Crazy high action in nitefly

[InsideInfo]

Just received my nitefly today. Pretty disappointed with the action. To get it anywhere near playable I have to drop the bridge literally into the body. I can't adjust the truss rod either way without bending the tool. Should I try using something else and just go for it?

Any help on the action would be appreciated. Thanks!

[vjmanzo]

Hey @InsideInfo,

That’s sad news! I’ve encountered this issue before, however, and Ken has described a fix here that may help; the section I’m referring to describes loosening the truss, bending the neck back and clamping it for a few days, and then tightening the truss. Not for the squeamish, but my tech has has fixed two of my Flys this way.

Before you do something like this, however, since you just bought this, what about asking the seller to take it back?

[InsideInfo]

Eh, I'm just not the kind of guy that sends stuff back i guess lol. I don't think he misrepresented it. I got the truss rod to move it was just sticky. But I do notice that the nut is sticking out quite a bit further than the other flys. Maybe the guy put on a different nut to accommodate different strings? Good think I just bought 3 nuts! I'll post a pic here in a sec

[InsideInfo]

This is how far the bridge has to be screwed down

[vjmanzo]

Yeah, the bridge is definitely super lower than you’d want; hard to tell with the nut. How does it compare to your Fly? In particular, can you take a look to see if the nut slots are cut improperly; the Fly nuts in Wilmington were all (except the white ones) cut on a clicker press machine that Ken modified, so the nut slots were all exactly the same. I think the NiteFly nuts were also cut in that way.

If it were my NiteFly, I’d bring/ship it to a technician I trust and see what kind of analysis they can offer. You’ve got some options here!

Are you able to “sight it” to see if the neck is bowed? It’s a little tricky if you’re not used to it.

[InsideInfo]

I'll admit I have always sucked at setting the action and the intonation but the neck looks pretty damn straight to me. Man, it has to be the nut, it's definitely visibly bigger and protruding further than the other flys. I think he had freaking 12's or 13's on it. Yeah there's no way the bridge should have to go that low. My hand is slipping off the guitar

[vjmanzo]

Okay that’s great news! Maybe loosen a string or two on the bass side and compare the nut slot depth to the new nuts you bought from Mike G?

[InsideInfo]

Oh, and can a Parker be plek'd?

[InsideInfo]

and thanks for the ebay link for him, I bought the stuff you thought I should!

[vjmanzo]

No problem!

A Parker can be plek’d, but a Fly and NiteFly is much less likely to need fretwork because the fretwire is made from actual shards of Wolverine’s claws, so it’s super tough and not likely to wear out. The process of getting the frets on the composite fretboard is insanely complicated and, when it’s done well, things are not likely to need much work at all. I’m drawing the comparison to guitars that would really benefit from a Plek like your average Strat that has much softer fretwire.

[InsideInfo]

Gotcha. So I just plugged her in and the piezo is only sounding when the jack is halfway plugged in?

And I've never ever encountered this weirdness...so there is a slow cycling sound on like when you tune a string to another when its slightly out of phase. It's as if there's a slight tremolo effect that that becomes more pronounced the higher up on a string you play. It happens without being plugged in. WTF??

[vjmanzo]

If there’s no 9volt cavity on the back of that NiteFly, it’s like an NFVM1 or 2, which had a passive piezo system. There’s a thread here with some options.

[InsideInfo]

WOW that's incredibly infuriating hahahah just wow...I had no damn idea. Love you Ken but good lord lol

[vjmanzo]

there is a slow cycling sound on like when you tune a string to another when its slightly out of phase. It's as if there's a slight tremolo effect that that becomes more pronounced the higher up on a string you play. It happens without being plugged in. WTF??

That could be a weird resonance caused by an improperly cut nut or by the bridge making contact with the body because of how low it is right now.

Can you return the bridge to a more typical height, and try to isolate each string by dampening all others and playing each one? While the effect is heard, can you suppress it by touching various parts of the guitar with your hand?

[InsideInfo]

Derrrr yes youre right. I think because the pickups are so close now that's causing it. moved em down and it's going away. I'm freaking myself out about everything now haha just keep telling myself this can be fixed with a nut.

If this is any indication, I can get a fingernail under the highside of the nut and unlike the other parker nuts this one is curved inward on the low side like it's trying to match the curve in the headstock. Definitely not like the others.

[vjmanzo]

Could have been a slide player. Maybe ask the previous owner (if that’s who sold it to you)?

[InsideInfo]

Yup asking now. That's something I never would have thought of is that he was a slide player (thank you). It's actually his dad's who passed away. But maybe he even has the nitemix and just didn't know it. I appreciate you bro, I'll talk to you tomorrow.

[vjmanzo]

Happy to help, my friend! I’m glad that is starting to have a positive twist!!

[InsideInfo]

Just found an actual nitemix too woohoo! Luck be a lady tonight!

[vjmanzo]

That is fantastic!! Did it belong to this same person?