Epiphone Masterbilt Deluxe Lefty Conversion underway

[rsclosson]

I can hardly wait to hear the final results of your conversion. The video you posted already sounds great! These guitars had a limited run and I was so happy to be able to get one. The ones available now are selling at prices above the original street price. Testimony to how great these guitars are.

[Lucy]

Thanks RS I totally agree I know they got some bad press but with a little bit of work they really are superb guitars mines really going through some noticeable changes to the tone just with a few tweaks.

Had an interesting evening when I got back home decided to play Misty the Smokin at the Half note version as it's my fav thing to play at the mo an a tiny bit of Dragonfly by Danny Kirwan.

Decided to work my way through the actions stopping at 3 points.

7/64th bass e and 6/64th high e - notes fullness richness level sound louder but more even with a punch with lots of natural reverb initially harder to play but got used to it and started fretting cleaner and cleaner apart from slides.
Very level sound though.


Next setup was 5/64th to 4/64 instant noticeable drop In volume / fullness having to fret softer.

4/64th bass e 3/64th Treble e.

With a lighter touch much better playing than the last time I tried it guitar is noticeably quieter shockingly so than the 7/64th action so to the player the sound isn't as full and verby, neck plays faster though sounds brighter if anything. Seemed to record really nice close mic'd though.

I think my two favs were 7/64th and the 4/64th actions

I've recorded a clip of each one as I went along

The action at the nut is 2/64th Treble 3/64th bass with the 12-54's on. Might try match the 12th fret to that just out of interest.

Hope you all enjoy the clip next thing I'm thinking of doing is to add some relief into the neck, it's running 3 thou at the moment checked it before.

Very interested to try a set of 13's though us there an advisable string tension to not go above on a pressed top archtop?

What's everyone prefer on the clip?
Thanks in advance

[Lucy]

Thought I'd give it one more update played for about 6 hours before at the lower action then raised it back up to 6/64 and 7/64th much prefer the feel / tone for my thumb playing was pretty instant and noticable perceived difference so gonna stick with those figures I wanna give it a bit of relief next as it's only got about 2 thou in it then I'll reset the action to my fav figures gonna order a frequensator tomorrow as well

Feels good to have experimented an found what's right for me feel wise, I've unwired a rode Mic from my motorcycle helmet as well to record a clip with the day after tomorrow when the neck has had a chance to settle.

[rsclosson]

I really admire your organized and scientific approach to setting up your guitar. I generally go by feel, sound and sight and rarely measure anything. I would love to send my guitar to you for a setup, but it is probably not a practical solution for either of us.

[Lucy]

Hi Rs thanks for the very kind comment I'm just learning how to do the set up really much better people than me one day I really want to have a go at making some guitars seeing what others have done on the forum is super inspiring.

I've got some more strings on the way tomorrow one last type to try called flat tops slightly higher string tension so I'm gonna fit those then do the relief a few days after very happy with the action at the moment. I think if I was plugging it in I might lower it a bit but for acoustic playing sounds really good.

I really just wanna thank you all that have been imparting knowledge super helpful.

[Lucy]

Steve's suggestion of flat top strings was a total win!

Yay total result loving the Flat tops in a 12-53 total result. Reduced string noise so I can slide about in different areas like I would on my Gretsch with flatwound Chrome's on but I'm playing an acoustic archtop win win!! All the effort and trying different things and settings is really starting to pay off in the tone now more of a fundemental note but still lots of dynamics and some overtones although reduced compared to normal round wounds.

Gonna let it sit overnight then check the relief tomorrow

Edit: got a bit of truss rod adjustment done today it's massively cut down on the fret buzz since the clip at the nut end at 0.04" at the moment gonna let it sit then re measure and adjust tomorrow

[Lucy]

Done a bit more work on the Epi today decided to remove the nut as I wanted to look at the truss rod while I had it off I decided to sand the nut an set the action a bit better, got it to about 1/64th high e and 2/64th bass e.

Got the action at the bridge about 5/64th and 6/64th for now. Which I'll be resetting to 7/64th tomorrow.

The tricky bit was the relief ran out off adjustment on the truss rod trying to put more relief in it got to about 0.06" so its not to bad something to deal with in the future.

Next thing I wanna do is remove the peizo and make a new ebony bridge which will be nice to learn some wood working.

Anyway here's some piccies and a video of how it's playing now with a few days of playing on the flat tops, I'm over fretting a bit tbh as it was the first time with the action to specs at the nut much much faster playing which is nice