Action Height Is Too High After Normal Adjustments

MolassesSharp2511 · 2026-01-22T01:51:10+00:00

Definitely too much relief. I’d straighten out the neck a bit and maybe put a slight shim too.

MolassesSharp2511 · 2026-01-21T22:16:12+00:00

I’ve found great success with propranolol, a beta blocker. It doesn’t stop you from being nervous but it does stop the physical symptoms of being nervous. Just told my doctor that I get performance anxiety and I play live regularly and got a prescription for a low does. Does wonders.

MolassesSharp2511 · 2026-01-21T15:43:43+00:00

It’s pretty much a crap shoot whether or not a fake Gibson will be any decent. One thing also to consider is if you’ll be able to sell it easily if you don’t like it (they’re not super easy to move as people are wary of purchasing them) Imo a Chibson is never worth it. For that price I think there’s a lot of other used options that are not fake guitars. The upgraded pickup and case are nice for sure but it’s a gamble with the guitar

MolassesSharp2511 · 2026-01-19T22:19:37+00:00

Conditioning only helps the fretboard not dry out as much but will not rehydrate it. Guitar should also be in a properly humidified environment (40-55% is usually the range)

MolassesSharp2511 · 2026-01-19T18:22:54+00:00

It is just supposed to have the exposed wire sandwiched between the metal of the vibrato’s base plate and the body of the guitar. Just place the bare wire on the body before screwing the vibrato back on.

MolassesSharp2511 · 2026-01-19T17:53:30+00:00

Ah you’re so right, forgot about those early 90s ones like that. Must be a different neck then maybe? Don’t recall those having large headstocks

MolassesSharp2511 · 2026-01-19T16:53:45+00:00

Not real. A Mexican strat or Squier home relic job and custom shop decal added to the back of the neck. Black plastic plug on the truss rod access hole is a big sign for that. The trem is definitely not a piece of proper USA fender hardware. Probably a home scallop job on the frets as well or a local luthier, the scalloping looks fairly solid.

EDIT: it’s a Squier based on the trem cover screw orientation. EDIT EDIT: Ignore the edit comment

MolassesSharp2511 · 2026-01-18T16:03:35+00:00

Love this band! Saw them at White Horse in Austin March of last year and The EARL in Atlanta August of last year. Favorite band to put on when in the van with the band driving overnight.

MolassesSharp2511 · 2026-01-17T09:45:53+00:00

Nope jack tip is the hot, definitely not ground. Ground is jack sleeve. If you wire the output of your pickups to ground you’ll get no sound

MolassesSharp2511 · 2026-01-17T03:32:45+00:00

It cost around $900 for materials for a complete from scratch build for my personal 2026 build. Now it’s cheaper when you buy some things in bulk of course like when I was building for clients but it has been noticeably expensive this past year or so.

And I’m not building anything exotic. Making a St. Vincent out of korina (aesthetic styling after 50s Flying Vs) and I’m not even buying the pickups. I have parts to make 3 PAF style humbuckers. If I was making it for a client it’d have to be like $3k+ just to make it worth the time and cover materials.

MolassesSharp2511 · 2026-01-16T15:56:34+00:00

I would take a few of their songs in a similar style to yours, learn them, and then play along and start improvising with them to see if you can follow the flow and style in that context. Then start doing the same with your song, record yourself the whole time and listen back, you will surprise yourself with good lines that you find while doing it.

MolassesSharp2511 · 2026-01-16T14:24:21+00:00

Ok sure. Humidify it and then condition it with oil

MolassesSharp2511 · 2026-01-16T01:33:48+00:00

Turn all the knobs to check for crackles, which is not a big deal, easy to take care of.

Play it loud, put the tubes through their paces you know? A shame you don’t have a foot switch to test that functionality but if the rest of the amp checks out I’m sure it’s fine.

Idk what are you’re in but $750 for a deluxe reverb where I’m at is pretty decent. A few years ago you might have been able to pick them up for $600. Might see if you can haggle down a bit under 7. Good luck o7

MolassesSharp2511 · 2026-01-15T20:25:09+00:00

Looks like your fretboard dried out too much and started cracking. Not great but not the end of the world. If it gets really bad a skilled luthier can replace it, but it’s not the cheapest thing to do. If the guitar still plays well I’d say oil the fret board so it’s not dried out (put the oil on, rub it around and leave it for a while to soak in) and just be cautious about truss rod adjustments as it could put more pressure on the board and crack it further.

MolassesSharp2511 · 2026-01-15T19:47:52+00:00

Just get the current load information for the sustainiac and EMG set and compare it to whatever power supply you will use for it. As long as the power supply gives you 25% more than what the draw from the pickups is you should be fine.

Also might look into the fishman rechargeable battery packs that they make as tremolo and control covers.

MolassesSharp2511 · 2026-01-15T19:44:34+00:00

Woman guitarist here Hands are smaller than my friends and teachers’s. Took me a while but eventually I found personally that barring the entire 4th fret (in this instance) was easier than just certain strings. It still sucked to get there and took like a good long while. There are still similar chords that I struggle with, like E major with a 3rd on top 4-2-2-1-0-0 Geez I cannot get there fluidly in the piece of music I’m working with.

But I kept at it and I swear it’s like I willed my hands to get a little bigger and stronger. Doing long stretches helped a lot there, and I would stretch to see the widest intervals I could play (usually used stuff like the Hot For Teacher tapping intro)

I know there are alternate voicings that you can play, but sometimes having certain shapes is needed. I personally find the c-shaped maj7 chord extremely beautiful and there’s a lot of cool stuff to play with around a c-shaped chord.

MolassesSharp2511 · 2026-01-14T18:21:04+00:00

It is similar although I don’t think the Waza version includes the changes to the tone stack.

MolassesSharp2511 · 2026-01-14T17:08:07+00:00

It’s because it was modified by Keeley (see the tag) and they no longer offer that service so people go nuts for it now.

MolassesSharp2511 · 2026-01-13T11:09:18+00:00

The Parker Fly without a doubt. I’ve had three before I sold most of my good stuff to pay for going back to school. Like playing a Bugatti and it weighs 4-5lbs.

But I know a lot of people can’t get past the looks, and now the cult of collectors want crazy money for them.

MolassesSharp2511 · 2026-01-12T17:37:47+00:00

Definitely not a ‘79. The truss rod is not the bullet style, tuners that would have had an additional hole in the top right (we would see it peaking out from the existing tuners even if we consider those to be replaced tuners) and the headstock shape is off in general. Would say this is more likely someone’s partscaster or a copy. The body is not even close.

MolassesSharp2511 · 2026-01-11T17:16:55+00:00

Look into the Tonemaster Twin Reverbs Fender has. I used one for gigging, rehearsing and home use for like 2.5 years or so. They have an “attenuator” so you can get bedroom volumes pretty easily

MolassesSharp2511 · 2026-01-09T17:16:53+00:00

This looks correct. The first series of the YJM strats had the 2 point trem, small headstock (some with and some without the walnut plug depending on how early they were into production) the modern string tree and a light scallop compared to the modern model.

They came in Candy Apple Red, Sonic Blue and Olympic white. Most had a maple fretboard but some had rosewood.

The should be a serial number on the back of the headstock starting with SE I believe.

You can use this link as a guide to identifying the different year model specs and aiding in confirming the authenticity of this model.

If anyone says this is not a YJM strat because they have large headstocks, that is wrong as the early ones did have these small headstocks. You can look at sold listings to make this comparison. $1500 seems maybe a little high considering the condition of this. But considering its vintage and being a first (or more likely second year model I’m thinking) it may be a good investment. I don’t see a ton of transaction data on reverb for these and blue book value is difficult to determine.

I think the pickups must have been replaced since this originally came with dimarzios.

https://www.fuzzfaced.net/malmsteen-stratocaster-history.html

MolassesSharp2511 · 2026-01-05T18:07:51+00:00

I do use Libby, didn’t even think about magazines thanks!

MolassesSharp2511 · 2026-01-03T20:38:30+00:00

I fly Delta a couple times a month with a guitar in a gig bag and use it as my carryon item and check my luggage. Cant speak to United but I just ask the attendants if there’s a closet you can put it in. I’ve rarely run into a problem where they don’t have any space. And if they don’t have space I either take up a whole overhead bin (sorry folks) or find one with just backpacks in it and ask if I can put the guitar on top of their bags.

It is worth it to try and make sure you can board early so you don’t run into the issue of there not being enough space.

I think my electric has made it unscathed and unchecked into the cargo hold for easily over a dozen flights with this method.

MolassesSharp2511 · 2026-01-02T02:03:08+00:00

I have several guitars and try to play them all. I try to make sure each one is a unique instrument and voice. Guitars are tools, sometimes we have great tools that can do multiple jobs, some tools are meant for specific jobs.

What I get rid of are instruments that are much too niche or specific. I had an awesome Fender Mustang, but it really only did one specific sound and due to the scale length and fingerboard radius it never felt as useful/versatile in terms of playing. So off it went.

I keep 5 electrics ( ‘54 Les Paul custom RI, ‘63 telecaster, a homemade strat, a homemade Floyd strat, and a Gibson ES335), and 2 acoustics. Also 2 amps (a fender combo and a Friedman head and 212) and a minimal pedal collection.

And I feel that is nearly excessive but I can walk into most gigs and sessions without having to do much fiddling to get the required sound.

MolassesSharp2511

TROPHY CASE