Just finished this up last night or early yesterday morning. I had it up & playing, but wiring needed to be redone, and the pots weren’t correct for me.
I went with 500K A CTS, for both volumes and the one tone. I didn’t have enough (4) so I tried a used dual gang one meg for the rear tone control but it didn’t work. I should have tried the bottom half because I pulled it out and after I finished the guitar I checked it, only 1/2 was not working. I think it’s just as well as I’ve decided to re-design the bottom half of the pick guard with three in a graceful, evenly spaced arc, with two volumes and a master tone and 50s style.
As it is the top most control is the lead volume, the second one down sort of weird by the lower bout is the tone for the lead pick up, and the last control by the hole is the rhythm volume with no tone. I never really melded with the tone control on the front as I was always trying to turn it up anyway, and backing off the volume would cut the tone enough.
I’ll probably end up redoing it again with a different rhythm pick up as both of them are pretty hot. They are both Seymour Duncan jazz pick ups, With alNico slugs and high output-The front is 12.5 k, and the rear is 14 K and change, creeping on 15. I very much like the rear pick up, it has extra large slugs maybe something like they used to call a quarter pounder? They protrude quite far out of the bottom of the pick up, and I don’t know if it was my bad wiring or what but in the past I had to pull it out and line the bottom because if the magnet touched it would cut out. It would also buzz when I touch the pick up magnet which I think is not correct unless you’re going for some certain phase thing?
I re shielded the whole cavity this time, with conductivity throughout including the backside of the guard.
I used RG 174 throughout except for the pick ups them selves which for whatever reason had skinny solid core telephone wire. I was afraid to try and rewire them with proper braided wire because I remember they kicked around for a long time and a couple of the leads had to be resoldered with the tiny pick up wire just long enough to go into the hole. As I remember, One or both had the original magnet wire just barely going into the solder and not wanting to be unwound from the bobbin anymore without feeling like it may have broken. I was going to at least cover them with a braid or something but as it is the guitar is quite a bit more quiet, especially with such a raucous rear Single coil pick up. The neck is an old Carvin, I was going to say Rosewood but it appears to be Ebony-oh man where did my memory go. They used to come with an uncut headstock and you could shape it however you wanted. That neck was on another Stratocaster for many years and played professionally and the frets are still really not hideous. I probably played that five or six years as my main guitar six days a week with doubles on the weekends through summer times! I did the headstock freehand the same as the body somewhat… I say somewhat because I used my Stratocaster for a basic shape and then I just embellished. The body is two pieces of mahogany a woodworker buddy of mine gave me.There wasn’t enough to seam straight up the middle, so it’s about an inch and a half off-center towards the top bout. The pit guard is made out of a clipboard or two, melamine or whatever that stuff is, partly out of necessity because the body is not exactly stock shape and because it was the easiest thing to work with I had. The bridge was the closest thing I had at the time that would allow string through. I have a new package of ferrules, but I strung it up before I remembered ha ha! The nut was already there because it used to be on a Stratocaster. A few of the little balls/steely have fallen out on stage/gigs during string change with no chance of finding them. I quickly made a repair with a tiny cut off from the bass strings and some crazy glue in between tunes and they are still there on the E and B strings… oh I guess the G string also. Ha! She ain’t purdy, and I’ll probably end up as I may have said (cripes I sure do some long posts sometimes) moving that ribbon pick up into the lead position of another guitar, but it really does play and sound very nice, Especially the top strings once you’ve fretted them (my stage repair doesn’t allow a full ring I think from the nut On the top three strings when they’re plucked open) from the first fret on, More so on the B so it’s probably just a matter of cleaning up a little crazy glue. I’m hoping tomorrow’s Twanger Section will have some tunes that it can lend itself to!
Those are little probably number six nuts taking the place of the String ferrules, and yes that is my proud example of the only guitar I’ve ever drilled through (cavity to cavity drill) and some real nice impromptu artwork from a very gifted DJ friend of mine.
I went with 500K A CTS, for both volumes and the one tone. I didn’t have enough (4) so I tried a used dual gang one meg for the rear tone control but it didn’t work. I should have tried the bottom half because I pulled it out and after I finished the guitar I checked it, only 1/2 was not working. I think it’s just as well as I’ve decided to re-design the bottom half of the pick guard with three in a graceful, evenly spaced arc, with two volumes and a master tone and 50s style.
As it is the top most control is the lead volume, the second one down sort of weird by the lower bout is the tone for the lead pick up, and the last control by the hole is the rhythm volume with no tone. I never really melded with the tone control on the front as I was always trying to turn it up anyway, and backing off the volume would cut the tone enough.
I’ll probably end up redoing it again with a different rhythm pick up as both of them are pretty hot. They are both Seymour Duncan jazz pick ups, With alNico slugs and high output-The front is 12.5 k, and the rear is 14 K and change, creeping on 15. I very much like the rear pick up, it has extra large slugs maybe something like they used to call a quarter pounder? They protrude quite far out of the bottom of the pick up, and I don’t know if it was my bad wiring or what but in the past I had to pull it out and line the bottom because if the magnet touched it would cut out. It would also buzz when I touch the pick up magnet which I think is not correct unless you’re going for some certain phase thing?
I re shielded the whole cavity this time, with conductivity throughout including the backside of the guard.
I used RG 174 throughout except for the pick ups them selves which for whatever reason had skinny solid core telephone wire. I was afraid to try and rewire them with proper braided wire because I remember they kicked around for a long time and a couple of the leads had to be resoldered with the tiny pick up wire just long enough to go into the hole. As I remember, One or both had the original magnet wire just barely going into the solder and not wanting to be unwound from the bobbin anymore without feeling like it may have broken. I was going to at least cover them with a braid or something but as it is the guitar is quite a bit more quiet, especially with such a raucous rear Single coil pick up. The neck is an old Carvin, I was going to say Rosewood but it appears to be Ebony-oh man where did my memory go. They used to come with an uncut headstock and you could shape it however you wanted. That neck was on another Stratocaster for many years and played professionally and the frets are still really not hideous. I probably played that five or six years as my main guitar six days a week with doubles on the weekends through summer times! I did the headstock freehand the same as the body somewhat… I say somewhat because I used my Stratocaster for a basic shape and then I just embellished. The body is two pieces of mahogany a woodworker buddy of mine gave me.There wasn’t enough to seam straight up the middle, so it’s about an inch and a half off-center towards the top bout. The pit guard is made out of a clipboard or two, melamine or whatever that stuff is, partly out of necessity because the body is not exactly stock shape and because it was the easiest thing to work with I had. The bridge was the closest thing I had at the time that would allow string through. I have a new package of ferrules, but I strung it up before I remembered ha ha! The nut was already there because it used to be on a Stratocaster. A few of the little balls/steely have fallen out on stage/gigs during string change with no chance of finding them. I quickly made a repair with a tiny cut off from the bass strings and some crazy glue in between tunes and they are still there on the E and B strings… oh I guess the G string also. Ha! She ain’t purdy, and I’ll probably end up as I may have said (cripes I sure do some long posts sometimes) moving that ribbon pick up into the lead position of another guitar, but it really does play and sound very nice, Especially the top strings once you’ve fretted them (my stage repair doesn’t allow a full ring I think from the nut On the top three strings when they’re plucked open) from the first fret on, More so on the B so it’s probably just a matter of cleaning up a little crazy glue. I’m hoping tomorrow’s Twanger Section will have some tunes that it can lend itself to!
Those are little probably number six nuts taking the place of the String ferrules, and yes that is my proud example of the only guitar I’ve ever drilled through (cavity to cavity drill) and some real nice impromptu artwork from a very gifted DJ friend of mine.
