Grote "Jazz Guitar" - P90 thinline

[Ralph124C41]

A shim can easily be made from wood or plastic (black pickguard, old dvd boxes for example) and will look just as good. Hell, even dense cardboard coloured black with a sharpie would work and look good!

I think that's OK but my concern would be more of an aesthetic one because I should think a flat item, such as a plastic sheet, would not follow the body curve of the arched top. I would think a more flexible item ... such as fabric or foam would be more adaptable to that end. I know some people have carced a shim out of a neoprene mouse pad. That dense cardboard should work however.

[Ralph124C41]

.0626 - sorry for my OCD!

I could blame Spell Check for a misspelled item. Can I blame Number Check for my mistake?

[Little Jay]

I think that's OK but my concern would be more of an aesthetic one because I should think a flat item, such as a plastic sheet, would not follow the body curve of the arched top. I would think a more flexible item ... such as fabric or foam would be more adaptable to that end. I know some people have carced a shim out of a neoprene mouse pad. That dense cardboard should work however.

I made a shim out of a couple of layers of thin dvd-box plastic and they are perfectly flexible and follow the contour of the top.

A thicker wooden shim can be made to fit the contour of the top by sticking some sandpaper to the top and sand it the same way you would do with fitting an archtop bridge.

[Ralph124C41]

I made a shim out of a couple of layers of thin dvd-box plastic and they are perfectly flexible and follow the contour of the top.

A thicker wooden shim can be made to fit the contour of the top by sticking some sandpaper to the top and sand it the same way you would do with fitting an archtop bridge.

Thanks. I hadn't taken into account the fact how thin this sheet would be so it would bend a little. As for that other option, I'm taking it to my luthier buddy maybe later today as I want him to look at that nut and determine what it's made of and if the nut grooves need to be deepened and/or made larger, especially if I want to put a set of strings on it with bigger gauges. I have some GHS Burnished Nickel 10-46s on them right now and I really like the strings as they have the warmth of pure nickel plus somewhat the slick feel of flatwounds. I was thinking of upping the gauge to 11s or maybe 12s at one point.

Anyway I explained the perceived problem with the P-90 positioning and I'm certain he can, for very cheap or free, fashion me some kind of shim from a piece of hard maple or other wood.

[pingu]

How do you like the guitar ?
is there enough warmth to it ?

it’s certainly a bargain
if it’s any good

[Ralph124C41]

How do you like the guitar ?
is there enough warmth to it ?

it’s certainly a bargain
if it’s any good

I like the guitar very much. And not just for the price. It did bother me at first because the stock strings were very bright-sounding but the pure nickels tamed that a good bit. I have been thinking about putting some flatwounds on it and I may still but with the tone rolled off a bit I think it sounds pretty good with what I have on it now. The guitar seems intonated for an unwound G string but I would like to try a set with a wrapped G string and see how that goes.

I know raising the P-90 will give me extra volume, which I don't need, so I'm still wondering if I need a shim at all but I realize it is below the standard P-90 distance for optimal sound. I may put in a shim only to take it out again.

The thin body resonates pretty OK and is fairly loud played unamplified. The thin body is very comfortable to play. I do wish it had a cutaway but anything higher than the 15th fret is foreign territory for me anyway.

I took the pickguard off. I have wayyyyyy too many sunburst guitars but this sunburst seems to have more of a vintage vibe to its finish for some reason so it's reasonably different than my other guitars.

[Ralph124C41]

Bit of an update. I took the guitar into my luthier buddy. What he did was fashion a couple semicircles out of some type of very durable foam that is used in medicine to treat arm or leg muscle problems. He then found a couple tiny springs which he also attached.

So now not only do I have a spacer for my P-90 ... I can adjust it too.

And the price? Very reasonable. $0.00. It does help to have a friend like him.

Btw, he also found no problem with the nut and says it appears to be of a high-density plastic material, not Tusq, but along that line. And it was not made of bone.

He also said the stock T.O.M. bridge is fully functional. He couldn't address if a full wood bridge would make the guitar sound better but it is doing its job OK.

[Little Jay]

For $7 on AliExpress it’s definitely worth the experiment:



https://a.aliexpress.com/_EvkYSSt

I put one of these on my AF55 and I like it much better than the TOM-bridge it came with.

[Ralph124C41]

Little Jay,

I may try something like that but I think I would opt for one that has some more involved intonation parts.

I have a bridge something like this on my cheap Rogue "Beatle" bass wannabe. I've had the guitar for more than 20 years and I've always expected the bridge to break because it looks fragile but it's held up to medium-gauge flatwound bass strings (which has more tension than the non-flats) and it's done fine and those little inserts give you an edge for intonation.

https://www.aliexpress.us/item/32568...Cquery_from%3A

[Little Jay]

A yes, have one of those laying around as well but didn’t put it on any guitar yet.

I have experimented with the TOM, rosewood and ebony bridges and although the differences might be subtle, to me the rosewood definitely tamed highs in a good (as in not muffled) way and gave the best jazz tone but it probably differs from guitar to guitar. Fun experiments!

[garybaldy]

For $7 on AliExpress it’s definitely worth the experiment:



https://a.aliexpress.com/_EvkYSSt

I put one of these on my AF55 and I like it much better than the TOM-bridge it came with.

Do you prefer that type to the one with two feet?

[Little Jay]

Do you prefer that type to the one with two feet?

I slightly prefer the solid foot, I am under the impression the solid foot contributes to a more robust tone, or at least I think I hear that. It probably doesn’t matter that much.

I do think the solid foot bridge is better for perserving the arch of the top, I see some of the split foot bridges warp, bending down in the middle and it’s my impression that the top warps/bends along with it a bit.

[JohnLan]

I received my copy of the guitar from an AliExpress seller last week
Here is the deal.

The nut was not glued in
The fretboard made my fingers go black with a residue, after lemon oil application this stopped.
The bridge is not attached to the body other than with some double sided tape adhesive. The bridge fell off when I took the strings off
The frets are good with the exception of one that had some minor file marks,.like they took the top off the fret due to buzzing in the factory
The pickup is quiet and is very good
The wiring uses thick wire and is good
There is no humming or buzzing
The controls are good. Not linear but still good
The tuners are from a Chinese parts bin. They really need changing as they were just about acceptable. $20 Wilkinson tuners fitted and job is done.
The fret work apart from the one with file marks is very good. Not polished but I don't care for this money. appear to be nickel.
The tone is excellent.
The acoustic tone is excellent.
No buzzes or dead spots on the neck. Generally the neck is excellent for this money.
The paint job is excellent for this money.
The playability is excellent for the money.
The strings it came with are parts bin Chinese and need immediate changing.
The fretboard is dry and needed oiling.
Overall I am delighted with this.
Even if this guitar was 4 times the price it would still be acceptable.
The rough fret I don't notice unless I am using vibrato.
It's a surprisingly versatile instrument. With different picking you can get different sounds out of it.

I can highly recommend this guitar.

[GuyBoden]

I received my copy of the guitar from an AliExpress seller last week
Here is the deal.

The nut was not glued in
The fretboard made my fingers go black with a residue, after lemon oil application this stopped.
The bridge is not attached to the body other than with some double sided tape adhesive. The bridge fell off when I took the strings off
The frets are good with the exception of one that had some minor file marks,.like they took the top off the fret due to buzzing in the factory
The pickup is quiet and is very good
The wiring uses thick wire and is good
There is no humming or buzzing
The controls are good. Not linear but still good
The tuners are from a Chinese parts bin. They really need changing as they were just about acceptable. $20 Wilkinson tuners fitted and job is done.
The fret work apart from the one with file marks is very good. Not polished but I don't care for this money. appear to be nickel.
The tone is excellent.
The acoustic tone is excellent.
No buzzes or dead spots on the neck. Generally the neck is excellent for this money.
The paint job is excellent for this money.
The playability is excellent for the money.
The strings it came with are parts bin Chinese and need immediate changing.
The fretboard is dry and needed oiling.
Overall I am delighted with this.
Even if this guitar was 4 times the price it would still be acceptable.
The rough fret I don't notice unless I am using vibrato.
It's a surprisingly versatile instrument. With different picking you can get different sounds out of it.

I can highly recommend this guitar.

£177 here:
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005004040763706.html

I've been tempted by the Blonde P90, but I have too many cheap guitars.

[JohnLan]

I went to one of the larger AliExpress guitar dealers.
It was an extra $60.
But the item came super quick, customs cleared and excellently packaged.
The guitar was cocooned in a polystyrene box, no possibility of it moving. I cannot imagine how it could get damaged, maybe driving a car over the box?
Worth paying extra.

[bananafist]

I haven't read all the posts, but when I looked at reviews of these guitars I saw 'nut width 42mm'. An immediate no no for me, as, with stiffish, large fingers and hands, I cannot play anything smaller than fortyfive mm or 1 3/4" comfortably. Looking at the number of positive comments, I conclude that I am in a very small minority, handwise.

[Little Jay]

I haven't read all the posts, but when I looked at reviews of these guitars I saw 'nut width 42mm'. An immediate no no for me, as, with stiffish, large fingers and hands, I cannot play anything smaller than fortyfive mm or 1 3/4" comfortably. Looking at the number of positive comments, I conclude that I am in a very small minority, handwise.

Ouch, that limits your choice considerably, doesn’t it? I think all Fenders and Gibsons (and probably most clones/derivatives) have a 42mm or 1 11/16” nut? At least my Strats, my 2005 ES-333 and my 1950 ES-125 do….. The only guitars with wider nuts I have are my classical and my Sigma J45-copy (which apparently didn’t copy the nut width)

[bananafist]

Yes, it is a P.I.A. I have a couple of custom built teles with 1 3/4" nut,(in my avatar,) a Slaman archtop 350T with 1 3/4" nut, and two parlours with 1 7/8" nuts. I had a Martin 000-28EC which worked for me too. So I don't absolutely need another guitar...........!!