ADA Depot - A Forum To Support Users of ADA Amplification Gear
Non ADA Gear => Guitars => Topic started by: McLeanAB on April 14, 2018, 01:16:18 PM
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Hey all!
So, being gone from the forum for a while, I've accumulated 5 beautiful Charvels... 4 of which are the 2010 Wildcard series... the first one I got a while back was the hardtail ala Jake E. Lee WC #6 Dreamsicle... she's lovely, but the neck pocket was not nearly as routed out (design wise) as my other floating trem Wild Cards... so, my right hand now - compared to the other guitars - like it's WAY off the body of the guitar... almost like a Les Paul... the bridge saddles are maxed out.
This is the way the guitar was designed as I've chatted with other Dreamsicle owners... some love it, some hate it. But having the floating Floyds in my other guitars, the right hand 'action' is so low it's amazing and makes everything seem effortless compared to the Dreamsicle... which, of course, I never noticed before getting the floating trem Charvels.
So here's my dilemma... (warning, first world problems). I find I'm not playing the Dreamsicle hardly at all anymore, and if I do, and start to become used to it again and love it, I grab one of my other Charvels, and the Dreamsicle sits again for seemingly months...
So do I sell this beast as is to someone who loves that set up? Or do I take it to a VERY reputable luthier (worked with Clapton and some other famous folks) here in Boston and have him shave down the neck pocket to match my other Charvels (neck pocket on all the others is significantly lower/deeper)? If I shave it down, the only risk (if he nails it) is some possible chipped paint but a fine playing guitar that more matches my playing preferences. BUT, I'm sure NO one would want that modded guitar should I ever choose to sell it... which I don't think I'd do if I modded it.
Just curious what your thoughts might be, and if anyone has ever 'deepened' or routed the neck pocket on a guitar before and what's been the outcome...
Thanks ahead of time, folks!
- Adam
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Jim mouradian is the famous luthier... I'm pretty sure !
If so, he fixed my bass when I was student at berklee :thumb-up:
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Peter is his name!
http://www.brokenneck.com
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ouch !
don't know him, but Boylston st, I used to live there... 20 years ago ! :facepalm: (already !)
To my opnion, a lot of great players modded their guitar (Van Halen, Vai, Pastorius, bumblefoot etc...) and that's how they get their own tone. Even if they have a lot of reputable others guitars, they sticked with one particular instrument ( see, EVH with his striped Kramer) most of the time, this instrument looked... pretty rotten.
So, if you consider your instrument only as valuable but not specially attached to it (and maybe decide to sell it in few years) better choose to not modding it and keep it original
But if that axe is "your prefered instrument", the one you decide to stick with for long time, why not modding it the way you need.
I'm pretty sure your reputable luthier will do a smooth and nice shaving :thumb-up:
oh ! anyway, a luthier routed a pickup on my bass ( bass pickups have a lot of different forms and need more than soldering ), no paint chip or other finish crack ; with proper tools, you'll do a good job
Tomy
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Thanks man!
Those are some great things to think about... I've never been a 'but what's it's resale value' kinda guy... I like gear, I try it, I trade or sell it, etc...
Gonna give it some more thought, but it was my first Charvel and to some degree all of them are modded with EMG's...
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this page might help to take your decision ;D
https://imgur.com/a/PxgS7 (https://imgur.com/a/PxgS7)
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Oh my god...
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If it's a guitar you know you won't separate from, and you feel it'll be just what you want, go aqhead and mod it to your liking.
But, as you said it yourself, may not be sell-able, should this be warranted at some point.
I once had a Dan Armstrong, early 70's mahogany with sliding pickup, modded by a luthier.
Yes, it did end up improved and much different, but had lost it's originality, and of course is unsellable except to that one in a thousand dude who just loves such an untraditional axe.
Had I kept it original, it might've been worth 20k+ DKK..
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^^^^^^
I know, right?
The price of the Wildcard #6 is steadily rising on ebay and Reverb year by year, but not by much. And I'm doubting I'll ever sell it once it's modded... if it ends up playing the way I want it to, it'll be so awesome...
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Hey Adam, great to hear from you BTW :thumb-up: . My 2 cents worth, Mod it to your liking and keep it. Mod it to what you want, if that's exactly the same as your other shovels (no disrespect intended), then they can be a guide for the luthier. If, as you say, the saddles are maxed out, then the neck angle is wrong :nono: , but if you like the neck angle :dunno: , then one choice is to deepen the neck pocket (as you've suggested). Another approach would be to shim the rear (toward neck end) with an old bit of credit card (or make a nice angled maple shim (or buy one from StuMac etc)). This will shallow the neck/body angle and bring the saddles into adjustable range and not require routing (like what you have to do to fix most (well allot in my experience) of fender guitars). Take it to you guy and talk through the options. Or sell it if you think some like a guitar that's maxed out its adjustment range.. to me it's bad manufacture/design.
I just did a quick search on the price of that model, it's a cheaper end of town guitar ~$700 AUD entry level (again not meaning to deride it in any way and please correct me if I'm wrong), to me this is similar to taking a Fender Squire or Epiphone and making it how I want (like my Squire bullet strat, MIJ Profile Tele and Epiphone SG; all cheap(ish) and now how I like them).
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^^^^^
Thanks for the suggestions, sir! Shovels, indeed! No worries!
Yeah, I tried the shim, it just didn't feel right... it's a design 'flaw' for sure... all the Dreamsicles are like that... not sure why they did it that way... I just got back my 2013 MIM Charvel SD-1 after waiting four years to have it painted by a friend (long story, but it's all good), and it didn't get painted... slapped her back together, and she plays like a dream!!! My right hand sits so low on the body of the guitar and it feels great...
I'm still debating... there's a guy close by on CL that has another SD-1, so I might see if he's interested in trading... I have the Primer Scream which is basically the Dreamsicle with a floating Floyd, so I'll still have an ebony neck... we shall see!!
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Easy job for a good luthier.
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The ultimate guitar: Get a fender strat body. Doesn't matter. A Squire is fine. Sculpt it to your liking (most squires are fine). Fit any neck, any scale, to the body by paying attention to detail. route to taste. The cheapest guitar can be a monster if you take the appropriate precautions. Make sure the neck is in contact with the body longitudinally. Often times the guitar is an excuse and not an advantage. Have fun and don't be afraid to experiment. :banana-guitar:
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You can change the neck angle with shims, using wedge shims will keep the contact with the body although while ideal not strictly necessary. Remember when fender went to 3 screw mount and an adjusting screw so you could tilt the neck to accommodate different bridge angles for those who wanted up and down whammy. They later went back to 4 screws (as the 3 screw set up can lead to neck twist) but kept the adjustment.
Scale length is important as is neck widths as they predicate where and how wide (and saddle spacing) the bridge needs to be. ie if you put a standard strat bridge on a squire bullet, the strings will go off the side of the neck as the bullet has a narrower neck than standard strat. Strat body blanks are (generally) pre drilled and routed. So this defines the neck width and scale length required (though most are 25.5"). Some "super strats" use les paul length 24.75" which means the bridge/saddles need to move toward the neck and there isn't usually enough travel in the bridge saddle intonation adjustment to accommodate that (and moving a pre drilled and routed bridge is not trivial :facepalm: ).
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UPDATE:
My guy Peter at Broken Neck Guitars is doing it for a very fair price... should have her back in a couple of days... he looked at it, said he can take it down "about the height of a dime" to sink the neck deeper into the pocket... which should be about perfect to match the level of all my other Charvels... scared, but he's always done great work. Here we go...
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:thumb-up:
Better to have somebody do that for ya - it's a big step, get somebody who has done it a million times. Can't wait to hear how that turns out.
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UPDATE:
Oh, he did a fine job! He took the neck pocket down "a couple of whiskers" more than he wanted, but gave her an overall set up too in the process... my right hand feels AMAZING on the body instead of too high, and she plays like butter...
The neck is much thicker than the SD-1, but damn she feels nice...
Only a couple of flakes of paint missing (about the size of a few fleas) here and there on the underside of the neck pocket, but that's a small price to pay to have the guitar play like it does now...
VERY pleased after several hours of noodling...
The Dreamsicle is the orange one, the SD-1 is the white... the other three are Wildcards like the Dreamsicle, but they all have floating trems... which I also like...
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Nice collection :whoohoo!: :thumb-up: .