Power of P (3)

Before giving the PRS SE P20 a full appraisal, I'll just disclose some bits here. Really, the workmanship is as good as it gets, no particular unhappiness relating to price-quality issues. The ones I'm highlighting here are too minor to cause a major upset. First up, we see the uneven corners of the truss rod cover; one end being sharp, the other, rounded off. We are well aware that wood working & plastic accessories are handled by different hands at the factory. 

This one shows the uneven trimming of the binding but it's only evident at this end, the other end is perfect. 

On that note (forgive the pun), I'm happy to say that the PRS SE P20 is every bit worthy of its asking price. However, we still have people who whined at the fact that it's made in China. Despite being educated & having access to technical information, we still get people who are dismissive of products originating from a certain country. This shows how narrow people still are today & they are willing to cascade their negative experience from another encounter unto something unrelated. From my end of things, I still rank China as the standard to beat when it comes to hollow/ semi-hollow/ acoustic craftsmanship in the entry level to mid-price bracket. Indonesia is well ahead, in the mean time, for the solid body reference for the same price considerations. 

No Standard

Nothing special here, just the typical LP Standard headstock.

But I've been wanting to do this all along since I did it with the other guitar. The truss rod cover is now a blank version. That 'Standard' label there invites pre-conceived opinions about the instrument. If it's a good one per se, it should be good regardless of the suggested tier it's from. I also do not wish to be seen as somebody who made it in life because I own a certain Gibson model from a certain tier. I believe in letting ability & commitment speak for my accomplishments. 

Fighting

I think some of you are rather sick of seeing such dead parts but at my end, I feel it necessary to share the need to keep things in check. This is a dead tone pot, of course, eaten away by corrosion. We usually maintain such features in our guitars by spraying contact cleaners once thing don't feel as smooth as it should be.

This isn't a corroded implement, just the guitar's truss rod cover which necessitated this destruction...

... in order to access this dead screw. It was severely rounded during an attempt to remove it so accessing the exposed thread there helped with getting a grip while turning it loose using a pair of pliers. 

After an upsetting bout, it finally came off. 

Replacement truss rod covers were purchased online.

I'm also kinda sick & tired of Ibanez's cosmo black finish. This is a fusion between black & chrome & invites stain very easily. If your hand is oily for instance, the stain will be permanent however much you polish the surface. It becomes a bright stain rather than disappearing.

The guitar in question is my Ibanez RG721. It looks rather pristine here after some maintenance time & that's the sure thing that would happen to my instruments- taking time to put in place what's wasted.

Guitar set up: Simple instructions (maybe) Part 2

You will then proceed to tune your guitar. This way, your set-up & anomaly assessments are based on the instrument in standard tuning. Remove the truss rod cover.

Employ your capo on the first fret while fretting the instrument at its final, uppermost fret. Now observe the gap between the string & the fret crown at the 12th, 8th & 7th frets by pressing the strings down lightly at those areas. Do this for all strings. The objective here is to check the neck's straightness. If the gap between the strings & the fret crown is too much, it means your neck's relief (how concave, the shape of your neck is) is correspondingly too much. If your strings come into contact with all the frets when you are doing this, it means you have a straight guitar neck, which is the best condition to be working with. Remember, a very straight neck is not the most appealing.

...to be continued.
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Startled from sleep.

Truss rod cover: Thumbs up, Ibanez!

Perhaps, one of the best innovation by Ibanez, is this truss rod cover.

It slides out for easy access, no fumbling with screw drivers along the way. A great inclusion for selected 2010 models.