Third Build - Black And White

[Prostheta]

Are you going 9v or 18v?

[henrim]

1 hour ago, Prostheta said:

Are you going 9v or 18v?

I was thinking 9V but 18V would be something to explore.

[Prostheta]

It's perhaps less useful in more modern preamp designs, but pretty significant a change for older style EMGs. I'd say that it isn't worth hinging your ideas on, but worthwhile as a secondary consideration.

[Bizman62]

8 hours ago, henrim said:

(Maybe the neck is going to see some shaving at some point too...) 

Shaving the neck with strings on can be most satisfactory! (No, I'm not talking about spending some quality time in the bathroom wearing minimal undies with a razor in your hand...)* You already know how you feel about the current profile and having the guitar ready to play you can easily test your success. Oiled necks are very forgiving for that method as re-oiling blends with the existing finish seamlessly. Thus you can apply some oil after shaving and if you feel like you'd like to shave some more all you have lost is a tiny spoonful of oil.

Although hands truly can find all bumps and humps better than eyes I've found out that after a while the fingers get numb of scraping and sanding and you really can't tell anything for a fact until both your hands and the wood have settled,

 

*What has been seen can't be unseen... Bleach doesn't help!

[henrim]

14 minutes ago, Bizman62 said:

You already know how you feel about the current profile and having the guitar ready to play you can easily test your success. Oiled necks are very forgiving for that method as re-oiling blends with the existing finish seamlessly.

Exactly. That is one reason I went with oiled neck. Although the bigger reason is that I never liked playing with a painted neck. And I tried for years to like playing with one.

The only worry I have with altering the neck is the fact that I did this neck ten years ago, didn’t document anything and I can’t recall the truss rod dimensions exactly. Not that I was going to do dramatic changes but the unknown bothers me. I would like to know the size of the field before I play.

[Bizman62]

14 minutes ago, henrim said:

I never liked playing with a painted neck. And I tried for years to like playing with one.

Me neither, although my store bought guitars have a thick clearcoat on their necks. Sanding the neck matte helps a lot! Just last summer I took my acoustic and abrasive felts of 400 and 1200. Taped the ends and sanded wet. The result doesn't show any sanding directions and it really feels different. And it can be redone several times as it only knocks the shine off without actually making the finish significantly thinner.

 

29 minutes ago, henrim said:

The only worry I have with altering the neck is the fact that I did this neck ten years ago, didn’t document anything and I can’t recall the truss rod dimensions exactly. Not that I was going to do dramatic changes but the unknown bothers me. I would like to know the size of the field before I play

Hmmm... A lot of "clumsiness" of a neck may not be because of the actual thickness, it can be about the shoulders as well. A "U" is both thick and wide on the palm side, a "D" is similar but thinner. Both work well with your thumb in the back in the classical style. But if you want to wrap your thumb over the bass strings you may want to knock the corners off. A "V" shape of sorts still has all the meat around the truss rod especially at the bottom side so the overall strength remains but the diameter is significantly reduced. This highly simplified picture illustrates some of the options:

[henrim]

38 minutes ago, Bizman62 said:

Hmmm... A lot of "clumsiness" of a neck may not be because of the actual thickness, it can be about the shoulders as well.

Yes. Thickness is not the problem. Profile is what I would like to change. Maybe. And hitting the truss rod is not a real concern. Not knowing it’s exact size is more of a mental thing

[Bizman62]

1 hour ago, henrim said:

Not knowing it’s exact size is more of a mental thing

In that case think of the biggest truss rod you know and you'll be golden! Or, if it's a Ricky, two of them...

[henrim]

Got the 66/57 set. Battery sits nicely between pickups. Need to make a holder to it. One small problem though. I didn’t quite think that the p/p pots were so high. They are not going to fit in with the current setup. Either I make new brackets or I use different pots. I would rather use the EMG pots since they have all the connectors but then I will need to move the pots more towards the top. That results that the controls will sit higher on the body. Usability would be better but since no one else than me has to suffer from the bad usability I’d rather have them more recessed. As that way they look better. Decisions, decisions. 

[Prostheta]

I'd say, test the pickups with the EMG pots and leave the covers off. If you like the tonality and options, and you know that this will be THE setup for the instrument, then hard-wire other switches that fit in the depth. Quick connectors are convenient (except for fishing through holes) but if you know how you want it, they become a bit superfluous.

[henrim]

1 hour ago, Prostheta said:

I'd say, test the pickups with the EMG pots and leave the covers off. If you like the tonality and options, and you know that this will be THE setup for the instrument, then hard-wire other switches that fit in the depth. Quick connectors are convenient (except for fishing through holes) but if you know how you want it, they become a bit superfluous.

That’s a solid advice. Though I found the space from the cavity cover. Pot knobs will sit a tad bit higher than they were previously but that is needed  for the pull action. 

[henrim]

Made a quick mock up out of 0.5mm aluminum sheet. I’ll see if I can find some 0.8mm or 1mm and make a final one. 

[Bizman62]

That. Is. Clever! The thinnest possible control cavity which also serves as a common ground and part of the shielding.

[mistermikev]

On 4/4/2022 at 2:45 AM, henrim said:

Thanks guys!

Here's one pic from the gut side. 

i see something in this shot that reminds me of home... 2p5t and how they take of so much space and freq req creative bending with the lugs to fit! 

lovely build.  some great details there.

[Prostheta]

Glad you found a solution that doesn't introduce excessive compromise. When you make something out on the edges of guitar design, it quickly gets frustrating when you get forced to conform to the norms that some components push on you!

I love the use of custom fabbed aluminium brackets in this build, especially the way that the pickups are rear-adjustable and clean at the front. The contours bring to find the front of an Ibanez S with the rear of an Ibanez Radius/JS, over something that makes both bring their own internal consistency. Very cool.

How's the little one coming along? I mean, a guitar project sitting on a shelf doesn't change over ten years....surely the kid'll be driving cars around in donuts on the fields by now? Over halfway to voting age....man, that ages you

[henrim]

36 minutes ago, Prostheta said:

How's the little one coming along? I mean, a guitar project sitting on a shelf doesn't change over ten years....surely the kid'll be driving cars around in donuts on the fields by now? Over halfway to voting age....man, that ages you

I have so many unfinished projects lying around that time doesn’t really matter. Some of them are permanently aborted but some I might pick up ten years after and continue working with like it was yesterday I put it aside. 

But with a kid ten years is a long time. A lot has happened. Like his little sister. Anyway, precious times. The first born has developed an interest in guitars and I thought I would build him one. The small body RR-derivative I have in an other thread was going to him, and may still be, but meanwhile we found a -79 Ibanez Destroyer that he is really fond of

[Bizman62]

37 minutes ago, henrim said:

But with a kid ten years is a long time.

For the kid it's a lifetime. For you... Precious times indeed but you'll soon find out that the kids have grown up to adults without you actually noticing it and you start wondering if they soon grow older than you!

[Prostheta]

I know....my son's 27yo now and it's crazy. He'll be 40yo in no time. Like literally, I was just there.

[henrim]

Now here’s the all new control cavity sub-assembly. Sans a few screws and the exhaust pipe still needs to be finished at some time. Anyway, I’m happy that I was forced to redo the rig. Because the original was pretty good in its first incarnation but when I had to do changes I didn’t do whole new one but instead butchered the original. I was never happy with how it ended up. I’m changing to smaller rotary switch. The one in picture is just what I had in shelf but it may be too sensitive for guitar. I use those in modular synth builds. Also I may need to change the pots still as those have rather long shafts. But otherwise this one is frozen now!

[Bizman62]

7 minutes ago, henrim said:

Now here’s the all new control cavity sub-assembly.

Pure space age tech in the inside!

[henrim]

On 4/22/2022 at 1:58 AM, mistermikev said:

i see something in this shot that reminds me of home... 2p5t and how they take of so much space and freq req creative bending with the lugs to fit! 

Now it has to go from this guitar but I kinda like them. There is some steam engine type loveliness in them. And for some reason I have plenty of them so I will use them in future. Would be best used in a transparent guitar. Hmmm, transparent guitar

[mistermikev]

21 hours ago, henrim said:

Now it has to go from this guitar but I kinda like them. There is some steam engine type loveliness in them. And for some reason I have plenty of them so I will use them in future. Would be best used in a transparent guitar. Hmmm, transparent guitar

right on.  i freq wire with either a 4p4t, 4p5t, or 4p6t... kind of the std for my type of wiring.  used to be able to get a cool alpha 4p4t that was actually as small as a 16mm pot... but sadly apparently you and I are among the very few who would appreciate.  rawk on.

[Prostheta]

I prefer NSF switches. They're super reliable and very luxurious-feeling compared to open-frame Alphas or plastic enclosed types with the plastic shaft (yuck). Expensive, but absolutely worth it for those one-off projects where you just want everything to be just so.

https://uk.rs-online.com/web/c/switches/rotary-switches-accessories/rotary-switches/?searchTerm=nsf gx

[henrim]

I got the active pickups, battery and push/pull pots all stuffed in. Like them more. Quite versatile setup with all the single coil options and what not. May be too many options.
 

Also re-fretted the fretboard. Original frets were nice looking and I spent good amount of time filing them. The problem was I chose looks over functionality. I left 0,5 mm margin in the ends because I didn’t think the semi-hemi ends looked good if they went all the way to the edge. On the treble side this affected playing more than I had thought. So I removed the frets, cut the slots all the way and installed new frets. Much better. I should still finish the ends a bit nicer but for now I just want to play some and work on the other guitars.

[Prostheta]

They look fantastic.