Awesome. Guitar Tech here: ADVICE POST Best tip there is? When buying tech gear, you can usually pickup a non 'luthier-specialised' tool that will do the job from Home Depot/ B&Q/Selco for less than a fifth of the price. Luthier didn't create carpentry tools, or steel rules! Buy them from carpentry retailers! Buy micro-mesh pads instead of steel wool/sandpaper for fingerboard/fretwire maintenance. Use less Lem-oil than you think you need. Want strings to last? Try coated. Clean down the strings on all sides after each session. Tentatively use a cloth with WD40 to slick them up for cheap. Stretch them more than you can emotionally take when you first restring. Every time you restring, clean the finger gunk from the fingerboard and crevices of the fretwire! Improve playability? Polish the fretwires! Feels almost as drastic as new strings when done right. Clunky machineheads? Take them apart, spray/dab with WD40! Rusty hardware/screws? Soak in a tub of apple vinegar overnight, carefully scrub with an old toothbrush. Sound sucks? Experiment with pickup height first! Then capacitors. Then new pups! Mike placement is everything, and that's what they are! Noisy electronics? Compressed air to clean dust. Electrician's tape to cover over exposed wires. Purchase copper shielding tape to insulate all of the electronics cavities! Grounding issue? Try clean solder. Suck at soldering? Buy solderless. Truss rod stuck? Dab WD40 in with a q-tip/cotton bud, leave soak, repeat if necessary. Polishing? Buy a microfiber pad for car polishing from Asda/Walmart for a buck/quid. Over and out.
steamer2k I wouldn't expect 3 in 1 to penetrate very far. I'd try aerokroil (best) / PB blaster / liquid wrench (penetrating oils, actually made exactly for getting stuff like this unstuck).
James Cooper They aren't really an improvement in terms of tone, tuning stability, or playability. They are great for stage performances especially if you like to jump around but aren't and improvement to the guitar "where it counts".
Phil Duggan Yeah, whilst they have zero effect on playability etc I believe they are one of the greatest ways to "improve" your guitar as it prevents damage and embarrassing moments onstage
FunkyDrummer A lot of modern, bigger brand guitars do yeah. So many people, including myself play budget guitars that just don't include them, they're included because of how useful they are so I feel like they're a great improvement for a great deal of guitars thst don't have them
I have a few tips of my own 1. Adjust string height on the bridge 2. Use a hard shell case as guitar work station 3. If your nut slots are too narrow for bigger strings make them wider with a finger nail file 4. Use car wax to get rid of surface scratches 5. Use head phones on your amp instead of playing electric unplugged if you don't wanna wake the neighbors 6. Use second hand carpet for acoustic panels if you can't afford them 7. Learn to wire an electric guitar and buy a soldering gun 8. Buy an audio recorder to remember riffs or songs you've created 9. Realize one of the biggest differences between cheap and expensive guitars is how well/long they stay in tune 10. Lastly buy a Stratocaster if it's your first or second guitar and customize it yourself
Check your pickup height! If you're not getting the tone you want, it can make a big difference. You may not even have to shell out the bucks for a new set.
Polishing frets, and cleaning the fretboard is MAJOR, I've been using the same guitar cleaning kit that you use ever since I started playing, and it's only about 20 bucks, not much money to make a hell of a difference, as for the fret polishing, I use planet waves fret polishing system which is just a little polishing cloth like thing which is like 6 bucks, also buying a good set of saddles for guitars that have individual ones like Strats, Teles, ect. generally they're about 50ish bucks for a set
robert perez same. i always polish the frets. every new guitar gets an oiled board and pished frets, i use a rubber fret polisher these days it works a bit like an eraser with abrasive embedded, cleaner than steel wool or sand paper
WTf is wrong with you??? Just practice playing your god damn guitar. Strings will polish the living shit out of the frets...if you play your guitar..FFS
Hey Fluff, when you're buying pencils for lubing nuts, you want the softest lead you can find (preferably a 9B) as they are almost pure graphite. Harder pencils have non-lubricating additives. It's likely you will have to buy from an art supplier to get the really soft leads.
Great list. I would add two things: 1. Learn to do your own setup (truss rod, intonation, pickup height, etc). Learning to do my own setup was the best idea ever. Once I got the pickup heights on my Epi Les Paul adjusted where I wanted them, got my intonation as close to perfect as it could get, and got my action just exactly where I wanted it, that guitar sounded and played better than I ever thought it could and it was all free. 2. Wash and dry your hands before you play or handle the guitar (got that from Tom Morello). It will keep your strings and neck clean. Also, don't neglect to change those crudded-up strings on the regular, because dirty strings murder your tone.
Got a 300$ jackson warrior. Put in: SD Black Winter Pick Ups Graph Tech nut Schaller locking Tuners Schaller roller bridge All together guitar worth is 800$ but man.... beast
I replaced the Blacktop pickups in my Blacktop HH Telecaster, and I put them in an Epiphone Gothic Les Paul and the Les Paul sounds sooo much better now.
I Picked up a DiMarzio Tone Zone and a DiMarzio Steve's Special for $40 each on Ebay. They are in perfect shape. There are a lot of great deals to be had. Good advice Fluff.
A lot of folks attribute an improperly cut nut(like you hit on) to tuners being shitty. If you're spending $500 bucks on a guitar your tuners are probably just fine. Get that nut set up and filed properly.
Good stuff, Fluff. I would add that checking the fretboard for relief, and fret height, are equally important. I've had customers who took 2 guitars to 5 different shops in the area, before coming to me, and all of those shops missed that one guitar had 13/22 frets high as a kite, which made the player think they just needed to pump up the action, to get rid of the fret buzz. An easy way to check is to take a straight edge across the whole fretboard to check which frets you can see light over (making the other frets too high), or you can invest a couple dollars in a Fret Rocker to check each fret individually. Even if you don't feel comfortable fixing uneven frets yourself, just knowing if it's a problem can be a big time saver, if you take it in to your local luthier.
Did the graphite hack on my first string change. Original strings at 14 months, 3-6 × week. I studied, prepped, broke it into steps & it went well. Thanks again.
I've mixed Vaseline and graphite powder and use that on the nut and the bridge . Works great and a tiny batch lasts a long time. As for chaging pickups: I've gone off the beaten path and got a set of Iron Gear pickups and damn, those are great. Cheap and great. My set of Blues Engine/Dirty Torque was around €90 and it sounds amazing. Very flexible as well - especially with coil splitting available.
my2cents: A Piece of Cloth around and in-between strings, in two places: a) between the nut and tuners, and b) after the bridge -- to reduce noise from the unused parts of strings. It really helps
Hi there. I would definitely agree with your choices and they would certainly make a difference. I have some provisos though:- You're right to put the nut at number one, but it's also number one at being the hardest job to get right. I understand that you indicated that the guitar would ideally do this as part of a set-up, but you suggested buying tools, which usually you won't get much use out of. Then you gave no guidance or caution. You did make a warning with the scotchbrite pad, and that was appreciated, but going just a little deep into the nut could cause catastrophic problems. You also could have mentioned trying to carefully remove the existing nut and shave the bottom, arguably easier, or indeed buy a replacement nut to experiment with, and you'll still keep the stock one should things go pear-shaped. Also, I'm grateful you've included 2 other very inexpensive options, such as the scotchbrite and the graphite on the nut. However, if you include the tuners, the set-up and the pick-up, that circa $200 - $300 upgrade would put total price of guitar purchase into a different bracket. The $500-$600 guitar would almost certainly induce better pick-ups and machine heads, together with other component hardware, like superior bridge, wood material, finish and you could probably get the setup thrown in. One thing you failed to mention was the pots. These make a huge difference. Typically cheap guitars have cheap pots, but proper professional ones are only around $15-$25. You'll maybe get somewhere in between in a better guitar in the first place. Better still, buy a more expensive one used. Usually, if cared for, guitars get better with age
Other ideas: Fretboard maintenance (cleaning your fretboard/checking your fret ends), upgrading your bridge/bridge saddles (especially for aftermarket tune-o-matics), adjusting your truss rod at least once every change in season, upgrading input jacks/potentiometers/switches, cleaning your electronics with DeoxIt, fixing bad shielding/grounding, adding locking tuners, and just learning how to set up your instrument properly in general. Most of these are not things you need to do on anything other than a budget instrument, but the last one will serve you well no matter if your guitar costs $200 or $2000. EDIT: Also adding straplocks and the toothpick trick for fixing loose strap buttons.
Hey Fluff in my opinion this was the best video of you in a while, really appreciate the tips. I knew most of them except buying pickups used is SO cheap. Got a Dimarzio D-Activator for 50 € shipping included. This is hilarious. I have an idea for a video: Buy a cheap used guitar you see good substance for tuning and make a go through with those (and maybe aditional?) steps to show us how easy or hard which process is. Specially changing electronics (potentiometers and pup-switch) is something a lot of other youtubers already did but they explain rather complicated in my opinion. I somehow understand what to do but i don't feel like those videos made me secure enough to try it out myself (had such stuff done by a friend who worked at a guitar shop for some time) but i really want to learn to do it and i enjoy your forward and simple instructions here. Greetings \m/
I cleaned the pots, swapped out the stock tone caps for orange drops and fitted a treble bleed to my Strat. Cost £8 and made a big improvement to the tone and flexibility of the guitar.
Sanding down the finish on your guitar neck is a really good tip! I sanded down all of my guitar necks and never regret it. It's a standard mod for me. I sanded down all of the finish because I like the feel of bare wood but you don't have to do that. Just scuffing up the finish on the neck as Fluff did works just fine.
I love my Seymour Duncan JB in the bridge of my Fender Fat Strat. And Grover Tuners. I've literally been in playing the same guitar since 1993 when I was 15 years old . The JB was my first replacement pickup, and it sounded so good I kept it.
Something that I've noticed with low end guitars is sharp frets poking out of the neck (guessing this has something to do with humidity and lack of attention to detail). I fixed this with simple sanding, not sure if it's a large enough problem to be put on a video though ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
That's from the production line skipping the filing process. Ibanez doesn't even do it unless you buy Prestige guitars that get their "Prestige fret edge treatment".
Every now and then, it's a good idea to tighten all of the screws on the guitar and the tuners. Screws work them slightly loose over time and a lot of playing. Sometimes, you won't notice that the screws have loosened. Sloppy tuners can sometimes be remedied by simply tightening the mounting screws on the back of the headstock and the screws that hold the buttons onto the tuners. It's a good idea to tighten the tuner nuts on the front of the headstock as well. Tighten the screws at the neck plate, strap buttons, and control plate. It doesn't hurt to tighten up the pickguard screws while you are at it. Only tighten screws until they snug up and then stop. Over tightening will strip screw holes and cause more problems that you don't want. I tighten the screws on any guitar I buy before I put it into service.
I dont usually leave comments on videos but I just wanted to say thanks to Fluff. I have been battling colon cancer and decided to pull my dusty guitar case out from under my bed and pull the old axe back out and start playing again. Started watching UA-cam vids on getting her back in good playing shape. It's a Schecter Damien Solo Elite like in this video (maybe the reason I felt compelled to comment on the video, lol) Picked up a cheap 12 watt Orange Crush and a used Line6 POD 2.0. I'm broke and not working so it's all I could afford. So I stumble across Ryan's channel and I just think it's great. Being 38 years old, I just love the remember the 90s vids. I also happen to agree on his stance on Line6 being the trend setters that pushed the envelope and gave most of us our first chance to use amp and cab sim modeling. Along with dozens of effects that would cost thousands to acquire individually in pedal form. I just wanted to say thanks for the enjoyable and informative videos and for making a tough time for me a little bit easier. Btw, sick shirt but I like the guitar better. ;)
I asked me I'd say: 1. Get your PU height right for your ear. 2. Get your action right for your hands 3. Mix and match your gauges. If you play mostly in drop C then beef up that top string. 4. Tuners. 5. Sadles.
Hi! I have a 2004 MiM Fender Stratocaster with stock pickups but set them properly far from the strings. The first thing that I got rid of was that crap metal 'thing' in it, I mean the trem block. I purchased a big block that's made of brass and put foam into the springs. Incredibly increased the overall quality and the body resonates as hell, the sustain is infinite. Then the nut has been changed to a real bone piece (and yeah graphite is cool!)I took a deep breath recently and did the whole fretjob (I am no luthier!). I bought Jescar jumbos made of stainless steel. They are hard to work with but worth it. I use .11 strings half step down. I sanded the fretboard a bit, took off the edges and the rosewood got some oil. It became really comfy. The neckpocket has also been cleaned out (shims, epoxy, remained paint and wooden pieces). And there is a trick to loosen and tighten the screws of the neckplate a bit while the strings are on (be careful!). I will change the tuners to Kluson Deluxes and I want a treble bleed circuit under the volume pot. ua-cam.com/video/eIFbA7h73ow/v-deo.html
@Buddy Love I agree. My tech told me he only does it twice a year at the most, and surprisingly, lemon oil is not the best because (lemons/lemon oil) is somewhat acidic and I guess not the best for laminations or inlays that are glued in place. He's been using something called Watco (can get it from Home Depot) for the past 2 decades or so now and recommends that.
For filing nut slots without files, look up Welding Tip Cleaners. Its a set of mini files that will work good if you only have to file a little bit or only need to do one or two of your own guitars. They're like 5-10 bucks for a set, and there's like 15 sizes.
the nut sauce/Pencil Trick is very helpful, also think about getting a bone nut cut for your guitar, and replacing the inexpensive aluminum bridge with a steel bridge
ak_zombie Would use them to widen the nut maybe but not to cut one to depth. They a very inaccurate and can cause more problems than you think if you are not understanding what is happening when you adjust the nut.
Welders tip cleaning files are vey accurate, more than nut files. Cutting deep cuts msy take a long time, but cutting the nut to the right heighth in the first place means cutting deep slots is avoided. The rounded bottom of the slot is perfect using welders files. V shaped bottom, or flat bottom or non precise radius at the bottom causes nut wear, binding or pinching. Welders files are very precise with more increments to get the bottom radius closer to the string radius thsn even the most expensive nut files. Some luthier tool retailers do sell these as nut files. But the big name guys wont cause they're way less expensive which means way less profit. You dont cut down trees with welding tip files. You dont cut nut slots with a chainsaw. Nut files are somewhere in between those two. Lol
Before changing pickups ... swap pots and caps as they push te resonant frequency of the pickups around even when 'wide open' (factory pots have 20% tolerance range as standard spec) -- I used to change pickups but pots and caps actually control the guitar's sound (imagine that!) and for only $1-$20. Get better pots for improved feel and control (lately I use Bourns) which also applies to the pickup switch (oak-grigsby/CRL) and output jack (Switchcraft). Of course, adding a 4-way switch to a Tele or push/pull tone pots on a Strat/etc to split coils or make humbuckers out of single coils are great improvements, often inexpensive to install and give more playing options). If you are thinking of getting a pro setup, splurge on the cost of a fret level which is only $50 more and includes a full setup. The fret level will make even a $100 guitar play like one 10x the price.
ARR0WMANC3R Lol. But seriously I don't know what kind of trem they put on those. probably not anything good. Maybe get a new one that's better like a gotoh
change your stock springs with the genuine original floyd rose springs and get quality tremolo claw (metal plate connecting the springs and the screw). Or just block them of completely. Tuning stability should be better.
Pradeept Rai don't listen to the guy shit talking ur gio, even tho I have 2 les pauls (a 700$ epiphone and a 2016 standard les paul) a mia strat, I still love my impulse bought Ibanez gio, it's an older one, very similar to an sg, but wider, sounds very good, although it doesn't a have a Floyd rose, but for the price Ibanez gio/Garts are the best guitars really for the money I actually sold my sg which paid for a new marshal amp, because the Ibanez had a better tone (better than my 2000 dollar guitar, even tho the gio was only 300), although the newer squier strats and teles aint bad either ( i also have a squier standard strat and tele)
Pradeept Rai I would say just block it off entirely, I have a Gio (it was my 1st guitar) and I ended up blocking off the trem and it helped with tuning stability tremendously
I loved the tips. The graphite pencil trick was one that I had heard of. Many videos seem to focus on tunning heads and pickups but I like it that you threw in some small tips and tricks.
If you are replacing the pickups make sure you get the right string spacing so that the pole pieces line up with the strings otherwise you can end up with really low output on one of your E strings.
Satin neck's only for me. I'm done Sticking to the neck, with all that Shiny, Uncomfortable Wood. Locking tuners on my Suhr (never going back). Nut sauce on the bridge saddles, also helps. Great tips.
Regarding the tuners, I always make sure that I snug up the screws on the tuner buttons since that draws the worm gear into the ring gear and tightens up the lash.
Practice and learn your material. Once you bass players start doing that then we'll give you a heavier load to work with. However one other thing, CHANGE YOUR DAMN STRINGS. That's all. Go back to chasing the laser pointer.
Just taking a guitar to a local guitar tech for a setup can make a world of difference. I bought a cheap £250 Epiphone Acoustic as a 'beater' (Something I could travel with without having to worry too much about it getting lost, stolen or damaged)...and as you can probably guess, it wasn't great. I took it to my luthier who swapped out the plastic nut and saddle for bone, levelled, crowned and polished the frets along with the 'standard' set up stuff like setting the action height and intonation...and it did wonders for the tone and playability. Cost me less than £70GBP and now my £250 Epiphone plays like my £700 Martin
SEXY CHEESEBURGER name is for the LOLs right instead of adjusting action and basic maintenance.... Buy a $500 piece of shit, rag on it, then buy a new one. I’ll bet everything you own loves you.
@@brianvillage9649 to be fair, buying a good guitar from the start is a much cheaper and better investment in the long run. But even good guitars still need regular cleaning and maintenance.
If you have an S type guitar or something with a vintage style tremolo definitely check out the Carl Verheyen (sorry if I mispelled it) method to adjust the screws in the back at an angle, totally works no matter how expensive or cheap your guitar is.
My guitar nut actually has a little bit of screwwiring on the low E and A string so they won't have a lot of play when restringing. This also allows for thicker strings to sit in the nut better.
Just wanted to say thanks, Fluff; I installed locking Hipshot tuners on my Les Paul and they are AWESOME! Huge improvement over the Klusons and Sperzels that I had tried previously in that guitar.
I have been watching to find the best ways of maintenance and cleaning of my new guitar ..... I have seen several of video online about the changes that would be made to improve the sound and tone ..... The guitar I just purchase is the Epiphone Les Paul Traditional Pro II ..... In hearing and watching these videos .... I am learning that my choice was amazing ... You talk about Pickups .... This new guitar came with A Pro Bucker Vintage Humbucking pickups .... SPLIT... not taping ... also, slit Pro Alinco Classic Vintage Humbucking ( 2 dual pickups .... neck and bridge) ..... Next I keep hearing about UPGRADING my guitar to something like Grover ... this came stock with Grover Machine Head Tuners .... from what I am hearing .... I got a fantastic deal on my new guitar .... Some of the upgrades I already have ... without spending the extra 200 on parts ....... seems my Epiphone came stock ... and seems to be very much like the Gibson counterpart ..... I LOVE IT .... Desert Burst finish is beautiful ... thanks for the knowledge ...
Most guitars with a fender style tailpiece(ht and trem alike) has height adjustment quill screws sticking up from the saddles. Replacing them with shorter screws, that are submerged in the saddles, is one of the BEST and CHEAPEST ways, to have a better hand rest, better connection when palmmuting, and just overall smoother feel of playing.
Just an addendum to the locking tuner tip: For anyone using Ibanez Guitars, the direct drop replacement for any of their tuners are Gotoh Magnum locks. ESP models typically have the Gotoh Magnums standard on anything E-II and up, but I'm not sure about LTD. With the Gotohs, you dont have to worry about opening new holes in the back of the headstock on any Ibanez guitar. Just thought I'd point that out so people with Ibanezes won't have to worry about that sort of thing.
a good inexpensive way to file a nut down is to use a little bit of 400 or 600 grit sandpaper wrap it around a spare string that goes in a each slot (so a spare E for the E slot spare A for the A slot etc) and rub that up and down I've been doing it for years works great.
good cheap tip to get rid of harmonics at the nut and bridge is to use a piece of felt or tape under the strings at the nut. Also a sock or fret wrap can do this and provide as a string dampener when playing/recording leads ect.
I think making a second one of these would be good. talk about stuff like pickup height, deadening the strings behind the nut and bridge, the type of pick you use, properly muting strings you don't want playing, and so on
1.Nut String Height. 2.Scotch Bright for the back of the neck, don't overdo. 3.Change the tuners if they don't seem stable/quality material. 4.Find smallest mechanic pencil you can and 'draw/paint' on the string rail from the nut. 5.Change those pickups. Don't be afraid of using used ones(just make sure that they're in good shape) *You get what you pay for, so remember you might be trying to save some money, but in the long run getting quality equipment and products might save you more money than staying cheap.
Checking to see if the truss rod actually works (or at least has grip) is very important if buying second hand. Straighten the neck out (if needed) and leaving to adjust for 48-72 hours is essential under string tension.
with the pick ups I got a used Epiphone Accu bass and the pick ups were shot. I bought pick ups off of Guitar Fetish for $30 and they are great sounding all you have to to is solder the bridge ground to the pot and plug in the pick ups to the pots and Bam! you're done. the only complaint is the pots are too big but other than that they are amazing! if you need pbass pick ups and you're on a budget I suggest those any day.
Pro tip on living the nut... you can get graphite powder in black or white so it doesn't stain your nut. Also, I mix it with 2in1 oil and it works best.
Thanks Fluff....replacing the tuners has made a big difference in my LTD $400 guitar! I spent more time tuning than playing before installing the new tuners!
Use natural oils for your fretboard like organic sesame oil or olive oil or any type of nuts oils, but remember after you apply the oil you must use a clean and dry cloth to remove the extra...I usually do this every two months for about 4-5 year.
Oil the fretboard every now and then. A tip I acquired from Rob Chapman to maintain and preserve fretboards is to oil them with either lemon or almond oil. Haven't looked back once
Another solution for tip #4 (the first #4 lol) is get a String Butler (actual name). You screw it on the headstock and it solves the tuning issues for sharp nut angles.
You can get a set (3) of hosco nut and saddle files for $55 on eBay. "Nut sauce" can be made with petroleum jelly and powdered graphite. For guitars with string trees, upgrade those to roller or graphtec have. Well polished frets also contribute to the guitar's playability, so either get chrome polish and use a Dremel, or polish with micro mesh up to 12000 grit.
Also, stew Mac fretting tools will rob you blind- all you need is a straight edge, fret rocker, straight metal beam, 320-800 grit sandpaper, and a 3 edge rounded file. Fret erasers are optional but encouraged- the stew Mac and Crimson guitars ones are nice, but pricey.
ghs fast fret to clean polish lube up those strings/frets especially in the heat and for people who sweat alot....also change your strings at least once every month or two if you play alot or maybe a couple days before a gig...make sure you stretch though strings though and as fluff said lube up the nut with graphite or planet waves nut and bridge saddle lubricant
Julius C you can. but it's still bad advice. cooking oil can get bad with time, can gunk up and aquires dust and lint with time. Graphite doesn't do all this. that's the reason it's also used to lube locks. a pencil is also so cheap, using anything else doesn't really make sense
I was having B and G string tuning issues on my Les Paul...tried a luthier ( $60) but no joy...so I installed a Zero Glide "Zero Fret" myself ($30) and it solved the tuning issues...the guitar plays better, sounds IMMENSELY better now that it's B and G strings are in tune up and down the fretboard...I don't get anything for mentioning this thing, just telling you IT WORKS, it's easy to install, and it gets results... ...note: I emailed the website to ask a question about this thing, and the president of the company replied!...this peaked my interest so I bought one and installed it...he was right, I'm hooked because IT WORKS...
The tuners on my Epiphone SG G-400 Pro are pretty damn good, they always stay in tune even if i'm not playing on it for weeks! Pickups aren't as good though so was thinking about upgrading to some Bareknuckle War Pigs!
Hey Fluff, there is a cheap (occasional/light use) alternative to nut files. Welder nozzle cleaning file sets are fine, small-gauge round rasps that usually come in a pocket-knife like collection. Search eBay for "Tip Cleaner Needle File Set Welding Nozzle" and you'll find them from China for a couple of bucks.
i use the Scotch brite trick myself, and for pickups, I was gonna buy some used EMGs, but i actually got some DragonFire pickups(X2N Power rails) the set was only 40$ from the manufacturer but I like them much much more than the pickups that came with my Ibanez
Most of my guitars now have graphite nuts fitted, a LOT cheaper than 'nut sauce' or similar products, and it's an instant cure for most tuning issues. Also I replace the standard string trees on strat type guitars with roller tree types. Eliminating points of friction between the bridge and the machine heads is key.
Awesome. Guitar Tech here:
ADVICE POST
Best tip there is? When buying tech gear, you can usually pickup a non 'luthier-specialised' tool that will do the job from Home Depot/ B&Q/Selco for less than a fifth of the price.
Luthier didn't create carpentry tools, or steel rules! Buy them from carpentry retailers!
Buy micro-mesh pads instead of steel wool/sandpaper for fingerboard/fretwire maintenance.
Use less Lem-oil than you think you need.
Want strings to last? Try coated. Clean down the strings on all sides after each session. Tentatively use a cloth with WD40 to slick them up for cheap. Stretch them more than you can emotionally take when you first restring. Every time you restring, clean the finger gunk from the fingerboard and crevices of the fretwire!
Improve playability? Polish the fretwires! Feels almost as drastic as new strings when done right.
Clunky machineheads? Take them apart, spray/dab with WD40!
Rusty hardware/screws? Soak in a tub of apple vinegar overnight, carefully scrub with an old toothbrush.
Sound sucks? Experiment with pickup height first! Then capacitors. Then new pups! Mike placement is everything, and that's what they are!
Noisy electronics? Compressed air to clean dust. Electrician's tape to cover over exposed wires. Purchase copper shielding tape to insulate all of the electronics cavities!
Grounding issue? Try clean solder. Suck at soldering? Buy solderless.
Truss rod stuck? Dab WD40 in with a q-tip/cotton bud, leave soak, repeat if necessary.
Polishing? Buy a microfiber pad for car polishing from Asda/Walmart for a buck/quid.
Over and out.
Ryan Simmons best comment ever thank you!
FWIW, Wd-40 is a solvent more than a lubricant. Might still be good for cleaning but for tuners, try "3 in 1" oil or other actual lubricant.
steamer2k I wouldn't expect 3 in 1 to penetrate very far. I'd try aerokroil (best) / PB blaster / liquid wrench (penetrating oils, actually made exactly for getting stuff like this unstuck).
Great post
Thanks so much
Very surprised that straplocks aren't on here. More of a performance piece but still an incredible bit of kit to prevent damage
James Cooper They aren't really an improvement in terms of tone, tuning stability, or playability. They are great for stage performances especially if you like to jump around but aren't and improvement to the guitar "where it counts".
Phil Duggan Yeah, whilst they have zero effect on playability etc I believe they are one of the greatest ways to "improve" your guitar as it prevents damage and embarrassing moments onstage
99% of guitars come with strap locks dude
FunkyDrummer A lot of modern, bigger brand guitars do yeah. So many people, including myself play budget guitars that just don't include them, they're included because of how useful they are so I feel like they're a great improvement for a great deal of guitars thst don't have them
FunkyDrummer I've never bought a guitar that had them stock. Not a single one.
Hey fluff, wanna feel old? You've been playing guitar for longer than I've been alive, and I'm 20.
I'm watching in my room, what now?
rawr xD
I've only been playing for 6 years. I can't wait until I've been playing for 20+ years. It's gonna be great.
The ladies love my nut sauce
Brett Tickell wowee don't see many of these anymore
I have a few tips of my own
1. Adjust string height on the bridge
2. Use a hard shell case as guitar work station
3. If your nut slots are too narrow for bigger strings make them wider with a finger nail file
4. Use car wax to get rid of surface scratches
5. Use head phones on your amp instead of playing electric unplugged if you don't wanna wake the neighbors
6. Use second hand carpet for acoustic panels if you can't afford them
7. Learn to wire an electric guitar and buy a soldering gun
8. Buy an audio recorder to remember riffs or songs you've created
9. Realize one of the biggest differences between cheap and expensive guitars is how well/long they stay in tune
10. Lastly buy a Stratocaster if it's your first or second guitar and customize it yourself
in-tone-ate
CHEEEEEEEEEEEEAHHH
bakerXderek me gusta
bakerXderek ayylmao
bakerXderek didn't expect to see you here today
CHEAHHHhhhhhHHHAEHC
I found the nut sauce in my fathers guitar cabinet. I used it for other purposes. Thanks for showing me its real use now.
Cool stuff
lol
God I hope username checks out
Check your pickup height! If you're not getting the tone you want, it can make a big difference. You may not even have to shell out the bucks for a new set.
That's a good one! @Ryan Bruce
you can use a screwdriver on most pickups to raise or lower them, just be careful and try not to slip
Chris Castle I just learned how bad a decent guitar can sound with bridge pickup dropped way to low and intonation way out 😄
I remember changing the pup height on one of my guitars. My buddy couldn’t figure out why I sounded so much better.
Has nothing to do with tone you knobhead, it’s just output level… also pickups themselves don’t effect tone…
Polishing frets, and cleaning the fretboard is MAJOR, I've been using the same guitar cleaning kit that you use ever since I started playing, and it's only about 20 bucks, not much money to make a hell of a difference, as for the fret polishing, I use planet waves fret polishing system which is just a little polishing cloth like thing which is like 6 bucks, also buying a good set of saddles for guitars that have individual ones like Strats, Teles, ect. generally they're about 50ish bucks for a set
+1 new saddles, i went modern proprietary lubricant infused type made a mad difference in warmth, playability, and the ability to intonate.
For fret and fretboard cleaning I use 2 wipes (1 wet and 1 dry) and it seems to do its job. I wonder what plus a cleaning kit provides over my method.
robert perez same. i always polish the frets. every new guitar gets an oiled board and pished frets, i use a rubber fret polisher these days it works a bit like an eraser with abrasive embedded, cleaner than steel wool or sand paper
as far as strats go, before you replace pickups replace the whole bridge assembly and trem block.
WTf is wrong with you??? Just practice playing your god damn guitar.
Strings will polish the living shit out of the frets...if you play your guitar..FFS
Hey Fluff, when you're buying pencils for lubing nuts, you want the softest lead you can find (preferably a 9B) as they are almost pure graphite. Harder pencils have non-lubricating additives. It's likely you will have to buy from an art supplier to get the really soft leads.
Great list. I would add two things:
1. Learn to do your own setup (truss rod, intonation, pickup height, etc). Learning to do my own setup was the best idea ever. Once I got the pickup heights on my Epi Les Paul adjusted where I wanted them, got my intonation as close to perfect as it could get, and got my action just exactly where I wanted it, that guitar sounded and played better than I ever thought it could and it was all free.
2. Wash and dry your hands before you play or handle the guitar (got that from Tom Morello). It will keep your strings and neck clean. Also, don't neglect to change those crudded-up strings on the regular, because dirty strings murder your tone.
Got a 300$ jackson warrior.
Put in:
SD Black Winter Pick Ups
Graph Tech nut
Schaller locking Tuners
Schaller roller bridge
All together guitar worth is 800$ but man.... beast
An idea yes... CHANGE YOUR STRINGS MORE THAN ONCE A YEAR
I change my strings every month or every after two weeks depending on gigs. Man, old strings sound bad :/
stoneyvision Old strings freak me out because they feel like they could cut my finger. But brand new strings are always smooth as butter.
stoneyvision This will most likely make you cringe a lot but I've used the same strings on my electric for 5 years hahaha
Hannes Andersson bruh they're like 10-12 bucks at most for a new pack
MrComputercracker Not even. You can get Ernie Ball strings for 5 bucks
In terms of pickups, the stock Fender Blacktop humbuckers are beautiful pickups and you can get them cheap on reverb often pre-wired in a a pickguard.
I replaced the Blacktop pickups in my Blacktop HH Telecaster, and I put them in an Epiphone Gothic Les Paul and the Les Paul sounds sooo much better now.
I Picked up a DiMarzio Tone Zone and a DiMarzio Steve's Special for $40 each on Ebay. They are in perfect shape. There are a lot of great deals to be had. Good advice Fluff.
Into The Void - The EKG Files tone zone kicks ass!!!
A lot of folks attribute an improperly cut nut(like you hit on) to tuners being shitty. If you're spending $500 bucks on a guitar your tuners are probably just fine. Get that nut set up and filed properly.
Good stuff, Fluff. I would add that checking the fretboard for relief, and fret height, are equally important. I've had customers who took 2 guitars to 5 different shops in the area, before coming to me, and all of those shops missed that one guitar had 13/22 frets high as a kite, which made the player think they just needed to pump up the action, to get rid of the fret buzz. An easy way to check is to take a straight edge across the whole fretboard to check which frets you can see light over (making the other frets too high), or you can invest a couple dollars in a Fret Rocker to check each fret individually.
Even if you don't feel comfortable fixing uneven frets yourself, just knowing if it's a problem can be a big time saver, if you take it in to your local luthier.
Shielding. I did in my guitar and now it sounds Perfect. And it's cheap. The coper tipe That I Used is 3 dollars a meter.
Did the graphite hack on my first string change. Original strings at 14 months, 3-6 × week. I studied, prepped, broke it into steps & it went well. Thanks again.
Roller bridge instead of stock TOM. all my guitars have roller bridges whether they have a Bigsby or not. Tuning stability +10
-T-X-M- Yes, because the saddle is not only round, but they roll. There's no snagging on the winding or hard bends.
I heard that that totally changed your tone though
All you’re doing with roller anything (nut, saddles, trees) is stopping binding. So yes it works but it’s not the only way to achieve the same result.
total nonsense,rollers do nothing!
I've mixed Vaseline and graphite powder and use that on the nut and the bridge . Works great and a tiny batch lasts a long time. As for chaging pickups: I've gone off the beaten path and got a set of Iron Gear pickups and damn, those are great. Cheap and great. My set of Blues Engine/Dirty Torque was around €90 and it sounds amazing. Very flexible as well - especially with coil splitting available.
Never clicked so fast
StanDeMan Nederlands?
Jazekers :D
Same.
@@gentlegiant6585 0
my2cents: A Piece of Cloth around and in-between strings, in two places: a) between the nut and tuners, and b) after the bridge -- to reduce noise from the unused parts of strings. It really helps
more tips please!! love these but i already knew a few. so please keep going with tips to improve guitars!
Hi there. I would definitely agree with your choices and they would certainly make a difference.
I have some provisos though:-
You're right to put the nut at number one, but it's also number one at being the hardest job to get right. I understand that you indicated that the guitar would ideally do this as part of a set-up, but you suggested buying tools, which usually you won't get much use out of.
Then you gave no guidance or caution. You did make a warning with the scotchbrite pad, and that was appreciated, but going just a little deep into the nut could cause catastrophic problems. You also could have mentioned trying to carefully remove the existing nut and shave the bottom, arguably easier, or indeed buy a replacement nut to experiment with, and you'll still keep the stock one should things go pear-shaped.
Also, I'm grateful you've included 2 other very inexpensive options, such as the scotchbrite and the graphite on the nut. However, if you include the tuners, the set-up and the pick-up, that circa $200 - $300 upgrade would put total price of guitar purchase into a different bracket. The $500-$600 guitar would almost certainly induce better pick-ups and machine heads, together with other component hardware, like superior bridge, wood material, finish and you could probably get the setup thrown in.
One thing you failed to mention was the pots. These make a huge difference. Typically cheap guitars have cheap pots, but proper professional ones are only around $15-$25. You'll maybe get somewhere in between in a better guitar in the first place.
Better still, buy a more expensive one used. Usually, if cared for, guitars get better with age
For acoustics
Change to bone bridge saddle (for desired action and intonation), string (Elixir personally recommend).
The scotch-brite first, Locktite glue for strap screw 2nd...thanks for all of your informative videos.
Nice ETID shirt mate
Other ideas: Fretboard maintenance (cleaning your fretboard/checking your fret ends), upgrading your bridge/bridge saddles (especially for aftermarket tune-o-matics), adjusting your truss rod at least once every change in season, upgrading input jacks/potentiometers/switches, cleaning your electronics with DeoxIt, fixing bad shielding/grounding, adding locking tuners, and just learning how to set up your instrument properly in general.
Most of these are not things you need to do on anything other than a budget instrument, but the last one will serve you well no matter if your guitar costs $200 or $2000.
EDIT: Also adding straplocks and the toothpick trick for fixing loose strap buttons.
Hey Fluff in my opinion this was the best video of you in a while, really appreciate the tips. I knew most of them except buying pickups used is SO cheap. Got a Dimarzio D-Activator for 50 € shipping included. This is hilarious.
I have an idea for a video:
Buy a cheap used guitar you see good substance for tuning and make a go through with those (and maybe aditional?) steps to show us how easy or hard which process is. Specially changing electronics (potentiometers and pup-switch) is something a lot of other youtubers already did but they explain rather complicated in my opinion. I somehow understand what to do but i don't feel like those videos made me secure enough to try it out myself (had such stuff done by a friend who worked at a guitar shop for some time) but i really want to learn to do it and i enjoy your forward and simple instructions here.
Greetings \m/
I cleaned the pots, swapped out the stock tone caps for orange drops and fitted a treble bleed to my Strat. Cost £8 and made a big improvement to the tone and flexibility of the guitar.
Tip 1: 0:36
Tip 2: 2:06
Tip 3: 3:24
Tip 4: 4:53
Tip 5: 6:38
Sanding down the finish on your guitar neck is a really good tip! I sanded down all of my guitar necks and never regret it. It's a standard mod for me. I sanded down all of the finish because I like the feel of bare wood but you don't have to do that. Just scuffing up the finish on the neck as Fluff did works just fine.
I love big bens nut sauce!! Oh... we're talking about a different thing?? Nevermind ignore that. Ill let myself out.
what the fuck
Grow up
vaughan buys learn to take a joke
The pencil trick is so good. It works more than some people could think. You don't even need that much pencil led.
#6: Absolutely practise, too.
I love my Seymour Duncan JB in the bridge of my Fender Fat Strat. And Grover Tuners. I've literally been in playing the same guitar since 1993 when I was 15 years old . The JB was my first replacement pickup, and it sounded so good I kept it.
Something that I've noticed with low end guitars is sharp frets poking out of the neck (guessing this has something to do with humidity and lack of attention to detail). I fixed this with simple sanding, not sure if it's a large enough problem to be put on a video though ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
That's from the production line skipping the filing process. Ibanez doesn't even do it unless you buy Prestige guitars that get their "Prestige fret edge treatment".
Connor PB sometimes it can be a difference in humidity
Every now and then, it's a good idea to tighten all of the screws on the guitar and the tuners. Screws work them slightly loose over time and a lot of playing. Sometimes, you won't notice that the screws have loosened. Sloppy tuners can sometimes be remedied by simply tightening the mounting screws on the back of the headstock and the screws that hold the buttons onto the tuners.
It's a good idea to tighten the tuner nuts on the front of the headstock as well.
Tighten the screws at the neck plate, strap buttons, and control plate. It doesn't hurt to tighten up the pickguard screws while you are at it.
Only tighten screws until they snug up and then stop. Over tightening will strip screw holes and cause more problems that you don't want.
I tighten the screws on any guitar I buy before I put it into service.
I've always wanted a "nut-file." I just didn't know until today.
I dont usually leave comments on videos but I just wanted to say thanks to Fluff. I have been battling colon cancer and decided to pull my dusty guitar case out from under my bed and pull the old axe back out and start playing again. Started watching UA-cam vids on getting her back in good playing shape. It's a Schecter Damien Solo Elite like in this video (maybe the reason I felt compelled to comment on the video, lol) Picked up a cheap 12 watt Orange Crush and a used Line6 POD 2.0. I'm broke and not working so it's all I could afford. So I stumble across Ryan's channel and I just think it's great. Being 38 years old, I just love the remember the 90s vids. I also happen to agree on his stance on Line6 being the trend setters that pushed the envelope and gave most of us our first chance to use amp and cab sim modeling. Along with dozens of effects that would cost thousands to acquire individually in pedal form. I just wanted to say thanks for the enjoyable and informative videos and for making a tough time for me a little bit easier.
Btw, sick shirt but I like the guitar better. ;)
I guess you could call these cheap tricks
Eric Nickerson underrated comment
Dirty deeds done dirt cheap
It's cheap in comparison to buying a new guitar!
Lewis Bulled r/wooosh
Bobby Fetus fuck you
I asked me I'd say:
1. Get your PU height right for your ear.
2. Get your action right for your hands
3. Mix and match your gauges. If you play mostly in drop C then beef up that top string.
4. Tuners.
5. Sadles.
"Big Ben's Nut Sauce" for fucks sake 😂😂😂😂😂😂
Ian Downey i need some nut sauce. Girlfriend says they taste too salty
Hi!
I have a 2004 MiM Fender Stratocaster with stock pickups but set them properly far from the strings. The first thing that I got rid of was that crap metal 'thing' in it, I mean the trem block. I purchased a big block that's made of brass and put foam into the springs. Incredibly increased the overall quality and the body resonates as hell, the sustain is infinite. Then the nut has been changed to a real bone piece (and yeah graphite is cool!)I took a deep breath recently and did the whole fretjob (I am no luthier!). I bought Jescar jumbos made of stainless steel. They are hard to work with but worth it. I use .11 strings half step down. I sanded the fretboard a bit, took off the edges and the rosewood got some oil. It became really comfy. The neckpocket has also been cleaned out (shims, epoxy, remained paint and wooden pieces). And there is a trick to loosen and tighten the screws of the neckplate a bit while the strings are on (be careful!). I will change the tuners to Kluson Deluxes and I want a treble bleed circuit under the volume pot.
ua-cam.com/video/eIFbA7h73ow/v-deo.html
#4 or #5? haha
more seriously - you accidentally (or not) called #5 - pickup replacement , #4 in writing too. :P
i'm sure it does, it just caught my attention. thought you might want to be aware of it :)
motty vaknin glad I wasn't the only one to notice 😂
I've been playing for about two/three years now and this is the first video of the same title to actually give any constructive help. Thank you :-)
Oil your fretboard.
Joel Simoneau oil your fretboard? Is that like greasing your muffler bearings or checking your blinker fluid?
Don't listen to him.
John McClinton I think its like changing out the halogen out of the headlights.
@Buddy Love I agree. My tech told me he only does it twice a year at the most, and surprisingly, lemon oil is not the best because (lemons/lemon oil) is somewhat acidic and I guess not the best for laminations or inlays that are glued in place. He's been using something called Watco (can get it from Home Depot) for the past 2 decades or so now and recommends that.
For filing nut slots without files, look up Welding Tip Cleaners. Its a set of mini files that will work good if you only have to file a little bit or only need to do one or two of your own guitars. They're like 5-10 bucks for a set, and there's like 15 sizes.
What about gotoh
that shit aint cheap
Kalfreezy 0
Ya gotoh tuners are great
Gotoh are good too
Got them on all my guitars, cant do without them!
Innate Ant legit thought there was an ant on my screen
the nut sauce/Pencil Trick is very helpful, also think about getting a bone nut cut for your guitar, and replacing the inexpensive aluminum bridge with a steel bridge
welder tip cleaners. cheap tool to file the nut
ak_zombie
Would use them to widen the nut maybe but not to cut one to depth. They a very inaccurate and can cause more problems than you think if you are not understanding what is happening when you adjust the nut.
ak_zombie , you let my secret out. Now every body knows my welders tip cleaners/nut file secret. You snitch, lol
Welders tip cleaning files are vey accurate, more than nut files. Cutting deep cuts msy take a long time, but cutting the nut to the right heighth in the first place means cutting deep slots is avoided. The rounded bottom of the slot is perfect using welders files. V shaped bottom, or flat bottom or non precise radius at the bottom causes nut wear, binding or pinching. Welders files are very precise with more increments to get the bottom radius closer to the string radius thsn even the most expensive nut files. Some luthier tool retailers do sell these as nut files. But the big name guys wont cause they're way less expensive which means way less profit. You dont cut down trees with welding tip files. You dont cut nut slots with a chainsaw. Nut files are somewhere in between those two. Lol
Before changing pickups ... swap pots and caps as they push te resonant frequency of the pickups around even when 'wide open' (factory pots have 20% tolerance range as standard spec) -- I used to change pickups but pots and caps actually control the guitar's sound (imagine that!) and for only $1-$20. Get better pots for improved feel and control (lately I use Bourns) which also applies to the pickup switch (oak-grigsby/CRL) and output jack (Switchcraft). Of course, adding a 4-way switch to a Tele or push/pull tone pots on a Strat/etc to split coils or make humbuckers out of single coils are great improvements, often inexpensive to install and give more playing options).
If you are thinking of getting a pro setup, splurge on the cost of a fret level which is only $50 more and includes a full setup. The fret level will make even a $100 guitar play like one 10x the price.
How to maintain Ibanez gio trem system
Get a better guitar
ARR0WMANC3R
Lol. But seriously I don't know what kind of trem they put on those. probably not anything good. Maybe get a new one that's better like a gotoh
change your stock springs with the genuine original floyd rose springs and get quality tremolo claw (metal plate connecting the springs and the screw). Or just block them of completely. Tuning stability should be better.
Pradeept Rai don't listen to the guy shit talking ur gio, even tho I have 2 les pauls (a 700$ epiphone and a 2016 standard les paul) a mia strat, I still love my impulse bought Ibanez gio, it's an older one, very similar to an sg, but wider, sounds very good, although it doesn't a have a Floyd rose, but for the price Ibanez gio/Garts are the best guitars really for the money I actually sold my sg which paid for a new marshal amp, because the Ibanez had a better tone (better than my 2000 dollar guitar, even tho the gio was only 300), although the newer squier strats and teles aint bad either ( i also have a squier standard strat and tele)
Pradeept Rai I would say just block it off entirely, I have a Gio (it was my 1st guitar) and I ended up blocking off the trem and it helped with tuning stability tremendously
I loved the tips. The graphite pencil trick was one that I had heard of. Many videos seem to focus on tunning heads and pickups but I like it that you threw in some small tips and tricks.
5:40 "graphite pencil" are pencils made out of something else too?? 😐
SuomiPerkele I seriously had no idea thanks mate ... 🙂
Charcoal pencils are a huge thing as well. And like he said various others but they're mostly used by artists.
Jake Jones I get it .. thanks man.. 🙂
grease pencils are commonly used by carpenters.
Ember the lead of a pencil is just the name for the bit that u write with. Lead is a toxic metal so it would be really bad to use
If you are replacing the pickups make sure you get the right string spacing so that the pole pieces line up with the strings otherwise you can end up with really low output on one of your E strings.
"String heighth."
THANK YOU. Everyone says it man it drives me crazy
Satin neck's only for me. I'm done Sticking to the neck, with all that Shiny, Uncomfortable Wood. Locking tuners on my Suhr (never going back). Nut sauce on the bridge saddles, also helps. Great tips.
Not putting that file anywhere here my nuts...... 😁
**near
Regarding the tuners, I always make sure that I snug up the screws on the tuner buttons since that draws the worm gear into the ring gear and tightens up the lash.
How about something for us bass players
Wade Courtney it's the same thing
As a bass player the best thing to do is fucking practice and change your strings more than once every 3 years
Sean Griffey No shit!
Get a guitar (I'm joking)
Practice and learn your material. Once you bass players start doing that then we'll give you a heavier load to work with. However one other thing, CHANGE YOUR DAMN STRINGS. That's all. Go back to chasing the laser pointer.
Replacing the nut on a low to mid range quality guitar helps a ton!
40$ for one file?! damn....
xChrisS41x yea that's a joke lol
Edgar Patlan It's not though.
Honestly I use a belt sander and bring it down bit by bit. Sounds crazy but yea super simple
Just taking a guitar to a local guitar tech for a setup can make a world of difference. I bought a cheap £250 Epiphone Acoustic as a 'beater' (Something I could travel with without having to worry too much about it getting lost, stolen or damaged)...and as you can probably guess, it wasn't great.
I took it to my luthier who swapped out the plastic nut and saddle for bone, levelled, crowned and polished the frets along with the 'standard' set up stuff like setting the action height and intonation...and it did wonders for the tone and playability. Cost me less than £70GBP and now my £250 Epiphone plays like my £700 Martin
All this tips add up to 500 or something, not cheap
Just buy a better guitar
SEXY CHEESEBURGER name is for the LOLs right instead of adjusting action and basic maintenance....
Buy a $500 piece of shit, rag on it, then buy a new one.
I’ll bet everything you own loves you.
@@brianvillage9649 to be fair, buying a good guitar from the start is a much cheaper and better investment in the long run. But even good guitars still need regular cleaning and maintenance.
If you have an S type guitar or something with a vintage style tremolo definitely check out the Carl Verheyen (sorry if I mispelled it) method to adjust the screws in the back at an angle, totally works no matter how expensive or cheap your guitar is.
secondly first
The Scotch Brite Tip has worked like a charm! Thanks Fluff
My guitar nut actually has a little bit of screwwiring on the low E and A string so they won't have a lot of play when restringing. This also allows for thicker strings to sit in the nut better.
Just wanted to say thanks, Fluff; I installed locking Hipshot tuners on my Les Paul and they are AWESOME! Huge improvement over the Klusons and Sperzels that I had tried previously in that guitar.
I have been watching to find the best ways of maintenance and cleaning of my new guitar ..... I have seen several of video online about the changes that would be made to improve the sound and tone ..... The guitar I just purchase is the Epiphone Les Paul Traditional Pro II ..... In hearing and watching these videos .... I am learning that my choice was amazing ... You talk about Pickups .... This new guitar came with A Pro Bucker Vintage Humbucking pickups .... SPLIT... not taping ... also, slit Pro Alinco Classic Vintage Humbucking ( 2 dual pickups .... neck and bridge) ..... Next I keep hearing about UPGRADING my guitar to something like Grover ... this came stock with Grover Machine Head Tuners .... from what I am hearing .... I got a fantastic deal on my new guitar .... Some of the upgrades I already have ... without spending the extra 200 on parts ....... seems my Epiphone came stock ... and seems to be very much like the Gibson counterpart ..... I LOVE IT .... Desert Burst finish is beautiful ... thanks for the knowledge ...
Most guitars with a fender style tailpiece(ht and trem alike) has height adjustment quill screws sticking up from the saddles. Replacing them with shorter screws, that are submerged in the saddles, is one of the BEST and CHEAPEST ways, to have a better hand rest, better connection when palmmuting, and just overall smoother feel of playing.
Just an addendum to the locking tuner tip:
For anyone using Ibanez Guitars, the direct drop replacement for any of their tuners are Gotoh Magnum locks. ESP models typically have the Gotoh Magnums standard on anything E-II and up, but I'm not sure about LTD. With the Gotohs, you dont have to worry about opening new holes in the back of the headstock on any Ibanez guitar. Just thought I'd point that out so people with Ibanezes won't have to worry about that sort of thing.
if you got a fender style guitar, or any guitar with string trees on the head, I found swapping them out for the roller style helps a lot with tuning
a good inexpensive way to file a nut down is to use a little bit of 400 or 600 grit sandpaper wrap it around a spare string that goes in a each slot (so a spare E for the E slot spare A for the A slot etc) and rub that up and down I've been doing it for years works great.
good cheap tip to get rid of harmonics at the nut and bridge is to use a piece of felt or tape under the strings at the nut. Also a sock or fret wrap can do this and provide as a string dampener when playing/recording leads ect.
That graphite tip though! Much appreciated.
I bought a Dimarzio clone split coil for $40 new. Same wire guage, and impedance. Sounded great to me.
I think making a second one of these would be good. talk about stuff like pickup height, deadening the strings behind the nut and bridge, the type of pick you use, properly muting strings you don't want playing, and so on
1.Nut String Height.
2.Scotch Bright for the back of the neck, don't overdo.
3.Change the tuners if they don't seem stable/quality material.
4.Find smallest mechanic pencil you can and 'draw/paint' on the string rail from the nut.
5.Change those pickups. Don't be afraid of using used ones(just make sure that they're in good shape)
*You get what you pay for, so remember you might be trying to save some money, but in the long run getting quality equipment and products might save you more money than staying cheap.
Could you do five tips to make load in/ load out easier?
Checking to see if the truss rod actually works (or at least has grip) is very important if buying second hand. Straighten the neck out (if needed) and leaving to adjust for 48-72 hours is essential under string tension.
with the pick ups I got a used Epiphone Accu bass and the pick ups were shot. I bought pick ups off of Guitar Fetish for $30 and they are great sounding all you have to to is solder the bridge ground to the pot and plug in the pick ups to the pots and Bam! you're done. the only complaint is the pots are too big but other than that they are amazing! if you need pbass pick ups and you're on a budget I suggest those any day.
Pro tip on living the nut... you can get graphite powder in black or white so it doesn't stain your nut. Also, I mix it with 2in1 oil and it works best.
Thanks Fluff....replacing the tuners has made a big difference in my LTD $400 guitar! I spent more time tuning than playing before installing the new tuners!
You can also get graphite "powder" for the nut in bicycle shops pretty cheap! (They use it to make sure the brakes work smoothly iirc)
I've been a subscriber to fluff for a long time but i never really watched his vids. He knows how to catch my attention. I love watching this guy lol
Use natural oils for your fretboard like organic sesame oil or olive oil or any type of nuts oils, but remember after you apply the oil you must use a clean and dry cloth to remove the extra...I usually do this every two months for about 4-5 year.
should I use low heat or high heat?
Oil the fretboard every now and then. A tip I acquired from Rob Chapman to maintain and preserve fretboards is to oil them with either lemon or almond oil. Haven't looked back once
Another solution for tip #4 (the first #4 lol) is get a String Butler (actual name). You screw it on the headstock and it solves the tuning issues for sharp nut angles.
You can get a set (3) of hosco nut and saddle files for $55 on eBay. "Nut sauce" can be made with petroleum jelly and powdered graphite. For guitars with string trees, upgrade those to roller or graphtec have. Well polished frets also contribute to the guitar's playability, so either get chrome polish and use a Dremel, or polish with micro mesh up to 12000 grit.
Also, stew Mac fretting tools will rob you blind- all you need is a straight edge, fret rocker, straight metal beam, 320-800 grit sandpaper, and a 3 edge rounded file. Fret erasers are optional but encouraged- the stew Mac and Crimson guitars ones are nice, but pricey.
Boiling used string would be my top tip. Works better for us bass players but is still effective on guitars too.
ghs fast fret to clean polish lube up those strings/frets especially in the heat and for people who sweat alot....also change your strings at least once every month or two if you play alot or maybe a couple days before a gig...make sure you stretch though strings though and as fluff said lube up the nut with graphite or planet waves nut and bridge saddle lubricant
You can also put some oil (like the one used for cooking) on the nut with a Qtip even after the strings have been set up
Julius C you can. but it's still bad advice.
cooking oil can get bad with time, can gunk up and aquires dust and lint with time.
Graphite doesn't do all this.
that's the reason it's also used to lube locks.
a pencil is also so cheap, using anything else doesn't really make sense
I was having B and G string tuning issues on my Les Paul...tried a luthier ( $60) but no joy...so I installed a Zero Glide "Zero Fret" myself ($30) and it solved the tuning issues...the guitar plays better, sounds IMMENSELY better now that it's B and G strings are in tune up and down the fretboard...I don't get anything for mentioning this thing, just telling you IT WORKS, it's easy to install, and it gets results...
...note: I emailed the website to ask a question about this thing, and the president of the company replied!...this peaked my interest so I bought one and installed it...he was right, I'm hooked because IT WORKS...
The tuners on my Epiphone SG G-400 Pro are pretty damn good, they always stay in tune even if i'm not playing on it for weeks! Pickups aren't as good though so was thinking about upgrading to some Bareknuckle War Pigs!
Put a piece of foam behind the nut to cut sympathetic vibration. Makes your playing sound cleaner for free.
Hey Fluff, there is a cheap (occasional/light use) alternative to nut files. Welder nozzle cleaning file sets are fine, small-gauge round rasps that usually come in a pocket-knife like collection. Search eBay for "Tip Cleaner Needle File Set Welding Nozzle" and you'll find them from China for a couple of bucks.
i use the Scotch brite trick myself, and for pickups, I was gonna buy some used EMGs, but i actually got some DragonFire pickups(X2N Power rails) the set was only 40$ from the manufacturer but I like them much much more than the pickups that came with my Ibanez
Most of my guitars now have graphite nuts fitted, a LOT cheaper than 'nut sauce' or similar products, and it's an instant cure for most tuning issues. Also I replace the standard string trees on strat type guitars with roller tree types. Eliminating points of friction between the bridge and the machine heads is key.