Valkyrie

[Bizman62]

24 minutes ago, Akula said:

Right before I go buy some ebony - is there any other way I haven't thought of fixing this? Heat? Moisture and clamping? Raising the action higher than the Eiffel Tower?

A hump in the neck at the scarf joint below the fretboard? Do I read you right?

Heating and removing the fretboard, then straightening the neck and regluing the fretboard is an option. No guarantee for it to succeed but if the alternative is to just cut the fretboard off for a replacement you'll lose nothing in trying.

Another option is to remove at least some, rather all of the frets and re-level the fretboard.

[Akula]

On 8/26/2021 at 3:36 AM, Bizman62 said:

Another option is to remove at least some, rather all of the frets and re-level the fretboard.

This is another perfect example of an idea I would never had had on my own. I probably would've just gone straight in with the heat gun and ripped the fretboard off. Thank you.

 

On 8/26/2021 at 3:06 AM, Akula said:

I've tried the dual-action truss rod to no avail, and I think it's too severe for fret levelling to sort out.

Well, here's an embarrassing moment I will share with you all - I installed the truss rod upside down 

 

Going back through my photos, I've realised that I've got the nut of the rod on top. No biggie, like, it's just fine like that, it only works backwards. So I tried truss rod adjustments in reverse, and the problem of dead frets suddenly improved instead of getting worse. 

Nut files arrived in the mail, and I gave the low string a nice good channel to sit in, instead of a groove to sit on top of. Now it doesn't pop out when tuning up. Only fret buzz I get after a set up is on that low string, fret one. Of course, since this guitar was pretty much made for brutal G# death metal (I mean, who would've guessed from the shape?), that first fret is fairly integral to the instrument. 

 

The guitar is definitely half-way playable now, and I'm very happy for it. The next things on the list are to take the rest of the nut slots down to match the low string, then remove the nut entirely and place a shim underneath. Then I'll level all the frets down to fret 1's height - the difference is small, after I'd gotten the neck straight with the truss rod. 

 

Pickup height is actually pretty nominal, considering they're direct mounted with sponge underneath and some small-gauge wood screws through the eyelets into timber. If I ever feel the need to adjust height, I'll be trying my whack-ass idea with adjusting pickup height with threaded pickups without a mounting ring. Until then, I'll let it go.

 

Electronics? One volume, one tone, three way toggle fits just fine. The guitar is tiny, so the cavity is also very limited, and I had a hard time fitting all the cables in around the battery and components. There will be no photos of the inside of that compartment! 

 

I've got a truss rod cover to create, and the locking tuners need a bit of editing to allow for the locking mechanism to actually work with such high gauge strings (14-68), but that's pretty much the thing done.

 

I'd post a photo, but I'm holding out for my partner to take some cracking shots with her camera over the next few days. 

[Bizman62]

1 hour ago, Akula said:

I installed the truss rod upside down 

You're telling it all wrong! "I experimented with the truss rod installation to leave more wood below the adjustment nut. What I didn't remember is that it works backwards but that's only human."

 

1 hour ago, Akula said:

remove the nut entirely and place a shim underneath

Hint: Soda cans are a perfect shimming material. They're easy to work with scissors, solid and pileable with some super glue for easy adjusting for thickness. One or two strips are basically invisible. 

[Akula]

9 hours ago, Bizman62 said:

Hint: Soda cans are a perfect shimming material.

I don't have any soda cans laying around.... Do you think beer cans will work? 

[Bizman62]

3 hours ago, Akula said:

Do you think beer cans will work? 

Hush! I tried to keep this family friendly...

BTW are your beverage cans down there as thin as I've heard they're in the US? Ours are a bit thicker, playing detonator not to speak of smashing empty ones on your face can be challenging... Anyhow, thinner cans allow better adjustability.