Advice looking for a replacement guitar

CloudNine

It is very likely that a pre-war Martin will still sound pretty damn good even with shaved bridge as the tops and bracing are so light compared to a lot of modern day guitars (which are beefed up to avoid warranty issues). Will still be responsive even without that maximum torque.

On a more modern guitar, maybe especially a laminate topped Yamaha, you might find it sounds a bit crap after the same operation.

I do probably agree that it wouldn't be the end of the world to try a shave on this particular guitar, given value etc. just pointing out that it is not guaranteed that the OP would be satisfied with the results. Could be a huge loss of volume and tone.

itm

So I tried the bottom E from the Rotosound Country Gold 11s and it didn't help. Have dropped it into Charlie Chandler in Hampton Wick - it's booked into their workshop for an assessment. Fingers crossed.... 

ICBM

itm said:

So I tried the bottom E from the Rotosound Country Gold 11s and it didn't help. Have dropped it into Charlie Chandler in Hampton Wick - it's booked into their workshop for an assessment. Fingers crossed.... 

Sorry to hear that . The only consolation is that it was the cheapest thing to try first, and you could still use them to fractionally lower the action afterwards.

itm

ICBM said:

itm said:

So I tried the bottom E from the Rotosound Country Gold 11s and it didn't help. Have dropped it into Charlie Chandler in Hampton Wick - it's booked into their workshop for an assessment. Fingers crossed.... 

Sorry to hear that . The only consolation is that it was the cheapest thing to try first, and you could still use them to fractionally lower the action afterwards.

Plus an extra set of strings is always handy. 

Now the plot is thickening...I just dug out an old Fender Strat that I bought 30 years ago and it has a similar problem - bottom 2 strings out of tune (on the sharp side) when you fret them. It's been stored in various bedrooms and lofts for the last 30 years in its original Fender case. There seems to be a theme emerging here, but in this case the Strat has 30-year-old strings on it - could the old strings explain the problem?

ICBM

Generally old strings play flat rather than sharp.

Still, you can't make any assessment of it with old strings on. A Strat should be possible to set up to intonate correctly no matter what though - unlike an acoustic the body can't have distorted, so it will always be possible. Just watch the neck and sometimes the middle pickup heights though, they can cause apparent tuning problems on the bottom strings especially around the 12th fret if they're too high.

crunchman

itm said:

Now the plot is thickening...I just dug out an old Fender Strat that I bought 30 years ago and it has a similar problem - bottom 2 strings out of tune (on the sharp side) when you fret them. It's been stored in various bedrooms and lofts for the last 30 years in its original Fender case. There seems to be a theme emerging here, but in this case the Strat has 30-year-old strings on it - could the old strings explain the problem?

Are you pressing too hard when you fret?

Normally, I find it's the thinner strings that give me problems when I fret too hard though.

Kebabkid

I'd bypass all the above shops and go to the very fine Charlie Chandler in Hampton Wick (not be confused with chandlers in Kew) and he'll give you an honest opinion. He can put it up for sale in the shop but he will take 15% commission if it sells. There might be something in there that you could part exchange for.

http://www.guitarexperience.co.uk/

itm

crunchman said:

itm said:

Now the plot is thickening...I just dug out an old Fender Strat that I bought 30 years ago and it has a similar problem - bottom 2 strings out of tune (on the sharp side) when you fret them. It's been stored in various bedrooms and lofts for the last 30 years in its original Fender case. There seems to be a theme emerging here, but in this case the Strat has 30-year-old strings on it - could the old strings explain the problem?

Are you pressing too hard when you fret?

Normally, I find it's the thinner strings that give me problems when I fret too hard though.

I'm beginning to wonder about that. If I apply the lightest possible pressure, very close to the fret, the bottom 2 strings will be in tune up to the 7th fret. At the 7th and above even the lightest touch is slightly sharp (and seems to get worse the harder I pick the string with my right hand). Maybe my touch is a little heavy, and I just need heavier strings on the Strat, but things definitely seem out when I get higher up the neck.

The Yamaha is definitely a problem, as the guy in Charlie Chandlers couldn't keep it in tune either.

Iamnobody

Selling your 30 year old Strat would allow you to buy a new decent quality acoustic and a newer American Strat (probably).

Is that an option for you?

itm

Iamnobody said:

Selling your 30 year old Strat would allow you to buy a new decent quality acoustic and a newer American Strat (probably).

Is that an option for you?

That thought did cross my mind! I don't think mine would fetch much - it's a 1981 (USA) model with the 3-bolt neck which I don't think was very highly regarded. I suspect that I'd be lucky to fund a new Strat plus a worthwhile acoustic from the proceeds.

ICBM

itm said:

That thought did cross my mind! I don't think mine would fetch much - it's a 1981 (USA) model with the 3-bolt neck which I don't think was very highly regarded. I suspect that I'd be lucky to fund a new Strat plus a worthwhile acoustic from the proceeds.

You'd be surprised what those are selling for now, especially if it's in one of the naff 'International' colours! If it's in fairly decent original condition, and you're not sentimentally attached to it, you could sell it for far more than it's actually worth as a player's instrument, and easily buy a nice modern Mexican or Japanese Strat and a good acoustic for the same money. Keep your old Yamaha as a memento if you like it.

richardhomer

itm;342169" said:

it's a 1981 (USA) model with the 3-bolt neck which I don't think was very highly regarded. I suspect that I'd be lucky to fund a new Strat plus a worthwhile acoustic from the proceeds.

Assuming its original and in reasonable condition it would probably sell to the 'right' person for considerably more than it 'ought' to be worth (see the recent 'vintage' thread).

If it's at the lighter end of the scale (Strats had got REALLY heavy by this point), that will help. Trem models are generally worth more than hardtails.

ICBM

richardhomer said:

Trem models are generally worth more than hardtails.

Which is ironic (especially considering the lack of iron ) since from the mid-70s they used the awful one-piece soft alloy bridge blocks and saddles. The soft block not only kills the tone, it causes tuning problems since it isn't hard enough to hold a proper knife edge at the pivot point. The trem arm threads often strip too.

The hardtails got the alloy saddles but at least retained the pressed-steel baseplate.

Any '81 Strat in reasonable original condition is probably 'worth' at least a grand now... which may come as something of a shock .

itm

A grand? Good grief are you sure? Sadly it's a hardtail (I remember wanting to avoid the trem because of problems keeping them in tune). Maybe if the FG180 proves uneconomical to repair I'll take the Strat down to Guitar Guitar in Epsom and see what trade-in options there are.

itm

itm said:

A grand? Good grief are you sure? Sadly it's a hardtail (I remember wanting to avoid the trem because of problems keeping them in tune). Maybe if the FG180 proves uneconomical to repair I'll take the Strat down to Guitar Guitar in Epsom and see what trade-in options there are.

Oh and the Strat's a sunburst with rosewood fretboard. Is that an advantage?

richardhomer

Sunburst is probably one of the better colours from that period - '81 was the year of The International Series, which came in all kinds of bizarre colours.

I hope this doesn't sound patronising but I would be very careful about taking it to a shop to do a p/ex deal. This is just the type of guitar where they will try to persuade you (as a seller) is worth hardly anything and then convince the buyer it is a vintage gem!

I would talk to some of the more serious vintage dealers about the possibility of them selling it on consignment for you. They will probably take a chunky (circa 20%) commission but you are likely to net more than throwing it at a part exchange deal.

It is probably (at retail) worth more than £1000, assuming the finish is original, the pick-ups and hardware are original and it's in good overall condition.

ICBM

itm said:

A grand? Good grief are you sure? Sadly it's a hardtail (I remember wanting to avoid the trem because of problems keeping them in tune).

Yes, I'm sure. For comparison there is a '79 in the shop I work in for £1,299. *In my opinion* they are not worth this as guitars - like you probably, I remember when you could barely give away these heavy, poorly-fitting, shrill-sounding guitars - but it is a fact of the market that they are now perceived as "vintage" and sell for that sort of money, despite being the very guitars which really got the whole vintage thing going originally by being so poor compared to 50s and 60s ones!

I disagree slightly with richardhomer about the hardtails too - I think they're worth about the same as the trem models due to being quite a bit rarer, as well as not having the poor soft-alloy bridge block. Sunburst is a good colour, won't put anyone off - and rosewood boards don't suffer from the flaking of the over-thick clear finish on the fingerboard like maple ones do.

Assuming it's in average to good condition and is all original I wouldn't take much less than that if you sell it privately, or the equivalent trade-in price (probably about £600-£700 against something of similar face value) to a shop.

itm

Thanks - interesting stuff. So if went down the route of selling it privately is Fleabay the best bet, or is there a better channel out there for this sort of thing?

ICBM

Put it in the classifieds here with good pictures - although be warned, there are a lot of tyre-kickers - or put it on consignment/agency at a shop… they will take a commission but can usually get a higher price so it probably works out about the same.

Fleabay is a minefield and I would not recommend selling a valuable guitar on there - too much can go wrong if you have to ship it to a buyer who has not come and paid in cash. There is also a large commission to pay (both on the sale price and the Paypal transaction if paid for that way, which is most likely) which makes the one a shop will charge look like less of a rip-off.

Is it actually a nice guitar? Not all are heavy or shrill-sounding, even though most are - some even have nice necks too, although getting one that has all three things right at once was pretty rare by '81. And finding one which is all those and the neck doesn't move about in the pocket is getting close to rocking-horse-dropping territory, but things can be done about that.

richardhomer

Given the likely age of the buyer, you might want to consider a free ad in the back of Guitarist. I've only ever sold cheaper items that way but have always found the people who responded to be very straight-forward - none of that 'would you take my old fridge in part-ex' stuff...