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Post by davidhanners on Nov 24, 2007 18:10:49 GMT -5
For those of you familiar with the saga of the Epiphone AJ-45 I ordered this summer from @#$%*!Musicians @#$%*!Friend, I thought an update might be in order. As I mentioned in my last post on the subject, the guitar had a finish on it that was glossy beyond belief. It was a thick covering of whatever they're using in Indonesia (or wherever) right now, and all I know is if they'd preserved King Tut in this stuff, he'd still look like he just died yesterday. I was looking for some way to tone it down and/or age or "relic" it. (Although I hate using "relic" as a verb....)
Anyhoo.... After reading of my lament about its uber-gloss, our own Marty, who holds court in the basement of The Podium in Minneapolis, suggested I bring it in to see what could be done about it. So a couple of weeks ago, Mr. Hammond and myself motored to the Podium on our lunch hour (we work a couple of blocks from each other) and dropped the thing off. I got it back yesterday and boy howdy, what a different guitar it is. It looks great.
Marty was able to sand through the gloss and then re-polish it so it now looks like it has a nice varnish finish. It looks very good indeed.
The next step, according to Marty, is to install an ivory nut to warm up the sound a bit, but that'll have to wait until I have more money. I like the sound of the guitar now -- to me, it definitely has that slope-shoulder "chunk" that I was looking for -- but I'm sure there'll come a time when some money is burning a hole in my pocket and it'll say, "Get that ivory nut installed...."
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Post by Don Clark on Nov 24, 2007 19:18:09 GMT -5
I've heard a number of folks refer to Musician's Friend using the adjective "@#$%*!"
Glad it came out looking good.
[Subliminal message - GET THE IVORY NUT !!!
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Post by davidhanners on Nov 24, 2007 19:59:23 GMT -5
I'm sure after the first of the year, I'll go for the ivory nut. I already had the plastic saddle replaced with bone, and I had mentioned to Marty about bone, but he said I should go with ivory. I've owned a bunch of guitars over my life, but I don't think I've ever had one with an ivory nut, so I don't really know what I've been missing.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 24, 2007 23:09:37 GMT -5
Ivory Saddle, less expensive than a nut and does so much more. What I did was wet sand the finish to cut the gloss and then waxed it to give it a varnish like glow.
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Post by sidheguitarmichael on Nov 25, 2007 1:56:49 GMT -5
Seconding the new saddle; walrus ivory can make for a surprising difference in tone. Keep at it David, you've got good tech folk there on your team–you'll have this chicken%^&* situation transformed into chicken soup in no time. -MM
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Post by Deleted on Nov 25, 2007 4:20:25 GMT -5
The guitar looks great. Marty done good, that's for sure.
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Post by davidhanners on Nov 25, 2007 20:09:21 GMT -5
I could've sworn Marty said ivory nut. Ivory saddle would make more sense to me. As I get older, I hear worser....
That said -- and Marty, given that you've heard this guitar and are aware of its relative limitations and potential -- what would the "ideal" nut/saddle combination be, materials-wise?
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Post by Marshall on Nov 25, 2007 20:18:09 GMT -5
Hhhhmmmm
I thought conventional wisdom was that bone saddle was the right deal. and that ivory was more spensive and didn't do much )or anything) more.
Then there's fossilized ivory.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 25, 2007 21:02:48 GMT -5
Hhhhmmmm I thought conventional wisdom was that bone saddle was the right deal. and that ivory was more spensive and didn't do much )or anything) more. Then there's fossilized ivory. I use Preserved Mammoth Ivory, not fossilized. Mammoth ivory works and sounds like Elephant ivory. The last Pygmy Mammoth died about 5,000 years ago so I'm pretty sure I'm ecologically and morally safe using the stuff. To me fossilized ivory sounds a bit brighter than bone while natural ivory is a warmer tone. About the nut, the nut basically only affects the open string for tone but a poorly fitted nut can suck energy out of the string and can effect the tone of the fretted notes.
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Post by Cornflake on Nov 25, 2007 21:49:14 GMT -5
I swear by kryptonite nuts and saddles. I won't eat or ride anything else.
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Post by dradtke on Nov 26, 2007 10:53:36 GMT -5
Aren't you concerned about using a big belt sander in a puddle of water? Then again, I guess the thick 40-grit holds the sander far enough above the water that it's not a problem.
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