Tiskit86's Former Challenge Build

[nosmo]

Woah - Really sorry to hear about the back problems. I hope the procedure makes it more bearable. That redwood is sweet, I like you joiner too.

Roger - You walk when you play golf? How do you carry the case n a half of beer it takes for all 18?

Sorry tiskit, my mind wandered there for a bit.

[emoney]

I've got the same problem in a different spot that affects my left leg and even causes my
left hand to eventually go numb when it "flares up". It's very "annoying" in that there is
no position of relief. And, for some strange, "let's put the pressure on Emoney", mine usually
flares up right in the middle of a set, irritated by the guitar/strap/weight I'm sure. I'm
hoping to end up with an uber light guitar because of it, in the hope that helps. I feel
for you man, but try to keep your spirits up, because, as they say, "It is what it is".

I really, really like the grain in that body wood. I think you did a fine job of jointing.

[Barncaster]

Tiskit,

Greetings from Santa Rosa. Thanks so much for the jointer idea! You just saved me a ton of money and space! Unfortunately I have already jointed my 3 piece body using a granite plate and sandpaper...good workout though. Hope you are feeling better.

Barncaster

[tiskit86]

the sun has come out again!

First, Roger, Nosmo, Emoney and Barncaster thank you so much for the kind words. They mean a lot when you're suffering.

Second, I just woke up, got out of bed and walked to the bathroom in under 10 minutes for the first time in over a week. Hallelujah! Let's move on.



So the other thing that I didn't necessarily plan for during this challenge build, but is actually a nice surprise/diversion is that I'm going to go meet this guy on Saturday and take his amp building class:

http://www.vintage47amps.com/files/


A 12 or 13 hour day at his shop with a few other dudes, will result in this, which I plan to play all newly built guitars through as a christening.



If you aren't familiar with his stuff, he specializes in Valco/Supro reproductions. The amp I'm building in class is a Valco Oahu, 5-watt, single ended class A. I've been wanting to learn more about amp building since I completely destroyed my Blues Jr. trying to do a bunch of BillM's mods.

[Barncaster]

Yeah,

I bought some of Bills stuff, looked at the instructions and said no way. Then swapped in some 40 year old Sylvania EL84s and 50 year old Sylvania 12AX7s and like it just fine. I've always coveted a Swart myself. Never can have enough reverb.

Barncaster

[tiskit86]

Originally Posted by Barncaster

Yeah,

I bought some of Bills stuff, looked at the instructions and said no way. Then swapped in some 40 year old Sylvania EL84s and 50 year old Sylvania 12AX7s and like it just fine. I've always coveted a Swart myself. Never can have enough reverb.

Barncaster

Vintage47 is actually right up in your neck of the woods - Rohnert Park I think.

I got the jointer idea from someone here. I think. Or maybe it was the guy at Rockler who sold me the straight-edge clamp. I should take some pics of my thickness planer jig too. Probably cost less than $15 (minus the router and flat bottom router bit), and also saves space. Works much better than the Safe-T-Planer.

[RogerC]

Originally Posted by tiskit86

I should take some pics of my thickness planer jig too.

Please do. I've been having issues with thicknessing.

[tiskit86]

Okay. It takes some tweaking, but has worked out just fine for me. The issue is to make sure it's big enough for whatever dimension stock you want to plane. For guitars, make sure side to side of the bit is at least 18", and length probably 24"-36" in order to accommodate guitar and bass necks.












I can't remember all the parts list, but the heights are adjusted by the carriage bolts (countersunk in the other side) and the washers/nuts. The sides are steel from Home Depot, and the top for the router base is aluminum. I tried 3/8" steel rods first because the router base has holes for them to go through, but they weren't stiff enough at that length. The aluminum is good and stiff and I don't have any problems with "sag" in the middle. Just have to be sure to let the router do the work and not put much downward pressure. I use a level and a laser level to get the 4 corners plum with each other.

Last, I use something like this for a bit. Has a nice, wide flat bottom and can take an inch wide swath at a time.





There is some clean up required to smooth the surface afterward, but not to bad and there is no edge snipe problem whatsoever.

[tklaavo]

Now that jig is state of the art! Mine is bulky, and the base (which should be as flat as possible) is already warped so that I have to screw it into the table with at least five screws to level it out. I'm going to borrow this design. Thanks for sharing!

[RogerC]

That's a great design! Thanks for sharing it. I'll have to see what I can do with it because I have some pieces I need to thickness, but don't have the money to spend on a planer

[emoney]

I hope you're going to build that amp concurrently with this guitar because just from
looks alone, it's pretty sharp looking.

[tiskit86]

Originally Posted by RogerC

That's a great design! Thanks for sharing it. I'll have to see what I can do with it because I have some pieces I need to thickness, but don't have the money to spend on a planer

Funny story. Or maybe not: When I was at Home Depot buying the materials for that jig, I had my son with me who was maybe 18-20 mo. old and sitting in the grocery-cart thing. He was old enough to have to grab for everything and not be able to sit still. I had handed him a really thick, 9" carriage bolt to play with while he was sitting there and I bent down to get some washers from below. Next thing I know I'm flat out on the floor in the middle of the aisle. I had a headache for like 2 days and was nauseous all night like from a concussion. I remember looking up at him and seeing this look of amusement with absolutely no recognition of how hard he had hit me. Learned me a lesson right there!

[macaroonie]

Originally Posted by tiskit86

Funny story. Or maybe not: When I was at Home Depot buying the materials for that jig, I had my son with me who was maybe 18-20 mo. old and sitting in the grocery-cart thing. He was old enough to have to grab for everything and not be able to sit still. I had handed him a really thick, 9" carriage bolt to play with while he was sitting there and I bent down to get some washers from below. Next thing I know I'm flat out on the floor in the middle of the aisle. I had a headache for like 2 days and was nauseous all night like from a concussion. I remember looking up at him and seeing this look of amusement with absolutely no recognition of how hard he had hit me. Learned me a lesson right there!

Thats the Oakland Stroke. BTW have you ever been to Al 's in Locke in the delta ?

[tiskit86]

Originally Posted by macaroonie

Thats the Oakland Stroke. BTW have you ever been to Al's in Locke in the delta ?

I've heard of it but never been! My in-laws are all in the Sac area so I should try to organize a meal there when we go visit.

[Barncaster]

Hey Tiskit,

Have fun at the amp class. Would live to hear it when you are done.

Thanks for the thickness jig ideas. I have a lot of thicknessing to do and I don't have a planer or drum sander.

Barncaster

[macaroonie]

Originally Posted by tiskit86

I've heard of it but never been! My in-laws are all in the Sac area so I should try to organize a meal there when we go visit.

It used to only have one thing on the menu , steak sandwich. A beer trip around the delta is a nice way to spend a day. Fond memories for me.

[tiskit86]

As I mentioned before, I took an opportunity to learn more about amp building yesterday, traveling up to Vintage47 and spending 12 hours or so putting together a Supro Spectator repro. There were 4 of us, and David Barnes expertly led us through the process from start to finish. I thought I'd include pics and description because the only thing cooler than playing a guitar that you built yourself, it's playing that guitar through an amp that you also built yourself! Start with the schematic:


5 watts, Single ended, Class A from 1950.




David makes and finishes the awesome combo cabs, and for this model fit them with an 8" Hempcone by ToneTubby. Great speaker for blues guitar and harmonica.

[tiskit86]

So we start with a chassis, an OT, a PT and a couple of bags of caps, resistors, switches, pots, wires, screws, etc.!







Warm up the soldering skills by first putting together a little tremolo circuit.

[tiskit86]

[tiskit86]