The Electra Forums

Well guys and girls, I finally have my Phoenix X195 up and running and to say I'm well pleased would be to understate somewhat... what a palette of sound it has! I've only played it through my little 100W bass amp with no FX in the chain but this thing has sounds I have never heard before! You can get the strat 'quack' with no trouble at all, ... and then you can dial in the centre h/b and things get really interesting, on top of which you can activate the pull pots and even more interesting sounds are on tap - simply awesome! Being a Phoenix means I automatically like it anyway - I have 4 other Westone Spectrums - and to have the sheer range of sounds readily on hand is something special but I did need to do a little bit to it to get it playable; the bridge was munted and to repair it, or to make another out of a steel billet would have cost a fortune, so a black Wilkinson 5+1 was put to use and fits and works perfectly! And it was cheaper in NZ than getting in from the US - go figure! It had been dropped hard onto the edge of the neck, which had graunched it a little - easily fixed by steaming - and the nut had popped out: once again an easy fix so once I had given it a jolly good clean and polish - the fretboard took a s**tload of Lizardspit! - strung it up, intonated it, I was ready for good times...
My sincere thanks to Paul (much abject grovelling at his feet!!) for the opportunity to experience this absolutely wonderful piece of kit - I shall be using it at my next gig so I'll keep you all posted...

[img][IMG]http://i165.photobucket.com/albums/u66/forthill/Photo5.jpg[/img][/img]

..I've even got some of those tapered knobs coming so I'm golden...!

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"... and on the eighth day, God created New Zealanders.

Because even the Australians need heroes."

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Excellent work! It really looks so much better than before, you've done a great job.

These guitars really all flourish with normal 'studio wear' and gigging.

Ahh, there you are - we was all a bit concerned about you!! Thanks for the kudos: I've actually done very little to it apart from what had to be done to make it a player! I'm with you; a little wear and tear generally means it was used for it's intended purpose which gives the instrument a vibe, IMHO, that I value.
I've gigged it a few times now, along with my Westone Spectrum GT, and what a formidable pair they are; there is no sound I cannot get with a little fiddling, and I can even do a reasonably convincing 360/12 with a little trickery! So all good, eh; I'm a happy camper - I just need to find a single p'up Matt and my very little collection will be complete....

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"... and on the eighth day, God created New Zealanders.

Because even the Australians need heroes."

Nice one, corsair. Kinda reminds me of that Tele you showed us that you had when you were like 5. Well, the finish does.
Worth the resto, you just can't go wrong with a Phoenix. It's funny how no one else thought of that body style.
So, any other stuff in mind?

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Addicted to Matsumoku.

Yep; I have a APII strat on the bench as well as another Westone Clipper 4112 which needs a little TLC, so plenty to be going on with... I have a modification to make on the Clipper in that I'm putting a proper h/b in the bridge possie - an MMK 75 - so interesting times ahead!
I'm with you; I really like the body shape and the necks are beyond good! I was interested to see that X189 made a point about the nuts on these guitars; I must follow up on that as the nut that came over on my X185/GT was broken in two and while another is easily procured, I wonder about fixing the broken one?

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"... and on the eighth day, God created New Zealanders.

Because even the Australians need heroes."

Why not? Give it a go with some superglue. The nut shouldn't have to go through terrible stress.

(psst, remind me, I might have a spare on a bad neck)

You found knobs??? YOu are a lucky dog. That guitar's in the right hands, it deserves real knobs.

Yeah, they're on sale at the Westone Spares site; he had some made and I got some of the first that were available! That said, I think the Phoenix may have had normal speedknobs originally, but I figured it deserved proper Matt knobs!
Are you serious 'bout the nut?! My one is broken at one of the string grooves; would that make a huge difference? I'm using it as a pattern for one and then I will try and glue it: suggestions as to glue to use for best results? Ooh, a real one would be SO cool...

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"... and on the eighth day, God created New Zealanders.

Because even the Australians need heroes."

83 had knurled speed knobs, 84 had tapered ones.

I forget which yours is (first digit of serial #?)

Oh right, if it says Phoenix it's an 83. But quite right, those knobs are still proper to it.

If the nut is broken in the grooce, you'll probably have to sand it all out when you're done letting it dry. Which groove is it?
I'm guessing though, that your phoenix had a graphite nut?

I'm used to my brass one, which takes some skill to break...

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Addicted to Matsumoku.

At the 3rd string groove. I will probably try a little superglue and see what happens... yeah it is a graphite nut I think... will that make a difference to the type of glue used?

_________________
"... and on the eighth day, God created New Zealanders.

Because even the Australians need heroes."

I think super glue will still work but you may want to get the black super glue used for inlay work.