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KTLguitars

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About KTLguitars

  • Birthday 01/06/1968

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    GOTM June 04 Pro Div

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    Norway
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    Technology in general

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  1. I'm using a 6-string Invader on my Magnum648 and I like the sound of it, however the name invader is a bit over the top, I find it more like normal output blues/rock humbucker with a powerfull tone. The aluminium back on the magnum does anyway contribute to the tone, so it might have quite different characteristics in other guitars, but it isn't extremely "invading" I think.
  2. Hi, and welcome! Thoughts about your headstock question: I think it might be strong enough regarding breaking, but maybe a bit too soft and light weight, -the mass in the headstock makes quite a difference in sustain and tone characteristics. However, as it is a neck through design, that will counter some of those effects.... Maybe choose some of the heavier tuning machines? If you want to reinforce the headstock you can laminate carbon fibre/epoxy on one or both sides and put a nice thin veneer on top of that if you don't want the carbon look...
  3. Sounds like a good idea- just some independent thoughts -havn't had the time to read the article linked above yet... The main difference of flat tops and arched tops are the way the top vibrates - While the flat top bridge (mainly) rocks forwards and backwards, the arched tops vibrates up and down. As the forces from the strings will be smaller with nylon strings, it could be an idea to go for a fairly high break angle over the bridge, maybe 15 degrees - and also do the top thinner to make it lighter - but mayby retain a considerable bracing to retain stiffnes to aid the distribution of the vibrations. Pay also attention to the recurving around the edge of the top, the flexible zone, to allow the vibrations to distribute over the entire top surface. I think maybe I would have gone for parallell bracing - but that is just gut feeling... Regarding the I-beam - I have tried it on a steel string archtop with quite good results - but you have to rotate it 90 degrees around its longitudinal axis because the I-beam pics up the rocking vibration from the flat top bridge (that is why it tends to supress feedback). You will loose the feedback suppression effect but it will bick up the string vibrations that way! regards, Knut
  4. I've heard that the guys "making" anitques of new furniture are washing the wood with strong tea - never tried it myself...
  5. Try without grounding the bridge - as you use humbuckers it is normally not required. Copper tape should be wired to ground or clamped beneath the metal housings of the pots/switches. Normally all pot housings are grounded. If you use metal pots, humbuckers and sheilded cables (also between pots/switches) you normally do not need any sheilding - or only shielding in the bottom of the control cavity.
  6. Check the truss rod adjustment - if the truss rod is under-tightened the neck will be too concave, giving the need of a lower setting of the bridge to retain the same string action.
  7. I follow you completly on the playability issue - should be like playing a jumbo fretted neck. I think the production accuracy of the fretboard would be the main challenge in this consept. A few tips for the material and casting - maybe you are aware of this, but as it is not mentioned I will put in a few words anyway. -Do some mixing test samples to find out how much glass you can put into the resin/epoxy matrix before it will be too brittle. -When epoxy is curing the chemical process uses a specific ratio of resin and hardener. Pay very much attension to the mixing ratio as any excess of one of the components will be left as a liquid in the matrix and works as a softener. This will kill the sustain! -Don't make the relief angle behind the "fret" too steep as this will reduse the quality of the "edge" and also the wear resistance. (I guess would be ok to make the edge angle of about 120°.) Try it out - I like when someone dares to try out new consepts!
  8. A short note to the hardness of pine/spruce - The hardness of the two depends of where and how they are grown, but pine varies from about equally as hard as spruce to about the double -check Matweb if you don't believe me! The reasons to use spruce for acoustic instruments are many, but the most important is the extremely high stiffness to weight ratio (not strength to weight as many believes) compared to other woods as well as other materials.
  9. So pine is soft - what about spruce then? - yes, it is even softer - and spruce is one of the most used woods in acoustic instruments...just had to say it! So it is soft - then you have to take better care for your instrument- thats all. As someone mentionned above - pine changes much with age - due to its high resin content. It can be artificially aged with heat (and sunlight/UV-light) - some weeks at 40-50 deg. Celsius does a lot! (Try to find more about this on the internet) There is also a big difference wether you use pine grown slowly (mountain-pine) whit close grain or what is called broiler-pine - fast growned too produce building materials. It is not as hard to work as people here says - here in Norway it is the most common wood species and is widely useed for interiors and floors as well as furniture - sharp tools and clean them with acetone. It could be an interesting match to mahogany due to their difference in characteristics, but it is extremely important to have the pine completely dried -and preferably a few years old! As it is soft, it could be an idea to use a set-neck design for added stiffness to neck-joint. Give it try - Robert Benedetto has made very nice jazz hollow body guitars from pine!
  10. What about a rosewood pickguard, matching the fingerboard, with some kind of fancy inlay?
  11. To sort this out once for all... erikbojerik: Not too fast with what stays constant: The mass increases linear to increase in volume but the opposition to bending (stiffness) increases by a factor square root of 2 (=1.41) -for a quadratic cross section. Stiffness is dependent of the section modulus - which also is dependent of the shape of the object - see this page for a reference Section Modulus. So here we are - yes there will be a change in tonal characteristics when the shape is altered BUT compared to other factors mentionned in several posts above (neck and neck joint, wood types, bridge type, etc) the shape will be insignificant for the instruments total characteristics -as long as the shape changes are small like from Les Paul to Strat - a flying V is a more dramatic change and will certainly make some (still minor) difference. However, the thickness of the body has a significant influence, as the first natural mode of vibration of the body is the deflection from front to back (See the .gif animation of the response of my Magnum648 here). An increase of the body thickness from 1-1/2" to 2-1/8", 1.41 times, doubles the stiffness but increases the mass only with a factor of 1.41. As the bending momentum is largest in the middle of an object, increasing the thickness here will increase this weight/mass ratio even more (as you avoid adding mass in the periferi but still increases the stiffness) This gives you the arch top guitar - and a further explanation of the body differences of Les Pauls and Strats. I am sorry about my explanations - English is not my language - but I hope this can help sorting out what really happens - and what is only technical superstition! As I am fairly interested in this subject I am exploring it as a hobby - not a need for my guitar building - Don't be too scientific - it is your feeling that creates the instrument - but knowledge never hurts. I do calculations on my designs just to avoid any major blunders when working with combinations of different materials and special shapes - but when it comes to the building, nothing can substitute the human experience and ear in the decision of shape and selection of wood when it comes to acoustic qualities!
  12. Tried EMG homepage? They are in this price list under their support section:EMG Price list try contacting them or find your closest dealer.
  13. I have seen the same connectors on Rodio Control cars and plane, for servo and battery(only 2p) wiring. Try any local model hobby shop!
  14. Wood and plastics are somehow very identical in material characteristics, they have one main drawback compared to most metals (used in structural relation) and that is what is called relaxation. If you put wood (or plastic) under compression or tension, over time the tension tend to disappear. This function is dependent of temperature and humidity - the higher temp. and/or humidity the faster the process goes. Cycling of temp/humidity is even worse. As the strings puts the top wood of a guitar under constant compression/bending and the back under constant tension, over years it will change the shape of the instrument and the action will end up way too high. Lowering the the bridge and readjusting the truss rod helps - but the guitar will continue the deflect. The higher quality the wood and the better the bracing - the longer it will take before the instrument needs a "total makeover".
  15. I think people here are talking about two different things -graphite or carbon is two names of the same thing but can have very different physical properties. Carbon in a natural solid condition, like the plate in a post above, is very brittle and soft and doesn't support the forces in e.g a neck joint. On the other hand carbon fibres are an extremely strong and stiff material, e.g compared to steel. You use the fibres in the same way as glass fibre to reinforce plastics. normally you use epoxy reinforced with carbon fibre and done in an autoclave or by vakuum bagging you can have an very high strength to weight ratio. I came across this Site a while ago when searching for carbon fibres (haven't tried to order from them yet). They also have descriptions on how to do etc.
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