Mustang.

[davidwpack]

Hey. Any of you guys do "in depth" setups for guitars? I've got a '66 Fender Mustang that I had refretted a while back. I had to send it back to him because it had dead frets around frets 8. I got it back and it was resolved but now frets 4 and 5 are dead on a couple of strings. Mustang bridges don't have a lot of adjustability so I put some bend in it with the truss rod. The dead spots are gone but now my string height is not so desirable. Anyways, sometime when this virus clears up I'd like to get it back to playing condition. I'm just trying to get a jump on where I'm gonna send it. I don't want to take it back a third time to the same guy. So anyways .... I guess let me know if anyone is interested and can do fret work. Thankßssssss

[davidwpack]

Pressing "s" a bunch of times makes that German thingy. S ßs. ẞ.

[sluckey]

sssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss

sssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss

sssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss

Hmm, not for me.

[davidwpack]

Try holding it down . I think that may have been what I did. ẞ. Yeah. Hold down "s". Then release. I'm on a phone too btw.

[davidwpack]

Ü. Ewww. Umlaut too! Ü ö. I never knew.

[davidwpack]

I might have found a guy an hour or so away. Another luthier/repair guy in Virginia. I really don't want to put a new neck on a vintage guitar. Fret work isn't something I feel confident doing either.

[jjasilli]

Google & YouTube reveal that replacement bridges have more height adjustability.


Adding relief to the neck may be good, but does raise the action.  Without lowering the action it can't be known if the issue resolved due to neck relief or because the action is too high.


Actions change over time.  Necks have memory and can need repetative readjustments.  May not be techs fault.  This argues for doing your own setups.  Tons of info on YouTube.

[davidwpack]

Yeah, I saw some info on replacement bridges but a lot of them kept alluding to MIJ models so wasn't completely clear if they would be direct fits for USA models. I've thought about doing my own fret dressing but it just really makes me feel that I would completely ruin a brand new fret job.

[jjasilli]

I know how you feel.  Years ago I bought and refurbished some inexpensive guitars - primarily to learn how to work on guitars.  Since then I sold them on eBay.  Fortunately I had a friendly luthier who gave me some tips.  Since then there are tons of youtube videos. 

You might just need a set-up.  This is non-invasive and a good place to start.  A tech could easily charge $75.  So with even a small guitar collection, it can be expensive & time consuming to use a tech for setups.  A ruler that can clearly read in 32nd's of an inch and/or millimetres is needed. Charts are available online to convert fractions of an inch to decimal to millimeters. 

I had to learn to accept that it's a time-consuming, intricate dance of: string height at the nut; at the 12th or 17th fret; neck relief; and finally how the tremolo is set. Adjusting one thing effects the others.  Also these things are subjective, within a range of operating parameters.  Factory setup specs can be googled, which likely are good enough.  Note that because of neck memory, in week the neck may revert to its old position especially re the relief setting.  Multiple adjustments over time may be needed.

If a "simple" setup doesn't fix the problem, then more invasive work may be needed.  This may require adjusting the nut (from the bottom, and/or string slots); or a fret dressing.  It may be that some fret are not fully seated, or are lifting at the ends which can be seen & felt by inspection.

[davidwpack]

Hey thanks for the info. I'll keep trying making adjustments before I consider more fret work. I've been looking at Stew-Mac at fret working supplies. Probably about time to learn how to. It always seemed nerve wracking. Thanks!