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crafty

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Everything posted by crafty

  1. I don't think the metal pickguard will be a problem for the pickups at all. If anything, it may shield the wires from the neck pickup a little better. As for the loose fret, just like a loose tooth, just gingerly remove it and reset it. EVH use to superglue in his frets, and Dan Erlewine wrote in his Guitar Player Repair Guide that you could glue in the frets; you just need to widen the slot a smidgen just to give the glue enough area to grab hold. Keep in mind you'll probably need to dress the fret with a file to get the profile right so it won't buzz. The finish on the neck is up to you. True, EVH and many other high-profile shredders like unfinished, quartersawn necks. However, if EVH, Kirk Hammett, or Zakk Wylde wants a new guitar, they just call up Peavey, ESP, or Gibson and one is sent out to them, free of charge. Unfinished necks will warp over time, especially necks that aren't exactly made from choice quartersawn lumber like your Saga. So I'd say give it a nice satin finish that will smooth out over time. Also, you do need to fill the scratches if you can feel them when you run your hand down the back of the neck. Otherwise, you'll feel them forever. Anyway, good luck with the kit. Even though you've had a couple of problems, better to learn how to solve them now on something cheap before you tackle something bigger.
  2. Would that be the Ace hardware that's "just right across from the mall on Center St."? Looks like it turned out to be a good looking axe, man. When I get back to KC this summer, I'll have to scrape some cash together and build something cool too. Can't wait to see the pix after you're done buffing out the finish and assembling the guitar.
  3. Dean Zelinsky of Dean Guitars came up with some pretty wild combinations about 30 years ago. The Dean Cadillac is a combo of an Explorer and a Les Paul, and the Dean ML is a combo of a V and an Explorer. Word is that Washburn had to license the ML body and headstock from Dean for the "Dime" guitars. Combinations are cool. I wish more people would do them just to be different. It could even be something as subtle as an Explorer carved and finished PRS-style, if you can imagine such an animal.
  4. Almost better off buying or building a fresh new body. Those finishes are rock hard quality with layers of filler and primer to perfect the finish. Fender's idea is to make a finish that will last longer than any other part on the guitar, not one that can easily be stripped and redone as tastes change. They'd rather sell a new guitar, especially from the Custom Shop. I wish the paint on my '02 Blazer was as tough as the paint on my '94 Strat
  5. Whoa, Mitch, that's SWEET! When are you going to start making the neck? Are you going to use the Dragon II pickups or something different?
  6. First of all, I think it's an awesome axe and the fact that George signed it on the front of the body without it being an ESP means that he probably thought so as well. Second, I'd look into just clear finishing it with the natural look. Any kind of stain or finish that reacts with the marker ink will ruin the signature. It's hard to tell from digital pics, but it looks like you used good looking wood throughout and it will look good with a natural finish. I'd have a hard time parting with any instrument my guitar hero signed. I guess if I were in the same situation, I'd try to bring two guitars to have signed. One for me, one for sale. If you really need to sell the instrument, I doubt that George would be too upset about making money off of his sig. ESP might be upset with HIM if they found out about it, and they might contact you if you try to sell it as a George Lynch Signature guitar instead of say, Custom Guitar signed by George Lynch. It all depends on how much you need the money and whether you really want to keep his signature. Personally, I'd keep the guitar both as a souvenir and an investment. Or you could just take it all apart and build a new body. Keep the signed body and sell the new guitar.
  7. It's certainly an interesting idea. Optical mouses just use an bright LED and a small CCD or CMOS chip to "see" the terrain the mouse rides on. I know that Morley pedals use opto-electrical technology for their wah pedals. They just use key-shutters to vary the light that the sensor "sees". It probably wouldn't be too hard to create a circuit to generate the sounds over a given frequency spectrum. The mechanics of putting it all together would probably be the toughest part. I think that's probably where piezo and magnetic pickups have the advantage. Piezo preamp electronics would probably be pretty close to what you'd need to generate the sounds you want.
  8. I installed an EMG Afterburner in my guitar and got sick of the battery under the pickguard after having to change it twice. I just wound up routing a hole in the back of the guitar for a pop-up battery box. I used the template and box available from Stew-Mac and a rented router. I put it about a half-inch behind the trem cavity on the block side and drilled a new hole from the new cavity into the jack cavity to run the wires. At first I was kind of skittish about routing a deep cavity into the guitar, but it's a Mexican Strat and it's not like it has many original parts except for the neck, body, and bridge. I see you have a Cort, so you might not have to worry about the future resale value of the instrument either. I don't mean that to sound like you've got a worthless guitar, but it's just easier to carve into a Cort than it is a real Clapton Strat. Anyway, good luck with whatever way you choose, but the battery box is a nice feature to have, IMHO.
  9. Those little basses are neat. I played one a few years ago when DeArmond came back out with them. It was down at the Musician's Friend warehouse down in Kansas City. Very clean and sterile sound. I don't know if I'd go onstage with one for fear of looking like I was playing a toy, but it seemed like it'd be a cool tool for the studio.
  10. Personally, I really don't care if you or anyone else listens to what I have to say. All I saw was someone who asked a simple question and all they got was crap about asking it in the wrong forum. Second, I mentioned the tones I like because most people know what Lennon, Vaughan, or Springsteen sound like. I apologize if I sounded arrogant in my first post, it was not my intention. If you had mentioned that when you "challenged" me, I probably would have said so before. Needless to say, I've been lurking around for a few weeks and I just decided to finally post something. If you want to know more about me, I've been playing the guitar for about 10 years now. I've been tinkering with and repairing guitars for about the same amount of time. I have played in a few bands and sometimes I help out some friends with guitar duties at various live performances in Kansas City. I'm no virtuoso and I just play because I love to play. I went to the website in your signature and your guitars are absolutely stunning. I hope that my luthiery skills will someday be as good. For now, I was just trying to throw out my opinion and ideas. I figured throwing something useful in as opposed to just telling the guy to go to another forum was the thing to do. For my next 300 posts, I'll only say things like "Oooh...nice wood" or "Go to the hollow body forum, you idiot!" Yes, Hotrock, I do agree too that this is just a fart in the jacuzzi. Use crappy parts, you get a crappy guitar. But damn, three layers of wood filler topped by three layers of polyester can't be good.
  11. Gee, I didn't mean to piss anyone off by stating that I prefer thin finishes rather than multilayer solid finishes or coat after coat of clear poly on a PRS. I probably shouldn't have used the word "suffocate" either. What I meant was let the wood "resonate". My point was that with a hollow or semi-hollow instrument, you want the wood to resonate. If PRS slathers a thick "glass-like" finish on the instrument, you're going to lose resonance. If you don't believe me, pick up an old ES-175 with a thin finish and compare the sustain to a new hollow or semi PRS. I have, and it is my opinion that the thinner-finished guitar has better sustain and volume. It's nothing scientific, just my ear. If you want a scientific study, sorry, don't have one. I'm guessing you probably knew that I wouldn't, but arguing in an internet forum about something as silly as guitar finishes is like running in the Special Olympics. Even if you win, you're still retarded. Here's what I know. Some of my favorite artists who recorded my favorite music used instruments with incredibly thin finishes. John Lennon, with his refinished Epi Casino, Stevie Ray Vaughan, with almost no finish, Bruce Springsteen, etc. The most highly revered violin in the world, the Stradivarius, has an incredibly thin finish and some of the most resonant wood ever put into an acoustic instrument. It's the combo of the wood and the finish that makes it all work. Maybe a thin finish wouldn't make as big of a difference with a solid body. I don't know. All I was trying to do was help someone out and throw in my nickel's worth of free advice. If you don't agree, fine, but having you and your buddies put me down is just stupid and really immature. If you want to reply and "kick my ass", go ahead. If that's what it takes for you and your buddy to get off, go for it. Next time you have a question in the forum and I know the answer, I'll just go ahead and let you wait for someone else since my opinion doesn't count here.
  12. Kluson Deluxe was the tuner back in the day. They were very easy to make small adjustments on tuning and they kept in tune fairly well. Nowdays, Schaller, Sperzel, and Grover make tuners that are pretty much just as good. Well, maybe not Grover, but if you want the coolest set of tuners for your custom LP or for restoring a vintage one, vintage Klusons are the way to go. The trick is finding some with the original knobs intact. You can replace the knobs, but having the originals is even cooler.
  13. That would probably work fine. I seem to remember a Popular Mechanics article from about 12 or 13 years ago that dealt with veneering. You might check out one of the local libraries to see if they have back issues for it. I think it was around either 1992 or 1991. Just keep the iron moving to avoid burning the veneer, use lots of steam and even a spray bottle of water, then put some flat heavy stuff on it to keep it from curling as it dries.
  14. Hey Mitch, bring those tuners by Sears either tonight or Wed. night and I'll check 'em out for you to see if they really came off a vintage Strat. The store isn't the same without you, man. Nice loot!
  15. Semi-hollows are a nice combo of hollow and solid body guitars. There's a lot of ways to build your semi-hollow. That's because there's several different kinds of semi-hollows, too. Most semis have a solid maple center section with hollow wings. In Gibson's case, they use maple/poplar/maple plywood for the wings. Plywood is the easiest to shape because they can just heat it up and press it into shape for an arched top and back. Not something extremely easy to do in your home shop unless you're actually taking three pieces of wood and making the plywood sandwich yourself while the glue is still wet. PRS uses solid wood and carves it into the arched shape. Very wasteful, but you hear the wood, not the glue between the plies. At least you WOULD if they didn't slather so much clear poly on the thing. If this is your first semi, keep it simple. Carving/shaping a top is too difficult for your first build unless you have experience in the area. Build something along the lines of a thinline-style telecaster. Make your top, back, and sides out of 3/16 to 1/4 inch thick wood. The sides should be about 1-3/8 to 1-1/2 inch wide. Shaping the sides isn't too hard, just use a steamer for acoustic sides from the stew-mac catalog. Use a solid block of maple for the center block and neck joint. Remember, you're also trying to take advantage of the subtle acoustic nuances of the design, so go light on the finish. Stain, couple light coats of laquer, and that's it! Don't suffocate the wood!
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