NGD: Bulldog w/Vintage Vibrato

[uburoibob]

I have been eagerly awaiting the arrival of my new Bulldog. Purchased from Boutique Guitar Exchange in Atlanta, GA, I ordered this last weekend and it arrived yesterday. They did a great job setting it up, but I have to tweak EVERY guitar I get. So, I spent the day yesterday dialing it in.

About the knobs - I'm a fan of the ivoroid knobs that Collings uses on their City Limits Deluxe guitars. This Bulldog, with its white plastics, to me, was perfect candidate for that type of knob. I got these from Warmouth. The knurled rubber strip makes it a snap to turn the knobs as well as lift them for the split coils. The guitar looked great with the amber barrel knobs that came with it as well. This is just my personalization...

Here are the specs:



Model - Bulldog
Body Finish - Trans Amber Burst with Binding
Body Wood - Flame Maple Top on Mahogany
Neck Wood - Mahogany, Rosewood Fretboard
Neck Finish - Matching Headstock and Back, Satin
Nutwidth - 1 11/16 in
Frets - Heavy
Back Shape - Even Taper Oversized .050 inch
Hardware - Chrome
Bridge - Vintage Tremolo
Pickguard -
Pickups - HC1 HC3
Switching - 3 Way, 4 Knob
Strings - .009-.042 Elixir strings (It's now sporting .010-.046 Elixir strings)

WHATTAFRIGGINGUITAR! Not only is it beautiful, plays like melted butter (only not as messy), resonant, light (8lbs, 2 oz) and great sounding, but it just feels like MY guitar. Just like the Short T. With these two guitars, I've found what I've been looking for in guitars for years. At some point, I will shoot some video putting both through their paces. Yep, still in my honeymoon stage, but after a LOT of 'marriages', I think my Big Love can be pared down to a pair!

Here are photos I shot this morning:

http://bobmartin1111.com/BULLDOG8911A/BULLDOG8911A_1a.JPG
http://bobmartin1111.com/BULLDOG8911A/BULLDOG8911A_2a.JPG
http://bobmartin1111.com/BULLDOG8911A/BULLDOG8911A_3a.JPG
http://bobmartin1111.com/BULLDOG8911A/BULLDOG8911A_4a.JPG
http://bobmartin1111.com/BULLDOG8911A/BULLDOG8911A_5a.JPG
http://bobmartin1111.com/BULLDOG8911A/BULLDOG8911A_6a.JPG
http://bobmartin1111.com/BULLDOG8911A/BULLDOG8911A_7a.JPG
http://bobmartin1111.com/BULLDOG8911A/BULLDOG8911A_8a.JPG
http://bobmartin1111.com/BULLDOG8911A/BULLDOG8911A_9a.JPG
http://bobmartin1111.com/BULLDOG8911A/BULLDOG8911A_10a.JPG

Bob

[uburoibob]

Few more. This is a tough color to photograph properly...


http://bobmartin1111.com/BULLDOG8911A/BULLDOG8911A_11a.JPG

http://bobmartin1111.com/BULLDOG8911A/BULLDOG8911A_12a.JPG

http://bobmartin1111.com/BULLDOG8911A/BULLDOG8911A_13a.JPG

[Pietro]

You gotta warn people before you post something like that.

The trem on that guitar looks so weird to me, but I like it.

WOW!

I think my next dream guitar is a hollow bulldog with f-holes and a Bigsby... yeah... I know, probably never exist... One can dream?

[GuitArtMan]

Great Googly Moogly that is Gorgeous!

[herb]

mama mia !!!

stunning !!

[markus]

Wow! Very nice! Congrats!

[pluto]

That is beautiful. Love the white knobs that you installed, gives the guitar a certain class!

[Big Harry]

Wow ,
I am with Pietro on this -looks crazy with tremolo , but I like it :eek:

will be interesting to see (hear ;) ) how she sounds .....

[kirkham13]

It has a very clean look like you last guitar. I would like to hear your impressions of the HC pickups on both when you have a chance-

[uburoibob]

Thanks. Yeah, it definitely has a clean look. The HC1 pickup on this has a more pronounced midrange on this guitar and the HC3 is a powerful treble pickup - again with a pronounced midrange. In the split positions, they sound very convincingly like single coils, complete with the reduced output. All the tones have a sweet sound - nothing even remotely harsh.

On my Short T, the HC1- in the neck position has less mids - more of a high fidelity sound. The TF3 bridge pup sounds like an über-tele pickup in the treble position. The middle position on the Short T is an AMAZING sound.

Both guitars sound very different and, between them, just about every sound I like is attainable. So, I begin liquidation of my other guitars. Perhaps, once all are sold off, I can get a reciprocal set of Andersons - a Short T (hollow, maybe) with a Vintage Vibrato and a rosewood board (or all RW neck) and a Bulldog with a stop tail, maple happy medium neck in chocolate (or an all RW neck).

These are definitely eye-opening guitars. A couple of WOW moments.

Bob

[dplight]

That is so nice. The knobs look like they belong there. As usual I looked through all the pictures first. Then the questions about the knobs came to mind. Then I read the post text, where you answered the knob questions.

[schofnsteen]

How do you get the existing knobs off?? I tried but no luck! Are they glued on?

[uburoibob]

NOTE: the technique below came from a phone call I placed to Gibson when I could not get the knobs off a new Les Paul. It worked for me on this guitar, but it may have been used by another poster who had the shaft pull out of his pot. So, please see Tom's post and follow his advice instead.

To get the knobs off, you need to wrap the edge of a t-shirt underneath the knob, all the way around, forming a sort of sling. Then, with firm continuous force, pull upwards with one hand holding the shirt-sling while you grab the knob with the other. Pull up on the shirt with, as I said, firm continuous force, and very gently work the knob back and forth. They are on VERY tight but they will come off.

My new knobs fit too loosely on the pot shafts. In the event that yours are too, you may need to open the prongs on the pot shafts. To open them, come straight down into them with a screwdriver that will get wider than they are spaced to wedge them apart. Tap gently on the top of the screwdriver to open the prongs. Do not try to pry them open as that can easily get bent. If you need to pry, VERY gently work them back and forth EVER SO SLIGHTLY.

Bob

[tom]

You can also get them off by using a flat wrench, like stamped sheet metal cheapie, putting it under the knob from the low side of the carve. Pry just a little the turn the knob 180 degrees , pry and repeat as often as required.

[uburoibob]

Hey Tom,

I have a question about pickups. On the Bulldog page, it says that it's possible to hide an M pickup under an H cover. I've read that the M's sound like big single coil pickups.

I am wondering if it's very involved swapping out to a couple of M pickups, hiding them under the H covers. Is there anything specific I need to know? Do the M pups have coil splitting capabilities?

Thanks,
Bob

[tom]

the m's don't do parallel or split too well so you'd end up somewhere between the two sounds you have now. if you're after brighter hb tones you might love weaker covered ones, HC1- and HC1+ or for even more stringy high end HF1- and HF1+. then you'd still have the options for the other tones.

[dave]

looks like you might have tweaked the action too?

[uburoibob]

looks like you might have tweaked the action too?

Yeah, tweaked the action a bit. I like as close to no relief as I can get, with nice low action, but high enough to grab for bends. I play a lot double stops and moving chords so that kind of a setup suits my style. I also put a touch more lift into the back of the floating tailpiece to make the vibrato a little bit more sensitive. It's playing perfectly for me.

I can adjust a guitar fairly well and have been doing it for years. Just don't know anything about leveling frets and that kind of major stuff. Fortunately, with the SS frets, I will not have to worry about that!

Did I say how much I love these guitars? Completely able to dial in exactly what I want on both my Andersons. Only guitar, except the Fly, I've been able to do that without compromise!

Bob

[uburoibob]

Tom,

Thanks for the info. I vacillate about sound. I love the tone on this guitar but I find myself gravitating to the tone on the Short T. I can get a GREAT sound out of this guitar and any hesitation I have probably has more to do with the amp settings vs the amp settings for the ShortT.

You can get so much air on the attack on both instruments. Yet the Bulldog still has basically a classic LP tone, only the tone you WISHED you could get from the classic instruments. Same with the Tele.

So, some time I might want to investigate making the Bulldog sound more like the Short T (I know, different woods, etc, but maybe in the same neighborhood). I go back and forth between wanting a wide sonic palette and two guitars I can interchange...

I dunno how you do it, but I am glad you do!

Bob

[schofnsteen]

Shaft came out with neck tone. Pushed it back in but now it does not split. Tom need help!,

[dave]

I like as close to no relief as I can get, with nice low action, but high enough to grab for bends. I play a lot double stops and moving chords so that kind of a setup suits my style.

Bob
I'm with you on the 'flat as you can get it' set-up. Do you set action to a particular distance, or set it as low as possible without buzzing?

[uburoibob]

I'm with you on the 'flat as you can get it' set-up. Do you set action to a particular distance, or set it as low as possible without buzzing?

I just go by sense of smell, to paraphrase The Who's Tommy. That's why it takes a little time to dial in. In the northeast, where the weather is starting to change from very humid to very dry, things can shift quite a bit. So, it's a bi-annual thing maintaining my guitars. There's a zen to it that I love.

The other thing I've been doing is working on lightening my picking technique so I am not constantly driving the strings at full bore. There is a huge range of sounds in there and, not picking so heavily, allows me to get the action where I like it.

Bob

[dave]

cheers Bob. I dumped the pick years ago and just use my fingers - I much prefer the direct contact with the strings.

[uburoibob]

Shaft came out with neck tone. Pushed it back in but now it does not split. Tom need help!,

I am bumping this down to the end so it doesn't get lost in the sauce...

Bob

[tom]

If you used the above described cloth method of removing the knob you could easily have broken the push pull pot. The gentle prying method is a lot safer. Pot will have be replaced.

[uburoibob]

Sorry if I gave bad advice. I got that 'technique' from calling Gibson and asking. I lucked out that I was able to get the knobs off without any incidents. If the poster used what I posted, I will gladly pay for a new pot to be shipped to him. I will amend my post to reflect the outcome here so others will not try it. Please accept my apologies.

Bob

[tom]

The advise would good if it weren't for the push pull pots. Since the switch is integrated into the shaft it is not as tough.

[schofnsteen]

I'll call tommorrow to get a new one shipped. No sweat! All others came off no problem.

[schofnsteen]

Would I order a new pot from you or all parts?

[tom]

just email me and i'll get one out to you.