Me again about the LS150... :D

Hey guys, thanks to those of u that responded to my last post, havent had time (or the desire to warrent taking appart my beautiful guitar) to double check that my MIJ is an actual 150, but to be honest, seen as how trustworthy i think Jamie is i think im gonna just let that one lie.

The only thing i would like to know how to do myself is to raise the action on a particular string, as the action on Bottom E (Thickest) to Bstring is wonderful, however, my thinnest E is slightly lower than the rest which doest tend to get a bit buzzy when hitting the slash solo's in sweet child. So how would i go about raising just that one string?

Also the other thing i want to do is get my p-ups level, as at the moment my bridge pup is nicely set just above the plastic casing, and is quite solid in that it hardly moves at all when i push it with me finger. The neck pup however is below this plastic casing and also loose when i push it with my finger. So my next question, yup you've guessed it! is how do i raise the pups so that their level and make them solid? is the process the same for both pups? (for future reference)

Thanks for takin the time guys

Tok

You have to replace the saddle on that high E, and have it filed to the desired height. Perhaps you want a local professional to do that. IF you have the appropriate files, experience and patience, you could just raise the entire bridge till the the high E is correct, then file all the others down. Seems rather the long way around the block though. Replace the saddle. A professional can do it for you in 10-15 minutes at most. Of course, he may find other tweaks here and there, to make your guitar much nicer, bills do have a way of growing...

The plastic surround for your PU has a screw on each side in the middle (NOT the corner screws). Those screws adjust the PU hieght. Bare in mind, tone and volume change with the PU height. Personally, I try to get them as close to the strings as possible, without interferring with the string movement. Be certain to hold down the strings on the heighest fret prior to jacking up the PU, or you may find the strings hit the PU (or your pick does) when you are playing. This is the easiest thing to do on a guitar.

Hey mate

Thanks for the email, I thought I'd answer your queries here instead though!

Right...

1) The indicidual string height.... unfortunately, as mentioned above, this is not adjustable on a standard LP style bridge, as mentioned the only way to do it would be to change the saddle for that string... then you'd have to make sure you start with one that sets the string higher and file accordingly, such a component may be tricky to find, or as also mentioned file all the others down.

You can of course set the bridge so that it is slightly higher one side than the other, by using the bridge height adjustment screws either side of the bridge, on the LS150, IIRC, there are some little thumb screws working the thread from underneath the bridge, you will have to slacken string tension to adjust these upwards though.. should be easy to go down, but against spring tension you probably won't be able to turn it!

2) pickup height... hmmm.. persoanlly I'd leave this alone unless you are noticing massive volume changes between the bridge and neck pickup... which you shouldn't, I think that should have been checked on setup when it was dispatched... if not, my sincere apologies!

They are easy to adjust, as mentioned by TSL, just use the two screws either side of the pup, they screw the pickup up a thread, so clockwise will pull the pickup nearer to you. This in turn squashes up the pickup mounting spring which will then tighten the pickup in the hole, so it doesn't move about. This is just cos the spring is tight but (usually) has no real affect on sound.

The things to watch when raising that pup are:

* Increased output colume on the bridge pup, thus making the guitar unbalanced when changing pups

* Possible introduction of strange harmonics due to close proximity to the string.

Of course, trial and error will suss it out... just remember to always take note of how you put it back to where you started from before playing with it!!!!

There is a pretty good rough guide to pickup height/installation on the Bare Knuckle website... http://bareknucklepickups.co.uk/faq.html#8

Thats great thanks both, its not that the bridge pup is dropping in volume but its just that it sits above the pup mounting and the neck sits below so i just want to get them level for asthetic reasons really haha but i didnt realise in turn it could affect the volume! something im sure i'll have to have a play around with...

i have noticed once or twice when i've changed up to the neck pick that the volume didnt come in straight away even though it was on about 3 or 4, but im not sure whether i have a tube going in my amp so im looking to get some new tubes just in case and if it keeps happening then i can only assume its the pup.

I dont think its a drastic thing anyway but still i'll keep an eye on it and let u know either way anyway. Any ideas what strings are on it Jamie?

Also do you guys know where i can get tubes for a Mesa/Boogie Studio 22+?

i dont like the mesa tubes as they dont have enough grunt in them, so i changed them for some other ones, well a friend of mine changed them for me as he got me some tubes for it. Im not sure what tubes they are but basically i guess im looking for a supplier of all kinds of tubes so i can always have a supplier if my tastes change etc

I'll give the pup a turn tonight or tomo and let u know how i get on. As for raising the string, where can i get a new saddle from? And would a normal guitar techy be able to do this for me? Im guessing it would be but just thought i'd check in case its a specialist only kinda thing.

Anyways, thanks agian both, spk soon.

Tok

Oh sorry mate, forgot the strings question

They shouldn't keep going out of tune at all as they are DR strings, damned good strings in my opinion!! Have them on all my guitars!!

Maybe they need playing in a bit more? If you get persistant probs I'll send you a set of Regular Ernie Balls!!

As for your Mesa Boogie tubes.. I am not sure on that particular model, but I know a lot of Boogie amps are fixed bias, meaning that putting the wrong tubes in is not very wise, there is no way of matching them up... I may be wrong on this though.

A good place to get most valves from at pretty sensible retail prices are Watford valves, Google them!

I think you may find that you don't really want to adjust the pup height!!! :wink: The relative volumes will probably go all wrong!

As for teh bridge... I could get it done here, but you'd probably be better off finding a local guy who can have a look as it is pretty fiddly and would definitely require the guitar to be there with him, although I am very surprised that you find it necessary!

If you want further details on your amp and biasing etc, try emailing our amp tech, he is spike @ hartnollguitars.co.uk (remove spaces obv, just trying to avoid spamming!)

Right.. I have to shoot off and get some food now!!!

Thanks again Jamie.

Yeah the strings keep going out of tune, but i gave them a good stretch last night, and i'll do the same tonight and hopefully it is just that they are new strings... who knows maybe they were a bum set? who knows anythin in this day and age!!

Had a good good play on it last night, it kept going out of tune before i stretched the strings but afterwards was only slightly out of tune which suggests it is just the strings being new... phew! but again i'll keep an eye on them an let u know.

With regard to the pup, the only major thing is that when i look down at my pups their not level and it just doesnt look right to me u know? not in a bad way, only in an asthetic measure.

I only need to raise it by about 3-4 mil which is nothing really, might try raising the strings ever so slightly to compensate for the higher volume thing.

Its all good, im new to LP type guitars as i've never owned one before so its all a learning curve. I do love it tho! She's gorgeous! haha I'd rather share my bed with it than with my GF! haha well most of the time.... ahem..

Anyways, yeah i'll send spike an email and see if he knows anything about boogie studios cos it would be good for me to learn anyways I think i might try Elixirs next, do they do nicel plated ones ? i like my strings to match the hardware if possible, but if they give me a better sound then i dont really care, i may stick with DR's!! IM SO INDECICIVE!! AARRRRGGGHHH!!

Anyway, i'll have another go tonight, got my guitar lesson tonight too so will be playing long time haha since owning a Jap tokai i keep using Jap/Chinese phrases... like Hu Yue Hi Ding an stuff like tha... sorry i know im a freak.

Update tomorrow!

Thanks Jame