KeithHowell

I would like to see how the blocks were made. Is this another tutorial in the making here Brian?

Keith

Have a look at Radius Blocks for a much simpler way. I have made some and they work great.

Keith

Have a look at GEO there is an article on panning. Might be a bit more than what you want though.

Keith

Scan it into a raster image and digitize it into a CAD package. Then you can scale it to any size you want and print it accurately.

I use WinTopo and TurboCAD which both have free versions available for download at Wintopo and TurboCad

Solid state is definitely simpler and less likely to kill you. With valves you have to mess about with DC of around 250 to 350 volts.

Go to R.G.Keens site GEO and search for the Mini-Tubes project. It is a simple guitar pre-amplifier with printed circuit layout. All you then need is a power amp to drive the speakers. I recommend using one of the TDA series chips, they range from around 2 Watts to about 50 Watts. A power supply of 9 to 12v DC will power the whole thing.

Also have a look at Elliot sound products for all sorts of audio based projects including a solid state simulation of the VOX AC30.

Good Luck

Keith

Make sure you use rosin core solder NOT acid core! The acid will slowly attack every thing around it and your wiring will break down after a while. Acid is used for plumbing I believe and should not go anywhere near electronics.

Get an Antex iron if you don't want to get the more expensive transformer based irons. I bought an antex 25 years ago, after wasting money on several cheap irons which only lasted a week, and it's still working perfectly with its original tip!

Keith

If you need to take it to a print shop the output format to use is either DXF interchange format from AutoCad or the DWG Autocad format which seems to be an interchange format as well these days.

I also use TurboCad with great success. I have both the free ver6.5 and the Learning edition. 6.5 is a very cut down version. Get the LE if you want to do any design work. I recently completed an ES335 drawing which is on guitarbuild.com

Keith

Ive messed around with making my own from the piezo inside of buzzers. They are very cheap about a US$1 So experiment a bit and see how it sounds.

Keith

It could be that you have not got your units set correctly. The drawings on the guitar build site which is in Europe are probably in metric: 1 inch = 25.4 mm so depending on your CAD settings you could end up with a drawing 25 times smaller or larger!

I use TurboCad (they have a Learning addition available for free and a cut down version 6.5 for free as well)I follow this procedure when I have the problem you are experiencing:

1) Load the drawing and measure the scale length displayed.

2) Then scale the drawing up or down to fit the scale length as designed.

3) then print the drawing with a 1:1 scale

Is there no scale option in your CAD package in the print options?

Keith

I've used a brass saddle on a steel string and it gave a nice bright tone. Get a piece of 3mm (1/8) stainless make one and try it out.

I don't think Bondo is available in this part of the world (Cape Town) but the pink polyester stuff is so I think I'm safe.

Keith

I am refinishing a bass I built many years back and am going to re spray it. It has sustained some gouges and dings. I thought if it's to be resprayed with automotive type laquers why not use automotive filler to fill the dings, it should give the perfect surface for the paint to stick to.

Has anybody done this? Should the wood be sealed first then the filler applied, or the filler to the raw wood then seal?

Keith

I have used beech for necks. It works fine. It seems quite similar to maple in some respects. My last guitar (a tele) for my son has a beech neck and has a great twangy tone. Though how much is the neck and how much the parana and mahogony body I'm not sure.

Keith

NO! replacing the fuse will DEFINITLEY not work. You will be gauranteed of smoke!

Transformers work like this: The value of the input to the output is a ratio determined by the turns on the primary (the 240/110) side and the secondary (the side the electronics is attached to) for solid state ie not tubes or valves this is usually around 30 volts. So in AUS or here in South Africa we require a transformer with a ratio of 240: 30 or 8 to 1 the voltage steps down by a factor of 8. In the US with 110v you need 110:30 ie approx 4:1 ratio so the voltage steps down by a factor of 4. So putting 240v into the 110v winding will give you 60v out which is double what your preamp is expecting and will probably let the smoke out.

I suggest you get hold of Rod Elliot at ESP on this URL:Elliot Sound Products He is based in your part of the world (Thornleigh NSW ) and should be able to help you.

Keith

It looks like the primary of your transformer has a 230 volt and a 110 volt tapping. There will probably be a switch somewhere near the transformer to switch between having a 230 volt input or the 110 volt input. On no account put 230v into it when it is set to 110 v this will give double the output voltage on the electronics side of the transformer and you will most likely see smoke.

There is a standard joke in our industry saying that electronics runs on smoke internally, because when it comes out it stops working.

The user manual should have the instructions to switch it. Let me know what model it is and I'll see if the manual is published on the web. Perhaps I can tell you what to look for from the manual. It's easy when you know what you are looking for.

Usually these switches need to be changed with a screwdriver or a small plug removed and put into another position so that you can't accidently change it while on.

Keith

One more thing: I couldn't find any long bits with the correct size so I took normal size bit to the engineering and welding company down the road who welded an extension piece on for me in about five minutes.

Keith

Have a look at Melvyn Hiscocks book "Build your own Electric guitar" He explains exactly how to do a Fender style rear mounted truss rod with skunk stripe. I have just completed fitting two Bass necks using his method and it works fine. The only speciality item needed are drill bits with shanks about 300 mm (12") long to clear the head stock.

Keith

Make sure all the screws you can see are tight especially the speaker mounting. If they are screws into the wooden baffle (you said it was a cheap amp) then replace them with bolts and nylock nuts. Screws into chip or particle board always seem to work loose due to the vibration of the speakers.

Keith

When you say set it down, do you mean with it off and unplugged? If so you probabably have something physical loose, like a cover, speaker or something.

If you mean, with it on you could have a loose wire, dry joint etc. Dry joints can give some very strange effects, they can even act like a semiconductor and cause all manner of strange noises including a lot of hiss and noises like eggs frying.

Amps, tube or solid state are about the simplest electronic devices around. It really is just a matter of plugging the correct devices onto a prepared circuit board.

However what seems simple to me. (I'm a formally trained electronics technician and software engineer) probably is very daunting to someone without some train ing and insight. I would still encourage you to have a go and learn a bit about what goes on, under the hood as it were, in your amp.

Building from a kit is a great way to start. The power amp I mentioned above cost about US$5 which included the PC Board Power amp chip and a few resistors and capacitors.

Have a look at the ESP site and read the project about the VOX AC 30 simulator.

Good Luck

Keith

Have a look at ESP Their are a number of projects including a solid state VOX AC30 simulator which I am currently building.

Have a look at R.G.Keens site GEO and search for the minitubes preamp project. It will need a simple power amp to go with it but a TDA 2005 or similar will do perfectly. That will give you about 20W but one of the other TDA chips will give lower powers (the 2003 is I think 5W) R.G. has a mistake on the parts layout, one of the FETs F5 is shown the wrong way around.

I've built the Minitubes Preamp with the TDA2005 for a power section. It sounds great, very tube like and only with a power rail of up to 30 volts, very safe!

I've got a drawing for a housing suitable for this size of amp. Perhaps Brian could put it up on the site if anybody is interested.

Keith

http://www.guitarbuild.com/

Quite a few free plans and info

Have a look at Guide to GuitarBuilding Mike De Haan has published quite a few plans from various contributors for free!

Keith Howell

I have a schematic for the preamp with equalization. e-mail me and I'll give you a copy. We designed and modelled it on software and I have not built it yet. The acoustic guitar it is going into is not yet ready for the electronics yet.

Have a look at Piezo Buffer for a design for the buffering of the actual piezo wafer.

Keith

I can't believe the price you guys are paying for veneers in the States. There is a company here in Cape Town that has just veneered the top and back of a guitar for me which cost me R100 (roughly $11 US) and that included book matching, application with their special glue and pressing in their heated press so it should never come loose. Whats more both the glue and most of the veneers they sell are imported from, guess where, the USA.

Keith