NGD Donner DST550

[ehdwuld]

So I just couldn't pass it by

Beautiful finish
Roasted neck
Spoke wheel truss
HSS
pop in arm
Locking tuners








I think I'm gonna play it a bit before I put a roller nut on it

It arrived super nice
Bridge was a bit high lowered the studs and its perfect

Nice modern c neck
Rolled fretboard edges

I know i mentioned it in the other thread but I figured i would make its own rather than derailing that one

 

[Phantasmagoria]

Very sweet looking axe. How does it sound , the pups and stuff?

Does it really need a roller nut? I always avoid messing with nuts unless there's an issue. They can be tricky to replace.

 

[ehdwuld]

Very sweet looking axe. How does it sound , the pups and stuff?

Does it really need a roller nut? I always avoid messing with nuts unless there's an issue. They can be tricky to replace.

I posted the progress on replacing two nuts with roller nuts in the last two weeks

The first one didn't turn out pretty but functional
The second one my Candy Apple Squire looks much better

The pickups are a bit darker than the single coils in my other two strats

The CA Squire has the ceramic magnets glued on bottom

And the Sunburst has the Alnico polepieces

Both of which are bright single coil sounding

It may be the pots are different on the new Donner making them more dark

When I pull the pickguard I will check and post here

But right now it plays so nice

If I do anything, it will be a roller nut
There is nothing wrong with the nut it has other than I have an obsession.....

You know what I'm talking about....

 

[Mincer]

I am a big fan of roller nuts, too. It is super easy to adjust the height, and it eliminates binding at the nut.

 

[ehdwuld]

Eliminate the string trees

Yeah and binding is a thing of the past

Once the strings stretch in it is almost as stable as a Floyd

 

[ehdwuld]

Well there is a guy on YT that has one just like mine and posted images of the back of the pickguard




Dude taking apart his DST550

Look at that swimming pool route

 

[ehdwuld]

Alright so my LSR knockoff showed up today and it took less than an hour to pull the strings off the fretboard, knock out the nut ( the backside of the Laurel fretboard chipped a bit behind the nut slot
It was glued in pretty good, came out in three pieces)
I dont think it was real bone anyway, I could see the markings where I think it was a Tusq

Anyways, it ain't there no more

Roller in

So I loosened the strings and pulled them round back of the neck. Held them in place with som wide blue tape I used to mask the first fret area.

Made my mark
Started my cut short of the mark
Used a file to ease back into the fretboard to open the slot
Then once it dropped in
Installed my screws, brought the strings round and up to pitch
Check the string height on the first fret
Loosed the screws, not all the way out pulled up , slid in shims from the edge

Sharp little boogers , used a flat screwdriver to tuck them in

Once they were set and I had clearance on the first fret .... I put the screws in place tuned it and made the following video

I do like the roller nut

Oh yeah
I need to take the string trees off

I just watched the video
Dangit

 

[GuitarStv]

Cleans sound pretty good. Sparkly and delicate.

 

[ehdwuld]

The YT guys say the pickups are dark and bad sounding

I kinda like the way they sound

 

[Mincer]

The YT guys say the pickups are dark and bad sounding

I kinda like the way they sound

Me too, they are wrong.

 

[ehdwuld]

The neck is thin
Not as thin as my wizard II
But very comfortable

At the moment
It is my favorite

But that is subject to change

 

[ehdwuld]

It was $ 150 to my door from Ebay

I am debating another one at that price

 

[FuseG4]

That's so good looking and so inexpensive, kinda shocking what you can get these days

 

[ehdwuld]

I know , I didn't need another but they made a ridiculous offer

I couldn't let it go

I would recommend everyone get one
If not two

 

[ehdwuld]

Once the roller nut got in...
It has stayed in tune perfectly

Still has the OEM strings