Hallmark C60 Tips & Tricks

Nitromessiah
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Hallmark C60 Tips & Tricks

Postby Nitromessiah » Fri Sep 26, 2014 1:39 am

While I know a lot about Strats, how they work, how to set them up, and how to make them work... I knew nothing about a Mosrite/Hallmark. The past few weeks have been a learning experience, being an OCD kinda guy, I had to figure this beast out. So far, here's what I've come up with. Please critique and/or add to the list.

Have a problem staying in tune?
I thought I'd got a dud - it would not stay in tune. You couldn't make it through one song without having to retune several strings.
SOLUTION 1: loosen the strings, make sure they are pulled tight in the bridge, keep FIRM tension with your free hand as you tune the strings to tension. Not all the way to pitch, just a tension to where they are sounding a strong note. If even one string has a slipping wind, the whole guitar will go out of pitch as that string moves around.
SOLUTION 2: grease the string guide slots with a good grease. I use Tetra gun grease. Keep the grease in the slot and swipe the zero fret (lightly grease coat the whole thing). All this metal-to-metal contact on these things... terrible idea but it is what it is! gotta work with what we have.
SOLUTION 3: using a LIGHT machine oil, lube each roller on the bridge. While everything is oily, roll the rollers repeatedly. Use an old string, or I used a flosser to roll the wheels. When I say "light machine oil", the easiest to come by is RemOil available in all Walmart stores. It's thinner than water, so be prepared for it to get everywhere.

Have a problem breaking E string (or other) ?
SOLUTION : use the barrel off of an old string, slip the new string through the hole and then into the bridge. This keeps the contact patch on the old barrel/ball end and not the string itself or new barrel.

Having trouble stringing the unwound strings in the slotted tuners?
SOLUTION: bend a V in the end of the string before you put it down the hole. It acts sorta like a fish hook.

Strap button screws are WAY too big for straplocks?
SOLUTION: get a couple of wooden toothpicks and a bottle of wood glue. Using a pair snips, nail clippers or knife, clip off the tapered end of the toothpick. Stick it down in the hole dry, measure how far it goes. clip it off a little shorter than that. Dip the piece of wood in the wood glue, and stick in the in the hole.. use the other toothpick to seat it as deep as possible. Do the same for the other strap button screw hole. Let everything dry for 24 hours. Now if you're really slick or OCD (like me) Use a small drill pit to drill a pilot hole for the straplock screw, or, just screw the darn thing in there.

It doesn't sound like a Mosrite!
SOLUTION 1: screw the pickups as high as possible without string interference at the highest fretted position.
SOLUTION 2: screw the individual pole screws out to raise them even more, especially the D & G strings
SOLUTION 3: replace the stock electronics. Stock are 250k pots, replace these with 500k pots. I replaced the tiny cap with a high quality oil cap, .047. Stock Mosrites were .050, but all parts like this have a 20% drift tolerance so the .003 isn't worth worrying about.

Also - these things like 9's. The tiny frets make 10's feel like 13's. Try a gauge or two smaller strings than you would usually on a Fender or Gibson.

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Greg_L
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Re: Hallmark C60 Tips & Tricks

Postby Greg_L » Fri Sep 26, 2014 3:27 am

I haven't had any tuning problems with my 60C. Not any more than any other guitar anyway. It stays in tune very well unless I get a little spastic with the wang bar. I think that if you're having problems with tuning and you suspect it's the string guide causing the trouble, just pop it off and re-glue it making sure it's perfectly lined up. Mine popped off by accident, and I glued it back down with the strings in place to ensure it sticks exactly where it wants to be. It stays in tune better than ever.


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