The use of the epoxy putty and plastic wrap to create a viable ‘chicken head’ knob was the highlight of the Eko segment. This will be filed in my mental lockbox. Thanks!
On the Eko the pickup switch selector is not stock. It's a made in USA probably a Chicago company plastic switch as found on old Harmonys and Kays. The original has a distinctive acute triangular shape with black pinstriping. I really enjoy the videos you make.
With that flat side on the shaft the stock knob could have had a set screw to attach it. Regardless neat trick to make the supplied one work. I enjoyed your counting in powers of 2 😊
I agree. I think the selector knob has been replaced. At 20:40 or so we see the inside of the existing selector has internal splines, but the switch would have had a knob with a grub screw.
That EKO is the first guitar I ever had. I've been trying to find out what it was for years. I even painted a Gibson logo on the headstock. That was over fifty years ago and I've finally seem another one. Thank you so much...
My original take was that the knob is a replacement from the original and too much of a lever for the pot, hence it overcoming the resistance of the tightening nut. Seeing the flat on the shaft confirms and compounds the problem. Nice solution by Ted.
Just saw an original on Reverb that has a different switch "knob" that shows the big arrow part of the correct piece pointing away from the pickup indicators so that the little short part actually points at the selection without obscuring the choice. As always, wonderful video!
@@desmondcole4300 The St. Vincent model came first. I want to say 2013? Anyway, Omar played that model a lot (there's many pics/videos of him using it during the At The Drive-In reunion), so it no doubt served as inspiration for the Mariposa - which came out 2017 if i'm not mistaken
When you said the delaminated finished looked ghostly, this came into my head: "That her face, at first just ghostly · Turned a whiter shade of pale." Beautiful work. Thanks.
Depending on personality and upbringing saying "no" can indeed be tough. For me it helped a lot to try and find more mellow/nice versions of no, like e.g. "okay, but not right now" or "Sure, we can schedule that work to be done (in a couple of weeks)" when it concerns scheduling for instance. Maybe that way you don't feel like you have to be 'mean' to some people
Every EKO I've ever seen up close (acoustic or electric) has had major finish cracks. I don't know what they sprayed them with, but it's like their trademark. They also made some Vox guitars with the same issue.
My sterling stingray also has a truss rod that needed to be cranked all the way to have any effect on the neck. Can I expect it to be a complete write off within a few years?
Love this channel. Been subbed for years on multiple phones aka multiple UA-cam accounts lol n I've not only never owned a guitar but i don't sing and i have no musical skills lol but he's just that awesome
Ted, this episode is great. I loved the fixes on the Echo. The epoxy trick is going in the memory banks. Customer would benefit from a refret to get max neck width for sure. And a 3D printed neck pickup ring!
Just takes practice. The thing that helped me to be able to solder pretty well, is building guitar pedal kits. Build a couple, and you get a pretty good feel for it after that.
I had the same problem with the truss rod in a Sterling Mariposa. Returned to Guitar Center, informed them of the problem, they placed it back on the wall before I left.
I looked up more copies of the Eko Model 290 and sure enough, it's the wrong knob. Someone must've broken the fragile, probably broken, factory knob with that knob meant for a knurled shaft. The factory knob was a similar shape and color but had a pointer opposite the paddle. having the paddle over the indicators seemed wrong.
I have one of those EKOs. that is not the correct knob at all for the selector and if it was, you would have installed it backwards. They're generally installed with the long part pointing in so you can toggle it without reaching as far.
When someone BOOKS a job, tell him to not bring any extra guitars at that time. Every guitar needs to be booked in advance. Put that out there from the very start.
I went to the serlingbymusicman site and the specs for the Mariposa state that the Truss Rod is a "Dual Action" so, maybe that accounts for the resistance you were feeling. My Lowden guitar also has the same ridiculous Truss Rod access location as the Larrivee, and "required" a special wrench to reach it. The wrench cost something like $40 way back then and had to be ordered directly from Lowden. 🤣The music store I purchased the Lowden from had an official wrench, so I made a tracing of it, then figured out how to make my own. It only took a few minutes to come up with a DIY design that cost me nothing except a little ingenuity and items I had laying around. Here is the design if you want to make your own, and doesn't require a Blowtorch to make, or taking off the strings to use. This assumes your guitar has the same basic design as my Lowden. 🤓 1. Copper Tubing, about 10.5 inches in length, outer diameter 3/8 inch, inner diameter 1/4 inch. 2. L-Shape Hex Wrench: Long leg 2 and 3/8 inches, Short leg 1 and 1/4 inch long. The Hex size I needed is 3/8 inch or 5mm. 3. Masking Tape 4. Hacksaw (to cut the tubing and possibly the Hex Wrench to the correct lengths) 5. Wrench or hammer A. Bend the Copper Tube so it forms the letter "J" with a sharp bend where the short leg of tube points up. That short length should be 2 inches long, and be parallel to the long tube at a distance of about 2.5 inches away. B. Use the wrench hammer to flatten the tube some on both sides where you bent it. The will give it some extra strength against the torque of turning the Truss Rod. C. Slip the long leg of the Hex Wrench into the short leg of the rod such that the short leg of the Hex is facing away from the long leg of the tube. It should like like the letter "J" with the short leg of the Hex Wrench sticking out and pointing to the left. D. Use some masking tap to fasten the Hex to the tube so it wont slip out. You may need to compress the tub a little to hold the Hex in place. E. Slip the bottom part of your new "J" Hex Wrench between the D and G String and poke around until the end of the Hex Wrench fits into the Hex Nut on the hidden end of the Truss Rod. Then turn the long leg of the tube to the left or right to tighten or loosen the Truss Rod. Wiggle the device to pull it out of the Hex Nut when done. 😎
Ted, as an independent repair guy who has experienced several work droughts where the phone just doesn't ring for a couple of weeks, I'd say you're in a pretty good (if tiring) place, buddy.
I had one of those Ekos about 30 years ago. It was bloody awful, it had about as much sustain as a banjo. That laquer felt about an inch thick and the tremolo arm was bizarre, seemed to be 2 feet long!
Why do you add solder and not just flux? Not knocking it because sometimes the solder is easier to reach for than the flux, but by adding more solder what you're really adding is flux. Try flux free solder or adding only flux if you don't believe me. Cheers and big fan of your channel.
something odd about the neck PU on the stirling. i noticed a resistor on the pot,next to a cap, a treble/bass bleed circuit, and was wondering if something else in there was shorted or disconnected.
I’m really disappointed with all those problems on a new Sterling. I own a US-made Music Man StingRay and it’s the highest-quality guitar I’ve ever owned.
@@PsionicAudio Psionic, It took me awhile (today) to realize who you are! I love your channel! I actually had my guitar tech do your Rickenbacker push/pull mod to my Walnut 360/12 recently. It’s fantastic! I had him view the videos and requested the exact same change. When he played it he loved it. Thank you very much for posting that great mod!
Reverb has photos of this model/year 290 Eko guitar. (Year not specified) Listed as "Eko 290 model. Acoustic/electric guitar 1960s Black" It appears, the selector switch knob you are dealing with here, is not original. You probably already knew that. The apparent original has a long, triangular knob, with the triangle pointing into the body and the base around the post. It is attached to the post with a set screw, which matches the need of the existing switch.
Larvae, Shawn in the Oxnard shop when it first started Shawn or Shun, laughed at my first guitar I learned on and Michael Tobias helped me out back in 1982 help me out with making me an electric guitar and a 1 piece birch P-bass. Both were way to heavy again I was young and dump. Who knew I was living with premature degenerative disk disease and from 5' 10" to 5' 4" now at 66, plus crippling arthritis. It only started from my 50, so the last 10 to 15 years ago. So Suan laughed at me and I wanted to work for free over there just to learn back in the 1990's. So he laughed and I was going to build my guitars with or without his help. I wanted to make acoustic guitars, but my wife said, make electric guitars first so 2010 to now I'm almost completed 2 guitars. One my design and a odd looking Strat. 2 this year's and 2 per year to make jigs to reproduce the same builds while selling or taking on as much as not to being cautious! Cheers!
I gave up on Sterling after a string of bad QC. Not saying all Sterlings are that way, a friend's JP got me interested in the first place, but just about every single one I've personally purchased "New In Box" has had some or all of the issues shown in the video-- broken soldering joints, questionable truss rod, etc., etc., etc.. Plus a couple had S-curves in the neck. Again, not saying that they're all terrible, but still, shouldn't have to shell out additional not-setup moneys for a "new" guitar just to get it passably playable.
I have that same Mariposa. Got it from Musicians friend, stupid deal of the day. Came "new" but in a Jackson box. They had to call me to let me know that it would ship from a GC in Texas in the non-original box... I said, as long as it's not off the wall! My string alignment felt off so I sort of cut another groove for the E string because it felt like I was falling off the fretboard a bit. I too have a truss rod that is maxed out. It will not easily move... As for the pick ups, I gutted it for brighter and punchier pick ups and went volume/tone with push pull pot to split the coils. It's a fun guitar and with a little work, it's an overall good buy. Not worth 600 USD in my opinion though.
Given that it's not the original switch knob anyway, I think I would have replaced it with a white 'chicken head' with a tightening screw onto that flatted shaft. Most photos of the Eko 290 show the long triangular 'tail' of the knob facing away from the pickup legend plate with just a small pointy bit facing towards the pickup choice. What were they smoking?
That pickup selector switch shaft is just a 'D' shaft. Not uncommon back in the day. I'm not an Eko guru but I suspect the knob is not original to the guitar. Knobs to fit 'D' shafts are available, or if you use a knob with a set screw, the set screw can bind against the flat when tightened.
I'm working on exactly the same type of Eko in exactly the same colour. The pickup selector switch is a very odd thing. The knob for the selector switch is not the original, on the one you were working on. I've just done a complete rewiring of mine recently and it's been..... interesting to see all the stuff that was inside this guitar. I'm looking for that metal part that's sitting behind the bridge, I wouldn't know what it's called and I certainly can't find one. Of course I'm spending way too much money on fixing mine, way more than it's worth probably, but it's just very pretty.
is the "Happy Little Repairs" title a tribute to the late cable television artist Bob Ross's "happy little trees", perchance? BTW, with my ham-fisted soldering technique, i would have melted the insulation off of at least two of the wires, unsoldered a couple more and been lucky to have not started a fire in the process. ...you probably think i'm trying to be funny. :( about every hi-fi stereo had splined knobs with a half moon shape like those on that guitar back in the 50-70's. some even had an integrated grub screw in the side of the knob that bottomed out on the flat part. most were simply friction fit. the outside of the round knobs were also splined and had a tiny indicator molded into to them that would have served as a pointer to the plastic reference plate under the knob. i think i recall them being quite common on automobile radios, IIRC. i distinctly remember owning some sort of electronic device that had that type of knob, it had cracked and fallen off for some reason. being lazy and poor (not a happy coincidence) i didn't have it fixed and remember to this day bruising my thumb and forefinger trying to turn it, ...funny how intense pain, repeatedly associated with an otherwise mundane activity, will fix it in the mind for decades.
We Aussies like Canadians. You just seem to be nice people. You alo don't rant on on like Yankees do for the sole sake of earning more bucks.Always like your work. TJ from Oz.
Thanks for posting these videos. They're a treasure for sure. When customers start bringing up extras that hadn't been prearranged, break out this face. ua-cam.com/video/pSu00EfHcW8/v-deo.html I know It would work on me.
0:59 IMHO no need to be mean about guitar service. Get you some green. I present for your consideration an idea. Unscheduled guitar repair available with an additional 66.6% additional fee. They can pay the devil his due for their sin. I submit this proposal for your review.
I like your suction cup gizmo for forcing glue into cracks but I’m afraid that it will pull glue back out when pulled away from the surface. To alleviate this problem I modified my own by drilling a small hole in it. That way I can cover the hole with a fingertip when pushing and uncover the hole when pulling back so there is less suction to pull glue back out. Concerning the switch lever on that very cool Eko, I have a feeling that it is not original. I’m no expert on 1960s Italian imports, but the flat on the switch shaft looks too smooth to have been filed by hand. My intuition tells me that the original matched the control knobs and was held in place by a miniature set screw. Anyways, nice camera work and another very entertaining video!
The switch knob on the Eko doesn’t seem to me to be original, or the switch itself has been changed. The knob is knurled and the switch post is calling for a flat sided knob. No knurled grooves on it. I like the epoxy fix that you did.
That's some really rushed thicklaid finish to delam in such a fashion. It wasn't built in layers with a thin initial application, that's straight up dipped almost. I know, because it's something i do whenever i want a super glam wood piece for something that doesn't get touched. You do an initial coat, thin it out as thin as it can be without removing it altogether and then dip the part in thick lacquer and then eventually polish it to glass when it does harden. The thing is... if it's touched or flexed, it pops out just as this one did under the screws and at that crack. Identical.
The control wiring of that Mariposa, only two (2) individual volume controls, yet clearly there is some kind of tone capacitor on the neck volume pot, while the bridge pickup volume pot appears to have a treble by-pass circuit! Very interesting.
I bought an Eko bass when I was in the Navy. I was on the USS Nimitz and pulled into Naples in 1977. I bought the bass right on the ship as they allowed vendors to come aboard when we were anchored in port. I taught myself to play on the Eko bass.
What a disappointment that Music Man is… and I do hold to high regard the Cort factory plant! Hope the owner can get a hefty discount on that one, though great work as always!
I only come for the philosophical ponderings
Yup!
That makes for an awkward appointment with the Shrink...
I’m just for the polishing.
And now we know what makes you... never mind.
The use of the epoxy putty and plastic wrap to create a viable ‘chicken head’ knob was the highlight of the Eko segment. This will be filed in my mental lockbox. Thanks!
Omar* Rodriguez Lopez!
On the Eko the pickup switch selector is not stock. It's a made in USA probably a Chicago company plastic switch as found on old Harmonys and Kays. The original has a distinctive acute triangular shape with black pinstriping. I really enjoy the videos you make.
With that flat side on the shaft the stock knob could have had a set screw to attach it. Regardless neat trick to make the supplied one work. I enjoyed your counting in powers of 2 😊
I agree. I think the selector knob has been replaced. At 20:40 or so we see the inside of the existing selector has internal splines, but the switch would have had a knob with a grub screw.
Excellent work as always, Ted! Thanks for sharing some of your day-to-day work with us!
That EKO is the first guitar I ever had. I've been trying to find out what it was for years. I even painted a Gibson logo on the headstock. That was over fifty years ago and I've finally seem another one. Thank you so much...
Hope you're safe from the wildfires Greetings from Wales!...stay safe
I really can't thank you enough for all you've taught me in the last few years.
I’ve learnt a lot too :)
And this is why we are addicted to Ted's channel.
The flat on the switch is by design. The "correct" knob for this should have had a grub screw which tightens against it.
Even a set screw would be a kludge. The "correct" knob would be one meant for a D-shaft pot/switch (fairly common on amps and pedals).
@@DefconMasterStill needs a setscrew against the flat part on the shaft so the knob won't fall off.
My original take was that the knob is a replacement from the original and too much of a lever for the pot, hence it overcoming the resistance of the tightening nut. Seeing the flat on the shaft confirms and compounds the problem. Nice solution by Ted.
Just saw an original on Reverb that has a different switch "knob" that shows the big arrow part of the correct piece pointing away from the pickup indicators so that the little short part actually points at the selection without obscuring the choice. As always, wonderful video!
That switch knob could have had a metal insert that fit up against the flat side of the shaft, and is now missing.
I'm sure many know, but mariposa means butterfly. The shape of the guitar is evocative. Another great video. Thanks!
I have one and it's a blast to play. What I wouldn't do for a "non-Squier" version, though.
Reminds me a lot of the EB St. Vincent model. I wonder which was the chicken and which was the egg
@@desmondcole4300 The St. Vincent model came first. I want to say 2013? Anyway, Omar played that model a lot (there's many pics/videos of him using it during the At The Drive-In reunion), so it no doubt served as inspiration for the Mariposa - which came out 2017 if i'm not mistaken
When you said the delaminated finished looked ghostly, this came into my head: "That her face, at first just ghostly · Turned a whiter shade of pale." Beautiful work. Thanks.
Scott, it’s honestly reassuring to find out that there are others out there with minds that go off in the weird directions that mine does. 😉🤣
..a whiter shade of teaburst
My weekly therapy and well rounded educational TV. We never know what is in store. Philosophy, history, you name it, it's all here.
Peace ✌️
Depending on personality and upbringing saying "no" can indeed be tough. For me it helped a lot to try and find more mellow/nice versions of no, like e.g. "okay, but not right now" or "Sure, we can schedule that work to be done (in a couple of weeks)" when it concerns scheduling for instance. Maybe that way you don't feel like you have to be 'mean' to some people
For the selector switch I'd had gone for a set screw. But then I'm a machinist, I like threads and such.
from Herzog to Bob Ross
You could get a LOT meaner and still be a charming man. Good luck trying anyway. Iconic pronounciation of 'Chicago', too.
Starting at 7:02, tell me I'm not crazy when I'm seeing the squeaky chicken toy reflected on the neck pickup...
Minor detail: The name from the Mars Volta guy is Omar, not Oscar 😊. Great video, as always!
Every EKO I've ever seen up close (acoustic or electric) has had major finish cracks. I don't know what they sprayed them with, but it's like their trademark. They also made some Vox guitars with the same issue.
I laughed at your pronunciation of "Chicago". Sneaky.
My sterling stingray also has a truss rod that needed to be cranked all the way to have any effect on the neck. Can I expect it to be a complete write off within a few years?
Double your price, that will solve the overworking issue.
Love this channel. Been subbed for years on multiple phones aka multiple UA-cam accounts lol n I've not only never owned a guitar but i don't sing and i have no musical skills lol but he's just that awesome
2:46 There's the problem the white wire needs to be reconnected.
Ted, this episode is great. I loved the fixes on the Echo. The epoxy trick is going in the memory banks.
Customer would benefit from a refret to get max neck width for sure. And a 3D printed neck pickup ring!
I’m 65, someday when I grow up I want to be able to solder like you!
Just takes practice. The thing that helped me to be able to solder pretty well, is building guitar pedal kits. Build a couple, and you get a pretty good feel for it after that.
I had the same problem with the truss rod in a Sterling Mariposa. Returned to Guitar Center, informed them of the problem, they placed it back on the wall before I left.
Oh, it's just the wrong knob completely. Looks like it should have a pointer knob with a D-shaft interface. a standard type of electronics knob.
I looked up more copies of the Eko Model 290 and sure enough, it's the wrong knob. Someone must've broken the fragile, probably broken, factory knob with that knob meant for a knurled shaft. The factory knob was a similar shape and color but had a pointer opposite the paddle. having the paddle over the indicators seemed wrong.
That Echo is supposed to have a chicken head knob instead of that big old thing..
Slick fix though..
Do you much time to practice your guitars?
I like your playing by the way.
Never meaner just pickier lol
mm
Been waiting all week for this! Thank you, Ted! We really appreciate the extra work you put in to make these vids, sir. Thank you so, so much!
Always love seeing Eko repairs. I’ll never get rid of my 1980/81 lefty Ranger XII❤
“ If anything it’s more toppy.”
"Action speaks louder than words", while checking the string action. Priceless. 😂
I have one of those EKOs. that is not the correct knob at all for the selector and if it was, you would have installed it backwards. They're generally installed with the long part pointing in so you can toggle it without reaching as far.
Great show as usual. Love seeing the old guitars and the fixes.
Omar Rodriguez Lopez
@slo5283
1 second ago
! This Channel is the best entertainment since The Ren and Stimpy Show ;)
When someone BOOKS a job, tell him to not bring any extra guitars at that time. Every guitar needs to be booked in advance. Put that out there from the very start.
I went to the serlingbymusicman site and the specs for the Mariposa state that the Truss Rod is a "Dual Action" so, maybe that accounts for the resistance you were feeling.
My Lowden guitar also has the same ridiculous Truss Rod access location as the Larrivee, and "required" a special wrench to reach it. The wrench cost something like $40 way back then and had to be ordered directly from Lowden. 🤣The music store I purchased the Lowden from had an official wrench, so I made a tracing of it, then figured out how to make my own. It only took a few minutes to come up with a DIY design that cost me nothing except a little ingenuity and items I had laying around. Here is the design if you want to make your own, and doesn't require a Blowtorch to make, or taking off the strings to use. This assumes your guitar has the same basic design as my Lowden. 🤓
1. Copper Tubing, about 10.5 inches in length, outer diameter 3/8 inch, inner diameter 1/4 inch.
2. L-Shape Hex Wrench: Long leg 2 and 3/8 inches, Short leg 1 and 1/4 inch long. The Hex size I needed is 3/8 inch or 5mm.
3. Masking Tape
4. Hacksaw (to cut the tubing and possibly the Hex Wrench to the correct lengths)
5. Wrench or hammer
A. Bend the Copper Tube so it forms the letter "J" with a sharp bend where the short leg of tube points up. That short length should be 2 inches long, and be parallel to the long tube at a distance of about 2.5 inches away.
B. Use the wrench hammer to flatten the tube some on both sides where you bent it. The will give it some extra strength against the torque of turning the Truss Rod.
C. Slip the long leg of the Hex Wrench into the short leg of the rod such that the short leg of the Hex is facing away from the long leg of the tube. It should like like the letter "J" with the short leg of the Hex Wrench sticking out and pointing to the left.
D. Use some masking tap to fasten the Hex to the tube so it wont slip out. You may need to compress the tub a little to hold the Hex in place.
E. Slip the bottom part of your new "J" Hex Wrench between the D and G String and poke around until the end of the Hex Wrench fits into the Hex Nut on the hidden end of the Truss Rod. Then turn the long leg of the tube to the left or right to tighten or loosen the Truss Rod. Wiggle the device to pull it out of the Hex Nut when done. 😎
Ted, as an independent repair guy who has experienced several work droughts where the phone just doesn't ring for a couple of weeks, I'd say you're in a pretty good (if tiring) place, buddy.
sets up the larrivee for fingerstyle, plays it with a pick. love you ted.
*Omar Rodriguez Lopez 😅
He played guitar for At The Drive-In and The Mars Volta. 👍 Pretty strange looking guitar.
I had one of those Ekos about 30 years ago. It was bloody awful, it had about as much sustain as a banjo. That laquer felt about an inch thick and the tremolo arm was bizarre, seemed to be 2 feet long!
Why do you add solder and not just flux? Not knocking it because sometimes the solder is easier to reach for than the flux, but by adding more solder what you're really adding is flux. Try flux free solder or adding only flux if you don't believe me. Cheers and big fan of your channel.
You’ll be here in Chicago just in time for the ridiculous heat. I apologize in advance.
something odd about the neck PU on the stirling. i noticed a resistor on the pot,next to a cap, a treble/bass bleed circuit, and was wondering if something else in there was shorted or disconnected.
I’m really disappointed with all those problems on a new Sterling. I own a US-made Music Man StingRay and it’s the highest-quality guitar I’ve ever owned.
Note to self: avoid Sterlings.
Why?
Every manufacturer can give you a lemon.
That wiring was poorly designed aside from the bad solder joint. It was a poor intent.
@@PsionicAudio
Psionic,
It took me awhile (today) to realize who you are!
I love your channel! I actually had my guitar tech do your Rickenbacker push/pull mod to my Walnut 360/12 recently. It’s fantastic! I had him view the videos and requested the exact same change. When he played it he loved it.
Thank you very much for posting that great mod!
Raise your prices! That will help curtail bargain hunters and raise revenue while reducing backlog. You don’t need to do EVERY job brought to you!!!
Reverb has photos of this model/year 290 Eko guitar. (Year not specified)
Listed as "Eko 290 model. Acoustic/electric guitar 1960s Black"
It appears, the selector switch knob you are dealing with here, is not original.
You probably already knew that. The apparent original has a long, triangular
knob, with the triangle pointing into the body and the base around the post.
It is attached to the post with a set screw, which matches the need of the existing switch.
Larvae, Shawn in the Oxnard shop when it first started Shawn or Shun, laughed at my first guitar I learned on and Michael Tobias helped me out back in 1982 help me out with making me an electric guitar and a 1 piece birch P-bass. Both were way to heavy again I was young and dump. Who knew I was living with premature degenerative disk disease and from 5' 10" to 5' 4" now at 66, plus crippling arthritis. It only started from my 50, so the last 10 to 15 years ago. So Suan laughed at me and I wanted to work for free over there just to learn back in the 1990's. So he laughed and I was going to build my guitars with or without his help. I wanted to make acoustic guitars, but my wife said, make electric guitars first so 2010 to now I'm almost completed 2 guitars. One my design and a odd looking Strat. 2 this year's and 2 per year to make jigs to reproduce the same builds while selling or taking on as much as not to being cautious! Cheers!
I'd be letting my guitar hero down if I didn't comment that it's Omar Rodriguez-Lopez, not Oscar. Still my fav UA-cam channel tho :p
Happy little accidents for ted to make right
I gave up on Sterling after a string of bad QC. Not saying all Sterlings are that way, a friend's JP got me interested in the first place, but just about every single one I've personally purchased "New In Box" has had some or all of the issues shown in the video-- broken soldering joints, questionable truss rod, etc., etc., etc.. Plus a couple had S-curves in the neck.
Again, not saying that they're all terrible, but still, shouldn't have to shell out additional not-setup moneys for a "new" guitar just to get it passably playable.
I have that same Mariposa. Got it from Musicians friend, stupid deal of the day. Came "new" but in a Jackson box. They had to call me to let me know that it would ship from a GC in Texas in the non-original box... I said, as long as it's not off the wall! My string alignment felt off so I sort of cut another groove for the E string because it felt like I was falling off the fretboard a bit. I too have a truss rod that is maxed out. It will not easily move... As for the pick ups, I gutted it for brighter and punchier pick ups and went volume/tone with push pull pot to split the coils. It's a fun guitar and with a little work, it's an overall good buy. Not worth 600 USD in my opinion though.
What's up with the tailpiece on that EKO? Looks like a spring; some kind of unfathomable vibrato?
Given that it's not the original switch knob anyway, I think I would have replaced it with a white 'chicken head' with a tightening screw onto that flatted shaft. Most photos of the Eko 290 show the long triangular 'tail' of the knob facing away from the pickup legend plate with just a small pointy bit facing towards the pickup choice. What were they smoking?
That pickup selector switch shaft is just a 'D' shaft. Not uncommon back in the day. I'm not an Eko guru but I suspect the knob is not original to the guitar. Knobs to fit 'D' shafts are available, or if you use a knob with a set screw, the set screw can bind against the flat when tightened.
I'm working on exactly the same type of Eko in exactly the same colour. The pickup selector switch is a very odd thing. The knob for the selector switch is not the original, on the one you were working on. I've just done a complete rewiring of mine recently and it's been..... interesting to see all the stuff that was inside this guitar.
I'm looking for that metal part that's sitting behind the bridge, I wouldn't know what it's called and I certainly can't find one.
Of course I'm spending way too much money on fixing mine, way more than it's worth probably, but it's just very pretty.
With the Rebecca Black reference. She actually just dropped her first album since that single.
Did I hear you quoting Rebecca Black when polishing the frets? :)
I’m strictly a Les Paul fan but I liked the shape of the Music Man… looks cheap though. How much are they in USD?
is the "Happy Little Repairs" title a tribute to the late cable television artist Bob Ross's "happy little trees", perchance?
BTW, with my ham-fisted soldering technique, i would have melted the insulation off of at least two of the wires, unsoldered a couple more and been lucky to have not started a fire in the process. ...you probably think i'm trying to be funny. :(
about every hi-fi stereo had splined knobs with a half moon shape like those on that guitar back in the 50-70's. some even had an integrated grub screw in the side of the knob that bottomed out on the flat part. most were simply friction fit.
the outside of the round knobs were also splined and had a tiny indicator molded into to them that would have served as a pointer to the plastic reference plate under the knob. i think i recall them being quite common on automobile radios, IIRC.
i distinctly remember owning some sort of electronic device that had that type of knob, it had cracked and fallen off for some reason. being lazy and poor (not a happy coincidence) i didn't have it fixed and remember to this day bruising my thumb and forefinger trying to turn it,
...funny how intense pain, repeatedly associated with an otherwise mundane activity, will fix it in the mind for decades.
We Aussies like Canadians. You just seem to be nice people. You alo don't rant on on like Yankees do for the sole sake of earning more bucks.Always like your work. TJ from Oz.
Have I ever told you the tragedy of Darth Plagueis the wise? Oh wait wrong podcast. I'll show myself out.
You're Canadian, meaner is not in your DNA, and that's a good thing. Except those Toronto drivers, they know mean!
Thanks for posting these videos. They're a treasure for sure.
When customers start bringing up extras that hadn't been prearranged, break out this face.
ua-cam.com/video/pSu00EfHcW8/v-deo.html
I know It would work on me.
Accessible electronics? Wires with service loops? What were they thinking?
I suspect it's more because of your work reputation. I'd bring you all my acoustics if I lived closer.
0:59 IMHO no need to be mean about guitar service. Get you some green. I present for your consideration an idea. Unscheduled guitar repair available with an additional 66.6% additional fee. They can pay the devil his due for their sin. I submit this proposal for your review.
Brand new with a maxed-out truss rod...ordinarily you'd need to shell out for a Gibson to get that kind of quality!
Wih you would have eplained how that crazy-ass tailpiece worked. It looks like a posh button whammy bridge or something
I like your suction cup gizmo for forcing glue into cracks but I’m afraid that it will pull glue back out when pulled away from the surface. To alleviate this problem I modified my own by drilling a small hole in it. That way I can cover the hole with a fingertip when pushing and uncover the hole when pulling back so there is less suction to pull glue back out.
Concerning the switch lever on that very cool Eko, I have a feeling that it is not original. I’m no expert on 1960s Italian imports, but the flat on the switch shaft looks too smooth to have been filed by hand. My intuition tells me that the original matched the control knobs and was held in place by a miniature set screw. Anyways, nice camera work and another very entertaining video!
Hehe!
"Action speaks louder than words
and I'm a maaan of great experience!"
Which band? And who can add the next two lines?
Wow. An Eko like that one was my very first electric guitar in 1967.
Charge what you should and no waffling I say. My tech never charges me over $60? Seems to low for the work being done.
No, Ted. You are just THAT good and everyone knows it, thus slammmmmmed 🤭
I had an Eko acoustic 12-string. OMG that bitch was hard to fret even though the construction was first rate.
0:10 …. My favorite line is, “youll see that type of thing in them big jobs” I like it because they are all big jobs
If you put out a 10 hour compilation I would sleep to it.. food for thought... watch time will jump immensely
The switch knob on the Eko doesn’t seem to me to be original, or the switch itself has been changed. The knob is knurled and the switch post is calling for a flat sided knob. No knurled grooves on it. I like the epoxy fix that you did.
Looks like EKO did the “Carlton Burst” before Gibson.
You're going to Chicago??? On purpose???? Goooood luck dude.
That's some really rushed thicklaid finish to delam in such a fashion. It wasn't built in layers with a thin initial application, that's straight up dipped almost. I know, because it's something i do whenever i want a super glam wood piece for something that doesn't get touched. You do an initial coat, thin it out as thin as it can be without removing it altogether and then dip the part in thick lacquer and then eventually polish it to glass when it does harden. The thing is... if it's touched or flexed, it pops out just as this one did under the screws and at that crack. Identical.
So scary to hear "maxed out trus rod,no future adjustment" it's like then what!? In a few years or maybe 10 years need a new neck?
The old Eko`s had small frets and was very often delivered with an unusually high string set-up.
Go on Ted takee the neck pickup out to access the switch and find the neck block broken. 😊
Always turns to shit.
The control wiring of that Mariposa, only two (2) individual volume controls, yet clearly there is some kind of tone capacitor on the neck volume pot, while the bridge pickup volume pot appears to have a treble by-pass circuit! Very interesting.
yer awesome dude...i love watching your videos thanks
I appreciate that even though you're swamped with work, you still make enjoyable content for UA-cam.
im not inpressed with this musicman guitar !!! too many problems !! seems poor quality to me !
That white switch is defiantly a wrong replacement.
Probably stolen off a electric fan at a gig because the original one broke and needed one…
I bought an Eko bass when I was in the Navy. I was on the USS Nimitz and pulled into Naples in 1977. I bought the bass right on the ship as they allowed vendors to come aboard when we were anchored in port. I taught myself to play on the Eko bass.
Hi, I think you did put the switch nop the wrong way around.
Als it is not the origional one.
Nice to see you work, thanks.
It's always great watching your videos.
What a disappointment that Music Man is… and I do hold to high regard the Cort factory plant! Hope the owner can get a hefty discount on that one, though great work as always!