Members Gas Hed Posted April 7, 2010 Members Share Posted April 7, 2010 What's with the Luthiers out there that do things by eye? Why wouldn't you want to do set up and such with the aid of a calibrated scale? Grant it, I had a bad experience last year with a "reputable" guitar tech in Delaware that cut my nut by eye and I ended up with open string buzzing (not to mention cut up fret board). I've got a new tech who is the man, he uses his measuring tools. Me like. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Loudog99 Posted April 7, 2010 Members Share Posted April 7, 2010 I'm no Luthier, but am damn good at setups and fret levelling, polishing and pickups swaps, electronics. I use tools, feeler guages, rulers, straightedges, and feel. Any good craftsman will know how to properly use his tools (mine are mostly hardware store grade), measuring devices, and most importantly the senses of sight, touch, and hearing. Without your senses how will you know that a fret is polished, or how your strings are ringing out, or that there is no fret buzz, or that your neck is set with the proper amount of relief for your style of playing. BTW, I use an estimation of factory specs only as a starting point. I setup a guitar to suit the player's style, which will always vary. Lou Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Furtive Posted April 7, 2010 Members Share Posted April 7, 2010 If you don't want to post it, please pm me the names of both techs. It's been years since I've sent a guitar out for work, but I can give you a couple of names here in the Small Wonder. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Gas Hed Posted April 7, 2010 Author Members Share Posted April 7, 2010 If you don't want to post it, please pm me the names of both techs. It's been years since I've sent a guitar out for work, but I can give you a couple of names here in the Small Wonder.Jim Cara is the guy who messed up my nut - I posted some pics here, but strangely, when I search for that thread, it is gone.The guy I am using now is a by friend only guy (i.e. he doesn't adverstise). He is an inspector at my job who happens to do amazing guitar work. If you want his info, I can get it to you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Gas Hed Posted April 7, 2010 Author Members Share Posted April 7, 2010 Awww, what the heck, here's a picture of Cara's work. He did this by "feel". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Loudog99 Posted April 7, 2010 Members Share Posted April 7, 2010 I don't know Jim Cara and won't pass judgement on him, especially since that picture could be from anywhere. But, DAMN that looks like dog{censored} and the front of that neck took a beating for no good reason.Lou Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members archiemax Posted April 7, 2010 Members Share Posted April 7, 2010 Yikes!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members MrChitlins Posted April 7, 2010 Members Share Posted April 7, 2010 Awww, what the heck, here's a picture of Cara's work. He did this by "feel". I've only done one bone nut from scratch and adjusted the slots on a couple others, but would be seriously embarrassed to claim that work. Fwiw, I love the Stewmac nut slotting gauge I bought. Knowing the exact height of the string off the 1st fret makes it possible to get great results even if you're a noob like me: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Wolfbane20 Posted April 7, 2010 Members Share Posted April 7, 2010 Thats terrible. I have only been doing setups for a very short while but I know better than to even come close to doing something that. Fwiw, I love the Stewmac nut slotting gauge I bought. Knowing the exact height of the string off the 1st fret makes it possible to get great results even if you're a noob like me: Hmm, neat tool, looks like my next stew mac purchase. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members alphamarquis Posted April 7, 2010 Members Share Posted April 7, 2010 Tools are nice. Everyone I know uses tools on setup. Feel is for carving, IMHO. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Matter-Eater Lad Posted April 7, 2010 Members Share Posted April 7, 2010 "Grant it"? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members paulskirocks Posted April 7, 2010 Members Share Posted April 7, 2010 "Grant it"? Yes, that's what he wrote... I tooked for grant it he meant granted... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Carbohydrates Posted April 7, 2010 Members Share Posted April 7, 2010 "Grant it"? Reminds me of "for all intensive purposes." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members cratz2 Posted April 7, 2010 Members Share Posted April 7, 2010 Reminds me of "for all intensive purposes." My World History teacher in 10th grade (who was really an assistant volleyball and assistant golf coach ) would always say, 'six does half, one does the other'. And he said it about every other day. I know I was a jerk when I was that age, but about 10 times, I said, 'that's not even CLOSE to right'. That nut looks pretty gruesome. I've cut two nuts with two different knives from the garage and and some sand paper and neither of them look near that bad. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Gas Hed Posted April 7, 2010 Author Members Share Posted April 7, 2010 "Grant it"? Woops, granted. Mrs. Jablonski from 9th grade English, is that you? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members HanSolo Posted April 9, 2010 Members Share Posted April 9, 2010 Was the guy wearing dark glasses and walking with a white cane? That might explain what he did. Hell, that's the only way to explain it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members atrox Posted April 9, 2010 Members Share Posted April 9, 2010 Honest answer? Because we do it so much that actual measurements become redundant unless it's specified by the client. What I'm saying is, the perfect setup is pretty much instilled into our brains. I do still use various measurement devises of course, but what is important in the end, is how the guitar plays and sounds... Regardless of measurements or eye FYI, I always use a slotting gauge for nuts. Slot depth on the other hand.... i'm all feel Edit #3: That picture is awful! That's not a "by eye" issue... That is just very very poor work! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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