D'Angelico Guitar Setup.m4v
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- Опубліковано 6 чер 2010
- Guitar setup on a modern D'Angelico Excel jazz box. This highlights some of the problems associated with factory guitars like these and some possible solutions. Some good tips on slotting / fitting a bone nut as well as wooden bridge selection... ww.archtop.ie
Everyday, each time I pick up my guitar, or my computer, I realize just how little I know. At 64, I hope to have enough years left, to gain on my "lack of knowledge". Thank you, very much for the video. Now, to find someone in the state of Louisiana that can do such work!!!!
Beautiful bridge, great craftsmanship!
Very informative and very interesting. One can almost hear the difference.
beautifully done, very informative, thanks!
A Splendid Insight, To Great Skill. Terrific Work And Joe Pass As Well !. Lovely !. Greetings From Scotland.
Thanks for having good jazz as background music... SO tired of UA-cam videos with blaring rock or hillbilly picking or God knows what other kind of garbage as accompaniment... I could watch this and not come away with a headache. Archtops and real jazz are the perfect match! I actually have this track in my collection somewhere, recognize the performance but can't recall the guitarist right now.
epf1961 Joe Pass - Cavalerie, off the album For Django!
John,
I also prefer the look and feel of the bone nut rather than plastic. I've enjoyed watching and learning. Excellent video !
Dude, this was awesome. I wish I could just hire you to do mine.
Great video ! very helpfull for the future...Thanks
@downhoe Thanks :) Phenomenal playing, as always from Joe!...
I'll find it and check it out again.
Good video btw!, Beautiful Guitar!
thanks for the help man keep it up!
Very nice work. The first thing I do with any recently aquired instrument (not always new) is to change the nut to bone. It makes a great deal of difference to the tone and I often find the string spacing at the nut is off as well so that gets fixed with the new nut. If anyone cant hear the difference between a bone nut and a plastic one then they need to start training their 'ear.'
superb!
SWEET JOB John Moriarty !!
thanks for the help!
You got this very correct,.. did the same to mine. It plays like butter.The only suggestion I have is use Butchers Wax instead of polish, you can find it at most good hardware stores or look at the website
I installed a graphtech (not bone, but some kind of ceramic material) on a
Hamer Echotone(like a 335) and the result was immediate and very noticeable.
The nut, as well as the bridge, are huge in the overall tonal equation, not to mention playability. Also, watch for loose frets-very common in offshore made guitars. glue 'em.
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Sweet !
@RomantiqueVoyage Music by Joe Pass. The track is 'Cavalerie'. Not sure which album. It's from the Mosiac box set. J
@downhoe I found it my friend! I had it all along, it's on the "for Django" album....
Cheers. :)
John nice work and very thoughtful. Have you any opinion on these less expensive Jazz boxes laminated tops vrs. solid?I've been looking at the Excel and the Guild 150 which has a solid top and is in the same price range. I may even buy direct from thhe Yunzhi Factory for completely solid
BicycleJoe LoFiSoundAndVision In general, bigger archtops with carved solid wood will sound more resonant and are more difficult to amplify - but sound great of course when used properly. Many laminates and pressed-solid tops sound great too and are usually easier to amplify. Of course, If you buy anything without hearing it / trying it, you're taking a chance. I'd factor in the price of a good set-up and don't be surprised if the frets are not perfect 'out of the box'. good luck.
Yes, trying a Guitar and getting the feel of the instrument before one buys is harder and harder to do. Luckily I'm in the NYC and I have the opportunity to try many, however many of the big jazz boxes I'm actually connecting with are out of my budget. Go figure, Champagne taste with a Beer budget!
I was watching for another reason and play only flattop acoustics, and nut material makes a huge difference in tone. I won't say everyone will prefer bone, as I do, but they will hear the difference clearly.
I understand placebos. You make it like I'm persuading people in this direction - I'm not; never have. Bone looks and feels better than plastic - I believe this for sure. As for tone... it's up to you. Also, you could argue that less than 40% of guitarists have good ears (maybe 4%)- so where does that leave us, stats-wise? My advice: suck it and see - what's there to loose? nuff said!
Hello from Canada, John. Thanks for informative instruction. Very useful, I have the D'Angelico EXL-1 (Korean). What do you recommend for pickup height on final setup please?
+Robert Newman In general, I set the pickup close to the strings, about 4mm - 4.5 mm. The neck is straight with only .15mm relief with action at 1.75 - 1.5mm, bass to treble at the 12th fret. This is relevant to how the pickup will sound. I also taper the pole pieces to match the fingerboard radius, then back off the b and high e poles by ear. I listen for the volume difference when playing from the g to the b string. Typically the g will be wound and have a thinner steel core than the b, and will therefore be less sensitive to the magnetic pickup. This is why the b will often 'jump out'. On some older D'armond floating pickups, for example, they notched under the b string to make it weaker. You can observe this with magnetic paper.
Thank you John, much appreciated. I will try this setup and let you know the result.
thanks for this video
at 51sec you announced 'adjust pickup height'
(how) have you done that? I was looking at it myself but wouldn't know how to do it. I feel it's too far away from the strings
+Wouter van Amsterdam
Hello from Canada. I have the D'Angelico EXL-1 and lowered the pole pieces until, to my hear, the sound was not so brittle, especially on the treble strings B and E. Also backing off tone control gave a warmer sound as do flatwound 11's.
John, such a detailed and great workmanship. I wanna do some tweaks on my exl 1 dangelico too. I want to re-radius the fingerboard to 12” (the stock is 16”). May I ask you? Should the radius of the bridge match the radius of the fingerboard? Is it recommended to re-radius the fingerboard? Is there any bad impact to the guitar? Thank you. Any response will be much appreciated!
Thanks for the comment! If you are confident at refretting I'd say go for it. Start with a heavy sandpaper - 60 or 80, then sand to 600/800 in steps. Use fresh paper each time. If you do it accurately I cannot think of any negative effects. Use a radius gauge to match the bridge radius. If you file the nut slots well and set the neck to minimum relief, set the action to 1.8mm to 1.5mm (bass to treble) at the 12th fret. This is a good setting for most jazz styles. Good luck!
John Moriarty so i should reradius the bridge to 12” too, right? And the action height you said (1.8 and 1.5mm), is it measured from the fingerboard or from the first fret?
@@nadtorus Yes, match the bridge radius with the fingerboard. The action is measured from the top of the fret to the bottom of the string on the outer strings at the 12th fret. These measurements will work great with the neck relief set to ~.005" over a 14" length; with the nut slots filed quite low, just clearing the first fret, while fretting the second fret. Sorry to mix imperial and metric but my relief gauge is in inches and I've got used to that! If you don't have a gauge, bridge the frets with a string and the relief gap should be very small, about the thickness of a piece of paper. Of course the frets need to be perfectly level as well.
John Moriarty It’s okay to mix that measure, that’s me that should get used to imperial measurements if I want to learn about luthiery because archtop and jazz were initiated mostly in USA! Thank you so much for your kindness to explain all of these with such detail, John!
Are you a the person repairing the guitar? Where are you located?
If you use the knee from a cow, properly degreased, it should be in the correct range in terms of density. I've installed so many of these and folks like them - often reporting dramatic tonal improvement. This could be more apparent when replacing a hollow molded plastic piece, for example. Broadly; different materials will result in the string loosing its energy in different ways, producing different sound qualities. Anyway, bone also looks and feels beautiful when polished.
What year was this Excel made?
What about the electronics? I've had my EXL - 1 for 2 weeks the volume pot is cutting out and the pickup is just not loud enuf!
It could be a bad contact in the pot or a number of other things. If you bring it to a luthier they can clean the pots and check the pickup / connections etc.
I wonder what's the name of the player?
Given the otherwise nice appointments, finish, and 4 figure price, you'd think they could get the bridge at least close.
At 1:57 the felt under tail will, no mater what, dampen the top's resonating some what.
+Mark Harris The felt doesn't make contact when the strings are on. It's there to stop the heavy tailpiece slapping against the body during maintenance - which easily happens even when you're careful!
!0-4 Mea Culpa !! Great idea ...
Parts of the tailpiece tends to unravel on this model if heavy flats are used.
How is that possible? Can anyone verify his claim? It sounds dubious to me. - Peter age 72
Imagine your guitar nut was made from dense rubber, and how it might sound. Then imagine the difference with a replacement made from an extremely hard material such as cow bone. If you can't hear it then, yes, it's probably a myth.
what's the track man???