New Member And New 2022 Fullerton Deluxe Comanche

[bcalvanese]

I have yet to find a guitar that sounds as good as my American Ultra Strat. Until now that is. I saw this on Sweetwater, and it looked interesting enough for me to order one, and I'm glad I did. This guitar with the z-coil pickups sounds amazing for my style of playing.

I do have some questions about the setup though.

Should the truss rod be harder to turn than... say... a Martin acoustic with a mahogany neck?
I am assuming yes because maple is twice as hard as mahogany.

There is a step in the manual where you set the micro tilt adjustment, and it shows a back plate with 3 screws and a hole for the adjustment. This guitar has 4 screws and no hole for the adjustment.
What do I do for that step?

Thanks in advance,
Bob

[Craig]

I have yet to find a guitar that sounds as good as my American Ultra Strat. Until now that is. I saw this on Sweetwater, and it looked interesting enough for me to order one, and I'm glad I did. This guitar with the z-coil pickups sounds amazing for my style of playing.

I do have some questions about the setup though.

Should the truss rod be harder to turn than... say... a Martin acoustic with a mahogany neck?
I am assuming yes because maple is twice as hard as mahogany.

There is a step in the manual where you set the micro tilt adjustment, and it shows a back plate with 3 screws and a hole for the adjustment. This guitar has 4 screws and no hole for the adjustment.
What do I do for that step?

Thanks in advance,
Bob

Congratulations on getting a Fullerton Deluxe Comanche!

Here is a link to check out for setups: How-To Guide

You might take a look at this post: Comanches For Dummies Redux by BoogieBill (and no, I am not calling you a dummy). It might be helpful.

Regarding the truss rod adjustment, you should have received this sheet in the COA envelope:


Hope this helps.

[bcalvanese]

I have yet to find a guitar that sounds as good as my American Ultra Strat. Until now that is. I saw this on Sweetwater, and it looked interesting enough for me to order one, and I'm glad I did. This guitar with the z-coil pickups sounds amazing for my style of playing.

I do have some questions about the setup though.

Should the truss rod be harder to turn than... say... a Martin acoustic with a mahogany neck?
I am assuming yes because maple is twice as hard as mahogany.

There is a step in the manual where you set the micro tilt adjustment, and it shows a back plate with 3 screws and a hole for the adjustment. This guitar has 4 screws and no hole for the adjustment.
What do I do for that step?

Thanks in advance,
Bob

Congratulations on getting a Fullerton Deluxe Comanche!

Here is a link to check out for setups: How-To Guide

You might take a look at this post: Comanches For Dummies Redux by BoogieBill (and no, I am not calling you a dummy). It might be helpful.

Regarding the truss rod adjustment, you should have received this sheet in the COA envelope:


Hope this helps.

Hi Craig, and thank you for the response.

I do have the user guide and the document about the truss rod adjustment, and maybe I should have explained my questions better.

The user guide has a step to do the micro tilt adjustment, and shows a picture of the back plate with 3 screws and a hole to adjust the micro tilt. My guitar has a back plate with 4 screws and no hole to adjust the micro tilt. So my question is... what do I do for that step?

For the neck relief I put a capo on the first fret, and fret the 22nd fret, and look for .010 - .012 of relief at the 8th fret. My guitar had more relief than that, so I gave it a quarter turn, but it seemed a lot harder to turn in comparison with my Martin HD-28. Can I assume that because rock maple is twice as hard as mahogany, that it should be a lot harder to turn?

Thanks,
Bob

[Craig]

Hi Craig, and thank you for the response.

I do have the user guide and the document about the truss rod adjustment, and maybe I should have explained my questions better.

The user guide has a step to do the micro tilt adjustment, and shows a picture of the back plate with 3 screws and a hole to adjust the micro tilt. My guitar has a back plate with 4 screws and no hole to adjust the micro tilt. So my question is... what do I do for that step?

For the neck relief I put a capo on the first fret, and fret the 22nd fret, and look for .010 - .012 of relief at the 8th fret. My guitar had more relief than that, so I gave it a quarter turn, but it seemed a lot harder to turn in comparison with my Martin HD-28. Can I assume that because rock maple is twice as hard as mahogany, that it should be a lot harder to turn?

Thanks,
Bob

I had hoped you would have read the specifc posts I referenced here on our site as they include details that answer some of your questions.

Admin note: Please note that newer models, particularly 4-bolt guitars and 6-bolt basses, do not come
with owner's manuals. The manual for earlier models covers how to adjust the micro-tilt neck
feature no longer used on 4-bolt and 6-bolt models. This information applies to instruments made prior to 2009,
including the Made In Korea and Made In Indonesia Tribute Series.

For current factory setup see this post: Current Factory setups for DF vibrato G&L guitars

Regarding the trussrod setup, are you slacking the strings prior to adjusting the rod? If so and the nut is not turning in either direction ever so slightly (don't force it),
the contact your local G&L dealer to have them look at it. If you don't have a local dealer contact Memo (Service Manager) at G&L.
Contact information:
in the USA and Canada please call (714) 897-6766 extension 156 or send an email to repairs@glguitars.com.

Hope this helps.

[bcalvanese]

Hi Craig, and thank you for the response.

I do have the user guide and the document about the truss rod adjustment, and maybe I should have explained my questions better.

The user guide has a step to do the micro tilt adjustment, and shows a picture of the back plate with 3 screws and a hole to adjust the micro tilt. My guitar has a back plate with 4 screws and no hole to adjust the micro tilt. So my question is... what do I do for that step?

For the neck relief I put a capo on the first fret, and fret the 22nd fret, and look for .010 - .012 of relief at the 8th fret. My guitar had more relief than that, so I gave it a quarter turn, but it seemed a lot harder to turn in comparison with my Martin HD-28. Can I assume that because rock maple is twice as hard as mahogany, that it should be a lot harder to turn?

Thanks,
Bob

I had hoped you would have read the specifc posts I referenced here on our site as they include details that answer some of your questions.

Admin note: Please note that newer models, particularly 4-bolt guitars and 6-bolt basses, do not come
with owner's manuals. The manual for earlier models covers how to adjust the micro-tilt neck
feature no longer used on 4-bolt and 6-bolt models. This information applies to instruments made prior to 2009,
including the Made In Korea and Made In Indonesia Tribute Series.

For current factory setup see this post: Current Factory setups for DF vibrato G&L guitars

Regarding the trussrod setup, are you slacking the strings prior to adjusting the rod? If so and the nut is not turning in either direction ever so slightly (don't force it),
the contact your local G&L dealer to have them look at it. If you don't have a local dealer contact Memo (Service Manager) at G&L.
Contact information:
in the USA and Canada please call (714) 897-6766 extension 156 or send an email to repairs@glguitars.com.

Hope this helps.

Thanks again Craig,

Sorry, I must have missed that (I'm old lol), so basically just skip the micro tilt part.

As far as the truss rod, it's not that I could not adjust it, it's just that it seemed harder to turn than the truss rod on my Martin HD-28, and was asking if that was normal considering that maple is twice as hard as mahogany, so it would be harder to turn.

This guitar was build just 5 months ago, so I don't think it should need any kind of service aside from just a setup, which I can do.

Thanks again for the info.
Bob

[TexasJack]

Congrats Bob on the new Comanche!

The Z-coils are one of the cooler and useful inventions to come from Leo's bench.
Don't forget to add them to the Registry here on the GbL site!

TJ

[bcalvanese]

Congrats Bob on the new Comanche!

The Z-coils are one of the cooler and useful inventions to come from Leo's bench.
Don't forget to add them to the Registry here on the GbL site!

TJ

Thank you TJ,

I did add my guitar to the registry.

Bob

[bcalvanese]

Question... Will this guitar be able to handle 11 gauge strings?

Thanks,

[john o]

Hey Bob, welcome, yup no reason why not . You’ll need to make some compensatory adjustments to the screws on the claw for the springs in the vibrato cavity to level the bridge, and maybe a minor truss rod adjustment as it comes set up for 10-46, but with some tweaking you should be in good shape, enjoy! Post a pic sometime

[bcalvanese]

Hey Bob, welcome, yup no reason why not . You’ll need to make some compensatory adjustments to the screws on the claw for the springs in the vibrato cavity to level the bridge, and maybe a minor truss rod adjustment as it comes set up for 10-46, but with some tweaking you should be in good shape, enjoy! Post a pic sometime

Thank you John,

Just put the 11's on it. Had to widen a couple of the nut slots a little, and got the nut action to where, if you fret at the 3rd fret, you have to tap the string at the 1st fret to know there is a gap. Got the bridge level at 1/8", neck just about dead flat, action 5/64 E, 4/64 e, and pickups at 3/32 E and 2/32 e.

No buzzing anywhere even when I strum it like an acoustic.