Sticky Davis Posted March 1, 2012 Share Posted March 1, 2012 Ok, I changed the Nut to the TusqXL, and replaced the Bridge with a Wilkinson, and added strap locks, had my tech do the setup, The guitar is great, feels great now and sounds great. Thanks for the input guys. zuma http://www.facebook.com/sulkesband Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vincentw Posted March 1, 2012 Share Posted March 1, 2012 My 355 arrived a couple months back. The frets needed to be cleaned up a bit, but other than that...killer guitar. Plays great, sounds great. Sure the Bigsby knocks her out of tune sometimes, but hey...that's the nature of the beast. Brought her into the studio 2 weeks ago and one of our guitar players was asked to put a lead part on a song that didn't normally have a lead. He reached for a LP hanging on the wall, and a string snapped while he was warming up. I handed him the 355 and went back into the control room to listen to the takes. Whoa!!! tone monster. he took about 5 passes and never had any tuning issues even though he was doing some heavy bends. He loved it and she sounded awesome. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Memphis Soul Posted September 6, 2012 Share Posted September 6, 2012 Hi guys, I was just able to find a 345 used and I love it. That said, it doesn't want to hold pitch very well even without using the bigsby. I figured that I would swap out the Wilkinson stock tuners for some locking ones but I didn't want to re-drill so I'll probably get some of the Gotoh SD90's to drop in. I also am pondering a nut change but may do the bridge first. Anything else I should consider? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gunner Posted September 6, 2012 Share Posted September 6, 2012 If you are having tuning stability issues I would do the nut first, then the bridge, then the tuners. I doubt that the tuners are the problem. You probably don't even need to replace the nut, just widen the slots a little and/or use some lubricant (graphite, nuts sauce, or chapstick). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Memphis Soul Posted September 6, 2012 Share Posted September 6, 2012 If you are having tuning stability issues I would do the nut first, then the bridge, then the tuners. I doubt that the tuners are the problem. You probably don't even need to replace the nut, just widen the slots a little and/or use some lubricant (graphite, nuts sauce, or chapstick). Thanks Gunner - are you of the choir that suggests the graphite nut / roller bridge upgrade? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gunner Posted September 6, 2012 Share Posted September 6, 2012 If the nut is filed properly then I don't think a graphite nut is necessary, though it certainly doesn't hurt. I put a Wilkinson roller bridge on my Epi 355. It works fine, but frankly I don't recall having any tuning stability issues once the nut was fixed. I installed the roller on the 355 primarily to get rid of the heavy rattle, and again, the rollers don't hurt (though the high E string has occasionally popped out of the roller during heavy bending). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Memphis Soul Posted September 6, 2012 Share Posted September 6, 2012 If the nut is filed properly then I don't think a graphite nut is necessary, though it certainly doesn't hurt. I put a Wilkinson roller bridge on my Epi 355. It works fine, but frankly I don't recall having any tuning stability issues once the nut was fixed. I installed the roller on the 355 primarily to get rid of the heavy rattle, and again, the rollers don't hurt (though the high E string has occasionally popped out of the roller during heavy bending). So, did you *change* the nut completely or just widen the slots? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gunner Posted September 7, 2012 Share Posted September 7, 2012 I replaced it with a Tusq and had to widen the slots slightly. I have found that a little widening is necessary for 10-46 gauge strings on the Tusq nuts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Memphis Soul Posted September 7, 2012 Share Posted September 7, 2012 On my guitar, even after a small bend with the Bigsby, my 4th, 5th and 6th strings go flat. One bend and they are out of tune. I checked the nut and it seemed that those strings were a little tight in there so I widened them up a bit to the point where they seem to fit a little more comfortably. After tuning back up, the same thing happens. Flat. Without using the Bigsby the guitar plays and feels great but it is a lost cause after using it once, LOL! It also seems VERY stiff too. I know it's not a top end model Biggs but the ones on the pro series Gretsch guitars feel like butter. So.... Maybe work with the slots some more? Lube the nut? Replace the nut? Order the roller bridge? Put graphite saddles in the stock bridge? Order a Trapeze tailpiece and let the Bigsby go for now? Thoughts? Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gunner Posted September 7, 2012 Share Posted September 7, 2012 Definitely lube the nut if you haven't yet. One thing you can do to check the nut is to alternately bend each string on each side of the nut with a tuner installed to see if any particular string is sticking. If it is not the nut I would try the roller bridge. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Memphis Soul Posted September 10, 2012 Share Posted September 10, 2012 Definitely lube the nut if you haven't yet. One thing you can do to check the nut is to alternately bend each string on each side of the nut with a tuner installed to see if any particular string is sticking. If it is not the nut I would try the roller bridge. Widened the slots and the strings have plenty of room to breathe but one Bigsby bend still causes things to go flat. I may go with the roller bridge or I may pull it and go with a trapeze tailpiece. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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