Strat SP build complete

[megi]

Hi guys, hope you don't mind me putting this in the wiring section, but it does involve JohnH's Strat SP circuit so I hope relevant. I've just yesterday completed work on my strat project that has the SP wiring - I've used a couple of mini-toggles for the extra switches, just a personal preference as opposed to push-pull pots. The pickups are a set I ordered from an ebay hand-winder, and have been made to something roughly like the same specs as in Fender's Eric Johnson model strat - Alnico 3 neck (5.9K) and middle (6.1K), beefier alnico 5 in the bridge (6.8K). The guitar itself has a one-piece swamp ash body and ebony fingerboard neck:



Anyway, the main point of this post is first and foremost to thank all at this forum for tirelessly helping people like me, and especially JohnH for his wonderful guitar circuits (this is my second project to use a JohnH design) - I regard him as a bit of a genius for coming up with schemes that are both elegant and intuitive to use, but also expand the guitar's capability enormously. You deserve an award for "services to guitar electronics" John!

And to say that I will get some MP3 soundclips done and linked to on here to listen to in the next few days to show what the Strat SP circuit is capable of.

PS: for anyone interested, I did run a couple of build threads on other forums (they are quite lengthy to read through... ): www.guitars.co.uk/forum/ubbthreads.php/ubb/showflat/Number/289151#Post289151
www.jazzguitar.be/forum/guitar-amps-gizmos/18286-meggys-stratocaster-project.html

[newey]

She's a beauty, megi!

+1 for building the SP design, we've had a lot of interest in that design from JohnH, so it's always good to be able to point to a successful build.

The Gallery section might have been a more appropriate place for the post, but I won't move it, it's close enough to wiring.

[JohnH]

Well done, that looks like a very classy piece of work and thanks for posting

John

[megi]

Thanks guys, I've just been testing the guitar out, and SP circuit is functioning perfectly and does make for some great tones - it really is a Strat soundwise, and it's no shrinking violet either if I can put it that way. On this guitar at least, I feel the SP wiring is enhancing the versatility of the guitar a lot, although I would stress the word "enhance" - the stratty flavour remains present in all the settings (to be expected, and not a bad thing really) - it's just that this basic character can then be made to go to places it wouldn't normally, and is more fine-tunable as well. Anyway, I'll get some sound samples up soon, and any more pictures I take will go in the appropriate section I promise, cheers!

[cynical1]

Very pretty guitar. Classy looking hardware, too.

I'll have to check out the other threads when I get home tonight.

And one piece ash...man, bet that was a few coins.

In the meantime, +1 for a very sweet looking build.

Happy Trails

Cynical One

[sumgai]

megi,

Nice work, I also "feel the need" to +1 you. ;D

However, there's an easy-to-see line all the way around the body, just under the 'top' surface.... This makes me believe that what we're seeing is a cap, over another type of wood for the rest of the body. Any other photos of the body, just to ease my mind?



sumgai

[megi]

Thank you chaps for the +1's, much appreciated! In order to show off the guitar a bit (I don't need much invitation I admit! ;D) and to reassure sumgai about the one-piece body (it did cost a bit, but less than you would think maybe - it added about £80 or $140 or so to the cost compared to a 3-piece) I've put up some pictures in the Gallery section: guitarnuts2.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=music&action=display&thread=6171 Do please have a look, cheers!

[sumgai]

megi,

Thanks for the extra pics (in the Gallery), they do show off your axe to the best advantage. ;D

It must be that in that one picture, the lighting makes the sides look like a different color from the top, with a definite line between the two shades. Either that, or my eyes are getting old (which would mean that they, too, can be judgmental!)


sumgai

[megi]

Jan 31, 2012 4:39:37 GMT -5 sumgai said:

megi,

Thanks for the extra pics (in the Gallery), they do show off your axe to the best advantage. ;D

It must be that in that one picture, the lighting makes the sides look like a different color from the top, with a definite line between the two shades. Either that, or my eyes are getting old (which would mean that they, too, can be judgmental!)


sumgai

No problems sumgai, and it was nice of you to provide me with the excuse I needed to put some pics up!

[JohnH]

Hi Megi - I have a small request about your build. If you built the whole SP circuit, Id be grateful for any feedback on the tone control action, particularly in series mode - as you go from 10 down to about 8 (thats where its intended to be a bit more interesting than normal), and also if the fade control (intended to fade down the bassier pickup in series mode only) is effective. Any comments + or - would be useful, since these are optional features and I'd like to use your experience to help either confirm, improve or change the design - so far i only have my own experiece to go on. You might for example, conclude that these are, effective, usefull, not useful, annoying, or maybe hard to tell what they do and so not really useful!. All cool!

cheers
John

[megi]

Hi John, I did build the circuit exactly as specified, except the main tone control cap was a 0.015uF instead of a 0.022uF - hardly significant though I would imagine? I used all 500K log pots (CTS).

Anyway, both the features you mention do work well - the enhanced tone control in series settings is very noticable, and really great. On my guitar it seems to kick in pretty much as I turn the control past 9, and quite suddenly, almost like flicking a switch - you can hear it happen if you leave a note ringing as you turn the control up that last bit. It just seems to give an extra brilliance and dimension to the tone - I guess the extra high-end is what is obviously noticeable, but I think it really is working in the way you intended, i.e. almost like an active treble boast at the top end of the control, in contrast to the normal feeling that the control is just subtracting highs as you turn down. Quite a good trick anyway, it works great for me, and it's easy to back off the control a pinch to get the normal "tone on full" sound. It's a real winner for me!

The fade control works great too, very useful in fact, and I like that it gives a useful role to the 3rd pot - I've always preferred guitars with just a master volume and tone, so I was wondering what I could do with the 3rd control on a strat. The action is not very smooth though, most of the change seems to occur as I turn the control from 0 to about 4 or 5, after which not much discernable change in the sound. This seems to be the case with the phase switch engaged as well. So maybe a different pot-taper would be better, or a different pot value? It's still very use-able though.

I'm still planning to get some sound samples up, sorry for the wait, I will get there before long, so I hope to shed some more light on the circuit then. It really is a great way to wire a strat though, thanks again for designing it!

[JohnH]

Thanks - a good result.

In my case, the guitar is going into an active buffer (which tends to reveal treble subtleties more), so its good to hear that the tone control enhancement is effective passively too.

The fade pot, could probably safely be reduced to 250k log, or even 100k log with a cut in the track at max to get it completely out of circuit.

cheers

John