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Author
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Topic: Changer Fingers - should they easily dent?HELP!
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Joe Alterio
Member From: Fishers, Indiana
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posted 06 August 2004 04:19 PM
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All, I just bought a 2003 Zum, and upon its arrival I took off the old strings. I noticed that on just about every changer finger, there is a pit where the string was lying. I have never really noticed this on prior steels I have had.... Here's the thing that has me worried. I moved the lowest string slightly back and forth to see if it was catching in the pit....and it created grooved markings on the changer finger that you can easily feel with your fingernail. Is this normal for changer fingers? HELP!!! Joe |
C Dixon
Member From: Duluth, GA USA
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posted 06 August 2004 04:47 PM
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Sadly, this is true on some and not true on others. And others yet are somewhere in between. I will relate to you what I was told years ago buy the late Ron Lashley Sr."The changer material that was judged as having the best sound by a number of Nashville players, was soft aluminum". He went on to point out that he tried a number of different materials (along with different degrees of hardnesss) including shapes and sizes. What he settle on after many give an take prototypes was a changer finger that has the best sound; but is highly susceptable to being gouged and dented by strings. And that has proven to be the case. Again, there are some PSG's that use a harder material. I believe one is the Mullen if I am not mistaken. But I will tell you this, there is just a whole slew of players now that are extremely high on the Zum. And there is not a more qualified expert on PSG's, than Bruce Zumsteg. So (and this is pure conjecture) it just could be that Bruce also has done the best when one considers the ole "beween a rock and a hard place", carl |
Donny Hinson
Member From: Balto., Md. U.S.A.
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posted 06 August 2004 07:00 PM
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Well Joe, as Carl said, most fingers are aluminum. The strings are a lot harder, and it doesn't take much pressure on the top of the finger to make the string dent the finger. Most frequently, it happens when the case is not fitted properly, concentrating the weight (pressure) of the guitar on the strings instead of the bridge blocks, or on the cabinet when the guitar is transported in the case. Sometimes, players will work on the guitar while it's lying upside-down on a hard surface, such as a table. Sadly, when you do this with most guitars, half the weight of the guitar is resting on the strings where they go over the fingers. The strings are hard, the pulling fingers are soft...and it just, well, happens.This is a design flaw in too many guitars. The bridge blocks should always extend above the tops of the fingers to prevent just such damage. The nut rollers (on the other end) are usually steel, or sometimes brass, and either of these metals withstands this type of abuse much better. The dents can be polished out, but care must be taken not to increase the radius on the tops of the fingers. This will cause buzzing and "singing" sounds that are very distasteful. If you want to try to fix these dents yourself, do a search using the words "polishing" and "fingers". There's been several good threads describing the proper procedure. |
Joe Alterio
Member From: Fishers, Indiana
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posted 07 August 2004 02:56 PM
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Thanks so much for your responses, Carl & Donny.I would think that after so many times of polishing out the dents that are created on soft aluminun fingers, the fingers would eventually be worn down enough that they'd have to be replaced....no? I don't think that my guitar ever had the changer laid down on a hard surface, Donny. The case has protection to keep that from occurring, and as the guitar is only less than a year old, my guess is that it really had very little (if any) adjustments done underneath that would have required it to be turned upside down outside of the case. It really must have just been the string pressure. As I said, I just moved the low "B" string back and forth on the changer, and it instantly created grooves from the string wrapping. In any event, I am enjoying my new Zum! Sounds GREAT! And I absolutely can not believe the True Tones that are on it.....NO HUM AT ALL!!!! You would NEVER guess these are single coils! Joe
2003 Zum S-10 4/5, 1977 Peavey Session 400 |
Al Marcus
Member From: Cedar Springs,MI USA
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posted 07 August 2004 08:33 PM
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Joe-Some of the posts have given you many reasons for your problem. There is another important one to consider. If the guitar has been played a lot and pedals used a lot, by that I mean , like several hours a day for 7 days a week. This will cause a certain amount of wear on those changer fingers top.
As mentioned , careful polishing will help ....al  .------------------
My Website..... www.cmedic.net/~almarcus/ | |
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