Guitar Nerds Anonymous

I took a really cheap punt on one and really like it. Sounds and plays way better than the meagre price tag would suggest.

Affinity to CV is a fair jump in terms of sound, feel and quality (and price), IME.

My one big takeaway from trying a load of cheaper-end Jazzmasters including CV ones was that they vary, a LOT. I strongly suggest trying anything you're thinking of buying if you can (without going to too much trouble). CV pickups generally sound good to me.

Having said that, if you're taking the neck off anyway it makes less difference and it probably makes even less difference being a Tele (with none of the JM wiring / setup quirks that are always going to be hard to get right at a budget price).

Election schmelection. I just succesfully replaced the iffy plastic input jack on a Vox AC4 with a fender style switchcraft one. It was hardwired to a curcuit board and involved some fairly destructive removal. Figured it out all by myself, managed not to belt or kill myself - and it worked FIRST TIME. *does vistory lap wreathed in solder smoke. Je Suis Dan Erlewine.

As you were. It stopped working as soon as put the chassis back in. My shit soldering is strongly suspected to have played a part.

I've just bought a 90s Squier Stratocaster with 2 x P90s in!

The plan is to pull the frets, fill the slots with maple veneer strips and make it into a fretless and if I want to I can always pick up another (nicer) neck to go back to fretless but I've got a good feeling about this one after years of never finding a Stratocaster I get on with enough to keep...

What a daft project. Love it.

I've been massively influenced by a chap on IG @young_dervish who plays the most gorgeous sounding fretless stuff I've ever heard! Beautiful chordal stuff rather than the usual shredder bullshit that happens on chrome fingerboard Vigiers etc.

Really long shot but anyone fancy trading a epiphone sg for a squire strat with dual humbuckers?
It’s a bottom end epiphone but seems nice enough, just don’t get on with it. Happy to sell it for £100 if anyone wants it.

Are the sub-£200 affinity strats/mustangs worth it or better off looking for a used one of slightly better quality?

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I took my Strat to a shop to be set up, it’s a very well known shop with what I think is a good reputation.
I paid to have it set up, action, intonation etc

I picked it up yesterday, gave it a quick feel in the shop, it felt great and noticed that they had polished the frets, they were nice and shiny.

I’ve just noticed today that there are now a load of tiny indentations into the wood along the top of the fret board beside the frets.
They go down to the 12th fret, the worst is at the 1st fret and they seem to get shallower towards the 12th.

These dents absolutely were not there before taking the guitar in to the shop. I’m certain of this.

I’m a bit annoyed, but I want to be sure this isn’t normal?
I should expect to get it back without these dents right?
Is it some sort of tool markings from polishing the frets?

Edit to add - it really doesn’t affect its playability in anyway, I don't expect the shop will offer to do much other than apologise…

But I feel I have to mention it to them but I want to be sure that it’s not normal for marks to be left like that after polishing the frets?

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They've rounded the fret ends and not used a file with a safe (smooth) edge to rest against the fretboard. It's a bit sloppy. Up to you how much it annoys you. But there's not a lot they could do to rectify it. You could use superglue and rosewood dust to fill them.

Did the file slip? That doesn't look good, frets are lovely tho'.

Two different frets is a bit of a fucker 😑

Thanks, I now realise the they have been rounded!
I hadn’t asked them to do that, they just said they would get it set up playing really nice. Which it absolutely is.

I’m just in two minds whether to say anything to them about it. I accept there’s not much they can do and I’m not fishing for some sort of freebie or anything. On the one hand, I can’t be arsed with the confrontation but on the other it’s just pretty poor service.
I think it’s just poor workmanship, which is surprising because they seem to be very well regarded around here.

It doesn’t affect how it sounds or plays so I’m ultimately ok with it and will just forget about it.

It’s a MIM Strat from 2020 which I bought second hand for a really good deal along with an amp, so I haven’t put a lot of money into it. (It worked out at paying £185 for it)

It puts me off using the shop again though. Would they leave file marks like this on a two grand guitar?!

Anyway, thanks for the input, I feel better just venting about it and hadn’t even noticed the rounded fret ends.
It plays so nice, buttery soft, so I’ll just forget about it!

There are the same marks on all the frets all the way down to the 12th… :(

Shit sorry fella

Uch I’m already over it tbh.
I think I’d be having a melt down if it had happened to a guitar worth loads of money.

Next time I’m passing the shop I’ll go in and mention that whoever worked on the guitar is a clumsy bastard.

I'd do that anyway - it's more than fair enough of you to want to make the point and the worst that can happen is a voucher or a couple packs of string thrown your way. I get it that it's inconsequential ultimately, but it should not have happened.

@Dooks-Fatberg was it giving you any issues or did you just fancy something more reliable? Hope a re-solder sorts it quickly!

That’s a real bummer. Those frets look amazing and set a new standard for me when polishing mine.
Personally I take it back in and show them. At the very least it’ll wake them up to the fact it’s happened, and the real question is why didn’t they pick it up after doing one side of the first fret. Or did they use a machine and out the tool in the wrong way round?
A simple inspection having finished the first fret end would have identified it to them.

What a weird thing to happen.

My guess is that they mixed your guitar up with someone else’s that was in for a level, crown and polish… and they were ham-fisted with the fret end file.

This kind of work takes a lot of time and effort, definitely not the sort of thing they’d throw in as a freebie during a setup job.

Those frets look amazing and set a new standard for me when polishing mine.

Wait until you see Millimetric Instruments fret ends...

This kind of work takes a lot of time and effort, definitely not the sort of thing they’d throw in as a freebie during a setup job.

From what I can tell, I think they only polished up the frets and possibly rounded the ends of the frets.
There is some wear to a few of the frets that’s still there.
It is a bit strange though that they done anything above and beyond what I paid for.
I’m definitely going in to the shop tomorrow just to point it out to them.
As Alan said above, it’s best to at least make them aware of the fact.

In other news, I got a Big Muff Pi off ebay for forty quid. Never had one before.
My god, what a creamy sound!

Nice, that gap between the neck and the body is a bit much though

They definitely have some unusual design choices but they seem to be deeply intentional... I'd love a go on one to be honest, I love the aesthetic!

Millimetric

Yeah - they're fabulous looking things.

It definitely could be intentional but that looks like the body's are cut on a CNC that can't undercut though tbh - the bottom of the neck pocket must be angled for the neck angle, but not the back.

Selling some pedals to generate some cash over here —->

https://www.lfgss.com/conversations/397675/#comment17446901