New Design Proto Build - Lyra

[preeb]

First maple Lyra is complete.
Tone exceeds my expectations and it is quite overwhelming. I don't want to sound like a stupid 12 year old so I'd better shut up now and get some videos soon so you can share the magic. It is magic.

 

[preeb]

More photos...

 

[6stringcowboy]

Your work is exquisite.

 

[Fretnot]

Congrats Gil!

 

[dreamingtele]

Always loved Gil Yaron build threads!

 

[Zepfan]

Definitely Chimey. If I had been listening to it blindfolded, I would've thought you were playing a Steel Guitar or Reso. It's more apparent on the high strings.
It sounded like the player was using a pick, does it sound just as chimey finger style?

 

[preeb]

Definitely Chimey. If I had been listening to it blindfolded, I would've thought you were playing a Steel Guitar or Reso. It's more apparent on the high strings.
It sounded like the player was using a pick, does it sound just as chimey finger style?

I was playing soft finger style with no pick and no fingernails. Amp was set to the lowest input gain and flat eq (lots of treble for a Marshall) to get the cleanest guitar output without any push or character from the amp which is close to a direct plugin.
When played normally she sounds... Well... Normal. I did that to demonstrate the balance and articulation.
I will post a video soon.

 

[Scatter Lee]

real nice all around, is the case custom or off the shelf?

 

[RickyRicardo]

Can I borrow it?

Looks and sounds awesome Gil!

 

[Zepfan]

I was playing soft finger style with no pick and no fingernails. Amp was set to the lowest input gain and flat eq (lots of treble for a Marshall) to get the cleanest guitar output without any push or character from the amp which is close to a direct plugin.
When played normally she sounds... Well... Normal. I did that to demonstrate the balance and articulation.
I will post a video soon.

Can't wait for the other video. Fingerstyle instead of pick? Shows what I know. Definitely has the articulation.

 

[preeb]

real nice all around, is the case custom or off the shelf?

Thx Scatter.
Custom padding to fit the body snugly

 

[preeb]

Thx Ricky

 

[Mxk116]

I will try to make a nice video soon but for now...
Here are a few cell phone audio samples

Neck Normal

Neck Chimey

Oh my, that neck pick up sounds sublime and the sustain is sensational.

Bravo Maestro!!

 

[Jim_in_PA]

That's a very inspiring pair of instruments and they sound lovely. Thanks for documenting everything!

 

[preeb]

Can't wait for the other video. Fingerstyle instead of pick? Shows what I know. Definitely has the articulation.

The real video will be done by Pete Thorn soon enough. I do not have the means to do a proper clip with my cell phone (-;

 

[preeb]

Oh my, that neck pick up sounds sublime and the sustain is sensational.

Bravo Maestro!!

Thanks! Those guitars are magic... I spent many hours with both and made some last tweaks to bring them to perfection.
Will post more info shortly

 

[preeb]

Some changes made after playing and messing with it for a while.
The first thing I noticed is that the floating top really does make a huge difference. So much so that it sounded closer to a hollow body than a solid.. which is a great thing because I can now balance between the two by adjusting the sound post and adding another sound post on the bass side to transfer some of the vibrations down to the core.

I want to do this in a way that will allow for adjustment and going back and forth between full floating top (think ES-175) to a semi hollow tone (think late 50's ES-335).

As I adjusted the treble side sound post I noticed that it does it's job but even when tightened all the way down to the core the tone was still a bit too hollow.
I believe it is due to the fact I didn't want to add a bass bar but I took that option into consideration and here's the solution.

I made a longer ABR post

and replaced the bass side post so I can adjust it all the way down into full contact with the Mahogany core

Now I can install the ABR anywhere between full float (touching only the top for fully hollow tone) and full contact down to the Mahogany core (semi hollow tone)


The other issue I noticed was the lack of room to adjust the string height thumbwheel further down (due to the 2 thumbwheels of the system) so I shaved the ABR-1 ends down to allow a wider range of action setting.

The lowest position is almost touching the top

and the normal low playing action now looks like this

 

[preeb]

The Mahogany Lyra proto is pretty much identical to the maple model with the exception of the dressing and a slight change to the Lyra PAF.
I went for a classic nickel hardware and gold knobs for the bursted maple build because.. we.. it looks "right" to most including my old self (-;
but for the burnt cherry Mahogany I wanted something else...

The hardware theme will be black with Nickel. I don't want to do a black out thing as it looks childish and "dead" but a mix will look wonderful. I think.

Black chrome tuners with Nickel ferrules

Bridge set up is now identical to the revised version showed above on the maple top build. It works very well!
I made the ABR ears even thinner this time to allow for more adjustment... it can't hurt (-;

Plastics are going to be black.

Bakelite switch tip is turned, buffed and installed

 

[preeb]

ABR is the revised type with even thinner ears fore more adjustment range.

knobs are vintage tinted celluloid nitrate with black paint

PU's are the Lyra PAF's with two differences,
1) the slugs are adjustable and I make the threaded slugs from the same material as my standard slugs so there's no tone difference

2) I wanted the covers off look to get the black bubbins show but I still wanted it covered. Problem is that the Black chrome plated covers are slightly magnetic and this works against the design to I made them with 12 holes (-; since there are 12 holes now and the slugs are exposed I decided to add the adjustable slugs

So I still get the covers off look with the black color and the 12 holes but I also have a cover to protect and shield the PU

 

[preeb]