control voltage
Tele-Meister
I've had the guitar for a while, so it's not exactly New Guitar Day, but I never posted about it before. I wanted to share a nice product support interaction, though, so I thought I'd do it here.
The guitar is a 2009 Classic Vibe Tele, "Crafted in China", but lots of things have been changed on it. The biggest modification was the addition of a Hipshot B & G bender with a drop-D lever.
I've been having a lot of fun with the bender, but one of the height-adjustment screws on the G saddle has worked itself out of its hole a couple of times, perhaps because of the string sliding back and forth across the saddle.
The first time that happened, I found it on the ground, and reinstalled it. The second time, I couldn't find it, despite sweeping around with a magnet. I took the other screw out of that saddle, planning to take it to a hardware store to find a match with the right pitch, etc. I didn't have a convenient container at hand, so I stuck it to the magnet, thinking it would stay there. When I got to the hardware store, though, the screw was gone. I must have brushed it against something.
Before removing more screws, and possibly ending up with replacements made of different material than the originals, I thought I'd look at Hipshot's website, to see if they sell the screws there. I didn't see them, so I sent them an email asking if I could buy some. They said they'd be glad to send me a replacement, free of charge.
They arrived today, they fit, and the guitar is back in action. I needed two screws, but they sent extras (four screws, in all), plus an allen wrench! I thought that was pretty cool. Thanks, Hipshot!
About the guitar, I had been looking out for a used guitar with a B-bender for several years, but had only seen one anywhere close to my area. It was expensive, though, and not at all to my taste, so I didn't pursue it. Then this Classic Vibe with the Hipshot bender showed up with a price that seemed unbelievably low, and only about 30 miles away.
Whoever had it put a lot of work and parts into it: Hipshot bender, Hipshot bridge, Lollar Tele Vintage pickups (IIRC; I wrote it down, somewhere), 4-way switch, CTS pots, different cap, different knobs (originals included), tort pickguard, maybe a different nut, and it seems to have had a nice setup. I guess they just didn't get along with it at all, though, because they put it on consignment for probably about a third of the cost of the guitar+all those parts, not to mention labor.
I think it's great, though. I don't know how the original pickups sounded, but I think these sound excellent, and I like having the G-bender and drop-D lever, in addition to the B-bender. I haven't played a P-G or other bender that is controlled by the strap, so I can't compare, but I didn't find it difficult to get used to the hip lever for the B, and the palm lever for the G.
The G string does sometimes make a little "pop". The break angle over that saddle is shallow, and there's not a lot of tension holding the string down, so I guess it comes out of the slot a little bit sometimes, then pops back in. Maybe that's what the original owner didn't like. It doesn't bother me much, though, and I feel like I got a fantastic deal. Maybe I'll put a little wax on those screws, if they keep walking out.
The guitar is a 2009 Classic Vibe Tele, "Crafted in China", but lots of things have been changed on it. The biggest modification was the addition of a Hipshot B & G bender with a drop-D lever.
I've been having a lot of fun with the bender, but one of the height-adjustment screws on the G saddle has worked itself out of its hole a couple of times, perhaps because of the string sliding back and forth across the saddle.
The first time that happened, I found it on the ground, and reinstalled it. The second time, I couldn't find it, despite sweeping around with a magnet. I took the other screw out of that saddle, planning to take it to a hardware store to find a match with the right pitch, etc. I didn't have a convenient container at hand, so I stuck it to the magnet, thinking it would stay there. When I got to the hardware store, though, the screw was gone. I must have brushed it against something.
Before removing more screws, and possibly ending up with replacements made of different material than the originals, I thought I'd look at Hipshot's website, to see if they sell the screws there. I didn't see them, so I sent them an email asking if I could buy some. They said they'd be glad to send me a replacement, free of charge.
They arrived today, they fit, and the guitar is back in action. I needed two screws, but they sent extras (four screws, in all), plus an allen wrench! I thought that was pretty cool. Thanks, Hipshot!
About the guitar, I had been looking out for a used guitar with a B-bender for several years, but had only seen one anywhere close to my area. It was expensive, though, and not at all to my taste, so I didn't pursue it. Then this Classic Vibe with the Hipshot bender showed up with a price that seemed unbelievably low, and only about 30 miles away.
Whoever had it put a lot of work and parts into it: Hipshot bender, Hipshot bridge, Lollar Tele Vintage pickups (IIRC; I wrote it down, somewhere), 4-way switch, CTS pots, different cap, different knobs (originals included), tort pickguard, maybe a different nut, and it seems to have had a nice setup. I guess they just didn't get along with it at all, though, because they put it on consignment for probably about a third of the cost of the guitar+all those parts, not to mention labor.
I think it's great, though. I don't know how the original pickups sounded, but I think these sound excellent, and I like having the G-bender and drop-D lever, in addition to the B-bender. I haven't played a P-G or other bender that is controlled by the strap, so I can't compare, but I didn't find it difficult to get used to the hip lever for the B, and the palm lever for the G.
The G string does sometimes make a little "pop". The break angle over that saddle is shallow, and there's not a lot of tension holding the string down, so I guess it comes out of the slot a little bit sometimes, then pops back in. Maybe that's what the original owner didn't like. It doesn't bother me much, though, and I feel like I got a fantastic deal. Maybe I'll put a little wax on those screws, if they keep walking out.
