toolfan88 Posted December 12, 2007 Report Share Posted December 12, 2007 i am getting a yamaha to work on. just to mod it up make it play nice. i am getting it for cheap for doing some work at a local music store. but anyways i dont like the frets. there to tall for me. it needs a fret dress because some frets are two high anyways. should can i level them down a bit to make them a little shorter. would this effect the guitars playbilty. its a 25.5 scale lenght. sorry if this queston is confusing i was having touble wording it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
digi2t Posted December 13, 2007 Report Share Posted December 13, 2007 It depends what "too tall" means. What size wire is on there now (jumbo wide, jumbo, medium)? How worn are the frets (flattened, grooved)? How high is just right for you (measurement or comparitive size)? IMHO playability will be affected if you take them down so far that you won't have any wiggle room left later to make adjustments. As far as I'm concerned, the frets also contribute to sustain to varying degrees. Also, don't forget that after leveling, you have to recrown and polish them. You definately don't want them down to the point where you'll be digging ditches on either side, unless a "fretless wonder" is your goal. Personally, if it's going to be a keeper, I've just gone and replaced jumbos with mediums. Workwise it was 6 of one, or a half dozen of the other. If it's not a keepr, well, you just can't make honey out of dogs**t... sometimes. Don't get me wrong, I'm no expert. What I do know is that you've come to the right place to ask, but could you just provide a bit more info as to what you've got and what you need. There are a boatload of fine and knowledgable people here willing to help, not to mention the really fine tutorials section. Cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toolfan88 Posted December 13, 2007 Author Report Share Posted December 13, 2007 well i believe the frets are jumbo frets. im used to playing gibsons that have a shorter frets. im not looking to go crazy. i kno id have to crown the frets and all that fun stuff. im thinking about making the jumbo frets itno mediums thats all. the frets are not worn. its a perfectly good guitar that hasnt sold thats all. id like to keep it. i can crown and level frets fine, i have no problem. but im still a bit scared to try to replace an intire fretboad. am practicing on a junk neck, i dont wanna ruin this guitar by replacing the frets Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
digi2t Posted December 13, 2007 Report Share Posted December 13, 2007 Well, you could take them down A BIT heightwise with a level, but you will not succeed in turning a jumbo into a medium. You can only make a tall jumbo into a shorter jumbo. DO NOT level and then attempt to crown with a medium file (seen it tried), the radii are not the same and you will destroy your frets. Again, by my experience, a jumbo fret feels like a jumbo fret no matter who high or low it is. If it's high, your a long way from the fretboard. A little lower, it feels like a railroad tie sliding under you finger. It's all personal taste and playing style. If you do decide to take them down a bit, polishing will have to be of utmost importance. Since the frets will "feel" wider, a thorough polish job will help make them "feel" smaller gliding up and down the fretboard. If you really, really, really want a medium feel... then keep practicing and, when you feel comfortable, refret with mediums . Cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toolfan88 Posted December 13, 2007 Author Report Share Posted December 13, 2007 thanks digi, i think im going to focus on the other things. replacing the tuners and the saddles have barbs on them. im going to get a new bridge i thought about just replacing the saddles but i think im going all out on this one. (its all in metric so il have to keep it in mind) and new picks and all that work. i used a multimeter and the pots are not reading the right value, im going to just totaly rip everything out and rewire it all with new pots and such. im going to put a humbucke in the bridge i think. so ill need to rout that in. nothing to crazy yet. then ill work on the neck when i feel like i can refret. iv refretted close to 8 times on a few necks. at first i screwd up alot. but the last two times i think i did a good job. but im not ready to jump onto a guitar taht will acually play everyday. i refretted a saga neck and it plays pretty good. and the other neck was a junk squire neck. its all practice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
digi2t Posted December 13, 2007 Report Share Posted December 13, 2007 i used a multimeter and the pots are not reading the right value, im going to just totaly rip everything out and rewire it all with new pots and such. im going to put a humbucke in the bridge i think. so ill need to rout that in. I'm assuming that you disconnected all the wires from the pot before testing? I don't know which model Yamy you've got, but from the sound of it, it's seems to be a S-S-S pickup arrangement. If you do put a humbucker in, don't forget that you will have to use an appropriate pot for that pickup, and cap for the tone. Personally I've tried a 250Kohm pot on a humbucker on one of my guitars, but didn't sound very good. Again, that depends on the structure of the guitar. Caps and pots aren't that expensive so I generally keep a small selection on hand and mix and match until I get a sound I'm happy with. Here is a good link insofar as basics of pots and caps are concerned. The rest is up to your ears. Cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toolfan88 Posted December 13, 2007 Author Report Share Posted December 13, 2007 thanks digi, i love that website i use it all the time. i got everything under control about the electroics. im not sure the model of the yamaha off the top of my head. ill check and let u kno. thanks for all your help tho. i was always told 250k pots for singlecoils and humbuckers us 500K. if im wrong let me know but that is waht i do lol. im going to look to spice the electonics up. not to sure what im going to do yet tho. ill let you guys no. although i am a bit cofused on what linear and audio pots are. i think im going 2 have pick different ones up and exeperemnt. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
digi2t Posted December 13, 2007 Report Share Posted December 13, 2007 although i am a bit cofused on what linear and audio pots are. i think im going 2 have pick different ones up and exeperemnt. It basically depends if your really into using your volume control in your playing. A linear pot is just that, linear. If you look a volume knob, the 0 to 10 marks can be read as 0 to 100 percent, with each number giving you a precise 10 percent drop or rise. With an audio pot, when you dial down to 5, you may still be putting out about 75 percent of volume, but will drop more drastically from 5 to 0. Audio pots basically have a finer adjustment between 5 and 10. The 50 percent mark even varies between different pot manufacturers, but now your getting into brain surgery. Again, depends what your into. Try both, your ears will do the rest. Cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geo Posted December 13, 2007 Report Share Posted December 13, 2007 An audio pot will sound linear, while a linear pot will seem to have all the adjustment at one end--basically like an on/off switch that you spin instead of flipping. Pots in guitars and amps are usually audio. If you want it to seem normal, go with audio. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
digi2t Posted December 14, 2007 Report Share Posted December 14, 2007 To the ears, Geo is absolutely correct. What I described above is the theoretical. Except for one of my guitars in which I use a linear for the tone, I've rarely seen linear pots in a guitar, at least in my neck of the woods. P.S. My son wants me to use this smiley . There you go. Doesn't take much to please him... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toolfan88 Posted December 14, 2007 Author Report Share Posted December 14, 2007 lol that really explains alot. i have to check if what i put in my guitars are audio. thanks guys. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.