Care and feeding of your Eminence:
I've spoken to Gary Bartig, the inventor of the Eminence, a few times over the years and he's always been generous with his time to answer any questions I have, and he's quick to offer advice on the best practices of handling the Eminence, so, in the spirit of giving back, here's my list of tips. Hopefully, others can add theirs too.
1) Most DB strings are too long for the Eminence, so to prevent blowing out the E-string worm-gear, it's important to trim them before you install them. Here are the lengths: G & D = 63 A = 61 and E = 58
2) For removable neck Emmy's, a good glob of liquid super glue will keep the strings from slipping off the tuning peg when the neck is removed. Bend the end of the string at a right angle and apply a glob of liquid super glue and hold it a moment against the tuning peg fork before you start winding the string. Wind the string towards the outside of the peg box. DON'T use the gel kind of super glue because that may hold too well and make the string difficult to remove when it's time to change strings. The super glue is also use to prevent the strings from unwinding after you've cut them.
3) Marking the top of your bridge and where its feet and the Realist pickup rest on the body with a pencil or pen has made assembling the removable neck Emmy much easier, especially when I'm exhausted from a flight or jet lagged. No measuring.
4) Liberal amounts of graphite powder applied to the bridge and nut grooves help prevent the strings from binding as you wind them down.
5) Carefully holding the top of the bridge while tightening the strings is important to keep the bridge from falling over and possibly being damaged. I watch the bridge foot carefully for lifting off the body, meaning that the bridge is leaning towards the neck, and gently push it back flat against the body. I also use a post-it note to check if the bridge is leaning by trying to slide the paper under the bridge foot.
6) Once your bridge is properly set, you can cut a short stick of 2-inch wood stock to rest on top of and between the neck and the bridge, to help keep the bridge in place while tightening the strings.
7) An electronic tuner is handy in tuning the strings to concert pitch.
8) My 5 year old Realist pickup developed a significant hum, the tone became nasal, and the output was weak. Gary explained that the issue is that the ceramic plates aren't getting enough pressure. An easy fix is to apply a small amount of electrical tape to the copper foil where the discs are to increase the pressure a bit.
9) When I pack my removable neck Eminence in its hard shell golf bag, I put the neck scroll sideways to the body to prevent the gear blades from damage and with the scroll towards the ground, to prevent damage to the fingerboard in case a baggage carrier slams the case down hard.
10) I also pack my bridge resting on a rag in a transparent tuperware container to encourage the TSA inspector not to bother opening the box and risk damaging the bridge.
Hope that helps! Any corrections or questions - please let me know.
