Thanks for welcoming me to the group!
I've been working on "the Shadow" for about a month now, but with proper tools it could have been much faster.
Something about this guitar drew me to it when I saw the ad on Ebay. I've always been curious about G&Ls ever since I saw one in a guitar shop that all the shop employees coveted. This was many moons ago.
This is the first time I purchased a used guitar on Ebay and probably the last; this guitar has a lot of issues with it, but they can all be fixed and I love fixing quality guitars, bring them back to life. That being said I do love this guitar, very much so, and I will not stop until it's in tip top shape. I only need a few guitars but they must be stage-worthy axes.
Once I received it first step was ordering a new pick guard. Aged tortoiseshell buttercream just didn't work for me lol (see pic in above post). So far it's been fun and a little frustrating getting this guitar up to playability. List below of what I've worked on it so far.
In no particular order:
>leveled frets, crowned, polished (will need a refret later on though, can't decide if I want to do it myself or take it to a pro, either option will cost money/time/tools)
>added bone nut I filed myself (I'm so proud of it)
>changed some plastic washers on tuning machines (these will need to be replaced or completely dismantled and cleaned. I'm not a fan of these particular tuners)
>new trem arm only because it came without a proper arm and socket
>changed springs on trem block, but the springs that came with it were probably OK
>sanded back of neck, feels smoother with less of the stickiness from the coating
>underneath the bridge plate were a few felt O-rings/bushings, I replaced them with rubber O-rings from Home Depot (this I think improved the guitar the most, would love to hear some feedback on these if anyone else didn't care for the felt O-rings)
The biggest challenge after leveling frets is keeping this thing in tune. Sometimes I think it's the tuners, sometimes the bridge (although the rubber bushings seem to help, 2 per side)
I think the bridge plate resting against the interior led to stress fractures near the dual fulcrum bolts. I'll try to get some photos, I forgot this last time I put strings on to document the cracks. Regarding strings I've tried 9.5s, 10s, and 10.5s. The 10s feel the best overall. Using Ernie Ball now cuz they're cheap, will graduate to another brand once this thing is fine tuned. Happy to hear any recommendations
I'm about one day away from completing this long, drawn-out set-up. After this I would have to spend money for parts and tools, but I think it'll be a good player once fine tuned.
-Nosferatdude