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retro_10s

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Everything posted by retro_10s

  1. Have you tried www.axesrus.com?.. I haven't looked but they've always had everything else i've needed.
  2. There's nothing enlightening or helpful in saying i'm polishing a turd, that's the whole idea of the project,... which I outline from the beginning, this IS a poor guitar and it WAS in a terrible state. I've now bought it up to date with a New Tom set up, a brand new wiring loom, with all new pickups and components.. The build quality of this guitar on the body itself was pretty poor but only in the cavities, The neck is pretty good, No worse than a £200 Epiphone LP SP neck IMO The 'Does wood really matter to tone, given the huge selection of pickup types and variables?' Argument has been debated over and over again and i do not wish to re-open it in my thread, but i will however say this. I agree that Good pieces of wood will lend a certain character to the guitars sound i.e. sustain, warmth, clarity. However where would we be without pickups, and you've seen how easy it is to change the sound of the guitar simply through the pickup selction. I have a Danelectro Pro56, that's made of glorified MDF, sound great.. sustains forever and does all the jangly stuff. My good friend routed his for a humbucker on the bridge, lowered the action... now it's a shredder, Still the same wood, completely different sound (and rather good i must say!!) My point is, The Guitar is still Plywood with a very thin Maple top, If this wood is so unresponsive and useless, then the original unpleasing sound, was all down to the pickups and electrics. But these have all just been replaced. So i imagine, so has the crap sound. Also you've gotta remember that guitars have to be played in, just like a cricket bat or baseball bat. Thanks!
  3. Well... all that's left now is to attatch the P-90 solidly and to string it up!!! pics to come next week and i'll get some sounds up too hopefully.
  4. I wouldn't recommend doing the cell phone test too much due to the phone possibly getting broken by electromagnetic waves... though I don't know if it's a possibility or not. I do the cell phone test by simply selecting your pick up... making your phone play a song or ringtone and then hover it over the pickup till you find the sweet spot. works a treat.. and amplifies your phone lol. polyphonic never sounded so good I haven't finished the sheilding on my guitar yet... but i'm questioning whether i'll need too.. I think I will just for good measure even though it's pretty silent now. I've done the sides so far. I thin most of my 'no hum' has come from my wiring skills... i'm not showing off, but it really is very good and tidy and all earthed correctly. With regards the conductive glue... I've heard this too... though though up a simple way to connect the edges. Using a staple gun (or similar thing) join the two pieces together then put a blob of solder on each area where the staple pierces the aluminium tape. cheers for the comments about the knobs... they are great.
  5. Gator grips get it from me every time, think I use mediums (red ones) they're just great i lvoe the tone, the feel and the fluidity you can get with them, there's only one pick i prefer and that's my Solid brass one,. It has limited use but when you're doing a little fill or slow solo it just makes the guitar sing with all it's might, warmth, clarity and smoothness!
  6. Right. BIG progress. My pots arrived today, so after a Dentists appointement, I got the soldering iron out.... I Built up My brand New wiring loom and installed a coil Cut circuit on the Quad rail H/bucker This is the first time i'd ever done something as adventurous with electronics... and.. well I'm over the moon with the results: there is only One component original to the old electrics and that's Rhythm/Treble switch... there was nothing wrong with it so didn't replace it just took it apart cleaned and lubed it. Anyway.... how's abouts this then: Then I shoehorned it all in after cutting the hole for the coil cut switch to poke through, and attatched the hardware.. i'm gonna leave the rhythm/treble ring off... i prefer it without. My new Vol/Tone Knobs look great: So here it is so far,.... all it needs now is strings and a spacer under the P-90: Sorry about pic quality. I tested it briefly (with My mobile phone against the pick-ups ) to make sure the circuits were all correct and I must say,... that P-90 is going to sound really smooth and creamy and the Quad rail Humbucker's really got some bite to it, of course i wont know the true nature of this guitar till it's strung. String guage wise.. i'm thinking 10-46s to start with... maybe 10-52s in the future. I'm so happy with this project so far. The new loom fired up first time and THERE IS NO HUM WHAT SO EVER FROM ANY OF THE PICKUPS IN ANY POSITION. so it goes to show what some correct sheilding, quality components and proper ground orientation can do! can't wait to string this up.
  7. lol you could have some beautiful gold screws from me one careful owner!
  8. Hmm, well.. my experience has been great with them, i wouldn't go anywhere else. In any case this is irrelevant to my thread so there :D I think the whole 'hot rodding' idea pretty much sums up this project, An tarted up old banger with a bit of punch at that! But it's also acting for me as quite a nice little re-introduction to guitar building for me... I'm already pretty handy with woodwork etc but the Electrics are something i never really looked with much detail, hence... i was no good with them. This guitar already had a half decent body etc and finish wasn't to scabby, it was the electrics that were criminal. So... with this in mind I decided that Building a loom up from scratch would be a good way to throw myself in at the deepend and learn. I have the old loom with all the components laid out infront of me, Next to that I will build an exact carbon copy of it but with a few differences: Firstly... My soldering is wayyy better than what it came with... so i can assure myself it's got good connections, The components I'm using are all brand new and much nicer quality, The wire i'm using is Wilkinson waxed cloth insulated hook-up wire... which looks the business and is nice and tidy, I've got rid of all the ground/earth loops Which I suspect was one of the main contributing factors to the massive hum i was getting also... there was loads of spare wire! I have so far cut A full metre of wire out of the guitar that was simply coiled up in there (there was literally 2 inch inbetween the pots and the wire connecting them together would be 7-8 inch long) I fancy doing a body build next. But for the time being... this is keeping me really entertained and that's what it's all about right?
  9. cooool, I used to really like mandolins... but have to confess... I then played a Mandola... and by god I love Mandolas so much more!!!
  10. www.axesrus.com absolutely fantastic company, i've used them lots in the past and think they're great, lots of useful parts, NOS etc etc. They're in UK and offer free postage on everything in the UK It' run by a husband and wife Tony and Jacky. I got an Email from Tony apoligising and Very nice phone call from Jacky as mentioned above within 5 mins of mailing them initially. all sorted now. If that aint customer service... then what is :D
  11. If anyone's interested there's a supsersonic on Ebay at the moment, exactly the same as this one. looks good! **I'd post a link up but I'm not gonna spoon feed you all when i'm pretty sure you're all computer literate
  12. I can't give you crap about it... looks like your improving it if anything buddy thumbs up!
  13. hehehe true... well within One minute of me E-mailing them saying I'd had my order mixed up I had an e-mial back and a phone call with a very apolagetic woman saying i could keep the screws (wahey!) and that my pots are in the post due to arrive tomorrow!
  14. Quick update, unfortunatley it's a bit of let down. I recieved a nice little padded envelope through the post today, It was 500k pots that i needed, these were the only parts i needed so that I could wire up the new loom in one foul swoop today,.. however, I opened the envelope and a little bag of golden screws appeared instead. Along with the order from that clearly stated in capitals ''2x 500k alpha audio pots'' Grrrrr, anyway, sent an e-mail and hopefully will have it sorted soon enough.
  15. I don't make a habit of playing bass unless unless i'm feeling funky as I love the sound of 6-12 strings, but... I really really Like Victor Wooten and his brother,... When they're not slapping fretboards aimlessly they are fantastic players, engaging and soulful. Oh and My other Fave was The lead guitarist guy from Focus
  16. I believe it would also be worth using 250k pots as they offer a Warmer tone compared to 500k which are quite bright.
  17. Well... the elctronics section have come up trumps and 'approved' my circuit for the Quad rail H/bucker with a coil cut switch... So... all I wait for now is monday, which is when my Extra two pots arrive and then I can get circuit building properly! The Wilkinson 'waxed cloth insulated' hook-up wire is really nice, has a lovely finish to it and should look like a pro job when it's all installed! Have a few ideas going round my head for a paint job.. though it's the very bottom of the list,.. I think I might go for the aged look and have a go at retro-ing my LP. Hmmm. If not... I'll go for a nice 2k respray at an auto place.
  18. There's Coil tapping and Coil cutting..... Coil cutting is where (using a switch) you essentially turn off one of the coils on your humbucker, leaving you with a single coil to play through. Is this what you're thinking of?
  19. thanks guys! yeah i'm happy with it too, still has the look sof a soapbar thanks to the cover being unobtrusive. Thanks, i like it too, and it's a good learning curve with the wiring lol. It used to be a 'thing'... now i'm trying to make it a 'wild thing' (see what i did there) <ahem>... i'll get me coat. can anyone help confirm the wiring diagram above as workable?
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