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Advice on fixing up BC Rich Ignitor.

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  • Advice on fixing up BC Rich Ignitor.

    Well I won this on the Bay and took it to a local shop to get it all fixed up and up to speed. After 10 @^%#$&%^* days I finally get it back, Dying to play it. It's still is basically in the same condition, awful action neck relief/ tilt is terrible. Which is the whole point I took it in because I wasnt comfortable messing around with a semi rare neck thru guitar.

    So needless to say I'm pretty pissed.
    There are some metal shims under the locking nut to help abit with the tilt factor but still not enough. Strings are closer to frets at the low end then action starts getting higher. After about the 12th fret it is fretting out.

    pickups are also almost touching the strings. So basically I paid those clowns to wipe the fretboard and put on new strings and not fix a damn thing.

    So at this point what can I do? This guitar seems on par qualitywise to a USA Jackson and I dropped a chunk of change on it.

    Any advice is greatly appreciated.






    sorry for the notso great pics, was in a hurry during my lunch break.

  • #2
    There is probably nothing major wrong with that guitar. It just needs a set up by someone who knows what the hell they are doing. Sorry you had a bad experience. Find a better guitar tech.

    Changing to flat pickup rings will straighten out the pickups a bit so they can be more even with the strings. And whoever set the claw for the Floyd must have been high.
    Scott
    Be without fear in the face of your enemies. Be brave and upright, that God may love thee. Speak the truth always, even if it leads to your death. Safeguard the helpless and do no wrong.

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    • #3
      Agree with Scott 100%. Also, check out the string height at the last fret, and the height of the trem base and pups. I've never understood those stupid angled bezels in the first place.
      Here's what I would do (in order):
      1. Remove strings, Install Flat pup rings, and lower the pups
      2. Adjust the truss rod and level / polish the frets
      3. Re-string, tune to pitch, adjust truss rod for proper relief
      4. Adjust spring claw for level trem
      4. Adjust bridge and nut height to achieve desired action
      5. Adjust pup height
      6. Stretch the strings, final tune, lock down the nut, and Enjoy!
      Last edited by mm2002; 07-25-2006, 02:05 PM.
      My goal in life is to be the kind of asshole my wife thinks I am.

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      • #4
        That claw looks like one of my "innovative approach" ideas when I was an aspiring luthier... when I was 15. I was probably high too.

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        • #5
          Thanx for the advice guys.

          The previous owner had this downtuned and the Floyd was tilited abit backwards. Not sure if it was having "fretting out issues" for him as I really didnt play it when it arrived. I assessed the situation and thought this might need more work then I was comfortable doing myself.

          I'm hoping I can just lower the pickups and floyd to help the action problem. But the thing is if the action is higher towards the higher frets and its fretting out currently this doesnt seem like it will fix that issue. So it would seem it's more a neck relief/tilt issue. Which to be honest I havent ever messed around with truss rods or had to do anything like this in the past.

          heres a crappy illustration that I whipped up at work. the action tilt isnt as drastic as this. its just to get the point across.

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          • #6
            forgot to mention, the frets dont seem overly worn down as to cause the "fretting out" but also probably arent jumbo frets or anything either. just small frets.

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            • #7
              So if I'm reading this right, the action is fine from the nut to the 12th fret, but after that, its too low and you have a lot of buzzing and fret out when you bend. Have you checked the relief in the neck? Fret the E strings at the 1st and last fret and check the distance between the 10th fret and the bottom of the string. Optimally (IMO), you want as little gap as possible without touching when you do this. If you have a larger gap, you can adjust it out with the truss rod. Tighten the rod to straighten the neck and recheck. Now, if you've already done this and there is still a problem, do this: fret a string at the 12th fret and measure the gap down the neck towards the bridge. The size of the gap should increase along the length of the string - check at the 15th, 19th, 20th, etc. If the gap decreases, you could have a hump in the neck or a high fret - a fret level would help here unless the hump is really bad.
              -------------------------
              Blank yo!

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              • #8
                Actually the action starts out fine at the nut and gradually gets too high.
                But it doesnt start to fret out ( more so with the g,b,e strings) until around the 12th to 14th frets. Thats what I was trying to show with the crude line "v" shape in the illustration above the guitar.

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                • #9
                  I hope they only charged you for a set of strings! Get Dan Erlewine's Guitar Player Repair Guide and a Stew Mac catalog and say goodbye to techs forever.
                  Tone is like Art: Your opinion is valid. Listen, learn, have fun, draw your own conclusions.

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                  • #10
                    well lowering the pickups and the Floyd seems to have cleared up the problems, thank god. I'm soo relieved.

                    Doesnt look like I'll have to even touch the truss rod now.

                    Thanks again for all the input, and I will look for that book. I think now too. Just so I understand things better and possibly for future issues.

                    Cuz the last thing I wanna do is seriously mess up an nice guitar by adjusting the truss rod too much.

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                    • #11
                      So what? Were the strings hitting the pickups when you fretted up high? I am confused now.
                      Scott
                      Be without fear in the face of your enemies. Be brave and upright, that God may love thee. Speak the truth always, even if it leads to your death. Safeguard the helpless and do no wrong.

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Originally posted by Mikernaut2
                        Cuz the last thing I wanna do is seriously mess up an nice guitar by adjusting the truss rod too much.
                        That's probably why there seems to be an abundance of guitar techs that charge people for doing absolutely nothing. Seriously, get the book. There is nothing Voodoo about adjusting your truss rod.
                        The only solution to GAS is DEATH...

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