Can you recommend a good guitar tech in Germany?

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oligoplayer

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Mar 31, 2011
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Location
Basel, Switzerland
Hi guys,

I am moving from Switzerland to Germany and am looking for a good tech who could service my Tokai, in particular for the following problem (bent bridge posts):





Would be great to find someone not too far away from Heidelberg as I don't trust the post and would like to bring and pick up the guitar myself.

Thanks for your help!

o.
 
Hi there, that's an easy job you could do if you don't find a tech. Some techs might attempt to straighten the posts but they are already fatigued so any further attempts to reform them would be unreliable. Better to replace the posts, here are the parts..
http://www.wdmusic.co.uk/gotoh-tune-o-matic-post-and-wheel-two-posts-and-two-wheels-488-p.asp

To remove the old posts, take off the bridge and unscrew one of the thumbwheels. Put that thumbwheel onto the other post and tighten the two thumb wheels together. Start turning the bottom thumb wheel using pointed pliers if necessary. Repeat for the other post and use the old thumbwheels to install the new posts.
 
Thanks for the tip and clear instructions, that seems to be an easy and inexpensive fix indeed!

Still if anybody can recommend a good tech here in Germany I would still be interested to know for the next time I need the guitar checked.
 
Or you can buy them in Germany, Faber parts..

http://www.tokaiguitar.de/xtcommerce/index.php?cat=c23_Studs-Thumbwheels.html
 
Once you have replaced the posts do not screw the tailpiece down as far as it is in your photo.
 
carl300367 said:
JVsearch said:
Once you have replaced the posts do not screw the tailpiece down as far as it is in your photo.

was gonna point that out myself


Thanks for the hint. I must admit I kept the tailpiece height the way it was when I received the guitar. I can see your point as now the strings contact the back side of the bridge, as far as I can remember this was not the case when the posts were straight.
I was told several time that having the tailpiece screwed as low as possible yields better sustain. Do you guys mean that having the tailpiece so low also causes the premature bending of the bridge posts. What is then the right way to adjust the height of the tailpiece?
 
oligoplayer said:
carl300367 said:
JVsearch said:
Once you have replaced the posts do not screw the tailpiece down as far as it is in your photo.

was gonna point that out myself


Thanks for the hint. I must admit I kept the tailpiece height the way it was when I received the guitar. I can see your point as now the strings contact the back side of the bridge, as far as I can remember this was not the case when the posts were straight.
I was told several time that having the tailpiece screwed as low as possible yields better sustain. Do you guys mean that having the tailpiece so low also causes the premature bending of the bridge posts. What is then the right way to adjust the height of the tailpiece?

There is no right way, every guitar has it's own sweet spot, you will have to try and see for yourself how this one sounds best. If your objective is sustain you can try and use a Faber tone lock kit http://www.tokaiguitar.de/xtcommerce/index.php?cat=c9_-Tone-Lock--Kits.html. It does alter the sound of your guitar a bit though.
 
First all, congrats on your guitar.

HLS are easily to adjust guitars because a lower neck/body angle so you can place all the way down the ABR-1, Tokai did his tricks to sit being able to sit it so low. It makes the guitar having a great sustain and attack and the most easy to play Tokai I have tried.regarding ABR-1 posts you can make some new ones out of metric M4 screws either brass or steel or buying a new ones (Philadelphia Luthiers has some for sale). Remember asking for mettric size. Tokai use Gotoh bridges but I have seen some Hibikis have Montreaux hardware which is really good.
 
oligoplayer said:
carl300367 said:
JVsearch said:
Once you have replaced the posts do not screw the tailpiece down as far as it is in your photo.

was gonna point that out myself


Thanks for the hint. I must admit I kept the tailpiece height the way it was when I received the guitar. I can see your point as now the strings contact the back side of the bridge, as far as I can remember this was not the case when the posts were straight.
I was told several time that having the tailpiece screwed as low as possible yields better sustain. Do you guys mean that having the tailpiece so low also causes the premature bending of the bridge posts. What is then the right way to adjust the height of the tailpiece?

Did it come from the factory like that, or did you get it used?
I'd be a bit surprised if it left the factory with the tailpiece so low.

Yeah people put the tailpiece all the way down, but most will top wrap the strings at the same time. You definitely don't want the strings to touch the back edge of the ABR, but the width of a pick clearance is usually fine.

I usually like my tailpiece a bit up off the top, but as others have said your preferred position could be different. You could use stainless steel posts.

The intonation must be out on that guitar, and I reckon it might not sound as sweet as it could the way it is right now.

Easy fix anyway, as long as it is definitely the posts that have bent (should be). Could be that some of the sub standard bridge posts that were around got onto the guitar by mistake.
 
I got the guitar from Musicland in Japan, it was an on-display instrument so almost as new but they probably set it up there as they often do some demo of their guitars, you can see several on youtube. Surprisingly, intonation actually stayed quite good, not perfect but close to.
In any case I'll follow you guys suggestion and buy some new metric gotoh posts, I'm still hesitating about taking posts made of steel (I guess they should be much harder to bend) or brass as the original.

Just to be on the safe side: is it really idiot proof to remove the posts without risking damaging the wood (I'm thinking of the thread from the guitar body)? From the description of mirrorboy it seems to be straightforward but I never did it before!

Thanks for all your replies, it really helps
 
The post removal is straightforward, you can wrap some cloth under the post to protect the guitar top in case your pliers slip. You probably only need the pliers for the fist couple of turns. It may unscrew by hand.

When fitting the new post, the threads should fit into the guitar top with relative ease for the first couple of turns. If it is tight from the start just check that you haven't misaligned the threads and 'cross-threaded' the post as that would damage the female thread form in the guitar top. One way to avoid 'cross-threading' is to carefully rotate the post counter-clockwise in the hole for one turn without much pressure, then rotate the post clockwise and you should feel the threads engage correctly.

Hope this helps, sorry for the long-winded explanation but it is not really too difficult. Good luck!
 

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