Woltz Posted October 27, 2019 Report Share Posted October 27, 2019 Hi all, I've been lurking in the background and marvelling at all of the builds that people are doing. I'm in the home stretch my first build which is this double f hole thinline t type. Just needs sanding and finishing. So I thought I'd start a thread here for my next build which is going to be a Rickenbacker 330/12 String but the neck width will be the same as the 660/12 neck. I'm looking forward to learning from everyone on here. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woltz Posted October 27, 2019 Author Report Share Posted October 27, 2019 Here's an update on the few things I've done so far. As I couldn't find any plans floating around the internet I drew my own in Illustrator. I've printed these and will start making templates in the next couple of weeks. I was able to get a couple of replica toaster covers off eBay. I picked up one of the Allparts Rick Style Bridges which I'll make new aluminium saddles for to suit the 12 string. I sourced some Alnico 2 1/4" Rod Magnets for the pickups. And I drew the toaster bobbin parts in Illustrator as well. Fortunately I actually know a guy with a 3D printer, so I drew the bobbin parts in Fusion 360 and sent him the file for him to do a test print. I need to make some adjustments and then we will print another test bobbin. I'm only just getting into pickup winding and recently put together a budget pickup winder. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woltz Posted December 15, 2019 Author Report Share Posted December 15, 2019 I made a slight edit to the bobbin design. Printed Assembled Checking the layout and fit of pieces before making the harp and finishing the templates. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mistermikev Posted December 15, 2019 Report Share Posted December 15, 2019 wound yer own pickups and all? awesome. have always wanted to play one of these... looks like a cool build. excited to see it progress. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Norris Posted December 16, 2019 Report Share Posted December 16, 2019 Very nice. Another guitar on my fantasy build list (like I'd ever get the time!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pshupe Posted December 23, 2019 Report Share Posted December 23, 2019 (edited) Oddly enough I bought plans from Australia Luthier Supplies about 5 years ago but they do not sell them any more. It looks like you have a good handle on them though. I was just looking for them and can't find them. I made my own though. I've built 3 or so of the old 360 model. One 6 string and a couple of 12s. Here are some drawings I did for the 360 Rose Morris. I was building this for an Engineer in California so I did a lot of CAD drawings to show him exactly what was going on. I still have a neck that I will be using for a 12 string 660. Cheers Peter. Edited December 23, 2019 by pshupe Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woltz Posted March 24, 2020 Author Report Share Posted March 24, 2020 It's been a while since I've posted because I've been occupied with other life stuff but I got a chance to get back into some guitar stuff and start making the tailpiece. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted March 24, 2020 Report Share Posted March 24, 2020 Nice! Good to see you again. SR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woltz Posted March 26, 2020 Author Report Share Posted March 26, 2020 So I finished up the other part of the tailpiece. Having now made the two parts I know that they are looking ok and I'll mock everything up again when I make the working templates out of thicker MDF. I'll probably remake them both for the actual guitar as there are a couple of errors. I put too small of a radius on the curve of the retaining bracket which means the harp is not moving freely enough when the two pieces are together and I had a few holes that wandered a bit from centre when they were drilled (that'll teach me for being lazy and not using a centre punch before drilling). 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woltz Posted March 26, 2020 Author Report Share Posted March 26, 2020 On 3/25/2020 at 3:34 AM, ScottR said: Nice! Good to see you again. SR Thanks mate. I hope to really get stuck into this build and my other build which is a Strat that I'm doing with all Australian timbers. And I still need to paint the Tele. Not enough hours in the day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woltz Posted April 11, 2020 Author Report Share Posted April 11, 2020 First bobbin wound. 6.15k 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woltz Posted April 12, 2020 Author Report Share Posted April 12, 2020 Two toaster bobbins wound, hookup wires soldered and wax potted. I've started making the baseplate for the pickup cover but when I put the pickup together I'll need to put a little bit of foam or something inside to keep the bobbin from moving around. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bizman62 Posted April 12, 2020 Report Share Posted April 12, 2020 1 minute ago, Woltz said: a little bit of foam or something Wood. Foam may disintegrate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woltz Posted April 12, 2020 Author Report Share Posted April 12, 2020 1 minute ago, Bizman62 said: Wood. Foam may disintegrate. Yeh that's a good suggestion. I have some thin pieces left over from another project which may do the job. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
komodo Posted April 12, 2020 Report Share Posted April 12, 2020 Love everything about this build. The Rick and those multi-tiered pick guards has always fascinated me, What will you do to the tailpiece and toasters for finishing? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woltz Posted April 13, 2020 Author Report Share Posted April 13, 2020 I finished making the first baseplate this morning. I charged the magnets and assembled the first one. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woltz Posted April 13, 2020 Author Report Share Posted April 13, 2020 15 hours ago, komodo said: Love everything about this build. The Rick and those multi-tiered pick guards has always fascinated me, What will you do to the tailpiece and toasters for finishing? Do you mean how will I finish the Aluminium? For the tailpiece I'll probably just polish it. The toaster covers I bought are chrome so no finishing required. The baseplates I'll sand smooth as you can see in the photos above, I won't bother polishing them because they'll never be seen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
komodo Posted April 13, 2020 Report Share Posted April 13, 2020 Awesome! The pickup build is perfect. I didn't realize the covers where chromed in the earlier pics. What other pickups are you thinking of building? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woltz Posted April 14, 2020 Author Report Share Posted April 14, 2020 12 hours ago, komodo said: Awesome! The pickup build is perfect. I didn't realize the covers where chromed in the earlier pics. What other pickups are you thinking of building? The first one I did was a rewind of a Tele Neck Pickup that was DOA but I'd had it laying around for so long it was too much hassle to return and it was good practice I've done these two for this build obviously. Next I have 3 strat pickups to wind for my strat build that I'm doing alongside this build. After that I have a number of guitars I'd like to build with humbuckers (BC Rich Eagle, a Fender Starcaster and a PRS) and I'd also like to do a Malcolm Young Gretsch which has a Filtertron. So potentially I may wind the pickups for all of those. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
komodo Posted April 14, 2020 Report Share Posted April 14, 2020 Ooooh I've been eyeing that exact Gretsch recently as inspiration for a build based on some P90s I have. Such a kickass guitar. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woltz Posted April 15, 2020 Author Report Share Posted April 15, 2020 On 4/14/2020 at 10:38 AM, komodo said: Ooooh I've been eyeing that exact Gretsch recently as inspiration for a build based on some P90s I have. Such a kickass guitar. Any guitars that I can't find plans for, like doing this partially modified Rick, I just draw up the plans and I've actually been drawing up a plan in Illustrator for the Malcolm Young Gretsch. I've already drawn the BC Rich Eagle plan. I have plans for the Starcaster and PRS already that I found online. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
komodo Posted April 15, 2020 Report Share Posted April 15, 2020 I'm curious as to your process, esp since it looks your are very proficient in Illustrator. I'm a graphic designer by day and use the full Adobe suite, so using Illustrator is the easiest tool at hand. Usually I'll start with source images I've found, as straight on angle as possible. I'll set up a fretboard using Fretfind, then put the vector into Illustrator. Also, I'll try to get as many measurements as possible. Then, it's just a matter of doing the contours and scaling everything to match the image, and lots of tweaking. Here's a good resource: https://www.electricherald.com/guitar-templates/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woltz Posted April 16, 2020 Author Report Share Posted April 16, 2020 14 hours ago, komodo said: I'm curious as to your process, esp since it looks your are very proficient in Illustrator. I'm a graphic designer by day and use the full Adobe suite, so using Illustrator is the easiest tool at hand. Usually I'll start with source images I've found, as straight on angle as possible. I'll set up a fretboard using Fretfind, then put the vector into Illustrator. Also, I'll try to get as many measurements as possible. Then, it's just a matter of doing the contours and scaling everything to match the image, and lots of tweaking. Here's a good resource: https://www.electricherald.com/guitar-templates/ I do mine exactly the same way. I haven't come across a better method that is affordable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woltz Posted April 16, 2020 Author Report Share Posted April 16, 2020 Had a small amount of free time last night and my electronics had arrived in the last couple days so thought I'd do the wiring harness. Here is my drawing based off different diagrams and images around the internet. And a few photos of it all done. Pickup wired in to test everything by holding the pickup up to the strings of one of my other guitars. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mistermikev Posted April 16, 2020 Report Share Posted April 16, 2020 some lovely clean wiring there. I like that you even indicated neg/pos on your caps. never know when you'll want to slip a tantalum in there! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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