wyatt earp Posted January 7, 2016 Share Posted January 7, 2016 I purchased a 00' Angus SG Signature off of ebay. Claimed to be "mint condition. I payed $2k for it. It really is in great shape but there were a few flaws I discovered. The A string tuners' "Gibson Deluxe" casing cover was loose, about to break off. I took it apart and was able to solder the casing back to the screw mounting plate, luckily. The other flaw I found was the whammy bar plastic handle was cracked. And lastly. The maestro spring is resting on the pickguard. As shown below. Not sure if I should take it off and try tweaking it in a vise (with leather protection of course) or buy a new spring all together. Thank you for your time! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larry W Posted January 7, 2016 Share Posted January 7, 2016 That is made from spring steel...VERY hard. You will probably ruin it if you put it in a vise. Allparts has a replacement. I have not seen one up close, but there are many that say it is good. It will also correct the very shallow break angle you have there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wyatt earp Posted January 7, 2016 Author Share Posted January 7, 2016 That is made from spring steel...VERY hard. You will probably ruin it if you put it in a vise. Allparts has a replacement. I have not seen one up close, but there are many that say it is good. It will also correct the very shallow break angle you have there. Thank you. I may try to carefully tweak it into place. Maybe with a little heat. I am very familiar with the strength/brittleness of spring steel being a farmer. If all goes to hell I'll get a replacement. One other thing I noticed is the truss rod cover is VERY crooked. Damn near 1/4 inch from being straight. I'm shocked to see this on a high end guitar! Sometimes Gibson really makes me shake my head. But ya gotta love'em! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cjsinla Posted January 7, 2016 Share Posted January 7, 2016 Thank you. I may try to carefully tweak it into place. Maybe with a little heat. I am very familiar with the strength/brittleness of spring steel being a farmer. If all goes to hell I'll get a replacement. One other thing I noticed is the truss rod cover is VERY crooked. Damn near 1/4 inch from being straight. I'm shocked to see this on a high end guitar! Sometimes Gibson really makes me shake my head. But ya gotta love'em! That doesn't sound right. Are you sure you got a real SG? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capmaster Posted January 7, 2016 Share Posted January 7, 2016 Thank you. I may try to carefully tweak it into place. Maybe with a little heat. I am very familiar with the strength/brittleness of spring steel being a farmer. If all goes to hell I'll get a replacement. One other thing I noticed is the truss rod cover is VERY crooked. Damn near 1/4 inch from being straight. I'm shocked to see this on a high end guitar! Sometimes Gibson really makes me shake my head. But ya gotta love'em! Truss-rod covers beyond alignment occasionally do occur as well as off-center tops, strap buttons, or poorly aligned machine heads, but this one seems to be rather far off. The Maestro is some sketchy device. The two of mine do vary strongly, but I love my Frank Zappa "Roxy" SGs which by the way have poor and rather different alignments of bevels and pickguards, too. Be very careful with the spring steel plate! I would leave that alone, but if you decide to apply any force and heat, wearing eye protection is imperative! That doesn't sound right. Are you sure you got a real SG? I think some detailed pics would be informative. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wyatt earp Posted January 7, 2016 Author Share Posted January 7, 2016 Truss-rod covers beyond alignment occasionally do occur as well as off-center tops, strap buttons, or poorly aligned machine heads, but this one seems to be rather far off. The Maestro is some sketchy device. The two of mine do vary strongly, but I love my Frank Zappa "Roxy" SGs which by the way have poor and rather different alignments of bevels and pickguards, too. Be very careful with the spring steel plate! I would leave that alone, but if you decide to apply any force and heat, wearing eye protection is imperative! I think some detailed pics would be informative. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wyatt earp Posted January 7, 2016 Author Share Posted January 7, 2016 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wyatt earp Posted January 7, 2016 Author Share Posted January 7, 2016 [/quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LPS1976 Posted January 7, 2016 Share Posted January 7, 2016 the person that drilled the holes for the truss rod cover must have forgot his glasses that day... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wyatt earp Posted January 7, 2016 Author Share Posted January 7, 2016 the person that drilled the holes for the truss rod cover must have forgot his glasses that day... I know right! Pretty shocking. Luckily I can stick a small dowl and glue in that hole and re-drill it centered without the factory hole being visible Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capmaster Posted January 7, 2016 Share Posted January 7, 2016 the person that drilled the holes for the truss rod cover must have forgot his glasses that day... Yep. :( This guitar is doubtlessly a legit Gibson. Though the lower edge of the Maestro cover is hidden by the case plush on the pic, it looks like it was mounted nicely aligned. Perhaps the problem with the spring plate touching the pickguard can be solved with another one. As mentioned in my previous post, they obviously are varying strongly. The both of my FZ "Roxy" SGs have rather different string breaking angles though they are set up with pretty equal bridge heights. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnny 6 String Posted January 7, 2016 Share Posted January 7, 2016 Looks like it is resting on the pick guard, rather than trying to bend the maestro, I might try trimming the bottom edge of the pick guard first. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wyatt earp Posted January 7, 2016 Author Share Posted January 7, 2016 Yep. :( This guitar is doubtlessly a legit Gibson. Though the lower edge of the Maestro cover is hidden by the case plush on the pic, it looks like it was mounted nicely aligned. Perhaps the problem with the spring plate touching the pickguard can be solved with another one. As mentioned in my previous post, they obviously are varying strongly. The both of my FZ "Roxy" SGs have rather different string breaking angles though they are set up with pretty equal bridge heights. Actually now that you mentioned it..the maestro cover is poorly aligned against the body. I took the cover off and tightened the rear screws. Made the alignemt slightly better. But I just left it at that. It must have been assembled by the same guy that drilled the truss rod cover Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capmaster Posted January 7, 2016 Share Posted January 7, 2016 Here are some details on varying alignments on two Frank Zappa "Roxy" SGs - Schaller STMC roller bridges are mods. I just recognized that there is a difference in neck angles, too. The bridge and pickup heights are varying despite of virtually same string height (not shown). Sorry for all the danders - these ladies get played: And here's a total front view: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charlie brown Posted January 7, 2016 Share Posted January 7, 2016 the person that drilled the holes for the truss rod cover must have forgot his glasses that day... WOW! That must have been drilled right at closing time, on a Friday evening! In all the years I've been using Gibson's, and looking at and buying them, I must admit, I've NEVER seen a TRC alignment that far off. And, the other things the OP complains about, make me wonder as well, if it wasn't a last minute "throw it together, before closing, on a weekend?! How it got out of the factory, like that, is another question. Although, some do, as we all know! I'd definitely take it to a Gibson repair service, or at least a qualified Luthier, and have all your concerns addressed! CB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wyatt earp Posted January 8, 2016 Author Share Posted January 8, 2016 Here are some details on varying alignments on two Frank Zappa "Roxy" SGs - Schaller STMC roller bridges are mods. I just recognized that there is a difference in neck angles, too. The bridge and pickup heights are varying despite of virtually same string height (not shown). Sorry for all the danders - these ladies get played: And here's a total front view: Nice SG's! That just goes to show no two Gibson's are alike! But why two "identical" guitars? Just curious Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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