Newb Questions

[kjmdrumz3]

First off, thanks for having me. I’m a drummer who likes to pretend to play guitar. I’ve owned several SE models over the last 10 years or so. Just picked up a brand new SE McCarty Singlecut Standard in Vintage Cherry. Beautiful guitar. Worst factory setup I’ve personally seen out of the box. Action isn’t bad but there is some fret buzzing along the first few frets. And intonation was way off. I had to back the A string saddle all the way off to get it pretty close.
The tuners are absolute crap. Tons of slop in 2 or 3 of them. I’d like to replace them with better ones (don’t even care if they are locking or not), but I’d like to keep the cream or ivory look. Will the core or S2 tuning machine drop right in? Seems that the SEs are different? Also, I’d like to change the black pickup rings to cream or ivory. Any recommendations?
I guess I can’t complain too much. Local music store sold it to me for the old SE 245 prices. Thanks!

 

[alantig]

Sounds like your truss rod may need a tweak. Not uncommon for guitars at any price point. Things shift during shipping. That may help w/the intonation as well. And new strings may also help there.

For tuners, contact John Mann. He sells drop-in for the SEs. https://www.johnmannsguitarvault.com/

 

[kjmdrumz3]

Sounds like your truss rod may need a tweak. Not uncommon for guitars at any price point. Things shift during shipping. That may help w/the intonation as well. And new strings may also help there.

For tuners, contact John Mann. He sells drop-in for the SEs. https://www.johnmannsguitarvault.com/

Thanks for the info!
I just ordered some tools and watched some videos along with conferring with my good friend and guitarist from my band. I think doing a full setup from start to finish is the way to go at this point. I’d prefer to learn rather than take it to someone else. I am also waiting for a response from John Mann.