KVR Audio

Ian B · Post by **Ian B** » Thu May 10, 2007 7:41 am

Hanglow wrote:It'll be worth the wait I'm sure. I've been wanting to upgrade the nut on my wesley, how much would you say just a nut replacement would be, usually? I like the guitar too much to try it myself.

Hi Hanglow,
The nuts themselves are relatively inexpensive, he quoted me around £5 (maybe a little more as his catalogue was old-ish) for a graphtec nut for my 12 string. I'm not sure how much fitting it will cost, I'll ask him later today and post his answer here.

I found a UK site yestrday that do custom made bone nuts at a reasonable price (can't remember where tho'

)

There's nothing actually difficult in fitting a new nut, the only problems I've ever found are getting the old one off cleanly. On most guitars, the nut always seem to be set too high for me, this guitar was no different so I removed the original nut myself to file it down a bit. Of course, I managed to feck it up and break it

It wasn't beyond repair, but a new nut will be better, especially as he will have the tools to set it as low as humanly possible without buzzing on the first fret.

I have just got my DIY tychobrahe octavia clone finished, which was a bit of a hassle as I originally tried to make a Roger Mayer one but failed miserably, so tried the tycho variant and it worked first time sounds great, especially with my easy face after it. A must have for any hendrix/psychedelic fans

Sounds good

tho' if you can do this, fiting a new nut should be easy-ish for you.

Ian B · Post by **Ian B** » Thu May 10, 2007 4:40 pm

Ian B wrote:
Hanglow wrote:It'll be worth the wait I'm sure. I've been wanting to upgrade the nut on my wesley, how much would you say just a nut replacement would be, usually? I like the guitar too much to try it myself.
Hi Hanglow,
The nuts themselves are relatively inexpensive, he quoted me around £5 (maybe a little more as his catalogue was old-ish) for a graphtec nut for my 12 string. I'm not sure how much fitting it will cost, I'll ask him later today and post his answer here.

Hi Hanglow,
John, the Dawsons guitar guy, came and picked my 12 string up this afternoon. He told me if he couldn't get hold of a graphtec nut, he'd make a new bone nut from scrtatch. All in all, it'll cost around £15 to have it done, which isn't too bad. He's doing this 'on the side' tho', it's not going thro' Dawsons, so I won't be paying VAT.

I asked him, while he had it, to coil tap the Swineshead Condors with new pots (push pull) and again I'll be getting it done cheaper than going thro' Dawsons

Hanglow · Post by **Hanglow** » Thu May 10, 2007 9:10 pm

Cheers - I think I might get someone else to do it for me as I'm sure they would do a good job. If I were to try I'd probably wouldn't get it right.

It's always good to get things done for cash. Everyones a winner

Ian B · Post by **Ian B** » Fri May 11, 2007 4:47 pm

Well, I finally picked up the finished J&D S890 today, after having new GFS pups and coil tap fitted, taken back for repairs on one pup, and having a bit of work done on the bridge. The result is one absolutely stunning guitar, both in looks and sounds

The best bit of work done was having the bridge recessed, the action is now breath-takingly low. I reckon if I took it outside with a slight breeze blowing, it would play by itself

Of course, it needs a slight touch of fret dressing to get it 100% perfect, but that's something I can do myself, and is not strictly needed for my very light playing technique. A wonderful guitar in every respect

Ian B · Post by **Ian B** » Sun May 20, 2007 7:26 am

Feck, feck and feck again

It's gotta go back for more repairs on the pups, I've got more or less the same problem again, except this time it's worse as two pups, neck and bridge, are affected. The only 5 way selector position I can use without that annoying 60hz hum, is the middle one. There must be a couple of dodgy earth wirings somewhere (there's a lot of them) It's almost as tho' the coil tap isn't working, but that can't be right as the middle pup/coil tap is ok

It was fine, then right out of the blue, these problems started. It's not as tho' this guitar has been knocked about, I only use it at home and the hardest thing it's touched is my bed. I told him I'm sorely tempted to ask for the coil tap/push pull pot to be taken out altogether, but he said he'd get it right next time.

On the bright side, as it's still under warranty, whatever needs doing will be free, but I'll have to wait til he brings my 12 string back before he can pick this guitar up.

pattonfreak1 · Post by **pattonfreak1** » Sun May 20, 2007 6:55 pm

Dont know if anyone has spoken on this already but...
In december 06 i purchased a Kramer (striker series) guitar fromhttp://www.musicyo.com
It was end of year clearance and the guitar was priced @ $140.
I am absolutely blown away..
flamed maple top, H-S-H w/ quad rail pickups (which have GOT to be the most noise-free/highest output/PASSIVE pickups i've ever heard), a FAST 24 fret bolt-on neck.... whew.
priced now @ $260 but IMO worth 2x that much AT LEAST

Hanglow · Post by **Hanglow** » Mon May 21, 2007 9:24 pm

Unlucky on the guitar Ian, hopefully he'll get it right this time!

Ian B · Post by **Ian B** » Tue May 22, 2007 6:44 am

Hanglow wrote:Unlucky on the guitar Ian, hopefully he'll get it right this time!

I hope so, I haven't touched it since I spoke to him about it last week. I took a quick look to see if I find what was wrong, but everything looks ok to me, no loose connections anyway. If the problem is the pup leads themselves, he hasn't got much to play with to get it right as he's already trimmed a fair bit of the length off.

I've still got a 'spare' guitar, but it's nowhere near as good as the J&D (when it's working that is

)

lateralus778 · Post by **lateralus778** » Sun Jun 03, 2007 4:00 am

This is a bit of a bump...

As my guitar is unplayable (busted trussrod, very high action, bowed neck) i've been heading out to local music stores looking for a decent cheap guitar. I found a Telecaster clone that i played, fell in love with, etc. I assumed it was at least $400 and i never really checked into it after the first day, but i couldnt find out what the brand was. It said "Light Crust Doughboys" on it and i thought that was a really stupid name for a guitar company, but it turns out that "Light Crust Doughboys" is some Western swing band

and this guitar is part of their "signature line". I eventually found out that the guitar was made by a company called America Sejung Corporation, or ASC Guitars. http://sejungusa.com/
Later on i asked the clerk and he said i could have it for $190, so i am really excited.
Has anyone had experience with this company? They make S101 and Canvas guitars as well as pianos. I was just wondering because since there is so little info about this guitar, maybe it really IS worth hundreds and the music shop just doesnt know...

Or is it cheap because it is actually of low quality? I can't seem to find any other retail prices on these guitars and dont want to be ripped off (especially if it's actually worth $70 or something!!!)

This is most of the information i could find on this "series" of guitars.
http://www.quitmanheritage.org/commseries.htm

Thanks!!!

EDIT: I've also noticed that ACS guitars all come with a 1 year warranty for parts/labor. If i do end up buying it, would my music store respect that policy? Because it's the only ASC guitar in there and i'm not sure if they're a dealer or not. Thanks again!

Ian B · Post by **Ian B** » Sun Jun 03, 2007 6:37 am

Hi lateralus778,

I can't say as I've heard of this brand before, and as for the price, if you think it's worth it, it is.

@Hanglow,

He picked the J&D up when he dropped my 12 string off last week. He's done a good job on the 12 string, a new nut, coil tapped the Swineshead Condors, and a full set up for £40. I liked this guitar well enough before, but I'm mightily impressed with it now

Hs first thoughts about the problems with the J&D were they down to shielding, but I told him it was ok at first, then for no reason that I could see, I started to get that 60hz hum, even with the GFS pups used as humbuckers. Hopefully, he'll soon be able to sort it out (again)

lateralus778 · Post by **lateralus778** » Sun Jun 03, 2007 6:44 am

Ian B wrote:Hi lateralus778,

I can't say as I've heard of this brand before, and as for the price, if you think it's worth it, it is.

You know, you're right. I feel that that particular guitar IS worth over $500.
Thanks

Dont even know why i was worrying in the first place

...maybe they have another one in the back

Ian B · Post by **Ian B** » Sun Jun 03, 2007 7:05 am

lateralus778 wrote:
Ian B wrote:Hi lateralus778,

I can't say as I've heard of this brand before, and as for the price, if you think it's worth it, it is.
You know, you're right. I feel that that particular guitar IS worth over $500.
Thanks

Dont even know why i was worrying in the first place

...maybe they have another one in the back

Hi,

I've said before in this thread, my J&D, even allowing for the few initial problems, was worth way more than I actually paid. Even at the full list price it would still be a great buy, the only thing it's 'missing' is a better known name on the headstock, but if it had that, the price would have been a lot higher.

Even factoring in the cost of the new pups and having them fitted, I've still got a fantastic guitar for under £200. Put a famous name on the headstock and I reckon the asking price would be £500+.

Ian B · Post by **Ian B** » Wed Jun 20, 2007 4:35 pm

This is a handsome beast for not a lot of money

It's not listed yet, but AcePro guitars now have a direct buy UK site http://stores.ebay.co.uk/AcePro-Direct-Shop and if my 12 string superstrat is typical, they are worthy of attention if you're looking for a good 'budget' guitar.

Yet another budget guitar option