Picked Up My 3 Guitars From Repair Shop & They Didn't Do Anything!?

[Charvel1975]

Well I picked up my Charvel model 5fx, Gibson Les Paul Special p100's and my Partscaster from guitar repair shop this morning, they had all 3 guitars for over a month and NEVER got them on the bench?! Not happy at all, going to try another place to have work done on the guitars 1 guitar at a time.

Anyhow, here's what's going on with the guitars:

The Charvel and the Gibson are both thin sounding and just uninspiring to play as they just don't sound right and the Partscaster is has very shrill high end. They're all tuned to standard E tuning.

1998 Gibson Les Paul Special - Factory P100 Neck & Dimarzio P90 Super Distortion Bridge pickups with .010 - .046 nickel wounds strings - needs wiring looked at as the Dimarzio P90, its thin/low output and possibly needs setup and from what I've been reading the P-90 P90 Super Distortion needs wired in series to give the full output and a fatter sound.

1988 Charvel Model 5FX - EMG 81 Bridge & SA neck pickups, Original Floyd Rose - Was setup before the end of last year by guitar repair shop with .009 - .042 nickel wounds strings with the .042 replaced with a .040, very sentimental as my parents got me this guitar for Christmas and was my 2nd guitar ever. The guitar sounds the same as the Gibson right now, thin and low output and uninspiring! New 9V battery was installed and EMG-81 raised closer to string but to no avail?! I've thought about just getting a new EMG-81 cause it comes with the wiring etc. but everything is sautered in because the EMG's in it are old and long before they did the quick connect stuff. I've debated if I wanted more versatility being able to go to single coil in the bridge pickup or not? I was reading up on the EMG-81TW, EMG-89R and EMG-57TW and some people said those pickups should fit my Charvel's bridge pickup cavity but I wonder how any of those would sound? I'm pretty sure the slant neck single coil is an EMG-SA although I've never removed it and the logo color is worn off. How do the new EMG-81 sound versus my old EMG-81?

Partscaster with .009 - .042 nickel wounds strings and a bridge Seymour Duncan TB-4 JB Trembucker wired to an Alpha push/pull volume pot, 500K I'm pretty sure, no tone pot. I haven't been playing it right now because it's really bright and ice picky and I think the pot is bad because the sound cuts in and out when rolling the volume knob up or down whether it's pushed in or pulled out. I read that the JB was designed for 250k pots and found a Mojo Tone CTS Push-pull Potentiometer - Short Shaft - 250k online @ Sweetwater I got to have installed but I just hope I don't lose too much high end. I don't think there is anything wrong with the wiring but then again, I'm no guitar tech.

 

[Masta' C]

So all 3 guitars are unusually bright and/or thin sounding?

I'd maybe start looking at the rest of your signal chain. Try a new cable...maybe another amp? Maybe get your ears checked?

LOL...Just kidding on that last one (mostly)

Do you have other guitars you can compare these to? Another amp you can plug them into, possibly?

 

[beaubrummels]

Seems conspicuous all three completely different guitars sound thin and shrill. My first question is what amp, speakers and amp settings are you using?

If the SuperD in the Gibson isn't wired with series coils, that might be just the wrong choice in wiring.

The Charvel I can see a Floyd thinning out the sound, but not sure what the low output is about with EMGs and fresh battery. .009-.040 could make it sound thinner also. But I'd fix that with just some twist of tone knobs, either on the guitar or at the amp.

The Partscaster, the JB was originally designed to work in Fender's with 250k pots. I'd first swap out the pot and see if that tames any ice-pick stuff. When it's full-up, it will be a very subtle change IME.

But I'd first look at your amp situation. All three completely different guitars sounding thin and bright/shrill sounds like a problem at the amp, either settings or amp choice to start with.

 

[ICTGoober]

I had a roomie who complained that everything in the band was thin, harsh, and so on. IT WAS HIS EARS. He had fluid in his Eustachian tubes. He had surgery to insert tubes in his ears so the fluid would drain, and he was AMAZED at all the fat sounds. It's you, bro - not the guitars.

 

[JB_From_Hell]

I had a roomie who complained that everything in the band was thin, harsh, and so on. IT WAS HIS EARS. He had fluid in his Eustachian tubes. He had surgery to insert tubes in his ears so the fluid would drain, and he was AMAZED at all the fat sounds. It's you, bro - not the guitars.

Not quite as extreme, but I've noticed that some days whichever guitar I pick up sounds like crap. No matter how much knob twiddling, still sounds awful. I put them away, do something else, and inevitably when I come back, they sound fine.

 

[Charvel1975]

I've compared all 3 up against my Ibanez JEM77P-BFP "Blue Floral", Epiphone Les Paul Custom Korean Seymour Duncan Hot Rod Set - JB/Jazz, Lay's Guitar Custom Made Ernie Ball Musicman Copy - Dimarzio SD's Neck & Bridge, 2021 PRS SE Custom 24 Faded Blue Burst as well as my other guitarist's Ibanez JEM Premium's and Ibanez PIA and my other guitars and other guitarist guitars sound better that the 3 I'm having issues with and yes I've tried my 3 through my other guitarist rigs as well as my other rigs and they sound the same.

 

[Mincer]

Why didn't the shop fix the, and why didn't they tell you to come pick them up earlier when they knew they either couldn't fix them, or didn't have time to fix them?

 

[Charvel1975]

Why didn't the shop fix the, and why didn't they tell you to come pick them up earlier when they knew they either couldn't fix them, or didn't have time to fix them?

Mincer your guess is as good as mine, I have no idea?? I left a lot of voicemails, sent emails and the last reply I got from the shop on their Facebook page this month was "I haven't hit the bench yet." And I dropped off all 3 guitars to get worked on at this shop over a month ago!!

I was so fed up!! :argh: When I went there this morning, the owner wasn't there and had his daughter bring out my 3 guitars.

 

[Mincer]

Mincer your guess is as good as mine, I have no idea?? I left a lot of voicemails, sent emails and the last reply I got from the shop on their Facebook page this month was "I haven't hit the bench yet." And I dropped off all 3 guitars to get worked on at this shop over a month ago!!

I was so fed up!! :argh: When I went there this morning, the owner wasn't there and had his daughter bring out my 3 guitars.

I'd be spreading my experience at the shop with the local musicians. That is unacceptable.

 

[JOLLY]

If that's the way they do business, you probably got lucky that they didn't do anything to the guitars.

 

[Charvel1975]

I'd be spreading my experience at the shop with the local musicians. That is unacceptable.

Oh I will

 

[Charvel1975]

So all 3 guitars are unusually bright and/or thin sounding?

I'd maybe start looking at the rest of your signal chain. Try a new cable...maybe another amp? Maybe get your ears checked?

LOL...Just kidding on that last one (mostly)

Do you have other guitars you can compare these to? Another amp you can plug them into, possibly?

My ears are already constantly ringing cause how loud our band is LOL!! Not really LOL but most all the bands I've been in have been really LOUD

 

[Charvel1975]

Seems conspicuous all three completely different guitars sound thin and shrill. My first question is what amp, speakers and amp settings are you using?

If the SuperD in the Gibson isn't wired with series coils, that might be just the wrong choice in wiring.

The Charvel I can see a Floyd thinning out the sound, but not sure what the low output is about with EMGs and fresh battery. .009-.040 could make it sound thinner also. But I'd fix that with just some twist of tone knobs, either on the guitar or at the amp.

The Partscaster, the JB was originally designed to work in Fender's with 250k pots. I'd first swap out the pot and see if that tames any ice-pick stuff. When it's full-up, it will be a very subtle change IME.

But I'd first look at your amp situation. All three completely different guitars sounding thin and bright/shrill sounds like a problem at the amp, either settings or amp choice to start with.

I'm in a 2 guitarist 70's/80's/90's/early 2000's classic/hard rock cover band in standard E tuning and have a couple songs right now in Drop D and also using an old Ibane GIO Strat HSS tuned to F# tuning with super light strings for "Run To You" by Bryan Adams.

My main amp was my EVH 5150III 50 watt 6L6 v2 Head with my Marshall 1960A 4x12 cab with 2 WGS Retro 30's and 2 factory Celestion G12T-75's in x pattern but will be switching over to the Boogie Mark V 90-watt head and Harley Benton 4X12 cab with stock Celestion Vintage 30's for live shows and the EVH rig is at rehearsal spot now.

 

[Charvel1975]

If that's the way they do business, you probably got lucky that they didn't do anything to the guitars.

Last year I took my Charvel to this same shop and had my Charvel setup and gone over and it's tuned to standard E tuning with .009 to .040 guage strings and had the gold Floyd Rose Original that was taken out of it years ago put back in and the EMG-85 that was in the bridge position swapped out for the old EMG-81 that came in the guitar when I got it for a Christmas gift from my parents years ago. In the neck is a slant EMG single coil in the neck (don't know if it's an SA or S?) and it's been in the guitar since I got it, LSR roller nut and the behind the nut Kahler locking nut.

Still in last year, when I got the Charvel back from this shop, me and my other guitarist and the drummer got together at our practice spot and was running through some songs and the Charvel was extremely bright sounding and didn't have any punch, clarity or definition to it and when I plug it in, the gain loss was significant... I also hooked up to other guitars as well: Ibanez JEM Blue Foral, my single hum partscaster with Seymour Duncan JB and my Gibson les paul special with Dimarzio P9 Super Distortion in the bridge. I was using a Blackstar HT40 Club 40 watt 1x12 combo with the matching Blackstar HTV112 Cab and both the combo and cab have the Celestion 70/80 speakers in them, Digitech RP360XP through the effects loop for effects only and volume pedal on it set for solo boos and also and my Maxon OD808 through the front of the amp. My other guitarist is using a Marshall DSL40CR combo through a vintage Marshall vertical 2x12 cab with stock Celestion G12T75's.

I have no idea what's wrong with my Charvel??!!

 

[JOLLY]

Yeah, it sounds like you need to stay away from there.

 

[Charvel1975]

Yeah, it sounds like you need to stay away from there.

Yea I know and it sucks cause it's a very well known place here in Northeast Ohio.

 

[GuitarDoc]

I know this sounds simple, and not meant to be demeaning at all, but have you played around with pickup heights in those three? Lowering the poles and raising the pups can have a profound affect on the tone.