Here is what I’m planning for a future build. No idea if it will work but it looks right on paper.
The Mahogany Rosewood Telecaster
- Thread starter Steve Holt
- Start date
Steve Holt
Friend of Leo's
Okay so I went and read my post again and maybe I didn't elaborate enough.
Here's what I'm planning
Humbucker Mode:
Headstock
Neck humbucker
Screw side -CW North up
Slug side - CCW South up
Bridge humbucker
Slug side - CW North up
Screw side - CCW South up
Bridge
Single mode
Headstock
Neck humbucker
Screw side -CW North up
Inactive
Bridge humbucker
Inactive
Screw side - CCW South up
Bridge
So in single mode I'll have
CW North
CCW South
And that's how I always do my single coils in guitars.
Am I wrong?
What I've been worried about is the phase of the humbuckers. Will those be out of phase with my magnets going in the directions once listed? I really haven't messed with hunbuckers enough to know.
I've yet to take the step of making a neck. Intimidated by it. Maybe having the right tools would help me take that step!I went and found my order from 2015 and back then I got a large coarse and a small fine for 80 bucks total.
View attachment 1075669
Now that same pair is $180
I'd love to own more. Should have bought them in 2015! But a hand stitched rasp is the bees knees if you've never used one! I've shaped every neck I've ever made with those two rasps as well.
Steve Holt
Friend of Leo's
Maybe it's time! Tools are key. You'll need a way to route a truss rod slot, carving tools, fretting tools, and fret leveling tools.
But to be perfectly honest I don't think you should be intimidated by it. I've always found neck shaping to be very forgiving (with my rasps). You get a hump or a flat spot somewhere and it'll come out easier. I have a much harder time with bodies if I get a flat spot around the edges or something else weird happens.
Attachments
It might be time. I have all the tools, except rasps. It would be nice to be able to say, "I made that guitar," instead of "I still buy my necks."
Steve Holt
Friend of Leo's
If it helps you out, not that there aren't plenty of neck build threads on here, I can go a lot more detailed with pictures and descriptions here when I build my necks.
I still buy my fretboards preslotted and preradiused. I have the ability to do it myself, but I need more practice before I really start doing it.
crazydave911
Doctor of Teleocity
Well, in my experience that is out of phase,both ways. But apparently in single coil mode you've grown to like that. The neck looks normal but you've done the bridge exactly backwards (depending how you wire it I suppose) but regardless in single coil mode you have a north and a south. In how I was taught that's out of phase when BOTH are selected. Now I often do that myself but to get a "humbucker" with the neck and bridge pickup but my both is in series in this case although with a standard switch it tends to have Strat quack which also sounds good
.I found all this by being a Strat modder (hey, we all have secrets lol). From removing one pot and adding one switch I had "normal" and neck/bridge and middle as humbucker. A very minimal mod with BIG tone changes lol. I learned from Bill Lawrence but hey, I could be wrong but I'd build my humbuckers identical and wire them different if I wanted the sound you seem to be going for
Then again I thought the Gibson Marauder was the finest electric I ever played, but the Gibson faithful didn't agree
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I think a lot of people here have produced a good body, finish, wiring, etc., but may be hesitant to do a neck. Or, maybe I'm the only one. In any case, I'd be eager to see how you do what you do!
Steve Holt
Friend of Leo's
You're not the only one! I try talking people into it all the time!
Steve Holt
Friend of Leo's
Well, in my experience that is out of phase,both ways. But apparently in single coil mode you've grown to like that. The neck looks normal but you've done the bridge exactly backwards (depending how you wire it I suppose) but regardless in single coil mode you have a north and a south. In how I was taught that's out of phase when BOTH are selected. Now I often do that myself but to get a "humbucker" with the neck and bridge pickup but my both is in series in this case although with a standard switch it tends to have Strat quack which also sounds good
I found all this by being a Strat modder (hey, we all have secrets lol). From removing one pot and adding one switch I had "normal" and neck/bridge and middle as humbucker. A very minimal mod with BIG tone changes lol. I learned from Bill Lawrence but hey, I could be wrong but I'd build my humbuckers identical and wire them different if I wanted the sound you seem to be going for
Then again I thought the Gibson Marauder was the finest electric I ever played, but the Gibson faithful didn't agree
That hasn't been my understanding. I had a strat for several years (in also a strat tinkerer) that I wired up with the Brian May wiring scheme. So it had phase reversal switches for every pickup combo. So I know what out of phase pickups sound like. It can be fun, but it is not a desirable tone and definitely not achieved by RWRP pickups.
Don't take my word for it though, here's a screenshot from seymour Duncan's website
Out Of Phase Pickups | Seymour Duncan
Guitar pickup polarity: guitar pickups are like flavours of food. You want to wind up with chocolate and peanut butter, not chocolate and onions.
www.seymourduncan.com
And any time I've run into a phase issue it's been just that. Flip the polarity, fixed. Flip a wire on one of the pickups, fixed.
RWRP is about hum cancelation, but doesn't cause phasing issues.
Steve Holt
Friend of Leo's
Here's my ignorance showing.
Does north always refer to the coil closest to the neck? Or is it slug south, screw north? Or does it change at the bridge?
I really have no idea.
My plan is to face the screw side on the neck closest to the neck, and the screw side on the bridge closest to the bridge, and keep the screws active. They'll be the furthest apart and occupy closest to each extreme.
So my thought is the screw side will be stronger than the slug side anyway, and putting that closest to the bridge and neck respectively will give me the most dramatic difference between the two. Feel free to educate me.
Steve. I’m not much further ahead of you in understanding and making humbuckers but I’ve done a lot of research!
Seems like most makers wind and set the polarities the same regardless of whether the pickup is for the neck or the bridge. Early Gibson PAFs were all made the same, even screw and slug spacing. Assemblers would grab the next two of pickups in the bin and install them.
Slug side is usually north and screw side is usually south. The neck PU screw/south coil usually is closest to the neck and the bridge PU screw/south coil is usually closest to the bridge, as you mentioned.
Most, if not all, wiring diagrams I’ve seen showing both humbuckers split show the south/screw coils active which, as you know, does not provide humbucking.
In contrast to the above note, information I’ve found regarding wiring the bridge pickup to use it alone and in single coil mode shows that using the north/slug coil provides better results due to it being a bit further from the bridge so the string vibration is a bit greater which gives the coil a bit more to work with.
My diagram in an earlier post is my idea to get humbucking when in single mode. I’m a few weeks away from putting the guitar together.
For more reading:
www.fralinpickups.com
www.tonepedia.com
A good tool:
Seems like most makers wind and set the polarities the same regardless of whether the pickup is for the neck or the bridge. Early Gibson PAFs were all made the same, even screw and slug spacing. Assemblers would grab the next two of pickups in the bin and install them.
Slug side is usually north and screw side is usually south. The neck PU screw/south coil usually is closest to the neck and the bridge PU screw/south coil is usually closest to the bridge, as you mentioned.
Most, if not all, wiring diagrams I’ve seen showing both humbuckers split show the south/screw coils active which, as you know, does not provide humbucking.
In contrast to the above note, information I’ve found regarding wiring the bridge pickup to use it alone and in single coil mode shows that using the north/slug coil provides better results due to it being a bit further from the bridge so the string vibration is a bit greater which gives the coil a bit more to work with.
My diagram in an earlier post is my idea to get humbucking when in single mode. I’m a few weeks away from putting the guitar together.
For more reading:
Demystifying Humbucker Color Codes - Fralin Pickups
Learn how to match different manufacturer's humbucker color codes with our easy guide.
www.fralinpickups.com
Magnets and Coils - A Guitar Pickup Cheatsheet
Learn about electric guitar pickups and chose the best one for you. Single coils vs humbucker. Active vs passive. We explain everything here.
www.tonepedia.com
A good tool:
crazydave911
Doctor of Teleocity
Apparently I got confused by the north/south crap. Regardless I would wind them identical and install them the way I wantThat hasn't been my understanding. I had a strat for several years (in also a strat tinkerer) that I wired up with the Brian May wiring scheme. So it had phase reversal switches for every pickup combo. So I know what out of phase pickups sound like. It can be fun, but it is not a desirable tone and definitely not achieved by RWRP pickups.
Don't take my word for it though, here's a screenshot from seymour Duncan's website
View attachment 1075950
Out Of Phase Pickups | Seymour Duncan
Guitar pickup polarity: guitar pickups are like flavours of food. You want to wind up with chocolate and peanut butter, not chocolate and onions.
And any time I've run into a phase issue it's been just that. Flip the polarity, fixed. Flip a wire on one of the pickups, fixed.
RWRP is about hum cancelation, but doesn't cause phasing issues.
Steve Holt
Friend of Leo's
Fretboards showed up today!! I think this build thread is about to be joined by the strat I'm building. Why not?
Left: African Blackwood and curly maple for the strat
Right: African Blackwood and Honduran Mahogany for the Tele.
Can't wait to sink my teeth into these necks!
crazydave911
Doctor of Teleocity
So VERY nice 
Sorry for the derail on the pickups, just got confused on that bridge pickup. I'd make it identical to the neck pickup then just turn it around. That's exactly what Gibson did with the PAF and the results speak for themselves. Not sure I'd do what they've done with the coil splits. Even if you find the correct diagrams most sounded bleh except one. And I don't remember that model
Sorry for the derail on the pickups, just got confused on that bridge pickup. I'd make it identical to the neck pickup then just turn it around. That's exactly what Gibson did with the PAF and the results speak for themselves. Not sure I'd do what they've done with the coil splits. Even if you find the correct diagrams most sounded bleh except one. And I don't remember that model
Steve Holt
Friend of Leo's
I'm not much of a weekday warrior anymore now that I've taken on the quality control department. But sometimes you get the itch to head out to the shop and nothing can fix that. So I got a few minutes to work last night and it was great. Though very cold. The drum sander and planet are out in the old shop and there's no heat out there.
I got my neck blanks thicknessed to 3/4 inches and my fretboards are 1/4" at the top of the radius to get that golden 1" mark. Plus a few hairs for the sanding I'll inevitably do.
I mentioned that I get my fretboards from lmii. One thing they don't do is cut the nut slot. I'm not much of a jig guy, but I made a jig for that. It's just a sled with a centerline marked (hopefully) perfectly perpendicular to the blade. I attach it, line everything up and then send it through. This of course after testing the height on scrap.
I shoot for 3/16 deep and I have an 1/8" kerf blade. My blade has the square tips so I get a nice flat slot for the nut.
Whenever I do a truss rod I know that if I set the centerline 1-9/16" from the edge of the board I'll have enough room for the necks I build. That measurement is good for me because I have a good reference point in my router table to set up a fence right there and get it just right. So I drew my lines at that distance to get the necks ready to cut the truss rod slots next time I'm out.
I got my neck blanks thicknessed to 3/4 inches and my fretboards are 1/4" at the top of the radius to get that golden 1" mark. Plus a few hairs for the sanding I'll inevitably do.
I mentioned that I get my fretboards from lmii. One thing they don't do is cut the nut slot. I'm not much of a jig guy, but I made a jig for that. It's just a sled with a centerline marked (hopefully) perfectly perpendicular to the blade. I attach it, line everything up and then send it through. This of course after testing the height on scrap.
I shoot for 3/16 deep and I have an 1/8" kerf blade. My blade has the square tips so I get a nice flat slot for the nut.
Whenever I do a truss rod I know that if I set the centerline 1-9/16" from the edge of the board I'll have enough room for the necks I build. That measurement is good for me because I have a good reference point in my router table to set up a fence right there and get it just right. So I drew my lines at that distance to get the necks ready to cut the truss rod slots next time I'm out.
Attachments
Steve Holt
Friend of Leo's
So VERY nice
Sorry for the derail on the pickups, just got confused on that bridge pickup. I'd make it identical to the neck pickup then just turn it around. That's exactly what Gibson did with the PAF and the results speak for themselves. Not sure I'd do what they've done with the coil splits. Even if you find the correct diagrams most sounded bleh except one. And I don't remember that model
No worries! I'm an idiot when it comes to buckers so that makes total sense. Like @peterg they wound them all the same and then just grabbed two out of a box. I'll do the humbuckers the same and then split the coils the way that makes sense to me. And then if it doesn't work, we'll do the opposite. If neither sound good...we'll do something else!
Steve Holt
Friend of Leo's
More neck stuff.
I got my fence set up to 1-9/16" from the center of my bit like I mentioned in the previous post. If you notice the horizontal lines there I can set the board right on the edge of that line and see that it's the same all the way across.
I didn't get a picture of the first bit. But I mark the left and right side of bit so I know where it stops and ends while I'm routing the truss rod.
That's the line for where the nut should go. And the truss rod sits just beyond it. I also mark the 21st fret on the other end and that's where I start.
My first few guitars were all heel adjust. I've tried drilling a hole in the headstock a few times to mixed results. I actually like the routed headstock adjust though. That's just me. And it's easy to do. I just route the channel with my 1/4" bit and then switch to a 1/2" and do the end.
Another important step is that I always keep a piece of scrap nearby when I'm doing this. I cut the scrap first and check the depth of the cut and then cut the slot. Then raise the bit, cut the scrap again, etc. I like to be just a hair below flush when all is said and done. The little bit of silicon in the channel will lift it up a little.
That's one pass.
The I transfer the lines to the back and use the marks I made on my fence to snow where to start and stop. This picture is from cutting out the wider part where the adjuster sits.
I leave enough room at the adjustment end that I can lower an Allen wrench straight down into the channel and then slide it forward to fit it in the hex slot.
These should be real necks by the end of the weekend!
I got my fence set up to 1-9/16" from the center of my bit like I mentioned in the previous post. If you notice the horizontal lines there I can set the board right on the edge of that line and see that it's the same all the way across.
I didn't get a picture of the first bit. But I mark the left and right side of bit so I know where it stops and ends while I'm routing the truss rod.
That's the line for where the nut should go. And the truss rod sits just beyond it. I also mark the 21st fret on the other end and that's where I start.
My first few guitars were all heel adjust. I've tried drilling a hole in the headstock a few times to mixed results. I actually like the routed headstock adjust though. That's just me. And it's easy to do. I just route the channel with my 1/4" bit and then switch to a 1/2" and do the end.
Another important step is that I always keep a piece of scrap nearby when I'm doing this. I cut the scrap first and check the depth of the cut and then cut the slot. Then raise the bit, cut the scrap again, etc. I like to be just a hair below flush when all is said and done. The little bit of silicon in the channel will lift it up a little.
That's one pass.
The I transfer the lines to the back and use the marks I made on my fence to snow where to start and stop. This picture is from cutting out the wider part where the adjuster sits.
I leave enough room at the adjustment end that I can lower an Allen wrench straight down into the channel and then slide it forward to fit it in the hex slot.
These should be real necks by the end of the weekend!
Steve Holt
Friend of Leo's
I also got one pickup done! I need another piece of 4 conductor wire to be able to get the other one done so I just figured I'd do one while I was thinking about how to make the other. I can do the next one either the exact same or the opposite. But at this point I'm thinking exact same.
On this second attempt I decided to go a little bit over 5000. Hoping for a little warmer sound. Got get those smooth mids and glassy highs
This is the part I really struggled with. As I've only wound singles before, and everything I've wound has had brass eyelets. You wrap the start, wind it, wrap the end and it's done. A neat package.
Not with these! You've got a chunk of wire just floating on the end and you have to solder a 42 awg strand of hair to it!! I kept breaking the leads just trying to get then wrapped up in there. But that part is over.
There's the gold foil! I struggled with this part too. Fortunately I have a coworker whose job is intricate wiring. So I took it to him and he finished it up for me.
All wrapped up.
And finished! Hoping it never has to be taken apart. I really like the look of the gold gold foil. We'll see what happens when I pot it. I kept running through it in my head. About whether it should be potted with or without the foil. I decided let's do it with the foil and I'll just try really hard not to let a lot of wax accumulate on it. (Shoulder shrug)
On this second attempt I decided to go a little bit over 5000. Hoping for a little warmer sound. Got get those smooth mids and glassy highs
This is the part I really struggled with. As I've only wound singles before, and everything I've wound has had brass eyelets. You wrap the start, wind it, wrap the end and it's done. A neat package.
Not with these! You've got a chunk of wire just floating on the end and you have to solder a 42 awg strand of hair to it!! I kept breaking the leads just trying to get then wrapped up in there. But that part is over.
There's the gold foil! I struggled with this part too. Fortunately I have a coworker whose job is intricate wiring. So I took it to him and he finished it up for me.
All wrapped up.
And finished! Hoping it never has to be taken apart. I really like the look of the gold gold foil. We'll see what happens when I pot it. I kept running through it in my head. About whether it should be potted with or without the foil. I decided let's do it with the foil and I'll just try really hard not to let a lot of wax accumulate on it. (Shoulder shrug)
