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The Black Queen


komodo

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3 minutes ago, Prostheta said:

It should give slightly so give it time to break in under tension. That relief will appear.

For sure. I've got the truss pushing a little to make sure it goes the right way lol. As is, it can get so low you can't tell if you are pressing down or it's already touching the fret. My preference is low, but still some feedback, esp for hammer on/pull offs etc, 

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24 minutes ago, JayT said:

She turned out stunning! The attention to detail is top tier IMO - super stellar job! ,,, wait, no strap yet? How are you going to do that "spin behind the back" metal move?

Ha! I've got them, but almost never put them on as I pretty much play sitting down in my basement. "The place where old 80s rockers go". hahaha

Despite the pointy bits, I've never really thought of this as a metal guitar, probably because of the pickups....that said, metal will likely be 80% of it's diet.

@RonMay No fear sir, I'm proud. I'm finishing the other one today and then you'll see some beaming. 😁

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Thanks @ScottR
Besides the ridiculous thinness of the planet tips, the rest was easy. Drill the star holes and pop them in. Actually, the curve of the planets was the hardest. Your eye sees any deviation from round, immediately. Also, that fiddly detail crap by the star flare, which is a mess, but also so small you can barely see it. I'm still pondering how that could be done differently.

Neck is great. After danish oil, I use Renaissance wax polish, it's used by museums for restoration. Real wonderful stuff. That brings out some color warmth and really shines it. It does make ebony get almost plasticky which gets closer to a painted finish than a textured wood finish. My favorite ever is still rosewood. That makes a killer, fast neck.

That Renaissance wax isn't cheap, but I found a big stack of them at a flea market once for 50 cents a can and bought all of them.

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  • 2 weeks later...

The wooden accoutrement for the tremolo is so nice. You do know how to create 'em, @komodo. How's the selection of tones you've drilled this down to? I know the original six switch arrangement BM created has made redundant and useless settings, and I think that there's around 5-6 broadly usable tones plus a few specifics.

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Hehe, fortunately I don't hang around jäähalli or other sport arenas. Being a homeboy I guess the closest "attack" would be to lay down beside my wife and dream a little dream.

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5 hours ago, Prostheta said:

How's the selection of tones you've drilled this down to? I know the original six switch arrangement BM created has made redundant and useless settings, and I think that there's around 5-6 broadly usable tones plus a few specifics.

Yeah, that was on my mind when I decided on the three minis though there are redundant switch positions. I haven’t calculated how many I do have, there’s people like you that can do that for me. 😂 The ones available are certainly all one would need. Each pup by itself, two or three all in phase, and all the combos of out of phase. As BM did, I’ve already got a couple go tos, one os a thick humbucker like sound with plenty of gain and rich with harmonics. Another is the whispy single coil sound that is so different from a typical out of phase. This sounds more delicate, not icepicky, full of harmonics and has a cocked wah type sound. It’s really fun to play. So fun that I haven’t even really used the tremolo yet. It’s set pretty stiff right now, I’m gonna lighten that way up and see what delicacies it has to offer. I’ll try to record something if I can.

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10 hours ago, komodo said:

Yeah, that was on my mind when I decided on the three minis though there are redundant switch positions. I haven’t calculated how many I do have, there’s people like you that can do that for me. 😂 The ones available are certainly all one would need. Each pup by itself, two or three all in phase, and all the combos of out of phase. As BM did, I’ve already got a couple go tos, one os a thick humbucker like sound with plenty of gain and rich with harmonics. Another is the whispy single coil sound that is so different from a typical out of phase. This sounds more delicate, not icepicky, full of harmonics and has a cocked wah type sound. It’s really fun to play. So fun that I haven’t even really used the tremolo yet. It’s set pretty stiff right now, I’m gonna lighten that way up and see what delicacies it has to offer. I’ll try to record something if I can.

 

Those are the exact tones that I was thinking of also. The pickups and instrument will likely being to tell you what works best over time.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I mentioned in my other build, that I've been playing these a lot and the neck profiles needed their final tweak.

This one had a fat U profile, that was more refined than a baseball bat, but still too deep. It played very well, but depending on where your thumb was placed made transitions a little trickier than needed. Great for rhythm, not so great for delicate passages like White Queen off of Queen II. 

So, a sharp scraper and a bit of critical attention (not to mention a big gulp as I scraped the smooth oiled and polished ebony), I took the U down right down the center line. It finished with more of a D/C in the lower frets going into a shallow D higher up. This was done strung up at tension, carefully laid on some foam for protection. The scraper can be used pretty heavily without disturbing the guitar very much so it's the perfect tool. Every so often I'd pause, flip it over and play a few things, and further adjustments would reveal themselves again. 

Now it just needs some minor sanding through a few grits and re-oil and polish.

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  • 3 weeks later...
Just now, komodo said:

Had a bit of a noodle on the old girl. Gives you a rough idea of how those Trisonics are voiced. Sorry I set the cam down by my pedals. The switching is really loud!

 

wow does that neck pickup ever sound like queen.  nailed it.  nice work.

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