BoulderBean
Joined:
04 Feb 2004
Posts: 309
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 Posted: 12/16/2004 at 4:41 PM Post subject: Has anyone tried the Buzz Feiten tuning system |
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I have a TB 1000S and I've been reading about the Buzz Feiten tuning system. Tuning remains a problem with my axe even after I put on brand new Schaler tuning pegs. Has anyone tried the Feiten system on their Bean? Did you replace the brass nut with a bone nut? Does is play and look OK? It is worth the $$? Thanks for the input.
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mike
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| Posted: 12/19/2004 at 1:43 PM Post subject: RE:Has anyone tried the Buzz Feiten tuning system |
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wow, I've had mine for 20 years and never had a problem with it staying in tune..ever. There must be another problem.
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Patrick Steen
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| Posted: 02/12/2005 at 10:35 PM Post subject: RE:Has anyone tried the Buzz Feiten tuning system |
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I have the same problem with my TB1000A going out of tune quickly. Especially, the G string and B string. Is this the same problem that you have? I haven't figured out what the problem is but I do believe it might be the nut. Please let me know if that Buzz Feiten system works. Thanks.
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BoulderBean
Joined:
04 Feb 2004
Posts: 309
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| Posted: 02/14/2005 at 3:04 PM Post subject: RE:Has anyone tried the Buzz Feiten tuning system |
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I just dropped it off at the shop to get the Feiten nut put on and the intonation done. I'm saving the old nut just in case. I'll provide a full report in a week or two.
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Stéphane
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| Posted: 02/18/2005 at 3:57 AM Post subject: RE:Has anyone tried the Buzz Feiten tuning system |
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Hi I have an TB1000A as well #712 and my G and B strings are also the ones that go out of tune. My A and D strings keep on breaking as well at a very ridiculous rate, which is once every week or two weeks. Maybe my playing style is partially responsible. Looking forward to hear of the Buzz Feiten system and if you have suggestions about the breaking strings please do make em. They always break at the bridge.
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giantrobot
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| Posted: 02/18/2005 at 10:51 PM Post subject: RE:Has anyone tried the Buzz Feiten tuning system |
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Wow, my 1000s has not gone aout of tune in years...literally. If you are breaking strings at the bridge, there is probably a burr there. bring it to a shop and have them clean it up for you. My old Les Paul used to do the same thing.
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BoulderBean
Joined:
04 Feb 2004
Posts: 309
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| Posted: 02/21/2005 at 9:50 AM Post subject: RE:Has anyone tried the Buzz Feiten tuning system |
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I had the Feiten nut installed and the intonation work done last week. I am very pleased. Most importantly, the guitar (TB 1000S #933) STAYS IN TUNE. This probably has nothing to do with the Feiten system itself, but rather to the new carefully made bone nut. they also adjusted the string spacing slightly so that the high E string has a little more real estate on the neck. Bottom line is, if you're having problems staying in tune and you've tried everything else, replacing the old brass nut may take care of the problem.
I need more time to play the guitar to evaluate the Feiten tuning system. The intonation sounds great, but it sounded good before (as long as the guitar was in tune). The overall feel of the guitar has improved with the professional setup, any my primary goal of solving the tuning problems is accomplished. Feel free to shoot me an e-mail if you have any questions. Give me a few weeks and I'll post my impressions of the Feiten tuning system.
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rlrlrl
Joined:
24 Dec 2007
Posts: 260
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| Posted: 12/06/2007 at 11:56 PM Post subject: RE:Has anyone tried the Buzz Feiten tuning system |
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Hey BoulderBean, I'm reviving this old thread because I've been wondering about Buzz Feiten, and also I need a new nut for my bean (the current one is not original anyway). How have you liked your system in the past several years? Is it worth me seeking out a tech who knows how to do this?
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BoulderBean
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| Posted: 12/07/2007 at 8:57 AM Post subject: RE:Has anyone tried the Buzz Feiten tuning system |
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rlrlrl, I'm very happy with the Feiten system. I'm not sure how much of that is the nut and how much is just the superb set-up the Feiten-certified tech did for me. The intonation up and down the neck is great, but I'm not sure how much better it is with the Feiten system vs. standard. None of my other guitars have it, but none of them are a Bean either. The Bean is the best of the bunch for sure.
The Buzz Feiten web site has a list of certified technicians across the country - http://www.buzzfeiten.com/
If you are planning to replace the nut, it's definitely worth considering and talking to the tech.
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TBGURU
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| Posted: 12/19/2007 at 9:53 PM Post subject: RE:Has anyone tried the Buzz Feiten tuning system |
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If your bean is having tuning problems, chances are your brass nut is squeezing your strings. Maybe you use thicker strings than the brass nut was cut for. Anyway, I have a shitpile of beans and a shitpile of other guitars. The beans stay in tune like champs. Long before it was the feiten system it was another system much the same but also accounted for tuning problems with a diving vibrato. I think feiten took quite a bit of license calling that "system" his own. Your nut is too tight if your bean is going out of tune.
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rlrlrl
Joined:
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Posts: 260
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| Posted: 12/19/2007 at 10:02 PM Post subject: RE:Has anyone tried the Buzz Feiten tuning system |
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Thanks for your thoughts on this.... it's not quite my problem though, if I even have a problem. The guy I got my Bean from replaced the nut in about '79 or so with a bone nut, because he was gigging in situations with extreme temperature shifts and the metal against metal was causing problems. When I got it he told me that he thought his replacement nut now had a crack in it, or needed to be replaced otherwise. To tell you the truth it's been holding up just fine, and I don't really know if I have to do anything at all.
When I read up on Buzz Feiten, the system is supposed to correct for tuning problems on the first fret, cause by the overhang from the nut. Beans are the best, but all guitars are out of tune with themselves by their very nature. I've been really interested recently in Just Intonation and other systems of tuning that existed before the mid Baroque era, at which point Equal Temperment was adopted, to make it possible to play in all 12 keys, which everything very slightly out of tune. There are even some modern experimental guitars with frets spaced for Just Intonation (google it!) where the frets are in different spaces for different strings. Not going to do that on the bean. not yet ;)
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TBGURU
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| Posted: 12/19/2007 at 10:27 PM Post subject: RE:Has anyone tried the Buzz Feiten tuning system |
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I hear exactly what you are saying about the compromise of a little out of tune all over for the greater good. Like a lot of stuff in this life compromises all along the way. The feitin system does work because it deals with the equation of string length, string height, string length relative to fret locations. My point was that this idea and the solution came about long before the feitin system. Also there is the Hendrix system, remember Jimmy would dive bomb a strat tremolo and just go with the flow wherever the thing was out of tune. Rock on rlrlrl! Good luck.
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rlrlrl
Joined:
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Posts: 260
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| Posted: 12/19/2007 at 11:11 PM Post subject: RE:Has anyone tried the Buzz Feiten tuning system |
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Right on. And furthermore, so much of playing a guitar in tune has to do with really small adjustments in your fingers, I think. That's why violin players started using vibrato, because it masks slight tuning problems... and the trend stuck. You can make anything sound in tune if you screw it up enough. But it's nice when that's your choice, not your ONLY choice!
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TBGURU
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| Posted: 12/19/2007 at 11:30 PM Post subject: RE:Has anyone tried the Buzz Feiten tuning system |
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There is a book " gear secrets of guitar greats " that addresses a lot of this compromise/ touch etc..
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rlrlrl
Joined:
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Posts: 260
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| Posted: 12/19/2007 at 11:34 PM Post subject: RE:Has anyone tried the Buzz Feiten tuning system |
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I was taking [gasp] ukulele lessons last year with a truly virtuosic teacher. When I complained about the intonation on my uke, on most of them really, I was told and shown how the problem is more to do with touch than frets. We expect perfection out of our instruments. Maybe our instruments expect perfection out of us? No this is just getting weird, I need to go to sleep.
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BoulderBean
Joined:
04 Feb 2004
Posts: 309
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| Posted: 12/20/2007 at 9:00 AM Post subject: RE:Has anyone tried the Buzz Feiten tuning system |
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The TB Guru is correct here. My tuning issues were caused by the brass nut constricting the strings (I play .11's). The Feiten nut fixed that problem, but any good replacement nut probably would have done the trick. The whole intonation and sweetened tuning business with the Feiten system is mostly hype, but there is no denying the overall improvement to the guitar since the "surgery".
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TBGURU
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| Posted: 12/21/2007 at 10:39 PM Post subject: RE:Has anyone tried the Buzz Feiten tuning system |
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There is another guitar that comes with this built in compensation. Micro-frets. In the late 1960s, Micro-frets founder invented rather clever ways of dealing with such overall intonation/ touch/ string stretch/slack issues. Even addressing vibrato issues long before anyone else. His ideas have been looted, like steve albini's cronky guitar noises. He passed away too early and a rather great playing guitar brand died off as well. I have these guitars in their various phases. They do have very small frets but they play excellent. Twangy but finger-style oriented guitars they play great no matter what style. No metal in the neck but a rod though.
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rlrlrl
Joined:
24 Dec 2007
Posts: 260
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| Posted: 12/21/2007 at 11:17 PM Post subject: RE:Has anyone tried the Buzz Feiten tuning system |
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I actually have a microfrets too, and a weird one at that. It's got an original Bigsby Palm Pedal, which is sort of like a whammy bar that does a B-bender (and a G-bender too). It can mimic great pedal steel sounds. But I've always wanted one with the cool vibrato that drops all strings equally, so you can bend your whole chords down in tune. TBGURU, how well does it work? I haven't fooled with the adjustable nut (each string is intonatable at the nut) but it's definitely pretty cool.
The company was restarted a few years ago, though I think it didn't last (much like our other favorite guitar company's reissue). But they were also selling the nuts and vibratos on their own too. microfrets.com has the site up, but I don't know if anything's functional on it. Maybe I will try to email the contacts on there. It would be a cool nut to use on the Bean, should I need the replacement.
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TBGURU
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| Posted: 12/21/2007 at 11:43 PM Post subject: RE:Has anyone tried the Buzz Feiten tuning system |
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The problem with a retrofit on the bean would be th scooping/routing out of the fretboard to make room for the one roller nut which shortens string length at the first position. The calibra vibrato is the harp shaped trem. Think Santo and Johnny. It works better than any other and addresses the issues at hand differently than any other. Carl perkins, who could school all of us put together, used to pick on micro-frets.
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rlrlrl
Joined:
24 Dec 2007
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| Posted: 12/21/2007 at 11:49 PM Post subject: RE:Has anyone tried the Buzz Feiten tuning system |
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Don't think I'm going to be doing any routing, ha.
There's some amazing footage of Carl Perkins with his Microfrets on youtube!
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TBGURU
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| Posted: 12/22/2007 at 12:12 AM Post subject: RE:Has anyone tried the Buzz Feiten tuning system |
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Hell yeah. Carl Perkins ******* rips. That's what made Sam Phillips dump Elvis in favor of Perkins. Turned out to be one of the single most stupid business decision of the 20th century. But then again it's been 30 years since Elvis died straining too hard taking a shit! I still would have rather been the King, let alone sit back and make a good percentage managing/ producing the king. If Elvis had rocked a TB3000, Travis Bean would have gone on to make tens of thousands of guitars. The line of tb's would have been tainted by massproduction. "The very last Travis Bean guitar was built to the same exacting standards as the first". The bobby-soxer pre-babyboomer set would all have to have a wedge, just like Elvis.
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rlrlrl
Joined:
24 Dec 2007
Posts: 260
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| Posted: 12/22/2007 at 12:16 AM Post subject: RE:Has anyone tried the Buzz Feiten tuning system |
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Yeah, they would have started casting the necks. and made them bolt-ons. and try to make the necks feel "warmer". And then Elvis would adopt the super cheap and ugly non-aluminum model. and the world's craziest whammy bar! and the world would follow suit.
It's the end of 2007: thank god for the existence of Electrical Guitar Company in a world of Kramers.
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TBGURU
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| Posted: 12/22/2007 at 12:24 AM Post subject: RE:Has anyone tried the Buzz Feiten tuning system |
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Yeah the end of 2007 and a well played black tb1000s went for $6K. Someone went deeper than the dankster by quite a bit, and even was willing to go further than Mr. Gallo. A toast, to the newbie bean owner! 6K is what it costs you to get some color on your bean these days.
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rlrlrl
Joined:
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| Posted: 12/22/2007 at 12:29 AM Post subject: RE:Has anyone tried the Buzz Feiten tuning system |
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In all fairness it was a very nice looking instrument. But for $6k you could have gotten..... that 2000-97 bass!
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TBGURU
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| Posted: 12/22/2007 at 12:46 AM Post subject: RE:Has anyone tried the Buzz Feiten tuning system |
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The seller has 3 feedbacks. No paypal either. Hmmmm.......... Uh, could you make the postal money orders out to cash please? Honestly on ebay it's the sellers with a ton of feedbacks who usually misrepresent their junk. I'm sure the guitar will make it to it's new home without incident. It was a short time ago 6K would've gotten you a wedge.
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TBGURU
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| Posted: 12/22/2007 at 12:47 AM Post subject: RE:Has anyone tried the Buzz Feiten tuning system |
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The dude selling that bass is a legit guy from outside chicago. I have met and bought from him a few times. Nice, honest ebayer for sure.
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