The Guitar Gallery Forums - The Guitar Legacy of Matsumoku

Hey Racing.

Just a thought (I'm beneath bush league at metal work).

Is there a difference between "regular" 1650 & 1650 stainless?

Can you polish 1650, keep a mellower tone, & save the cost of chrome--or is polishing & maintenance too much of a pain?

Nah Squid. It works WAY different. It comes down to standardization,or more to the point the differences and/or lack thereof.

In the US it´s known as SAE(mainly as there´s NAS/AN too). In Italy it´s called CUNA,in germany DIN asf asf...and in Sweden it was called SIS(swedish industrial standard) at one time.
Since the advent of the EEC a common european standard has been adopted. However,around here-this country being world reknown for it´s knowledge of metals,many many still refer to the old SIS standard in day to day use. Our knowledge of metals is to the point where the EEC standards hasn´t really caught up as of yet as many "tailored" and special metals are available that simply isn´t even within the frame of what the EEC stands for.
Only european company that´s anywhere near what can be had here is germanys Thussen special steels...but they still lack vs what can be had localy. Hence...

Examples are;
Alumec-which is a tool room very very hardcore aerospace aluminium which from many respects exceeds titanium. Cheaper too.
JM metals-which are bearing bronze ones that are about as hardcore as they come.Expensive to say the least.
Uddeholm steels-many of which are highly specialized-or tailored for a given task/purpose.
There are many many more though....

Simple truth is that within many specialized fields you guys across the atlantic simply don´t have materials that correspond to what can be had around here.
Further SIS puts down VERY VERY narrow lines for what is accepted as far as deviations for given steels asf. Take something as simple as a "grade X" american bolt.The actual,practical,strenght can vary quite a bit. Not so for a given swedish made one. A 12.9 classed bolt will meet a minimum of what is stated in a reference guide known as "Karlebo handbook". To this day swedish manufacturers of fasteners in general take pride in doing so.
Only thing close to a swedish made 12.9 by US standards will be NAS/AN classed,however the 12.9 is WAY cheaper.

So...long story,but SIS 1650 is in essence a ferrous steel that can be hardened for specialized use.IOW no stainless in sight.

SIS1650 can be surface finished basicaly any way you wish. " Gold" plating included. How various finishes will affect the given material is also stated in the "Karlebo Handbook",be it anodizing,electroplating,painting or whatever. Down to how many micros thick various finishes will and that for various finishes in turn.
In short?
WE´re spoiled rotten as engineers around here...

Add me onto the list too Jesper if thats okay.
I passed on a nice RS 12er only a couple of weeks ago for this very reason.
Dont want that happening again.

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My Guitars- http://matsumokuguitars.com/

Finally got around to get me a new tailpiece for the 12 string side:



... and while I was on it, I got a new 6 string tailpiece as well

Nice... when everything works as expected...

I thought these were only for the 12s...

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Quality service since 3:00 last Tuesday

Well... since I was asking a company to mill one 12 string tailpiece from solid brass... I thought it can not harm to have a 6 string tailpiece made from solid brass as well.

Besides that... I have a spare 6 string tailpiece now... just in case.

I played the 12 string side of the guitar for a good part of Sunday... lovely... but there is of course a follow up project:

A bridge with 12 adjustable saddles!!!

Anyway, at the speed I got the tailpiece made... we are talking further 10 years down the road for that.

Hi I know this is a pretty old thread , I cant ,as a new member, PM anyone directly until I have 10 posts.I,m hoping this gets to you guys. I,m in the UK and own an RS 800 12 string, the stop bar has distorted badly (from info from a member and seeing your post i know this is a common problem now) I see you had some machined , do you have any left ?.If not do you have any specs/dimensions that they were made to as mine is so badly distorted its impossible to use as a pattern .Any help would be much appreciated .

No, I just got one tailpiece made that time. The contact was via a friend. I can ask him, if the company still has the pattern (after all the time)... but be warned the price is not fun.

Many thanks for the info. I guess it may be easier to try to get one made over here.Its certainly too good a guitar to not at least try.