Just Pulled The Trigger...NGD!

Not trying to be smart, but take a picture with the smart phone, use the phones browser, log into TTR, and upload directly from the phone. Am I missing something?
 
Don O, I had problems that way. It seemed to be visible to me, but others could not see it unless I loaded the pics into a web host like Imgur and then loaded it to the TTR.
 
chilipeppermaniac said:
Don O, I had problems that way. It seemed to be visible to me, but others could not see it unless I loaded the pics into a web host like Imgur and then loaded it to the TTR.
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Wow, every pic of mine has been uploaded from the PC or the ipad. Of course videos are hosted.
 
Don O said:
Not trying to be smart, but take a picture with the smart phone, use the phones browser, log into TTR, and upload directly from the phone. Am I missing something?
Click to expand...

Hey thanks Don...maybe I'll try that and see if it works. The smart phone company I'm with is also offering me a deal on a computer pad if I add and extra $10 per month with extra GB of data use. Maybe I can use the pad for uploading pics much easier. I'll have to investigate. Thanks to you and chili for your advice's.:)


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I have tried my best to fix Black's guitar from the comfort of my easy chair since I have all my tools here and he is way up in Canada. So I sent him some suggestions and some videos to see if he can learn where to look to find his problem.

Here are a few:

 
Well I have some good news. Last evening I found my soldering iron and a roll of some older solder that contains lead in it...you have to wash your hands after handling it. It was such a great surprise because I was going to buy another soldering iron which means more money out of my pocket. I took the strings off finally and unscrewed the pick guard off so I could see what the problem was underneath. I saw the problem right away! There was a red wire coming from the volume pot that broke off on one of the slug terminals on the 5-way switch. It was easy to spot because there was solder on that slug but no wire connected.

Thanks to chili's videos on soldering I stripped the end of the wire a bit with a pair of scissors and tinned it. Then I melted the solder on the terminal and heated up the wire making sure it made contact with the terminal. I added a bit more solder and let it melt and bond for a good solder connection. I then positioned carefully back the pick guard onto the body and plugged the guitar through my amplifier. I used a screwdriver to tap each pickup by cycling through the 5-way switch and each pick up made a noise accordingly and it worked! I screwed back all the PG screws nice and snug and did a second test just for good measure and all the pick ups still worked.

Since I had the strings off I gave the fret board another treatment of lemon oil and let it soak thoroughly which darkened the board a bit more and brought out the wood grain. After it dried and put back on all the strings and tuned it up. I plugged the guitar back into the amp and I finally got sound from all 3 pick ups. Everything now works perfect and I couldn't be any happier. I didn't have to spend a dime which I was planning to do by bringing it into the music store. The estimate to fix the guitar would have been $50 to $60 plus tax so I avoided that by putting my mind to it and fixing the guitar myself. I'm glad I tackled the problem with great success and now the guitar is complete.

When I finished I must have played the guitar through my Twin-reverb amp for almost 3 hours just enjoying the tones I was getting from the guitar. I'm sure in love with the SD '59 pick up and you can get Strat like tones from it depending on how you set the volume control. It sure does have marvellous presence to it. The Lipstick Tube pick ups sure do have that vintage single-coil sound to them with a little extra bite to them. With a fresh new set of strings it has bell-like tones that ring with a lot of sustain. The guitar stays in pretty good tune also where as before with the old strings it would go out of tune sometimes especially the G-string. I don't have that problem much now and the guitar plays perfect.:)


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chilipeppermaniac said:
I learn something new every day. Here ya go, Black.............
A Stringray tool

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That Stringray tool is a great little invention chili and it looks like it works great. Thanks for posting but I found another trick for putting on strings on a Bigsby equipped guitar by using a capo which I also found at home. Here's the video explaining.



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Thanks all for your replies.:) I played my Godin guitar last evening again and everything is still working great. The 5-way selector is keeping in tact and it feels very solid. I tweaked the height adjustment on the pick ups for optimal sound and all the pick ups seem to match each other. The SD '59 has a bit more volume and honk to it but as I mentioned before I just use the volume to tweak the sound. It has sort of a Stratty sound at lower volumes. I can't wait to find where my guitar pedals are so I can play some distortion through my amp. With distortion the guitar would sound close to the sound of a Gibson SG with the SD '59 pup engaged and the body and neck being all mahogany like an SG...plus the Gibson scale length fret board.

The guitar handled distortion very well at the pawn shop with a small amplifier that had a gain knob. At the time the bridge pick up was set down very low but it still sounded good through the amp. I've raised it significantly. I usually do a measurement on the pick ups by pressing the high "E" string at the last (22nd) fret and measure 1/16" from the top of the pick up and the bottom of the string. I do the same thing on the low "E" string but I measure 1/8" which is a bit lower for the pick up because of the wound strings having more volume. Then I plug the guitar into the amp and test by ear if the pick ups need anymore adjustment. That's how I generally set up the pick up heights on all of my guitars.

I did notice a bit of play with the Bigsby arm on the vibrato unit when I was using it. I figured the nut needed tightening so I got out my wrench and lifted the vibrato arm up high enough to take out the spring which I was able to do successfully without struggle. I then tightened the nut until there was no more play where the arm connects to the unit. I lifted the arm again and was able to get the spring in back nice and snug in the right place. Surprisingly after I played the guitar all the strings still remained in tune. I find the tuners on this guitar to be very high quality and they turn very well and keep tune. They are almost just like the vintage tuners on a Telecaster guitar but the tuning posts are more of the conventional tuners where a piece of string is still sticking out. I did a good wrap around each tuning post and the strings have been stretched so the tuning stability is very good. The Bigsby vibrato works very well now and I get a real nice range of vibrato. I know a Bigsby doesn't have that much travel compared to a Fender or Floyd Rose vibrato but it works well enough and it just looks very cool on the guitar even if I don't use it often.

Overall I'm glad I saved money by doing my own repair. I was so disappointed at first when the guitar didn't work after putting it back together but now there are no worries. I've been playing this guitar so much now and with everything set up properly it's such a joy to play. This guitar is sure worth checking out if you are G.A.S.ing for another axe. This is a kind of guitar that will not disappoint you. I find this guitar very quirky in nature especially the bridge design which has roller saddles that look like chess pawn pieces. It's a kind of guitar that grows on you and it sure delivers all the wonderful vintage tones that most people have come to love.:wink:


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So sorry that I am just reading this thread now BlackSG. I would have come over to help you out!
Glad to hear everything is working to your liking now.
BTW, I have several extra Schaller strap locks and I could give you a set if you wanted. Just let me know and we can meet up.
 
BlackSG91 said:
I screwed back on the neck to the body and made sure the neck was properly seated for the best contact. When I put new strings on and had it tuned up I loosened the neck screws a quarter turn so the string tension would pull in the neck more then I tightened very snug the neck screws for a strong connection.
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I just learned of this tip recently, and i highly recommend it. Somebody here at TTR (RVA?) had posted a video of this technique.
 
ninjaking67 said:
So sorry that I am just reading this thread now BlackSG. I would have come over to help you out!
Glad to hear everything is working to your liking now.
BTW, I have several extra Schaller strap locks and I could give you a set if you wanted. Just let me know and we can meet up.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the offer my fellow Durhamite and surprisingly the guitar does come equipped with the Schaller strap lock buttons. I have the same strap locks on my Fender guitar so I use the Fender strap which has the other parts for locking onto my Godin guitar. When I strap the guitar on it's at a comfortable height for playing. I don't know how some people who have their guitars strapped down so low to their knee caps how they can play their axe unless they have gorilla arms. I have mine sitting around the belt area which is perfect for me but everyone has their own style. BTW we should meet up for a jam sometime...maybe I can join your band since I haven't been in a band for quite some years now. I have a long time friend I know who's a musician himself and he just bought a house in Whitby. All I need now is to find my pedals and I'm good to go. Do you play the bar circuit in Whitby a lot? Let me know and I can come by and check your band out. I must have drank at every bar in Whitby back in my drinking days...I don't drink anymore now but I can always drink pop instead. Thanks again for the offer my friend.:)


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