RestorationAD Posted May 25, 2012 Author Report Share Posted May 25, 2012 Making pickups is sometimes a bigger job than you want it to be. Doing them in batches makes more sense than individually... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RestorationAD Posted May 25, 2012 Author Report Share Posted May 25, 2012 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RestorationAD Posted May 25, 2012 Author Report Share Posted May 25, 2012 Bad pictures of a great guitar. Assembled last night and tuned up... need to let it settle for a few days under tension then final setup and then "see ya". Tonight I will play it through the Mark IV and see if the pickups sound as good as they did last night in the headphones. First S9 to ever have a tone control... can't say it will ever happen again. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted May 26, 2012 Report Share Posted May 26, 2012 I know I've said it before but I really like the simplicity and flowing lines of this build. Did you pick up a couple of scuffs on the back from that case or are those just anomolies in the ash grain? And a question about your pup construction that will display my ignorance about that arcane art. Where do those little blocks of wood go? I'm not ready to go poking into my set that's waiting to get mounted. SR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pauliemc Posted May 27, 2012 Report Share Posted May 27, 2012 Making pickups is sometimes a bigger job than you want it to be. Doing them in batches makes more sense than individually... Those all look faulty. You should probobly just give them to me to dispose of for you Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anthony Posted May 28, 2012 Report Share Posted May 28, 2012 Making pickups is sometimes a bigger job than you want it to be. Doing them in batches makes more sense than individually... Those all look faulty. You should probobly just give them to me to dispose of for you I am also looking at opening a Pickup Disposal/Reusal Facility. Lol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
verhoevenc Posted May 28, 2012 Report Share Posted May 28, 2012 Holy pickup batches batman! Lookin good! Chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RestorationAD Posted May 28, 2012 Author Report Share Posted May 28, 2012 Making pickups is sometimes a bigger job than you want it to be. Doing them in batches makes more sense than individually... Those all look faulty. You should probobly just give them to me to dispose of for you Making pickups is sometimes a bigger job than you want it to be. Doing them in batches makes more sense than individually... Those all look faulty. You should probobly just give them to me to dispose of for you I am also looking at opening a Pickup Disposal/Reusal Facility. Lol. Ok. PM me your addresses and I will send you what you deserve! (digs in trash can for old epoxy covered nitrite gloves) Seriously? I stare at those bobbins watching hair thin copper wire fill them while listening ot Aqua Teen Hunger Force and you want me to give them away. hmmfph. They are epic and deserve better than the trash compactor in episode IV. I make myself laugh... Cheers! -- Holy pickup batches batman! Lookin good! Chris Now that was funny!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RestorationAD Posted May 28, 2012 Author Report Share Posted May 28, 2012 I know I've said it before but I really like the simplicity and flowing lines of this build. Did you pick up a couple of scuffs on the back from that case or are those just anomolies in the ash grain? And a question about your pup construction that will display my ignorance about that arcane art. Where do those little blocks of wood go? I'm not ready to go poking into my set that's waiting to get mounted. SR Wood spacers. They go on the other side of the bobbins opposite the magnets. Gibson used to use the scraps from LP tops to make them. Sometimes you can find flamed maple spacers in real PAFs. So your pickups being true PAF clones have wood spacers on the outer bobbin opposite were the wire comes in like the 57 PAF. I make my spacers from left overs of necks and tops like a proper PAF. It takes way longer than I really want to talk about as they are exact measurements and I have to babysit the sanding with a pair of calipers... Most of my models have 2 spacers per pickup... voodoo that I am not going to talk about. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maull Posted May 29, 2012 Report Share Posted May 29, 2012 So I really like the CnC name plates on the control cavity covers. Have you given any thought at all to filling the lettering with colored epoxy (kind of an easy inlay I suppose) which could increase the contrast and make the model name more legible at a distance? Just a crazy thought but it might look cool. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted May 29, 2012 Report Share Posted May 29, 2012 Epoxy bleeds out into the wood pores and and marginal imperfections. Depends on the wood, but using that method to highlight position markers on fretless basses for example doesn't seem to leave crisp results. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RestorationAD Posted May 29, 2012 Author Report Share Posted May 29, 2012 So I really like the CnC name plates on the control cavity covers. Have you given any thought at all to filling the lettering with colored epoxy (kind of an easy inlay I suppose) which could increase the contrast and make the model name more legible at a distance? Just a crazy thought but it might look cool. I don't do inlays... +1 what Pro said. Epoxy would only leave a crisp edge in the hardest materials. The only way to do it right would be to make inlays. I like the stealth look. You have to get close to see it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RestorationAD Posted May 29, 2012 Author Report Share Posted May 29, 2012 Ash, Padauk, and Stainless Steel frets make an extrememly bright guitar. I think I am done with ash for another 20 years... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted May 29, 2012 Report Share Posted May 29, 2012 Any commentary on the stainless? SR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RestorationAD Posted May 29, 2012 Author Report Share Posted May 29, 2012 Any commentary on the stainless? SR New guitars are not broke in yet but for now I will say this. Clanky - New strings are very noisy against them. Harmonics seem really easy and almost uncontrollable. When you are just covering the strings the harmonics just happen on high gain... I like it. Bright - They took the 2 new guitars brightness up a notch... I mean to the point were I am getting strat like tones while playing clean (disturbing on a humbucker equipped guitar). All the things that drove me nuts about my Parker Flys has returned. I think it was a bad idea trying them on ash guitars. My amps are all setup for my guitars and the latest 2 seem really bright when compared to the others I have left. Real comparison happens later this week when the ebony guitar is reassembled and I can compare the latest ash guitar and it directly. Slick - Nice and smooth when playing... maybe slightly slicker than an old nickel fret. But not really slicker than a newly polished nickel fret. Appearance - Not as shiny as Nickel and have a different color to them. ToolKiller - I finally found a pair of side cutters that didn't chip. Ideal angled side cutters ground flush work great. Really hard cutters tend to chip... it is ugly what happened to my end nippers, new flush cut side cutters, and a few other cutters I had lying around. I will be dressing them old skool with a triangle file as I am not risking my expensive Diamond crowning files. Also I am not going to try and sand out 300 grit scratches from the frets. I am leveling them with my Stew Mac Bar with 400grit. Then moving to 600, 800 grit. I buff them out on the powerbuffer with a medium rouge and that seemed to work well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Juntunen Guitars Posted May 29, 2012 Report Share Posted May 29, 2012 I've never had an issue with ash being bright. Are you using swamp ash and from where? I've been using white ash from my area and it has a nice mid rangy bass like tone to it when you use the right pickups in it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RestorationAD Posted May 30, 2012 Author Report Share Posted May 30, 2012 I've never had an issue with ash being bright. Are you using swamp ash and from where? I've been using white ash from my area and it has a nice mid rangy bass like tone to it when you use the right pickups in it. Hmmm... the right pickups. I never thought of that. I am using Black Ash. Hard as a rock__ made for making baseball bats out of. I am done playing with it. I thought I had finally learned enough tricks to make it work. I thought I had found a supply that was light enough to work. Wrong. Next time I use it it will have Slugger burnt into the surface. Or at least 3 single coils And __no__ I can't get good white ash locally (I have stated this before). Also as far as I am concerned good swamp ash at a reasonable price doesn't exist anymore... it was all farmed out by the early 90s... gone... buh bye. When I do find a good batch it is overpriced. Hilarious as I can walk into a local store and buy excellent Zebrawood for the same cost per board foot as good swamp ash costs me (shipped). The stuff I used to get in the late 80s was amazing and cheap (Oh someone save me from the nostalgia). That good stuff is rare now. No point in using it though as it never had that good a sound to it... just a lot of voodoo given legs by vintage junkies and internet monkeys. I can do just as well with a good African Mahogany or Sapele. They are much more readily available to me and in my book sound better for my work (except when cloning teles). The S9 needs a certain weight to it and real swamp ash is actually too light to use. When I talk about something sounding bad mind you I am splitting hairs. My judgement of the wood used in this guitar is based against other guitars I have built not against off the shelf models. So when I talk about things being too bright or not sounding good that would be in context with other guitars I have built. I simply will not have good enough... you are only one bad guitar away from failure (or a good garbage can fire). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westhemann Posted May 30, 2012 Report Share Posted May 30, 2012 I use warmer sounding woods with all my SS and have great results to my ears.Surprisingly to some maybe I think of bubinga as a warm wood because of the good bottom end,even though there are plenty of highs there too...I do of course adjust the treble on my amp to compensate I have an all Limba Explorer which will be an interesting test subject,because I want to find out if all limba or mahogany with SS frets will have the clarity of a good LP,without having to add the maple cap. I am not so convinced in my own experiments yet that SS is all that much brighter,because I have no nickel fretted guitars in the same woods to compare to as of yet.The Limba Explorer will be the first real "control" model. I am not all that concerned though,because all of the guitars sound really good to me so far,and like I say I just adjust one knob(treble) on my amp depending on the brightness of the guitar I don't have tool problems,but I don't use flush cut end nippers.Matter of fact on the last one I used the fretting method shown in that beatle bass video and the time saved on that more than made up for the extra filing time...I cut the frets with a big pair of standard Kleins I have Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
avengers63 Posted May 30, 2012 Report Share Posted May 30, 2012 I cut off the frets with a metal cutting wheel on a Dremel. Those wheels are a lot cheaper than nippers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RestorationAD Posted May 30, 2012 Author Report Share Posted May 30, 2012 I use warmer sounding woods with all my SS and have great results to my ears.Surprisingly to some maybe I think of bubinga as a warm wood because of the good bottom end,even though there are plenty of highs there too...I do of course adjust the treble on my amp to compensate Looking to the future I expect to go back to Sapele and Khaya as my main woods and I am hopeful to get good results with the warmer woods. I have an all Limba Explorer which will be an interesting test subject,because I want to find out if all limba or mahogany with SS frets will have the clarity of a good LP,without having to add the maple cap. If I can get that from the next four 7 and 6 strings I am building than I will call it a win. Solid Genuine Mahogany bodies with no tops on the next 4. I would expect them to sound like you described and will be happy if they turn out that way. I am not so convinced in my own experiments yet that SS is all that much brighter,because I have no nickel fretted guitars in the same woods to compare to as of yet.The Limba Explorer will be the first real "control" model. All the Limba I bought last year and built guitars with has had a very dark sound to it. It really smoothed out several of the guitars tones when coupled with a hard top and made for a very dark warm guitar on the softer tops. I will be interested to see how this goes except that not having a nickel fret guitar of the same model makes it tough to compare. I am not all that concerned though,because all of the guitars sound really good to me so far,and like I say I just adjust one knob(treble) on my amp depending on the brightness of the guitar There is always that. I was trying to directly compare the SS frets to the Nickel Frets so I left the amp setup exactly the same as it has been for the past 2 years. The idea is to have a baseline to compare to. If I was playing these on a regular basis I would adjust my amp. I don't have tool problems,but I don't use flush cut end nippers.Matter of fact on the last one I used the fretting method shown in that beatle bass video and the time saved on that more than made up for the extra filing time...I cut the frets with a big pair of standard Kleins I have I have a few sets of 9" Kliens running around from my electrical days. They work great for cutting about anything and I could use them on the SS frets. I cut off the frets with a metal cutting wheel on a Dremel. Those wheels are a lot cheaper than nippers. I used to do it this way but It is messy, noisy, and easier to mess up than flush cut side cutters. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westhemann Posted May 30, 2012 Report Share Posted May 30, 2012 Looking to the future I expect to go back to Sapele and Khaya as my main woods my sapele V sounds great...warm but still with a bite.I just can't really count that because I used a soft maple cap and hard maple multilam neck...but it is a bit warmer sounding that the bubinga/maple guitars. I will be interested to see how this goes except that not having a nickel fret guitar of the same model makes it tough to compare. Agreed..but I do have an all mahogany Gibson Explorer I was going to use as a not very accurate comparison.i know that is not all that scientific but it's just one step,since the goal for me is an explorer that sounds like a good LP without resorting to maple caps. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RestorationAD Posted May 30, 2012 Author Report Share Posted May 30, 2012 my sapele V sounds great...warm but still with a bite.I just can't really count that because I used a soft maple cap and hard maple multilam neck...but it is a bit warmer sounding that the bubinga/maple guitars. All my Sapele based guitars I have built over the years have been amazing... I really like that wood. the goal for me is an explorer that sounds like a good LP without resorting to maple caps. That is a good goal. I approve. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted May 30, 2012 Report Share Posted May 30, 2012 my sapele V sounds great...warm but still with a bite.I just can't really count that because I used a soft maple cap and hard maple multilam neck...but it is a bit warmer sounding that the bubinga/maple guitars. All my Sapele based guitars I have built over the years have been amazing... I really like that wood. I am experimenting more with Sapele in basses when I get up and running again. Really nice working wood and not difficult to acquire either. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RestorationAD Posted May 30, 2012 Author Report Share Posted May 30, 2012 Maybe closer to the end of the year I will get some friends to come over and play all the different guitars with the different woods and tell us how the players view the sounds... I should have enough guitars for a good comparison by Oct (if I can keep them from selling before then). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattharris75 Posted May 30, 2012 Report Share Posted May 30, 2012 I should have enough guitars for a good comparison by Oct (if I can keep them from selling before then). Sounds like a good problem to have! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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