What is your highest maintenance guitar?

[PFDarkside]

Re: What is your highest maintenance guitar?

Martin HD-28V. Living in Chicago in this winter has made me very familiar with humidifiers and truss rod adjustments. Compared to that, all my electrics are a breeze! The worst electric is probably my old Epiphone Les Paul, I've played the crap out if it, and it's a pretty cheap guitar to begin with. All the Fender and Fender styles behave quite nicely after the initial setup.

 

[CTN]

Re: What is your highest maintenance guitar?

That is weird my SG is set it and forget it. I swear I could launch that guitar at a brick wall out of a cannon and it would still be in tune and playing like a champ. What kind of problems do you have with the SG? Is it a Gibson?

Nope, mine's an Epi.

sometimes I get strings randomly fretting out, sometimes the guitar seems to randomly lose sustain and resonance based on the gauge of strings I'm using. I'm almost convinced that the neck tenon isn't a tight fit with the mortise. Somehow the neck angle works out, it doesn't move around in the neck pocket, but the guitar just doesn't feel super solid through the neck joint, and I know that a good set neck should feel solid.

I dunno. Honeymoon period's long since over and I don't really care about having an SG anymore.

 

[Securb]

Re: What is your highest maintenance guitar?

TL:;DGAS

Kahlers are weird, i love them. ive had to reset the bridge height screws IDFK how many times on both kahlers to the point where i set it to position, and dropped krazy glue in the summabeeitch. dat feel is sweet tho on kahlers.

Knock on wood I have had good luck with mine. There was a licenced by Kahler trem on this guitar when I got it and the roller saddles were frozen. I couldn't get them to move no matter what I did. So with this original Kahler I try to keep on top of the moving parts. I have yet to adjust the string height or intonation.

 

[tubecrunch]

Re: What is your highest maintenance guitar?

The worst: '88 lp custom. Neck moves more than a gypsy. My repair guy thought I was readjusting it every time I took it home. Finally, I left it with him for two weeks. He had two words for me: "sell it."

 

[ItsaBass]

Re: What is your highest maintenance guitar?

Anything Strat-like (floating vibrato) seems to be something I am always fine tuning this way or that. The slightest variation in overall string tension (due to batch-to-batch variation or a change in brand or type) and the vibrato's float changes, changing string height and intonation. Or the slightest change in neck relief (due to weather), and the string height – and thus, the intonation and the feel of the vibrato – changes. The nature of the floating vibrato just magnifies any alteration in the guitar's setup...so much so that I usually fine tune the setup of my Strats pretty much after every string change. (I do change strings very rarely, however – probably twice a year on average.)

Other than that, my guitars are pretty much set and forget. Kahlers do get a little dab of graphite/machine oil lock lubricant on each roller every now and then, but other than that, they are actually extremely low-fuss vibratos.

 

[jon the art guy]

Re: What is your highest maintenance guitar?

I'm staying away from floating trems like they're carrying plagues. I don't have the patience for those things. I think that'll help me in the maintenance department. I'll end up getting a stetsbar fitted to one of two of my guitars, but until then it's hardtail/stopbar.

 

[Tallwood13]

Re: What is your highest maintenance guitar?

it comes down to a few factors

how well the wood holds the screws in for the tuners and even the strap locks as you want everything tight .. had a walmart guitar pretty much come apart after a year of playing , yet my bc rich beast I've never had to tighten anything but the strap holders once or twice. Good neck stability is another thing to look for. Some guys have necks that

the fretboard material , ebony and "birds eye maple" are two i avoid at all costs if I got something high end. Don't care for the sound of maple or ebony at all but birds eye I think it was Ed Roman who said it's unstable or on some forum years ago , I could be wrong but I'm a rosewood guy. Ebony is very porous (absorbent) and brittle so refretting would be an issue thinking long term if a luthier accidentally chipped something and thinking not so long term I've been told that ebony isn't as reliable as say rosewood with frets , like you're more prone to fret buzzing and so forth after a while but that one I could be wrong about because I heard this 6-8 years ago.

and anything to do with floyd roses is high maintenance , like you've got to pretty much dedicate an hour to either re-stringing or more if you want to take certain parts off to clean. But intonation to me is monotonous on them.

 

[Dayeeeve]

Re: What is your highest maintenance guitar?

Interesting reading everyone's issues!

I've not owned many Floyd Guitars but when I have they have always been time consumers for me. The only Floyd Rose style bridge I get on with are the Ibanez ZR series bridges. I find them a breeze to set up and I have never had any issues with it!

 

[GuitarStv]

Re: What is your highest maintenance guitar?

and anything to do with floyd roses is high maintenance , like you've got to pretty much dedicate an hour to either re-stringing or more if you want to take certain parts off to clean. But intonation to me is monotonous on them.

I restring my Charvel in 15 minutes (which is maybe 5 more than it takes to restring a hard tail). 20 tops if I want to screw with intonation at all. What is taking people an hour to do?

 

[AudioWonderland]

Re: What is your highest maintenance guitar?

Peavey Wolfgang. Those unfinished neck may feel good but they are a royal pain in the ass to maintain

 

[AudioWonderland]

Re: What is your highest maintenance guitar?

I restring my Charvel in 15 minutes (which is maybe 5 more than it takes to restring a hard tail). 20 tops if I want to screw with intonation at all. What is taking people an hour to do?

I would imagine they remove all strings without blocking the trem or something like that.

 

[Rockstar216]

Re: What is your highest maintenance guitar?

I would imagine they remove all strings without blocking the trem or something like that.

This.

If you do it one at a time it's a breeze.

 

[King IzzO)))]

Re: What is your highest maintenance guitar?

My SG was kind of a *****, hopefully it's not treating Karp too rough.

My yellow RG350 seems to need adjusted a lot, I kinda chaulk that up to still being fresh though. In ten years or so I'll bet it's settled out.

I still don't have the RG560 together, but I'm expecting that one to be a real nuisance.

The rest of them seem pretty solid, Jacksons with locking trems even. The Destroyer hasn't needed adjusted once since I got it together back around christmas.

 

[dominus]

Re: What is your highest maintenance guitar?

I just broke a string. I was planning on taking that guitar apart anyway, so I guess I won't have to change that string.

Otherwise, that would have been my highest maintenance guitar.

 

[Gone_Shootin]

Re: What is your highest maintenance guitar?

My Jackson DK2 Eerie Dess Dinky and my Gibson Explorer are about a tie, although the Dess is a little more tempermental.

The Licsensed Floyd on the Dess won't hold a tune to save it's hide. It's the only trem equipped guitar I have that acts up, though. My USA Soloist, USA King V, DK2S Sustainiac Dinky & Ibanez RG320 all behave themselves. Sure, I'll have to go through the process of adjusting the springs if I change string gauge and/or tuning, but once they're set, they stay in tune great. I think it might be my first guinea pig when I get around to buying a big brass block, because I suspect that the grooves in the stock block are the problem.

And the Explorer. The stock Grovers on the Explorer are geared so high that the slightest tweak can throw it out of whack, and it isn't all that stable overall, because I invariably have to tune it if I haven't played it for a few days.

 

[J E C]

Re: What is your highest maintenance guitar?

My biggest one is an old Yamaha acoustic. I end up tuning it quite often depending on the time of year. The problem is I keep it up stairs in our bed room. The house was built in 45 and has almost no insulation, so it get really hot in the summer and pretty cold in the winter. I do put it down stairs if it is going to be exceedingly hot. My least messed with is my old Alder test bed. Alder Strat body (no finish), Maple neck (Johnsens past wax for finish on back) with a Rosewood FB, and an 83 to 84 OFR full floating. I hardly ever have to tune it. Changing strings is a snap (I do one at a time). I adjusted the T-rod once about a year ago and re fretted it. I did change out an old vol pot for a new CTS one yesterday. I'm thinking the old cheep one was better. It was easier to turn and the new one has some slop in it between the bushing/stem that mounts it and the board.

 

[hydro]

Re: What is your highest maintenance guitar?

My new ES-335 is probably the highest maintenance... goes out of tune a lot and it seems like the neck moves more than I'd like. Lowest? Probably my old "Brown Bess" '74 SGs (seen flanking the White Witch in the photo below) - they seem to have been designed with the intent of being used to bludgeon cattle to death, or possibly to shield the guitar player in the event of an atomic attack.

 

[Securb]

Re: What is your highest maintenance guitar?

My new ES-335 is probably the highest maintenance... goes out of tune a lot and it seems like the neck moves more than I'd like. Lowest? Probably my old "Brown Bess" '74 SGs (seen flanking the White Witch in the photo below) - they seem to have been designed with the intent of being used to bludgeon cattle to death, or possibly to shield the guitar player in the event of an atomic attack.

Like I said earlier there is something about the Gibson SG's. I swear I could use that guitar as a bat at the batting cages all day and then go play a 2 hour gig with her with no problems whatsoever.

 

[BloodRose]

Re: What is your highest maintenance guitar?

The only thing I dislike about the floyd on my guitar is that it takes an extra 20 minutes or so to intonate. I guess that makes it my highest maintenance guitar.

Knock on wood and Thank God, but I rarely have to mess with intonation on my floyds once I get them set. Maybe a tiny hair once in awhile. When I tear them down to put big blocks on them or whatever, I draw I diagram of where the saddles are set before I start, so I can put em in the ballpark when I rebuild.

Little Pigbacon, sounds like an exorcism is needed for that guitar..

As far as my highest maintenance guitar.. Hmm. This is kinda a small thing, but almost everytime I play my explorer, its about a half step sharp or flat in the tuning. I dont play it enough, granted, but when I do, I have to tune it up.

 

[BloodRose]

Re: What is your highest maintenance guitar?

My new ES-335 is probably the highest maintenance... goes out of tune a lot and it seems like the neck moves more than I'd like. Lowest? Probably my old "Brown Bess" '74 SGs (seen flanking the White Witch in the photo below) - they seem to have been designed with the intent of being used to bludgeon cattle to death, or possibly to shield the guitar player in the event of an atomic attack.
View attachment 53077

Seems funny you'd feel that way about Sgs cuz the neck joint looks so fragile on them.

That doubleneck is awesome!!!