The Fret Files: the guitar workshop podcast

[guildnavigator]

God, I miss dial tones.

"I'm not getting a dial tone!"

"You didn't pay the bill!"

"HOW AM I GOING TO TUNE UP?!"

"THERE'S A PAYPHONE ACROSS THE STREET!"

"GIVE ME A QUARTER"

[The General]

"I'm not getting a dial tone!"

"You didn't pay the bill!"

"HOW AM I GOING TO TUNE UP?!"

"THERE'S A PAYPHONE ACROSS THE STREET!"

"GIVE ME A QUARTER"

God, I miss payphones

[eddie dean]

You can also tune to your dial tone on your telephone. It's so fresh!

In North America, it's an F (first fret on your low e).

Wow, I didn't know that. I learn something new everyday in this thread!

[The General]

I landed a great interview today for the March episode.
This is starting to get really damn fun.

[guildnavigator]

I landed a great interview today for the March episode.
This is starting to get really damn fun.

Hmm... Who could it be...

Hey if you ever get Henry J Whatskavitz I have a thing or two to scream at his face.

[aldousburbank]

You guys have inspired me to re-string my guitar.

[guildnavigator]

You guys have inspired me to re-string my guitar.

Nice, show us a picture of it!

[aldousburbank]

Nice, show us a picture of it!

If you only knew how many emails I get with exactly this request heh.

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Oops wrong pic!

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My two ladies. Austin's been with me for many years. Alvarez a recent gift from my son. I'm thinking about leaving it Minnie Pearl style, with the tags still on.

[guildnavigator]

Oops wrong pic!

I disagree with this, definitely not the wrong pic.

[b_dubb]

I disagree with this, definitely not the wrong pic.

Couldn't agree more

[eeieeyeoh]

Oops wrong pic!

I could hibernate w/one looking like that for awhile practicing our instruments while discussing future weight gain and beyond. I even got my ol' original Silvertone I bought w/my own money in the early 60's that cost a whopping $28 new. Cooking may become more of an adventure though for all that energy most likely will be needed for balance down the road.

[The General]

Hmm... Who could it be...

Hey if you ever get Henry J Whatskavitz I have a thing or two to scream at his face.

I'm gonna change the name of the show to "Guitar Crossfire with The General, Guildnavigator, Henry J Whatshisface, and Ted Nugent."  Much screaming will ensue.

Nahh.

I've heard about what an ass that guy is, but I don't know anything firsthand other than the fact that they make shitty guitars now.  Yeah, I'm not a fan of Gibson.  Or Fender for that matter.  They used to be great companies that made great guitars, now they are just huge soulless mega corporations that crank out mediocre products at best.   They're not family companies, they're not even connected in any way to their history.  The brand names are just being used.

[eeieeyeoh]

... .. ...  They used to be great companies that made great guitars, now they are just huge soulless mega corporations that crank out mediocre products at best. ..

Are you saying the GESmith tele is not a technically advanced electric guitar?

I used to rewind slot car motors and gave up after winning the Saturday Night race before High School. W/the strength of small rare earth magnets today, I can only imagine that enough turns of wire should be able to invent the "feed-forward" pickup w/just the right balance between hum-bucking and output coils.

[The General]

If you only knew how many emails I get with exactly this request heh.

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Oops wrong pic!

[attachimg=2]

My two ladies. Austin's been with me for many years. Alvarez a recent gift from my son. I'm thinking about leaving it Minnie Pearl style, with the tags still on.

Hey nice blanket!
And guitars, it doesn't take much guitar to make me happy.  Some of my favorite guitars were less than $20 at yard sales and thrift stores.  My 2 favorites at the moment were free... gifts!

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This is a Harmony h-80 strat copy.  It was a gift from a friend of mine.  The 70's-early 80's ones were made in japan and are actually really way better guitars than they should be. And these sell for 100-150 bucks all day long on ebay.  It's that 'desert sand' color that Fender used in the 50's.  Yeah, the fretwork and hardware and pickups suck, but that can all be redone. I spent a lot of time making this one nice.  I replaced everything on it but the wood.  I refretted it, replaced the electronics, the hardware, the pickups, made a bone nut... it feels like a real 50's strat now believe it or not.  I put the anodized gold pickguard on there and now it looks just like the famous '0001' Stratocaster owned now by David Gilmour.....

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[Camazotz Automat]

I landed a great interview today for the March episode.
This is starting to get really damn fun.

Is it Bruce Kulick of KISS? Is it?! Is it BRUCE KULICK of KISS???

No... no... wait. Someone more subtle. Is it Phil Keaggy?  Is it?! Is it PHIL FRICKIN' KEAGGY???

No... no... too obscure... and might be perceived as pandering to Christian listeners favoring those with less than ten digits...

Is it, holy mother of GOD, is it the guy who swings his guitar around like he's a screeching owl on steroids??? Is it Ingwie Malmsteen?! Is it that dusty Swede Ingwie???

I haven't a clue. I give up.

(Okaaaaay, is it Dave Peverett from Foghat? Is it?! Is it a paranormal episode of The Fret Files featuring the spirit of DAVE SLOW RIDE PEVERETT from FOGHAT???)

[analog kid]

Free guitar
Likely better than anything I'll ever own.

[The General]

Free guitar
Likely better than anything I'll ever own.

I should give away a guitar on the podcast.

edit: nevermind.

[The General]

I'll say one more thing
I'll just say one more thing on it and shut up and go away, but to my untrained eye, I can't see any problems when sighting the neck, and the action is two quarters' width and the Hi E 12th and about three quarters' and the Low E. I believe I'll wait until spring or so to see if the change in humidity here has any dramatic effect on it. Thanks for offering the assistance, too, General.

This book about guitar setups, repair, and maintenance is invaluable, and it's soo cheap to buy used on Amazon.  For just a few bucks, every guitar player should have it on his shelf even if only to understand their instrument better.  I think it would help you dial in your little acoustic guitar...

http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/0879302917/ref=sr_1_6_up_1_main_olp?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1393109301&sr=1-6&condition=used

[guildnavigator]

This book about guitar setups, repair, and maintenance is invaluable, and it's soo cheap to buy used on Amazon.  For just a few bucks, every guitar player should have it on his shelf even if only to understand their instrument better.  I think it would help you dial in your little acoustic guitar...

http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/0879302917/ref=sr_1_6_up_1_main_olp?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1393109301&sr=1-6&condition=used

Great book to have around. Entertaining to thumb through as well.

The PDF floating around on the internet is not the latest or most complete version, it's well worth it to buy a physical copy.

[The General]

Great book to have around. Entertaining to thumb through as well.

The PDF floating around on the internet is not the latest or most complete version, it's well worth it to buy a physical copy.

Yeah, the above link is also the older version.  For the savings of buying the older one, there's no excuse for everyone to own it.  But yeah, the updated one is great, and worth it.  I also have an old book that I love by Hideo Kamamoto called 'Complete Guitar Repair.'  What I like about it is that it was written before super glue became such a staple and before shit like Plek Machines and CNC routers were invented.  So everything described in the book is the super old school way to do things.  This guy loves hot hide glue.  I mean, he loves it.  Probably drinks the stuff he loves it so much...

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[Camazotz Automat]

The General may have already seen this video in his travels. When I first saw it aired on broadcast television, it gave me goose bumps spaced at Pythagorean intervals.


Guitar Maker

[The General]

The General may have already seen this video in his travels. When I first saw it aired on broadcast television, it gave me goose bumps spaced at Pythagorean intervals.

that was great!

[analog kid]

Thanks, added to my shopping cart. Luthier work is intimidating as hell, but I have a few beaters to practice on.

[eeieeyeoh]

That last Texas vid was heartwarming. Art's not even up to half of our age difference. My Dad only was responsible for servicing the machines behind what flew in WW2 and later for an airline till jet technology was proven beyond any reasonable doubt for heavy transport through air at increased speed and maintenance cost savings. How he figured out how to do it, I don't know, and probably designed to be that way by choices made w/Mom. It might have been as simple as teaching me not to ask the unthinkable question while I was young and the std answer to something extraordinary was "you'll find out when you're older". There's a huge box of post-marriage love letters upstairs though when my Mom was contemplating being a Mom and she sent Dad off to a school to excell at to avoid being sent overseas during WW2. I don't know if future generations would want to read the thousands of pages, double, triple, and quadruple sometimes sent by snail mail in writing then, but glad my Dad had his own better way of "getting rid of them" than actually destroying them like my Mom seemed to suggest after Dad died. I don't know why they were buried in the same Cemetary plot next to an unmarked grave they bought. I wonder which finger I should have sticking out of the ground embedded in a plaque eventually. Considering hurricanes, tornadoes, and a hunk of bronze, I may consider going more sublime. Words should be good enough unless meaning changed like Babel.

[guildnavigator]

That last Texas vid was heartwarming. Art's not even up to half of our age difference. My Dad only was responsible for servicing the machines behind what flew in WW2 and later for an airline till jet technology was proven beyond any reasonable doubt for heavy transport through air at increased speed and maintenance cost savings. How he figured out how to do it, I don't know, and probably designed to be that way by choices made w/Mom. It might have been as simple as teaching me not to ask the unthinkable question while I was young and the std answer to something extraordinary was "you'll find out when you're older". There's a huge box of post-marriage love letters upstairs though when my Mom was contemplating being a Mom and she sent Dad off to a school to excell at to avoid being sent overseas during WW2. I don't know if future generations would want to read the thousands of pages, double, triple, and quadruple sometimes sent by snail mail in writing then, but glad my Dad had his own better way of "getting rid of them" than actually destroying them like my Mom seemed to suggest after Dad died. I don't know why they were buried in the same Cemetary plot next to an unmarked grave they bought. I wonder which finger I should have sticking out of the ground embedded in a plaque eventually. Considering hurricanes, tornadoes, and a hunk of bronze, I may consider going more sublime. Words should be good enough unless meaning changed like Babel.

Post a picture of your silvertone!!!!

[eddie dean]

Hey nice blanket!
And guitars, it doesn't take much guitar to make me happy.  Some of my favorite guitars were less than $20 at yard sales and thrift stores.  My 2 favorites at the moment were free... gifts!

[attachimg=1]

This is a Harmony h-80 strat copy.

[attachimg=2]

that's a beauty!

It's GOLD!!!
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[The General]

that's a beauty!

It's GOLD!!!

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[Camazotz Automat]

If you squint your eyes after having taken a shot or two of a nice tequila, guildnavigator's dog photo happens to looks amazingly like the cover of a KISS album.

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[Camazotz Automat]

Just finished listening to episode #1 of The Fret Files.  What a professional job, General.

I savored every minute of it.

Different things stay with different listeners. Something that stood out for me was your information on cleaning older potentiometers vs. replacing them and what to take into consideration when making that choice.

Absolutely solid show. Will listen to #2 later today.

Break a leg (or Gibson headstock) on #3.

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[The General]

Just finished listening to episode #1 of The Fret Files.  What a professional job, General.

I savored every minute of it.

Different things stay with different listeners. Something that stood out for me was your information on cleaning older potentiometers vs. replacing them and what to take into consideration when making that choice.

Absolutely solid show. Will listen to #2 later today.

Break a leg (or Gibson headstock) on #3.

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Sweet.  Thanks Cam.

I love old potentiometers. I really, really love 'em.  CTS, Stackpole, Mallory... You can't get good pots anymore.  All the good ol' American manufacturing companies have either gone out of business or shipped their factories overseas.  Even CTS pots (CHICAGO TELEPHONE SERVICE) are made in Taiwan now.  I have a stash of a few from varying years that I can use when a vintage guitar is missing the right pots.  Did you know that American made pots have a date code on them that will tell you the week and year of manufacture?  It's true. 

Years ago I bought 2 dozen NOS 1955 JAN (joint army/navy) surplus solid shaft 250K ohm pots that were manufactured by Mallory to a standard that doesn't exist anymore, and couldn't even be accomplished if it did.  They are absolute heaven in a Telecaster.  I have 2 left. 

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