The Electra Forums

Well I bought the 250 Saturday. The person I bought from had "adjusted the neck" but luckly didn't damage it. What he actually did was tighten it as tight as it would go trying to make it straight. What it need was the bridge significantly lowered and then the neck adjusted to accomodate. It now has the right amount of bow and pretty decent action. I didn't think I was ever going to get the russ rod broken loose again, but I got it. I also had to drill a new hole for the end pin when I installed the strap locks. The old pin was stripped out and wouldn't hold.

This is my first Electra and I'm really pleased with the sound of this thing. Pretty unique compared to other guitars I've owned. I like it.

The only thing the guitar is missing are the two washers and nuts that secure the coil tap and boost switches. Does any one have an idea on where I can find some?

I haven't had time to get some pics, but I'll post some as soon as I take them.

Thanks for the tip. I considered trying to fill the orginal hole in, but just wasn't sure if I could pull it off. The plan now is to fill in the old hole. I've already tried one hardware store with no luck. I'm going to stop by my local music store after work and give that a shot.

What's your method for applying the wood splinters? Do you fill the hole up as much as you can with splinters and then fill with glue or do you just disperse the splinters into the glue. If the latter, how much wood do you commonly use?

I fill my strap-button holes the same way. I've even used twigs. No one can see how you made the fix once you put the button back on. Works great!

Matthew

Thanks guys. I'm taking it today at lunch to my local music store to look for those washers and nuts and to have the whole thing looked over. The tech there is a friend of mine and said he would check all the switches and such out for me. I don't think the phase switch is working properly. It seems to only act as a kill switch.

As for taking it to your local music shop for replacement washers and nuts. You should just go to Radio Shack and buy two new switches for less than $ 10.00 for both. They are simple mini toggle on/on DPDT switches with six prong bottoms for multiple conections. The coil tap uses only four of the six and the phase uses all six. They can both be soldered in in about 30 minutes. They are a direct replacement and work perfectly. That would be the best thing to do. Sicne I am sure a local music shop will try to overcharge you for those parts. You would be better to go to Lowes and get them out of their specialty bins.

I read where you plugged into a hot rod. I play mine through a Fender Super Reverb & Marshall Mosfet 100 Twin Reverb AB'd. Can you imagine the volume? That is only when I have enough room to stretch it out. When you kick in the active boost on the pups that is where this thing shines. I have never heard another guitar that sounds that good & clean at that volume. Electra truly got it right when they made this one. I have owned Wetburys for years and thught nothing could replace my Deluxe but it's been doing nothing but sitting around since I got the X-250. When oyu get soempis of it email me one.

I totally agree. At this point, it's best to go over the wiring and replace the old loose switches, rather than to look for parts to fix them. It's not as if this was a pre-CBS Fender, where replacing a worn-out original switch with a functional new one devalues the guitar.

While you're at Radio Shack, pick up a can of contact cleaner spray and spray it into all the pots to clean them too.

I'm pretty happy with the 250 through my hotrod. Like I said before, this guitar definately has it's own sound. The only problem I've really had was getting a nice warm "bluesy" sound out of it. With a little experimentation I found that switching on the boost and dialing back my guitar volume does the trick fairly well. What are some settings you like, maconmusic?

I found one nut for the switches, but haven't been able to find the other. I think I will just replace them, that probably is the best option. I also think I'm going to replace the jack, it's pretty worn out and won't hold the cable well. I tried monkeying with it to tighten it up but it really didn't work.

I'm about to go on the hunt for a Les Paul Studio I think, but the Electra will definately have a place in my line up.

Getting a good warm bluesy tone out of it? To me that is the best feature of this guitar. Put the pickups in active mode, keep both pickups on / midddle position, activate the phase switch, dial back the master tone and turn up the amp. With the hotrod there's plenty of ice pick to the brain volume. Now let it rip. I was doing this last night with my 70 Super Reverb and had the reverb turned up thick. The guys were just drooling over the tone. I'll be honest with you. If you check Ebay and my feedback you'll see that I have owned and sold many high end guitars. A lot of Gibsons. None will hold up to this guitar. I have one other guitar that is equal to or exceeds this one and that is a 1981 Westbury Deluxe. If you're lookig into Gibsons then you should seriously consider a Gibson L6-S. Tremendous bang for the buck. They are getting kind of hard to find unless you want to pay Ebay's inflated Gibson prices. But with the varitone swich you can get some really great tone out of it. By far the most underrated of all the Gibson electrics.

I have to agree. Others here have already heard me extoll the virtues of the L6-S. Fantastic guitars, and certain Uncle Matts are the closest thing available, IMHO.

I keep falling more and more in love with my X-340. Now that I have the tuning problem solved (thank you, graphite paste!) it just keeps getting better and better.

Matthew

I don't think I tried flipping the phase switch when I flipped the boost and rolled back the volume. I'll give that a try too.

My wife told me the other day that the guitar looked like a table. Coolest piece of furniture I've ever owned.