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Hi,
I'm new on the board, as I just managed to score a SoCal in black whilst I still could. I'm in Germany and even getting hold of one of them took about a week of searching online. Anyway, got it now!
So, to introduce myself. I've been playing about 25 years on and off. I had a white model 3 back in about '90 which was my first decent guitar. Sold it to buy a Jem, then spent years with IBZs, then Fenders, then Gibsons and now back to a Charvel. The ciiiiircle, the circle of life!
The SoCal is fantastic. I'm really pleased with it (especially for the amount it cost). Case, strap locks, Dimarzios. And that neck! I've sanded finishes off necks before to get them to feel like that, so coming out of the box like that's great. Finish is excellent (none of the problems that I've read about). But mostly, it feels like a real instrument. Some of the MIJ stuff that I've played in the past feel a bit like plastic toys. Not this.
The setup, though left a lot to be desired. Nothing big, but all in all it's taken a few hours to get it closer to where it should be (truss rod out, bridge not floating, action like a cheap 12-string). The one thing that I'm struggling with a bit is getting the neck angle right as I'm not sure exactly what is possible
Almost all of the floyd guitars that I've ever had have been recessed (IBZ edge). The SoCal's not, so what I'm not really sure about is how high above the body the floyd should be set? What I wan't to get out of it is a bit more upward travel (a tone, maybe 1.5, not an octave) and to have enough travel for bar flutters. At the moment, the action's OK and there's less than a semitone of upward travel.
So, before I start messing about with it any more and jacking up the bridge, is this trem ever going to do that, or should I just be happy with it as it is?
Cheers,
Ian
I'm new on the board, as I just managed to score a SoCal in black whilst I still could. I'm in Germany and even getting hold of one of them took about a week of searching online. Anyway, got it now!
So, to introduce myself. I've been playing about 25 years on and off. I had a white model 3 back in about '90 which was my first decent guitar. Sold it to buy a Jem, then spent years with IBZs, then Fenders, then Gibsons and now back to a Charvel. The ciiiiircle, the circle of life!
The SoCal is fantastic. I'm really pleased with it (especially for the amount it cost). Case, strap locks, Dimarzios. And that neck! I've sanded finishes off necks before to get them to feel like that, so coming out of the box like that's great. Finish is excellent (none of the problems that I've read about). But mostly, it feels like a real instrument. Some of the MIJ stuff that I've played in the past feel a bit like plastic toys. Not this.
The setup, though left a lot to be desired. Nothing big, but all in all it's taken a few hours to get it closer to where it should be (truss rod out, bridge not floating, action like a cheap 12-string). The one thing that I'm struggling with a bit is getting the neck angle right as I'm not sure exactly what is possible
Almost all of the floyd guitars that I've ever had have been recessed (IBZ edge). The SoCal's not, so what I'm not really sure about is how high above the body the floyd should be set? What I wan't to get out of it is a bit more upward travel (a tone, maybe 1.5, not an octave) and to have enough travel for bar flutters. At the moment, the action's OK and there's less than a semitone of upward travel.
So, before I start messing about with it any more and jacking up the bridge, is this trem ever going to do that, or should I just be happy with it as it is?
Cheers,
Ian
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