Not really an true LP copy.. but.

[Paragon]

I recently bought an old Memphis brand guitar LP style with the toggle down by the pots. I found this community and figured I would give y'all a shot.

It needs a nut.. found a place that can do that for 30.
Everything else seems like it will be good for what I need it for. There is a hairline crack on the back of the neck at the 10th fret. I'm hoping that it is just the paint. There are a few dents about 1/2" below the paint crack.

The tuners on it are threaded bushing style with no washers. (I know.. ick) so I found some temp washers at the ahrdware store and it turns out that the bushings aren't long enough to have a washer under them since the headstock is thicker than maple one.. Gotoh tuners.
With the bushings threaded in and no washer (and probably cause the thing is like from the 70s or 80s) the edges aroudn the pegholes are not really nice so I don't think press in bushings will work well. 10mm holes from what I can measure

Either I need to find longer threaded bushings (these are already 13mm while all I find that come with tuners are usually around 11mm), find different tuners (which they all seem to have the same 11mm ushing

The other issue is that with the headstock being thick, and if I did fine longer bushings, the head of the bushing would be getting into the string area on the peg with a washer.

I was thinking of finding some nice brass washers and countersinking them into the headboard so they are flush but that may still only leave me with a single thread or two to thread into.

Are press bushings the only way to go on these?

I'd like to get the tuners set up so I can put some strings on it to see if the neck is going to be OK so any help is appreciated.

Also, while I am here, what type of glue do y'all use when glueing together headboards or necks? I was looking in the other section of some of the repairs and wow.. just amazing.

[Paragon]

Well... it is a crack in the neck
While contemplating on the tuners, I couln't take it anymore and scraped the crack in the paint.. and seems that the wood is cracked.

Never a day when I don't get screwed.

Oh.. here is a pick I took before. Not in the mood to get the camera out again at the moment

It is at the 10th fret.

[Paragon]

Well.. guitar guy said not to worry about the crack. It doesn't seem to be moving. Found some peghole adaptors and am using those at the moment. Seems like they should work. Just can't put too mant windings on the e and A. There is a nice crack on the headboardbetween a few holes.. should be fine for now and if it does get worse, shouldn't be too difficult to glue up. I marked where the cracks end and will keep an eye on it.

Sounds pretty good to me (not knowing much about the sound)
bridge height needs to be raised and I need to make a better nut for it (this one I am using now I made in about 5-10 minutes.

I noticed before that when I raised the whole tuneomatic that the studs had a bit o play in the bushings.

Should I just wrap some teflon tape around the threads to take up the space
so the bridge doesnt lean towards the neck?

Thanks.

[1999nbmZ]

+1

I'm having the same issue with slop in the bridge post bushings. Will teflon tape help solve this problem.

[Paragon]

I was just thinking. I might try aluminum foil around the stud. That way everything will still be properly grounded. I also think it will last longer than the teflon. Just a thought.

[dennistruckdriver]

You guys are probably going to have to install some adapter bushings. Check out Stewart-MacDonald at Stewart-MacDonald: Everything for building and repairing stringed instruments!
You will probably need a reamer also.
It is not rocket science.
Good luck.

[Paragon]

I might try new studs sometime. I think the bushings are fine (at least they still seem solid in the body). The plating on the stud threads looked a little rough and I think that and the stud/bridge area is where the slop is coming from. No clue what brand bridge this is. I think the post are like others, but the string spacing is around 49mm and the the post spacing may be slightly smaller. I'll have to measure everything next time I have the strings off.
There was like a "B H" on the bottom or something of the sort.

At the moment, the bridge is all the way down so the action is really low and the strings buzz.. but I just wanted to get it together so test. Isn't that bad for a 10 minute DIY nut.

[Paragon]

The aluminum foild worked like a charm. Even took out the play between the studs and the bridge.

[pietro]

hey paragon,

can you post some more pics of your memphis?
I have one too, and strangly but true, it plays better than my 2003 standard goldtop! (not better than my 92 classic though...)

I'll try to post some pics of mine, when I'm able to grab a camera!

[pietro]

anyone over there?