drumrnmuzik Posted September 22, 2009 Share Posted September 22, 2009 Well, I just got tired lugging around my SG Epi copy that weighted twice as my Gibby Classic, and traded it for a 1983 Vantage Avenger. I am very happy with the deal. This Vantage has a maple neck and a brass nut. Somewhere, someone changed the original pups for some Ibanez Super 57 humbuckers. I don't know what it is but it has a crystal clear clean tone that sounds as close to a good acoustic guitar as you can get with an electric. It has a very sweet sustain and is just an all around good rhythm guitar. http://www.matsumoku.org/models/vantage/avenger/avenger.html Anyone have any suggestions? I have a feeling that the brass nut really plays a big part in the sound. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LeBudfrumHull_SG Posted September 22, 2009 Share Posted September 22, 2009 I've never played a guitar with a brass nut before, in fact I didn't even know you could get one ! I'm quite sure it would have big effect on the tone too. I've also got a Vantage , but I'm not even sure what model it is. It's not in the same league as my SG, but as you mentioned , it is a decent rythm guitar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimmiJAMM Posted September 22, 2009 Share Posted September 22, 2009 This Vantage has a maple neck and a brass nut. Somewhere' date=' someone changed the original pups for some Ibanez Super 57 humbuckers. I don't know what it is but it has a crystal clear clean tone that sounds as close to a good acoustic guitar as you can get with an electric. It has a very sweet sustain and is just an all around good rhythm guitar. http://www.matsumoku.org/models/vantage/avenger/avenger.html Anyone have any suggestions? I have a feeling that the brass nut really plays a big part in the sound.[/quote'] Yeah, discuss this in the Avenger Forum. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
80LPC Posted September 22, 2009 Share Posted September 22, 2009 I have a feeling that the brass nut really plays a big part in the sound. Of course, a brass nut only affects the sound of an open string... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gibplayer Posted September 22, 2009 Share Posted September 22, 2009 From the title of your post I thought you were going to tell us about your new prosthesis. Have you listened to the music of that famous Chinese guitarist, Won Hung Lo? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
max2343 Posted September 22, 2009 Share Posted September 22, 2009 I Have 4 Guitars With Them and I Love-em. They Were Real Popular in the 80's and Alot of Gibsons Came With Them. I Too Had a Vantage and Sold it a Long time ago. It Played Real Nice. I Have Always Disagreed with The Idea of Just Because you Fret a Note the Nut comes out of the Equation. I think it Still Changes your Tone Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drumrnmuzik Posted September 22, 2009 Author Share Posted September 22, 2009 Of course' date=' a brass nut only affects the sound of an open string...[/quote'] This makes sense since, you basically fret out the nut, any open strings will show up. I Have Always Disagreed with The Idea of Just Because you Fret a Note the Nut comes out of the Equation. I think it Still Changes your Tone Options here, does anyone have opinions between bone & plastic nuts? Sound wise? I replaced my plastic bridge in my acoustic and that made a big difference. Ok, sure the bridge is always in contact with the strings while playing but still... A nice thing is that I don't get any pings when tuning. The strings slide over the brass really well. The Luither near my house says that they break strings, but I'm betting that he's just too lazy to make any brass nuts if someone were to ask him... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
80LPC Posted September 23, 2009 Share Posted September 23, 2009 There's a much bigger change in tone from cleaning or replacing your strings rather than changing the nut. I've made nuts from plastic, bone, brass, steel and aluminium. With any material pinging can still occur, it's a question of how the slots have been finished and lubricated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drumrnmuzik Posted September 23, 2009 Author Share Posted September 23, 2009 Thanks 80LPC, Yeah I'm real carefull about my strings. Now I'm using 10-46 which look pretty good in the nut grooves. BTW, what do you mean x pinging? As you can probably tell, I'm looking for my perfect unaltered tone... meaning without effects boxes, ect. I'm real picky about tone, my drums are a result of years of trials and errors. I like wide spread of clean frequencies with as few stray peaks as possible. I can always rip up the sound by tube or digital manipulations. Thanks again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caffienated sponge Posted September 23, 2009 Share Posted September 23, 2009 I put a brass nut on my Strat once when I was jacking the action up for slide. While bottlenecking it was fine, but the guitar became almost painfully bright for regular stuff. It was a pain in the @55 to cut compared to bone. I wouldn't bother with one again personally, but if yo uhad a very dark sounding guitar you wanted to brighten up it might be worthwhile. Various people have rattled about brass nuts being excellent for sustain qualities. They've also been touted (properly cut, and with suitable non-string killing lube) as a solution for vintage strat trem nut-bind... (but then so has a soft pencil rubbed into the standard plastic slot) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
max2343 Posted September 23, 2009 Share Posted September 23, 2009 http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.clll?ViewItem&Item=190324678860&ssPagename=STRK:MEWAX:IT Get one one These. I got 2. Great Place to Start and a Drop in with no Hanging up with 10-48s Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
80LPC Posted September 24, 2009 Share Posted September 24, 2009 BTW' date=' what do you mean x pinging?[/quote'] It's just the 'ping' of the string due to binding in the nut slot. I always found bone to be harder to cut than brass - but of course the density will vary. I also made a nut from maple and found it worked well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drumrnmuzik Posted September 24, 2009 Author Share Posted September 24, 2009 I deduce from this and other posts that you sir, have experience in the fine art of luitherisim. My hat's off to you. I'm in the process of stripping this Vantage since it was so banged up and I'm thinking of finishing it with Tru Oil... what do you think? Thanks 1M Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
80LPC Posted September 24, 2009 Share Posted September 24, 2009 Preparation of the surface is the key. Get this right, and it will save time later as you build up your thin coats of Tru oil. One or two thin coats should be enough to seal the grain of the maple neck, but the more open grain of the body will probably need a coat of sanding sealer. Sand very lightly with 600 grade wet or dry between coats. This removes any high spots and helps to bond each layer together - unlike nitro, these layers do not 'melt' together. With very thin coats, you are more likely to avoid drips or runs which can be a nightmare to sand. Build up around 8 coats, then finish with 000 wire wool and fine polishing compund buffed up with denim. There is a risk that cloths used to apply Tru oil (and other wood finishing oils) will spontaneously combust when drying. Soaking in water before disposal might be best. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drumrnmuzik Posted September 24, 2009 Author Share Posted September 24, 2009 There is a risk that cloths used to apply Tru oil (and other wood finishing oils) will spontaneously combust when drying. Soaking in water before disposal might be best. This is the part that sounds like fun !!! The neck is in fine shape, so I just unbolted it and set it aside. I'm working on the body. I have had some problem with steel wool after sanding sealer once. It seems like it interacted with the tannins in the wood and made tiny black specks in the wood.... If it's ok, I'll just stick to sand paper. BTW, do you know how to get stain out of the grains? Like a bleach or something? Before, this axe was black stained the they put on a blue clear coat over it. Not bad, but I hate to grind down 1 or 2mm's to get the black out. A few years ago a made some ceder boxes for relatives and finished them with tung oil. I got up to 1000 grit sand paper and it really gave a piano like finish. Beautiful with the red and white grains in the ceder. Thanks a bunch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
80LPC Posted September 28, 2009 Share Posted September 28, 2009 Yes, you have to be careful with steel wool. It's ok once you have a decent thickness of finish, but on a thin coat of sanding sealer it will quickly rub through and deposit material into the grain. I only use it on the odd occasion because it makes such a mess and gets everywhere. I like to use the black silicon carbide paper (wet + dry). Old finish in the dents is a headache. Try different solvents on a cotton bud, paint stripper, and / or scratching out with a scalpel - if you have plenty of patience...The problem is filling the dents - with a clear finish, the evidence will always be there. How about a solid colour for the body with Tru oil finish for the neck only ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drumrnmuzik Posted September 29, 2009 Author Share Posted September 29, 2009 Hey 80LPC I saw this video on utube speaking about removing dents in wood; Of course here, the rifle is finished with tru oil, but the idea of using heat to raise the dent is pretty cool. I don't know what would happen with a polyeurothane guitar finished axe. I'll probable use dark stain on the guitar body and tru oil it after. Winter is coming on and I don't have a warm place to paint. The neck is in fine shape and I don't need to touch it. Thanks again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
80LPC Posted September 30, 2009 Share Posted September 30, 2009 Great video ! That was good to see it lift out that small dent. I think in order to get the steam into the fibres and expand them, you need bare wood. Boiling the wood also sounds interesting - maybe not on a multi-piece body ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drumrnmuzik Posted October 1, 2009 Author Share Posted October 1, 2009 Boiling sound kinda scary, don't you think that it would get water logged? I saw another video using a heat gun to remove polyeuthane. Right now I'm restoring a 1983 Vantage and it's made from multi pieces of ash.... but I'll bet that the heat gun would losen up the glue too.... I'll just stick to paint remover and a razor blade. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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