Gibson ES335 – Setup

I do like the different, and this one really is that!  a touch of 1970’s Glam Rock I think…

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The first problem is the bridge, most of the saddle screws are rusted solid and one’s missing.

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Not difficult, just time consuming.  Take each screw out and clean it with a wire brush on a dremel, add a little oil and re-assemble (with a new set of saddle screws).

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There we go just add strings and setup as normal.

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The neck’s got rather too much curve…

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so tighten the truss-rod a little.

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The only problem there is that the truss rod nut doesn’t seem to be attached to anything!  It’s possible to fix it but that’s rather a big job.  The frets are very worn as well, in fact to bring it back to life really does need quite a lot of work, starting with a re-fret.  For now a setup’ll at least make it playable.

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The action at the 12th fret was rather high.  But then I’ve just put the bridge back together.  It’s easier to lower the bridge saddles than raise them so I always start with them quite high.

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So drop the saddles, starting with the outside “E” strings.

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and then the others, to match the radius of the fretboard.

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Then the action at the 1st fret.  Rather high.

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so cut the slots a little deeper.  The only problem with that is if it does get a re-fret it’ll also need a new nut!

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Next the Intonation.  Since the fret tops are worn so flat it’s moved the intonation point considerably and there’s only just enough space to move the saddles.  I’ve had to remove the springs to make space.

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In fact I had to take the springs out of nearly all the screws.

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lastly I had a look at the pickup heights.  I’ll plug it in a double check them later.

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And there we go.  Playable but it’s not going to do another 40 years without some more work.

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For details of what else I can do check out my website at www.guitar-george.co.uk

 

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