Help! What Have I Done?

tgk03

tgk03

Ain't it crazy?
I bought my Tele last year with intentions to do a little modding. When I bought it it was wonderful right out of the box. Felt great -- easy and comfortable to play. I was thrilled.

I bought a Wilkenson bridge with 3 brass saddles and I bought a Don Mare Big Box neck pick up and a DD Quarter Pounder for the bridge.

A while ago, I installed the Don Mare pup and it worked fine.

Last week I replaced the bridge. And oh shit, the guitar feels completely different. I have a lot of string buzzing. I keep raising the saddles and it seems to stop but the next day, its buzzing again. The action is getting crazy. The guitar feels like a board with wires on it. I know I need a pro set-up but it's just not in the cards right now.

Also, I installed the SD pup and it doesn't work. Wired something wrong, perhaps? And I spent so much time futzing with the solder, I think I fried the pots.

I love this guitar. I have faith that it can shine again. I ask for any advice short of a pro set-up.


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You may say to yourself, "My God, what have I done?" Sorry. I am no help. Just had to drop in and post the free associational thought created by the thread title.
 
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tgk03 said:
30 minutes, maybe. The bridge wasn't a perfect fit. I had to drill new holes.
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Ew...

Without being able to see it I have no easy solution...sorry...but I cannot think of any reason for this happening short of you messed up the bridge placement...
 
Lemons out of lemonade? That sucks. You might have saved me a similar fate now that I'm cautious.
 
You wrote - And I spent so much time futzing with the solder, I think I fried the pots.

I doubt you did any damage to the volume or tone pots. The elements are not very heat sensitive. If there is any concern test them with a ohm meter.
 
I would take some measurements of the saddle heights (and bridge thickness) from the old take off part, and try to set the new bridge saddles close to the original saddle height for starters, then adjust from there. At least with this plan, you know things are close to where they were, then you can decide if something has moved around or something. Having a good string height measurement and action relief measurement from before would be nice to have, but at least measuring the bridge thickness and saddle heights should get you close. I've never had an issue removing the strings, or even the neck, from a guitar resulting in action problems and such, so I'm guessing the bridge is the problem.

As for the pickup, probably a wiring issue. I know people like to talk about cooking pots on the web, but like Mike I said, I doubt you managed to damage a pot. I've wired a bunch of guitars, and I suck at soldering, and I haven't managed to damage a pot yet.
 
Tiltsta said:
I would take some measurements of the saddle heights (and bridge thickness) from the old take off part, and try to set the new bridge saddles close to the original saddle height for starters, then adjust from there. At least with this plan, you know things are close to where they were, then you can decide if something has moved around or something. Having a good string height measurement and action relief measurement from before would be nice to have, but at least measuring the bridge thickness and saddle heights should get you close. I've never had an issue removing the strings, or even the neck, from a guitar resulting in action problems and such, so I'm guessing the bridge is the problem.

As for the pickup, probably a wiring issue. I know people like to talk about cooking pots on the web, but like Mike I said, I doubt you managed to damage a pot. I've wired a bunch of guitars, and I suck at soldering, and I haven't managed to damage a pot yet.
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Good plan. I'm a-gonna try this.
 
it could be worse. you could have your house destroyed from the inside by a giant vat of popcorn.

(bring it to a tech)
 
Where's the buzzing coming from? When I bought my "69 Thinline Reissue I bought a Fender ashtray style 6-saddle bridge to get precise intonation. It took a little bit of fiddling with the saddle screws to get them all sitting fully/properly touching the bridge's baseplate. So if the buzzing is coming from the bridge, you should do that and lower the action to it's original usable state.

I can understand speccing the guitar the way you want, but you are a far braver man than I for drilling new holes into your guitar.
 
GilmourD said:
Have you checked the relief of the neck since you say it's buzzing with high action?
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With an amateur's eye. Seems OK.

Help!I'maRock! said:
it could be worse. you could have your house destroyed from the inside by a giant vat of popcorn.

(bring it to a tech)
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When I get an acute attack of money. That'll be the best solution.

Dogsinotpalc said:
Where's the buzzing coming from? When I bought my "69 Thinline Reissue I bought a Fender ashtray style 6-saddle bridge to get precise intonation. It took a little bit of fiddling with the saddle screws to get them all sitting fully/properly touching the bridge's baseplate. So if the buzzing is coming from the bridge, you should do that and lower the action to it's original usable state.

I can understand speccing the guitar the way you want, but you are a far braver man than I for drilling new holes into your guitar.
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Brave? Or just an idiot?
 
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