A Guitar And Gear Support Forum

minigoos wrote: ↑Tue Jun 23, 2020 12:49 pm 20200619_110524(1)a.jpg

purchased black in the winter; went sparkle pink in the spring . . .

Very nice. I am so close to grabbing one of the last few Kurt has available. I am really leaning more towards the rosewood neck but i really like the LPblue. Looks like you have implemented the perfect solution to that conundrum though!

For those that have maple neck versions - is it a pretty heavy/glossy finish like a typical Fender/Squier? I"m also assuming the rosewood is not coated, but assuming is not always a good idea.

minigoos wrote: ↑Tue Jun 23, 2020 12:49 pm 20200619_110524(1)a.jpg

purchased black in the winter; went sparkle pink in the spring . . .

That's very cool!

uwmcscott wrote: ↑Tue Jun 23, 2020 2:50 pm

minigoos wrote: ↑Tue Jun 23, 2020 12:49 pm 20200619_110524(1)a.jpg

purchased black in the winter; went sparkle pink in the spring . . .

Very nice. I am so close to grabbing one of the last few Kurt has available. I am really leaning more towards the rosewood neck but i really like the LPblue. Looks like you have implemented the perfect solution to that conundrum though!

For those that have maple neck versions - is it a pretty heavy/glossy finish like a typical Fender/Squier? I"m also assuming the rosewood is not coated, but assuming is not always a good idea.

I actually got that liquid specifically to switch the neck with a Hawk that I have in maple and then sell or give away; I don't really like maple necks so much. But then once I started noodling with the Liquid, I just couldnt bear to tear it apart--and def. not give it away! So I got a diff. neck for the Hawk. The liquid fingerboard I have seems a little wider than my other guitars and the wood is not that great--its not old school rosewood. It is raw I think but less grainy/natural feeling than the rosewood finger boards on like the Godin or Seagull acoustics I have to compare to. For $125 though, who cares! When it got to me, the finger board was super super dry--so some soaking oil really helped its feel; the nut was seriously glued in there too. I didn't actually take the neck off, but the pocket/heel looked to me like it was the same as the SX Hawk. Anyway--can't say I fully understand the utility of the 3 P90s as they are set up on it, but that thing just brings the raunch for me! So fun.

I have a bevy of Liquids, five I think, and my favorite one happens to be the cheapest most basic one of the bunch. Basswood body, maple fretboard, 2 P90s, Jaguar style whangulator, pale yellow. It was a B stock, some cracks in the poly - snagged quickly for $59 I think. I like the light weight, the way it hangs on my gut, the P90s are real good, the neck is great (far superior to the rosewood board necks). The whangulator works just fine, but twice the trem bar socket has unthreaded from its baseplate. Then I have to cut off the strings, disassemble the trem, and put it all back together again. That's a pain in the ass. But it's the cheap guitar you always hoped Fender would make.

manodano wrote: ↑Tue Jun 23, 2020 10:41 pm I have a bevy of Liquids, five I think, and my favorite one happens to be the cheapest most basic one of the bunch. Basswood body, maple fretboard, 2 P90s, Jaguar style whangulator, pale yellow. It was a B stock, some cracks in the poly - snagged quickly for $59 I think. I like the light weight, the way it hangs on my gut, the P90s are real good, the neck is great (far superior to the rosewood board necks). The whangulator works just fine, but twice the trem bar socket has unthreaded from its baseplate. Then I have to cut off the strings, disassemble the trem, and put it all back together again. That's a pain in the ass. But it's the cheap guitar you always hoped Fender would make.

Kewl! Next time the socket unscrews, try some loctite on it when you reassemble.

uwmcscott wrote: ↑Tue Jun 23, 2020 2:50 pm
...

For those that have maple neck versions - is it a pretty heavy/glossy finish like a typical Fender/Squier? I"m also assuming the rosewood is not coated, but assuming is not always a good idea.

Yup. Clear poly all over, except for the frets.

dabbler wrote: ↑Wed Jun 24, 2020 6:04 am

uwmcscott wrote: ↑Tue Jun 23, 2020 2:50 pm
...

For those that have maple neck versions - is it a pretty heavy/glossy finish like a typical Fender/Squier? I"m also assuming the rosewood is not coated, but assuming is not always a good idea.

Yup. Clear poly all over, except for the frets.

You are referring to Maple I"m assuming? The pictures of the darker (rosewood?) model appear to be what you'd expect with a non-glossy board. In true Kurt fashion the rosewood model is listed with a maple fretboard in the specs

uwmcscott wrote: ↑Wed Jun 24, 2020 10:00 am

dabbler wrote: ↑Wed Jun 24, 2020 6:04 am

uwmcscott wrote: ↑Tue Jun 23, 2020 2:50 pm

...

For those that have maple neck versions - is it a pretty heavy/glossy finish like a typical Fender/Squier? I"m also assuming the rosewood is not coated, but assuming is not always a good idea.

Yup. Clear poly all over, except for the frets.

You are referring to Maple I"m assuming? The pictures of the darker (rosewood?) model appear to be what you'd expect with a non-glossy board. In true Kurt fashion the rosewood model is listed with a maple fretboard in the specs

That is an up close of the "rose wood" on my liquid; 3 P90 from early 2020.

Dunno if you can tell anything from it . . .

uwmcscott wrote: ↑Wed Jun 24, 2020 10:00 am

dabbler wrote: ↑Wed Jun 24, 2020 6:04 am

uwmcscott wrote: ↑Tue Jun 23, 2020 2:50 pm
...

For those that have maple neck versions - is it a pretty heavy/glossy finish like a typical Fender/Squier? I"m also assuming the rosewood is not coated, but assuming is not always a good idea.

Yup. Clear poly all over, except for the frets.

You are referring to Maple I"m assuming? The pictures of the darker (rosewood?) model appear to be what you'd expect with a non-glossy board. In true Kurt fashion the rosewood model is listed with a maple fretboard in the specs

Yes, I'm referring to a maple fretboard one. If they are like my other SX guitars the rosewood ones are bare rosewood. But I do not have a rosewood Liquid.

Sorry, for the incomplete response.

manodano wrote: ↑Tue Jun 23, 2020 10:41 pm I have a bevy of Liquids, five I think, and my favorite one happens to be the cheapest most basic one of the bunch. Basswood body, maple fretboard, 2 P90s, Jaguar style whangulator, pale yellow. It was a B stock, some cracks in the poly - snagged quickly for $59 I think. I like the light weight, the way it hangs on my gut, the P90s are real good, the neck is great (far superior to the rosewood board necks). The whangulator works just fine, but twice the trem bar socket has unthreaded from its baseplate. Then I have to cut off the strings, disassemble the trem, and put it all back together again. That's a pain in the ass. But it's the cheap guitar you always hoped Fender would make.

5 Liquids? You're my hero.

So I have a question for those more experienced liquid owners . . . when I was looking at getting one, I saw some youtube video where the guy toggles through the 3 P90s on a 3 P90 liquid to show that, unlike a strat-like design, you get hum on each position. I was bummed but whatever. When I got my 3 P90 liquid, I ran through the five positions to see and came away convinced that there WAS hum on all positions. . . fast forward 6 months; I tore it apart, painted it, covered the cavities and scratch plate with copper tape, and put it back together with the same electrics. And I was happily noodling away when I realized . . . there was no buzz! Just like a strat, in the 2 and 4 positions . . . no hum. Other positions . . .hum. So . . . what now? Maybe I was crazy before, but it does seem like on my 3 P90 Liquid there is hum cancelling like a strat design.

Do you all's 3 P90 liquids have hum?

minigoos wrote:So I have a question for those more experienced liquid owners . . . when I was looking at getting one, I saw some youtube video where the guy toggles through the 3 P90s on a 3 P90 liquid to show that, unlike a strat-like design, you get hum on each position. I was bummed but whatever. When I got my 3 P90 liquid, I ran through the five positions to see and came away convinced that there WAS hum on all positions. . . fast forward 6 months; I tore it apart, painted it, covered the cavities and scratch plate with copper tape, and put it back together with the same electrics. And I was happily noodling away when I realized . . . there was no buzz! Just like a strat, in the 2 and 4 positions . . . no hum. Other positions . . .hum. So . . . what now? Maybe I was crazy before, but it does seem like on my 3 P90 Liquid there is hum cancelling like a strat design.

Do you all's 3 P90 liquids have hum?

P90s are single coils with no hum cancelling in the single coil position, so they will be a little noisy depending upon your home wiring/compact fluorescent lights/electric fans/etc.

honyock wrote: ↑Wed Jul 01, 2020 11:40 pm

minigoos wrote:So I have a question for those more experienced liquid owners . . . when I was looking at getting one, I saw some youtube video where the guy toggles through the 3 P90s on a 3 P90 liquid to show that, unlike a strat-like design, you get hum on each position. I was bummed but whatever. When I got my 3 P90 liquid, I ran through the five positions to see and came away convinced that there WAS hum on all positions. . . fast forward 6 months; I tore it apart, painted it, covered the cavities and scratch plate with copper tape, and put it back together with the same electrics. And I was happily noodling away when I realized . . . there was no buzz! Just like a strat, in the 2 and 4 positions . . . no hum. Other positions . . .hum. So . . . what now? Maybe I was crazy before, but it does seem like on my 3 P90 Liquid there is hum cancelling like a strat design.

Do you all's 3 P90 liquids have hum?

P90s are single coils with no hum cancelling in the single coil position, so they will be a little noisy depending upon your home wiring/compact fluorescent lights/electric fans/etc.

Right on. Maybe I am not using the right terms, but basically I was asking about the relative buzz on the 5 positions.

This dude:



at about 10:30 in on that video; shows massive buzz on all 5 positions of his selector switch and makes some claim about it not being wired like a strat which (for me anyway) seems to have way less buzz at 2 and 4 than at 1,3, and 5.

When I got this liquid, I agreed with him. After some pretty sloppy copper taping inside the body cavity, I got plenty of buzz at 1,3, and 5 but basically none on 2 and 4 . . . like the strat wired guitars I have dealt with which have stat-like single coils (not P90). So . . . I am just thinking these 3 P90s maybe do have the advantage (if shielded even poorly by me) of massively reduced buzz. But maybe it wasn't the shielding; maybe I had less fans on or something before.

There is a B-Stock up on Rondo... I was tempted until it mentioned finish chips with paint missing off the back.

Here's a lefty B_stock LIquid in Red that appears to only have very minor cosmetic issues

https://www.rondomusic.com/product10521.html

[mention]minigoos[/mention] It depends ,if it's wired like a strat AND the middle pup is reverse wound then yes ,it should act like a strat. I think the reverse wind is very important , but will bow to people who wind and wire things.

fatjack wrote: ↑Thu Jul 02, 2020 4:07 pm @minigoos It depends ,if it's wired like a strat AND the middle pup is reverse wound then yes ,it should act like a strat. I think the reverse wind is very important , but will bow to people who wind and wire things.

yeah; I was thinking it wasn't like a strat but now it sure sounds like it is! I dunno if the added shielding just calmed the hum enough for me to hear the reverse winding effect or what; this is in my 1936 house, which can impart a vintage tone to anything we plug in . . .

oh yeah the shielding helps a lot on any single coil and the p90 is a big ballsy single. Although rolled back you get a sweet Charlie Christian jazz sound. Guess I'm lucky the house where I live the wiring doesn't add any real hum. of course if I upthe gain or dime the iiquid or ad I get hum but tolerable hum.

I love them so much... such a wacky shape... truly the heart and soul of the lower price rondo world!

I just did an overhaul on my SJM. It’s been through a few different wardrobe changes. A few years after I bought it, I used Citristrip on the neck and removed the “vintage” orange candy coating. Later I applied a less tinted poly but my application of the finish was poorly done. It took a few years to realize this was a mistake. I installed Humbuckers and painted the pickguard gold. I broke out the same can of Citristrip (10+ years old now) and removed the poly coating to reveal the sealer finish underneath again. I also used Citristrip to remove gold spray paint from the pick guard. I’ve put white label tape on the pickup covers to see what if I want to order white P90 covers. Dice knobs courtesy of @frankenfretter some years back! Thanks Sean.




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minigoos wrote: ↑Thu Jul 02, 2020 1:39 pm

honyock wrote: ↑Wed Jul 01, 2020 11:40 pm

minigoos wrote:So I have a question for those more experienced liquid owners . . . when I was looking at getting one, I saw some youtube video where the guy toggles through the 3 P90s on a 3 P90 liquid to show that, unlike a strat-like design, you get hum on each position. I was bummed but whatever. When I got my 3 P90 liquid, I ran through the five positions to see and came away convinced that there WAS hum on all positions. . . fast forward 6 months; I tore it apart, painted it, covered the cavities and scratch plate with copper tape, and put it back together with the same electrics. And I was happily noodling away when I realized . . . there was no buzz! Just like a strat, in the 2 and 4 positions . . . no hum. Other positions . . .hum. So . . . what now? Maybe I was crazy before, but it does seem like on my 3 P90 Liquid there is hum cancelling like a strat design.

Do you all's 3 P90 liquids have hum?

P90s are single coils with no hum cancelling in the single coil position, so they will be a little noisy depending upon your home wiring/compact fluorescent lights/electric fans/etc.

Right on. Maybe I am not using the right terms, but basically I was asking about the relative buzz on the 5 positions.

This dude:



at about 10:30 in on that video; shows massive buzz on all 5 positions of his selector switch and makes some claim about it not being wired like a strat which (for me anyway) seems to have way less buzz at 2 and 4 than at 1,3, and 5.

When I got this liquid, I agreed with him. After some pretty sloppy copper taping inside the body cavity, I got plenty of buzz at 1,3, and 5 but basically none on 2 and 4 . . . like the strat wired guitars I have dealt with which have stat-like single coils (not P90). So . . . I am just thinking these 3 P90s maybe do have the advantage (if shielded even poorly by me) of massively reduced buzz. But maybe it wasn't the shielding; maybe I had less fans on or something before.

Maybe the grounding wasn't right until you put it back together. Conceptually I always thought they worked like a strat.

I'm getting my 3 SJM's out of storage soon. I'll have to either take new pictures (after polishing frets, changing strings, etc.) or maybe get the old pics from backup disk. That's what I get for living under a rock for 8 years - my old pics are not online. Feels like an episode of "Cheers" (someone should yell "Norm" and pour me a beer, ha-ha).

I found some of my old photos.
Gretsch lapsteel pickups and knobs

Nice trifecta!