top acoustic.
>> Kind of like a solidbody version of my ES175 with its mahogany back and
>> sides.
>> I can get a real dark, lower-mid-centric jazz tone without it getting
>> boomy on the bass strings, and even with heavy-ish strings I can rock
>> out on it when I have too.
>> Currently my main jazz guitar.
>> Sounds nothing like a real Tele though.
>
> I didn't realize they also make bodies.

The body I talked about above was from Warmoth, not USACG.
But I bought a swamp ash Tele body from USACG too.
Never really bonded with it though.

> So you mean they custom designed a chambered body for you?
> Very nice!

Well, the Warmoth chambered mahogany body looks real nice and sounds
real good but it's got its share of problems too.
Mainly the way they routed the body for wiring...
Because it's a chambered body there is not a single path for a wire to
go from either the neck pickup route or the bridge pickup route to the
control cavity.
Wiring or re-wiring this guitar is therefore hit and miss. Sometimes the
wires just go where you need them to but usually I can't get them to go
where they need to go.
Good thing that I'm pretty satisfied now with the way it's wired up
because I HATE working on this body.
They recommended that I try wrapping the wires around a pipe cleaner
next time.
Maybe I'll try that, but it doesn't look like the holes are wide enough
for that and getting the pipe cleaner to go where I want it to will
probably be just as hard.
Their fully solid body designs won't have this problem though.
Hopefully their thinline bodies don't have the problem either.
It all has to do with the design of the chambers on their chambered body.
There's got to be a better way.

> You've inspired me to dig out my USACG neck and give it another try.
> Any tips on how to get the nut cut properly the first time?

I just buy the Graphtec pre-slotted nuts, file them down a bit and then
massage the nut slots a bit with my nut files that I recently bought
from Stew-Mac.
I used to use feeler gauges on which I scraped out a rough edge before
as cheapo nut files.
Real nut files work so much better.

> I really buggered up my nut (uneven spacing).
>

[mlhcon...@gmail.com]

On Friday, April 5, 2013 1:55:39 PM UTC-4, jaz wrote:
> On Friday, April 5, 2013 1:51:51 PM UTC-4, dunlop212 wrote:
>
> > Wow; just looked at the Comins. Here's one for $1300:
>
> yes, I saw that one. One concern on the comins is that it's a spliced neck which I usually associate with lower end instruments like samick but that may just be my bias.

Hi Jack,

Nice to see you online. I don't post much, just check in from time to time. I don't know about the neck construction method, but I do think the Comins is a nice guitar and well worth the price. I was at his house in the fall and he had a batch of them in his living room and was in the process of setting them up. I played 3 or 4 of them and liked them quite a bit. They sounded nice and were versatile and comfortable to play. Even the split coil feature sounded good and gave it more tonal options. It looked like he was going to spend some time getting the set-up right before sending them out. I'd consider one myself, but I already have a 535 and a Holst semi on the way.
Mark H

[Greger Hoel]

On Fri, 05 Apr 2013 19:55:39 +0200, jaz <jackz...@gmail.com> wrote:

> yes, I saw that one. One concern on the comins is that it's a spliced
> neck which I usually associate with lower end instruments like samick
> but that may just be my bias.

Hi Jack,

It might be more common on low end instruments and might have timbral or
'resonatory' consequences, but structurally speaking, a spliced neck is
much better.

[Jazzer]

On Apr 13, 8:00 pm, Joey Goldstein <nos...@nowhere.net> wrote:

> So, from their perspective they were being overly generous by accepting
> a return and then sending me a working neck.

Interesting. But they must have known the whole point of your order
was to go the 24.75" route. :)

> >> It sounds almost archtop-ish (which was my design goal),

> >> actually a bit...

> >> I can get a real dark, lower-mid-centric jazz tone without it getting
> >> boomy on the bass strings, and even with heavy-ish strings I can > >> rock
> >> out on it when I have too.
> >> Currently my main jazz guitar.
> >> Sounds nothing like a real Tele though.

Cool!

> Well, the Warmoth chambered mahogany body looks real nice and sounds
> real good but it's got its share of problems too.

> Good thing that I'm pretty satisfied now with the way it's wired up
> because I HATE working on this body.

Interesting.

Well I swapped necks again yesterday and got a bit of a surprise.
The neck still looks and feels a bit weird because it's unfinished,
but it now sounds like a Strat!

The only thing I can think of is that I adjusted the pickups a while
back, raising them a bit. Maybe that did the trick?

Anyway, I'm sticking with this neck now as it is the scale length I'm
more comfortable with.

Down the road I'll probably buy one of those Graphtec pre-slotted nuts
just to make the strings line up perfectly. It's not too bad right
now.

Thanks for the tips!