First minor project guitar

[tony1852]

I've got an Agile Valkyrie III Prestige I bought used a few years ago, specs below from Rondo:

https://www.rondomusic.com/valkiiipresblue.html

Gave it a good cleaning. I'll check frets and give it the best setup I can so I have good starting point for comparison. I don't think I need to change pots or tuners. However, a few questions on fret board:

1. There's a few imperfections where the inlays are (see pic). Is there a way to fill these so they aren't so obvious. They don't affect the feel/play at all.

2. There are some scratches/swirls on the fret board, especially where the inlays are. Can/should these be sanded smooth? They are a little noticeable when played. Any suggestions?

Once I get the fret board setup, I'll move on to pickups and bridge. I'm not sure it'll need anything beyond that. Pickups I think I can handle. If the bridge is just a swap using existing studs, no problem. If there's drilling, routing, etc., then I'll have to enlist someone's help.

For the pickups, I like the look of the gold covers. Does anyone think that covers would be a bad idea for Hot P-Rails, affect them negatively from a tonal standpoint? Even fit?

Thanks!

[Partscaster]

Thats a nice looking guitar.

If the divots arent much to be felt I'ld leave them alone. Someone slipped around with a file to create some of those scratches. Adds charector unless it interupts play. Maybe some fine sandpaper if there are raised bits that seem a problem to play with? Maybe some very fine wet/dry paper with a little fb oil to lubricate? I wouldnt worry about the holes, unless they have raised edges.

I like the gold covers. Good with blue.

[toomanycats]

For those holes in the fretboard super glue mixed with sawdust is sometimes used. Of course you'd need a little piece of ebony or some other dark hard wood to make the sawdust. You could also use a wood putty that matched the color.

EMG 81s have a rail underneath, and they are covered, so you can cover a rail pickup. However, the covers will very likely attenuate the highs, which will be perceived as a slight muffling of the tone. This can be either a good or bad thing.

[redman]

I use this grain filler from StewMac. I've used it on a lot of fret boards it comes in Ebony and Rosewood as well as other colors and they are pretty true to color. It's my go to fretboard patch works well to fix strings getting caught on the fretwire from a small nick in the fretboard to a gouge' Here's a link
Good Luck.
https://www.stewmac.com/luthier-tools-a ... de=0269-MB

[tony1852]

I'm going to spend some time playing the guitar and really seeing if the finger board. I like things to look smooth and pretty, so my initial reaction is to do the filler and wet/dry with fb lube. BUT, then again, if it ain't broke...

I'm not in any rush, so I'll take my time deciding on how to proceed with the fretboard.

As with most things, sounds like covers aren't good or bad, just in the ear of the beholder. Do you think that any/the same covers I have will work, or am I going to need them matched by SD?

Thanks for all the helpful comments!

[tony1852]

Question on pickup rings for P-Rails. The guitar has pickup rings that aren't symmetric. They one for the neck pickup is thinner towards the neck, as is the one that is on the bridge pickup. In addition, the bridge pickup ring is thicker than the one for the neck pickup (see first image). SD has two options: a Trembucker (flat) set of rings, meant for non-arched guitars. They are identical and symmetrical; same thickness both closer toward the neck and further from the neck on each ring (image #2). The ones for Les Pauls (arch top) are closer to what I have on this guitar pictured, but look like they have a slight bottom bow to accommodate an arch (image #3).

So my question is, would the Trembucker pickup rings that are much shallower and completely flat, or the Les Paul ones that look from the side more like what the guitar already has, but a slight arch left to right even though this is a flat top guitar?

Thanks!

[mickey]

Would it be possible to reuse the old pickup rings? The reason I ask is because in the past I couldn't find new rings of the thickness I needed in the color I needed, so I painted the old rings and used them. Not ideal but it worked.

[Partscaster]

with that deck vs neck angle, flat rings might mean your front edge of each pickup will sit closer to the strings than the rest of the pickup top.
So might only matter if you want to get them close to strings, as front edge might buzz the strings while back coil is a ways below string plane.
FWIW, maybe nothing. Might not be as strong as having both coils equi-distant.

[Rollin Hand]

From the angle of the strings, you need angled rings. They are pretty easy to find (in fact, most guitars come with angled rings, need it or not), or just use the ones that came with the guitar.

[tony1852]

You're right, definitely need angled rings. I'll probably just use the ones the guitar came with. I'll send at least one set of the triple shots back. I've found a wiring diagram that allows the P-Rails to be used with push/pull pots for the tone knobs. Any suggestions on getting a good set of these that will work in this guitar, 500K ohms?