The Electra Forums

OK, lads... here we go...



..Electra Lady, Aria Pro II U-60 and Vantage Invader II



Westone Spectrum SP1012, Westone Clipper CL4112, Westone X300 Pantera, Westone Genesis II



Electra Spectrum X195 (with new/old Tekglide bridge, thanks Steve!!), Westone Spectrum GT, Westone Spectrum ST, Westone Spectrum MX, Westone Spectrum LX. Westone GTBass



Fender Stratocaster, Vantage VA900, Vantage Avenger 395, Commodore lap steel



The "inside guitars"

The acoustic guitar, and 2 Vantage Avenger 310s (1 being custom finished, 1 still in the States waiting to be uplifted!) aren't shown, neither is the Alesis keyboard.

Not many, but I like 'em all!

The really special ones are the X195 (gift from an Electra forum member a long time ago!), the VA900 (many, many gigs and years under the belt with that!!), the Pantera and the Spectrum GT (both bought from a Westone forumite in England), the ... oh, hell; they're ALL special!!

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

Because even the Australians need heroes."

Nice That Clipper speaks to me,maybe it's just that color mesmerizing me Pretty sweet digs for the backdrop,eh?

_________________
"If it ain't been in the pawnshop,it can't play the blues" R.L.Burnside

The Clipper is the one that gets picked up the most; a simply beautiful flat wide neck that begs to be dug into... And it's a super-Tele: so much cooler than a superstrat!!

You like the pool, then, Joe?! What about my daughters chookhouse away in the background??

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

Because even the Australians need heroes."

The chickens are living large

_________________
"If it ain't been in the pawnshop,it can't play the blues" R.L.Burnside

Rarest bird in that flock is the snowy-white xa1530 in the second grouping... Anyone (save John and myself) happen to know why that is?


They are all absolutely lovely BTW!!

_________________
...throw me a frickin' bone here, people...

Thank you! and that's a Genesis II... XA1630...

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

Because even the Australians need heroes."

What are all of the knobs for on that one? That one knob looks lonely off by itself.

_________________
"This is the way that pop ends, Not with a BANG but with a box set whose fourth disc you never get around to playing” - Simon Reynolds

"My guitar wants to kill your Mama" - Frank Zappa & The Mothers of Invention

I'd like one of those while Gen II's, never seen one over here in the States.

_________________
"GREAT Googiley moogilie Jack...jumpin jehosephat, hot dang and all".
- jdwhealton

Congrats on your Lady and that is indeed a sweet collection you have there. Congrats

_________________
Always give thanks for everyday, It may be your last so Rock On Semper Fi!!

That one knob on John's xa1630 (pardon my blonde moment, there) is exactly why it is so rare, Ron.

Never EVER seen another layed out like it... as has nobody else either. A link for general consumption...

http://www.westoneguitars.net/guitars/genesis/

I've got a pair of Gen I's and they are so fast and fine. One of them came with a dead humbucker so I replaced it with an absolute Freddie Kruger of a pup...

http://www.seymourduncan.com/comparetones/view/31

_________________
...throw me a frickin' bone here, people...

I had a conversation with TP about this one and he reckoned it was a focus guitar put out pre-production - he said there were quite a few of them! - and that in all probability he had fooled around with the pickups himself!

Just how cool is that?!

There's no push/pull pot to split the h/b, either....

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

Because even the Australians need heroes."

Corsair -

Very nice group -

Congrats.

_________________
RCSBlues

OK, lads.... while playing about with the Lady - it's the only one indoors at the moment; long story!!, I realised the rotten thing wasn't sounding right so whacked the tuner on it and the intonation was a mile out.

Hmmmm....

So I hie me off to the shed, guitar in hand, and proceed to try and set the intonation. Which is a bust. It will not intonate as it stands because there is not enough travel in the saddles so I decided to take the bridge out to see what - if anything - could be done about that.
Have any of you come across this before, and what was your solution, please??!

Bridge out, I thought " Maybe I'll take everything off and give it a bloody good cut and polish!", so off came everything else. I'll tell you what, I made a very good job of the wiring when I repaired it when I got it!! Now I've got it in bits, I can see that it has been played around with a little; it has non-standard (Gotoh) tuners and a scratch made output jack plate and the paintwork has faded to a rather attractive pink, with a red stripe where there must have been a line of tape or similar.

You see where this is headed???

I intend to refinish. Now, before you blokes send out the lynching party becasue this is a true rarity, there being only ≺200 of these things made, I'm thinking because its already non standard, that a top paint finish will not make too many teeth itch?!

So. Given that I'm forgiven for this heresy, let's hear what you blokes think is a good colour/scheme/finish, bearing in mind that a subtle finish ain't really what this guitar is all about, but that it is also called a Lady!

And Arthur; would you be kind enough to photograph the output jack plate and the tuners from the rear of the headstock for me, please?? I'd like to see just what I need to do to bring back a little closer to specs, hardware wise? Thanks in advance

John

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

Because even the Australians need heroes."

I don't have one of those, and actually, never seen one in person that I recall. But here are my thoughts on intonation besides moving the bridge.

The way to approach it depends on which direction you are out in the saddle travel. If you cannot extend the saddles close enough to the toward the neck, then you may get by with longer adjustment screws. Sometimes those are not too hard to find. In some guitars pickup adjustment screws are the same size.

If it goes the other direction, you either have to move your neck slightly in the pocket, which if it is minor can be completely or nearly hidden. I expect you are close.

Other options are different saddles, different bridge, or moving the bridge. None of those options are very appealing. But if the bridge is standard enough, you might find a version that fits that has more travel that looks right. If the saddle is solid, sometimes you can take a little off the threaded end to give you more travel away from the neck, or removing part of the compressed spring *or even all of it*. Hey, I know it may not be stock, but it IS important that the thing play right isn't it? Those with specific knowledge of this instrument can go into more detail.

Also, don't forget to adjust the neck properly too prior to intonation, make certain it levels out and has the correct amount *slight* bow to it with the strings tuned up. With the strings capo-ed at the first fret and held down at the 17th fret, you should be able to use a credit card for a feeler gauge in the middle - a tool everyone unfortunately has in the wallet. If the bridge is close to enough travel now, it may make a slight difference. A broken truss rod, a stripped nut, or even if the wood is compressed at that point can cause too much bow and that will definitely throw off intonation and make it play poorly. Shimming the neck to increase the angle slightly will change your intonation too. So you might raise your saddles and pickups slightly as a result, but it may put you in range. Cutting the nut slots deep enough makes a difference too. If the nut was ever replace it can be a likelihood. And even if it is stock, nut slots are more likely to be too shallow than too deep. If they are too deep, you know it right away and the string will buzz on the first fret when it is played open (and you can fix this by using super glue in the slot, and recutting as a quick fix that works well). Oh yeah, this gets done AFTER the neck and saddle height adjustment and any neck shimming or other adjustments.

And there is another option - not a really good one, but if it is close, just leave it alone. If it is WAY off at the edge of it's adjustment I'd be rather surprised. But stuff can definitely happen. We all found that out by the 50K pots being in a lot of guitars, so it pays not to overlook the obvious just because you don't expect it to happen.

And make certain there are no other structural problems. It is very doubtful, but I have had a few guitars (luckily they were not electras) that have had serious problems that made it impossible to tune or intonate. And you start looking at why and find a cracked headstock or body at the neck joint area. This can sometimes happen after a guitar is shipped. I had a European-made Dean come in with a cracked headstock and it was very unfortunate. I have had an electra that had a fret board separating from the neck too. It can happen to any guitar. Given the number I have seen though, it is not a common occurrence.

I can't tell you much more. You probably know all of this already. If you do, I am sorry to repeat a bunch of stuff you already know. But if any one of them is an idea you haven't thought of, maybe it will help. It can serve a good general guideline too. While I have ready bits and pieces of this all over the place, I don't think I have read it all in one place. Most of it comes from working on a heckova lot of guitars over around 35 years or so, and some of them were not so good. Generally, even the not so good ones could be made to play a lot better. I think you'll get yours figured out. Incidentally, when you do, let us know what you did. It may not be on the list!

Good luck, and Killer guitar!

_________________
Thorny

I will get those requested photos out to you in the next few day no problem. Arthur

_________________
Always give thanks for everyday, It may be your last so Rock On Semper Fi!!