MichaelK
Junior Member
I gave my '63 T100-D to Joe Glaser in Nashville a few months back to bring it up to "spec," and just got it back. Great work by a true artist!
Problem 1:
The volume would drop as the tone pots were rolled back.
Solution:
Both pickups had an internal short. They're custom Alnico V pickups by Pete Biltoft that the previous owner had installed (I have the stock Franz pickups stowed away). Apparently whoever did the job broke wires on both of them. I decided to keep the custom pickups, so Joe sent them to Lindy Fralin for rewinding.
Problem 2:
The tailpiece was skewed slightly toward the treble side and the bridge sat too far in the same direction, so the first string would often slip off the fretboard. Sliding the bridge back toward the center was no help; the strings eventually would pull it right back. To top it off, someone had re-shaped the bridge bottom to sit there... in the wrong place. Kind of like having your wheels out of alignment, but instead of aligning them, you change the steering wheel position.
Solution:
Joe placed a small shim between the tailpiece and the body on the bass side, next to the strap button, which shifted it back to center. He cut a new bone nut, set the saddle height, positioned the bridge for proper intonation, and re-shaped the bottom of the bridge for maximum contact with the body in the correct position.
The difference:
Before even plugging it in, the guitar is louder and more resonant because of the improved bridge-to-top contact. The action is low and flawless, no fret buzz at all, and the intonation is spot-on all the way up the neck. The first string no longer falls off, which is nice. Pugged in, it's amazing. Before it was lacking in the bass, but now with the pickups working properly it's all there. What tone!! I have no idea what the Franz pickups would have sounded like, but I'm in no particular hurry to find out. Joe is a true old-school craftsman, it really matters to him to get it right.
Problem 1:
The volume would drop as the tone pots were rolled back.
Solution:
Both pickups had an internal short. They're custom Alnico V pickups by Pete Biltoft that the previous owner had installed (I have the stock Franz pickups stowed away). Apparently whoever did the job broke wires on both of them. I decided to keep the custom pickups, so Joe sent them to Lindy Fralin for rewinding.
Problem 2:
The tailpiece was skewed slightly toward the treble side and the bridge sat too far in the same direction, so the first string would often slip off the fretboard. Sliding the bridge back toward the center was no help; the strings eventually would pull it right back. To top it off, someone had re-shaped the bridge bottom to sit there... in the wrong place. Kind of like having your wheels out of alignment, but instead of aligning them, you change the steering wheel position.
Solution:
Joe placed a small shim between the tailpiece and the body on the bass side, next to the strap button, which shifted it back to center. He cut a new bone nut, set the saddle height, positioned the bridge for proper intonation, and re-shaped the bottom of the bridge for maximum contact with the body in the correct position.
The difference:
Before even plugging it in, the guitar is louder and more resonant because of the improved bridge-to-top contact. The action is low and flawless, no fret buzz at all, and the intonation is spot-on all the way up the neck. The first string no longer falls off, which is nice. Pugged in, it's amazing. Before it was lacking in the bass, but now with the pickups working properly it's all there. What tone!! I have no idea what the Franz pickups would have sounded like, but I'm in no particular hurry to find out. Joe is a true old-school craftsman, it really matters to him to get it right.
