Post by twangmeister on Jul 14, 2020 12:42:22 GMT -5
In early 2005 I became guitarist in a big band and needed a suitable guitar quickly. So I picked up a 1996 Epiphone Casino at the local pawnshop. The guitar had been heavily used with some fret wear, dirty pots and goopy black finish. So I did a down-and-dirty fret leveling, redid t5he nut and sprayed the pots with some electronics cleaner and cleaned up the finish. I gigged with it for a while but wasn't fully satisfied. Then some additional issues showed up--a few raised fret ends snagging strings, a tendancy to break B strings at the bridge and a loose jack. Also I found myself having to retune it every set, not a little tweaking but significant tuning strings sharp or flat, not appropriate for how gently the guitar was played. The final straw was having the stock Sanyo P90s humming loudly from the stage dimmers during a theater gig. So the Casino was relegated to occupying a music stand in my home practice area.
Shortly before I retired I had my favorite local guitar repairman do a comprehensive fret leveling, restringing and adjusting the action. He also found a sharp area on the B string bridge saddle that required a little gentle filing. It played much better with no choking out with bends. I took on the fret-end problem careully tapping down the culprit fret ends and sealing them to the neck binding with a tiny dab of super glue.
Last month I finally did something I should have done during my initial tweaking--touched up the nut's string grooves. Apparently the D, G and B grooves were a little tight causing string binding and associated tuning issues.
Finally 15 years later I have a guitar that not only plays smoothly but sounds great as well. And I no longer worry about the hum because I no longer play in theaters.
Shortly before I retired I had my favorite local guitar repairman do a comprehensive fret leveling, restringing and adjusting the action. He also found a sharp area on the B string bridge saddle that required a little gentle filing. It played much better with no choking out with bends. I took on the fret-end problem careully tapping down the culprit fret ends and sealing them to the neck binding with a tiny dab of super glue.
Last month I finally did something I should have done during my initial tweaking--touched up the nut's string grooves. Apparently the D, G and B grooves were a little tight causing string binding and associated tuning issues.
Finally 15 years later I have a guitar that not only plays smoothly but sounds great as well. And I no longer worry about the hum because I no longer play in theaters.
