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MattSA

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Everything posted by MattSA

  1. I had some Meguiar's products that I was going to use on a different project. I used the Scratch X 2.0 on one of the scratches and it worked great. This is the first time I tried buffing/polishing compounds. It took many (upwards of 25) applications, but sure enough bye-bye scratch. I placed a bit of the product on a terry-cloth rag and worked (lightly) into the finish. I am going to try some of the heavier compounds to see if I can first reduce the scratches, and then try the Scratch X 2.0. To anyone looking to get rid of scratches from a finish - this stuff does work, it just takes some patience. Matt
  2. I am working on refinishing a Fender Telecaster neck. I have stained and sealed neck, but after working on cleaning out the fret channels I have a number of scratches in the fret board (some of which are against the grain). I know I can sand out the very fine scratches, but I would like to know if someone has suggestions for the deeper scratches. I do not want to resand and refinish the entire fretboard, so I probably need to fill these areas. StewMac offers ColorTone Scratch Remover but can't tell if it will work on the neck, rather then a finish on the body of a guitar. Any ideas? Matt
  3. I need to replace tuners on my acoustic guitar. I am not looking to spend a ton of money (under $100). I like how many classical tuners look - three pegs connected to a plank of ornate metal. Can I use these on an acoustic guitar? I know very little about tuners like the gear ratio, etc. What are some of the more popular brands that I can research? Also, I have replaced these tuners often because of tarnish/erosion. I know Grover tuners are zinc-plated, is there a particular brand that uses better plating materials? What is the best way to prevent tarnish/erosion? Matt
  4. I can adjust the truss rod. This difference between tang width and fret channel width seems appropriate? I don't want to bang in a fret that will damage the fret board. Thanks, MattSA
  5. I have never re-fretted a guitar before so I am concerned about the dimensions of the tang in relation to the given fret channel. The guitar I am working on is a Washburn whose fret channel depth is 1/8" (.125") and whose fret channel width is 1/32" (.0325"). I am looking at fret wire whose tang's depth is .071", inner width .0236", and out width is .037". I am assuming the outer tang should be wider than the channel in order for the wire to stay firm in the channel (is this correct? is it too large?). However, the tang's height leaves a lot of space between it and the bottom of the channel (should I glue in the bottom?). Can someone with experience help me out or provide a link? MattSA
  6. Can someone tell me if it is dangerous to use grain filler on a figured finish? I am worried the filler might inhibit the display of the figure.
  7. Great. Looking at the picture then would you consider these flames to be running perpendicular to the neck or parallel?
  8. When sanding a flame-top guitar is the grain perpendicular to the flames, or parallel with the flames? When I look at this picture the most distinguishable flames are horizontal, but there are definite vertical configurations as well. Thanks, MattSA
  9. Thanks curtisa. Although I understand the middle statement above partially I am still a bit confused. I am working under the assumption that when I purchase a pot (specifically for a guitar) it can be used as either a volume pot or a tone pot. I am also aware that a capacitor siphons off part of a signal - storing it temporarily, but not returning it. When I look at various schematics, the capacitor is wired in different places. Ideally I would like to wire the volume pot after the tone. Will I still receive full volume after the signal has passed through the tone pot? The tone pot should be changing frequency (sound of the signal), while the volume pot should be changing the amplitude (loudness of the signal ). Should I wire the switch to the tone pot, wire the cap to the tone pot lead out, then directly to the lead in of the volume pot? This would not reduce the volume, before the signal gets to the volume pot?
  10. I have been working on minor rewiring of a Washburn guitar over the past two years. I am comfortable with soldering and wiring, but have run into problems with my capacitors. The Washburn's sound in particular relied heavily upon the capacitor. Unfortunately when I replaced its humbuckers I did not make a schematic of the capacitor wiring before removing the parts. I successfully rewired after several configurations between the tone and volume pots and the capacitor; however I did not make a schematic of the wiring again, and have removed the components so I can refinish the guitar. I find it difficult to understand how the wiring works in the first place - if the volume pot reduces volume, why doesn't the tone pot also reduce the volume? They are both the same type of pots. I am fairly certain the volume pot reduces amplitude, while the tone pot changes the frequency of the signal. If I wire the volume pot before the tone pot, I can reduce the volume, but won't the tone pot also reduce the already lowered signal? This makes me think the tone pot should be wired first. I have looked at many, many schematics doing this wiring differently. I have tried many of them and most leave me with only the volume pot changing the signal. I have also seen wiring where there are two live leads from the tone to the volume pot, one with the capacitor and one without, but recombining the signal reduces the effect of the tone reduction. Can someone provide me a link or clear advice to how I should handle this wiring dilemma? MattSA
  11. Hey guys. I finally have enough time to start this project. Thanks for the great help suggested above. I took a photo of the rear of my guitar which shows the problem areas. I wanted to make sure before starting any repairs that the info I have is correct for my situation. As you can see my finger prints have marred many places on the guitar finish, and especially along the neck. I suppose this is due to sweat. I have purchased sanding pads (1500 through 12000 grit), Meguiar's ScratchX 2.0 compound, and a polishing attachment for a hand-held power driver. I understand what has been suggested above, but would like an experienced diagnosis of the photo - is this the right technique given the marks on the guitar? BTW - the flash on the camera does a great job at showing the marks, but makes the finish look like enamel - its actually some sort of semitransparent dark blue-green stain - the grain is slightly visible through the coat. I added the second photo to try and show the actual grain and finish.
  12. I am thinking about putting some new pickups in my Telecaster. Can someone recommend a link to a list of Vintage Fender Telecaster pickups (hopefully a list of ALL Telecaster pickups)? Id like some with a Bluesy feel. Any help appreciated. MattSA
  13. Thanks ScottR (and others). I have never worked on a finished guitar before so was reluctant to go right into 'sanding' the finish even with finer grades. Thanks for all the help. Matt
  14. Great - can you suggest what grit to start at before buffing?
  15. So you suggest an automotive buffing compound applied with micromesh sanding pads? Is this safe for a finished guitar - I would think any abrasive would produce more scratches then less? Can you suggest what grit range? Start with 12000 grit or finish with 12000 grit? Can I apply by hand or should I use a buffing wheel attached to power drill?
  16. You all probably get this question about once a month. I'm working on a Washburn that has heavy haze and swirl marks on the rear of the guitar. I have read some articles about removing these marks from car finishes, but am uncertain whether the same steps are safe for guitar finishes. Unfortunately I can't tell you whether the finish is nitro, poly, etc. It is an older model which I bought used between '95 and 2000. Can someone offer some advice or a link? Matt
  17. I ended up pulling the bushing used by the bridge and replaced the ground. I'm currently in the process of completing the wiring so I can't say for certain this will fix the problem. I actually was messing around with the guitar before I started re-wiring and I noticed that whenever I touched the screws that attach the humbucker carriage to the plastic humbucker plate (used to attach the humbucker to the guitar) I'd get very large spikes and an increase in background noise of the guitar. To fix this I completely shielded and grounded all cavities. I think that the carriages will contact the shielding. Thanks for all the Help, Matt
  18. Ok. I looked around for the correct definition of bridge type. It is of the tune-o-matic variety. I'm thinking that the white ground ran to a connected plate at the base of the screws used to adjust the bridge's height. Thus when the bridge was assembled the wires contact the bridge, the bridge contacts the screws, the screws contact the ground within the guitar body. Just a guess. I'm thinking that I will connect this wire to the volume pot and see how it sounds. Ill post later in the week. Thanks, Matt
  19. This is what I thought. Unfortunately, the bridge is separate from the guitar. This is a Washburn and offers two double-coil cavities and a switch cavity on the face of the guitar and a tone/volume cavity in back leading to the input jack. The bridge is completely removed from the body. Any idea how I can ground the bridge/strings? There is a white wire leading to the tone/volume cavity which was once used for this purpose, but I cannot determine where it leads to or how to attach it. Matt
  20. The guitar hums more than I remember before re-wiring, as well as producing an audible spike through the amp when touched. The knob is plastic, the pot is a coil-tap pot, I have one of the in/out/ground terminals of the volume pot grounded to the case of the tone pot . I was under the assumption that this ground the pot casing. Matt
  21. I just finished rewiring a guitar with 2 double-single coil pickups, a three-way switch, a tone pot, and a volume pot with a coil-tap. Everything works great, except I get a spike whenever I touch the volume pot. Anyway to get rid of this? Matt
  22. Thanks for all the help. I have been through some of the Stew Mac stuff, as well as Luthiers Mercantile Inc. web site. Tundraman website also offers very good tutorials on finishing. I have not found anything on toner coats, but will start with these three sites. I was planning on getting some different types of scrape wood to practice on so I am not to concerned with botching the job. Thanks, MattSA
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