wwood

Currently: Strat(s) - Tube Screamer - Fender Champ with Torres mods (bedroom use) Future: Strat(s) - Tube Screamer - Fender (Twin/Vibro/Super etc...) It's amazing how refreshing it is to keep things simple and actually listen to, and appreciate, your own playing style uncluttered by effects. Not to say I don't like a few pedals, but I'm moving towards a more natural/raw sound - my sound! Cheers wwood

I love the design of the Harlot, in fact all your designs ooze quality along with your craftmanship. Look forward to seeing this one finished. Are you a one man outfit as you seem to be quite prolific? Cheers wwood

Hi, You'd be better looking at some of the older squires. I have an early 90's Korean strat and it is very high quality, pickups aren't the best but as for materials and attention to detail it is right up there. The trem has a steel block and fender stamped saddles, the neck is a gorgeous piece of birdseye maple which has aged nicely and with gotoh machineheads. Just need to get round to changing those pickups. See if you can find 1 or 2 of the old Korean tele's to have a look at. Cheers wwood

Thanks Robert, Yep the wire is still connected to the eyelets, I'll have to get hold of a multimeter and check the coil as you suggested. Cheers wwood

Hi all, I've just changed pickguard on my strat and all of a sudden my bridge pickup isn't outputting: The diagram below shows exactly how mine is wired (standard factory wiring) None of the wires have come loose or are damaged, everything looks exactly in order. The neck and middle pickups are working fine. I'm sure it's not a selector problem as when I select the bridge pickup and tap the soldered area (pointed out in green) it makes the expected tapping/clicking sound, although when I tap the polepieces or magnets they make no sound at all. Could I have a dead pickup? If so should I expect to hear the clicking sound when I tap the soldered area? Any help appreciated please. Cheers wwood

Hi Mark, Try the guys at: http://www.auroraproject.co.uk/ I recently got a JEM pickguard made to replace a damaged one and it was a good quality replacement. If you select the fender strat model and use the dropdown menu you can see the other models available, RG, JEM etc... Alternatively you can choose your own configuration. Cheers wwood

A Tubescreamer type pedal is pretty vital IMO. You can get some kits from BYOC: http://www.buildyourownclone.com/ Some of them sound pretty tasty. I think the kits would be a good introduction to building pedals for someone with no electronics experience (such as myself) I've ordered the Screamer kit from their EU distributor It didn't come in particularly cheap but if I can re-create their version I'll be more than happy. I'll let you know how I get on (if I don't destroy it) I've always wanted an MXR Phase 90 too, just for that sweet Albert King sound. So for me, vitals would be: Tubescreamer x 2 Phaser Wah Envelope Filter Also like a Tremolo but I know it can be a bit of an acquired taste. That should keep me busy for a few years! wwood

A router plane...sometimes called an 'Old Woman's Tooth' They can usually be had for a few pounds on ebay but they are usually better suited to much smaller work like inlaying/marquetry. A power router really is the best bet, you could get reasonable results as mentioned with chisels, files, scrapers, blocks of paper with sandpaper stuck to them but unless you're well practiced with hand tools it's a difficult ask (imo) If doing it this way hog out most of the material with a drill/forstner bit then all you really have left to do is clean up the sides. wwood

Worth a look into this: http://www.dbkeighley.co.uk/masters/basato3.htm wwood

Thanks everyone Much appreciated wwood

I think it looks great and is on of the better relic jobs I've seen lately. Headstock looks sweet, it's got a real tarnished look about it which suggests a life of smokey gigs The body looks very natural too, although it could do with some more belt buckle rash on the back and strumming scratches on the front (a'la SRV). What process did you use to age the bare wood? All-in-all a great job! I have no probs with relic jobs, personally they help me worry more about playing and less about trying to protect the guitar from scratches, although having said that I never worry about trying to keep finishes intact. It's about the sound surely, and personally I think the added mojo helps you play harder. wwood

Hi, Although I'm ok with a soldering iron I'm rubbish at getting diagrams right. Guitar as follows: FRED in neck Tone Zone in bridge 3-way toggle 1 volume (push/pull) 1 tone (standard) I want to wire the controls so the 3-way toggle will give me neck-both-bridge and I can then use the push/pull volume to coil tap the pickups. I've thought about it as logically as I can (my brain hurts now) and I've put the following diagram together: Would someone with a better understanding than me be able to confirm if this looks correct before I heat up the iron? Many thanks for any help wwood

Figuring is not an exact science, it's all in the eyes of the grader, the most important thing the grader should have is consistency. The grade mainly refers to the strength of the figuring, i.e. the visually stronger the flame/quilt/crotch etc. the higher the grade. There are also other aspects to take into account though, such as the quality of the wood, the uniform pattern of the figure, the defects etc...but for most purposes the higher the grade will mean the stronger figure. hope that helps wwood

Looking good. Especially like the way the plastic parts have come out. I'll be following this with interest. wwood P.S. This page might help with some techniques http://www.srvguitar.com/

Hi, I wonder if anyone could tell me about the Ampeg V7 combo as I'm having a little trouble finding out info on this amp. All i've really got is it's an early 80's 100w 2x12 with "possibly" 4x 6550's and 5x 12ax7's After that I'm stumped, it appears it may be similar to an Ampeg V4 which I can get more info on. Help appreciated wwood