my equipment

Hello all..in my last post i've promise to upload my wilkinson that equipped to my standard stratocaster.. here we go..

oh, i would like to upload my guitars pic too..There are fender standard stratocaster and ibanez ergodyne470. Cute enough huh? wkkwkwkkwkwk...

okay..cu to my next post!
 

-wilkinson-

I placed this wilkinstone to bridge of my standard stratocaster guitar. This wilkinstone help me to keep up the tone and prevent from false note. I add 2 more pear for stability. Wilkinstone bridge equipped with steel base plates, push-in arms and 'locked-down' ultra smooth stainless steel saddles for perfect 'return to zero' performance every time and handle for whammy bar playing. I've been use this wilkinstone for more than 4 years and it haven't any problem yet. Yeah that's suitable with its price (about $40). No matter how hard and rush when your playing with your guitar, you'll never facing any problem while you playing your guitar. Just express your emotion! :) .In the next post i will post my guitar pic which equipped with that wilkinstone bridge. See Ya!!

Guitar Setup and Maintenance

Guitar Neck Adjustment or Truss Rod Adjustment- Pick up your guitar and hold the body of the guitar up to a light. Take a look from the body up the neck. Usually if you hold it up to a light source you will notice if your guitar neck is bowed or not. Most guitars have a neck adjuster at the top of the guitar (the headstock of the guitar). Depending on the type of guitar you can adjust the truss rod that is in the center of your neck. Usually a hex wrench is needed for this task. Try adjusting the truss rod to improve bow of the neck. A little bow upward is ok. If you do not see a truss rod adjustment at the headstock it is most likely at the other end or butt of the neck. On some styles of guitars it is possible to adjust without taking the neck off of the guitar. But in most cases you will have to unbolt the neck from its neck pocket to adjust. If you would like to save your current strings, sometimes you can put a capo on the neck to save the strings. In some cases you will just need to take off the strings and adjust the neck. This is a trial and error process, but once your neck is adjusted properly, you will no doubt get a better sound and feel out of your guitar. Try small quarter turns of the nut to see what kind of response your getting. Remember that loosening the truss rod results in higher string action, and tightening it will give lower string action. The adjustment depends upon your style of play and how you like your string height on your guitar.

Pickup Height Adjustment - Raising the pickup height closer to the strings should result in a little better tone for you guitar. Visa versa lowering the pickup should give a lighter tone to your instrument. All you usually need is a little screwdriver to perform this modification. This is a trial and error process so keep your amp handy to test the sound at different positions. To do this adjust the screws on either side of your pickups. Tightening the screws should lower the pickup while loosening should raise the pickup. Be sure not to raise the pickups to close to the strings or you may cause the pickup to sound out of phase. And be sure to adjust the screws evenly on each side so that your getting the same response from all the strings. To get a balance of sound you may have to angle the pickups a little away from the lower heavier stings. Again, this is a trial and error process but may give your guitar a tone your looking for.

Polishing your Guitar - Find a nice guitar polish at your local music store along with a chamois polishing cloth. Some guitarists use windex on their guitars, but I have not tried this technique myself. Basically your should polish only the major surfaces of your guitar avoiding the guitar parts like the bridge or tuners. Spray a little on your cloth and polish away. Also, you may not want to polish your guitar neck unless it is lacquered because this could hurt the wood on your guitar neck.

Oiling a Non-Lacquered Guitar Neck - Some guitarists prefer oil on there Non-Lacquered guitar necks. Oiled necks tend to have a nice feel for guitarists. For example, the Eddie Van Halen Wolfgang Guitars would come standard with a non lacquered oiled guitar neck. First step is to unbolt your guitar neck from the body. Next, find an oil you would prefer to oil your guitar necks with. Some oil types include lemon oil, tung oil, or tinted oils. Once you find and oil your satisfied with do a small test on an area of the neck that is not exposed, maybe the butt end of the neck. Check to see if this will be the look and feel that you want on your guitar neck before you oil the whole neck. Basically take your cloth or chamois and apply light coats of oil to your guitar neck. If you get some oil on the frets just take a dry cloth and wipe off the frets. Of course, read the instructions on any oil you use first. Give the oil some time to dry and you have a nicely oiled neck. If your guitar neck is rather dry it may soak up the first coat quickly, so if this is the case you may have to apply another coat of oil once the first coat dries.

Bridge Adjustment (Electric Guitar)- The string action can be raise or lowered by adjusting the bridge. If you don't feel comfortable adjusting the bridge yourself try your local guitar dealer. They usually employ technicians to help with guitar modification. Basically the raise or lower your bridge adjust the screws on both sides of the bridge. This is another trial and error process so adjust the bridge a little at a time and test. If you adjust the bridge to low your guitar may fret out. This means that the strings are adjusted to low and give false tones when certain notes are depressed on the fretboard. Also if you go to high your action may make it more difficult to play chords on your guitar. So a little adjustment can go a long way.

Adjustable Pole Pieces - Some pickups come equipped with adjustable pole pieces. They are usually either screw type or hex nut type pole pieces. Some guitarists feel that adjusting the pole pieces so that they are a little closer to the strings give a fatter of better tone. Others say you should not adjust them. So it's up to you whether you want to try this task. Check out your pole pieces on your pickup and see if they are adjustable, and use either a small screwdriver or hex wrench to adjust. Adjust and test your instrument with small adjustments. Don't adjust to close to the strings or you'll get false tones.

Tuner Adjustments - Sometimes your tuners may feel loose and unstable. An adjustment may help out. The next time you restring your guitar take a small screwdriver and tighten up the screws on your tuners so they are snug. Sometimes with constant string tension they can loosen over time. Be fairly gentle with these adjustments because some tuners can damage easily. This should help your tuners keep the tension on the strings much better.

Oiling the Nut on Your Tremelo Guitar - The nut is the plastic or bone piece located near the headstock that holds your strings in place. If you have a guitar with a tremelo or whammy bar that goes out of tune when you use the trem, try oiling the nut. Pull the string up a little and put a few drops of oil in each string slot of the nut. This should help the strings slide better through the nut when the tremelo is used. Remember as always when using oil a little goes a long way.

Restringing or Stringing Your Guitar - How To String a Guitar - This process can vary with different guitars and tremelos. If you have a Fender Strat or similar type guitar this process can be fairly easy. If you have a Floyd Rose Trem on your guitar, it gets a little more complicated.

• Fender Strat or similar guitar - You'll need to loosen and remove the old strings by unwinding the tuners and pulling the ball end of the strings out from the bottom of your tremelo. You may have to take off the back plate of the guitar to do this. Take your pack of New strings and Start with you low E string. Guide the string through the bottom of the tremelo so the ball end fits snug into it's pocket. Take the string all the way down make sure it's guided through the nut. Wrap the string around the tuner post and when you don't think you can wrap anymore then take the string through the hole in the tuner and over the strings. This should hold the string in place. Sometimes pliers can be used to help get a grip on the string and help pull it through the tuner hole. You may also want to purchase a string winder for changing strings to make it easier.
  
• Telecaster or String Through Body Type Guitar - The process is the same as above, just no tremelo is involved and you can just pull the string through the body of the guitar in the back.
• Floyd Rose Guitars Can Be Tricky to String. Here's the best way to string them and its almost the opposite of a Fender. Start at the tuners and pull the string through so the ball end of the sting is up at the tuner. Unlock the locking nut, and guide the stings through the nut and down to the bridge. Now most Floyd Roses lock at the Trem itself so your going to have to fit the string into its particular slot. You may have to cut the string so that there's less to work with. Once you fit the string into its slot on the trem you'll need to tighten the locking mechanism located towards the back of the trem. Tighten the hex adjustment for each string to lock it in place. Then tune up your guitar at the tuners and lock the nut. You can make fine tuning adjustments on most Floyd Roses at the tremelo.

Strap Locks - Strap Locks are a great feature to add to your guitar. They basically lock in the strap of your guitar so it doesn't fall while your playing it. I can't tell you how many times I almost dropped my guitar before buying strap locks. If your buying more expensive guitars this is a must have option. I've found that Shaller's work great but others brands will do the trick. Basically just unscrew the old strap buttons off you guitar and screw in the new strap lock buttons that you buy. You'll also have to add the locking pieces of the strap lock to you strap itself. Screw those pieces together, and you should be able to snap in or strap lock your guitar.