Staggered string holes

[mosriteer]

Absolutely - and I don't check what I typed in before I hit the "submit" button either.
-Kanad

[dubtrub]

On a Gretsch 6120 with a Bigsby, if you depress the whammy and hit a chord its sounds strange, but the same thing on a Mosrite will sound more better...

Professor must not teach English.

I think he means it sounds 'Mo betta'.

[Veenture]

You guys are killing me...

BTW here are two Youtubes on the subject (Steinberger Trans-Trem system):

[mark1]

The Stinberger makes sense and sounds like it really works. Has anyone tried this theory with a Mosrite? I know that it dosen't work on mine Keep im comin guys.I know we'll get to the truth at some point.......Don't forget about that pop quiz

[101Volts]

You guys are killing me...

Yeah, you're doing the same thing to me with this video. What the heck does it remind me of when he bends that chord up at 1:58?! Imagine it sustained longer and it may end up being a headache for you too. I'm not sure but maybe it is reminding me of some scene from the Chevy Chase movie Vegas Vacation? I'm probably wrong, That is a start though.

[mosriteer]

OK- Prof. can probably play better than he can scribe: this is unedited Take 2 on a 67 Ventures model. (The "u" on the filename for my lastname is a typo; similar typo in the title.)
http://www.planktones.com/UFPTV/BB/17%2 ... Ghouse.mp3
-Kanad

[dubtrub]

Now that's Mo betta. Great stuff!

[Veenture]

Now that's Mo betta. Great stuff!

...what Danny said. Wow, I should be so lucky as to get that far playin' the guit...

[oipunkguy]

that first video was really cool. I gotta check out a SB again sometime. Seems like there's always one or two laying around when ever I go to a used guitar shop.
but the second video....omg I can stand that 80's rock tone, it makes me mental!

[Bob Shade]

Hey guys! Some guys may not want to hear this but after building these guitars by hand myself, you get to notice things that you would not notice otherwise. I have drilled enough of the solid brass rockers for Hallmark guitars to know that it is nearly impossible to make a perfectly straight line of holes all the way across the rocker even with my heavy duty floor stand drill press and a machine vice. One or two holes always seems to be a tiny bit off or not just perfect. If we had modern machinery like a milling machine this would not be a problem, but how many luthiers have a milling machine laying around?

So what do you do? Throw out a batch of rockers you just took all that time to be drilled out after having paid good money to have them cast? NO!!!....you may laugh but.........have the holes a bit off in your original pattern so it will be forced to come out a bit off to begin with and tell people it is now compensated!

We all know Semie would not throw ANYTHING away, he could not AFFORD to. From the re-made Guild vibramutes used on the 63's with the Guild name simply ground off, to misplaced fret markers drilled out and filled with dust and glue, to bridges mounted in the wrong place and left that way to sell, the list goes on. In those days you were lucky to find the money to eat with if you were a full time small shop luthier.

Another example of Semies creative salesmanship was the slanted neck pickup. On a Mosrite. Semie stated that it balanced the tone. Rubbish. From a builders standpoint, you would have had to make two different pickup covers made for the strings to be aligned with the polepiece screws if the neck pickup were horizontal at the neck, and the same at the bridge. This is because the strings width is different at the bridge than it is at the fingerboard due to the nut being much smaller in width than the bridge. Right? So how do you get the polepiece screws to be in perfect alignment at the neck when you are using the same pickup as at the bridge? Tilt one. Presto! You now have the "All New Balanced Tone Neck Pickup"

Here is another example, Semie claimed the 80's pickups were self sheilding because there was a piece of aluminum foil on the bottom of the pickup. Not true, the pickup would have to have been completely wrapped in copper foil and a ground wire soldered to it for the pickups to be completely shielded. My theory is the aluminum foil was cheap and made the pickup have a better presentation when the foil was on the bottom of the brown goop squirted in the pickup that appeared to be construction adheasive you buy in a tube at Home Depo.

And this is not just for Mosrite but Fender and Gibson as well. If Gibson made a gutar (Les Paul for example, and I have seen a few of these) that the bridge was mounted in the wrong place.......well you guessed it, it got a plate put over the holes that said in nice pretty letters " Custom Made" then the holes were re-drilled in the desired position. And it was sent off to a dealer.

So to answer the original question...in my best opinion......I have to agree with Terry....Bill Gruggett agrees with this too...the quote un-quote compensated holes in the rocker do nothing. The term compensated was used as a sales pitch for a tailpiece that was nearly impossible to drill perfectly straight so another pattern was used. Does this make these any less desirable? Not for me! I like hand built well made guitars that have a story.

And to answer the next question, why did they make the die cast in the same version? What would YOU tell people who bought your guitars for the last 3 years? Those were not made right?

I hope this is not offensive to anyone, but I had to comment.

Bob Shade