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Post by nanookrubsit on Mar 7, 2013 22:19:29 GMT -5
This is my first time building a guitar. I mutilated a strat body and would like it to work like this. Three lipstick pickups run through a brian may style switching system, then run through two seperate "modboards" (internal effects with 2 parameters on concentric pots). I would also like to control the effects power (on 1, on 2, on 1 and 2, and both off) controlled by a four way rotary switch and have a fader/slider to control the wet dry levels of the effects. Is there any reason that if done right this just wont work? Also pleas any tips, advice, links etc would be greatly appreciated I'm going to need it.
-Brandon
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Post by nanookrubsit on Mar 7, 2013 22:27:07 GMT -5
What kind of pot am I going to need for that four way selector exactly?
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Post by newey on Mar 7, 2013 23:08:25 GMT -5
nanook- Sorry, but I had to move your thread, as it didn't belong in the Schematics section. There's a lot to digest there, so let me make a few preliminary points, and we'll go from there. First, when you say "Modboards", are you speaking of the onboard FXs available from Guitarfetish? If so, do you know of anyone who has managed to cram two of those modules into a Strat cavity? Have you carefully measured to see that this can be done? The concentric pots of these would then account for two of the three holes in a std. Strat pickguard for pots. A rotary to select the effects would take up the third hole. You also propose a sliding fader for a wet/dry blend, which I will assume would probably go where the 5-way switch normally goes on a Strat. You then also have other switches for the Brian May switching, 6 of them if you want to exactly duplicate the BM switching. The problems here aren't so much electrical as they are logistical- how do you fit all that into a Strat cavity? Oh, and P.S.- you'll also need room for a pair of 9V batteries. You might be able to run both FX boards off of a single 9V, but you'd need to check on the power requirements of these boards to see if one would do it. One battery would certainly last for less time if powering both Modboards. Now, you said you had mutilated a Strat body. I don't know if that included enlarging the cavity or not. There may be a way to fit all this into your guitar, I'm not saying it can't be done. But this is the first hurdle you have to clear. And bear in mind that it's not only the components that have to fit in there, it's the wiring to the components as well. Wiring cannot be crammed into ever-smaller spaces with impunity; at some point connections break, or short to something else. So one must leave sufficient spaces between things to allow for the wiring. But in any event, you should plan to have fitment problems, and unless you come up with a cogent plan to address the fitment issues, your project isn't getting off the ground. There's no point to addressing wiring concerns until the above is dealt with. But you should also consider that a "wet/dry" blend control here is likely to require that the dry signal be buffered before being combined with the "wet" signal from your Modboard(s). Combining a passive "dry" signal with an active "wet" signal is not likely to give satisfactory results. You'd probably need to run the "dry" signal through a buffer (esssentially, a zero-gain preamp) to be able to blend it decently. You don't want to control the FX units by cutting their power on/off. What you want to do is use the switch to control which signal gets sent to the output jack. (This may be what you meant to say, but just to clarify the point). Ideally, you would use a TRS (stereo-type) jack to disconnect the 9V cell(s) when no cable is plugged in, just as in an effects pedal. The rotary then directs to the output 1/1+2/2 with the 4th position as a bypass of both FX units. As for the basic wiring, we have several different Brian May-type wiring diagrams in the schematics section. As for your second question, I don't know what you mean by: It's not a pot at all, it's a rotary switch.
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Post by nanookrubsit on Mar 8, 2013 3:03:04 GMT -5
Hi newey!
Sorry a lot of the misunderstanding seems to be that I don't really know what to call things ie I know the difference but called a switch a pot. This is all really new to me and I know I am taking on a complicated build but I'm going to take my time and I learn fast and I already have the wood working/finishing eperience.
Thanks for moving it I just didn't know what was what on the site yet.
Yeah I mean the delay and distortion guitar fetish mod boards. They say that you're able to run up to three off of one battery.
When I saw mutilation I do mean extra routing, Im adding a control panel for the two knobs on each effect which will be routed lower a bit to keep the knobs out of your arms way. Then the rotary switch is going to have wire run up through a drill hole into the bottom horn. I've done some work with measuring and mocking up things and have the logistics figured out.
I mean the Brian may drop in replacement pickguard/kit for strat for sale under electronics on guitar fetish Also I'm blocking off the tremendous and taking out the springs, don't want it. So I'm going to mount a door and the 9 volt in that spring cavity. But yeah I'm planning on carving a pretty good sized chunk of this body out. I hope I touched on everything you brought up and thanks for helping when I obviously don't know what I'm talking about.
Thanks, Brandon
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Post by nanookrubsit on Mar 8, 2013 3:06:12 GMT -5
Ha just re-read my that post I meant tremolo not tremendous.
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Post by nanookrubsit on Mar 8, 2013 3:17:28 GMT -5
Specifically what preamp or kind of preamp (zero gain you said) but just something with minimal impact this thing is going to already look more like a gadget than a guitar and I don't want to add like another knob or switch
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Post by nanookrubsit on Mar 8, 2013 4:18:11 GMT -5
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Post by newey on Mar 8, 2013 19:37:21 GMT -5
nnri-
The GF Clapton preamp is a full-blown active preamp, much more than just a buffer. Whether it can be dialed down to 0dB gain, I dunno.
It would certainly work to buffer the signal prior to mixing, I just don't know the extent to which it may color the sound itself when in operation.
It is possible that the Modboards themselves could be used as a buffer, there may be a point at which a dry signal could be "split off". But we'd need the schematic of the Modboards to figure that out, and that info is likely proprietary.
If you've worked out where everything goes to your own satisfaction, that's fine.
As far as the type of rotary switch needed, you will need a 4-position switch . The positions are called "throws" and are abbreviated "T". So, it's a "4T". The other variable is the number of poles you'll need to connect the two effects and to have a bypass position. My first guess is that three will be needed, but it might be 4. So, probably a 3P4T.
Fitment may be an issue with rotaries as well, especially if you get beyond 2P, as the switch may be too deep. Watch the dimensions on the data sheet closely before you order anything, and measure the depth you have to work with on the body.
You may also want to consider a 5-position rotary switch so that you can have the pickups either completely passive, bypassing all the active stages, or buffered into the wet/dry set-up.
The wet/dry blend is what is going to complicate things tremendously here. I don't want to discourage your "nutziness", but what you want to achieve looks a whole lot more doable to me without that blend control involved.
I think the next step should be for you to start to mock up a diagram, so that we all can start the discussion from a baseline. It won't necessarily be "right" out of the gate, but we'll help. In doing such a diagram, you don't have to replicate the circuitry of the ModBoards, just draw each Board as a "black box", two signal wires in, two battery wires in, two signal wires out. These are separate "modules", so in a modular design, we only need concern ourselves with the I/O.
Same with the Brian May pickguard. If you're buying a prewired pickguard, the switches and pickups become another module, with two signal wires coming out.
Now, we need to know if you're keeping the stock V and 2T controls. I had assumed not, that the modboards knobs plus the rotary would occupy those spaces. But now you're talking like the mod knobs will be elsewhere, as will the rotary. So, the next question is where the Modboards instructions tell you to wire those boards in- before or after the V and T pots? This will determine where your modules will connect together.
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Post by sumgai on Mar 9, 2013 4:25:56 GMT -5
Sunburst! Preferably three-tone.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 9, 2013 12:47:16 GMT -5
Turquoise all the way, put some color in your life!
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Post by nanookrubsit on Mar 10, 2013 2:09:39 GMT -5
Thanks so much for the response but ok totally new plan. I bought an organ for 10$ and I'm going to take a few switches and 4 sliding pots.
This fits roughly into the old control panel roughtin plan and large back plate but the new idea is to have each of the four modboard's parameters assigned a slider and then there will be a clean signal that goes throught a 1 knob zero gain pream I found and an effected signal that I can mix with two stacked volume pots then another stacked knob for master tone/volume also the for the mod boards on off switch I want to use these 2 pear loud rockers from the organ. Do you see any problems or have any advice?
Thanks, brandon
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Post by newey on Mar 10, 2013 6:59:46 GMT -5
Well, for starters, what are the values of the organ pots?
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