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SurfGuitar101 Forums » Gear »

Permalink Need help IDing my Hitckhiker Guitar!

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I've tried rolling the tone knob all the way back and it's just mud. I've tried setting my amp a million different combinations. Even with high gain distortion (I don't play with often) I can't get the notes to ring out. The bridge is the same as Nokie's, the pups are the same as Nokie's so it's gotta be electrical (pots, cap, switches)

I hope I'm not wasting anyone's time on this topic but it's just one big sob story...lol

I HIGHLY appreciate all of the help. Btw

Beach,
If the pots are working, changing them isn't going to do much, if anything. But it's inexpensive enough. Have you tried a compression pedal with the guitar? Maybe sustain pedal?
Have fun.
J Mo'

just my 2 cents ,if you feel something wrong about your guitar before butcher it just take a visit to local luthier and ask (advise is free) if the set up is good ? if the string are good (one time i have a fresh new string that doesn't work )
for scratching pot a cleaning can improve really ,for the lack of sustain a bad set up can be the cause ,if the neck isn't set up like it must ,the high of string ,the gauge of string (sometimes the brand too ),the nut ect...
for a guitar at this amount i would not try to correct myself if i don't know what to do

Beach20ventures17surfguitar wrote:

.. Even with high gain distortion (I don't play with often) I can't get the notes to ring out. ..

This Youtube video shows a quick adjustment that often improves sustain on bolt-on neck guitars. It increases contact between neck and body. I don't know if the HH guitar has a bolt-on neck.

On guitars with vibrato mechanisms, I have increased sustain enormously by gluing lead fishing weights to the vibrato block. I expect there is nothing you can do likewise on a HH guitar.

Insanitizers! http://www.insanitizers.com

Last edited: Sep 30, 2017 11:50:24

All,
The HH is of neck-thru construction
J Mo'

It takes courage to do this to a $4000 guitar but it should improve sustain: Glue lead (or tungsten) fishing weights to the underside of the metal bridge assembly. I expect this would involve routing underneath the bridge assembly to make room for the weights. Perhaps you can test to see if this will work by putting weights on the top of the metal bridge assembly (without damaging it of course). For testing it might be adequate to lay the guitar flat and simply stack the weights on the bridge. To prevent the surface you lay the guitar on from changing the test results I suggest you lay it on an acoustic insulating material, such as a plastic foam.

The weights you stack on the bridge need to be flat of course. Lead fishing weights can easily be hammered flat, just by tapping with a hammer.

Insanitizers! http://www.insanitizers.com

Last edited: Sep 30, 2017 15:29:23

Beach,
I hope you have enough in the way of brains not to attempt any major mods to your HH. Get a seasoned luthier's (or two) opinion first.
You can get more sustain with a hollow body by filling it up with auto body filler but it kinda kills the value of you guitar. I don't recommend routing or any other such butchery to such an expensive instrument.
But - it is your guitar.
J Mo'

Ok. Thanks to everyone for the advice. The HH is neck thru. The only changes I plan to make is to change the pots and see what happens. If it doesn't fix the issue I'll let it be and talk to Nokie and see what he says. I don't want offend him though because he seems to be very proud of his HH guitars and he told me when I ordered it that his HH guitars have long sustain. If changing the pots don't work I'll experiment with sustain or comp pedals. I know it's not the strings because I keep fresh strings on my guitars. Now the amp has a lot to do with sustain. It could be that Nokie favors the roland JC-120 for a reason. The guitar responds better through my current amp then the previous one I had. It responds best through a twin and a vox ac30. The pickups are set away from the strings so it shouldn't be that. The guitar sustains like any other electric when it's unplugged. It's got to be electrical.

Latest news on the ongoing troubleshoot. I have put new [[name brand]] pots in the guitar. Both being 500k and the guitar sounds great. It's a tad brighter which I favor and the sustain on the lower frets is endless but yet still on high frets it's not so much. I did experiment a bit with the bridge and come to find out the grooves on the saddles are cut deep and the string vibration is being stopped by the sides of the groove. It's mostly as I make bends when I loose sustain. Single notes ring out fine.

Beach,
Do yourself a favor and keep the original pots. Some players are finicky about originality if you (or your estate) ever decide to sell your HH.
Glad the sound improved for you even though you really only changed 1 pot (the 250K tone to a 500K). Beats hammering fish weights under the bridge, I trust.
I might give your mod a try.
Happy pickings
J Mo'

Oh yeah. I always keep original parts from a guitar. The pots I used are CTS. They have a better sweep than what was in there. It's got a higher output now also.

I have decided to sell my HH guitar if I can find a buyer. I need the money for PA equipment and I can settle for a cheaper guitar. Danelectro just came out with a nice mosrite clone.

Please start a new thread in the For-Sale forum. You have kind of already hijacked this thread. Smile

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