i bought deez (GFS content)

Post by **Doog** » Thu Mar 12, 2020 9:32 pm

Nick wrote:
Doog wrote:I think Nick was bullied by a goldfoil pickup in high school or something
I think the pickups in the og Silvertone Bobkat I had were considered goldfoils...I really liked them, decent output and tone and had nice natural compression.

I doubt these are anything beyond some standard alnico arctecs with added speed holes, a thin sheet of foil and a snakeoil salespitch.

Sometimes, we all need a little meaningless aesthetic bullshit

Post by **dots** » Thu Mar 12, 2020 9:51 pm

Nick wrote:A good luthier could have probably diagnosed and fixed this issue for half the cost of a pair of dodgy Chinese pickups with silly extra holes cut all over them.

maybe.

as indicated in the OP, though, i also haven't done this kind of work on an instrument in many years. as frustrating as it is not to have gotten the win at each turn, i've also enjoyed the analog therapy. not that i'm drowning in disposable income or anything, but the expense thus far hasn't been cost prohibitive either. i wouldn't have bought them if i didn't like the way they look and hadn't had the overwhelmingly positive experiences i've had with multiple other sets of GFS electronics (also was in the OP).

while i may not put all my faith in online reviews, i do trust my own eyes and feedback even if my hot-rodding skills are a bit rusty. =]

EDIT: i have also been writing off all expenses related to gear, rehearsal, tracking, etc. for years. any gigging/recording musician who doesn't should consider it.

robroe · Post by **robroe** » Fri Mar 13, 2020 12:15 am

MEAN WHILE IN OTHER NEWS NO ONE IS SCRAPING CHROME LIKE I TOLD THEM TO FUCKING DO.

Nick · Post by **Nick** » Fri Mar 13, 2020 1:22 am

dots wrote:
Nick wrote:A good luthier could have probably diagnosed and fixed this issue for half the cost of a pair of dodgy Chinese pickups with silly extra holes cut all over them.
maybe.

as indicated in the OP, though, i also haven't done this kind of work on an instrument in many years. as frustrating as it is not to have gotten the win at each turn, i've also enjoyed the analog therapy. not that i'm drowning in disposable income or anything, but the expense thus far hasn't been cost prohibitive either. i wouldn't have bought them if i didn't like the way they look and hadn't had the overwhelmingly positive experiences i've had with multiple other sets of GFS electronics (also was in the OP).

while i may not put all my faith in online reviews, i do trust my own eyes and feedback even if my hot-rodding skills are a bit rusty. =]

EDIT: i have also been writing off all expenses related to gear, rehearsal, tracking, etc. for years. any gigging/recording musician who doesn't should consider it.

Fair enough. GFS has been kind of hit or miss for me, I did really like the Surf 90 I had, everything else was kinda meh. There's a gold foil strat pickup in my Bronco bass right now but that only had to compete with the cheap bar magnet factory squier pickup.

I had some old hum sized single coil "retrotron" styled pickups in my Ovation for years and was convinced they sounded great (I was young and thought they looked cool, and was also playing a 1970 Fender Twin at the time so everything sounded good through it), when I finally replaced them with TV Jones Filtertron Classics I realized just how thin and flat they were. They don't even make that pickup anymore though so it's probably all the better. The only other pickup I've tried is the Brighton Rocks, which to my ears was another style over substance gimmick. The hum sized P90's are probably a direct copy of the Phat Cat design, which is a great pickup. I'd guess the higher end strat pickups of theirs are also copies of proven designs that are hard to mess up by now. I'm more wary of their original "inspired by ____" products.

In general I think I'm just put off hot rodding guitars now-I tend to leave things alone and not try to make a guitar be something it's not. Which I know isn't in the spirit of this thread so I'll shut up now and let you do you.

Post by **dots** » Fri Mar 13, 2020 2:43 pm

Nick wrote:In general I think I'm just put off hot rodding guitars now-I tend to leave things alone and not try to make a guitar be something it's not. Which I know isn't in the spirit of this thread so I'll shut up now and let you do you.

no worries, no harm done at all. i've been mostly in the same frame of mind pretty much since i hooked up with this lot in '05, with the last upgrade performed having been the hh jag i dropped the p90s into back 2009/10 (can't remember exactly). i like to think luthiers and designers know what they're doing when they come up with a product, but that mindset is at odds sometimes with what i'm hearing and feeling. in this case it just seemed like a fun project to blow off steam from the day to day and doesn't change the guitar in any un-reversible way.

you don't need to shut up -- if you had, i wouldn't have read your story about your experiences. it's all relevant for the greater good as far as i am concerned. =]

robroe · Post by **robroe** » Fri Mar 13, 2020 8:41 pm

YOU FUCKS

NickS · Post by **NickS** » Fri Mar 13, 2020 9:29 pm

robroe wrote:SCRAPE ALL THE CHROME OFF THE PLATE. The wire wont ground to chrome

O rly?

Post by **dots** » Fri Mar 13, 2020 10:16 pm

robroe wrote:MEAN WHILE IN OTHER NEWS NO ONE IS SCRAPING CHROME LIKE I TOLD THEM TO FUCKING DO.

Nothing's touching the chrome.

Post by **Doog** » Fri Mar 13, 2020 10:21 pm

SCRAPE THE CHROME, RESTORE THE FEELING

robroe · Post by **robroe** » Fri Mar 13, 2020 10:27 pm

If nothing is touching the chrome what the fuck do you have it grounded to? Wood?

robroe · Post by **robroe** » Fri Mar 13, 2020 10:29 pm

You fucks listen to me. Scrape all that chrome off the bottom of the plate then solder the fuckin ground to the exposed metal under it.

NickS · Post by **NickS** » Fri Mar 13, 2020 10:35 pm

robroe wrote:If nothing is touching the chrome what the fuck do you have it grounded to? Wood?

READ AN THRAD

Post by **dots** » Fri Mar 13, 2020 11:09 pm

The bare wire is actually PINCHED beneath the bridge post's receptacle and the body. I couldn't tell you if the underside of that is scraped or not without removing it which I am NOT about to do.

So I'm pretty sure this means I need to take it in unless any body has ideas that don't involve things that require removing a piece of metal that doesn't get removed without damaging the wood.

robroe · Post by **robroe** » Sat Mar 14, 2020 12:53 am

CUT THE WIRE YOU PUSSY.
THEN SCRAPE THE BOTTOM OF THE PLATE
THEN SOLDER IT TO THE SCRAPED SHIT
THEN ROCK

robroe · Post by **robroe** » Sat Mar 14, 2020 12:56 am

I dont even know what guitar this is for you never took any fuckin photos like I politely fucking instructed. I'm not reading I refuse.

WLUCKYBFOR YOU WHAT I AM TELLING YOU TO DO WILL GROUND ANYTHING INCLUDING TVs, VACUUM CLEANERS, YOUR FISH TANK, THAT SHIT UNDER YOUR FUCKIN SINK. ALL THAT SHIT. SCRAPE IT ALL

robroe · Post by **robroe** » Sat Mar 14, 2020 12:56 am

FUCKIN A

George · Post by **George** » Sat Mar 14, 2020 7:39 am

dots wrote:The bare wire is actually PINCHED beneath the bridge post's receptacle and the body. I couldn't tell you if the underside of that is scraped or not without removing it which I am NOT about to do.

So I'm pretty sure this means I need to take it in unless any body has ideas that don't involve things that require removing a piece of metal that doesn't get removed without damaging the wood.

Just a thought - it may not be pinched, just inaccessible because it's getting pushed down below the bridge post insert deeper into the rout and tweezers can't get at it properly. This happened with mine. But if it is pinched it seems it would be in contact with the insert and therefore grounded?

You can remove a bridge post insert easily using a spare mini screw. It may leave a little dent inside the rout but youÃ¢â‚¬â„¢d never see it.

[youtube][/youtube]

Understandable if you donÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t want to risk it and based on the above it could be something else in the wiring so probably worth taking it in.

Thomas · Post by **Thomas** » Sat Mar 14, 2020 11:36 am

I had a very similar issue when putting that Sonex together. I was sure something was making contact in the cavity as it only buzzed when the guard was on and itÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s a shallow control cavity. It was driving me fucking mental.

It turned out to be one of the solder joints that looked perfect but when I soldered I hadnÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t let the wire heat properly so the solder was connected to the pot lug but the wire was just being held in there super snug. I reflowed that solder joint and it was gone.

I found the issue by tapping the solder points with it plugged in, I could hear the joint wasnÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t right.

Starting at the jack touch the wires inside until you get to the one that doesnÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t stop the buzz, whichever joint you just passed is the culprit.

Most likely candidate is whatever wires you didnÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t touch like the jack or between the switch and pot or tone and volume pots.

Post by **dots** » Sat Mar 14, 2020 3:31 pm

George wrote:
dots wrote:The bare wire is actually PINCHED beneath the bridge post's receptacle and the body. I couldn't tell you if the underside of that is scraped or not without removing it which I am NOT about to do.

So I'm pretty sure this means I need to take it in unless any body has ideas that don't involve things that require removing a piece of metal that doesn't get removed without damaging the wood.
Just a thought - it may not be pinched, just inaccessible because it's getting pushed down below the bridge post insert deeper into the rout and tweezers can't get at it properly. This happened with mine. But if it is pinched it seems it would be in contact with the insert and therefore grounded?

You can remove a bridge post insert easily using a spare mini screw. It may leave a little dent inside the rout but youÃ¢â‚¬â„¢d never see it.

[youtube][/youtube]

Understandable if you donÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t want to risk it and based on the above it could be something else in the wiring so probably worth taking it in.

Ah yes that should do the trick I think. I'll give it a go in the next few days.

Post by **dots** » Mon Sep 28, 2020 11:39 pm

update:

i think i might have mentioned this on one of the zoom calls months back... after trying to follow through with the video george posted, i succeeded in doing nothing but getting the bolt i dropped stuck at the bottom and had to fish it out with some needle nose pliers. whoops. seemed to be outside my comfort zone, tbh, cos i felt nervous even prying it, thinking all i would likely do is manage to damage the paint.

i also deduced someone had been working on this issue previously and failed. there were three short wood screws in three different places within the wiring cavity as well as under the pickups with ground leads going back to one of the pots. i could not find a single gibson or fender diagram with anywhere near that kind of mess.

so i took the guitar to a tech at the guitar center down the street a few months ago. he seemed to know what he was talking about at the time, and i felt bad that he was only working like two days a week (CA was still in pretty tight lockdown at the time), so i told him to do a re-wire while he was at it. i even sprung for a new harness to get it all clean as i didn't care about old pot mojo. after getting delayed a couple of times, i ended up going back to get the guitar about a month later. tech dude said, "yeah, it's still a little noisy, but i think that's just this model, bro." lol.

got it home, and sure enough, noise is still there. dude didn't even bother with the post ground. i was so disgusted, i just put the thing away and didn't even want to look at this instrument i was so excited to finally own and then mod out for fun. was under my bed for months.

until this weekend. one of jim's tunes ended up getting woodshed'd for the upcoming record, and i went full rainman, insisting we had to keep the track count up. there's a song i've had for many moons and never finished, and for whatever reason, i just had to get the toronado on it. sunday morning, i pulled it out from under the bed, plugged it into the pro jr, and then ran a thin lead from the input jack screw to under the post on the body (NO SCRAPING REQUIRED). buzz eliminated. tracking commenced. this thing sounds amazing.

so, once the album is finally put to bed, ima see if i can get contact to the exposed lead at the bottom of the hole and the bridge post. if that doesn't do it, then i have to believe the ground wire either has a break in it somewhere, or (more likely) the idiot who built it pinched the insulation of the wire and not the bare lead. either being the case, it will look like this until i can find a real tech i can trust to remove the post and get the damn thing right.

► Show Spoiler

all that said, i am very happy with the way the thing sounds and looks (minus the wire of course). it cleans up sparkly and can get all those dark heavy tones i remember from my old one in this model. it's just single coil instead of humbucker config, so the jangly-ness is kicked up several notches.