How long was it until you started messing with guitat tech level stuff?

[Pierre]

Well on the JCF forums I got pretty much put down because I wanted to tweak the truss rod (not satisfied with the relief and buzzing) while I only have been playing for about 3 months (February).
The thing is I really want to be able to know my guitar and to correct her problems for free, or with new tools. I'm a student in foreign country and I do not have the money for a guitar tech trip all the time I change strings.
Also I got a good deal on a Kahler steeler or spyder and if it works out I was planning on changing my bridge for one of these (though not do the mods myself). I'm also checking some pickups on ebay all the time and I may bid on one (cool rails for my middle or neck position).

How long was it until your first bridge change? Do you think that I'm rushing into things for no reasons? What would you say is reasonable?

 

[Dankerella]

Re: How long was it until you started messing with guitat tech level stuff?

I've been playing 16 years, and I can do a lot of soldering, setting up, and such. But even still, I just bought a pickup and took it to a shop to have them drop it in. With my guitars, I'm so picky I need to have a pro do stuff. When I see my sloppy soldering job or if I can't get the buzz out just right, I go nuts. If a pro says, "sorry, you have to live with the buzz" I can rest easy at night.

 

[STRATDELUXER97]

Re: How long was it until you started messing with guitat tech level stuff?

In the early stages of playing,I wasn't all that into the techie side until I actually got a decent guitar(A Fender Strat)....We're talking the early 70s now and we didn't have all the cool stuff at any price range like we have today....

I'd suggest(strongly)getting all of the Dan Erlwine books you can get your hands on...Take baby steps and do ask lots of questions,but just don't try something you know is way over your head...Learn by your mistakes,but try learning the easier stuff first..Always make sure you at least have some prior reading and info in mind before you tackle any new task...You are lucky in that there are plenty of resources available to you today....When I started playing,there was no internet,no books on how to mod tube amps,and there also wasn't all the gear and cool stuff we have today...THere was either really cheap garbage or highend gear that was well beyond my reach...

 

[FretFire]

Re: How long was it until you started messing with guitat tech level stuff?

I've been playing about 6 years now and I do all my own setups, pickups installations, etc. I just built a strat which required me to do all of the wiring, install all the hardware, and apply several coats of nitro to the maple neck. On my next project I'll have to bevel and dress the fret ends before I can use the neck.

I think if you go about educating yourself properly and have patience you can learn to maintain and work on your own guitars, and remember that practice makes perfect. I'd recommend practicing on an old junker though, not your regular players.

 

[tone4days]

Re: How long was it until you started messing with guitat tech level stuff?

what john? you dont recommend the jaco pastorious approach to self-help guitar tech services? ... c'mon, that's what filler putty and shellac are for ...

i say buy a beater and go to town before you dig into your #1 ... read as much as you can in books or on reputable websites .. ask alot of questions ... get the right tool for the job ... go slow .. think every step through before taking it ... take really good notes and digi pics if possible ... have fun

cheers
t4d

 

[Kommerzbassist]

Re: How long was it until you started messing with guitat tech level stuff?

Why read books? Ask questions on the SD Forums
It was about a year until I did my first small electronic mods... small means soldering a pup in exactly the way the old one was put in without knowing whatthe heck I'm doing...

 

[STRATDELUXER97]

Re: How long was it until you started messing with guitat tech level stuff?

what john? you dont recommend the jaco pastorious approach to self-help guitar tech services? ... c'mon, that's what filler putty and shellac are for ...

i say buy a beater and go to town before you dig into your #1 ... read as much as you can in books or on reputable websites .. ask alot of questions ... get the right tool for the job ... go slow .. think every step through before taking it ... take really good notes and digi pics if possible ... have fun

cheers
t4d

No buddy....I haven't done that,but I have been known to take a guitar all apart and bring it down to a local tech in a basket....Talk about the Deer in the headlights look from the tech....And this was just last week.....LOL :laugh2:

 

[STRATDELUXER97]

Re: How long was it until you started messing with guitat tech level stuff?

Why read books? Ask questions on the SD Forums
It was about a year until I did my first small electronic mods... small means soldering a pup in exactly the way the old one was put in without knowing whatthe heck I'm doing...

Agreed,but at least with a book,you can reference it and re-read it at any moment...I've learned alot from Erlwine's books and pictures tell a better story than words for most of us hands on guys....

 

[STRATDELUXER97]

Re: How long was it until you started messing with guitat tech level stuff?

I'm pretty stupid so nothing is sacred to me.

:smack:

Oh now that's comforting John John! :laugh2:

 

[Pierre]

Re: How long was it until you started messing with guitat tech level stuff?

Well I have one guitar and I won't be able to get another one for pretty long I guess... I love this one and especially its neck and I really wouldn't want to mess with it, but I also would like to learn on it.
I'm playing it right now... Damn she's so fine *tears of joys*
I do read a lot... I'm on several music/guitar forums and there's nothing I did to her that I wasn't sure of yet. It's just what the one guy said on JCF, it was quite weird... If I do know what I'm doing (you guys can tell me based on my posts, do I seem like your average Floyd/guitar n00b?), then why not do it? We all have to learn one day...
I want a beater guitar now muahaha... If only I had the money...

 

[STRATDELUXER97]

Re: How long was it until you started messing with guitat tech level stuff?

Well I have one guitar and I won't be able to get another one for pretty long I guess... I love this one and especially its neck and I really wouldn't want to mess with it, but I also would like to learn on it.
I'm playing it right now... Damn she's so fine *tears of joys*
I do read a lot... I'm on several music/guitar forums and there's nothing I did to her that I wasn't sure of yet. It's just what the one guy said on JCF, it was quite weird... If I do know what I'm doing (you guys can tell me based on my posts, do I seem like your average Floyd/guitar n00b?), then why not do it? We all have to learn one day...
I want a beater guitar now muahaha... If only I had the money...

Exactly....There are some of us(Myself) that will delve in and screw it up and learn from it....And then there are the "safe zone" guys that would rather just pay someone else to do it for them....

I was an Auto Mechanic right out of High School,so not only did I love fixing my own car and everyone else's....LOL...I saved myself some money and not relying on someone else to do the work....I love fixing and tweaking and so I took it into other avenues like guitars,amps,pickups,and pedals....

 

[Lewguitar]

Re: How long was it until you started messing with guitat tech level stuff?

I started playing guitar seriously in the early 60's (about 5 minutes after hearing the Beatles) and started modding and screwing up my guitars right from the get go! My Harmony Rocket I painted black to look more like George Harrison's Gretch....my Harmony Broadway I turned into a 12 string after hearing the Byrds...it eventually exploded! :laugh2: My '63 or '64 Fender Jaguar got refinished natural within a year of owning it and my '56 Les Paul... :smack: ...I painted it polka dot in a fit of Blues Magoos Psychedelic Lollipop fever! :laugh2:

I didn't get good at working on guitars until about 1970 when Dan Erlewine refretted my '51 Tele badly. (He's great now...but he was just a beginner himself back then) I determined to get good at it do all of my work myself after that and soon refretted my '54 Strat and then my '57 Strat and then my '63 Strat myself.

Still have the '63 and it plays beautifully.

Lew

 

[Jeffrec]

Re: How long was it until you started messing with guitat tech level stuff?

I've been playing since I was 12, and have always messed with the guitars (routed out the pup cavities on a '69 LP Gold top to put in humbuckers, thereby, ruining it's value. Sounded nice though!). As I 've gotten better ($$) guitars over the years, I've learned when to go to a real tech so as not to screw things up too much. I agree with John....get the Erlewine books and take your time. Most adjustments and fret polishing, are pretty easy, but you have to take care.

 

[Imp]

Re: How long was it until you started messing with guitat tech level stuff?

i was into the electronics before i got an electric guitar lol - i'm pretty up to speed on most of the wiring, but im totally out of my depth with most other stuff - i leave the truss rod well alone, for example

tom

 

[Luke Duke]

Re: How long was it until you started messing with guitat tech level stuff?

I'm pretty stupid so nothing is sacred to me.

That's great!!!

I am like Lew I started messing right from the word go. My first guitar was my 64 ES-330. (I'd been playing my dad's guitars for a while1 or so years) I got straplocks the first day, then first time I changed strings I bought new saddles (yes I still have the pieces of the old ones). I looked to see if buckers would fit in the P90 holes when I wanted a woodier sound (who'd have thought to turn down the tone knobs?)

I put pup covers on my strat, that required a new pickguard. I put a 57 classic in the neck of my LP custom 1 month after I got it.

Put new pots in my strat for the buckers.

Yeah I'm psychotic.

Luke

 

[Vasshu the humanoid typhoon]

Re: How long was it until you started messing with guitat tech level stuff?

Hehe ah man...the first thing I did to my first strat, was to yank out the bridge singlecoil and install another singlecoil.
That was about four hours after I bought it.
Messed with the trem...from there it just did not stop, I have teared all the gear I ever had apart, from amps to pedals.
Now I just tear it apart to have a looksee most of the time, the guitars get a setup, each to its own distinct voice, but I am relaxing on that front too
But it is still fun in moderate doses.

 

[Luke Duke]

Re: How long was it until you started messing with guitat tech level stuff?

I have also come to the conclusion that MOST techs have no clue what they are doing. One guy I took my tele to to get the intonation and string height fixed, when I got it back it was only suitable for slide! I took it home and a few days later I just did it all myself. Sometimes my guitars need "the touch" but more and more frequently I've found I can do it all, it only takes time. Another thing, lots of techs are not very knowledgeable about wiring/rewiring. Think about how many question there are in the Pup Lounge from guys who had someone else install their pups and they don't sound right.

Luke

 

[Luke Duke]

Re: How long was it until you started messing with guitat tech level stuff?

+1 to that sentiment.
I worked in one shop where we had some celeb's double neck come in for rewiring.
The guy they gave it to was great with wood and finishes but really weak with wiring.He struggled with it for 2 days.
He flipped out when he called Gibson for the wiring diagram and they faxed us a schematic and then went ballistic when I offered to interpret it for him and give im a hand,(I mean come on you're a pro tech in a major shop and you can't even figure out how to wire a double neck?!?!?!),so I just sat back and watched the fireworks-you know give them enough rope.........

Wow, that's pretty bad...not being able to ask for help and all. Speaking of tech stuff I can't do.....Hey John what's the turnaround on getting a guitar feitenized?

Luke

 

[nahfuten]

Re: How long was it until you started messing with guitat tech level stuff?

I pretty much always get myself into projects that I am not qualified for. Thats when I learn the most!

 

[Zerberus]

Re: How long was it until you started messing with guitat tech level stuff?

About 2 year into playing...i was already capable of setups, and a local tech butchered my Flying V when he did a fretjob....So I started doing everything myself, and eventually trained w/ Ms. Jean Pierre Vocat of Riehen (CH + R.I.P.

)

I was involved with Gary Levinson of Blade Guitars (Basel/CH) and Andreas Schack of Schack Guitars (Hammersbach/D) for a while regarding the last 4 months of my training, which I would have needed for my "Gesellenbrief"..Unfortunately, nothing came of it, so I did 3 years of luthier trainig, theory and all, essesntially for naught....Ow... :blackeye: