I guess a quick review of some of the cheap components used in this build is probably in order.
Can't say anything overly negative about the Chinese trussrods. They've actually changed the design of them in the last few months, so you no longer get a knock-off of the LMII/Allied/Allparts dual action types (two contra-threaded blocks at each end, with the rod being turned by a nut welded at one end). These new ones have the rod welded in place to the far end of the flat bar, and the nut is threaded on to the opposite end of the rod. The nut then sits loosely inside a stainless steel tube which is then welded to the flat section of the rod. Turning the nut clockwise threads the nut onto the rod and causes the two ends of the rod to be drawn towards each other (backbow), same as a single acting rod. Turning the nut anticlockwise forces the nut to come into contact with a lip inside the stainless steel cyclinder, which in response forces the two ends of the rod to try and expand further apart from each other (forward bow). It's actually a pretty neat system that reduces the chances of (what I understand to be) the most common form of failure in the LMII/Allied/Allparts style dual action rod - shearing the welded nut off the end of the rod by over-tightening. With all the moving parts sealed inside the steel cylinder there's also no longer a risk that glue ingress when attaching the fretboard will foul up the adjustment action. The only negative thing I can see is that the stainless steel cyclinder/end cap requires more meat to be removed from the neck to fit it in the channel. The cylinder in these rods is 9mm diameter x 11mm deep, although the rod itself is still 1/4" wide. I bought 8 in one batch, and they all stress-test fine, including the one that's now in the neck of this build.
The two Irongear pickups used do sound good for the money, and I'd be willing to take a chance on some different models when the opportunity arises. With the Rolling Mill (neck) and Hot Slag (bridge) being sold as a set I would've preferred that the RM was slightly hotter to match the HS, as I feel like the RM is a bit undercooked in comparison, but that's just my preference. I can see that some people may prefer a neck pickup with a bit less drive for certain styles of music. I note that Irongear do sell a hotter-wound version of the RM, so maybe that would've been a better match for the HS. Mechanically and physically there's nothing bad to say about them.
The bridge and headpiece is a bit of mixed bag. On the plus side the nut is fully adjustable and the precut slots are clean and square, so setup at this end of the guitar is a doddle. The bridge is free from any annoying rattles or buzzes and there's bags of adjustment range for action and intonation. Each saddle can be locked down after adjusting so it can't wiggle out of alignment. There's a fair bit of mass in the bridge, and everything being well-coupled to each other means that it sounds quite good and sustains well.
The metal casting is a bit rough in places and the black plating is a bit hit and miss. The tuning mechanism seems like a good idea in theory, and could be made better with some redesign, but has a few foibles to deal with in practice. The gearing ratio is a bit too low to allow tuning by hand on the wound strings without the assistance of the included mini allen wrench. Plain strings can be tuned without the aid of the wrench. The tuning thumbscrews are just a hair too large in diameter, each one rubbing against the adjacent ones when turned (some of the black plating is already wearing off a couple of the thumbweels). In order to maintain sufficient downward pressure over the saddles each string needs to be underslung on the tuning spool, meaning that the thumbweels need to be turned anticlockwise for the pitch to be increased. A reverse cut thread on the wormgears would be ideal to maintain lefty loosey/righty tighty rule. Stringing up is a bit fiddly, as there isn't an awful lot of room to get the string wrapped onto the spool, but once they're on there's no issues with tuning drifting other than what you'd expect under normal abuse. The back of the headpiece is pre-shaped with a nominal neck profile, so you're kinda stuck with the shape of the neck at the nut (not in itself a bad thing, as the resultant shape is quite comfortable). And it only comes in black.
Hi Andrew, very glad to have stumbled across your post. I live in Hong Kong and recently had the opportunity to purchase a Chinese made "homage", let's say, to a certain Strandberg. It uses the same KD bridge and headstock design but I am having a ton of trouble getting it to work. Whatever I do the action is way too high and I've ended up stripping the saddle screws. Given up at this point and will take it to a tech to see what he can do. To me looks like it needs a thick shim.
What are your thoughts down the line of the bridge/guitar in general? How easy is it to use/string/tune etc?
Operation Shoestring
in In Progress and Finished Work
Posted
Hi Andrew, very glad to have stumbled across your post. I live in Hong Kong and recently had the opportunity to purchase a Chinese made "homage", let's say, to a certain Strandberg. It uses the same KD bridge and headstock design but I am having a ton of trouble getting it to work. Whatever I do the action is way too high and I've ended up stripping the saddle screws. Given up at this point and will take it to a tech to see what he can do. To me looks like it needs a thick shim.
What are your thoughts down the line of the bridge/guitar in general? How easy is it to use/string/tune etc?