Question for McPherson Sable Owners

[tbeltrans]

Originally Posted by David Eastwood

I think you mean Emerald

Yes, Thanks for catching that. I seem to making those kinds of mistakes both in speech and writing more and more often these days. Same thing with typing. I have to read and reread and correct every other word. With all that going on, it is no wonder I miss these kinds of mistakes. I don't know what is wrong with me, but I am hoping it is nothing more than getting older.

Tony

[tbeltrans]

Originally Posted by skewzme

That's a little surprising. I would have thought a neck adjustment on these would only be possible by factory trained staff and proprietary tools. I looked inside and the attachment point doesn't look like something that could be changed with ordinary tools.
As for mine, I've had about two weeks now and have no need for further adjustments. McPherson returned it to me with .12's on it. Next string change I might try .11's, but I won't go lower than that.

These people at St. Paul Guitar Repair are really good at what they do. I suppose that due to the fact that I have been taking my various guitars there for a while now, I am not surprised when they can do something such as this.

Tony

[tbeltrans]

Originally Posted by skewzme

I meant to add..... While I really like this guitar, i still appreciate a high quality wood guitar, and I'd be hard pressed to pick one over the other. My wood guitars include a Taylor 614ce sunburst, and four Tacoma Chiefs in various woods and finishes. I'd give both the Taylor and the Tacoma's a slight edge in terms of comfortability. With respect to tone, the Sable is definitely deeper sounding, but the Taylor is really nicely balanced and has it's own unique sound that is still plenty deep and crisp. The Tacoma's are more midrange in tone, but also have a very unique sound. If any of you have never played a Tacoma Chief, I highly recommend trying one. They're no longer made, and getting harder to get. Saw one on Ebay recently for $600, which was a good price.

I fully agree. My Taylor is a 2019 912ce and it is a really nice instrument. I also have a Huss and Dalton 00 from 2005 when they still built them with a 1 7/8" nut. I also have an Eastman FV-880 archtop, a 1995 Gibson Citation archtop, and a Bill Brunton classical guitar. My collection will likely consist of both CF and wood instruments because both have their merits.

However, I would love to have a CF version of my Huss and Dalton 00, built to the exact same dimensions.

Tony

[L3stat]

Originally Posted by tbeltrans

Ron said that he had to change the neck angle on my Sable because it wasn't correct. The Touring didn't have that problem. He feels that the neck on these two guitars will never shift since the bolts and plate for the bolt on neck are hardened steel and he said the bolts are TIGHT.

Tony

Hi Tony, can you share what they did, and what "adjustability" there is on the Sable? Did they shim or take off material to get the angle right? I'm guessing it's akin to doing a neck reset, McPherson didn't build any contraptions (e.g. Fender's micro-tilt) to make it easier.

[tbeltrans]

Originally Posted by L3stat

Hi Tony, can you share what they did, and what "adjustability" there is on the Sable? Did they shim or take off material to get the angle right? I'm guessing it's akin to doing a neck reset, McPherson didn't build any contraptions (e.g. Fender's micro-tilt) to make it easier.

He didn't give specifics, but did show me inside that the neck is bolt-on. He said that, due to the manner in which the bolt-on is constructed and how tight the bolts are, he expected it would never shift (i.e. set and forget for then on).

Tony

[skewzme]

Originally Posted by L3stat

Hi Tony, can you share what they did, and what "adjustability" there is on the Sable? Did they shim or take off material to get the angle right? I'm guessing it's akin to doing a neck reset, McPherson didn't build any contraptions (e.g. Fender's micro-tilt) to make it easier.

As noted earlier in the thread, when I contacted McPherson suspecting my neck wasn't sitting at the correct angle, the McPherson rep told me the neck could be reset if necessary, sent me some shipping labels. They acknowledged the neck angle was off, reset it, and sent it back. No shaving or removing of material. They offered no reason for why I might have been off in the first place. the guitar had no signs of being bumped or damaged in any way. Someone suggested maybe this one just got past their QC control. Could be, because it wasn't off by much and the previous owner may not have even recognized it.
very happy with it now.

[tbeltrans]

Originally Posted by skewzme

As noted earlier in the thread, when I contacted McPherson suspecting my neck wasn't sitting at the correct angle, the McPherson rep told me the neck could be reset if necessary, sent me some shipping labels. They acknowledged the neck angle was off, reset it, and sent it back. No shaving or removing of material. They offered no reason for why I might have been off in the first place. the guitar had no signs of being bumped or damaged in any way. Someone suggested maybe this one just got past their QC control. Could be, because it wasn't off by much and the previous owner may not have even recognized it.
very happy with it now.

The OP's question was regarding what was done to change the neck angle. Unfortunately, I don't have an answer for that either.

It is quite likely that the original owner of your guitar might not have recognized it. For me, the guitar just felt a bit stiff as if maybe lighter gauge strings might help. I would have never guessed that the neck angle could be off. After whatever adjustment was made, my Sable is now the easiest playing guitar I have owned. Of course, restating that doesn't answer the OP's question either.

Tony

[L3stat]

Ok thanks for all the feedback. Was just curious how a McPherson is built differently than other bolt-ons. I get that with a good system you'd never have to adjust it but that assumes it's setup properly in the first place. Just wondering if one ever had to do this adjustment, would it be easy for an independent tech to do it, or would the factory be better placed to do it.

[skewzme]

Originally Posted by tbeltrans

The OP's question was regarding what was done to change the neck angle. Unfortunately, I don't have an answer for that either.

It is quite likely that the original owner of your guitar might not have recognized it. For me, the guitar just felt a bit stiff as if maybe lighter gauge strings might help. I would have never guessed that the neck angle could be off. After whatever adjustment was made, my Sable is now the easiest playing guitar I have owned. Of course, restating that doesn't answer the OP's question either.

Tony

Two confirmed cases of a Sable needing a neck reset. As wonderful as these guitars are, they may not be as indestructible.as we thought.

[tbeltrans]

Originally Posted by L3stat

Ok thanks for all the feedback. Was just curious how a McPherson is built differently than other bolt-ons. I get that with a good system you'd never have to adjust it but that assumes it's setup properly in the first place. Just wondering if one ever had to do this adjustment, would it be easy for an independent tech to do it, or would the factory be better placed to do it.

As I mentioned earlier, mine was done by an independent tech and it now plays easier than any other acoustic I have owned. I see the ability to reset the neck on these to be a positive thing, given the outcome. Prior to the neck reset, it played similarly to my other carbon fiber guitars, so I didn't consider that it would need a neck reset. But the person setting up the guitar must have noticed something and addressed it, making it play better than I could have imagined.

Tony

[David Eastwood]

Originally Posted by skewzme

Two confirmed cases of a Sable needing a neck reset. As wonderful as these guitars are, they may not be as indestructible.as we thought.

I seriously doubt that anything actually shifted - more likely, not properly aligned at the factory.

[tbeltrans]

Originally Posted by skewzme

Two confirmed cases of a Sable needing a neck reset. As wonderful as these guitars are, they may not be as indestructible.as we thought.

Ron (the tech who worked on my McPhersons) told me that the bolts were VERY tight. So according to him, nothing had changed from the time the guitar was built until the time he worked on it. He further said that, given how tight the bolts are, it is highly unlikely that the neck would change in the future either.

So, based on what Ron said, there was no neck shifting. He simply changed the neck angle from what it was set to at the factory to what it is now to facilitate easier paying.

We don't know if, as far as McPherson is concerned, the neck angle was set properly according to their own specs and Ron changed it to facilitate easier playing, or if it was not set properly at the factory and Ron set it properly. Given McPherson's reputation for quality, I would guess the latter, but we simply don't know what we don't know and anything about this particular situation would be nothing more than conjecture.

Remember what I said earlier: It is quite likely that the original owner of your guitar might not have recognized it. For me, the guitar just felt a bit stiff as if maybe lighter gauge strings might help. I would have never guessed that the neck angle could be off.

In other words, the neck angle on my McPherson might well have been just fine according to factory spec. For somebody else, no adjustment might have been called for. I always want my guitars to play as easy as possible and Ron was able to go the extra mile to do that.

What I can say with certainty is that I am darn glad that the neck angle could be changed. As far as I know, this isn't the case for any of my other carbon fiber guitars except maybe the McPherson Touring.

Tony