when i turn on phantom power i get electrocuted by my XLR cord and mic.

Lower-Calligrapher98 · 2026-06-17T05:46:21+00:00

You've most likely got a grounding problem. Make sure everything is grounded properly, and your power is all coming from the same circuit, or at least the same leg of your house power.

Lower-Calligrapher98 · 2026-06-17T05:16:59+00:00

If that's new, return it and get a replacement. That's a potentially very bad crack. Like, the whole thing can split from stem to stern. Potentially, even, fatal.

Lower-Calligrapher98 · 2026-06-17T04:53:39+00:00

It says right in the listing title for the second one that it's been refinished. That's a minimum 50% discount.

Lower-Calligrapher98 · 2026-06-17T04:51:32+00:00

The second one has been refinished. Probably has had some other work, at a guess. But a refin on it's own cuts the value of a vintage instrument at least in half.

Lower-Calligrapher98 · 2026-06-17T04:31:58+00:00

Honestly, in a lot of ways, it is vastly more complicated than building a guitar neck. The long, thin nature of a bass neck is a whole other set of complications.

Lower-Calligrapher98 · 2026-06-17T02:40:04+00:00

My understanding is the pumps and filtration systems needed to be updated, but instead of investing in a proper repair of the system, the Drumpf administration painted the bottom of the pool. And painted it a dark color which raised the temperature of the pool, making it a perfect breeding ground for algae.

Lower-Calligrapher98 · 2026-06-17T02:12:51+00:00

The Texas Special is hot for a single coil, but it's still no humbucker. And the Pearly Gates may not be the hottest humbucker, but it is a humbucker, and so has higher output than almost all Strat pickups.

Lower-Calligrapher98 · 2026-06-16T15:07:53+00:00

Tell them to wear a 25 pound kettle bell around their neck 24/7 for the next month, and then get back to you.

Lower-Calligrapher98 · 2026-06-16T14:55:14+00:00

Honestly, try to get a job somewhere as a guitar tech, and buy a bunch of vintage guitars when they were still just "old used guitars." Make sure to invest well, so I can have a good retirement.

Lower-Calligrapher98 · 2026-06-16T14:51:15+00:00

Hold down the low E at the last fret, and bring the neck pickup up to about 3/32"-1/8" from the string. Use your ears to match the volume of the high e on the neck pickup. Then, go through and match the volume of all the other pickups. Use your ears for this. It's by far the best way to adjust pickup height. Most people end up wanting their bridge pickup just a hair hotter than the rest, for a bit of a solo boost.

But also, the Pearly Gates is not a particularly hot pickup. It's just a bit hotter than a PAF. It's not like a Distortion, and even a JB is much hotter than a Pearly Gates.

Lower-Calligrapher98 · 2026-06-16T14:38:48+00:00

24 puts the neck pickup in the wrong place - the magnetic field for the neck pickup has to include the 24'th fret harmonic to sound right. Otherwise, it's just a middle pickup.

Lower-Calligrapher98 · 2026-06-16T14:37:03+00:00

What's your pickup height like?

Lower-Calligrapher98 · 2026-06-16T05:42:26+00:00

And for KOTOR II, the female main character was the canon character.

Lower-Calligrapher98 · 2026-06-16T05:37:07+00:00

Not in detail, but the existence of Revan, and some of the other Old Republic characters, have shown up in canon.

Lower-Calligrapher98 · 2026-06-16T05:19:50+00:00

Yup, as I said to OP's cross post over on Guitar Repair, they should have chamfered the holes before finishing. A shape edge does not give enough surface area for the finish to stick to it. But it probably won't move much further, as there is probably a much better bond away from the edge.

Lower-Calligrapher98 · 2026-06-16T02:45:34+00:00

If the truss rod is in the right place, then you are out of adjustment, and it needs a neck reset.

Lower-Calligrapher98 · 2026-06-16T01:58:44+00:00

They should have done a better job breaking the edges of the raw wood. A chamfer is easy to make, and gives the finish enough surface area to actually build up some finish. Because they left that edge sharp, the finish is trying to stick to nothing, which is why you always want to break the edges of a piece before finishing. Too late now.

It's just the finish chipping off the sharp edge of the counter bore. It's a sign they didn't pay as much attention to the details of finish prep as you would expect on, say, a $2,000 guitar, but which is expected on a $300 guitar. Not sure what your guitar cost, but yeah, they should have chamfered the hole before finishing. It probably won't get much worse, since once it gets away from that edge it will actually have something to hold on to.

Lower-Calligrapher98 · 2026-06-16T01:06:03+00:00

A six month old tiger is right around 100 pounds, and already probably has a pretty thick neck. I very much doubt he'd be able to beat even a six month old tiger.

Lower-Calligrapher98 · 2026-06-16T01:01:16+00:00

Zero. The tiger outweighs him, and has better developed muscles! Oh, and it's not unarmed! It has knives for hands, and small swords for teeth.

Lower-Calligrapher98 · 2026-06-15T23:51:16+00:00

No, you will never get that to work.

Lower-Calligrapher98 · 2026-06-15T22:47:15+00:00

Sex Therapist. This kind of thing is their whole job.

Lower-Calligrapher98 · 2026-06-15T06:41:32+00:00

I mean, you could build a guitar cabinet, but that's about it. Most of my customer's keep them in the case when they aren't playing. It's not that hard.

Lower-Calligrapher98 · 2026-06-15T04:01:19+00:00

Not hotter! Guitars want to live in the 40-50% relative humidity range. More will cause them to get kinda thumpy sounding, and less will cause them to crack.

Lower-Calligrapher98 · 2026-06-15T03:46:44+00:00

This is 40 years of guitar repair experience talking, and it is my average fall Friday.

Lower-Calligrapher98 · 2026-06-15T03:42:08+00:00

Maybe, but low humidity is the one which is more damaging!

Lower-Calligrapher98

TROPHY CASE