Post by axekicker on Mar 21, 2012 14:41:40 GMT -5
My first shredtastic prototype completely assembled by yours truly. What's shocking is that this monster sounds and plays great, notwithstanding some botched pot spacing. Whaddya think of the industrial look? That's gonna be my niche. Metal knobs, big washers, DPDT Switch, Kill Switch, and Varitone. And it is SILENT. I mean, the quietest guitar I own. Material costs: Under $300. Labor costs: Over $8,000. Psychological costs: won’t go there. Here are the specs:
1) Blazing fast neck with jumbo frets. Asian, no doubt. I actually really like the headstock. 2-piece maple. Maybe three looking at the back. Not to be dropped too many times, but... I don't have a radius gauge, but looks around 18". With a fret leveling and re-crowning (I have the tools for this), the action is silly low. I also used a bit of balsa shim to achieve just the right tilt. However, I do have 08s on it, which is a little too thin for my taste, so with 09s, the action will have to get reasonable. I got rid of the finish on the board, and wiped it down with Gorgomyte for a worn-in look. I'm not there yet on that look, obviously.
gallery.me.com/aubreysinger#100292
2) RG-style body. Very light, and resonant. Probably Ibanez aftermarket.
Invader-style pickups. I bought two sets of these, knowing you get what you pay for. The first HB gave me issues due to my poor soldering and stripping techniques, but I got better along the way, thanks to the Nuts. Getting the damn thing into parallel took over a month between changing wires and burning switches until I replaced the HB. At $20 for an HB/S set, no big deal. But, resistance-wise, on par with the real deals.
4) GFS Floyd with brass block. By far, the best cheap-o Floyds on the market. And they come with a brass block! Makes it a loud guitar before plugging in.
5 )ELECTRONICS: Bourns Low-Friction 500k pot, DPDT series/parallel switch, recessed stainless-steel kill switch, 6-position varitone, and Fender 5-way lever switch. Copper shielding throughout. 26 Gauge wire throughout. Output jack is wired with two separate wires, Fender style. Altogether, virtually SILENT. I think both the pot and the shielding are responsible. Thoughts?
BOURNS LFP: When they say "low friction" it's an understatement. There is ZERO friction. So unless you're in a Van Halen tribute band that only plays "Cathedral" for 3 hours, this pot is ridiculous. It's silent, though. But needs to be positioned WAY out of the way or you'll turn yourself off every time your hand hits the pot - a big complaint for Wolfgang players, apparently. Not for me, but I always wanted to try one.
DPDT Switch: as many of you know, I've been learning about these, and it's safe to say I'm getting really good a wiring them. I want to move onto sliders next.
KILL SWITCH: I love these large, recessed switches, and the aggressive look of the huge washer. They work great when you use the tip of your pick to activate. I stumbled onto the washer look because I needed to cover up my bad drilling mistakes. I didn’t space my holes properly, but will on the next one.
VARITONE: I grabbed 6 caps that looked different enough and stuck em in, not expecting much. Wrong. There are 4 great tones, one thick tone and one tone that’s not working (so I need to go back in and fix it). But of the 4 great tones, one is instant Michael Schenker, another is instant Brian May and another is instant Randy Rhodes. I’m a mid-range freak, so I love it. I have to go back in and assess what cap is doing what. I thought I would require an inductor to get the mids, but apparently not. But I never use the tone pots on my HB pups, so at least this hole is now put to good use (insert dirty thought here).
Once I fix the varitone, I will post a video and sound samples.
1) Blazing fast neck with jumbo frets. Asian, no doubt. I actually really like the headstock. 2-piece maple. Maybe three looking at the back. Not to be dropped too many times, but... I don't have a radius gauge, but looks around 18". With a fret leveling and re-crowning (I have the tools for this), the action is silly low. I also used a bit of balsa shim to achieve just the right tilt. However, I do have 08s on it, which is a little too thin for my taste, so with 09s, the action will have to get reasonable. I got rid of the finish on the board, and wiped it down with Gorgomyte for a worn-in look. I'm not there yet on that look, obviously.
gallery.me.com/aubreysinger#100292
2) RG-style body. Very light, and resonant. Probably Ibanez aftermarket.
Invader-style pickups. I bought two sets of these, knowing you get what you pay for. The first HB gave me issues due to my poor soldering and stripping techniques, but I got better along the way, thanks to the Nuts. Getting the damn thing into parallel took over a month between changing wires and burning switches until I replaced the HB. At $20 for an HB/S set, no big deal. But, resistance-wise, on par with the real deals.
4) GFS Floyd with brass block. By far, the best cheap-o Floyds on the market. And they come with a brass block! Makes it a loud guitar before plugging in.
5 )ELECTRONICS: Bourns Low-Friction 500k pot, DPDT series/parallel switch, recessed stainless-steel kill switch, 6-position varitone, and Fender 5-way lever switch. Copper shielding throughout. 26 Gauge wire throughout. Output jack is wired with two separate wires, Fender style. Altogether, virtually SILENT. I think both the pot and the shielding are responsible. Thoughts?
BOURNS LFP: When they say "low friction" it's an understatement. There is ZERO friction. So unless you're in a Van Halen tribute band that only plays "Cathedral" for 3 hours, this pot is ridiculous. It's silent, though. But needs to be positioned WAY out of the way or you'll turn yourself off every time your hand hits the pot - a big complaint for Wolfgang players, apparently. Not for me, but I always wanted to try one.
DPDT Switch: as many of you know, I've been learning about these, and it's safe to say I'm getting really good a wiring them. I want to move onto sliders next.
KILL SWITCH: I love these large, recessed switches, and the aggressive look of the huge washer. They work great when you use the tip of your pick to activate. I stumbled onto the washer look because I needed to cover up my bad drilling mistakes. I didn’t space my holes properly, but will on the next one.
VARITONE: I grabbed 6 caps that looked different enough and stuck em in, not expecting much. Wrong. There are 4 great tones, one thick tone and one tone that’s not working (so I need to go back in and fix it). But of the 4 great tones, one is instant Michael Schenker, another is instant Brian May and another is instant Randy Rhodes. I’m a mid-range freak, so I love it. I have to go back in and assess what cap is doing what. I thought I would require an inductor to get the mids, but apparently not. But I never use the tone pots on my HB pups, so at least this hole is now put to good use (insert dirty thought here).
Once I fix the varitone, I will post a video and sound samples.