I’ve been trying to pay regular attention to every instrument in my apartment lately, even if it’s just to tune and play them. I don’t get to all six of them every single day, but pretty close. They have all received recent truss rod tweaks. I did some string height adjustment on the Strat the other day and I noticed it really needed some cleanup.
So this afternoon I cut the strings off it and opened a new set of Elixir Polyweb coated 10s. These are nickel plated steel with a coating that keeps them fresh longer.
String changes always make me nervous. I don’t know why. I can’t even remember a time when a string change operation went horribly wrong or something.
Once the strings were off, I scrubbed down the fingerboard with Simple Green and a paper towel to get the gunk off it. Then I laid a line of F-1 oil down the length of the fingerboard and rubbed it in. The whole thing went from cinnamon to dark chocolate in an instant.
Then I decided to do something about the fret sprout it developed while living in my dry apartment this winter. I don’t really know what I’m doing, but I got my fret file and took a stab at it. I think I improved it, especially on the treble side, but next time I’m going to get some painters tape to protect the wood. Then I will feel more confident and maybe get the job done better.
A couple of the tuners were loose, so I tightened them all with pliers. Then the strings went on, one by one.
After that, I buttoned up the back compartment and wiped the whole thing down. I even scrubbed off some yellowish adhesive on the pick guard where a previous owner had put a sticker of some kind on it.
There’s a tiny bit more neck relief than I would like, but the truss rod on this guy worries me. None of my wrenches seem to fit it properly, metic or the imperial. Which is of course stupid. One of them fits. Or is supposed to. The 3/16 sort of works, but I have to jam it in there pretty hard and sometimes it slips. I don’t want to strip it any more than it might already be, so I think I’ll leave well enough alone for now.
String height is sort of ok. Just measured it at 5/64 on the low E and everything else was about 4/64. I’d like for it to be more like 5 down to 3 at the treble end. Maybe I’ll tackle that when I go to do the intonation.
But for now, It’s cleaned up, tightened up, oiled up, and sporting fresh strings. It sounds great. These single coils sound so different than the humbuckers on the SG. Also, let us take a moment to remember: I bought this guitar used from a local guy for $80 cash. What a bargain.