curtisa Posted January 24, 2017 Author Report Share Posted January 24, 2017 3 hours ago, Woden said: Gorgeous work. And I'm really envious of your Quick-Grip collection! I only have four but they are my go-to clamp for most jobs. The person with the most clamps wins. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
curtisa Posted January 24, 2017 Author Report Share Posted January 24, 2017 6 hours ago, ScottR said: My god! The oil really loves that top doesn't it? Talk about coming to life! SR Cheers, Scott. I was torn between moving body template further down the top to capture more of the flame pattern and having that little "eye" of sapwood between the pickups. I guess there'll always be a next time Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted January 24, 2017 Report Share Posted January 24, 2017 It would be striking either way. Did you have enough of that top wood for two builds? SR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
curtisa Posted January 24, 2017 Author Report Share Posted January 24, 2017 Only if the second guitar has a scale length of about 11 inches. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted January 24, 2017 Report Share Posted January 24, 2017 Time for a Uke! SR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
curtisa Posted January 24, 2017 Author Report Share Posted January 24, 2017 Funny you should mention that. The wife reckons I should build a jelly bean travel guitar similar to the Fernandes Nomad.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
curtisa Posted February 12, 2017 Author Report Share Posted February 12, 2017 Pretty much just down to the boring little details and then it's all done. Not shown here, but after some quick soundchecks of the Irongear pickups I've since added a fixed treble cut to bring the highs a little more under control: Quickly fire up the CNC and run off a rear coverplate out of some matte black plastic: Shielding is achieved with some adhesive aluminium tape. A 50m roll costs about $20 and will last forever. Where the two strips of tape meet I've perforated them with the tip of an Xacto knife to ensure that both pieces will remain connected together: Perfect fit: 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted February 12, 2017 Report Share Posted February 12, 2017 Which IronGears are these? Sorry if I skimmed too much, @curtisa. I've been on and off considering buying sets for future builds, simply because I've always had the impression that they're import built with marketing that's a little too hyperbolic for my taste. I mean, my gut says that they sound better than most stock pickups in guitars but not as good as a cared-for wind. Again, it's that balance between cost and quality; how can you complain at that price point or even make a fair comparison? I'd certainly trust your opinion and analysis of the pickups over that on their site and social media. re: Janka. I've never found this statistic on various woods to be that meaningful unless it's at the extreme ends of the range where you can probably imply that the characteristics we do need to know follow suit. Without reminding myself, isn't Janka a penetrometer test? I could only see that as having immediate relevance in thread retention (neck screws or threaded inserts) or perhaps that of fret tangs. This is of course unless you perceive the instrument to be subjected to LSB (late surprise bombardment) of impactors such as meteorites and beer bottles. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted February 12, 2017 Report Share Posted February 12, 2017 Beautiful, Andrew. The figure in that top looks like riffles in a sun-dappled stream. SR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
curtisa Posted February 12, 2017 Author Report Share Posted February 12, 2017 11 hours ago, Prostheta said: Which IronGears are these? Sorry if I skimmed too much, @curtisa. I've been on and off considering buying sets for future builds, simply because I've always had the impression that they're import built with marketing that's a little too hyperbolic for my taste. I mean, my gut says that they sound better than most stock pickups in guitars but not as good as a cared-for wind. Again, it's that balance between cost and quality; how can you complain at that price point or even make a fair comparison? I'd certainly trust your opinion and analysis of the pickups over that on their site and social media. Hot Slag bridge and Rolling Mill neck (came as a set). For the price I don't think you could go far wrong. There's nothing bad to say about them technically - they appear to be well made, packaged well, shielded 4 conductor wiring with included wiring diagram, wax potting and windings taped up, no more noise than any other premium pickup. They even included plastic peel-back cling film on the tops of the bobbins to retain the brand-spanking new look out of the box, which a lot of the big names don't even bother with. Really, that just leaves what they sound like, which even with the most expensive pickups will be mostly down to personal taste. I reckon they're well worth the money. My only gripes about them is that I think the Rolling Mill is a little under-powered against the Hot Slag for my tastes, and they are a little bright and can do with a little taming (easy to fix). But as individual units they're really nice-sounding little nuggets of goodness. I will say that I don't think the soundclips on the Irongear website do their pickups much justice and they could probably do with an update. For all I know the active pickups they do could be quite decent, but the sound sample just panders to the stereotype that active pickups are only for people who play all their metal with mids at zero and gain set to 11. 12 hours ago, Prostheta said: re: Janka. I've never found this statistic on various woods to be that meaningful unless it's at the extreme ends of the range where you can probably imply that the characteristics we do need to know follow suit. Without reminding myself, isn't Janka a penetrometer test? I could only see that as having immediate relevance in thread retention (neck screws or threaded inserts) or perhaps that of fret tangs. This is of course unless you perceive the instrument to be subjected to LSB (late surprise bombardment) of impactors such as meteorites and beer bottles. I think it's something along the lines of squishing a steel ball of a certain size into the face of a piece of timber of certain dimensions and measuring the pressure required to embed the steel ball to half its depth. I'm sure the full description is out there somewhere. Wouldn't screws and inserts rely more on the resistance of the timber fibres to tear and split? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
curtisa Posted February 12, 2017 Author Report Share Posted February 12, 2017 5 hours ago, ScottR said: Beautiful, Andrew. The figure in that top looks like riffles in a sun-dappled stream. SR Thanks Scott, very poetic of you. Must be time to go fishing 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted February 13, 2017 Report Share Posted February 13, 2017 3 hours ago, curtisa said: Thanks Scott, very poetic of you. Must be time to go fishing Indeed. My spring is starting early; I hope your summer is lasting long and late. SR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
curtisa Posted February 13, 2017 Author Report Share Posted February 13, 2017 2 hours ago, ScottR said: I hope your summer is lasting long and late. Would that it were. Weather down here has taken leave of its senses in the last week or so. Snow was forecast down to 1000M above sea level yesterday here in Tasmania, big floods over in Western Australia, massive heatwave and wildfires in New South Wales, power shortages in South Australia because everyone wants to use their aircon in the heat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andyjr1515 Posted February 13, 2017 Report Share Posted February 13, 2017 Beautiful build, Andrew. I like the x-acto technique for making electrical contact for shielding! Andy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Natural Posted February 13, 2017 Report Share Posted February 13, 2017 as usual with your builds- this is gorgeous and nice clean work. well done man. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
curtisa Posted February 13, 2017 Author Report Share Posted February 13, 2017 Thanks chaps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
curtisa Posted February 13, 2017 Author Report Share Posted February 13, 2017 Have just crunched some numbers on this build to see how much it ran to. Including shipping and exchange rates, the purchased parts and timber amounted to about $350AU. If I allow for various stuff I already had on hand (strap buttons, volume knob, plastic cavity cover material, finishing oil, screws, wire etc), I reckon this came to around $400AU, which is about half the cost of one of my regular builds. Expensive hobby we seem to enjoy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted February 14, 2017 Report Share Posted February 14, 2017 Amen brother! SR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
curtisa Posted March 5, 2017 Author Report Share Posted March 5, 2017 That's a wrap: Obligatory noise file: https://www.dropbox.com/s/azvlosqnitfkbho/Shoestring Test.mp3?dl=0 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andyjr1515 Posted March 5, 2017 Report Share Posted March 5, 2017 Oh my goodness....that is jaw-droppingly lovely Excellent thread and wonderful result. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted March 5, 2017 Report Share Posted March 5, 2017 "........." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted March 5, 2017 Report Share Posted March 5, 2017 Wow, that audio demo too. Amazing Andrew. Where do you find the time in the day....? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pan_kara Posted March 5, 2017 Report Share Posted March 5, 2017 4 hours ago, Prostheta said: Wow, that audio demo too. Amazing Andrew. Where do you find the time in the day....? what he said do you just whip out a whole tune like this as a demo or you had the backing track done ..? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
meatloaf Posted March 5, 2017 Report Share Posted March 5, 2017 wow that did turn out to be a killer, stunningly beautiful, well done that man. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
curtisa Posted March 5, 2017 Author Report Share Posted March 5, 2017 Thanks everyone. 7 hours ago, pan_kara said: 11 hours ago, Prostheta said: Wow, that audio demo too. Amazing Andrew. Where do you find the time in the day....? what he said do you just whip out a whole tune like this as a demo or you had the backing track done ..? Nah. I cheated. I scratched the bones of that track together several years ago. I just re-recorded all the guitar parts using the new build in the last couple of weeks. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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