Atom Owners?

[cfrogan]

I recieved my new hollow Atom Special yesterday. This is my second TA (the first was a Hollow T that I over-engineered and ultimately lost interest in).
The Atom is a huge and pleasant surprise (and I did not over engineer this one). The usual, expected TA quality is there but it is also unbelievably light (even with a Bigsby), body contours are deeper than I could have imagined and the neck is soooo fine. This is a superb musical instrument.

I have 2 M series pick-ups with a 5-way switch. The M-series are great. I hate to say a TA sounds like anything else but I can get ringy Gretsch tones, Strat and Tele tones (with the switch in coil splitting position) and some great Les Paul tones--as well as tones of its own. I rarely play with tone and volume controls on a guitar like I have in the past 24 hours but the Atom has almost an infinite tonal palette using those.

To avoid monotony I will cease my kudos for this guitar but I do have some questions for you Atom owners:
What is the little round hole in the body that is right under the bridge?
I do get a pretty significant variation in volume from position to position on the 5-way, is this normal?
My low E is a good bit louder than everything else. Will lowering the pick-ups on that side help?
Thanks for any responses and thoughts.
fred

[bruce]

Tom's away on a mini vacation so I'll chim in here..

To answer your questions:

1. The little hole is a template locating hole for carving/machining.

2. Yes it is normal to get a difference in volume when switching the 5-way.

3. The low E is a loud and powerful string. We've set the pickup height at the factory accordingly. Depending on your amp and it's settings it will become more or less noticeable. I wouldn't change it, but you are welcomed to.

[cfrogan]

Bruce
thank you for the prompt response. I went home for lunch today and the louder E string did not seem to be such an issue. I guess I am just used to anemic single coils.
It is the 2nd and 4th position on my 5-way that seems to have a volume drop and it seems odd to me that those positions would drop in volume like that. what does that?

[bruce]

Simply put, different pickup combinations = different tones.

[tom]

taking a break from wine tasting in paso. man i could live here in a second.
the 2 and 4 positions are the "kickback" on. you'll notice less bass and middle. at bedroom volume it sounds too low in volume, but i think you'll find in a live situation that it's just right for a cleaner more articulate tone.

[cfrogan]

Tom, since the last posting I have discovered exactly what you say. Now one more little nit: I am supposed to have locking tuners, and the way the strings are strung (no windings) it looks like they are locking, but there is no little knob on the back. Are these locking tuners even without the little knob?
thanks and sorry to take you away from the wine tasting...
fr

[tom]

those are locking. if you go to the tech stuff tab on our site you'll find a blurb about locking gotoh tuners. it will explain stringing. they are self locking, so i don't do the extra screwdriver or coin tightening, i just wind and go.

[cfrogan]

Not that I thought a mistake had been made...
thank you and thank you for making great guitars like no one else.
fr