Smoothing up and polishing the vintage bridge saddles on a Strat is the most overlooked maintenance tip ever. I started to have a weird buzz on the high E string no matter where I fretted it and I was starting to lose hope until I found this video. When I restrung I noticed there was a burr on the high E string saddle so I smoothed it out as shown at 1:17 and boom, problem solved! Recently, I started having the same problem with the B sting so I can confirm that this really does happen and I can't be the only one... However, I have never seen this issue addressed on any UA-cam video or forum on the internet. This is CLEARLY a must on any guitar with these type of vintage bent steel saddles. Great video, very useful tips!
I lubricate it with oil about twice a year to make sure it never corrodes and keep an eye on it. If I have to I buff it in a similar he does it in the video.
My Strat came from your very shop and it is THEE most awesome and balanced instrument I've ever held and when people hold it they are amazed at how this incredible guitar feels..I've had it 17 yrs and it's as beautiful as the day you guys sent it to me ! Thank you so much...and thanks for your great tips on upkeep !
John is the man! I love how detail oriented he is and his precision !!! I used to work as a CNC operator (the only one in the plant) for a company that makes parts for Fender and I am much Like John with my work ethic, if everyone Put this much care into their work my what an amazing amount of product could be designed! unfortunately its easier said than done and its why Fender Has its amazing custom shop! Love you guys wish I could afford the real deal , but my Squier HSS Affinity does me justice :) its not just a run of the mill guitar anymore after 3 weeks of evenings and weekends tonight She is about to be played for the first time my fingers are already tingly!
John wound up the B and E strings on those vintage tuners like the wizard that he is......for the normal guy like myself , to seat those 2 strings in the center of the tuner and keep it from slipping off while winding it......is a monumental task...!...the 2 thinnest strings are always a challenge on those vintage tuners...
For the two thinnest strings, try putting a tooth pick down in the peg hole after you poke the string in. Then you can tighten the strings without them slipping out of the tuning pegs. When they are tight, just pull the tooth pick out.
You can see he pre-wraps a few times around each peg by hand before winding & with the hand that's not doing the winding KEEPS tension to the peg until it's safe to let go. It's easier than it looks & actually saves time because you need fewer turns of the tuning peg if you first secure the string with a few manual wraps. On non-slotted tuning pegs you can get started by going through the slot hole with the string end then wrapping the string once over & once under the string end, pulling it secure and holding it tight with the right hand & then tuning up the slack with the left as before.
jonas brave I'm not referring to fender standard tuners, but the "vintage"tuners are more of a challenge, it is a different animal....you have to seat the strings in the center of the peg straight in a downward position, then wrap it around the peg, while holding the string in position but because the B and E strings are so thin, it usually slips out even if using your finger to hold it in place when you begin to wrap it....it usually takes me a couple of tries before getting it....this only occurs with the two thinnest strings...it's pretty common.....I guess when you do it for a living, it becomes second nature as in John Cruz case....
John Cruz is a builder /player. I think i spoke to him on the phone thru a sound guy while i was playing at the HOB in Vegas.... I grew up in Fullerton ca. worked at fender in the 70's then helped Leo open musicman the the switch to g&l.... I was friends with john English worked with him & his dad Jay... on tone & setups... Leo said to me many times. More than 2 winds on the machine head will make it stick and go out of tune... Only graphite the nut if you have to.... Clean your guitar every time you change your strings... I still have a strat from John English one of the shop builds we fell in love with... We argued many times on this relic idea.... He was right it will make a lot of money... I Miss John.
If it won't go out of tune if you do the proper stretching and if the windings are one turn below the other. They even increase the tension on the nut without the stringtrees, that's why some guitar techs do more windings. They also want the last turn of the string before it goes down the neck to be below the hole on the tuning peg. The edge of that hole can break strings. The last part of it gets moved during bendings and tuning...if the string breaks on the tuners, that's the main cause.
Agree-how you wind the strings makes all the difference if you're concerned about tuning stability and good downward pressure on the nut. You want the windings to progress evenly down the tuning post. You see Cruz doing this by holding the string down against the headstock with his index finger while the other hand winds the string. If done slowly and carefully, this makes it easy to ensure that the last wind leaves the tuning post as low (close to the surface of the headstock) as possible.
Another tip for setting up the string tree to help keep the high E and B strings come back into tune is to raise up the string tree by turning out the screw so the strings have less break over the nut. That one thing has helped my Strats immensely.
Agree, I like an extra wrap or two on the pegs. One can even reuse the same strings if you ever swap a part elsewhere. I swapped a pickguard, the strings were totally unwound from the pegs intentionally. They went right back on as the strings still had plenty of life left in them. The Strat I bought the seller had cut the strings too short an couldn't figure out why the 9 wouldn't go back on it as he was trying to sell a 5 string in the parking lot out of the trunk of his car. Those saddles& bridge plate need to cleaned up more thoroughly to look new again, just take them off and clean them with WD40, dry them off and put them back on. If you're taking the trouble to polish the saddle notches, just do the rest of it. Then again maybe this guitar is meant to have patina relic elsewhere. I figure the string change is the ideal time to oil Rosewood or whatever Fender uses these days that isn't maple and get any other crud off the fretboard & fret. I do that once a year for that annual string change point, regardless of how many times during a year I changed strings out. I find Q-tips don't retain excessive amounts of solvent or lubricant and the cotton tip threads is easy on spreading it, doesn't take much and the Q-tipis ideal. Anyway, everyone has their own method and cleaners. I've had zero issues with the things others say to never use. the Q-tip is sparingly miserly and controls excessive lubricants so the cleaners others say no to use never mess up the guitar.
Balancing the trem spring tension helps a bunch too. Usually more tension on the bass side springs than the treble side springs, until you get a musical sounding dive with the strings all in tune with each other, during and after trem use.
What surprises me is that a guy who knows so much still has the height adjustment screws poking up so they's dig into the side of the palm. Many of us have figured ways to get around that and make for a much better playing experience.
I went with GraphTech nut, trees, and bridge saddles, plus Fender locking tuners on what was originally a Squier Bullet Strat. My guitar doesn’t go out of tune except with a change in temperature, even with all the bending and using the tremolo-so pretty much the same effect where everything is smooth and slippery, no friction and no slack. Before all that though, it was a nightmare; it was difficult to even get it in tune, any bending immediately de-tuned the guitar, and using the tremolo was absolutely impossible.
Would like to know what other people think of their American Fender Stratocaster Eleit!! Or if you just happened to test one out! I love it's playability an easy up and down neck! I would not trade mine, but was thinking of, making the S-2 SWITCH , near the second tone switch When pushed, work and not lose control of my volume! But besides that I think it's real veritil. Adding That Gibson like sound with and fender, the best of both! I play mine through a Marshall JVM 410 h.
Hi John - How can I get a Fender Custom Shop shirt like your wearing? I'm a 5XL tall. I have a 1989 Strat that you built and I love it - Thanks for all that you do!
The other friction point is behind the saddle, at the oval hole going into the top of the bridge block. You can slide a small piece of electrical insulation on the string so that it does not grab this sharp area or break or go out of tune. Another Rene tip.
i recently sold a John Cruz fiesta red relic strat with a birds eye neck..Lovely guitar..I had it for years, but could never quite gel with it....With some of the money i made fro the sale (i doubled my investment), i purchased an old vintage reissue..although it doesn't have the 'mojo' of the relic, it is so much nicer to play, and sounds far superior..i loved it immediately...I have several custom shop guitars and i love them all, but JC just had something missing for me...
Flitz is the best safest polish you can use on the wood as well as fretboard. Used it for years. They are NAMM usually.. Or Flitz International Waterford ,WI
Good info/technique. Thank you. Kinda surprised you didn't mention cleaning the neck and oiling the wood. When cleaning guitar necks, what product do you use? I've always been told lemon seed oil.
It's the old wax vs. oil thing. I think it depends on the fingerboard wood type, the age and wear of it, the inlay density and the preference of the player. Nothing wrong with lemon seed oil applied in moderation.
IMO the drill buffer should have aimed in the opposite direction. You can see particulate matter blasting into the bridge pup cover. If there's any metal content in that, you have shavings on the polepieces.
+Guitar Whores If there is any oxidation/corrosion of the metal, it would not make any difference if the wheel is Rubber or not, it would spray the pups with particulate matter with a possibly metallic component.
I'd also want it going away from the pickups. One good tip I learned from a luthier is to simply cover the pickups with a dry cloth while buffing the bridge saddles (if you don't want to remove the bridge assembly).
Actually, I was wondering why he didn’t just put a piece of good ‘ol 3M masking tape over the pups while you perform this operation... just a thought... idk? Lol.
Did you ever consider that maybe just maybe any kind of tiny microscopic particles in this situation just aren’t going to actually cause a problem? I think you guys are just overreacting. It’s not a big deal. This guy is the top master builder fender has. lol but hey if you’ve read the forums guys go insane about little,things like that swearing it will totally destroy your pickup and ruin your guitar etc. again overreaction
hai thanks for video , i want to ask about pickup and pots wiring, is the voltage of caps like an 160v&200v&400v&600v take effect or not for sound or its important influence or notthing???
So do you pre-cut your strings to a specific length before winding? I see that you're just putting the strings in the tuners and winding tight right away. I have excess to cut off AFTER winding (though I have the hole going through the tuner pegs instead of that hole in the top of the pegs like on this video).
I notice he makes no mention of the break angle of the strings over the nut. I wonder if there is an ideal angle for tone and for tremolo usage? The low E ends up having the sharpest angle when you wind down the post, as John does here. Eddie Van Halen used to wind the low E up the post, believing a shallower angle helped prevent the string from getting hung-up in the nut when using the trem.
I use graphteck ferroglides or string savers and graphite all in the nut and string tree, nut and string tree are Tusk,no Mettle to mettle contact,i never break strings or go out of tune.
The top of my saddles have turned black and I can’t get it off. The guitar is only 2 years old. What actually causes this ‘blackening’? Is it corrosion from sweat or?...
I have an American Dlx with the LSR roller nut. I don't use the trem so I decked it using 5 springs and tightening the claw screws but it still won't stay in tune. Strings immediately go flat on bends (well stretched strings). I think the strings are binding in the roller nut but that's the problem that roller nuts are supposed to eliminate and I don't know what to do about it. Any ideas?
Were the strings already pre-cut or did he just not cut and utilize the full (uncut) string. Anyone? I've always used the "2 tuning post" rule of thumb then cut, but can never get more than 1-1/12 wrap.
though if you do want to touch it up, if its a lacquer finish you just use lacquer of a matching color. If its a poly finish nailpolish. Technically nailpolish is lacquer, but its more suited for brushing in as it drys slower.
Use a teflon grease and apply it by dipping a sringe or a fine needle in it. You can pull the needle through the nutslots and only a small film will be applied instead of a big chunk. graphite from a pencil is a bad idea cause it gets shoved together by the string, that dirt flies around and cause it's magnetic it might get into your pickups and can screw them up.
+onpsxmember Graphite is not magnetic, otherwise your pencil would be attracted (or repelled) by your pickups. Many guitar brands make their guitars with graphite nuts. I "write" with my pencil inside the nut slots just before I put new strings (make a smudge that covers the entire slot cavity) and then the tuning is smooth and no catch ups when bending strings.
I have one of the rosewood front and back neck strats, and has the same saddles, but i cannot get it to set up right, the saddles are sitting at and angles and if i bend a string i have to move the strings back to the middle of the saddle, its a complete pain in the ass , i wish i knew how to fix it without having to pay 120 bucks for a set up for what is basically a brand new strat
This cracks me up.. bringing the relic'd bridge up to 'new' polished condition. Charging $6K for about $400 (if that) of materials. I do love the Cruz Strats though.
I don't think so, but I had a close up experience with Jimi Hendrix's 68 Woodstock Strat and it has a gap. It's a CBS era Strat, but I was still kinda surprised. I have a video of it going up this week and will show it there. Zach
Hotrails height?...Strat...I'm getting some electrical feedback...especially the bridge still fine tuning it...just straight to Marshall mini home amp nothing fancy...One thing I did notice that the 1+2 combo position on the 5 way does sound real good the middle pup is very "low height"and it sounds good not "great" ...and the neck well for the moment$$ I just put the stock bridge pup that it came with...lol...sounds pretty good actually....and yes from my post u can tell I'm a newbie...but I've learned enuff to know my babe Strat could sound better...should I keep on "fiddling it...or go fiddle my wife or/and my "Gibby" Gregg Bennet clone...it does have a great two 'buckers "duncan design" and I love em...great sound bridge...the neck sounds like underwater...So now going 4the pearly gates...not the humbuckers but my wife's "pearly gates" ...cheers love...;0p love 2hear back from u
I alsways wonder about the different saddles from Fender. I know some are stainless steel and the other ones are what we call "Nickel" in germany, dunno about english word. Is there a main difference in tone or playing-feeling? And can one do this method to clean the saddles also on the non-stainless ones? I have the nickel ones and would want to make the surface of it more smooth. Its not 100% even, there are small dots from the nickel and so the strings stick there rather than run smoothly over it when using tremolo. Also, there are sooooooooo many different topics about this in the net where half of the ppl swear theres no difference in tone of various saddles, the other half has people in it that dont even care and the rest says theres a big difference. So what? If there is no difference, why does Fender have 3 different saddles for MiM, MiM Classic Series and US Strats? And i dont mean different sizes and all that, i mean the material used. If there are 3 Strats with vintage saddles, the Standard MiMs have the full chrome-look, exactly like the bridge-ground-plate itself. Then there are the MiM Classics that have a bit differetn materials. Its still chrome and nickelish but this time the color is bit darker as the ground plate. And then we have the US Standard and all that that again have different material. Its not nickeld and doesnt have the chrome look at all. Also it has a darker color than the other 2. These are stainles steel i guess. So why do this? For me it looks that this is a step to make a difference in quality, even if the costs would be the same if all 3 models would get stainless steel. Or is stainless steel so much more expensice as nickeld steel, even with the process to make these 2 meterials? I would be very happy to get some insight here.
I would not use petroleum jelly or oil based anything, I would use silicone grease or graphite aircraft lube. I think Guitar Lube is silicone based so that it won't break down plastic parts like some nuts.
![[柴犬ASMR]曼玉Manyu&小白Bai 毛发护理Spa asmr](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/0TsXQ7z2Dh4/mqdefault.jpg)
The technician Legend that is the Mr John Cruz. Our gain...Fenders loss.
Smoothing up and polishing the vintage bridge saddles on a Strat is the most overlooked maintenance tip ever.
I started to have a weird buzz on the high E string no matter where I fretted it and I was starting to lose hope until I found this video. When I restrung I noticed there was a burr on the high E string saddle so I smoothed it out as shown at 1:17 and boom, problem solved!
Recently, I started having the same problem with the B sting so I can confirm that this really does happen and I can't be the only one... However, I have never seen this issue addressed on any UA-cam video or forum on the internet.
This is CLEARLY a must on any guitar with these type of vintage bent steel saddles.
Great video, very useful tips!
I lubricate it with oil about twice a year to make sure it never corrodes and keep an eye on it. If I have to I buff it in a similar he does it in the video.
The man, when it comes to starts imo, his attention to detail is next to none. His passion for his work is on his sleeve.
I like John. His Master builds were stellar when at Fender Custom Shop. 😀
My Strat came from your very shop and it is THEE most awesome and balanced instrument I've ever held and when people hold it they are amazed at how this incredible guitar feels..I've had it 17 yrs and it's as beautiful as the day you guys sent it to me ! Thank you so much...and thanks for your great tips on upkeep !
John is the man! I love how detail oriented he is and his precision !!! I used to work as a CNC operator (the only one in the plant) for a company that makes parts for Fender and I am much Like John with my work ethic, if everyone Put this much care into their work my what an amazing amount of product could be designed! unfortunately its easier said than done and its why Fender Has its amazing custom shop! Love you guys wish I could afford the real deal , but my Squier HSS Affinity does me justice :) its not just a run of the mill guitar anymore after 3 weeks of evenings and weekends tonight She is about to be played for the first time my fingers are already tingly!
its funny making the old parts looking new and making them look old again.
Thank you John! It's awesome to get info straight out of the Fender Custom Shop! I really appreciate you going out of your way to do this!
I love watching John do his maintenance on his relic Guitars so professional and you can understand everything he says !! BW.From the U.K.
Very informative and nice tips! Good job. Bring us more please. 🎸
John wound up the B and E strings on those vintage tuners like the wizard that he is......for the normal guy like myself , to seat those 2 strings in the center of the tuner and keep it from slipping off while winding it......is a monumental task...!...the 2 thinnest strings are always a challenge on those vintage tuners...
For the two thinnest strings, try putting a tooth pick down in the peg hole after you poke the string in. Then you can tighten the strings without them slipping out of the tuning pegs. When they are tight, just pull the tooth pick out.
Paul Leach thank you kindly Sir, I will give it a try next time I change the strings or work on the guitar, which will be soon....
You're most welcome sir!
You can see he pre-wraps a few times around each peg by hand before
winding & with the hand that's not doing the winding KEEPS tension
to the peg until it's safe to let go.
It's easier than it looks & actually saves time because you need fewer turns of the tuning peg if you first secure the string with a few manual wraps.
On non-slotted tuning pegs you can get started by going through the slot hole with the string end then wrapping the string once over & once under the string end, pulling it secure and holding it tight with the right hand & then tuning up the slack with the left as before.
jonas brave I'm not referring to fender standard tuners, but the "vintage"tuners are more of a challenge, it is a different animal....you have to seat the strings in the center of the peg straight in a downward position, then wrap it around the peg, while holding the string in position but because the B and E strings are so thin, it usually slips out even if using your finger to hold it in place when you begin to wrap it....it usually takes me a couple of tries before getting it....this only occurs with the two thinnest strings...it's pretty common.....I guess when you do it for a living, it becomes second nature as in John Cruz case....
Very key to a good working tremolo on a strat. I've been doing similar for years, it works great.
excellent tips john, very cool! thank you my friend!
thanks a lot John Cruz - good basic maintenance tips to review.
Great stuff ! At last I was able to get my Strat in tune. Thank you very much.
Some great tips!
I never got Relic'd guitars before I owned one. The feel is completely different, even down to the roadworn ones.
Great video, Thanks John
Excellent tip and technique
Buenos consejos, gracias.
He built my sunburst ‘69 Strat. About 20 years ago.
John Cruz is a builder /player. I think i spoke to him on the phone thru a sound guy while i was playing at the HOB in Vegas.... I grew up in Fullerton ca. worked at fender in the 70's then helped Leo open musicman the the switch to g&l.... I was friends with john English worked with him & his dad Jay... on tone & setups... Leo said to me many times. More than 2 winds on the machine head will make it stick and go out of tune... Only graphite the nut if you have to.... Clean your guitar every time you change your strings... I still have a strat from John English one of the shop builds we fell in love with... We argued many times on this relic idea.... He was right it will make a lot of money... I Miss John.
stevebakerguitar My favorite amp of all time that I used for years was a Musicman RD 100 Greatness
If it won't go out of tune if you do the proper stretching and if the windings are one turn below the other. They even increase the tension on the nut without the stringtrees, that's why some guitar techs do more windings. They also want the last turn of the string before it goes down the neck to be below the hole on the tuning peg. The edge of that hole can break strings. The last part of it gets moved during bendings and tuning...if the string breaks on the tuners, that's the main cause.
Agree-how you wind the strings makes all the difference if you're concerned about tuning stability and good downward pressure on the nut. You want the windings to progress evenly down the tuning post. You see Cruz doing this by holding the string down against the headstock with his index finger while the other hand winds the string. If done slowly and carefully, this makes it easy to ensure that the last wind leaves the tuning post as low (close to the surface of the headstock) as possible.
I have a CS John English strat from 1995. Would love to know more about the man.
It makes sense to polish and lube the saddles. Thanks
Another tip for setting up the string tree to help keep the high E and B strings come back into tune is to raise up the string tree by turning out the screw so the strings have less break over the nut. That one thing has helped my Strats immensely.
Thanx John that's great. Show us more of your secrets.
Agree, I like an extra wrap or two on the pegs. One can even reuse the same strings if you ever swap a part elsewhere. I swapped a pickguard, the strings were totally unwound from the pegs intentionally. They went right back on as the strings still had plenty of life left in them. The Strat I bought the seller had cut the strings too short an couldn't figure out why the 9 wouldn't go back on it as he was trying to sell a 5 string in the parking lot out of the trunk of his car.
Those saddles& bridge plate need to cleaned up more thoroughly to look new again, just take them off and clean them with WD40, dry them off and put them back on. If you're taking the trouble to polish the saddle notches, just do the rest of it. Then again maybe this guitar is meant to have patina relic elsewhere. I figure the string change is the ideal time to oil Rosewood or whatever Fender uses these days that isn't maple and get any other crud off the fretboard & fret. I do that once a year for that annual string change point, regardless of how many times during a year I changed strings out.
I find Q-tips don't retain excessive amounts of solvent or lubricant and the cotton tip threads is easy on spreading it, doesn't take much and the Q-tipis ideal. Anyway, everyone has their own method and cleaners. I've had zero issues with the things others say to never use. the Q-tip is sparingly miserly and controls excessive lubricants so the cleaners others say no to use never mess up the guitar.
Look at that beautiful fretboard....... thats a nice piece of wood...
Balancing the trem spring tension helps a bunch too. Usually more tension on the bass side springs than the treble side springs, until you get a musical sounding dive with the strings all in tune with each other, during and after trem use.
What surprises me is that a guy who knows so much still has the height adjustment screws poking up so they's dig into the side of the palm. Many of us have figured ways to get around that and make for a much better playing experience.
That's gotta be the quickest I've ever seen someone string and tune a guitar, jeez lol
Nice video looking forward to these ideas out when the time is right. Oh and do you guys sell those Custom shop button UP's I totally want one?
Great video
I went with GraphTech nut, trees, and bridge saddles, plus Fender locking tuners on what was originally a Squier Bullet Strat. My guitar doesn’t go out of tune except with a change in temperature, even with all the bending and using the tremolo-so pretty much the same effect where everything is smooth and slippery, no friction and no slack. Before all that though, it was a nightmare; it was difficult to even get it in tune, any bending immediately de-tuned the guitar, and using the tremolo was absolutely impossible.
YEA WHY USE A FUCKING RUBBER !!!!!!!!!!!!!
Graph tech is high quality. An upgraded Squire can actually surpass a Fender if it’s modded awesomely good,
Great a tips.if you got the time to clean the saddle bridges remove them one by one and really detailed it to a shine.
Would like to know what other people think of their American Fender Stratocaster Eleit!!
Or if you just happened to test one out! I love it's playability an easy up and down neck!
I would not trade mine, but was thinking of, making the S-2 SWITCH , near the second tone switch
When pushed, work and not lose control of my volume! But besides that I think it's real veritil. Adding
That Gibson like sound with and fender, the best of both! I play mine through a Marshall JVM 410 h.
John is amazing. Fender was stupid to let this genius go. Maybe I’ll be buying a Gibson Cruz model?
Gibsons are junk, and I have one
@@sccanj I have some great collectors choice ones
How do I remove the groves from my guitar saddle without using the ball thing John uses? Thank you.
Hi John - How can I get a Fender Custom Shop shirt like your wearing? I'm a 5XL tall. I have a 1989 Strat that you built and I love it - Thanks for all that you do!
@Geotubist- he's not "polishing up the relic" he's cleaning up areas of wear and tear from playing. Maintenance.
The other friction point is behind the saddle, at the oval hole going into the top of the bridge block. You can slide a small piece of electrical insulation on the string so that it does not grab this sharp area or break or go out of tune. Another Rene tip.
I love watching people who are good at their craft do what they do. this guy was like watching ballet! that string change made me tear up a bit.
Fascinating.
Dream job. Lucky
i recently sold a John Cruz fiesta red relic strat with a birds eye neck..Lovely guitar..I had it for years, but could never quite gel with it....With some of the money i made fro the sale (i doubled my investment), i purchased an old vintage reissue..although it doesn't have the 'mojo' of the relic, it is so much nicer to play, and sounds far superior..i loved it immediately...I have several custom shop guitars and i love them all, but JC just had something missing for me...
Here's a plug for Rene Martinez: his string lube is GraphitAll, and is available by mail order. Just google the brand name.
Flitz is the best safest polish you can use on the wood as well as fretboard. Used it for years. They are NAMM usually.. Or Flitz International Waterford ,WI
"Back in the saddle again!!!" ;-) LOL
Good info/technique. Thank you. Kinda surprised you didn't mention cleaning the neck and oiling the wood. When cleaning guitar necks, what product do you use? I've always been told lemon seed oil.
It's the old wax vs. oil thing. I think it depends on the fingerboard wood type, the age and wear of it, the inlay density and the preference of the player. Nothing wrong with lemon seed oil applied in moderation.
What is “the stuff”
Dental floss/pick for string nuts. The plastic ones with the pick at the end. No mint or wax, just plain floss.
With buffing up the saddles can you do something similiar with a floyd rose saddle?
John Cruz - what r the components of the cream SRV tech used to lubricate his guitars?
IMO the drill buffer should have aimed in the opposite direction. You can see particulate matter blasting into the bridge pup cover. If there's any metal content in that, you have shavings on the polepieces.
It's rubber, but yeah, should spin the other way to avoid hard ti reach mess.
+Guitar Whores If there is any oxidation/corrosion of the metal, it would not make any difference if the wheel is Rubber or not, it would spray the pups with particulate matter with a possibly metallic component.
I'd also want it going away from the pickups. One good tip I learned from a luthier is to simply cover the pickups with a dry cloth while buffing the bridge saddles (if you don't want to remove the bridge assembly).
Actually, I was wondering why he didn’t just put a piece of good ‘ol 3M masking tape over the pups while you perform this operation... just a thought... idk? Lol.
Did you ever consider that maybe just maybe any kind of tiny microscopic particles in this situation just aren’t going to actually cause a problem? I think you guys are just overreacting. It’s not a big deal. This guy is the top master builder fender has. lol but hey if you’ve read the forums guys go insane about little,things like that swearing it will totally destroy your pickup and ruin your guitar etc. again overreaction
hai thanks for video , i want to ask about pickup and pots wiring, is the voltage of caps like an 160v&200v&400v&600v take effect or not for sound or its important influence or notthing???
Use Navel Jelly for rust. Quick, clean, no wear at all. Great stuff.
So do you pre-cut your strings to a specific length before winding? I see that you're just putting the strings in the tuners and winding tight right away. I have excess to cut off AFTER winding (though I have the hole going through the tuner pegs instead of that hole in the top of the pegs like on this video).
White lithium grease WILL deaden the strings a little. But, tuning stability is definitely increased! A good trade off if using the bar.
what's the name of that grease, lube for the saddles?
do you ever tin your strings?
I notice he makes no mention of the break angle of the strings over the nut. I wonder if there is an ideal angle for tone and for tremolo usage? The low E ends up having the sharpest angle when you wind down the post, as John does here. Eddie Van Halen used to wind the low E up the post, believing a shallower angle helped prevent the string from getting hung-up in the nut when using the trem.
I think this guy made my Clapton. Perfect job.
he got fired in 2020
@@italianbaboon9970 He should have never been fired, it was ridiculous and asymmetrical. Fenders loss, he is killing it making his own custom guitars.
I noticed you run your string tree real high. I can I tell the optimum position for mine?
Coolest cat ever. Hopefully will have one of his starts before I die!
I use graphteck ferroglides or string savers and graphite all in the nut and string tree, nut and string tree are Tusk,no Mettle to mettle contact,i never break strings or go out of tune.
Tha MAN!!!
What are those mini drill wheels called, the rubber one and the miniature buffer ? good stuff.
The tool is a Dremel. The rubber polishing wheels are available online at Stew-Mac.
Thanks Kenny, much appreciated. cheers
So any formula for the string lube aka nut lube bridge lube?
I have a srv strat i just noticed the tuners are staggerd apposite, are they supposed to be like that because of the flipped bridge?
The top of my saddles have turned black and I can’t get it off. The guitar is only 2 years old.
What actually causes this ‘blackening’? Is it corrosion from sweat or?...
Step one: Know SRV's old guitar tech so you can aquire "The Stuff"
how does he not say what it's called lol
@@caivsivlivs It's GraphitAll
It's mayonnaise
@@caivsivlivs Uh BB uh BB39
White lithium grease at auto parts store
I have an American Dlx with the LSR roller nut. I don't use the trem so I decked it using 5 springs and tightening the claw screws but it still won't stay in tune. Strings immediately go flat on bends (well stretched strings). I think the strings are binding in the roller nut but that's the problem that roller nuts are supposed to eliminate and I don't know what to do about it. Any ideas?
Were the strings already pre-cut or did he just not cut and utilize the full (uncut) string. Anyone? I've always used the "2 tuning post" rule of thumb then cut, but can never get more than 1-1/12 wrap.
excellent vid, any tips how how one may touch up a very small paint nick?
Don't do it. Keep the nicks. I hate when people relic guitars, but when they are naturally worn they are beautiful.
though if you do want to touch it up, if its a lacquer finish you just use lacquer of a matching color. If its a poly finish nailpolish. Technically nailpolish is lacquer, but its more suited for brushing in as it drys slower.
On rust removal, have you ever tried gun oil and a "wheat" penny? kills the rust without changing the surface.
Miss cruz.
what is the ingredient for SPring LuBE thanks John, also what kind of strings did you use ?
The string lube he used is available here: www.texasguitarwhiz.com/products/graphitall-white
Nice. TY.
so what is "this stuff" that is being used as lube?
What’s the rubber wheel he’s using?
What is that Secret Sauce lube stuff that you mentioned?
N2F1 mayonnaise
Use a teflon grease and apply it by dipping a sringe or a fine needle in it. You can pull the needle through the nutslots and only a small film will be applied instead of a big chunk.
graphite from a pencil is a bad idea cause it gets shoved together by the string, that dirt flies around and cause it's magnetic it might get into your pickups and can screw them up.
I've use graphite & 3 in One Oil for years never had an issue.
+onpsxmember Graphite is not magnetic, otherwise your pencil would be attracted (or repelled) by your pickups. Many guitar brands make their guitars with graphite nuts. I "write" with my pencil inside the nut slots just before I put new strings (make a smudge that covers the entire slot cavity) and then the tuning is smooth and no catch ups when bending strings.
It’s called big bends nut sauce
When he loved the same 11 to 49 ❤❤❤❤ pretty common I know… still..
Nice
I have one of the rosewood front and back neck strats, and has the same saddles, but i cannot get it to set up right, the saddles are sitting at and angles and if i bend a string i have to move the strings back to the middle of the saddle, its a complete pain in the ass , i wish i knew how to fix it without having to pay 120 bucks for a set up for what is basically a brand new strat
What is that 'sauce' from Rene Martinez?
This cracks me up.. bringing the relic'd bridge up to 'new' polished condition. Charging $6K for about $400 (if that) of materials. I do love the Cruz Strats though.
Uhh...so what is the substance you rubbed on the saddles???
My Stratocaster has rust on the bridge too - it built up after playing the goddamned thing for thirty years, no artificial aging required.
Is there another alternative way to clean the saddles like John does?
Jacob Zirkin you can just use sand paper but it’s more fiddly. Maybe some 400 grit followed by finer grits / polishing compound to shine it back up.
Does John Cruz only build strats? Or is there a John Cruz Tele?
Teles too
What bridge is that? The plate looks thick and more like a milled plate rather than bent steel like a Fender bridge plate.
Is normal to have a neck gap on the bass side, on a high grade luthier guitar ? I don't think so....what do think about it ? Regzrds from France
I don't think so, but I had a close up experience with Jimi Hendrix's 68 Woodstock Strat and it has a gap. It's a CBS era Strat, but I was still kinda surprised. I have a video of it going up this week and will show it there. Zach
So, what's the mystery lube? Looks like white lithium
is that a 62 strat?
Is that a poly finish?
Good point :)
A Strat reminds me of a classic car without automatic windows.
that shop would smell fucking amazing.
beer and ball schwett
Deerock lol
Hotrails height?...Strat...I'm getting some electrical feedback...especially the bridge still fine tuning it...just straight to Marshall mini home amp nothing fancy...One thing I did notice that the 1+2 combo position on the 5 way does sound real good the middle pup is very "low height"and it sounds good not "great" ...and the neck well for the moment$$ I just put the stock bridge pup that it came with...lol...sounds pretty good actually....and yes from my post u can tell I'm a newbie...but I've learned enuff to know my babe Strat could sound better...should I keep on "fiddling it...or go fiddle my wife or/and my "Gibby" Gregg Bennet clone...it does have a great two 'buckers "duncan design" and I love em...great sound bridge...the neck sounds like underwater...So now going 4the pearly gates...not the humbuckers but my wife's "pearly gates" ...cheers love...;0p love 2hear back from u
I alsways wonder about the different saddles from Fender. I know some are stainless steel and the other ones are what we call "Nickel" in germany, dunno about english word. Is there a main difference in tone or playing-feeling? And can one do this method to clean the saddles also on the non-stainless ones?
I have the nickel ones and would want to make the surface of it more smooth. Its not 100% even, there are small dots from the nickel and so the strings stick there rather than run smoothly over it when using tremolo.
Also, there are sooooooooo many different topics about this in the net where half of the ppl swear theres no difference in tone of various saddles, the other half has people in it that dont even care and the rest says theres a big difference. So what?
If there is no difference, why does Fender have 3 different saddles for MiM, MiM Classic Series and US Strats? And i dont mean different sizes and all that, i mean the material used. If there are 3 Strats with vintage saddles, the Standard MiMs have the full chrome-look, exactly like the bridge-ground-plate itself. Then there are the MiM Classics that have a bit differetn materials. Its still chrome and nickelish but this time the color is bit darker as the ground plate. And then we have the US Standard and all that that again have different material. Its not nickeld and doesnt have the chrome look at all. Also it has a darker color than the other 2. These are stainles steel i guess.
So why do this? For me it looks that this is a step to make a difference in quality, even if the costs would be the same if all 3 models would get stainless steel. Or is stainless steel so much more expensice as nickeld steel, even with the process to make these 2 meterials?
I would be very happy to get some insight here.
I would not use petroleum jelly or oil based anything, I would use silicone grease or graphite aircraft lube.
I think Guitar Lube is silicone based so that it won't break down plastic parts like some nuts.
John Cruz,, My Loan star Start has the finish chipping off at the neck on the nut side of the frets,, any ideas?
John charges about $6,000-$8,000.00 for a reliced guitar like that...Just saying.......
Avalanche1368 what does he do hit it with a dremel?
Basically, yes