Hi Sam! Long time fan! You are truly fortunate to have such a talented associate, who is truly fortunate to have such a talented colleague chasing him around with his camera 😂. Cheers 😊
I used this technique (heatgun) to remove the fingerboard on a 90s fly delux, worked fairly well, but ended up pulling up some of the basswood of the neck with it... after watching this... I blame my lack of patience as I was worried about applying too much heat for too long. Good to see demonstration.
@kenparkerarchtoppery9440 I didnt... The guitar came from a scrap pile in the back of a local guitar store. It had been stripped and cut up (no head stock, etc. But still had the fingerboard, bridge, saddles and bridge mounting posts. I bought it for $50 for spare parts. My plan is to rebuild my very first guitar (early 90s Ibanez EX series), and modify or replace the neck with one that i could apply the Fly fingerboard too. I'm not a luthier by any means, so it's definitely going to be a challenge. Your videos have been helpful, specifically around the adhesive used, application, etc.
Ken, I've always assumed you're an east coast guy--for whatever reason, I don't know!--but you work with so much Pacific NW wood I wonder if you live close by. You seem like you would love Oregon.
HI Ken, in another video you mentioned that in -line tuners were prefered by Floyd Rose himself but never mentioned the reason why if I recall correctly. Dou you remember what was his reasoning behind that? Really curios about that. Thank you.
This puzzles me, as I have no memory of speaking with Floyd about instrument design, ever. The only conversations I had with him were regarding the installation of his first product, and these were 45 years ago. Perhaps you are referring my own reasons for choosing "all on a side" tuners, which I'll be happy to address in full detail in an upcoming film in the Neck Journey, stay tuned!
Ken Parker Archtoppery - The Neck Journey - 3) Origin Story , not exactly how i remember it, it was 8 months ago but let me quote you: "before that I was I was making three and three headstocks like everybody else and I'm going to explain that to you and when maybe for right now as a placeholder we'll just call it that Floyd Rose taught me that three and three is inferior to everybody on one side but that's the story for another day"
Thanks for quoting me so I have an idea about how I sowed confusion with my sloppy sentence. As I mentioned, I never spoke with Floyd about instruments, only about the issues regarding the installation of his earliest products. When I said "that Floyd Rose taught me", I was speaking about the experience of installing a "locking" nut, that is, a nut that can clamp the strings in what amounts to three little vises. What I discovered was that the rock players I was doing installations for were HORRIFIED at the huge difference the locking nut made to the feel of their (mostly) Strats. By clamping the strings at the nut, the string lengths between the nut and the tuning pegs were taken out of the loop, and the result was the perception of wildly higher string tension when bending. When I loosened the clamps, everybody's shoulders dropped as the guitar returned to "normal". Next, the player had to decide whether or not to put up with the change in feel in exchange for the dependable tuning stability during feverish dive-bombing sessions. Most did, some by tuning down or reducing the string guage. The actual tension of the string at rest does not change, but when bending, or really, even just fretting, which is a kind of subtle bending, the "afterlength" of the string over the headstock no longer can stretch and add to the elasticity of the string. Make sense? Try it for yourself, I was blown away by the difference. If you're playing electric guitar with light strings and like to bend, you will always perfer the 6 in line feel over the 3 & 3 feel. Promise. Wonder why Fenders outsold Les Pauls by so much? There's the story. In the first Floyd trems he used leather washers as part of the stack of hardware that attaches the bar to the vibrato. These lasted about one song before needing adjustment or replacement. I replaced them with precision washers which I faced with thin teflon sheet, and mailed a bunch of them to Floyd. Never heard a word from the guy. Oh well, I learned a life-changing lesson as a result of installing these gizmos in 1979, and it changed my understanding of headstock design in a profound way. Fair enough.
@@kenparkerarchtoppery9440 I imagined, after the fact, what you meant with the "floyd rose taught me" sentence. I imagined right. But always better to have confirmation. The 4 to 7 inches of extra string length on a non Floyd trem guitar makes a hugue difference when bending the 3 first strings indeed. Not so much on the wound ones but that's the nature of them. The thicker and closer to the nut, the less difference there is. I recently modded a customer guitar, he struggled a lot with his Floyd bridge (he wasn't too "handy" when replacing strings on it and found it to be a hassle) and I replaced it with a fixed Hipshot one. The first thing he said was: "did you install lighter string on it? it feels softer when I bend". Well, you stringss are longer now. The longer the string, the more it gives applying the same force. Regarding the strat outselling the Les Paul, well, it's a matter of taste i guess, but for me the Les Paul is heavier, the bridge feels like resting your hand on a set of knives, the neck/headstock breaks if you look at it too much with no easy way of fixing or replacing it, the offset plane of the fretboard against the body feels weird and the prices are ridiculous. Yap, I don't like Les Pauls much They look nice though....that's it. Credit where credit is due, a nice figured top looks better than a flat painted one with a massive plastic pickguard 😀. Anyway, thanks for clarifying your story and keep rocking 👍
You are one complicated individual Mr. Ken Parker, who seems to invent complex components for a simple instrument. Fascinating. More Please 😊
Sometimes simple isn't easy.
Hi guys, still loving every instalment! Greeting from Oz.
Awesome! Thank you!
Hi Sam! Long time fan! You are truly fortunate to have such a talented associate, who is truly fortunate to have such a talented colleague chasing him around with his camera 😂. Cheers 😊
Sam is a fresh face this summer. Glad you like the filming, we're trying to get it right!
I love a bit of excruciating detail...😉
It's what it's all about, no?
Excellent as ever, thanks.
Glad you enjoyed it
I used this technique (heatgun) to remove the fingerboard on a 90s fly delux, worked fairly well, but ended up pulling up some of the basswood of the neck with it... after watching this... I blame my lack of patience as I was worried about applying too much heat for too long. Good to see demonstration.
Yeah, it's tricky to know when there's enough heat to release the bond, and easy to rush things.
How did you heal the guitar after removing the board?
@kenparkerarchtoppery9440 I didnt... The guitar came from a scrap pile in the back of a local guitar store. It had been stripped and cut up (no head stock, etc. But still had the fingerboard, bridge, saddles and bridge mounting posts. I bought it for $50 for spare parts.
My plan is to rebuild my very first guitar (early 90s Ibanez EX series), and modify or replace the neck with one that i could apply the Fly fingerboard too. I'm not a luthier by any means, so it's definitely going to be a challenge.
Your videos have been helpful, specifically around the adhesive used, application, etc.
Ken, I've always assumed you're an east coast guy--for whatever reason, I don't know!--but you work with so much Pacific NW wood I wonder if you live close by. You seem like you would love Oregon.
My Mom's family were fruit farmers from the Willamette Valley, but I'm all E side, a New England guy who loves the Pacific NW!
HI Ken,
in another video you mentioned that in -line tuners were prefered by Floyd Rose himself but never mentioned the reason why if I recall correctly.
Dou you remember what was his reasoning behind that? Really curios about that.
Thank you.
This puzzles me, as I have no memory of speaking with Floyd about instrument design, ever. The only conversations I had with him were regarding the installation of his first product, and these were 45 years ago.
Perhaps you are referring my own reasons for choosing "all on a side" tuners, which I'll be happy to address in full detail in an upcoming film in the Neck Journey, stay tuned!
Ken Parker Archtoppery - The Neck Journey - 3) Origin Story , not exactly how i remember it, it was 8 months ago but let me quote you:
"before that I was I was making three and three headstocks like everybody else and I'm going to explain that to you and when maybe for right now as a
placeholder we'll just call it that Floyd Rose taught me that three and three is inferior to everybody on one
side but that's the story for another day"
Thanks for quoting me so I have an idea about how I sowed confusion with my sloppy sentence. As I mentioned, I never spoke with Floyd about instruments, only about the issues regarding the installation of his earliest products. When I said "that Floyd Rose taught me", I was speaking about the experience of installing a "locking" nut, that is, a nut that can clamp the strings in what amounts to three little vises. What I discovered was that the rock players I was doing installations for were HORRIFIED at the huge difference the locking nut made to the feel of their (mostly) Strats. By clamping the strings at the nut, the string lengths between the nut and the tuning pegs were taken out of the loop, and the result was the perception of wildly higher string tension when bending. When I loosened the clamps, everybody's shoulders dropped as the guitar returned to "normal". Next, the player had to decide whether or not to put up with the change in feel in exchange for the dependable tuning stability during feverish dive-bombing sessions. Most did, some by tuning down or reducing the string guage. The actual tension of the string at rest does not change, but when bending, or really, even just fretting, which is a kind of subtle bending, the "afterlength" of the string over the headstock no longer can stretch and add to the elasticity of the string. Make sense? Try it for yourself, I was blown away by the difference. If you're playing electric guitar with light strings and like to bend, you will always perfer the 6 in line feel over the 3 & 3 feel. Promise.
Wonder why Fenders outsold Les Pauls by so much?
There's the story.
In the first Floyd trems he used leather washers as part of the stack of hardware that attaches the bar to the vibrato. These lasted about one song before needing adjustment or replacement. I replaced them with precision washers which I faced with thin teflon sheet, and mailed a bunch of them to Floyd. Never heard a word from the guy. Oh well, I learned a life-changing lesson as a result of installing these gizmos in 1979, and it changed my understanding of headstock design in a profound way. Fair enough.
@@kenparkerarchtoppery9440 I imagined, after the fact, what you meant with the "floyd rose taught me" sentence. I imagined right. But always better to have confirmation.
The 4 to 7 inches of extra string length on a non Floyd trem guitar makes a hugue difference when bending the 3 first strings indeed. Not so much on the wound ones but that's the nature of them. The thicker and closer to the nut, the less difference there is.
I recently modded a customer guitar, he struggled a lot with his Floyd bridge (he wasn't too "handy" when replacing strings on it and found it to be a hassle) and I replaced it with a fixed Hipshot one.
The first thing he said was: "did you install lighter string on it? it feels softer when I bend". Well, you stringss are longer now. The longer the string, the more it gives applying the same force.
Regarding the strat outselling the Les Paul, well, it's a matter of taste i guess, but for me the Les Paul is heavier, the bridge feels like resting your hand on a set of knives, the neck/headstock breaks if you look at it too much with no easy way of fixing or replacing it, the offset plane of the fretboard against the body feels weird and the prices are ridiculous. Yap, I don't like Les Pauls much
They look nice though....that's it. Credit where credit is due, a nice figured top looks better than a flat painted one with a massive plastic pickguard 😀.
Anyway, thanks for clarifying your story and keep rocking 👍
Anodized billet aluminum tuner block. Sounds like more hot rod stuff! .
Just another piece in the puzzle!