35th Anniversary Custom SE now with dealers

[Hotblack Desiato]

My dealer here in the UK e-mailed me to say the guitar is now available.

Stand by for lots of happiness or profound dismay....

Anyone got theirs yet?

 

[NBW]

Nope. I asked at Dave’s today. They were going to call me with an update. They haven’t yet.

 

[Hotblack Desiato]

Just been to pick it up from my dealer - currently thawing out & will post picks & some sort of review tomorrow. Stay tuned.

 

[NBW]

I still would like to sell the Mustang rather than trading it in. So a little extra time isn’t an issue.

 

[Alnus Rubra]

Just been to pick it up from my dealer - currently thawing out & will post picks & some sort of review tomorrow. Stay tuned.

Yeah it’s pretty fresh up here today!

Although I saw a postie delivering letters this morning, dressed in shorts. He must have been feeling the heat!

 

[Hotblack Desiato]

Well that sucks. Opened the box and unbagged it. Looked over the finish and discovered a large circular crack on the rear. Just pinged off an e-mail to the retailer and will see what they say. Haven't even plugged it in yet.

 

[NBW]

Wow. That’s some kinda sucktastic luck. Sorry to hear that. Fortunately I’ll probably have my pick of two that come into Dave’s at some point.

 

[Alnus Rubra]

Well that sucks. Opened the box and unbagged it. Looked over the finish and discovered a large circular crack on the rear. Just pinged off an e-mail to the retailer and will see what they say. Haven't even plugged it in yet.

Noooooooo!

Really sorry to hear that.

 

[Hotblack Desiato]

Yup, just my luck. Only gave it a quick strum then boxed it back up. Quite a weight to it - heavier than I thought it would be. Really nice fretwork, smooth tuners. Will wait to hear what the dealer says about a replacement.

 

[Alnus Rubra]

Hope you get it sorted

 

[Hotblack Desiato]

My dealer managed to get a replacement quicker than I thought.

No problems with the finish but now that I'm home I've noticed the 6 pivot screws at the front of the trem aren't all at the same height which can cause undue wear on the knife-edge; according to the support page they should all be the same. I'll take a closer look tomorrow and set things up to my taste but for the moment I'm wondering what the QC process (here in the UK & Indonesia) adds to the overall package! Maybe I'm being too picky - I appreciate this is an SE rather than a Core but for £900 they should be getting these things right, no?

Pivot screws (ignore the pitting on the face of the string blocks - we're on a budget here!)

1988 meets 2019

 

[Boogie]

Make sure you do the trem screw adjustment without any tension. I can’t emphasize that enough.

 

[Alnus Rubra]

My dealer managed to get a replacement quicker than I thought.

No problems with the finish but now that I'm home I've noticed the 6 pivot screws at the front of the trem aren't all at the same height which can cause undue wear on the knife-edge; according to the support page they should all be the same. I'll take a closer look tomorrow and set things up to my taste but for the moment I'm wondering what the QC process (here in the UK & Indonesia) adds to the overall package! Maybe I'm being too picky - I appreciate this is an SE rather than a Core but for £900 they should be getting these things right, no?

Pivot screws (ignore the pitting on the face of the string blocks - we're on a budget here!)

1988 meets 2019

Congratulations on both. Love the 35th anniversary model, great top and lovely inlays.

The ‘88 is class.

 

[dogrocketp]

What Boogie said. Disconnect the springs from the trem claw before making any adjustments, or you'll ruin the trem base.

 

[Hotblack Desiato]

Make sure you do the trem screw adjustment without any tension. I can’t emphasize that enough.

That's tomorrow's little adventure! The odd thing is that my '88 CE has all 6 screws set pretty much down flat to the body and it's never given an issue in 30+ years of playing. I don't recall ever messing with it when I first got it so perhaps that was how they were back in the day.

 

[Hotblack Desiato]

What Boogie said. Disconnect the springs from the trem claw before making any adjustments, or you'll ruin the trem base.

Thanks for the tip - I wasn't sure if Boogie's advice was to loosen just the strings (per the PRS tech page) or as you say - ZERO tension.

Wish me luck, I'm going in.....

 

[Alnus Rubra]

Thanks for the tip - I wasn't sure if Boogie's advice was to loosen just the strings (per the PRS tech page) or as you say - ZERO tension.

Wish me luck, I'm going in.....

There’s a great video by John Mann which might be helpful (ffwd to 8:51 if you don’t want to watch it all)

 

[Hotblack Desiato]

Congratulations on both. Love the 35th anniversary model, great top and lovely inlays.

The ‘88 is class.

Yeah, the '88 is a keeper. Lots of guitars have come and gone but that stays. Mind you, my Washburn N2 (signed by Joe Satriani!!) is from about 1994 and my Strat is a 40th anniversary so I also hang on to some old guitars.

The inlays on the 35th are really nice and actually better on this one than the one I took back. Result!

 

[dogrocketp]

All my trems are up 1/2 step or slightly more, in addition to down. As you said, once it's fixed, it ain't movin.

 

[Hotblack Desiato]

All my trems are up 1/2 step or slightly more, in addition to down. As you said, once it's fixed, it ain't movin.

Yeah, for my Fender & PRS trems I agree that half to a whole step is plenty. If I need to do any stunt work I use my Ibanez Jem!