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Need help restoring a Vigier Custom to its full glory!!

Posted: 04 Jun 2021 15:40
by RevonFyll
Hello again,

So long story short, last year I bought a second hand Vigier Excalibur Custom. Initially the guitar seemed to be in near perfect condition, however as time goes by I'm noticing a few problems with it that affect its playability. I would be extremely grateful if you could offer an opinion as to how I should go on about fixing these.

So let's get started:

1. The noise

There is an excessive amount of noise when playing, which somehow becomes WORSE when you turn the volume pot halfway through. It's on almost unbearable levels. I don't know if this is a shielding issue. I asked a local luthier and he said the shielding of the guitar was fine. I'm speculating it's a problem with the pickguard. As you can see in the photos below there is noticable wear on the pickguard which the previous owner tried to mask by painting the inside of it black. Also the electronics definitely show their age.

Do I need to replace just the electronics or should I replace the whole pickguard as well?

2. The Neck

Initially the neck was shifted causing the low E string to slip off the frets. The wood has receded on that part of the joint so the neck doesn't fit exactly in. I straightened the neck and put some piece of cardboard to fill in the space however it's the high E string that slips off now!! I checked with a lot of other Vigiers online and I'm quite sure the neck is straight now (in fact there seems to be some a tiny bit more room I could turn the neck into (shown in the photo). I don't do it however because it would cause the high E string to slip off more easily.

Admittely this is not a huge problem now, I just want to check with you if the neck is where it's supposed to be.

3. Floyd Rose Base Plate 

And finally the biggest problem. Some screwholes on the base plate have gotten loose making the guitar almost impossible to intonate correctly. What's more is that often during tremolo action the saddle will slip forward affecting the tuning quite a bit. When that happens I have to unlock the nut, detune, lock the saddle in the correct place, tune up and lock the nut again. All this puts more and more wear on the base plate. I'm afraid that there will be a point where no string will ever be 100% secure.

How do I tackle this? Do I have to replace the entire base plate? Do you even sell them seperately? I really don't wish to buy a whole new floyd rose. As you can see in the pictures I put a larger s crew to hold the saddle in place, however I don't quite like this method...

Please don't take it that I'm not happy with the guitar because I am. And I understand that these problems aren't your fault, these things happen with time and use, especially on an old guitar like this. I couldn't afford one of your new guitars so I settled with a used one for now. Ultimately I don't want to ever own a guitar other than Vigier so please help me bring this guitar to the condition it deserves to be!

Re: Need help restoring a Vigier Custom to its full glory!!

Posted: 11 Jun 2021 07:20
by marcwormjim
1. You likely have a grounding issue, rather than a shielding issue. Make sure all groundings and their solder joints are secure. They’re a crapshoot to diagnose over a messageboard, but a soldering iron or any competent tech can correct this. Even if the issue comes down to some short or mechanical failure within the volume pot, they are cheaply replaced.

2. If your issue with misalignment of the neck is due to excess room at the pocket: Remove the neck, fill its mounting holes with dowls and wood glue, then (once the glue has set) realign the neck in the pocket with the outside strings under some tension as a guide. Re-drill once you’re satisfied with the alignment, then reinsert the screws.

3. If your issue is the baseplate saddle holes having stripped threading, see if you can get away with slightly larger diameter screws. Otherwise, the baseplate holes will need to be retapped/threaded. This is a common enough issue with Floyd Roses that this product generally gets recommended: https://www.amazon.com/Z-SK40210-Thread ... 3597&psc=1

I’m not a Vigier expert; so apologies if any of my replies are off-base. The “glass half-full” good news is that these are all common electric guitar issues that can be corrected by yourself or a local guitar tech; and not necessarily ones that require intervention or servicing from Vigier.