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Post by Peegoo 🏁 on Mar 13, 2021 7:54:57 GMT -5
A pal dropped off an LTD (ESP's down-market brand) Les-Sorta-Paul guitar for some repairs. He bought a storage locker at an auction and inside it was a tweed guitar case. In the case was this LTD with slack strings. He went to tune 'em up and the neck began to taco; the neck screws were stripped out. Not only are the screws stripped, the through-holes in the body are tighter than the holes in the neck. The neck is maple and the body is basswood. I'm pretty sure this is not supposed to be a fold-up travel guitar. For a neck to mate tightly to the body on a screw-neck guitar, the screws need to slip through the body. Many don't. You need a screwdriver to get the screws through the body. Stupid. I've seen this issue on other brands...even Fenders. What the H-E-double-hockey-sticks? I think some makers clamp the undrilled body and neck together, drill both at the same time, and shoot the screws in using an electric or pneumatic driver that spins the screws when they bottom out. Stupid. This LTD appears to be a Gary Holt (Slayer) signature model, and is otherwise a brand-spanking new guitar still with hang tags and film condoms on all the plastic parts. Other than a few fingerprints, it's factory fresh with a pair of passive EMGs and a real-deal Floyd. It's a nice guitar, with pretty dang good fretwork right out of the box. Made in Indonesia. I drilled out the stripped screw holes to 3/16" and glued in four maple dowels. I also opened up the through-holes in the body. All is well again.
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Post by Sharkie on Mar 13, 2021 8:29:20 GMT -5
Nice work PG. Obviously better than new. Makes a person wonder about the QC process on their guitars.
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Post by Leftee on Mar 13, 2021 8:37:02 GMT -5
I’ve not seen one so bad as this, but yeah. Especially the body holes threaded by the screws. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve opened up body holes.
Or something like that.
“The Body Holes”
W00T!!!
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Post by funkykikuchiyo on Mar 13, 2021 10:04:14 GMT -5
I hear you. I see it all the time and can't wrap my head around it, either. It isn't some exclusive guitar related bit of wisdom to over drill one component if you want a screw to have a strong pressure fit. I see this done in self-assembly products all the time. Plus, it is one of those cases where doing it right would take less time (*assuming you factor in QC, rework, etc.) than doing it wrong... so why bother doing it wrong? (six sigma training to the rescue!)
Was there crud in the neck pocket when you took it off? That could be evidence for your theory of "clamp it and drill it all at once", though that finish blow out on the back of the body seems to indicate something, too. I wonder if that chip was hiding under the plate?
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Post by Peegoo 🏁 on Mar 13, 2021 12:27:36 GMT -5
I guess I just needed to vent. Sorry y'all I feel better now. It's a pretty nice guitar; not something I would buy, but if it dropped in my lap I'd play it for a while and enjoy it for what it is, and then probably gift it to a kid that needs a decent electric. It would've been very cool if the thing had been left together when it was delivered to me. I could've had some forensic evidence to explain this weirdness. However, the new owner had already pulled the four screws out and popped the neck off to see what was going on in there.
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Post by funkykikuchiyo on Mar 14, 2021 8:57:38 GMT -5
Nah, that is more than venting. Those are all really good points. Those were issues that rendered the instrument unplayable, and the sort of thing the average set up monkey can't handle... it is an unfortunate oversight.
After a couple decades in the music biz, I am often left scratching my head why so many manufacturers routinely reject really good ideas from the manufacturing world at large (or even things from outside their tiny bubbles), choosing instead to see themselves as as special niche industry no one else can understand. For me at least, it isn't just about wanting nice guitars to look at and play, it is about the longevity of an industry and lots and lots of jobs being on the line. Some manufacturers can figure it out, but some just can't get out of their own way. *shrug*
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Post by rdr on Mar 26, 2021 9:51:30 GMT -5
I just disassembled my "new" Fender Cabronita Thinline to install a neck shim (previous owner put on a Bigsby and string angle over the bridge was insufficient, high E would pop out of saddle groove). I found both the body and neck to be threaded. Drilled out the body a little and all is well.
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Post by Peegoo 🏁 on Mar 27, 2021 7:21:44 GMT -5
Good save. It boggles my mind that guitars leave factories like this. It's an international crisis. Forget that tub that got sideways in the Soo-Ezz Canal! We need unilateral action to address this problem right now!
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Wrnchbndr
Wholenote
Posts: 353
Formerly Known As: WRNCHBNDR
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Post by Wrnchbndr on Mar 27, 2021 11:25:36 GMT -5
Long time since I was here. Still getting over the change of venue and not sure if this is the same old place. All of the tools that I use 95% of the time are kept in one plastic Pelican case so I can travel. My primary guitar store of employment closed one year ago so I diversified into serving a number of other stores as a pickup and deliver service. In my comparatively small tool box is large handled screwdriver with a Jacobs drill chuck installed and a drill bit to open up the neck screw holes of a solid body guitar body. This is actually a part of my routine setup. I don’t see the problem on American Fenders but I see this issue on just about every other less than premium guitar made. Not the stripped holes but the body holes being too small.
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Post by funkykikuchiyo on Mar 27, 2021 12:40:32 GMT -5
Long time since I was here. Still getting over the change of venue and not sure if this is the same old place. All of the tools that I use 95% of the time are kept in one plastic Pelican case so I can travel. My primary guitar store of employment closed one year ago so I diversified into serving a number of other stores as a pickup and deliver service. In my comparatively small tool box is large handled screwdriver with a Jacobs drill chuck installed and a drill bit to open up the neck screw holes of a solid body guitar body. This is actually a part of my routine setup. I don’t see the problem on American Fenders but I see this issue on just about every other less than premium guitar made. Not the stripped holes but the body holes being too small. Hey, where'd this guy come from?
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DrKev
Wholenote
It's just a guitar, it's not rocket science.
Posts: 416
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Post by DrKev on Mar 27, 2021 15:09:50 GMT -5
Long time since I was here. Still getting over the change of venue and not sure if this is the same old place. Great to see you again! No, this is not the old place. It can't be and should not be the old place. But this is a new place and it's good too. Same faces mostly too.
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Post by Peegoo 🏁 on Mar 28, 2021 15:55:46 GMT -5
Mark! Dude!
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Wrnchbndr
Wholenote
Posts: 353
Formerly Known As: WRNCHBNDR
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Post by Wrnchbndr on Apr 22, 2021 22:43:48 GMT -5
Like wow. Yea. I’m still alive. I went sorta hermit for a year outta self preservation and the wacko around me. Got my first vaccination last week and I might decide to rejoin the human race or maybe just my buds here - haven’t decided yet.
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Post by Peegoo 🏁 on Apr 23, 2021 8:12:49 GMT -5
Like you, I got my first jab on Sunday. It's a signal to me that things may be returning to a sort of normalcy again.
Welcome back!
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