So I bought this...

[delt]

This one looks decent from the pics, at least the strings line up with pups and the fretboard. I wonder why it's so hard for them to get that right?

I like it better when the high E string has a bit more spare room, even if the low E is just at the tip of the frets. As for lining up exactly with the polepieces, in my experience it really isn't that critical.

[PittJitsu]

I like it better when the high E string has a bit more spare room, even if the low E is just at the tip of the frets. As for lining up exactly with the polepieces, in my experience it really isn't that critical.

Pup alignment is crucial if for no other reason then after you notice them being off, your forever looking and pulling and pushing the string around the saddle.. I hate that...

[pagemalicious]

Man the way the flames run down the back of the neck looks sweet

[S-man]

I like it better when the high E string has a bit more spare room, even if the low E is just at the tip of the frets. As for lining up exactly with the polepieces, in my experience it really isn't that critical.

Yeah but it's a sign of poor craftmanship, if nothing else. For a guitar that costs about $2000 street price, it's ridiculous. IMHO.

[RR24MAD]

That is one cool axe !!! Good luck !

[S-man]

Thanks guys.

It should be about perfect, it's a custom shop guitar. Though that doesn't seem to mean much lately. And yeah, I am a picky. I won't hesitate to point out any flaws, no matter how small or insignificant.

[toejam]

Now I want to make mine like that one!!!!....hmmm sacrelige.....

You could always laminate the back of the neck. :ROTF:

[S-man]

I think the flames on the neck and headstock are cool. The chrome hardware is differant than what you see on most Sl2 ghost flame guitars.

More importantly, I'm concerned with the build quality. Time will tell.

[Mike]

Awesome, S-man!

[Genebaby]

You could always laminate the back of the neck. :ROTF:

Oh that is soooo funny Joe......

A guitar pedo f*&ks my guitar and you want me to start abusing the rest? That's a vicious cycle man, where will it end?

My only Soloist is that 87 Transparent (impossible to see) Ghost Flames one I think was at Namm, so I better not mess with it, though I'd love if it was just like this one.

[sully]

That's a nice axe. I hope it is perfect for you.

You would think that the machines that route these things would turn out a consistant product. Misaligned pups and bridges? Pathetic.

one thing that comes to mind with the misaligned pickup issue is that they may eyeball the pickup placement in the rout during assembly. IOW, the routs are most likely where they should be, but the issue could be that the pickup mounting ring holes aren't necesssarily where they should be, because they may not have a jig for that or something. i believe that the pickup mount holes are done after paint, so it's most likely not part of the wood cutting/cavity routing process. so they get the painted body, place the pickups, and start drilling. but as we know, hand drills never move.

the floyd/nut alignment thing is awful, though. but again, i wonder if it's floyd placement or an issue with where the nut is being located (not centered).

sully

[Budman68]

I have also noticed that SOMEtimes (not all the time), the pickup "ears" are bent prior or during installation and the rings are so weak and thin, that they "appear" to be out of alignment with the strings when all it would take is to physically bend the pickup back into shape, therefore putting it back into correct position. Now it's pretty obvious if that is the case because when you bend the pickup ears to align with the strings, there maybe a larger gap between the pickup and the ring on one side. THEN it's pretty obvious what happened -

[emperor_black]

Here is one that I returned...look at how far the High E is shifted to the treble side of the fretboard...your almost playing over the binding.



Here is the bridge pup...



Both pups are misaligned.

Plus, other stuff.


This one was better...



It had nut issues and buzzing on the lower frets. I was going to have it Plek'd and the nut modified, but didn't feel like I should have to and something about the neck just didn't seem right. (Can't exactly put my finger on it).

FWIW.

Dont know if any others pointed out to this "possibility" but could it just be that the pickups are non-F spaced installed in a guitar with a tremolo which requires a F-spaced pickup? I remember installing a D-sonic non-F spaced on my Ibanez with a tremolo and the strings did not align with the pole-pieces which were corrected when I installed a super distortion with F-spaced.

[drixll]

Very nice, the one from Fullers?

wow!

i've had my eye on that one, but i'd found a sweet hardtail, and one floyd is enough, right?

congrats!

[S-man]

one thing that comes to mind with the misaligned pickup issue is that they may eyeball the pickup placement in the rout during assembly. IOW, the routs are most likely where they should be, but the issue could be that the pickup mounting ring holes aren't necesssarily where they should be, because they may not have a jig for that or something. i believe that the pickup mount holes are done after paint, so it's most likely not part of the wood cutting/cavity routing process. so they get the painted body, place the pickups, and start drilling. but as we know, hand drills never move.

the floyd/nut alignment thing is awful, though. but again, i wonder if it's floyd placement or an issue with where the nut is being located (not centered).

sully

I checked that. Soloist number #1 pups were moved to the bass side as far as the route would allow. Therefore, the route was off. The trem was also positioned to the bass side of the route to possibly allow for proper string alignment. It looks like someone tried to line things up as best as possible but the routes were off. Trust me I looked at all of that before returning it. I even went so far as to take it to an authorized fender service center and the guy told me to send it back from where I bought it from. I did.

I've seen several examples where the nut was just not centered properly.

Soloist #2 had that problem and fret buzzing on open and E/A fret postions 1-3. I was going to have it plek'd but the truss rod adjustment was wierd. The bow was further down the neck than it should have been. Plus other stuff. I don't enjoy sending guitars back. It sucks.

Dont know if any others pointed out to this "possibility" but could it just be that the pickups are non-F spaced installed in a guitar with a tremolo which requires a F-spaced pickup? I remember installing a D-sonic non-F spaced on my Ibanez with a tremolo and the strings did not align with the pole-pieces which were corrected when I installed a super distortion with F-spaced.

The bridge pup was F spaced on both guitars. The neck pup was standard as it is supposed to be. The were just off. I realize that there will be a slight alignment issue with the neck pup in many cases. Regardless, it should at least be symmetrical.

Once again, I hate sending/taking guitars back it's a pain in the ass and a waste of my time. If there was an easy fix I would have done it.

Good points though and worth mentioning.

Thanks for all the comments.