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motty (    65)
True muso
Gold Member
Joined: 11 Oct 2005
Posts: 409
United Kingdom
London
| | Posted: Thu 07 Aug 2008 16:09 | |
Just got one of these. It's my first semi-acoustic and it's lovely - neck is gorgeous and the tone is amazing. I'm in love.
But I've realised that these things take a bit more care and feeding than anything else I've had before (other than occasional visits to the luthier when something obvious needs done that you need a professional to handle) and I'm not sure where to start.
Any help / advice / pointers to things I should read and learn etc gratefully received.
In particular I'm worried about that moving bridge thing - already I've noticed that it tends to slip a bit while playing, putting the intonation and tuning out. Other than 'don't hit the thing so damn hard then' or having it glued down, what else can be done?
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Gilmour1978 (8)
True muso
Joined: 11 Dec 2007
Posts: 446
United Kingdom
Warrington
| | Posted: Thu 07 Aug 2008 17:37 | |
Looks like a very nice guitar indeed Motty.
Not sure about the bridge... Is it held in place by tension from the strings?
With it being semi acoustic you'll need to take care with humidity. As you'll know all wooden instruments are suseptible to damage from climatic conditions but semi and fully acoustic guitars are even more susceptible than solid bodies which are coated in a thick layer of polyester or similar. When not in use keep it in a good quality case tuned to pitch and away from radiators and other sources of heat or cold. Apply a thin layer of lemon oil to the fretboard once every few months to stop it drying out and don't use ordinary polish on the finish as it usually contains silicone which could damage the finish.
Enjoy the guitar!!!
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Gilmour1978 (8)
True muso
Joined: 11 Dec 2007
Posts: 446
United Kingdom
Warrington
| | Posted: Thu 07 Aug 2008 17:52 | |
Hmmmm.... Read a bit more about it. few places such as Harony Central saying it's a full hollow body. Seems doubtful as most guitars in that style have a centre block. Either way it's more prone to damage from humidity though not to much in this country where the humidity levels are reasonably stable. Most danger comes from radiators or damp rooms. Two options for the bridge are to glue it down but this isn't recommended as it could devalue the instrument and / or damage the surface, or fit heavier guage strings as the added tension will hold the bridge in place. Your guitar will probably need a full setup to the action, intonation and truss rod after that.
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motty (65)
True muso
Gold Member
Joined: 11 Oct 2005
Posts: 409
United Kingdom
London
| | Posted: Thu 07 Aug 2008 23:53 | |
Cheers. It came with 10s from the factory and I've read a few forum posts where people say the first thing they did was change that for 12s. Flatwound 12s apparently.
The bridge being held in place from tension, I can see it makes sense to go for heavier strings if the bridge is only going to slip on me otherwise. On the other hand I met a bloke tonight with an semi-acoustic Epiphone Gibson copy. He's had his bridge glued down. That solves the 'bridge can slip' issue but I can see it may not be the best of ideas as apart from the value and finish issues (which to be honest don't bother me much) I think you're stuck with whatever gauge string you were set up with at the time forever after that, and that might bother me one day.
Didn't know about lemon oil, I'll have to check that out and get some.
Felt brave and gigged with it tonight. Went well, though the neck is so much faster than anything I've played with before I need to be careful not to get carried away.
Time to pay the luthiers a visit and have her checked over. I wonder if something can be done to the underside of the bridge to make it less slippy. That could work for me.
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Gilmour1978 (8)
True muso
Joined: 11 Dec 2007
Posts: 446
United Kingdom
Warrington
| | Posted: Fri 08 Aug 2008 0:50 | |
Gluing the bridge down shouldn't prevent you from changing string guage as long as the individual saddles are adjustable. Your biggest problem with changing guage would be the action and truss rod adjustment. You may have to widen the slots on the nut but that's definately best left to a luthier as the tools for the job are hard to get hold of and expensive.
Treating your rosewood fingerboard with lemon or mineral oil is a must every once in a while as this wood can dry out quite quick causing fret problems and cracking. That said, there'll be a lot of people reading that who've never done it and been fine but i've seen guitars with rosewood fingerboards that haven't been treated in years and even though they look fine on close examination, a close look at the fret ends shows where the wood has shrunk through loss of moisture and the frets are starting to lift at the end.
You can buy lemon oil and guitar polish from your music shop. Dunlop is a good brand.
A few other guitar maintenance tips for anyone who's interested....
Use a pencil to rub some graphite into the nut slots before changing strings. This reduces friction and helps with tuning. A lot of people complain about cheap tuners when it's usually a badly cut nut that's at fault.
Use those ear cleaning buds to place a little WD40 or lip balm onto the saddles.... Again to reduce friction.
If your electrics are starting to crackle then spray them with servisol (Maplins) contact cleaner.
Use a string cleaner such as Fast Fret to clean strings after every use.
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motty (65)
True muso
Gold Member
Joined: 11 Oct 2005
Posts: 409
United Kingdom
London
| | Posted: Fri 08 Aug 2008 1:10 | |
All great stuff, cheers.
Just one thing - I nearly bought some FastFret once but was actually dissuaded by the guy in the shop who told me he thought it was basically a bit of a con and couldn't see the point. So I didn't buy it. What is FastFret? What does it do that just wiping the strings down with some shmutter doesn't?
(This would feel like a better question to me if I actually had a shmutter to wipe my strings down with and did so, but you know...)
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Gilmour1978 (8)
True muso
Joined: 11 Dec 2007
Posts: 446
United Kingdom
Warrington
| | Posted: Fri 08 Aug 2008 1:58 | |
It claims to be a string cleaner and a million and one other things. It's essentially just white mineral oil soaked into a brush that you rub over the strings and fretboard.
Personally I just use an old cloth to wipe away most of the crud after playing and then apply this afterwards as a lubricant and to remove any leftover dirt. It does seem to give the strings an extra bit of 'zing' and prolong the life of them a little. Certainly i've found once the srings are sounding dull and looking worn it just gives them a bit more life. If it saves me a couple less string changes over the course of a year then it's worth it. It's not particularly cheap for what it is and it's probably worth exploring other string cleaning brands as well. Biggest con I had was a product called the 'Swipe' which cost £6 and was just a bent bit of cardboard covered in cloth. After a couple of uses the strings rubbed the cloth away. Pile of ****e... Could have made it myself!
Each to their own I suppose. It depends how often you play, how long you play for and how much your hands sweat when playing. Could be you need nothing more than to just wipe the strings down with a lint free cloth after playing and that'll keep things peachy.
Enjoy the guitar!
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jonmy7 (96)
Moderator
Gold Member
Joined: 07 Feb 2005
Posts: 1977
United Kingdom
Bedfordshire
| | Posted: Fri 08 Aug 2008 8:30 | |
That's a beautiful guitar. I don't have a hollow body but I've read that you should not glue the bridgeas it dulls the tone - the bridge transmits the vibs from string to body. I read this on the internet so how true is it/ how much difference does it really make. I don't know, but advise caution!
The thicker strings idea is good.
Re: FastFret. I reckon it significantly prolongs the life of the strings, keeping them nicer to play for longer. As I have several guitars, somg get used quite intermittantly, it's definately worth it for me.
Cheers
Jon
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joe-tele (20)
Forum legend
Joined: 22 Sep 2004
Posts: 1543
United Kingdom
Gloucester, land of cameltoe jogging bottoms
| | Posted: Fri 08 Aug 2008 9:00 | |
I don't normally have problems nursing a semi.
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joe-tele (20)
Forum legend
Joined: 22 Sep 2004
Posts: 1543
United Kingdom
Gloucester, land of cameltoe jogging bottoms
| | Posted: Fri 08 Aug 2008 9:00 | |
Oh God I've turned into Lem.
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Lemmyisgod (78)
Forum legend
Joined: 28 Jul 2005
Posts: 14516
United Kingdom
Glasgow
| | Posted: Fri 08 Aug 2008 11:19 | |
You learn fast Grasshopper. 
FCUK OFF he hinted.
www.musochat.co.uk
That's why it's "God Was Never On Your Side", you know, just sending out a message to people in case they still believe in God: Wrong! God is not gonna help you, God is not answering your prayers, you can pray all your life and you never get a ****ing thing. God is deaf, blind and stupid. I don't like the devil either, they can both get ****ed."
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groovetube (2)
Regular user
Gold Member
Joined: 08 Nov 2005
Posts: 123
United Kingdom
West midlands
| | Posted: Thu 21 Aug 2008 9:24 | |
With bridges that are just held in place by string tension a bit of good old double sided tape will keep the bridge in place (see Gretsch Brian Setzer tribute) and stop in sliding about when you do a big string bend. Better than gluing the bridge in place. |
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