Belated NGD - Adrian Smith SDX

[VitaminG]

Well, I would think that the same issue would exist regardless of bridge type. If you had set the neck flat with a hipshot bridge and your action was too high, what would you do?

exactly. Same with a hardtail or vintage 6-hole trem

[sixpick]

May I ask the cost of a PLEK job?
I wonder if a neck can be PLEK'd while unattached to a body?

not cheap...$199 if I recall

[Genebaby]

I have ordered the 1 degree shim from Stew Mac and a new pick guard from Warmoth. It looks like all the hard work has been done as the pick guard on there now matches the Warmoth template.

I figured I'd finish off the guitar more to my liking while installing the shim and setting it up. The new guard is perloid with only holes for two hums. I will do the holes for only one volume and a 3-way toggle myself.

[Number Of The Priest]

Would be great to see before-and-after photos, especially the neck pocket and Floyd height! Congrats on taking the plunge. Looking forward to hearing your thoughts.

[Genebaby]

Sure thing, both items are in their way but could take a while to arrive, I chose the cheapest shipping, which was still more than the price of the pick guard, but you get that.

[Razor]

I have ordered the 1 degree shim from Stew Mac and a new pick guard from Warmoth. It looks like all the hard work has been done as the pick guard on there now matches the Warmoth template.

I figured I'd finish off the guitar more to my liking while installing the shim and setting it up. The new guard is perloid with only holes for two hums. I will do the holes for only one volume and a 3-way toggle myself.

I'll be interested in seeing the updates too it, especially the volume knob position. I'm thinking of picking up one of these Adrian models myself to tinker around with.

[SweetPete]

I installed a StewMac shim in my SDX a while ago. Don't remember which height, but I think it was the .5 degree. The 1 degree (if I recall correctly) was way too much i.e. the Floyd was sitting too high. I then had my SDX Plek'd, and it plays like a dream.

[Genebaby]

Ooh, that's interesting Pete. How low was your trem on the body? On mine it's tanked and I would like it to go down further, so hopefully the 1 degree is ok on my guitar, as I got it as it was described for top mounted Floyds.

I guess I'll see how it goes when it arrives.

[SweetPete]

On the stock guitar, the action was too high for me, so after a truss rod tweak and a lowering of the Floyd, I got the action down to where I wanted it, but then the Floyd was so low that pulling up on the Floyd was barely possible. Hence, the installation of the StewMac shim. The additional neck tilt allowed me to raise the Floyd, re-adjust the action to the right height, and also be able to pull up on the Floyd a good bit. If you've never done it, even a thin shim will tilt the neck more than expected.

Ok, I just dug up my old StewMac order. They sent me the 1 degree and .5 degree shims. I have the 1 degree shim in my toolbox, which means I installed the .5 (because the 1 degree titled the neck way too much). Hope that helps!

[Genebaby]

ooh, that doesn't bode well. I got the 1 degree cause it says it's good for Floyd Roses, and that would mean top mount of course. Oh well, I'll give it a try and see if maybe it works on this guitar. Should hopefully be here next week.

It's Saturday here and I only just noticed the brown envelope under the mat at the front door containing the pick guard for this. It looks great. I'm excited for it to finally be finished, I'd like to play it at rehearsal and then at a gig.

[Genebaby]

So the shim finally arrived today and while I could probably make it work I think I'll re-order the .5 degree shim. Oh well, live and learn.

[shramiac]

Picky bugger!

[Genebaby]

Hey, when it comes to my guitars, it's gotta be........

PS. You brought that upon yourself!!!

[Genebaby]

Nice upgrades...I upgraded mine too, first off, I put in my all-time favorite screaming lead and uber responsive bridge pickup, a DiMarzio Super Distortion , next I noticed the whammy would not stay in tune for anything and I suspected it was the pivot point studs. So I replaced them with some nice chrome ones to give it a sort of mild custom look (love it!), and omg what a difference! I can yank on that sucker all day and it does NOT go out of tune now. Then because the high E would slip off the fretboard, I had the nut replaced with a 5mm, I think that was the size and also shaved a bit of wood under where it is installed so it would sit just a bit lower to the strings. Big improvement there as well. Then I took it to a shop with a PLEK machine and now I've got the action dropped as low as it can go with 99.9% no buzzing and bends anywhere with fretting out. The neck was shimmed with a single thin piece of wood so that the bridge floats just where I like it and can pull up as well as dive. I too love the strat style headstock and it's not near as easy to find an HSS like that these days for some reason. The only thing that I still smack my head over the stupidity of design , was making the truss rod to where you have to take the whole damn pickguard off to get to it. Brainless! At least companies like Fender have finally come around to the genius way of doing it that Music man started, with the hex wheel accessible at the bottom of the neck. Anyway, this guitar is truly my go to now for rock/metal now...only thing I may upgrade at some point is a Dimarzio single coil in the neck and possibly upgrading the rather flimsy but typical import 5 way switch.

So the pics are gone now, but I remember them. I did end up deciding to upgrade the Floyd posts, seeing as I still wasn't finished with this guitar.

I'm used to upgrading the Floyds on US Pro Mod guitars so I ordered Schaller posts, which as it turns out luckily came with the bushing I thought I didn't need.

As I discovered, the posts and bushings are completely different than an OFR setup. What did you use to upgrade yours?

My guitar is with a tech at the moment to have the new two hum pickguard and 3-way switch installed, along with a setup to suit. The tech is also going to put in the Schaller bushings so I can use the new posts.

I installed the 0.5 shim already and it is good.

[mpexus]

Sorry for the Necro Bump...

Since Pics arent showing only the first does, can you tell me how the Mod to add a Truss Rod Wheel was done? Any special Wheel or a regular one will do after removing a bit of wood from the Neck?

Also curious since I keep reading this are very identical to Charvel Necks, are the Frets rolled as well?

Thanks