Starfire III action

[parker_knoll]

Hello folks

Having sold my 1960 SF III which had amazing action and playability, I'm back to my '66 which is much honkier but I prefer the sound. I've always had some buzzes, choked notes and high action, none of which I had with the 1960.

I've tried to get the playability improved twice; the first time about two years ago the guy found a fingerboard hump which was choking the notes above the 12th, so he stoned the frets where the hump was. However, although it played better it actually sounded worse and more buzzy after this.

I took it to another guy recently and he sanded down the fingerboard and refretted the whole guitar; he did a good job but the action is still high, maybe higher than ever and it sounds the same, or maybe still worse : )

Two questions:

1. Is there anyway to reduce the action? The bridge is pretty much at its lowest setting

2. Would replacing the Bigsby B6 with a B7 improve things by increasing tension with the greater break angle?

Thanks

 

[dklsplace]

A B7 wouldn't do anything to lower the action & it sounds like that's the main problem. What sort of bridge & bridge bass is currently on the guitar? Does it intonate ok?

 

[parker_knoll]

standard aluminium rocker bridge and it intonates fine, it's just a little buzzy and the action's a bit high

 

[hideglue]

....
1. Is there anyway to reduce the action? The bridge is pretty much at its lowest setting


Thanks

pk, there are certainly a few ways, though an aluminum bridge offers fewer choices (possibly sanding down the base) - a temporary fix - and naturally, without guitar in hand, its hard to say. But what you're asking is usually a red flag for a neck re-set. How is the angle?

 

[dklsplace]

High action with buzz sounds like two different issues. If your action is too high, we're not talking about fret buzzing then right? Yes, you can sand down the aluminum base which will help lower the action, but where is the buzz originating?

I'm afraid I agree with hideglue on the possible need for a reset.

 

[parker_knoll]

yes, you may be right. I didn't pay a huge amount for the guitar so it may not be worth it anyway, but i love its sound.

my 1960 on the otherhand has a low action with plenty of bridge adjustment left. i just didn't like the sound of the deArmonds that much.

I'll post a pic of each one and maybe you guys can advise if the neck angle is awry.

Thanks

PK

 

[parker_knoll]

pictures

So I finally got some pics up - apologies for the blurs on some, they were taken under different light conditions without the flash.

The one with the deArmonds is my recently sold 1960 - great action and loads of room for adjustment at the bridge.

The one with the humbuckers is my 1966 - you can see the action is still high and the bridge is right down. So is it a neck problem?

 

[dklsplace]

Yep, a bit hard to see, but it appears the neck angle is shallow. Your break angle over the bridge is pretty shallow as well.

You could grind down your bridge &/or sand down the base a bit, but I'd rather see a lower profile bridge & base. That doesn't help your break angle though. One possibility is to string the Bigsby so the strings come off the bottom, rather than the top of the bar, however your bigsby action would be backwards then...lift to lower tone & push to raise.

 

[parker_knoll]

the Bigsby B7 will make a difference to the break angle. so I guess maybe I need a neck reset. Anyhow, it's not drastic, it's perfectly playable, but the 1960 was like a new guitar

 

[hideglue]

pk, a real telling photo would be looking down the neck (from nut towards bridge) with a bit of the bass or treble side of the fingerboard showing. Assuming the truss rod is adjusted properly: where is the nut end of the fb in comparison to the top?