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Project: S9 Progress Thread 2014 - RAD


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Currently Hipshot and I are on a break. I am sure we will hook up again once and a while but as long term partners I think it might be over.

I really like the Hipshot locking tuners. I really like the Hipshot strat bridges. However the Hipshot headless unit is less than one would expect from a company that normally makes incredible products.

I have used ABM hardware since the 80s and I really like the quality and the materials. This guitar was originally going to be for me so I used Sperzels and ABM hardware.

Sprezels are not better tuners than the Hipshot lockers. They are however lighter.

The ABM bridge is a superior design to the Hipshot bridge because of the locking saddles. The Hipshot uses great materials with the brass baseplate and stainless steel saddles that have a nice sound to them. The ABM bridge is all steel and it is awesome when you want a steel bridge.

<tone_voodoo>

Personally I like the ring of a brass bridges but have found that a locked down steel bridge has a very nice aggressive sound to it.

</tone_voodoo>

It is probably time for me to start making my own hardware. My goal is to have as much in house as possible and that is probably the next logical step for me.

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One last point I will cover.

More voodoo for you. I believe the tighter more connected things are the better. I am not a fan of using string tension to hold things together. Poor break angles and bad designs that rely on string tension usually leads to weird overtones, poor sustain, and general wonkiness.

Therefore if given the choice between locking tuners and regular tuners I will take locked.

Given the choice I would take a locking headless unit where the strings lock on both ends and the bridges lock in place with a large contact area over a vintage strat bridge with vintage keys.

While string length after the bridge and nut drastically affect the slinkyness of the strings it also makes for a technical challenge to keep things in tune and tight. I am not for or against either just very aware of the engineering involved to make each perfect.

I have made enough mistakes in this area to have a pretty solid understanding of what I am after from a guitar. Some guys like loose slinky rattle... I am not a fan.

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It seems a bit weird to discount a company off the back of one finicky product. You're right though; Hipshot are not in the habit of putting out crap so this is just a weird anomaly. Maybe you guys should rattle out the bugs. Shame it wrote off a build and put you well out of pocket though.

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More voodoo for you. I believe the tighter more connected things are the better. I am not a fan of using string tension to hold things together. Poor break angles and bad designs that rely on string tension usually leads to weird overtones, poor sustain, and general wonkiness.

Well, the corollary is true; the looser and worse fit things are then the poorer their performance, feel and sound. Tightness does have diminishing returns though. Best practice and basic attention to things being as they should does 95% of the work. Cranking up the bolts and making surfaces piston-fit doesn't add that much more in anything other than stability.

So yes, voodoo in many ways.

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Currently Hipshot and I are on a break. I am sure we will hook up again once and a while but as long term partners I think it might be over.

I really like the Hipshot locking tuners. I really like the Hipshot strat bridges. However the Hipshot headless unit is less than one would expect from a company that normally makes incredible products.

I have used ABM hardware since the 80s and I really like the quality and the materials. This guitar was originally going to be for me so I used Sperzels and ABM hardware.

Interesting. My only experiences with Hipshot have been the hardtail bridges and the tuners (both locking and non-locking) and have always been happy with the results. A headless build was something I toyed with a while back, and I noticed that Hipshot had their headless system, but I always thought the aesthetics were a bit "blocky" compared to their hardtails. And now I've been bitten by the multiscale bug the Hipshot headless wouldn't fulfill my requirements anyway.

The ABM bridge is a superior design to the Hipshot bridge because of the locking saddles. The Hipshot uses great materials with the brass baseplate and stainless steel saddles that have a nice sound to them. The ABM bridge is all steel and it is awesome when you want a steel bridge.

Yes, that's something I like about the Wilkinson trem system (and hence my comment about the look of the ABM). The locking saddles are definitely a plus when it comes to ensuring the best possible sustain and transfer of string energy, even if we're only talking miniscule differences. Every little bit helps.

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  • 1 month later...

Eventually. I am currently on a very extended break from guitar work. (Working on my Jeep)

Phobos is done and gone (no good pictures). Ryyk is laying on the rack to be finished.

Several others are laying in various stages of build process. I think next break I get from work I will clean up the garage and take a look at when and how to finish some of them.

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  • 3 weeks later...
  • 2 months later...

Buter,

RAD check's in every so often and may answer this himself........at some point. But if no one has that link try checking his blog. 

Guitar Logistics

All his builds (as far as I know) are there by name and organized by year. With luck you can find it there and look at the pics and use the name to search out the build thread here, which will have all his excellent commentary.

SR

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I had actually searched his PG history and couldn't find it. I then went to his website which only showed dead links (while at the pub), so I'd assumed he was done. Having just clicked on his site from the hotel, I'm actually quite pleased to see that his site is still alive.

You're a great builder, sir, and I look forward to your next builds, should you chose to build again.

Cheers

Buter

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Don't worry I will build again. Once I get some more projects around the house done I will make some time. My friend wants a white strat before the summer to go with Diablo. 

He is still mad at me because Diablo was supposed to be a simple black strat with a Floyd Rose. He still wants a simple strat with a Floyd Rose. So I have to do it (and make the neck so multilam flamed maple sick that you know there is no way it is not a custom).

 

 

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1 hour ago, Prostheta said:

Nice seeing you around and about Brett, and when you do get back on the horse I'm sure that many other people will reappear from the woodwork. No joke intended.

I guess the Jeep has been getting its fair share over the last few months?

Thanks Carl!

The Jeeps got fixed too well. :) They both are "just working" and the XJ is not worth any extra effort. 

I am currently building some random furniture from scraps that were not in any shape to build guitars from (lots of epoxy involved). Picked up welding and doing metal legs for the end tables and what not. I really like mid century modern stuff.

I have to redo my garage layout so that the shop is more contained and organized. I am cutting down on bench space as it just collects tools and trash. I have not used one of my benches for anything other than tool storage for 3 years... that stuff is all going into tall custom cabinets and work will be done on the proper wood working bench. 

For guitars I have about 10 traditional builds laying on the shelves that need to get finished and I plan to continue to pursue the alternatives to being trapped by the conventional.  

 

 

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We have a two-car . . . shop. My wife is a saint for that, so I built her a shed that matches the house to at least replace garage space for gardening tools, lawn chairs, mowers, etc. It's now stuffed and you have to pull stuff out to get in, Also, the curse of the shop is that it also gets used as a pseudo-garage and I find things shoved in there that shouldn't be. You all know that non-shop users see the "mess" and don't realize everything is actually exactly where we put it for a reason!

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On 12/21/2015 at 3:05 AM, Prostheta said:

Sigh....if only I had space to collect junk. I've managed to fill up our outdoor storage so much that you need to remove things in order to walk in. Typical guitar-maker's habit.

My dad has collected so much stuff/ junk, he had to build a 3rd garage in the back yard. And every one of them is completely full.

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