New Suhr has "dead" notes :(

Just found this thread minutes before I’m going for a second visit to my tech to investigate dead notes on my new Suhr modern. I also favour 9-42.

Given your story, I might not send it back for 6 months hehe.

Edit: I was lucky to find a Suhr “trusted parner” near me (6 hour round trip by car). I shipped them the guitar and they’ll analyse it ane discuss with Suhr. A re-plek at that trusted partner location is an option. If all else fails, I guess a replacement might be considered.
 
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eayottes said:
Just found this thread minutes before I’m going for a second visit to my tech to investigate dead notes on my new Suhr modern. I also favour 9-42.

Given your story, I might not send it back for 6 months hehe.

Edit: I was lucky to find a Suhr “trusted parner” near me (6 hour round trip by car). I shipped them the guitar and they’ll analyse it ane discuss with Suhr. A re-plek at that trusted partner location is an option. If all else fails, I guess a replacement might be considered.
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Hopefully you get it sorted!

It's so frustrating :(
 
unix-guy said:
Hopefully you get it sorted!

It's so frustrating :(
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I agree. By the way, did you get yours sorted out? I don’t think for a 3000+$ instrument we should settle for anything less than pristine condition and optimal playability, i.e. if our guitar is not sounding or playing like all Suhr moderns should, then Suhr has to rectify the situation.

In other words, if I were you I’d talk to them until everything gets absolutely fixed or get a refund. It’s not like the problem was caused by you.
 
It's inexcusable to me that a high end, very expensive instrument would leave the manufacturer with this kind of defect. It should be part of their final inspection criteria. This is especially true on a custom order instrument that the buyer can't play before buying it
 
The argument that the guitar should be played with 10-46 strings under factory settings also doesn’t hold water. Ernie Ball Music Man doesn’t ask buyers of 3000+$ JP models to not change the action or string gauge to 9-42 by fear of dead notes.
 
This is one occasion when a different block ( change in mass ) is a good start. This is not a defect as such it is where two pieces of wood don't ring together at certain frequencies. It is the main reason I wouldn't ever order a custom guitar because all you can do as a builder is select two pieces with resonant frequencies wide apart and hope they stay that way when the thing is cut.
 
Good point, thid is one possible cause (resonant frequency mismatch between materials). A change of mass or just a change of neck (same wood species) can solve the problem, since two pieces of the same species don’t necessarily have the same resonant frequencies (wood isn’t a uniform medium).

Other causes, which occurred with Suhr Moderns in the past, which are not custom shop instruments, are linked to necks developing a hump in the higher frets and requiring a re-plek.
 
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It is easy to tell the difference between a playing issue and a genuine dead spot on the neck . All Suhrs are built the same regardless of pro series or custom, the only difference is fixed specs or you get to choose some of them.
 
eayottes said:
Good point, thid is one possible cause (resonant frequency mismatch between materials). A change of mass or just a change of neck (same wood species) can solve the problem, since two pieces of the same species don’t necessarily have the same resonant frequencies (wood isn’t a uniform medium).

Other causes, which occurred with Suhr Moderns in the past, which are not custom shop instruments, are linked to necks developing a hump in the higher frets and requiring a re-plek.
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They built a completely new neck for me with a slimmer profile, which I assume would change the mass in a significant way.

The same 2 notes on the G string still don't sustain as much as other notes anywhere else on the neck, but it's better than before.

I might eventually try to replace the trem block to see if that helps...
 
Today I finally got some time to put on some of my standard 9-42 strings.

Replace the low E, tune to pitch and start to stretch (using the fabulous String Stretcha).

Get about 1 1/2 runs on stretching then "pop!" and the string goes slack. WTH? It didn't break, didn't appear to have slipped the (locking) tuner. Ok... Maybe the lock block on the saddle wasn't quite tight enough...

I loosen the tuning peg, take the string out of the block (it doesn't seem loose), re-clamp the string in the saddle, then tune to pitch.

Back to stretching, no issues.

Replace A string, tune, stretch, re-tune.

D string - total repeat of E string! This has never happened to me before... Hmmm.

G string - it happens again!

Then, I noticed that the saddle had slipped forward significantly. Aha... The light goes on! Both the E and D saddles are moved fully towards the headstock.

I adjusted the saddles by eye and finished tuning/stretching, then busted out my FR intonation tool and got it intonated... Except first I had to replace the low E again because it was too sharp and not enough on the tuner to get it down to pitch.

So... Wondering if I should let Suhr know? If I didn't have the know-how this would have cost me a chunk of change to get the local shop to do.
 
I feel your disappointment and frustration Unix-guy. You would think there would be extra care taken on a rework guitar, with 100% inspection by a top builder. Hopefully long term the enjoyment of the instrument allows you to remember less the birth pains.
 
Last new car I bought died on it's maiden jouney to the mall - spark plug wire was loose from the car being in the show room - shit happens - highly conciensious and maticulous workers are more rare than one would think and high end brands don't/can't staff 100% with them
 
unix-guy said:
From my perspective its bad QC not bad luck.

It's their job (literally) to do it right, not mine as a customer to fix it.
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I disagree, there are plenty of reasons that the basic set up could be off after a time. Did the shop last intonate the guitar ? it's only if it came directly from the factory that someone missed it ,and in fairness it in totally invisible as an issue .
 
Andy Eagle said:
I disagree, there are plenty of reasons that the basic set up could be off after a time. Did the shop last intonate the guitar ? it's only if it came directly from the factory that someone missed it ,and in fairness it in totally invisible as an issue .
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Have you read this thread?

Suhr took my guitar in because of dead notes. They built a new neck, changed some wiring (at my request) and returned it to me.

I'm assuming they did a full setup to factory specs as that's just how they operate (and adjusting intonation makes complete sense with a new neck), and I've changed the strings several times before sending it back to them with no issues.
 
It's still an invisible non issue that you only find at the moment you pull the strings too hard with a plastic gimmick . Yes I read it and identified the problem.
 
Andy Eagle said:
It's still an invisible non issue that you only find at the moment you pull the strings too hard with a plastic gimmick . Yes I read it and identified the problem.
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Gimmick? Sorry, but I'll take the advice of Thomas Nordegg and my own experience in this case.

I've stretched strings by hand for 35+ years. The Stretcha does it better and faster than by hand. If you use it correctly, it doesn't pull any harder than you would yourself.

And how is it a non-issue? As already stated, yes, I was able to resolve it myself because I know how to adjust intonation and I have an appropriate tool to do so with a Floyd Rose. If I didn't, it would have cost me time and money to have somebody else do it...
 
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