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Post subject: Re: American Standards with spoken-wheel truss rod?
Posted: Fri Apr 29, 2016 5:39 pm
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BMW-KTM wrote:
Yah .....
(heavy sigh ...)
It's not very attractive, is it?


Ugh .... what were they thinking?
I'm all for making things easier, new and improved or whatever but it's seriously in need an access cover.
Or something.


Levinson Blade guitars have a cover; it looks a bit better:

Image

On the Ernie Ball/Music Man guitars they were designed with this truss rod, so it's fully clear of the fingerboard since the heel goes all the way to the end; here's a Cutlass model:

Image

Both look better than the Fender installation. On the Elites I've seen in person I kind of worry about there being enough wood left below the 22nd fret in that notch area for multiple refrets.


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Post subject: Re: American Standards with spoken-wheel truss rod?
Posted: Sat Apr 30, 2016 11:23 am
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T2Stratman wrote:
Not only is it fugly, IMHO they haven't really improved on the truss rod of the original vintage models! I haven't had to adjust my original style truss rods in years! Even when I was gigging steady, once you got the guitar set up right, (I don't use the whammy) it was pretty much set it and forget it!

:roll:

T2

Excellent point.
That said, it's possible you're like me and you don't do a whole lot of monkeying around anymore.
I'm old enough to have tried pretty much everything I ever wanted to try over the years in terms of string gauges and alternate tunings and action height experiments.
I've discovered what I like, what works for me and what I hate.
I have all of my guitars dialled in to exactly where I want them and changes are no longer necessary.
Newbs just coming up might still want to delve into that sort of thing and experiment.
For those folks, having easier access is a good thing.
I just wish it wasn't so intrusive to the appearance of the guitar.
It changes the traditional Strat look to a decidedly more mechanical leaning, like a shredder guitar, where more hardware and bulkier hardware are considered decorative.

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Post subject: Re: American Standards with spoken-wheel truss rod?
Posted: Sat Apr 30, 2016 1:59 pm
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BMW-KTM wrote:
It changes the traditional Strat look to a decidedly more mechanical leaning, like a shredder guitar, where more hardware and bulkier hardware are considered decorative.


Why is it that each successive generation of Fender guitar engineers endeavours mightily to *fix* that which was never broken in the first place?

:roll:

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Post subject: Re: American Standards with spoken-wheel truss rod?
Posted: Sat Apr 30, 2016 2:52 pm
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Actually, I believe that was Leo's intention all along, to improve on his designs.
The thing is, his solutions were usually elegant, simple, efficient and good looking.
This might be efficient but it doesn't look elegant, good looking or even simple.
His synchronized bridge was far simpler, elegantly stated and better looking than the common Bigsby of the day.

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Post subject: Re: American Standards with spoken-wheel truss rod?
Posted: Sat Apr 30, 2016 7:01 pm
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BMW-KTM wrote:
Actually, I believe that was Leo's intention all along, to improve on his designs.
The thing is, his solutions were usually elegant, simple, efficient and good looking.
This might be efficient but it doesn't look elegant, good looking or even simple.
His synchronized bridge was far simpler, elegantly stated and better looking than the common Bigsby of the day.


You may be right, but Leo wasn't one to improve a guitar model, he would create a new one. The Strat is the result of perceived deficiencies of the Tele, and so on. Same with the Bass side of the house. Only the amps seemed to evolved over time, but there were enough variety there to improve upon them.

Having said that, I have yet to see a true "Improvement" of the Stratocaster. IMHO of course.

:wink:

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Post subject: Re: American Standards with spoken-wheel truss rod?
Posted: Tue May 03, 2016 7:57 am
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Quote:
Actually, I believe that was Leo's intention all along, to improve on his designs.
The thing is, his solutions were usually elegant, simple, efficient and good looking.
This might be efficient but it doesn't look elegant, good looking or even simple.


Exactly!


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Post subject: Re: American Standards with spoken-wheel truss rod?
Posted: Thu May 26, 2016 10:56 am
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I like everything about the new elite series, except that butchered fretboard to access the truss rod wheel.

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Post subject: Re: American Standards with spoken-wheel truss rod?
Posted: Fri May 27, 2016 1:25 am
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Sculptair wrote:
I like everything about the new elite series, except that butchered fretboard to access the truss rod wheel.


Could you swap out the neck and Pickguard for a conventional neck? It wouldn't make economic sense and the body/hardware would have to be exceptional to even consider it.

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Post subject: Re: American Standards with spoken-wheel truss rod?
Posted: Fri May 27, 2016 2:30 am
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I needed to take a screwdriver to my son's 60s Lacquer Strat yesterday to adjust the truss rod. and by the end I was wishing it had headstock access or a neck butt wheel.
I found that I needed to remove the neck to get to the truss rod nut.
I forgotten the "joys" of adjusting traditional style Fenders .... :roll:
The traditional style guitars might look great, but certain aspects of dealing with them are just a pain in the backside.

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Post subject: Re: American Standards with spoken-wheel truss rod?
Posted: Sat May 28, 2016 12:58 am
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A better option would have been the side adjuster like Warmouth have available

http://www.upl.co/uploads/2aec43c6b254d ... 422146.jpg

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Post subject: Re: American Standards with spoken-wheel truss rod?
Posted: Sat May 28, 2016 5:09 am
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ted j wrote:
A better option would have been the side adjuster like Warmouth have available

http://www.upl.co/uploads/2aec43c6b254d ... 422146.jpg


The problem is FMIC would have to buy in a part they don't hold the rights to, and they'd have to change things considerably on the production line.
Gotoh make the sideways adjuster http://www.warmoth.com/Guitar/Necks/SideAdjust.aspx

The wheel at the butt end of things is also used on Charvel guitars, so a least FMIC have tried something that's "in house".

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Post subject: Re: American Standards with spoken-wheel truss rod?
Posted: Thu Jun 23, 2016 5:03 am
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chromeface wrote:
The passive Dimension Bass HH is the only American Standard instrument to sport the spoken-wheel truss rod system, which was recently implemented on the new Elite series guitars and basses.

How about updating the whole American Standard line with the spoken-wheel truss rod?


Spoken wheel? Wait a second; wheels aren't supposed to speak! But staying on topic, I personally don't like the look of it, but it probably makes a tweaker's life happy.


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