misterbruce Posted October 6, 2016 Share Posted October 6, 2016 I have purchased the Epiphone Masterbilt Century DeLuxe Classic VS. The tuners are a little strange (Compared to what I am used to) When you release the tension, the tuners wobble around like the gears are not meshed tightly. Not knowing how they work, I tightened them but it is hard to get them working smoothly. Does anyone have any experience with adjusting this type of tuner? By the way, this guitar is built like a tank. The neck is a bit thick,(But comfortable) so if you have small hands it may be a problem. It comes with Cleartone Phosphor Bronze 12-53 which I didn't like, they were too "Zingy or Tinny" for my ear. I put on some DR Flats....No and then some D'Addario Acoustic Nickel/Bronze....NO and now some D'Addario Chromes 12-52..........YES!! A nice warm rounded, clear sound. When they wear out I have some Pyramids 12-52 (Pure Nickel Flats) which I think will be right between the Chromes and Nickel/Bronze. Stay Tuned. It is a nice guitar, worth checking out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mickthemiller Posted October 7, 2016 Share Posted October 7, 2016 Congrats on the purchase and the success with the string choice (been there) but those tuners sound a bit odd. Maybe we can get some feedback from others who have tried the Century archtops. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zombywoof Posted October 8, 2016 Share Posted October 8, 2016 Not sure about tuners as I believe those are reissued Sealfast Klusons. I have not seen them offered for general sale so at present seem to be available only on te new line of Epi archtops. I only have experience with the originals. Problem is with strings is one man's treasure is another man's trash. It is all about personal preference. First though, I would suggest trying 13s. I have never played an archtop that I thought did not sound better with the heavier gauge strings. While I am normally a Newtone guy, I have gone to the D'Addario Nickel Bronze strings on both my archtops. They are a bit pricey and you need to give them some time to settle down as they can sound a bit overly bright at the get go. But at least with the older guitars with thick carved top and back plates they really made the guitar jump. How they will sound with your much lighter built instrument I d not have a clue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
QuestionMark Posted October 24, 2016 Share Posted October 24, 2016 Refer to my post today (10/24/2016)discussing that yesterday I bought a new Century Olympic for more info, except that in my Century Olympic post, I didn't address the tuners or strings that came on it...so, I will briefly address my experience with them in this string. Quite simple. The tuners seem fine. A bit different looking than on my other guitars, but decoratively, size wise, and color wise they fit fine with the vintage ambience theme of the guitar, even if a quick review of the House of Stathopoulos book doesn't show similar tuners on any of the old Epis...at least from a very quick scan of the book. Plus, so far in the day I've had it, they seem to work just fine. Regarding the strings, something I normally do not care about at all on a new guitar, because I have historically always quickly changed them on each guitar I've purchased to Martin SP 80/20 Bronze 12s in the past 15 years or so (prior to that Martin 13s)...I was actually surprised that I don't feel the need to quickly change the strings on this one (from Cleartone 12s, which to my surprise so far sound pretty good on it.) Regarding its neck...I like it. Very comfortable. Although, I can understand it giving a first impression of being a fatter than typically on a modern day flat-top. But, I found I was used to it within playing one song on it, and as mentioned, it is quite comfortable up and down the fretboard. Regarding my guitar's "jump", typically associated with an archtop...I find mine to be fine. I have a 1936 Epiphone Zenith and on that guitar, the sound REALLY bounces off or "jumps" off of the guitar's top. On my new Century Olympic, the sound also bounces off or jumps off the guitar's top...as should be expected on an acoustic archtop, albeit subtract out that its top is 80 years younger than my 1936 Zenith which has all handcarved wood on it to boot...but, the new Century Olympic I bought none-the-less definitely has that unique archtop sound to it. Hope my experience helps in the mix... QM aka Jazzman Jeff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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