Sethmetal

WAIT.... So all you need to do is solder a wire on each side of a piece of piezo? I'm going to have to try this stuff out. Ansil, if you don't mind, please draw what you are thinking. I can't imagine doing this without crushing it in the string clamp. I'll have to try it with those radioshack parts....not too pricy Thanks -Seth

Someone sells the same idea on ebay. There is a Steve Vai Jem and a PAul Gilbert Ibanez, Zakk Wylde Les Paul....etc. Look up mini guitar or something to that effect

Doing a neck-thru would be easier in that you don't have to route a neck pocket that is square with the body. It is already staright down the middle. All you do is glue on some sides and shape it. Just be really careful when cutting near the neck. That is the only more difficult part...well that and you have to work with the neck attached all the time. It will definitely add structural integrity to your instrument and you don't have to buy neck screws and a plate....

Sockets definitely. I bought a 6-in-1 screwdriver tool by husky....It has a socket on the handle that works perfectly. It makes switching between screwdriver and socket really quick.

My fear would be that the 1st and 7th strings would not be as loud...especially th first. If you raise the pickups the most on the edges and least in the center, it might compensate a little. I know it sucks to shell out cash but it might be best to buy a pickup. Dimarzio has several choices for 7 string. As for the blade pickups the EMG HZ series is passive and reasonable..same with the EMG Select pickups

My friend just bought and EMG 81. I sit possible to only wire that to one position and still maintain thepassive pickup in the other position? What about when the two are combined in the middle????? Thanks -Seth

Awesome....I need more faith in the google.

There would be even more when you consider pickups could be wired series or parallel. 1 could be wired in series to 2 and three which are wired in parallel to each other and then in series with 5 or 123 in series or 123 in parallel See what I mean? There are a ton of combinations...more than 26. Reasonable, the hardware we use to switch would really only allow the use of 10 of those possibilities to be wired to the switch (In the s1 circumstance) If you had a 5 way rotary switch change the function of the 5 way selector (the rotarty would be like the s1, but with three more positions), you would effectively have 25 available sounds. but to wire this would be quite a headache without a circuit board. In my oppinion. I used to think I wanted all the selecting options. After years of trial I decided that I don't hear enough differences to necesitate a bunch of sounds. What I do is wire the pickups several ways until I fin 3-5 sounds that I like and then I wire those "usable" sounds onto a 3, 4, or 5 way switch. (Yes, they make a 4 way blade) But if you want a ton of options, that is honorable as well, just wanted to give some insight to what I have found. But there are a ton of options theoretically.

That's a good idea, but I fear that the range of the switch might be too small to accurately get the middle position and not the 2 or 4 with some momentum. I'll try it with one of my regular 5 ways to see if I like it. Good idea -Seth

I find that I only need 3 sounds. Yes, I can get these on a five way, but in real world situations....When I want the middle...often times I get the 2 or 4 position. My band has alot of fast changes and it doesn't usually offer me much time to switch effortlessly. I like the 4th position for the clean sound. When I had a 5 way this was nearly impossible to switch to in some passages. I began wiring that position in the middle of a 3way and it works easier for me. As I time has moved on I found that I like certain pickups in parallel and now I would like to ad that to the middle position., but I needa 4 pole switch to maintain the same pickup in series in a different position. What if I want to put both pickups in parallel in the middle and still maintain series pickups in 1 and 3.....I definitely need a 4 pole. -Seth

My ideal workbench would be blonde with huge...... Oh You mean to work on guitars..Duh I just built one, I'll have to get pix. It is 2 feet deep, 4 feet wide, 3 feet tall. It has shelves underneath with doors covering them. On top I put a shelf only 8 inches above the work area. The shelf houses 4 electric outlets(when I wire it). The shelf is also a place to put my soldering iron rest. I screwed a large magnet into the front of the small shelf to hold little parts. I also drilled several holes through the shelf to hold tools. It is a stationary bench. I'm going to build another of the same dimensions sans the shelves and doors. This way I can move it. It will reside as a seperate entity until the 2 foot depth of my main table is not enough. I can but them up to each other for a 4foot by 4 foot work space. That is my ideal space.

Last shot.....Anyone know where to find this most majestic of switches. It's become like the Lochness Monster or Bigfoot. I am sure it exists and will hunt it down for the rest of my existence.

I'm not totally sure what they use, but it is different on their 2 and three pickup guitars. Somehow they have circuitry that gives the 5 way selector one set of options and then a whole different set when the button is depressed. You get a large array of tones, but I think it might be annoying. Say your two favorit sounds are bridge with s1 up and Neck and middle with s1 down......would be difficult to switch while holding the whammy bar, cranking the wah-wah, and ripping through a modal arppegio line... I believe it is very much different from the js coil tap which I think is simply a push/pull changing the switching from two hums with a threeway toggle to two singles with a threeway toggle. Actually now that I think about it is similar in basic concept, but technically I think something out of the ordinary is going on inside. I'd be curious to know more if someone has one.

I have had my girlfriend do work on my guitars. She is more skilled with color pencil than paint. But we have done both. She uses Prisma color pencils. The work looks good, but it is difficult to adhere without scuffing up the whit primer I lay down. Paper has a natural texture which helps grap ink and pencil. The other problem I have noted is when a surface (particularly a body) is covered, I'm not sure how well the clear coat will adhere to the waxy surfacy created by the pencil. I have had much success with this on headstocks and am currently clearcoating the first body. I'll post when I get my finished results. As far as paint. We painted directly on a scuffed white primer and clear coated and everything seemed to work well. I wouldn't suggest oil paint, I think clearcoat may not stick well. But Acrylic with proper dry time should work nicely. After all airbrush is basically painting. The only think with using a bristle brush it to try and maintain as flat a surface as possible. Anybumps will still be there unless you do a ton of clear coats and block sand. -Seth

I thought ceramic was stronger. Sorry if my page wasn't created perfectly. I just took the class to understand a little bit more about webpage developement. I used Dreamweaver Ultradev to create it. I appreciate the concerns about the site creation, but many of the comments were beyond the interest of my short attention span. (I can only pay attention if I hear the word guitar every other line ) The main reason I posted it was because I noticed a lot of basic pickup questions being asked. Although my site may not have all the answers I thought it might answer a good deal of them and maybe answer some questions. I'm glad it was noted that it was all the information gathered in one area. That's the reason I did it. I got frustrated when I wanted to learn about pickups. The color/visuals are a tribute to butt-rock past. If you can't take the shred...get out of the kitchen. Oh yeah - Ididn't make the schematic drawings.....I err...borrowed them....from Dimarzio. Schematics are definitely easier, but I didn't have any that looked visually appealing.

thanks buddy

Fine collection of Ibanez's What models are those with dual humbucking slots? Are they 570 filled in? 520s? 320? 420? Just curious. I like the road cone orange!

This may not be the place to ask....but I just got a 6 string banjo. I have it intonated and tuned properly, straight neck..yada yada yada BUT....I ain't a drummer....What do I need to do with the head? When I play it sounds like an echo chamber. Is this right, A guitar just didn't feel right when I jam on the porch. -Seth

WOW!!! I'd be curious to compare the two pickups. I can recall as far back as 1994 the pickup has been ceramic. I wonder what was the cause for the change?

I have thought about it, but I think the idea of individual pickups for each saddle is the most desirable method. I can't think of a way to do this. Any suggestions would be taken to heart.

Fiber optics are basically continuous extruded clear fibers, light can be "shot" down them fro data purposes or visual effect. I have seen a company that puts an led for each fret/each string and has scale and chords programmed in so the correct lights will light up. Good idea.(I bet you'd get laughed at if you had to have your scale blazing on stage.) The point of bringing that up is that if they could do a whole fretboard in LED's I am sure what Vai has done is very possible.

As far as ceramic being hotter, I came to that conclusion based on the hottest passive pickups (Dimarzio X2N, Seymour Invader, Bill Lawrence) are made out of ceramic. What does pm to brian mean? Thanks for the compliment

I created a webpage for a website class that I took. It just dawned on me that ti may be useful to some of you. I'm sure I left something out, but I think I gave a good overview on the basics of wiring and it's components. Let me know what you think. http://www.shrikemusic.com/guitarworks/guitar.htm

Ibanez said they won't sell me a double edge. I don't need another RG (I have six already) Does anyone else make such a beast? Also what is an affordable piezo bridge for an American Standard Fender Bridge? (I can't say American Standard without thinking of the Toilet Company.....Damn Fender!!!!)

Ok first off has anyone seen Frank Gambale's new yamaha siganture model? What the hell is up with the fret wave on the first and second frets by the b string? They say this cures intonation problems. I don't see it? Surely poor intonation isn't to blame completely on the poor B string Someone tell me how this works. Also tell me how the buzz feiten system works. If it is worth it. And what is the porcess involved on a guitar like one of my Ibanez RG series. Thanks -Seth