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Keegan

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Everything posted by Keegan

  1. Use a shorter scale length? Schecters are 25.5", pretty long. 24.75" is the only other common scale length. If you're making the neck, you can make it any scale length.
  2. That formula would only be valid if you wanted the strings to touch the frets and the frets were level with the body, which is crazy. More accurate would be Angle = Arctan((Neck thickness + fretboard thickness + fret height - Neck pocket depth - minimum bridge height)/647.7). All measurements are taken from the Low E side(on a TOM, measure from the bottom of the lip on the bushing straight up to the breakover point of the Low E). That way the strings would only touch the frets if you had the bridge all the way down. For example, my neck/bridge(stock Fender, so no neck angle) would look like Angle = Arctan((25mm-16mm-9mm)/647.7), and indeed, you get 0. I took those measurements straight off the guitar. The real angle(the angle when set up at a typical action of 3/32") is about .3 degrees. So yes, an angle of 1.59 degrees is huge on a guitar, when .3 degrees is the difference between playable and not. If I use the original formula on my guitar, I get something ridiculous like 1.1 degrees. It makes the most sense to angle the neck pocket, since you can do it fairly easily while you're routing the neck pocket, just by raising the guide rails the right amount. If you don't want to angle the neck pocket, you can either lower the bridge or raise the neck, both, or just get a shorter bridge than a TOM.
  3. Whoa. That neck is cool. I want one. Maybe the "tone" everyone is searching for is really just a damn neck that plays in tune.
  4. That's going to be sick, I can't wait to see it.
  5. Basically it's setting the action(distance from string to fret) as low as possible without buzz, getting the relief(bow in the neck) correct, and making sure the intonation is correct(making minor adjustments to the length of each string at the bridge so that the note at each fret is correct). They all affect each other, so if you change one, you have to change them all(not to mention retune the strings), and the trick is to get them all in balance and as playable as possible. There's also pickup height, but it's in its own category really. Closer to the strings = more output, less sustain(because the magnets pull on the strings). Farther = less output, more sustain. There's a basic tutorial on the main page: http://www.projectguitar.com/tut/tutorial1.htm There are also some tutorials here in the forum, a good one is this: http://projectguitar.ibforums.com/index.php?showtopic=39115 It only covers action and relief though.
  6. Kunststoff definitely means plastic: http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kunststoff But there are a lot of plastics that we don't think of as plastic, like Nylon, Kevlar, synthetic rubber, etc. Also, there are a few that are stronger than steel, and tons are if you are talking in terms of strength per unit weight or a specific type of strength like compressive or tensile. Maybe they just mean strength as in resistance to wear from the strings, that would include a lot of plastics.
  7. I'm willing to bet money that half the PG members came here because of exactly that. Well, maybe a whole bunch of 'em are those : " My Mom won't buy me a guitar, but she will buy me a Dremel, so walk me though a scratch build with a Dremel" . How did you know that's why I'm on here?
  8. Haha. Hmm, wait, that's not the Agile or Epiphone horn, what the heck is it? Tokai? No, it's even pointier than that... Oh, and it probably needs a proper set-up and a new set of strings.
  9. Is that an Agile I see? You'll want to start with any buggy hardware, like if the tuners don't stay in tune, if the nut binds or open notes sound dead, if something in the bridge buzzes, if any frets buzz, etc. Once it's up to your standards of playability, move on to the electronics. If you're new to guitars, you probably won't know what kind of pickups you like, but if anything crackles or the controls don't work correctly you'll want to replace the components and rewire it. Cheap import electronics are good for learning to solder. After that, it's really up to you. You can try some new pickups, accessories, amps, pedals, whatever.
  10. You might try out some EMGs you've never tried before, too.
  11. Actually I like the tone of plastic or synthetic nuts more than the bone, except on open chords. The bone nut makes fretted notes sound so weak in comparison to the open ones. It'd probably be better to use with stainless frets, I don't know.
  12. Either http://www.seymourduncan.com/support/wirin...1hum_1vol_1tone or http://www.seymourduncan.com/support/wirin...matic=1phat1v1t depending on if it's four conductor or two. You might consider putting a DPDT in place of the pickup selector switch, so that you can do this http://www.seymourduncan.com/support/wirin...p?schematic=ssp In that case it would be wired to the DPDT then the hot out would go from there to the volume.
  13. I'm gonna guess Gotoh Hardtail, since he said 5 holes.
  14. That rubberized stuff? I don't think that would feel so good on the arm.
  15. Nah, I just routed from one pickup to the other, no pictures though. I wasn't quite sure where I was going to put the control cavity, so I didn't rout to it. I'll have to drill from the pickups to the control cavity later. Anyone know the answer to my question in my last post about storing wood?
  16. Oh...coulda sworn it was brand new..oops
  17. If I have to stop working on this for awhile, is there anything I should do to the wood? Like seal it with oil or something to keep it from cracking/warping/doing funky stuff? The walnut is old as hell, so it's not going anywhere, I'd be more worried about the padouk cracking though, especially with how dry it is here in winter(25% rel. humidity right now in my room where the wood is). I've decided to hold off on certain parts of the construction(neck, pickup, and bridge routing) until I have the hardware, so I may have to store the wood indefinitely after getting it shaped and routing the control cavity. Until then, I'll probably be practicing my routing on less-nice wood.
  18. It wouldn't be the same, but I think the closest you could get would be to lightly dye it black, then sand it so that the dye is only left in the grain, then dye it green. Edit: Changed it to "dye" so no one would have to correct me =P A tele would be a good first build anyways, since they are relatively easy.
  19. Hmm, I don't notice any difference without the tree, except that the headstock doesn't look as funny anymore. I don't even have staggered tuners and the 2nd and 1st come in at the same angle as the 3rd. Speaking of crappy parts, guitarfetish is the only place that I could find blank tele control plates, and the gold is painted on! I thought that while I was ordering from them I would go ahead and get the electrosocket jack, too. The finish feels sticky, like they just slathered on some black crap that doesn't even properly adhere to the brass that it's made out of. I should have gone with the aluminum jack from stewmac... Oh well. Then I could do my own anodizing, if I could find a big enough chunk of lead. Lead, acid, and electricity, there's no more fun of an electrochemical process than anodizing.
  20. Neck and middle are from an '06 Highway One, so they're the new Alnico 3 ones. The bridge is an SD Hotrails. The nut is rounded-over, that's just the fisheyeing of the camera making it look less so. I probably won't replace the pickups, I'll try Dimarzio if I come across another strat though, after I try EMGs, those are first on my list of strat pickups =P The MIMs are pretty much just MIAs with B-grade neck wood and economy hardware/electronics. The good thing about the MIMs is you get a say in what hardware and electronics go onto it because you buy them afterwards. With the MIA, you're stuck with whatever you get with no money left over to change it to suit your tastes. Not to say that Fender doesn't have some good stock guitars. I've got my eye on a Jaguar HH and a '72 Tele Deluxe...mostly for the pickups. Jag: http://img3.musiciansfriend.com/dbase/pics.../1/7/229117.jpg Tele: http://img3.musiciansfriend.com/dbase/pics.../9/8/269498.jpg They both need new pickguards though =P
  21. I did say "ugly walnut", that's like 90% of it anyway.
  22. Dinosaur fabric would obviously be the best choice for this.
  23. It says "Discuss gear", so I figured I'd make a quick thread about what I've done to my MIM Before: Typical piece of crap MIM with plastic nut and cheesy vinyl plastic parts, all white. First of all, the stupid white plastic crap had to go, so I got an aluminum pickguard, black anodized diamond plate and some metal knobs. It looked silly without pickup covers, so I dyed them by boiling them in coffee(It should be noted that this only works on pickup covers, none of the other plastic pieces will take up any of the coffee pigment). The plastic nut ended up breaking, so I got a nice bone one that looks vintage. Also, I can't stand gloss, so I knocked back the finish to satin on the body and neck, and now it feels much nicer to play. The trem has also been blocked, the wiring cleaned up considerably, and I took off the string tree. After: Close-up of the nut: A little elbow grease, about $120 for the new nut and pickguard, plus the money the previous owner spent on locking tuners and new electronics, and you have yourself a fine-playing instrument. Could use new saddles and intertia block too... Pretty much all of the factory hardware is crap. I dunno where I'm going with this really, I just wanted to show it off. While I'm showing off my guitars, here's my other one, an acoustic: http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p270/xS...ka/IMG_0021.jpg http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p270/xS...ka/IMG_0022.jpg http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p270/xS...ka/IMG_0018.jpg Mmm, that flamed Asian mahogany is sweet, also known as Natowood.
  24. The brass inlay thing isn't a bit, it's a set of brass bushings that attach to the base of the router for following templates. Not as convenient as ball bearings if you need to follow a template exactly, but if you need to cut inside one they're great. They look like this: http://www.woodcraft.com/family.aspx?Famil...391&pcs=fam I'll have to check the width and possibly wrap it in some tape to get the desired distance from the template. I want to use them on the neck pocket too, since the stewmac template is oversized by just over 1/16" (they say it's only .040" too wide, but they're full of it). Probably safer than the bearing bit too since there's nothing to ride up and friction is a non-issue because it isn't attached to the bit. As for the switch, I'm not using a blade switch since I have a blank plate. It is conventional tele-sized though. I'll probably use either an LP switch or a mini-toggle. That and I don't plan on having any push/pulls or anything like that. I should have plenty of room, maybe even not need the battery box. Keeping the wiring tidy is going to be trickier, but a lot of the EMG stuff comes pre-wired. Thankfully I won't have to shield it. I tried to shield my strat and it didn't make any difference and a wire was shorting out somewhere that I could never find so I gave up on it and just tore all the shielding out and left it. My wiring/soldering has gotten much better with the practice I've had on my strat and upgrading my DS-1, so I don't think I'll have any trouble getting it done right. The metal-top guitar is another concept entirely, I was just pondering it for a future build. I've come to like anodized aluminum on guitars, especially after replacing the pickguard on my strat. Before: http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p270/xS...0170640x480.jpg After: http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p270/xShifty/MIM.jpg Edit: If you look carefully, you'll notice that the string spacing on the neck pickup is messed up. This is because I accidentally destroyed the old neck pickup and had to use the bridge from the set instead. Also the second tone knob is gone, it too was destroyed trying to bend the shaft with pliers to fit knobs that were too small...oops.
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