Keegan

It could, but it still should work fine with all of the controls on 10. Only when you tried to turn them down would you notice that they were like they were more like On/Off switches. I'd suggest getting new controls anyways, but that's probably not your problem. Check your battery and your connections. You might have something switched up on the output jack that's not allowing the battery's current to flow. If you're sure those are right(ie you don't have the tip and ring switched or anything like that), then just do a general check around with a multimeter checking for connectivity and voltage where it should be. There should be voltage between the positive and ground on the pickups with the cable plugged in, etc. You also wouldn't get sound if you're using a stereo cable.

That's and interesting idea...oddly enough I have not heard of anyone doing that, but it would draw very little power and contain a preamp as well and could be pretty simple...nice idea. People are pretty shy about preamps and so I am I, I guess...even my sustainer things although powered, lack preamps for when it is off like the commercial ones. However, a lot of these little preamps are very simple, can sound good, add a bit of warmth and stuff...possibly even active tone controls and really, the battery would last about 6 months I'd imagine and wouldn't be that much of a hassle. Of course, bass players use them all the time with active tone controls too...so go figure! If you're really worried about it sounding good, you can always build yourself a tube preamp in there, with a nice metal grille on the front to ventilate the tube =D As if a normal guitar didn't have enough of a shock hazard already. There's nothing wrong with solid-state though, as long as you have tubes somewhere in the chain to do their magic. Most of the magic happens in power tubes anyway. The coolest preamp I've seen is this one http://www.till.com/articles/PreampCable/index.html It's so small and simple that it can be built right into the plug of a cable. Something like that could easily go into a guitar, even before the controls. I haven't tried that one yet. I've been meaning to, to evaluate the noise level. It'd have to be quieter than preamping anywhere else in your chain, though.

That neck is huuuuge O.O

Yup, that one =P Just wait, it'll be even more gorgeous once it's finished. Hopefully that'll be before I go to college. I'd hate to leave you guys waiting that long though. I'm aiming for the beginning of summer. That is, if I don't start a second one before then, haha. I told my friend I'd build him his own guitar one day. I already have the body drawn, but there's no way I'll have the money to complete another one anytime soon. It's basically a slightly smaller Les Paul(24" scale neck, 17.5x12.25x1.5" body). It looks really good, now I want one.

The lowest voltage schottky diodes that I've ever found are the 1N5817-1N5819 series. They'll clip about the same time as the Black Ice, they might even be the same diodes, dunno. Try those and maybe a couple Germanium diodes: 1N34 and 1N60; germaniums are supposed to give a better sound(that's why they're used in pedals) and will clip more easily. LEDs might be interesting too if you could find low enough voltage ones. Mount them to the top so that they flicker when you strum >_> There's nothing you can do without power except for volume/frequency drops or diode tricks. If you do want to add power, you can conceivably add just about any pedal into your guitar though, if there's one you really use a lot and is first in your signal chain(like a distortion or boost). There's still the question of how useful that will really be in your guitar instead of at your feet. Perhaps the most useful circuit in place of a tone control would be a noise reduction pedal, especially on a strat =P

Best build ever. I'll be lucky if I ever make anything half as awesome in my entire life.

Currently Planned Specs: Padouk/Walnut Bolt-On LP Body(1-3/4" thick) MIM Strat maple/rosewood neck Seymour Duncan Stag Mag bridge pickup Gotoh SG38 Tuners Schaller 475 top-mount bridge Corian nut Series/split/parallel switching, Master Volume, Master Tone(w/ switching for no-load/.0165uF/.033uF). Controls mounted on a Tele-style control plate Black/chrome hardware Progress Pictures: Lumber Top joined Rough-shaped body(quite a lot of sanding left, especially near the neck) Edit: Fixed a broken link

I'll second the medium output Seymour Duncans. You might consider just replacing one position with an SD P-Rail, since it'll cover more ground and give you an idea of what type of pickup you like since it's like 3 pickups in one. The rail coil will probably do ska, the p-90 will definitely do classic rock, and the humbucker will be good for anything from classic rock to metal, especially with your amp. Here's their page on them: http://www.seymourduncan.com/products/elec...e/prails_shpr1/

Measure the string spacing to make sure it's over the humbucker. But I'd say go for it. If they don't quite sound right, you can always swap them out for other humbucker-sized pickups. I think lipstick pups would be worth a try, too. They sound heavenly on baritone, that might carry over to bass, plus they won't mud up and you don't have to worry about string spacing.

There are 6-way rotary switches. They're 4-pole, like the super 5-ways, so each position can be pretty much anything.

If you use the 3-way pickup toggle off a Les Paul, you'll have On-Off-Off. You'd just wire the hot from the volume to the middle lug, then a wire to the tip of the output jack on one lug and a wire to ground on the other(or nowhere, that'd give you On-On-Off, but it'd be noisier when in the off position). You'd be better off with a momentary switch with a soft touch that runs your signal to ground when you hit it. Those are far more useful. I have a toggle killswitch and it's completely useless unless I just want to stop my amp from feedbacking or something.

So what's a better finish than oil that doesn't require spray equipment and can form a good satin finish? Lacquer? Poly?

No, not without seeing what's already connected and knowing what everything's supposed to do.

Danish Oil. It's fool-proof, and makes one of the better satin finishes. It can be applied over dyes, too. Dries hard, it's not like just throwing oil on your guitar. Here's a good example of how it turns out: http://www.planetbass.com/images/Basses/Mo...nut_HighRes.jpg

They're most likely grounds for the 3 toggles, even though that's a little excessive. You can just get rid of them if you want. The loose white wire looks like the hot output from one of the volumes, but I can't see because your pictures are so blurry.

I was just wondering if there is any demand here for someone to do wiring. I could pre-wire pickguards/control plates/controls for stock guitars(most Fenders, Gibsons with a standard LP/SG control layout) or custom guitars(if you provide an accurate diagram of your control cavity layout). All I would need to know is what kind of guitar, what you want to be able to do with the controls, and what work you actually want me to do. I could do something as small as prewired controls to drop in or as big as an entire pickguard with pickups and everything included. The price would be quoted on a per-guitar basis, since what you want done is completely up to you. All my work would be fully guaranteed, and payment would be through Paypal(so that I can issue an invoice and you'll know your information is secure). Anyone interested?

Sounds good. Momentary switches are really nice for kills, because you can tap it in a rhythm unlike a toggle switch.

3 way kill switch? What do you mean?

That would work, you'd just set the pickup height to balance the bridge and neck out. Or you could use 3 volumes and a master tone. It depends on how much independent control you need. You're going to probably at least need the separate controls for the middle, since it'll sound more different than the neck and bridge will from each other(assuming you use the same kind of pickups). To me, the most sensible control scheme would be 4 push-pulls: 1. Volume for neck, 500k, with pull for coil split; 2. Volume for middle, 250k, with pull for middle on; 3. Volume for bridge, 500k, with pull for coil split; 4. Master tone, 500k, with pull for middle-only output. If you'd rather have switches, you could do that instead of pulls. It'd be nice to have a way to have only the middle selected, though. The three volumes give you more control over blending, and the middle bypass would work whether you had the middle on or not. I just suggested the switch plate because I'm a switch junkie, but now I'm thinking that might be kind of silly to try to do on a Les Paul.

Don't use Cocobolo. Problem solved.

Why are the poles reversed in your second pickup? That's just stupid, it should be the same as the neck, just turned around inside the body. Isn't that how pickups usually are? Well, I think you're going to want to ground out green and black instead, and then use either white or red as the hot, and ground the other one, like this diagram http://www.seymourduncan.com/support/wirin...=coil_splitting since you want the other coil. But since you have the green and black opposite of the first picture, I think you're going to want the white running to hot and the red grounded instead of following the second picture exactly. That should keep it in phase... If you just reverse the ground and hot, that does nothing but reverse the phase, so you'd be out of phase and have the same problem that you already do.

Oh man, that sounds great. It matches the padouk and walnut I have so well too. I wasn't planning on getting the neck for awhile, but I may have to take you up on your offer. I'll PM you once I know.

What are the laminates on the fingerboard on the first neck in Group 4 made of? Padouk and Walnut? Edit: Oh, and what are just the general specs on it? It looks a little shorter than the others.

Yeah. And if you're just raising it to get it to the same output, you're going to have tons of crunch. Mmm. Oh, I just realized that you might want it on a 250k pot, or wire in a 500k resistor in parallel with it and its volume control, because a 500k pot might be too bright for it. Another reason to use concentric pots or separate controls entirely if they don't make concentric 500/250 pots. I think I've seen some though. Let me know if you can't find the 500/250 stacked ones, I don't want to post any links without you asking and seem like I'm advertising anything.

I would rout a hole for a slider control plate in the area that they are on Jaguars, like in the area near the horn, then use On-On sliders for your three mini-switches, unless you're carving up the top. If you make it a consistent angle in the area the plate goes you could still do it though, or maybe even install it on the side of the guitar up near the main toggle. You might even use concentric pots on the Neck controls so that you can have separate controls for the middle, because they probably aren't going to have the same amount of output, unless you just want to set the pickup height to compensate for that. Mini-switches of any sort are going to be difficult to install on a Les Paul style guitar though, if you're rear routing everything. Just make sure that you measure everything more than once so that you don't drill through the top if you go that direction. Just some ideas. What sort of mini humbucker are you thinking? I'm just curious. Do you mean a strat-sized humbucker or one of those gibson-style minibuckers? I love the sound of both, especially the gibson-style. It's not as weak as a single coil but it isn't overbearing or muddy like humbuckers can get on those clean parts. Middle position always sounds the best on smaller pickups anyways, lots of crunch and nice and balanced tone-wise, not overly trebly like the bridge or bassy like the neck. Hmm, this is inspiring me to add some extra switches to my current build.