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  1. Is that what they say? Thats a terrible tolerance. However, any machine shop with a surface grinder would be able to surface a straight edge to within .0005 over it ENTIRE LENGTH - and do so for practically nothing, as its about the easiest setup and grind there is. The only possible nix, is long throw surface grinders are not in every shop (my shop had only 18 inches of throw).
  2. No not match the body. Its just that they put "black stain" all over the silkscreen, and it just.... it just doesn't do me well. My initial feeling was it sand it all off, make it smooth, redecal, and clearcoat. And I might just do that. But fo the trouble of it all, thought an inlay might be nice. So, how to remove the overlay? Hot air from a hair drier and get in there with the parting knife? As for the BFG.... I bought it specifically to modify, both in finish and in electronics. I've posted the circuit here, and fwiw, here's the cavity (although in a sloppy "test phase", the pots have been changed, and the soldering is clean and neat now). I would never pay the $969 that the online and big box folks ask for them. Better to deal with a small dealer who sells them at reasonable profit (well well under $799). For that sort of price, it was worth it to me, and the results are unique viaually, and very special in terms of tone. The tone is really the saving grace of this instrument, as it has a lot of tone to offer, with some minor upgrades to the basic foundation of the excellent pickup combination, along with its "thinline" hollow body. I dont think I could buy one, and keep it "stock" even at "the right price", its just begging for redemption.
  3. Fullerplast is still available! Any grain filler that is compatible with your paint is going to do well. Most of them should be ok in fact. I like the StewMac filler, but only because its "clear" and I can make it any color I like.
  4. I've used Gotoh Kluson copies in the Gibson and Fender types. Used Schaller M6 mini. Used Grovers. Used Ping (that were copies of Grover's copy of Kluson). Used Ping copies of Schaller. All in all - you'd be hard pressed to find a bad tuner, and even harder pressed to find one better than Grover Rotomatic.
  5. The truss rod cover was made to match the body.... You can see I made two... and distressed one (top) and left one alone. I used the distressed one since it has the ridges and bumps like the BFG, and the light edges... similarly. Lou shows his inlay on the website. I suppose I can do that, just thought a lift and reglue of a whole veneer would be easier, and offer some choice, as you can buy those veneers with lots of different inlays in them. More suggestions?
  6. folks... This overlay is for the birds. Choices are: 1. Sand it smooth, lacquer it, decal it, and clear coat it 2. Inlay a MOP logo - I've never done those 3. Replace the overlay with a pre-inliad one #3 sounds the most appealing, but... how to get the old overlay off... just heat it and use a wide knife to get in there and separate it?
  7. So the wood will fill out? How does this work? If it wasn't on the front of the bass, I wouldn't worry so much about it. It works quite well!!! The wood is compressed with the dent. The steam gets in there and expands the wood fibers to nearly its original shape. If the fibers are broken - cut or snapped in the wood itself, steaming wont work. Usually, you get some broken fibers and some bent fibers... the bent ones straighten out and the cut or broken ones.. dont. You end up with a better situation than when you started. I just steamed out a dent in a NEW Les Paul (arrived with a nasty dent). It came up to about 85-90 percent of what the dent was. The small place left over... got hit with a bit of extra lacquer when I refinished it (bfg, begging for refinihs)
  8. Hmmm, might be time to design a switch housing that has a compression fitting that expands as you tighten. Now we're talking!~ I spose... if some kind soul doesn't come forth with it here... I'll have to see if an angled switch will fit thru the f/hole. That should be easier to just "hold from spinning" than a shorty straight one.
  9. The top is 1/4 inch thick, maple That leaves the same situation if I remove material from the top for a plate... I dont mind passing it thru... all the ES guitars do that with pots and such. Its just that pots will sort of "self grab" by way of the star washer. I'm wondering if there's room for a star washer on the switch too... I've got em big enuf for that, just that the thickness goes up....
  10. I'm hoping to cash in on everyone's vast experience here... and not have to reinvent the wheel. Here's the situation - I've got a Telecaster Thinline to build, and we want a LP toggle in the top, close to the normal LP position (sort of like a Tele Custom/Deluxe location). Warmoth is building the body, which I'll finish and assemble. So, I asked, can you put the LP route up there, with back cover. Answer was yes, and no. Yes it can be done, but the wood is so thin in that area on the back - less than 1/4 inch they said - that it leaves nearly a paper thin place to put a screw to hold a cover, and... no they'd not be responsible for chips and such. However, they did say.... you can feed the toggle thru the F/hole - it fits - and it works just fine that way. They did go on to say they leave the back thicker in the regular control cavity location just for that reason... to be able to not have chips and to hold the screws with some success. So.... thats what I planned on. Now, on a 335 body you can just reach in and hold the switch from turning when you tighten the nut. Not so on a TeleThinline when the switch is awwwaaay up in the upper bout. Been thinking, I could probably fashion a tool to hold the switch. Or just some sort of spacer on a stick if I can get an angled switch thru the f/hole. Just wanted to hear how its been done before... from you experts!
  11. You can minimize finish damage, and repair what little you cause. One of those stiff foam filled "nail boards" the ladies use work well. They're very fine abraisive. Dress the ends very carefully. You wont mess up the finish very much if you're careful... but... Go to the auto parts store, and get some white polishing compound for auto finishes. That on a rag will buff the finish back to full gloss. If the neck is semi-gloss... some very fine paper... say 600 or 800 grit... used very lightly... in a light swirl will tend to blend in a sanded finish to a satin finish. You may end up compounding the finish anyway very lightly just to give it a "little" shine. This is harder to describe than actually do.... finish damage should be very very minimal.
  12. The current limiting box is really a must have if the Variac is not in place. When I put up antennas, we use a thing called a polyphaser to protect the building from burning down, in case the antenna goes hot or gets hit by lightning. My less than esteemed associate says... hey we could save time and money if we left these out..... To which I reply - the alternative, however rare, is so absolute, so catastrophic and so complete, even at the minuscule odds, its not a risk worth taking. I mean... when you have 400+ volts DC dancing about.... thats not the time to start saying lets pull the plug QUICK. BTW, even solid wire will be a gotcha. It does that when its not a whisker, but just a stray end that you didn't thing was touching .... and touched, or was close enough to arc when hit with 450v. <--- have had that happen to me!
  13. This is pretty basic and easy wiring. If you do this with a switchcraft type "leaf" toggle, you need the one for 3pickups, or put another way, the one that has three leaves per section, not two. Those act as independant no/nc switches per switch half. In the middle position, you use pickup on the COM connection to ground thru the NC connection. In the "on" position (either side) one switch is still grounding out the pickup while the other has pickup (on the COM connection) to the NO connection, which leads to the pots end. The other end of the pot is grounded, and the wiper goes to output (both pots wipers are connected to output, and like Gibson's wiring, you'll get no volume of one pot is turned "off"). Use some caution, as some of the 3 pickup switches are a two leaf side and a three leaf side. That wont work. Both sides need to be three leaf. If you cant find a dual 3 leaf switch, just get two mixed types, and switch the halves (easy). You'll end up with what you need, plus a "normal" toggle as leftover.
  14. Well, I've managed without a Variac. Just triple check the wiring esp in the power section. Another great resource is the Hoffman forum: http://www.el34world.com/Forum/yabb2/nph-YaBB.pl Well..... it goes like this: If you don't bring things up slow, you really run the risk of few different problems, from "live" chassis (that whisker wire you didn't see), or a "boom" (that cap you had in backwards), all sorts of issues. Bringing up a SS rectified amp, I like to check the voltages when the B+ is still quite low, say in the 50 volt range. Even on a tube rectified amp, I like to throw a SS rectifier plug in there, just to bring it up with. While I'm doing that, I'll give a chopstick test to make sure everything is ok. If it all holds up, then bring it down, put the tube recto back in and bring it back up again. This is just good practice to do.
  15. Behlin, is an arm of Mohawk, and is also the maker of StewMac lacquer. I've had nothing but GREAT results with Mohawk lacquer based dyes (aerosols). Over those, I've used Deft and it seems to me to be the best aerosol lacquer on the market, in terms of ease of use, lack of blemish or fisheye, lack of blush, great flowout, easy to buff by hand.... and once its cured, VERY tough stuff. So - Mohawk aerosol dyes, Deft lacquer. Deft seems to combine well with just about any other nitrocellulose lacquer too.
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