Got it finished today!

[Grahame Myers]

Hi everybody
About 3 weeks ago, I asked for advice about removing an Ebonol fretboard on an Ibanez 5-String Bass, with the intention of replacing it with an Ebony 'board. Well, after waiting 2 weeks for the wood to come, and a few technical problems with tools, I got it finished, and it turned out well.
Thanks to the guys who gave me some good pointers for tonewood suppliers in Europe, and to Paul for the idea with using brass rod instead of plastic for the dot markers. Looks absolutely highend, and much better than white plastic.
And the best thing of all: The customer was delighted, and paid me a bit more than we'd agreed to, 'cos he was so pleased :-)
Hope you find the pics interesting, it actually looks even better in real life, it's hard to take photos in the shop, and outside it was snowing again here.

Best

Grahame

[Mike Kolb]

Looks great, Grahame. I also dig your tool layout on the wall.... in fact, it puts me to shame because my usual method of locating something is along the lines of..." hmm, if I last used it 3 weeks ago, it's probably about six inches down on the pile"!

In any event, the neck looks nice and the customer is, no doubt, pleased as punch. Good work, sir.

PS... Glad to see the Lucky Strikes featured prominently again... I was worried in the first 2 shots, but there they were!

[Grahame Myers]

Yeah, all you need is some kind of board that you can hammer nails into screwed to the wall, and a packet of 2" nails! Much cheaper than the pro systems with holes and hooks, I had that piece over from building the workshop, so I screwed it to the wall so it was out of the way :-)
You noticed the Luckies again :-)...But did you notice the clock we bought in Bavaria years ago on holiday? If you look carefully you'll see it runs backwards, on the face of it it says "Im Bayern laufen die Uhren anders", which translated means something like "we do things another way" they mean (the Bavarians), compared to the rest of Germany. They like to think they're something special. I thought it was a good joke at the time, but maybe I'll buy a normal one: Non of the customers can tell the time with it, and I have to think twice, even after all this time :-)

Grahame

[FRANK]

great job you can add me as a friend if you would like ill send you the request cheers i am glad the brass dots worked well

[Grahame Myers]

Thanks again for the tip with the brass rod, I'd be delighted to swop tips with you in the future

Grahame

[Pierre-Antoine Roiron]

Nice work.
By the way I saw a piece of wood on your wall used for Floyd Rose setups. There's a German company who makes a great tool for this, maybe you would like to give it a try. I just don't do any floyd rose setup without this tool :
http://schaller-electronic.com/hp167722/Trem-Stop.htm

[Grahame Myers]

Thanks for the pointer, I saw that some time ago in a catalogue, but was shocked at the price. I can't remember exactly how much it was, but I know that I thought it was too expensive. I only use the stick for holding the FR in the full up position, so I can change all the strings at once, without having to remove the tension springs, or having the FR fall out, as the tension of the springs is the only thing that holds it against the knife edges, and of course, if you want to change all of the strings at once, without the string tension, the springs at the back pull the block down into the body so you can't turn the string clamp allen bolts. I just push on the trem. arm so it's fully up at the back, and slide the stick underneath so that the trem. block rests on it., and the stick rests on the body behind the trem. When I'm finished, I tune the strings roughly up to pitch, and then push on the trem. arm again to relieve tension on the stick, and then remove the stick. It's about the cheapest tool I have, took a piece of scrap pine and 2 minutes on the drum sander :-)

Best

Grahame

[Pierre-Antoine Roiron]

19€ including VAT public price. Much more precise than every other tool I've tried.
Just keep the method that have the best results for you!
Cheers!

[Grahame Myers]

€19? I must've been thinking about something else from Schaller in my previous post, I can't believe I wouldn't have bought it at that price, I think I may buy it anyway. I have quite a few regular customers with FR systems, and get a lot of young kids coming round with problems with them.Since the chinese started building cheapo copies of the floyd rose, every aspiring young rock hero has one on his guitar.
The quality is terrible though: The trem. body is some kind of cheap cast metal which is then chromeplated. As soon as the chromeplating wears through, the knife edges lose any accuracy they might've had, and any kind of tuning stability is impossible.
Then comes the shock when they bring them in for repair: a lasting, workable repair is not possible with these cheapo FR's. I give them two choices: Either a quality replacement FR from Gotoh or Schaller (which costs more than what they paid for the whole guitar), or locking it down, using a wood block between the sustain block and the body,removing the toplocks, and playing it like a hardtail guitar. Long faces guaranteed....
I'll never understand why people buy these things: A rock guitar with 3 pickups, 5-Way switch, FR, toplocks, fancy finish, maple neck etc etc, and all for €149?? It must be cr*p, when you think that a quality FR system costs around €200, without the rest! The chinese imports are slowly killing the repair business here, but that's OT :-)

Best

Grahame

[Pierre-Antoine Roiron]

I agreee... these FR systems are a pain in the *** to work with. I offer the same choice to my customers (using Tom's trick too)... and as you say : "Long faces guaranteed....".

[Tom Krebs]

Good work on the bass Grahame. On the cheap Floyd systems another option is to install a stopper in front of the tremolo block under the springs. Set the bridge level with the body top and measure the space. I use a dab of epoxy and/or small screws. This way the tremolo still 'works' in the dive mode and has a solid place to stay in tune just like a standard Strat with the bridge resting on the body.

[Grahame Myers]

Tom
Thanks for the kind words. Great tip! Never thought of that, just goes to show you're never too old to learn new tricks! :-)

Best

Grahame

[Donald A. Fortune]

Hi Grahame - Nice work sir- I also like the looks of your shop :-)
can I have it ---
Peace, Donald