NtBluesGuitar _ Acknlowledgement of Skill!

[jerryjg]

Well, when NT said he tried the Callaham bridge on his Tele and had issues with the break angle, I was dismayed, cause I knew he was very skilled.
Yup..I finally spent a couple of hours tonight trying to set up my Telebastard.
Now, My guitars are always a royal pain in the Keister to set up, cause I love my action as absolutely low as humanly possible- just right short of laying down across the frets.
So tonight, I checked that the neck was straight, and it was, and that the frets were all reasonably level, and they were. Well, let me tell you , NtBLuesGuitar had it pegged spot on! That thick Callaham plate makes it a real problem to get a break angle on the Tele. Now mind you, it would not be problem i do not think, if you liked at least medium gauge strings and medium action, but with Super Slinkys and ultra low action, it presents a definite issue.
Well, I cranked the dealie, with an Allen wrench ..don't know what its called, thats the adjustment on the neck plate of the MIA Tele Standards ,to raise the neck and effectively shim it .I cranked it 101% till it was about to bust. Then I lowered the saddles, till they were absoposilutely as low low as they go.
Then I cranked the trussrod to the right a good measure.
The end result was that I got the action very nearly to where i love it. Uber low .
I would say I'm mostly pleased, except for the disappointing fact that the low E saddle is not high enough to give me the palm mute action I desire.
Its not bad, but just not 'there'.Well, I guess two out of three ain't bad, however like a lot of you here, I tend to be a perfectionist when it comes to the set up action on my guitars.
Well, I've got one of two options; stay with the Callaham for that round warm tone, and I probably will, or switch to a Glendale for the perfect low action higher saddles for better sound and action off the bridge , but with a sacrifice to some too bright and hollow sound for my particular guitar tone I want.
I'll tell you, that NtBluesGUitar knows his Sh*t!

[chuckocaster]

hey jerry, pull that crap out of the neck (the micro tilt) and put a real shim in there. trust me, you'll be glad you did. that micro tilt will loosen and cause your action to go sour and also add a vibration to your tone.

as for the low E, get a longer screw in there and you'll be cool.

this is all stuff that needs to be dealt with, no matter if it's aftermarket fare, or OG parts. setups sometimes include "making it work".

TeeJay does know his poop though, don't doubt that. but you do sometimes need to make it up as you go along. as my mentor told me time and again "you're gonna make mistakes, but you've got to know how to fix them."

[NTBluesGuitar]

Jerry, ChuckO, I greatly thank thee for the compliments. However, I've never put a Callaham bridge on any of my Teles; My CV Tele bridge is stock. I have put the Callaham Steel Block in my MIM Strat tremolo, though.

Would the real Callaham Tele Bridge installer please step forward?

[jerryjg]

Well, your amps are masterpieces anyhow. Regarding the Tele set up, I worked on it about another hour and loosened and retightened the neck and readjusted the neck with the Microtilt, and actually got the neck set up nearly exactly as i like it. With almost the uber low action I need,Slinky strings, and the saddles positively high enough to get good palm mutes and hammers.Sounds great too. It'll still need a pro set up to dial her in , cause it still doesnt play quite like buttah , but most of my guitars do need that master luthier set up, except the Gibbos, to one degree or another, so I'm in no huge rush. I'll give the Microtilt ( vs. shim)a chance, though Chucko also knows his stuff. Its very tight up against the body and doesn't seem like it would work itself free anytime soon.

[chuckocaster]

maybe not, i've just never had luck with them. i'm of the less moving parts the better.