Stalefish

Erm... Isn't that a 500k resistor in parallel with the 500k pot terminals? Using that [(R1)*(R2)]/[R1+R2] equation, 2 500k resistors in parallel should give you an equivalent of 250k.. Anyway, to add, I've tried this before and it does alter the response quite drastically like what Lovekraft mentioned.. No harm trying, though.. You could always just remove the resistor if you're not happy..

I actually favour parallel/series switching.. I prefer the parallel for cleans and the series when I need more ooomph.. Anyway, here's an idea I've been turning around in my head for a bit.. Use a blend pot to blend between the series and the parallel.. Or, for those who prefer the single/double coil thing, (theoretically) use a normal pot to 'blend' in between the 2.. If I'm not wrong, though, Washburn's already building guitars with this last single/double thingy.. Anyway, just a thought.. Oh.. Antique Electronics sells this pretty cool looking DPDT push/push pot.. An interesting alternative to the push/pull.. A bit of a pain to try and pull when your hands are sweaty..

Some crappy classical who's neck is now warped in 2 directions.. As for my first electric, it was an Ibanez GRX70..

Now, now, you'll never know how far you could go, dude..

That's the nicest thing I've heard in a pretty long while.. Good on ya dude!! And do convey my congrats to Kyle on his work..

That's nice work.. I've worked with acrylic before (not for a guitar) and it's not fun.. Plus it's got a horrible smell..

What?! 2 drummers?!! My band is having trouble finding any drummer and you've got 2??!!! Life's not fair...

Mine's served me pretty well.. Been using one for exactly a year from today, if I'm not wrong.. It's loud for its size and sounds good.. The reverb isn't that fantastic, though.. In fact, I usually put it at 0 or 1.. The fat switch, IMHO, should be turned on and left there.. One thing I find that's lacking is a clean/dirty channel but that's just a minor thing.. Haven't gotten good results with the whole 'turn the vol down for clean' thing.. I like having both the volume and master knobs, though.. On the whole, a pretty good buy for that sort of price.. FYI, I play a whole bunch of Strats through it.. Hope that helps!!

Basically, a no-load pot is a pot that, when at 10 or full up, 'removes itself' so to speak from the circuit completely by having a complete break in the tone circuit.. One way to achieve this is, like in the tutorial on the PG site, to scrape off some of the resistance strip inside the pot.. That way, when you turn the tone pot full up, the 2 terminals connected to the rest of the circuit (the negative and the middle usually) are not electrically connected in anyway... Let's say you've got a normal Strat wiring.. Your tone pot should be wired at the middle and negative terminal with the negative terminal going to ground.. Ideally, when the pot is up all the way, there should not be any current flowing from one terminal to the other.. In reality, there is.. This causes some loss of treble in your sound.. A no-load pot creates a break in this circuit so that no signal flows through the pot to ground at all.. Effectively, this brightens up your tone.. Oops.. Forgot to add: Linear pot: The resistance increases linearly as you turn the wiper.. Audio/taper pot: The resistance increases logarithmically as you turn the wiper..

I think what Lovekraft means is that when you flip both S2 and S3, you'll basically turn off the bridge pickup.. S2 and S3 alone are ok, they just give a 'side effect' of sorts when you turn 'em both on.. Incidentally, this could be the cause of the guitar going dead when you engage S2.. Don't know why it didn't occur to me before.. As for the S4 problem, it sounds to me like it's the switch itself (S4) that's a problem given that the 5-way switch sounds pretty much ok.. Like Lovekraft suggested, test the switch itself with your multimeter and see what you get.. I've gotten faulty switches myself so this isn't all that uncommon.. All the best!!

Jumping takes practice.. Lots of it.. Bear in mind, though, that the banging around that your guitar's going to take while you're prancing around on stage probably isn't too good for it's innards in the long term.. I usually get the most problems with the jacks.. Easily fixed but still a pain in the butt.. And get strap-locks...

Truth be told, I've never like Squire necks.. They just feel.....wrong.. Not sure about the bodies, though.. Electronics can be replaced.. So can much of the hardware, come to think of it, if you're willing the fork out the cash.. By the way, AU$250 seems a little steep for a used Squire, doesn't it?

I gotta say something here or else I can't be calling myself Stalefish.. Seriously, though, that's a pretty cool design.. Creative, if anything.. I like it!! By the way, I've been playing one of those Ibanez basses quite regularly over the past year or 2 and I can't say I've been very impressed by it.. Sounds.....synthetic.. Something like that..

Hmm.. The label's giving me ideas.. But really, I know I didn't say it the first time (excited by the label ), but that's great work, man!!

If I'm not wrong, those pots'll have a very different (can't remember if it's low or hi) resistance value.. It'll muck with your sound quite a bit so I'll add a third vote to "Don't do it"..

I use the ol' aluminum foil with double-sided tape to shield my guitars.. It's a bit of a pain to work with but it's cheap and it works..

I'm not sure I understand the 'BMN Out' part of your diagram.. What sort of switch are you using there? The usual 3-way blade switches or something else? There's always a chance that I'm wrong (too much work, too little sleep, too much beer ) but the diagram looks as if it should be working as you planned so I'm a little suspicious of the BMN switching.. Other possible trouble areas would be your solder joints and the switches (S1-4) themselves.. I'm just speculating, but either S2 or S4 could be busted, though to have both die on you is rather unlikely.. Hope this helps some..

Bear in mind, though that the higher your pot value, the more electrical noise you're going to pickup..

Okay, maybe I'm hijacking the thread but please bear with me.. Alexander: Correct me if I'm wrong, but you need a laser printer to get good results using that waterslide stuff, don't you?

Great site.. I've done the shielding mod on quite a few of my own guitars and the only time I got less than satisfactory results is when I stuffed the job out of my own stupidity.. Instructions are meant to be followed..

Haha.. Thought I was gone for good, eh? I recently got a set of those here in Singapore.. Surprisingly cheap too.. About US$35.. Don't ask me why they're so cheap, though.. They look perfectly ok.. I haven't installed them into anything yet, though.. Still in the building process..

A bit late, I know, but congrats dude!!

Killer.. Really...

Ok, I'm not expert at pickup making but there doesn't seem to be any difference between winding a pickup one way or the other except when you're winding let's say a middle position single coil RWRP.. Even then, it should be just a matter of making sure that the windings are in opposite directions, and of course the magnets themselves.. That's for single coils.. Not sure about humbuckers 'cause I was more interested in winding singles..

Just try out the BB King signature Lucille guitars if you want a rough gauge of what the Varitone does.. Both the Gibson and Epiphone models have that, if I'm not mistaken.. Been meaning to make one myself, actually.. Need to work out the "logistics" first, though.. Not sure how readily available inductors are over here.. Caps and resistors cost next to nothing here, though, so there's plenty of room for experimentation.. Once that's been done, I'm sure it could be modified to get a sweepable version..