A cure looking for a problem? - FRETS.NET2024-03-29T12:18:53Zhttps://fretsnet.ning.com/forum/topics/a-cure-looking-for-a-problem?id=2177249%3ATopic%3A30369&feed=yes&xn_auth=noSince I'm considered the vill…tag:fretsnet.ning.com,2017-01-31:2177249:Comment:1665972017-01-31T17:30:46.320ZRoger Häggströmhttps://fretsnet.ning.com/profile/RogerHaeggstroem
<p>Since I'm considered the villain and is accused of spreading snake oil and being to busy on this forum (is that a crime?) I will respond.<br></br><br></br>First of all, who am I? I restored old guitars for about 10 years in my kitchen. Bought a lot of old wrecks on eBay to study how they were made and how they sounded. I have more than 100 parlor guitars in storage now - I have a tendency to go all-in when I'm interested in something. I scanned the net for all information I could find, Frank Ford's…</p>
<p>Since I'm considered the villain and is accused of spreading snake oil and being to busy on this forum (is that a crime?) I will respond.<br/><br/>First of all, who am I? I restored old guitars for about 10 years in my kitchen. Bought a lot of old wrecks on eBay to study how they were made and how they sounded. I have more than 100 parlor guitars in storage now - I have a tendency to go all-in when I'm interested in something. I scanned the net for all information I could find, Frank Ford's site was one of the very best sources of information. I happen to know a fiddle restorer and he steered me in the right direction, using hide glue and spirit varnish and provided me with top class woods for my repairs. I was a computer programmer, but now I have a shop since three years doing something not many other luthiers does, restoring AND improving old guitars. I prefer to work with wrecks from the 1930s and before that. When the guitar is well made and in good condition, I have to battle with my conscience. Some guitars should not be messed with.<br/><br/>My customers are for the most part musicians who has bough a "wreck" and will have it made into a great player good enough for any studio or scene. The other category is "the family guitar" hanging unplayable on a wall with a lot of family history and a gifted child needing a good small guitar to play. Right now I have a 1 year queue (too long) and I'm working hard to cut it down refusing new customers.<br/><br/>I'm curious by nature and whenever I get an idea or read about something interesting I want to try it out. For real. Did a lot of experimenting in my amateur days and my methods has evolved to a concept I'm pretty sure works. Still doing and testing new things, but I do it in small increments. Right now I'm busy sharpening my "tools" so to speak realizing that some things I've done is not the best way to do it.<br/><br/>Coming to this forum I was eager to share the methods and new things I've discovered and I admit that it was a handful! I'm not a person that keeps things hidden, if I find something that is really great and working I can't wait to share it with the world. I'm looking for a response to my ideas that will improve it. I have strong opinions about some things, but proven wrong I don't hesitate to change my mind.<br/><br/>As for the vibrating debate. I have been using the original ToneRite and my variant with an aquarium pump for more than 5 years. It's part of the standard procedure and one of the last things I do when done with an old parlor. I give it new bracing, a carbon rod in the neck, some new varnish, replace and repair parts, new frets, nut and saddle intonation and a composite saddle bone. I know exactly what the vibration does to a "new" guitar, the tone improves by a mile every time. <br/><br/>If I'm allowed in this forum I would like to make a post later showing one of two old parlor guitars I'm making for myself (not finished yet). In that case I will do some recordings with and without a nut compensation and with a standard bone saddle and two variants of my composite one, one with cedar between the bone posts and one with spruce. I have some nice recording equipment and you can decide for yourself if I'm giving you "snake oil"...</p>
<p>I'm writing this instead of working with my vocals on the next "Roger & the Rockets" CD so I have to stop. I wont write anything more in this thread and keep a low profile for a while. I will sit back and don't throw any more fuel on the fire.</p> Thanks Rusty, can't wait to m…tag:fretsnet.ning.com,2017-01-31:2177249:Comment:1665352017-01-31T16:49:05.048ZHesh Breakstonehttps://fretsnet.ning.com/profile/HeshBreakstone
<p>Thanks Rusty, can't wait to meet you!!!</p>
<p>Thanks Rusty, can't wait to meet you!!!</p> HI Hesh, I'll make it for sur…tag:fretsnet.ning.com,2017-01-31:2177249:Comment:1665232017-01-31T12:43:04.539ZRussell Vancehttps://fretsnet.ning.com/profile/RussellVance
<p>HI Hesh, I'll make it for sure. Our VCG Media manager lives in Baltimore and a visit is planned around August. </p>
<p>You stay frosty bloke, it's getting way too heated around here: know the feeling.</p>
<p>Rusty.</p>
<p>HI Hesh, I'll make it for sure. Our VCG Media manager lives in Baltimore and a visit is planned around August. </p>
<p>You stay frosty bloke, it's getting way too heated around here: know the feeling.</p>
<p>Rusty.</p> Hi Steven,
Everyone has to st…tag:fretsnet.ning.com,2017-01-31:2177249:Comment:1663552017-01-31T12:35:47.533ZRussell Vancehttps://fretsnet.ning.com/profile/RussellVance
<p>Hi Steven,</p>
<p>Everyone has to start somewhere and Hobbyists, enthusiast and novices are at that point. </p>
<p>For those who are at that point there is an opportunity to learn from senior members of the forum who have mainly got their chops from being in business and learning their professional skills from other experts and professionals. Therein lies the nub of some emotional outpouring from wounded and indignant well meaning amateurs from time to time. They have plenty of time to…</p>
<p>Hi Steven,</p>
<p>Everyone has to start somewhere and Hobbyists, enthusiast and novices are at that point. </p>
<p>For those who are at that point there is an opportunity to learn from senior members of the forum who have mainly got their chops from being in business and learning their professional skills from other experts and professionals. Therein lies the nub of some emotional outpouring from wounded and indignant well meaning amateurs from time to time. They have plenty of time to ask questions wheras we don't have time to answer them.</p>
<p>The issue here is that (GENERALLY SPEAKING) the people with the answers are also the people with the least time available to spread the knowledge and deal with the sometime repititious nature of very basic stuff. Worse still is having to deal in depth with pedant minutia, stuff that is way too basic, and/or voodoo physics.</p>
<p>I have no idea whether exciting bits of wood glued together and pinned with stings and things with the rather feeble looking whatzit actually works. It probably does something, because everything you can do does something, including doing nothing.</p>
<p>However, as with compensated nuts, powdered unicorn horn capacitors, Kentucky fried tonewood and quartersawn anything - I have stopped listening and writing and now concentrate on our own Sound Lounge research which is where stuff is actually comparison tested and evaluated against typical performance requirements. Thats our BS destroyer.</p>
<p>I am also conscious of the notion that just because someone important says something is good doesn't actually mean anything. The CEO's of major banks said CFD's were great stuff right until the collapse of the Worlds financial structure with the GFC. </p>
<p>So if you wish to break in a green guitar do what most dudes do and stand in front of a Quad and a "room heater" turned up a tadge - much more fun than watching paint dry. Point of order: you want to break in a Telecaster barrel bridge or a TOM by sticking a vibrator in it, um, good luck with that. They ain't acoustics but the principles are said to be the same.</p>
<p>Similarly, last time I looked a couple of cycles is enough to settle most things down from an engineering point of view - not to be confused with failure testing. Mildly exciting your guitar with a vibrator is OK but it's not something you need to do for any length of time. Once it's moved, it's moved. Unless you cycle the environmentals and the intensity/frequency of the vibration, which will probably do something.</p>
<p>So what's up here? no , you do not see the words "expert" or "professional"mentioned in the header, but when they contribute free professional advice (when was the last time you got something like that for free) as part of the knowledge backbone of this forum, it's probably a good idea to listen and accept that not everyone is going to feel happy.</p>
<p>That's a grab bag of what I see from where I sit,</p>
<p>Rusty.</p>
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<p></p> HI Paul,
Good to hear from yo…tag:fretsnet.ning.com,2017-01-31:2177249:Comment:1664282017-01-31T11:31:28.701ZRussell Vancehttps://fretsnet.ning.com/profile/RussellVance
<p>HI Paul,</p>
<p>Good to hear from you bloke</p>
<p>I have to say that the work is starting to take over most of my time and that includes the leisure time! The temptation to unload is a constant problem, especially with the web forum dwellers who have an excess of everything except real time experience and hard yards actually doing this stuff. </p>
<p>I have penciled in LA and Baltimore for August and will confirm a trip to Ann Arbor to visit Hesh as soon as I get some firm…</p>
<p>HI Paul,</p>
<p>Good to hear from you bloke</p>
<p>I have to say that the work is starting to take over most of my time and that includes the leisure time! The temptation to unload is a constant problem, especially with the web forum dwellers who have an excess of everything except real time experience and hard yards actually doing this stuff. </p>
<p>I have penciled in LA and Baltimore for August and will confirm a trip to Ann Arbor to visit Hesh as soon as I get some firm stuff.</p>
<p>Will PM stuff from this point to You and Hesh and anyone else who may be interested in getting together for a cold beer on a hot day.</p>
<p>Stay frosty mate,</p>
<p>Rusty.</p>
<p></p> Hi Steven: No one is questio…tag:fretsnet.ning.com,2017-01-31:2177249:Comment:1663492017-01-31T08:24:00.468ZHesh Breakstonehttps://fretsnet.ning.com/profile/HeshBreakstone
<p>Hi Steven: No one is questioning who the forum is for or even questioning participation from all levels from hobbyist to pro. The point is that some of us don't like our time being wasted..... Time that could be spent helping others.</p>
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<p>As someone who is known to be a helper of others.... I believe I have license to ask Roger to shut the hell up once in a while and give it a break...... AND to stop spreading snake oil......</p>
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<p>What I am directly questioning is a…</p>
<p>Hi Steven: No one is questioning who the forum is for or even questioning participation from all levels from hobbyist to pro. The point is that some of us don't like our time being wasted..... Time that could be spent helping others.</p>
<p></p>
<p>As someone who is known to be a helper of others.... I believe I have license to ask Roger to shut the hell up once in a while and give it a break...... AND to stop spreading snake oil......</p>
<p></p>
<p>What I am directly questioning is a rude, narcissistic know-it-all who in reality knows very little.... For weeks now this guy has asserted expertise on all manner of things from compensated nuts to playing Black Sabbath on 78 speed backwards (turntable fan here...) through 200 watts RMS to break in an ax.</p>
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<p>As mentioned for those of us who actually work in the trade we might have 15 minutes to kill walking away from a G&L or a pre-war Martin only to find that our valuable and limited time is taken up by Haggstrom or what ever the hell his real name is telling us all how great he is. It's often a revival of a movie that we all had been to before and for what?</p>
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<p> Anyway this has happened before, some know-it-all offending others.... It's not the first time and won't be the last time I'm sure. It's also not the last time that I'll call it out when I see it.</p>
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<p></p> Hey Paul! I've been wonderin…tag:fretsnet.ning.com,2017-01-31:2177249:Comment:1665212017-01-31T08:02:31.972ZHesh Breakstonehttps://fretsnet.ning.com/profile/HeshBreakstone
<p>Hey Paul! I've been wondering where you were and it's great to hear from you!</p>
<p></p>
<p>YES! If Rusty makes it we all have to get together, that would be a great time!</p>
<p>Hey Paul! I've been wondering where you were and it's great to hear from you!</p>
<p></p>
<p>YES! If Rusty makes it we all have to get together, that would be a great time!</p> Thank you for the perfect pra…tag:fretsnet.ning.com,2017-01-31:2177249:Comment:1663472017-01-31T06:30:48.068ZPaul Verticchiohttps://fretsnet.ning.com/profile/PaulVerticchio
Thank you for the perfect practical illustration of my comment, Steve.
Thank you for the perfect practical illustration of my comment, Steve. Paul,
At the top of this page…tag:fretsnet.ning.com,2017-01-31:2177249:Comment:1663352017-01-31T02:03:21.939Zsteven gallagherhttps://fretsnet.ning.com/profile/stevengallagher
<p>Paul,</p>
<p>At the top of this page is a banner that says, "A Meeting Place for Instrument Builders, Repairers and Players". I do not see the words "expert" or "professional" mentioned. As a member of this group for a few years, I have noticed there are quite a few novice and hobbyist members here.</p>
<p>Maybe when you come across a discussion of "<span>questionable achedemic (sic) value" you could just skip it and spare us the attitude.</span></p>
<p>Paul,</p>
<p>At the top of this page is a banner that says, "A Meeting Place for Instrument Builders, Repairers and Players". I do not see the words "expert" or "professional" mentioned. As a member of this group for a few years, I have noticed there are quite a few novice and hobbyist members here.</p>
<p>Maybe when you come across a discussion of "<span>questionable achedemic (sic) value" you could just skip it and spare us the attitude.</span></p> Hiya Hesh :)
Thanks for the p…tag:fretsnet.ning.com,2017-01-30:2177249:Comment:1664162017-01-30T08:01:38.748ZPaul Verticchiohttps://fretsnet.ning.com/profile/PaulVerticchio
Hiya Hesh :)<br />
Thanks for the post I've wanted to write for quite some time.<br />
I no longer reply on this form because of inane discussions of questionable achedemic value and unappreciative hacks.<br />
I'm still an active tech, playing as much as I wish to and all is well.<br />
Btw: IF Rusty ever makes it to your shop, let me know and I'll fly up to meet you guys. I'll bring extra bail $$$, just in case :)<br />
Have a superior week, my friend!!
Hiya Hesh :)<br />
Thanks for the post I've wanted to write for quite some time.<br />
I no longer reply on this form because of inane discussions of questionable achedemic value and unappreciative hacks.<br />
I'm still an active tech, playing as much as I wish to and all is well.<br />
Btw: IF Rusty ever makes it to your shop, let me know and I'll fly up to meet you guys. I'll bring extra bail $$$, just in case :)<br />
Have a superior week, my friend!!