black_labb

why not use a floyd rose so you can dive bomb

if you get a 45 degree chamfer, then you can use that and thenuse sandpaper to get the full radius. thats what i did for my first guitar and it worked perfectly, cant tell. it didnt take too long either, but then again i did a rediculous amount of sanding as i didnt use a template, just freehand with the router to get the sides closish and square, then alot of 40 grit, so maybe it was alot of sanding on the radius, but didnt seem like much at the time.

that lower horn looks like it would get in the way of your hand for upper fret access, otherwise its a nice unique design

hi guys, ive just recieved the bits and pieces to make the amp ive been planning on for a while. the amp is a variation on a fender 5e3 deluxe (thats the tweed era one) I have started to think that i may be better off making a head and a 2x10 cab, as opposed to the 2x10 combo amp. i think ill porobably end up making another amp (or a few) and speakers are probably the most expensive parts. having a head and cab means that i can use the cab, or it along with another cab with the next amp i make to save money. having a cab and head would probably mean that the amp would be less likely to be damaged as well. making a combo would be good as it would take up less space in the car, and it would also be a more traditional looking amp, but it is a 2x10 (as opposed to a 1x12) amp and not going to be the tweed look, so its not like im going for a perfect reproduction (the circuit is different anyway). what do you guys suggest and why? anyting i should consider?

Thanks for the suggestion...I actually thought about purchasing a hand plane but for this project I need something a little faster got get the project going as I have only the remaining week to get the majority of the work done... Gee, never actually thought about using my router for this task. Thanks for bringing this up. Maybe I could combine the router- and the hand-plane method and come up with decent results! Really appreciate all the suggestions so far...anything else I haven't thought of??? if you make a jig for the router you can do it very well. the jig consists of 2 rails which the body can fit between. something the router can sit on that will allow the router to be put onto the rails and be moved across the whole body without falling into it. this could be a piece of plywood with pieces of wood either side of the router to stop it from sagging under the weight of the router. i made a permanent one that i will get around to posting, but it wont be tonight as its 3am here, and i need to get to bed. might do it tomorrow if i get all the work i want done on the bass i want to do.

if it is infact 25.5", then you are lucky. they may have designed the guitar around a 25.5" scale and then the player or whoever decided they wanted a shorter scale, so they had nacks made that would be able to sit into the same pockets. being a cheaper korean guitar, its probably made in a factory that makes the same guitars for many other companies, and one might have the same shape or something that is easily changed, and one is a 25.5 " neck and the other is the size you have. alot of manufacturers in asian countries "lend" designs and such to other manufacturers. it means more buisness and not having to write up new cam code for the next body. that and they usually get some money for that. the thing that i would be surprised about is if the neck slot was tight enough, which would be a bit of an issue.

On the StewMac page where they refer to "relief", that is the amount of gap between the specified fret and a straightedge that is laid along the fret tops with the strings tuned up to pitch (i.e. pulling on the neck with their usual amount of string tension). The only real way to measure this is with a good straightedge and a set of feeler gauges. If the frets have been levelled properly, the straightedge should sit on #1 and #12 (+/- a fret or two), and the maximum amount of neck relief should be seen around #7-#8-#9. You need to tweek the truss rod (loosen strings, tweek rod, tighten strings) until you get the specified amount of neck relief, turning the rod no more than 1/8 turn each increment. Once you get close (or ON) the specified relief number, THEN work on the action (saddle height). If you find that you still need to raise the saddle, two possibilities are: (1) it is likely your neck is bowed (in which case you probably won't be able to get to the specified amount of relief with just the truss rod) (2) if your neck is truly straight and tuned up right, then either your neck pocket or the body itself has some bow (throwing the neck angle off) If you must shim the bridge then shim the whole thing, not just each saddle individually. i understand that, im just wondering wether i should factor in relief when determining the height of the bridge, as there is little travel on the bridge and id prefer not to have to shim the bridge. i am only a bit into the build, but its a neck through and ive needed to determine some things already, such as how much i should lower the area the bridge is on.

you basically have to get a single piece of wood (or a laminate) of the lenght of the full guitar and the full thickness of the body, or one atleast half the thickness of the body and the length of the body aswell as the full lenght of the guitar then glue the extra piece below the body end of the centre piece. then you glue on the body wings. this is a very simplified version of the process. the complications come in when considering what can and cant be done once the body wings have been glued. for example, it would be hard to make a truss rod slot after the wings have been glued, as you wouldnt be able to use the straight edge on the side of the neck, as the body wings would get in the way. you also need to consider the neck angle and fretboard height before you even think about gluing the neck on. you would also want to have the truss rod radiused and slotted and inlayed before you glue it on. id suggest writing out the steps on paper that you would do, and then going over them to see if any of the steps complicate other steps.

Not sure where you heard that. My experience with hickory is quite the opposite- it sends every bit of vibration back into your hands. One of the reasons I hate working with it. That and the stiletto-like splinters that fly at your face when you put it in the table saw. Butternut, on the other hand is very nice to work with. Softer, and lighter in color than Black walnut, with the same grain. These woods do absorb vibration well, which is partly why walnut is used for gunstocks. did you notics that you said that they absorb vibration well, which is exactly what i was saying is a property they have which makes them suitable for drum sticks. you did somewhat contradict yourself. mot trying to get into an arguement just pointing out that you do agree with what i am saying to an extent.

thanks for that, i seemed to think that it was going to be higher than that, ill get back to working. edit: i just tested the bridge, and there is really only aroud 2 mm of travel, which accouts for 1mm at the 12th fret. looks like i might have to shim the bridge. should i account for a bit of neck bow which will be present in the form of relief? id prefer not to have to use shims, so getting the correct height first up which such small travel on the bridge adjustment would be great.

well you coulkd always go for a drop top, a les paul has a mixed tone of maple (the cap on the body) and mahogany (the rest of the body) it also has a mahogany neck which changes things a bit compared to the standard maple neck. as for australian timbers, there are quite a few woods that have been used successfully silky oak is another one that wasnt mentioned above, but there are plenty of others. i have some qld walnut that ill ues for a build in the near future, havent done much with australian timbers yet.

hi guys and girls i am working on a bass and need to know what kind of action is typical at the 12th fret. i searched here and google, and only found one site which said that 2.4mm is typical at the 17th fret (which is 1.8-1.9 at the 12th assuming a perfectly flat fretboard). this didnt really seem right to me, and i couldnt find anything else on the subject. whats a good number to work to for low action (so i can get it there then raise the bridge to get it to the most suitable action) the bridge i have doesnt seem to have too much vertical travel so i want to be pretty close to where i want. thanks for the help

psw, believe what you want, but it is the ironand nickel in the guitar string that changes the magnetic field, not the nickel/steel becoming magnetic itself. they are magnetic materials, meaning that they are effected by magnets, not because they are magnetic themselves. they can be magnetised to an extent, but they are not magnetised when on a guitar. do you know how tele bridge pickups are quite bright (brighter than strat pups, using the same materials and construction techniques. the difference is the steel plate below the pup. this changes the magnetic field and makes the magnets more "focused" so they give a brighter output. this is because the magnetic field is aimed more at a certain spot on the string, as opposed to a wider range (think of it as light or youur vision even, the steel base plate works like a magnifying glass dirrecting the magnetic field to a much smaller place.). if the reason tele bridge pups sounded different is because the baseplate was being magnetised (it may well become magnetised, but that doesnt effect things to a noticeable extent if at all) then it would infact give a warmer sund, as the magnetised baseplate would be widening the area in which the magnet "picks up movement". it doesnt make it warmer, it brightens the sound by effecting the magnetic field. this is an example of how a iron/steel effects the magnetic field. strings effect the magnetic field in the same way, and their vibration creates an alternating current with the same frequency as the strings vibration. you are essentially saying that magnets stick to iron/steel because they turn the material into another magnet so that they are attracted, when really they have a magnetic pull towards them. if you consider this statement you can go onto some physics websites and check your theories. keep in mind we are not calling you an idiot, just we/thousands of scholars with more expirience and research on the subject support a different theory to you. obviously you are quite intellingent to come to your conclusions from whatever info you have found/gathered, but its not the common belief amongst the learned.

they use hickory for drumsticks because of its strength, but also because of the way it dampens vibrations. this helps to stop your hand from feeling the vibrations after hitting things, could get painful after a while. also why they use it for axe handles and such. seems to me that this would make quite a "dead" sounding wood, which supports what people say about it. it wuld probably have applications within guitar design if you wer ging for a different sound, but most people like the more traditional sounds. ive been planning on making some drumsticks for a friend so i did a bit of research into the area to figure out which australian woods would be suitable.

oh, should have mentioned. there will be holes in either 2 or 4 corners to attach it. (of the outside wood) i made the coil on the bottom as small as possible as it is mounted within the neck and i didnt want the neck strength to suffer too much, which means i can drill the holes without worrying too much about the coils being damaged aslong as i keep a bit of care. i might even find that i have enough room in the centre, but that might be pushing it a fair bit.

i think a slight burst would be nice, the wood looks too nice and perfect for my taste (yes im wierd)

i dont know much about the kit, but id give it a go if your interested.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v643/bla...b/pupbottom.jpg there is the one ive done, sorry for taking so long with the photos. the top needs to be finished properly, i did one coat of danish oil and then got fingerprints on it.

well if you dont mind getting into another addicting hobby, then building it seems to be a good option. if your someone who likes designing and making things (which you probably do considering your on pg) then you will probably be alright with the amp. just get a book or something that goes through what each section of the amp does and you should be alright to start planning something.

firstly i must say that im not much of a metalhead so i dont know much about what is available. i checked what those bands were playing, and it seems that they are playing mostly 80's marshalls and in metalicas case some mesa boogies as well. kerry king has a marshall head which is probably pretty similar to what you have. what i know you should be looking for is something with a solidstate rectifier. if i were designing one for you i would probably be a single ended el84 in a cascading gain preamp with 2 12ax7 (chinese made ones as they tend to have higher gain). fixed biasing. there would be a vol pot after the first preamp triode and then the tone controls after. id also be tempted to put in a treble-mid-bass control as well as it may be a sound without much mids that you are after. i dont know why i wrote all of that, ive been planning to make my first amp (basically a fender deluxe (5e3) with some small modifications to the preamp to get a bit different voicing options and i guess i just like thinking about designing things. good thing im doing an engineering degree, just wish i enjoyed the coursework as much as random designing of things i enjoy.

when people usually talk about high gain they are usually refering to preamp distortion found in cascading gain stages (think mesa boogie and most mster volume amps). the sound is a bit harsher (not bad, just different). are you refering to preamp distortion (refered to above) or power tube distortion (usually a bluesier sound, think distortion found on tweed fenders or a marshall jtm 45) what amp do you have that you want to replicate the sound on 7. it could well be part power part preamp distortion. if it is power tube distortion then most small tube amps should be able to do that easily as it happens when you turn the volume up. id imagine you are looking for something like a el84 based single ended amp if this is the case (think a fender champ with an el84 power tube, as it is easier to overdrive and gives a more british sound) if it is preamp gain, then a low wattage amp (2 or so watts) wont be what you are after, as you will be getting a significant amount of power tube distortion muddying up the cascading gain preamp distortion. that and the fact that someone wouldnt make an amp in this way as aving so many preamp tubes driving a single small tube would be rediculous. if its a mix of the 2 you are looking for, maybe look into a 15 watt push pull amp with a cascading gain stage.

ive been going to annangotes for my builds a fair bit. havent been getting a hige amount of aussie timber though, but ive planned on it though. ive picked up some queensland maple for a build, as well as a number of other things. silky oak is another good option, nice grain too if you get the right piece. Qld Maple has been compared with mahogany tonally, and silky oak has been compared to alder (i can imagine the grain making it similar to swamp ash as well) they have some new guinea rosewood which has been used sucessfully for acoustic necks by a few builders, and is nicely priced. ive picked some up to make a body for a neck through bass from. not a bad looking wood either. I have also heard that tasmanian myrtle is a great wood for guitars, no experience though. what i would do is bring the sheet with what they have in stock and the prices home and have a look through that and have a bit of a search on the net to see what people say about the wood. and the forums above are great, i use it a fair bit.

i have made a similar pup that is to go into my current guitar. i made the top with a bit of wenge (offcuts from a piece for my neck laminate) and used some pick guard material for the base. i got some alnico magnets (like strat pups) for the poles. its basically a strat pup with a larger cover. if you want the warmer sound of p90's then you can get a shorter magnet and make the winding wider and not as deep. you could also cut the regular strat magnets shorter (it is a hard and brittle material, havent cut it myself) which will also weaken the magnets pull (good in that it wont effect sustain so much, but also effects output) or you could have the magnets exending a ways below the end of the winding window, if you want the extra output from the coil from the stronger magnetic pull. i go on http://music-electronics-forum.com/forumdisplay.php?f=11 for my pup questions and discussion (there are plenty of people who know alot more than i, i dont know much more than the basics, and havent heard any of the pups i have wound as i have been waiting for me to finish this guitar. i do plan on making all the pups for my guitars from now though. if you are interested i can post a pic of the pup i wound.

maybe it's not clear in the photo, but the entire left side of the guitar is an open chamber, and then I also put a chamber in the horn, but it's airtight, and more for lessening the weight. When the top is carved, it should be a little more obvious, but it's just so thick right now. Also, please look at my question before if you can help, but I have another question too. Sorry, I'm full of em. My neck is 1/16" too thin around the 10th fret on, and it gets a little worse as you go further. What do I do? It'll be bound, will that help? Or is 1/16 not enough to worry about? That is 1/32" off either side, or 1/16" from what it should be. Thanks! when you say too thin, how do you mean. do you mean width (measuring paralell to the frets) or thickness ?

floyd nuts are only nessesary with heavy string bending, otherwise their a big hassle. brass nuts are probably good, but may take a while to get the slots right (and i dont think you can get pre slotted ones for 7 string) id go for a simple bone nut or something of the sort. you can even use feeler gauges to make the slots (either use a needle file to create a saw like pattern on the gauge, or if you have an accurate caliper, you can put some sand paper around the feeler gauge to get the right size, and use that. i use a combination of the 2 methods.