Sierraphiles?

[Bruce Tull]

I picked up a 1981 Sierra S-10, 3&4 over the holidays, best I can tell from searches here it's a Royalty model? The original owner purchased it at the factory new, and never learned to play -- it's like a time capsule. It still has the black bell cranks, and tone/volume controls by the jack. Serial number SS010-440-81, "RCM" also enagraved next to the serial #. Black mica, black leg tops. Are the top deck and neck made of wood?

So now I'm trying to decide whether to keep it....

Some of the knees are pretty stiff -- I noticed it has pretty thick "helper springs" on the cross-shafts. Is it a good idea to disable these, or weaken them? Or should I leave them alone?

Also, the levers don't have fore and aft stops, so they tend to pivot around (especially the F lever pivots back) while I play -- any cure, or just crank the bolts pretty stiff?

Does anyone have advice on clipping things (like my Matchbox, and VS-2 tuner) to the square legs?

One of the leg locks is missing an inside press bushing -- the shaft and spring are there, but the spring doesn't have anything to push against, so it just flops around. I sent an e-mail to Sierra re: parts, but haven't heard back. Are these available anywhere?

The stock pickup is etched "15-3" on the bottom. Any idea who made this, etc.? (I assume 15K, no coil tap). It sounds pretty thin compared to my Williams U-12 with stock p/u (I believe it's wound to 18K, or Williams fans correct me). I'll try some new strings, etc., but curious if others have good experience with that 15-3 p/u.

A lot of things I really like about this guitar -- wide stance, stable, second-to-none machining quality and adjustability (I was able to set it for my short legs, most of my guitars are an inch too tall), etc. If I can just get the little quirks out of it, and the tone a bit less wimpy, I'll be happy.

Any advice, tips, tricks on Sierras much appreciated.

Cheers, bt

[Pete Burak]

If you don't plan to put it in the case, you can adjust the knee levers where you want them, then tighten them down.
I have mine tight enough to fold up/down. They stay in place when playing.
Some pics might help with the other issues you mention.
It was common for pickup to be 3-position. Is there a toggle switch by the tone knob?
pb

[Bruce Tull]

There is a toggle switch, but best I can tell it just takes the Volume and Tone controls out of the circuit.

There are only two contacts for the pickup, so it doesn't seem to have a coil tap (or at least I don't really see how it could).

Thanks, bt