Westone Clipper Series CL4112

Hi

Does anyone own a Westone Clipper Series CL4112. if so could you please reply to my post as i need to replace the strings on my guitar and really need some advice as what make of strings to purchase and how to fit them.

Also is there any manuals out there on the net that show you how to service the guitar or what the optimum settings for it should be (correct settings for black screw like dials on the bridge for example)

Cheers


Mike

Hi Mike,

Nice to see you have found the Westones! Strings are a matter of personal choice but I like to use Ernie Ball's Super Slinky's No. 9. (Bright pink packet). These are ideal especially if you are just starting out as they aren't too heavy on the old fingertips!

I think that your Clipper CL4112 is the same one that I sold not so long back to a guy through eBay, minus the neck, and if it is the same one, I would be particularly interested to see how he has replaced the neck as the holes where the bolts fitted through were a bit chewed up. Are the knobs on it plastic knurled, Tele-type knobs by any chance?

If my memory serves me correctly, you string these up from the top like a Floyd Rose. John, (Corsair - who has two of them!) will be able to put you right on that score!

Date wise, these models were sort of in the transition period between 1986/1988 and didn't have a serial number except for a little sticker on the back of the headstock.

I hope this helps.

Pauline :flower: :queen:

Hiya Mikey - this will all depend on what bridge your Clipper has; mine both have the Bendmaster Deluxe bridges which are bottom loaders; these also come with a TRS 101 bridge which I've never sighted but Pollys' one came equipped with.
I find it easiest to take the back plate off and re-string, simply because you will have to alter the spring tension once you've changed string guages. My preference is for Dean Markley Blue Steel 11-56s, but everyone has a different 'pet' string; you will have to find your own!
OK, you have the backplate off; you will now need to slacken off the locknut washers and it's actually easiest to remove them completely but before you do have a look at the base of the bridge and see where it is sitting in relation to the body of the guitar; mine sits about 5mm above and parallel to the body allowing upwards bends as well as downwards ones. I also use string change time to clean and condition the fretboard so I take all the strings off and have at it; you may want to do one at a time to keep everything under some sort of tension.
Once you have the string(s) off, put the fine tuner thumbscrews (the black screw like dials) to a highish position in the whale tail, ie wind 'em up - and feed the new string up through the appropriate hole in the trem block, over the saddle and down to the tuning post. My preference is to actually tie the strings onto the post by passing the end back through the hole in the post and pulling it up tight; you won't be able to do this with the bass strings, though!
When all strings are on and at pitch, you must stretch the strings until they no longer go flat when you look at them hard; all retuning at this stage is done with the machine heads - just grab the string at about the middle and pull it away from the fretboard a few times, not too violently but quite firmly.
At pitch, check your bridge to see where it's sitting on the body; the further away from the body, the higher the action will be and you may need to adjust the height of it by using the 2 bridge posts which will screw in or out of the bodt, depending on which way you want to go. And to get the bottom of the bridge sitting level with the body, you need to screw the trem claw screws in or out; these are in the body cavity at the back.
When everything is in tune and set the way you like it, on go the string locks, being careful not to overtighten the bolts as they can strip quite readily; a final tune with any adjustment being done on the fine tuners on the bridge, and you're ready to give the neighbours some wellie....

Any questions, just ask!

Pollyanna wrote:Date wise, these models were sort of in the transition period between 1986/1988 and didn't have a serial number except for a little sticker on the back of the headstock.

Really?! Both mine have serials stamped on the neckplate...

http://forum.westoneguitars.net/members-westones-f6/serials-t348.htm

... so maybe the Bendmaster equipped ones are MIJ and the TRS ones are MIK?

Many thanks for replying and for your excellent advice. Just to answer both of your questions.

Polly anna - I have had this guitar a while and did not purchase it off e-bay. For my sins the guitar has been left in the wilderness a bit
and not been played. I am willing to repent for my sins and get it working properly and start learning how to play the darn thing and maybe the guitar gods with forgive me for neglecting one of their flock. (LOL)(TIC)


Corsair - I have had a closer look at the guitar and has a Floyd Rose Bridge with TRS-101 stamped on it and apart from the broken strings and a few scratches and it being covered in dust its not in bad condition.

one and all- I have had a look and it looks like there was a sticker on the back of the head stock but there only seems to be glue where once the sticker was.

I will up load some photos of the bridge etc for you to have a look at.

Bugger - all that typing for nothing! Still, Polly's had a TRS101 and she'll be able to fill in the blanks; hopefully, my re-stringing advice won't be too far off the mark! If you're a neophyte player, perhaps a floating bridge would be a bit much to contend with and you may want to consider blocking it? Or even putting on the 5 springs so that it's not as wobbly as they usually are!! (the springs are a standard thing fitted to just about every trem-equipped guitar, so they're readily available)

Hey, well done for rescuing the old girl; she does so need to be played and they are a great guitar; I really like mine - I bought the 2nd one to restore and sell on to fund yet another Matt, but now I like it too much, so it stays!! (Wife's REAL happy 'bout that!!) And we'd love to see pix of the beast....

Hi guys,

I have taken pollyanna's advice to start with and ordered some those super slinky number nines, just a quick question does each string have a number assigned to it as there were different numbers on the packet
starting at 9,11,16,24,32 and 42.

when I get to change the strings, i need to clean it, any suggestions as what to use? damp cloth for example. Also could i purchase a touch up paint to fill in / tidy up all the chips or scratches there are on the main body of the guitar.

Also when removing any locking nuts or hex nuts can i lumbricate them to make them easier to remove and install next time. also any suggestions if any of them are stuck.

I have a TRS 101 bridge and was wondering how easy it is string the guitar on the bridge, there seems to be some locking screws one for each string that sits parallel to guitar body and have a hex screw end.

any way if you could answer any or all of those questions i would be very grateful.

cheers

Mike

The nomenclature on the strings is their 'guage', or thickness, with the biggest number (.042) being your bottom E and the smallest (.009) being your top E.
The body will clean up nicely with a bit of soap and water, but be careful to dry it completely as you don't want any moisture anywhere near the electrics, or any of the pick up mounting or adjusting screws!
The fretboard you can clean with a toothbrush and warm water with some sugar soap added. You may need to use the edge of a soft pick to get the worst of the gunge off, eh, and then dry it better than thoroughly! When it's dry, have at it with a fretboard conditioner like Lizard spit or Lem oil until it no longer takes up the oil. Buff well with a soft cloth.
Seized screws are a bugger and that's a bridge we'll cross when we come to it!
The hex headed screws that sit parallel to the body at the bridge are the intonation adjustments, so you won't need to touch 'em yet....
As for touch up paint, yeah, good idea but take the guitar to a proper paint shop and have the paint matched exactly to the area you'll be refinishing.
I'm sure Polly with be along to help; most of the above info is courtesy of a little booklet that she wrote a year or so back...

Pix, man - we need pix, particularly close ups of the bridge, top and bottom, and the string lock!!

Hi Mike,

Well, John is spot on with everything that he has told you so far.

I'm sorry that I haven't been around to answer your enquiry about the TRS101 but I've been a bit preoccupied of late. To put it in a nutshell, some rotten 'barsteward' broke into my shed a week past Monday and stole all of my power tools! They weren't greatly expensive items but it was the principal of it! I hope that their fingers and all of their other extremities, drop off!

Anyway, 'nuff of that!
As far as I can remember, the way to string the TRS is from the top. In other words, slot the string through the machineheads with the ball end at the top and nip the straight end into the little doobrey bits on the bridge! The same as for a Floyd Rose.
Cor! that sounds really technical, doesn't it?
I'm sure if you do a 'Google' search you will find some step by step instructions on how to do it, as it is a bit difficult to explain here unless somebody else can tell you better than I've tried to.

My book that John mentioned is still in its infancy and as yet, unfinished, but if anyone is interested in a copy, I can email it to them.

Yes Mike, get some photos up please!

Pauline :flower: :queen:

Ah, hell - sorry for your troubles chook; I, too, hope their appendages fall off!! You didn't lose instruments, though.... ?!?! I didn't realise the TRS was a top loader; makes ALL of my typing worth not a knob of goat poo!!

Do you know John, you've got me thinking now as to whether that was a top loader or not. I really don't remember now as to how it was strung.

If it helps you at all Mike, here is a picture of the one that I had, clearly showing the bridge, so maybe somebody else might be able to shed some light onto how it was strung.




Pauline :flower: :queen:

Hi Guys, heres some pics of my guitar, in its current state, I will be changing the strings this week so wish me luck. Sorry for the quality of some of the pictures but you can get a feel for what the guitar looks like.

very dusty for one.


guys,

Nice!! Looks in good nick, too! hey, a bit of TLC and she'll look as good as new. As for the string change, take off the rectangular back plate and once you've taken the tension off the string, cut it near to the nut and see if the ball end falls out of the trem block. Without having the thing in my habnds I am a little in the dark as to what's going on in there, but it won;t be anything thats too much hassle!! Take all of the strings off and give the old girl a decent clean up and you won't recognize her!
Do all of the swtches work? I still say it's a crazy set-up; much better to have had a 5-way with a pull pot to engage/disengage the 2nd single coil at the bridge (that's not strictly speaking a humbucker but 2 singles in series)... but what do i know!! The switches on my second one were all munted and the electrics were pretty much shot which led to some interesting soldering!
Keep us informed...

There should be no ball end to fall off. On a Floyd Rose trem you do 1 of 2 things. You either clip the ball end off. Or you run the string through the tuner on the head stock, leaving the ball end and cutting some off the other end of the string. The allen wrench, longer screws that lay parallel to the body behind the fine tuners are the string lock block screws. Loosen them up, this will relieve tenson on the small little block where the string goes into the tremolo. Pull the string out and put the new one in, only goes in maybe a 1/4". Then lock the block back down against the string and repeat the process on the others. Be careful though, sometimes those little blocks will come out of the saddle and can be hard to find! I usually keep several extras around, they can be ordered off stewmac. IF, after replacing the string and the lock screw does not want to tighten up, you may have a broken/cracked string block lock. In this case you will have to replace it but they are cheap. These type trems are not like the Bendmaster where you can run the string through the back of the trem block and leave it attached. I have never tried but I dont think you even do that and still run the string through the lock block area and over the saddle. Hope this makes sense. I've been around Floyd Rose and Kahler locking trems for years now. At first they can be daunting to maintain and setup but after some experience they are really easy to work with.

Yay! I KNEW there had to be someone out there with FR smarts!! Thanks Halo!! See, I thought that those long bolts that run parallel to the body underneath the bridge were intonation adjustment! So, are these are a pain in the arse to intonate, like the Bendmasters?

Nope not a problem at all really. The intonation screws are the tiny allen wrench screws just in front of the saddle towards the bridge pick up. They actually hold the saddle to the Floyds base plate. A real floyd base plate will have 3 screw holes for each saddle for intonation adjustment. Plus the amount of travel the saddle will move in each of those holes when the screw is losened.Glad I could be of help!

I was searching the net to try and find some info on my westone clipper and I stumbled across this thread. Mine is identical to the black one pictured except it has the Bendmaster trem which I find a bit of a pig to use. It seems very hard and creaky. Is this a common flaw with this trem or is there something I can do to make it more playable?

Cheers

So; it's identical to my green ones... except it's black?! Pay me no heed - just being a smart-arse; I find the Deluxes a very good bridge indeed; what seems to be the problem, exactly? Have you whipped off the rear cover and checked the springs; I only have 3 on. What string gauge do you use as like all floating trems these are susceptibe to changes in just about everything!!
All my Bendmaster bridges have at some stage in my ownership been stripped right back and given a thorough cleaning, but really there isn't a lot to go wrong with them; I'm betting we'll get yours working with a minimum of fuss; what I would suggest is to take the back cover off and take a pic or two and post that here, along with pics of the bridge from above and from the side, at body level with the strings still on it; we can then proceed a lot easier!

And besides, we like seeing other peoples guitars in here; is your's a working guitar?

John

Ok smart arse . I only have 2 springs on mine. It is a working guitar and has been working with me since the early 90's. Now, me being a newbie and all, how do I post pics of my 'tar for you all to tell me where I have been going wrong?

Thanks for the help

Hello Mgolden1 and welcome!

I've never seen a black Clipper CL4112. The easiest way to upload photos is through Photobucket. Copy and paste the image code into your message and Hey Presto! If that fails, you can always PM me and I will sort it out for you.

Polly :queen: :flower:

I'll wait till I see what's going on, but 2 springs for this sort of bridge would seem a little light - rather than being heavy and stiff to use; with 2 springs a good, hard look should set it a-vibrato-ing!! Sounds like something a little more than springs alone; what gauge strings do you use, and do you change gauges at all? The reason for asking is that like all floating trems, changing gauge - often just changing brand! - will cause the thing to require setting up again which is not awfully difficult or anything, just a little time consuming. And don't let a tech at a shop do it unless they're done a Bendmaster before as they differ from a FR in a fundemental way!

I've not seen a black one either; mind you I've seen bugger all Westones down this way and most of the ones I have seen I've bought!!