Buzzing old Toms

[irish blues]

I have 4 older TA's: Cobra, Classic, Hollow T and a Classic T.
What would it take to get them Feitenized?

[tom]

we do that. it involves routing the nut slot closer to the first fret and making a custom size new nut to fit in the wider nut slot.

[bruce]

Turn-around time is about 1 week from when we receive it. We charge $200 and you get the Buzz Feiten patent engraved on the back of the headstock to remind you (and other tech's) it's been done.

[mbrown3]

Do you do that for non-TA guitars too? Especially acoustics? (Or do you do that on the side, Bruce?)...

[tom]

we don't do others, but bruce does. he has done some acoustics for me.

[mbrown3]

Hmm, I'd love to have my Taylor done. I may need to touch base with Bruce soon...

[crash]

Any thoughts on the Earvana or other compensated nuts?

I assume you don't use them for a reason, but am curious as to the over/under on why.

I have a gorgeous Breedlove C25 and am thinking of having it Feitenized (Feitenated? Feitionified?) but was curious as to opinions on the other options.

[tom]

when the earvana was shown to us they were pretty nebulous about where to set it. the nut also was a very soft plastic and looked pretty cheesy. we also got shown the bent fret thing that has been on some yamahas. it was good down low, but didn't help up high. plus, how the heck do you crown that fret? buzz is very clear on how to implement his system, and it works. it was a no brainer for me. his frankenstein guitar sounded more in tune than my guitar. can't have that. what it did for my acoustics was also pretty amazing for me.

[mbrown3]

Feiten makes all the difference. Someone should have done that a LONG time ago.

[tom]

i think we all attemped to with our different tuning without knowing what we were doing. i could never tune with a tuner without "touching it up". buzz came up with a system and also moved the nut to the right place.

[mbrown3]

Yep, years of minor adjustments without even realizing it. The funny thing is, piano makers/tuners have known about it for years. That is, not issues with nut/fret placement, intonation, etc., but rather the fact that the overtone series is what makes an instrument in tune rather than the fundamental. Certain keys on a piano needs to be slightly sharp/flat (from standard A440, relative) in order to make the overtone series sound pleasing to the ear, since the overtone is the ontological standard, not the note itself. Buzz just finally figured out that this should apply to guitars as well. And it works...