Eland Creade Music Services

A little-known big problem (I like how that sounds) ... This is the back of Strat neck, the mounting surface to the body; notice the small ragged craters at the screw holes ! A two-part problem: It would be well if Fender-style makers took a moment to apply a countersink to open the necks of the pilot holes (I’m assuming a pilot hole into the neck before attaching). Any screw must pull wood out as turns, so these craters are a result. ... Augmenting the problem may be that the pilot holes in the body/neck mortise are also tight and not countersunk, so the screws had to cut their way through (as the screw must also cut thread going into the neck) and the two threaded pieces (neck and body) simply can not be aligned tightly this way, in addition to the debris pulled up between the two surfaces. This equals an incomplete neck fitting. You may find additional junk in the neck joint, like bar code stickers and other manufacturing tracking stuff .. it’s got to go ! So, ALWAYS take the neck off to make these preparations for the only way to get it in hard contact with the body ! Most importantly, redrill the holes in the body joint so as to give the neck-mount screws a tight fit but to pass through without threading. This will allow the screw a much greater pull on the neck, no interference from a useless thread hole in the body. This process makes a dramatic difference in the tone and in the stability of the neck alignment.

1960’s Brooklyn Kids Read Music .. and had a great time playing it; you see, we knew the notes, which now-a-days, near nobody does. One of the more depressing aspects of the post-internet-cultural-purges is the revulsion to written music exhibited by would-be players, many of whom ultimately accomplish nothing with their chosen instrument for a complete lack of context and understanding of how the system called music actually relates to the particular instrument !... Study music .. and BE a Musician.

All Rhodes lead to MOLETRAX ! I recently had the pleasure of refurbishing a classic Fender RHODES electric piano for one of my favorite patrons (and friends), Jeff Moleski, tenured master (tape & digital) record producer, at his Hollywood style studio in the near west side of Syracuse ! The MOLE is the man .. in particular, if we’re talking’ ‘bout a super-multi-track tape set-up and capabilities leading to vinyl records, in addition to analog-to-digital conversion and state of the art Pro Tools production ! Nobody digs it all like the Mole ! BTW, the Rhodes turned out and tuned up great, if I say so myself ... so go play it Joe Sample !

Say ‘Hello’ to my (new) little friend, Dexter Sinister .. a righty-Hendrix-lefty SX Vintage/Handmade Strat .. actually a mahogany body ! Why is the reverse string-to-tuner relationship superior ? Well, ask me: [email protected].... Even if [you] can’t imitate Jimi’s style, your guitar can play and sound like his. It all began around 1826 .. with the (German) Stauffer peg-head ... note the string/tuner relationship which was later bastardized by Fender design convenience and standard tuners !

As memory serves, a fine gentleman and cutting edge bassist, Andy West, was the first supergroup bassist to visit us (Mr.S & myself) at the Steinberger Sound Co. home in Brooklyn, NY .. for a pre-concert check of this very early production instrument. Andy was about the most personable man I’d ever met .. and it was a singular thrill to give attention to his bass which I had largely constructed, fretted and set up ! I recall his anecdote about waiting at a bus stop (?) somewh...ere in Arizona, the bass in its shoulder-slung gun case .. and the ensuing inquiry by two passing Police Officers. He was cool, acknowledging that said inquiry was polite .. and understandable, given appearances ! Backstage that next night at The Savoy following performance was icing-on-icing-on the cake ! Hey, Andy .. how YOU doin’ ?