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Post by strat80hm on Feb 21, 2014 1:23:28 GMT -5
Thanks for sharing thoughts. Here are more pics: Indeed it seems like there s no brand whatsoever. Very cheap finish (look at that thick layer!), apparently cheap pickups too. Still unsure about what the wood could be. I think you re right Sumgai, this could be some DIY kit - or at maybe a cheap strat on which the neck has been changed. Anyway, it doesnt seem like i m gonna butcher any fancy axe, and this was the main point. Cool!
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Post by strat80hm on Feb 20, 2014 0:48:44 GMT -5
Thanks for sharing thoughts Greekdude.
I indeed "forced" a bit against the shape of the grooves when filing, though so far the tuning is stable and the sound full (no sitar flavor).
In the meantime, i found some cheap graphite nuts from Strukture: they seem good enough, and better fitted for a strat (straight), so i might try one on it.
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Post by strat80hm on Feb 20, 2014 0:27:50 GMT -5
Thank you again for wise words GuitarNuts. So i went hunting for a test mule: just wanted to share the one i m thinking of using. I m planning on routing beneath the pickguard and fit my system in (piezo bridge, mag pickups, sustainer driver and circuit). - Does anyone recognize any brand? I would not want to damage a collector Here, no brand, no name, and i had never seen that headstock shape. - what wood this is? This body is quite heavy, made of 3 pieces of wood it seems. I m quite ignorant in woods, though this is definitely not basswood.
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Post by strat80hm on Jan 31, 2014 18:39:20 GMT -5
Good point 4Real: so far i only did a quick real world installation - sustainer driver (at the bridge)+humbucker (neck)+piezo bridge- and it worked nicely, no hiss. But indeed i havent done a FULL testing. That mini-humbucker (bridge) could of course not be used when sustainer is on, although i havent figure out a proper wiring yet.
Could you tell me more precisely what you see that wont work please?
Good point again. So far, this guitar is the lightest i have: i always try it standing up with a strap and it s perfectly balanced as of now. Are you saying that you would not recreate some Jaguar/Jazzmaster cavities ideas on a basswood strat body?
I hear you, and this is what i ve been trying to do too; all along the way, guitar nuts' expertise came in very handy. First i went for a sound and steady structure with that new vibrato bridge, nut, tuning machine and fretboard extension. Then i experimented with piezo/sustainer/pickups placements. Now i m searching for a clever way to layout wiring and switches, in a out-of-body fashion, trying to indulge ergonomics and functionality.
And i hear you 4Real, I might wanna try a full test with everything connected the way i d want and see if it works then. I might do this (out of body, no routing) for these experimental shows this weekend.
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Post by strat80hm on Jan 31, 2014 17:43:27 GMT -5
Nut can be seen a bit better here. I had to shape the grooves (they were angled, narrow and shallow) using the actual strings as a DIY file, it worked ok. I still have to sand/clean/carve its look, but the guitar plays very nice already. If no objection, i m gonna slightly glue it then.
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Post by strat80hm on Jan 31, 2014 16:35:58 GMT -5
Thanks for advices and experience. The whole mock-up is trying to get obstacle free strumming with ergonomic positioning AND sturdy structure. How little wood is not enough? Here it seems to fit. i m wondering if it s weakens the guitar though. - i like the way Fender conceived the Jaguar/Jazzmaster: very ergonomic with a lot of uncluttered room for the strumming hand. - i do not mind a custom pickguard - once i actually made one from scratch wood that s comesticaly decent actually - as that ll be easier for soldering/maintaining i seems. - If front-routed, i m thinking 2 half-pickguards (upper and lower) - the 5 way switch (double wafer) must be accessible while playing: i like to change pickups as i strum/arpeggiate, so it needs to be around the horns i guess. I d like it just above the fretboard as well - if it s structurally sound. - to avoid useless routing, the sustainer s circuit could also fit below the pickups. Then i d replace the board-mounted toggle-switches with 2 slide-switches like those: Looks like the body is thick enough to fit the circuit (without the toggle) + slide switches Not sure if i m making the right decision. I d like to start routing today/tomorrow and get a first prototype for a show this weekend..
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Post by strat80hm on Jan 31, 2014 15:48:29 GMT -5
it doesn't seem prudent to reduce the body size. Thanks for input. Indeed, i have concerns too. I m gonna to the safe way and leave it as is for now.
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Post by strat80hm on Jan 31, 2014 14:28:16 GMT -5
Strings are buried deep into graphite yes.
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Post by strat80hm on Jan 31, 2014 1:46:05 GMT -5
I m studying where to fit the controls and eiectronic, therefore deciding where to route the extra-cavities. I have to organize and fit: - 2 pickups (mini-humbuckers from a Les Paul) - 1 sustainer driver + circuit - 4 knobs (master VOL. + master TONE + sustainer INTENSITY + piezo bridge VOL.) - 2 switches (5 ways-pickup SWITCH + master KILLSWITCH) Here are 2 mockups of where my mind is at so far: This one with the piezo VOL. on the upper horn: That one with the piezo VOL. with the other pots. My concerns are wether or not this is a good idea to dig hole into these horns. Also wondering if should i route from the front of from the rear. Any thoughts welcome as always
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Post by strat80hm on Jan 30, 2014 1:51:58 GMT -5
That graphite nut (Dimarzio for Gibson) fits pretty well as an almost-direct replacement of the original (Kahler) locking nut. I started to recreate the missing fingerboard (with rosewood or bamboo) but then realize that i didnt even need that. It s a tad too narrow on that wide fingerboard, but it s ok. Is it ok if i just use some watered-down-Titebond to hold it in place?
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Post by strat80hm on Jan 30, 2014 1:43:30 GMT -5
Question 1 - is there any danger in downsizing this basswood strat body? We all know EVH story - ruining the sound of his Ibanez Destroyer by cutting a chunk off - but i mean, if i make sure i leave enough thickness for the cavity walls, i am not jeopardizing the guitar s structure, am i? I know the old paint is helping in holding the wood together, but I find the shape a tad too long; cutting off about 1 inch at the bottom would bring on some sexy curves. Front view Back view Then i ll route the 3x2in for the sustainer circuit. Question 2: to recreate the rounded edge, do i have to use the router or could i go with a file?
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Post by strat80hm on Jan 21, 2014 23:11:45 GMT -5
Thank you everyone.
I thought about 3-D printing Greekdude, this is one of these moments when this technique comes in handy, no doubt. Dont really have access to one yet though.
Ashcatlt, you nailed it, Molex connector indeed. I m checking Mouser, next step is going to be to locate the right model, there are so many of them. That ll be nice if i find it - though worst case scenario, i ll just solder the wire straight to the poles on the circuit.
I m all for salvaging/recycling 68injunhed, will definitely keep an eyes on the model i can find on these old PC towers.
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Post by strat80hm on Jan 17, 2014 22:23:49 GMT -5
The reason behind dismantling the Humbucker-sized Sustainer is to make it a SingleCoil-sized Sustainer - they re almost impossible to find on the second-hand market, and cost over US$140 from Fernandez. - i just have to cleanly severe/remove the dummy-coil - i can then pair it up with that Lace Sensor. Since they are of similar dimensions really, and this way they both fit into that bridge pickup routing in the body of my strat.
- i am not planning on using this Lace Sensor along with the Sustainer of course (there s a big hiss when using a Sustainer driver too close) - only as a stand-alone pickup. - my prototype is currently using the sustainer in the bridge position and this works pretty well.
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Post by strat80hm on Nov 26, 2013 20:27:34 GMT -5
I m about to "dismantle" this "Humbucker-sized" Sustainer Driver, hoping i wont create any mess, so in case anyone did it previously, i wouldnt mind any advice ;-) The goal is to save real-estate by filling up the "empty coil" with a real pickup (Lace Sensor). Thanks.
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Post by strat80hm on Nov 26, 2013 20:22:37 GMT -5
They are part of the sustainer circuit. Thank you for your lights.
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Post by strat80hm on Nov 20, 2013 7:47:57 GMT -5
Lovely project than that Goblin, i like the genuine neck pickup.
I experimented with different position for the sustainer+piezo (hovering the driver above the strings in search of the sweet volume/sustain spot) while amping only the magnetic pickups, and it seemed to work with no hiss, be it from neck or bridge pickup i reckon. Like the Ebow, the closer to the middle of the string and the closer to the strings the stronger the effect, though it seemed that i could get a good compromise midway between neck and bridge pickup. I also liked the driver at the bridge, allowing to use the ouput of the neck pickup or the piezo, resulting in different sounds. My main quest is to have the sustainer able to work on the longest possible length of string - hence closer to bridge.
Regardless, my next step is gonna be the dismantling of that driver.
This is work in progress and I ll be interested to have more insight of your experience in this domain 4sure, will talk soon then, thanks.
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Post by strat80hm on Nov 20, 2013 1:55:55 GMT -5
Busy music activities made me disappear from the forum but i always kept the project in mind. Thanks everyone for helping in the process of changing this bridge, really appreciated. Quick update: - did a full set up, the guitar is fantastic, light and bright, very clean sounding, promising. - the out-of-body wiring is made of a Duncan humbucker, the sustainer, the piezo bridge, a pickup switch and a killswitch, plus master volume and tone. I m planning on adding a single coil Lace sensor. - XBridge works fine: the piezo sounds clear and accepts the slented set-up. Along with the locking tuners, it stays in tune pretty well and allow quite a wide action - not as wide as the previous double-locking system, but that was expected trade-off. I ve been experimenting with different setup, locations and wiring for the pickups and sustainer-driver, and more ideas, but this phase probably belongs to another thread. Next: - I m thinking of routing a bit beneath the bridge to allow wider pulls though as i need at least a fourth on the G string. - I might as well have to file along the walls of the cavity to accomodate the wider movement of the bridge. - I m thinking of routing in between the 2 existing pickup for the Lace Sensor, hopefully this wont make the structure too fragile. As always, thoughts welcomed. Thanks
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Post by strat80hm on Nov 19, 2013 19:40:15 GMT -5
Similarly, i saw this: doesnt this look interesting?
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Post by strat80hm on Nov 19, 2013 19:38:27 GMT -5
By the way, after a couple of months on tour, i m back working on my dream guitar. I too - like Cyn1- wanted to bypass the sustainer to some degree. The way i m planning on doing it is by having 2 separate system on the guitar: - regular electromagnetic system with neck and bridge pickups attached to position 1 and 3 of a 3-way pickup selector. - sustainer + piezo bridge pickup attached to position 2 of the pickup selector.
This way, the sustainer can work while i play with either the neck, bridge or piezo pickup.
I ve done some out-of-body test and this seems to work fine. Anyone ever experiment in that direction too?
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Post by strat80hm on Nov 19, 2013 19:32:48 GMT -5
Also do you know where i could find that "metal fender part" (as in car fender, not the guitar maker) on which to attach both coils? i could make one out of wood in case, but maybe there s a cheap "real metal" solution? How about these: anybody ever found a place to purchase these wiring clips?
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Post by strat80hm on Nov 19, 2013 19:28:37 GMT -5
Anyone ever attempted to dismatle a Fernandes Sustainer Driver? That used FSK 101 came with that bulky humbucker-sized-driver pickup: i can tell that one coil (out of the 2-coil shape) is the actual driver, while the other coil (the one where the word Sustainer is serigraphed) is just empty. So i want to open up this big bulky black plastic pickup and only keep the actual driver. I would either make it a single-coil-shaped driver, or would couple it up with a lace-sensor single-coil in order to create a humbucker-sized-pickup containing driver+pickup. So that could look like this: That is basically destroying some otherwise easily sellable item, so before proceeding, i like to ask you GTNuts what you d have to say about that. Thank you for your lights.
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Post by strat80hm on Aug 9, 2013 16:08:47 GMT -5
So you re saying the less wood the more volume? And the less wood the less sustain?
I noticed a fair change of tone when swapping necks on strats. I believe necks and bridges are the main tone changers. Scalloping might be a factor too then.
I m planning on doing some on my dream guitar in progress, will see what happens.
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Post by strat80hm on Aug 8, 2013 23:49:10 GMT -5
Thanks. Indeed, Dremel are nice little toys that makes me never want to stop.. can be dangerous yup..
This is the result i want yes!
My 60 reissue strat reacts a bit like that too: arm is bolted on permanently and i only use soft - but quality (www.mooradian.com) - gig bags. I still have to retune it now and then though. It s exciting to know that maybe this would be thing of the past!!
Yet i m not sold on the LSR yet. I tried it, it works very well indeed. I guess this is the "idea" of these ball-bearings that i dont like. That plus the limitation on the heavy gauge for the lower strings. And cutting off the fingerboard.
TUSQ wears off. Graphite too.
So far, i m carving the "missing bit" of fingerboard out of a piece of poplar - that i plan on coloring to match the rosewood. Then i ll have to make a decision.
Actually I m thinking of going back to old habit: bone and pencil powder..
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Post by strat80hm on Aug 8, 2013 23:25:50 GMT -5
Thanks. Though i am definitely one of those lazy ones... it s just that you guys convinced me that the lazy route was not the good one here.
Indeed, i like the bridge slightly "up" and the neck slightly angled - as long as the guitar can lie flat on the floor without the headstock having any contact with the floor. Conveniently, this neck pocket comes with that Allen bolt "tilting system", so i dont even need to use any shim.
I do not use that warbling Beck thing, but i pull notes and chords rather, and i set my other strat bridge so that i can go up to a fifth on the G string. I dont think it s extreme, but that is why i was wondering about routing/recessing.
I m going have to install the post-inserts in order to test the vibrato-range and the piezo-saddles contact-quality anyway, and i m wondering: if needed, could i still remove these inserts and put them back while keeping the guitar strong?
Yes, it s just a matter of contact/pressure. They explain that the piezo saddles would not transmit strings vibration beyond a certain angle of pushing the bar.
Pedantry is welcome, as Quality and Devil are in the details right? I noticed early on the utmost care you put into your designs, this is beyond my skills, but this is very inspiring regardless!
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Post by strat80hm on Aug 8, 2013 22:06:16 GMT -5
So i finally did it: stripped down a perfectly legit Fender Strat headstock with my dremel! It felt a bit weird while doing it, but this is going the right direction for me. I wanted to share the experience with anyone who dreamed of doing it but did not dare..yet
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Post by strat80hm on Aug 8, 2013 21:39:59 GMT -5
So after drying, time to level out indeed. Manually first Then having fun with the array of tools available in my friends woodshop And here s the result, after routing the block I can then reinstall the neck - which headstock i stripped down (see my other post) and installed 2 tuning pegs on, with 2 strings Discovering that it does exist a Center Finding Ruler, who knew? (quite convenient indeed) Simulating final placement Bridge is going to be around here Drawing looks VERY bad and approximate, but i actually measured 3 times and settle down on those locations for the posts More fun toys to play with And now there s no turning back This whole process has been done with no template by the way - and now i understand better why templates do exist! Next step is the actual install of the x-bridge, and i have a question as always: I usually set up my bridges a la Jeff Beck, meaning floating and slanted, and i drastically pull and push it all the time. The X-bridge manual (very poorly written by the way) mention that piezo saddle would produce better result with a "flat" install. Therefore, i m thinking about angling the neck a bit, and routing a bit beneath said bridge in order to be able to pull the notes. My plan was to first try a basic install, but i m realizing that before that, i need to know how deep the post-holes are ultimately going to be. Q - if i recess the bridge 5mm, i d need to drill and extra 5mm for the post-inserts: is it recommended to place the pole inserts, then to remove them to drill more, and then to put them back? would this weaken the poles/wood?
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Post by strat80hm on Aug 8, 2013 15:00:05 GMT -5
Thanks for support and monitoring 4Real, cool.
I m drilling/installing the X-Bridge today hopefully...
Question:
You mention 2 batteries because of Sustainer + Piezo Preamp? Or are you suggesting using 2 batteries for the sustainer s circuit (with works under 9V) ?
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Post by strat80hm on Aug 2, 2013 22:04:00 GMT -5
This is August and i finally started! Did exactly how you guys advised (thank you again!) - large square routing - dowels in old vibrato bridge holes - piece of poplar fitting tightly and glued with titebond3 - and now it s drying for 24h Next steps: - add a couple of screws at relevant locations, - vibrato bridge routing (following existing shape from below as template) - reinforcement using a metal piece (that i yet have to find) - carefully drilling new hole for x-bridge Any specific advice for those (especially regarding drilling of new holes)?
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Post by strat80hm on Jul 31, 2013 22:59:43 GMT -5
Extensive research and knowledge in the domain 4Real, very useful links and tips. I ll get back to this when i m at the next stage. You guys were very right when i came to time: i was thinking i d be done with my dream guitar by mid July. Tomorrow is August and i havent started, haha.. Each time i foresee some free days to work on it, bam, a last minute gig is in the way. This time it was a movie-score - strange beautiful movie for which i so wished i had my dream guitar for... Well another time. Ok, back to guitar, i need to: - route bridge area (do i need to create a template?) - fill up with 1/2inch thick piece of wood (that i ll glue/screw) - route small hole for x-bridge (and 2 holes for new posts) - later i d need to make room for sustainer s circuit/battery. So, do i need to carve a template before starting? Also, ESP is apparently using a metal strip to reinforce this area, would i benefit from doing the same?
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Post by strat80hm on Jul 18, 2013 15:34:56 GMT -5
While i m unfortunately FAR from having your skills and experience, yet it s interesting that we ve follow very similar paths 4Real. Thanks for sharing your story - cool strat by the way, very close to my dream guitar! I could rout out about 12mm (1/2in) deep before reaching the "other side" of bridge routing: Cyn1 is advising 1 inch thick for the plug. I guess i m not gonna be able to keep the smaller hole as a template. I ll just route and fill for now, then install the bridge and see how good that is. Step one on my list was to get a Strat with 24 frets and standard vibrato bridge anyway. I ll start being fancy (piezo, sustainer..) from then on if it s worth it. By the way i love the idea of a guitar able to pick up any noise around (switches, fingers, tap..), especially if said noise comes with a volume control! That ll be perfect for creating more weird stuff!
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