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Post subject: Fender Lead III - Help!!!!
Posted: Tue Jan 04, 2011 9:50 pm
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Hi there.

I just acquired a 1982 Fender Lead III from a guy who bought it a while ago and took it to a luthier's workshop. This guitar needs a Truss Rod, intonation, pickup and pickguar assembly adjustment. The first thing this so called luthier noticed was that the Truss Rod is not easily accesed without the right tool, and since the guitar came with no tools required for maintenance, this guy chose to cut a fragmet of the pickguard so he can use his hughe srewdriver tu adjust the Truss Rod. I refused, of course.

The thing is: since this guitar had no maintenance instruments when I bought it I need to know what kind of tool do I need to adjust this Truss Rod without alterating the guitar's original design.

I attached some photos of the pickguard, and the fragment the guy wanted to cut is painted with a marker. Please notice where the neck adjustment nut is located and how narrow the space is.

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Something else, I've noticed that the tools you need to adjust the intonation are quite thin...those are quite hard to find in my city, specially if you don't know the exact size.

Any kind of help would be appreciated.


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Post subject: Re: Fender Lead III - Help!!!!
Posted: Tue Jan 04, 2011 10:00 pm
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Often on Fenders--at least older ones--the neck is removed to adjust the truss rod.
In some cases you might be able to get away with removing the pickguard.

I'm surprised the guy working on your guitar doesn't know that.

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Post subject: Re: Fender Lead III - Help!!!!
Posted: Tue Jan 04, 2011 10:03 pm
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Location: In a house....unless I'm at work....then I'm in a shop.
The way I have adjusted these type of neck is to loosen the strings, use a capo on the 12th fret to hold the strings and unbolt the neck, make the adjustment (with a big screwdriver) and reset it up.

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Post subject: Re: Fender Lead III - Help!!!!
Posted: Tue Jan 04, 2011 10:04 pm
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Location: In a house....unless I'm at work....then I'm in a shop.
zontar wrote:
Often on Fenders--at least older ones--the neck is removed to adjust the truss rod.
In some cases you might be able to get away with removing the pickguard.

I'm surprised the guy working on your guitar doesn't know that.


Agreed, maybe it's time to find a better Luthier.

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Marriage is like playing cards...

At first all you want are Hearts and Diamonds.

But in the end, all you really want is a Club and a Spade.

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Post subject: Re: Fender Lead III - Help!!!!
Posted: Wed Jan 05, 2011 9:42 am
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Thank you for your quick responses, I've found your comments more than helpful.

I would find another luthier, a descent luthier, but this is the only one in my city, and taking the guitar to another city would double the price for everything this lady needs, but now I think about it, this Fender Lead III deserves it.


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Post subject: Re: Fender Lead III - Help!!!!
Posted: Wed Jan 05, 2011 10:37 pm
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Yes, PLEASE take the neck off to adjust the truss rod on this style neck! I know it can be a hassle to remove the neck several times while adjusting a truss rod, but it is far better to do that than to alter ( or in this case, screw up ) a nice, classic guitar! Your axe is kinda rare, since Lead's don't pop up every day! Once you get the hang of adjusting truss rods, and especially when you get the "feel" for this particular guitar, you won't really have to remove the neck that many times to adjust the neck properly. I have a classic series 60's strat that needs a truss rod tweak every couple of months, and I can usually get it right the first time I take off the neck! You should really learn to set up your own instruments though. Buy a cheap used squier and play around with it some :D Also buy Dan Erlewine's book Guitar Player's Repair Guide. The best $30 you will spend on a book......ever!


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Post subject: Re: Fender Lead III - Help!!!!
Posted: Thu Jan 06, 2011 10:25 pm
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Fortunately I must live in a fairly stable climate, I have had to adjust the necks on some of my guitars, but never my Mustang.
It was set up & adjusted years ago, and I have only made minor tweaks to the intonation--but never had the neck go out of whack.

But know I would need to remove the neck.

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Post subject: Re: Fender Lead III - Help!!!!
Posted: Sat Jan 08, 2011 9:47 am
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Hey Steve-oh-no, I just got the Guitar Player Repair Guide, and it is wesome. I know I have to lear how to repair my own gear, so that's what I'm doing.

I will remove the neck and adjust the nut until it feels right to my playing. Got a problem though, the fretwires have holes in them, therefore you have uneven fret height, and as far as I know, it is hared to set up a guitar with this problem. Someone told me the guitar needs to be refretted and that's something I'm not sure I woul do to this classic.

Any suggestions?!


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Post subject: Re: Fender Lead III - Help!!!!
Posted: Sat Jan 08, 2011 11:24 pm
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Great book to get.

As for the frets--what do you mean by holes?
Do you mean grooves or indentations in the frets?

Depending on the size of the frets, and amount of damage, and personal preference, you may just need to get the frets leveled.
But maybe they need to be replaced.

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Post subject: Re: Fender Lead III - Help!!!!
Posted: Tue Jan 11, 2011 10:44 am
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Not sure of the name of those, here I post some pictures. For how I see it, there is moderate damage to the frets

For more detail, download the picture and zoom in.

Image
Image
Image
Image


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Post subject: Re: Fender Lead III - Help!!!!
Posted: Tue Jan 11, 2011 3:18 pm
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You don't need a re-fret--there's enough fret left to level and dress the frets.

Some people would notice the difference in fret height after that was done, but others wouldn't

Find a better guitar tech who has references, and check out the cost--up here where I am this sort of work costs about $80 an hour--ad that neck would take at least an hour & a half--possibly more.

At least that's what I'd estimate based on what people who know their stuff have told me about other guitars.

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