Well 1st job of the year, that 335.
For some reason it just doesn’t sound right. The strings don’t seem corroded but I’ve no idea how long they’ve been fitted. They’re a little light so I’m going to try a set of 10s and have a closer look at the setup…
One problem I had was with the intonation. the saddles for the E, A and G strings are at the end of their travel but need to move further. Not sure If I like the way the strings have been fastened at the tail either…
To give me a little more room I tuned the saddles round…
I’ve put a small nick in each saddle so that the strings are spaced nicely at the bottom of the neck.
Before fitting the new strings I also gave the neck a good clean…
and oil….
With that done and the new strings fitted I revisited the setup, starting with the neck set since I’ve fitted heavier gauge strings.
It didn’t need much since I’d already set it for the 9s it had fitted.
Next I set the bridge height, measuring the action at the 12th fret.
With the action along the neck set I checked the action back at the 1st fret. It was about right for a Gibson but I quite like mine a little lower. This could also be the cause of the tuning problems, if the slots in the nut aren’t cut with the right back-angle.
Since there’s a little to spare I’ve made sure of the angle..
With all that done it just leaves the intonation.
With the action right I’ll just check the pickup heights, make sure they’re balanced and it’s good to go….
Except it still isn’t staying in tune. I thought it might need a little more TLC. I’ve worked out where the problem is at least. The G-string is sticking in the nut! Should be an easy fix, put in a bone nut…
Here’s the old on still in place..
Soon tap that out and clean up the nut slot…
I’ve got a couple of pre-shaped nuts so that saves a little work, ready to glue into place.
Next mark up the outside string positions and the other 4 with the string spacing rule.
With the slots lightly cut, re-fit the strings. With the strings at tension the neck takes on the normal set so I can get an accurate measurement of the action height.
So file down the slots and there we have it. Hopefully playing well now…
