psw

Not ready to go with this one...got a few other projects on the go! What I've always wanted to do is make a surround sound stereo guitar amp. Basically, I was thinking of a very compact low powered amplifier. From this a power amp to some satellite speakers. Recently I got hold of a stereo 200 watt power amplifier which could drive the PA like side of things. What kind of direction should I go with the preamplifier side of things? Modelling, solid state, tube. How about effects, I always have a little delay on, thought I could bounce it across the speakers. Anyhow, give me some ideas. It won't be on the go till next year. psw

Well Paul, your a brave man to read all the way through! There was a point where the technology swapped from simple coil based designs to descrete components. This is where I got a bit secretive and so a lot was not disclosed. The sound clips used drivers with this technology. Currently I'm working on some new pickup ideas. I'm approaching the designs from the point af aesthetics, ease of manufactuer and novel ideas. What they'll sound like....hmmm. The idea though is not to reinvent the wheel bt to create something new and unique. Also affordable and practical to make! My current thinking is to build the sustainer technology into the pickup. My novel use of magnets should provide enough room in say a humbucker format. In this concept the sustainer would share the pickup magnets. It's unlikely from my experiments that you could use the sustainer and the same pickup at the same time but this is no more of a restraint than current sustainer systems. I would use hex drivers most likely but mono/stereo amplification as the circuitry was getting too complex. Anyway, I'm still resting the idea. I can waste a lot of time mucking about with this stuff and I tend to make things more complex than they need to be. Eventually, things come down to a simple solution, but for me, the solution's twist comes from the bigger concept. So I see that the sustainer thread still has legs and has now topped well over 4000 hits. I wonder what the record is! Best wishes to all... psw

I've always wanted to get round to building an alloy body guitar. OK, aluminium! My idea was to press a strat like shape (curves and all) for a front, and have this hollow with the electronics mounted from behind and the back wood or some sort of epoxy composite. Carving it seems a little extreme for the amatuer like me...beating sheet material with a hammer is probably more my style! I'd love to hear more about how these things sound! Good work MC.

Thank's Bio...I'll try and get these things a little more developed before unleashing them on the forum, but I think I've got a few good ideas going. And the sustainer is not dead...just resting! psw

Thank's Matt I'm still committed - or at least I should be! I'm glad to see someone missed it, it was an exciting thread with thousands of hits! So, what happened to the sustainer project? Well, it's been put on hold for a number of reasons. One reason is that I was reaching the end of my abilities, resources and time to make it happen. Another is that the system was becoming too complicated and impractical for what I was trying to achieve. It's at moments like these that it's time to take a step back. I've learn't an amazing amount doing it and have made some important discoveries applicable to pickup designs, etc. Mainly it was fun. By the way, Lovecraft, the most active sparing partner on this thread has a prototype driver and can confirm that it will produce sustain. His experiments though don't use the same amplifier and guitar so the results vary from mine. The above, from my last post here, is still a possibility. I need to do some alterations to my test guitar. I't's still apart because I have a new project that I'm working on. My bridge idea is coming along but it's really hard to make prototypes in metal. I'm really excited by it but Kevan has given me the heebee-geebee's over idea theft so I'm being a little more cagey about things than I was on this thread. Which is a shame as I appreciate working with others, tossing ideas about and it keeps me motivated...oh well. Basically, it's a bridge which can vary the tension (tuned pitch) of each string between two preset pitches. Kind of like the hipshot but simpler, smaller and with more features. What I would do is tune it to standard (EADGBE) and then use levers to drop the pitches to dropped D, DADGAD, open G and open D. Another option is to tune it to standard but with the B string lever in the up position. This would allow up-bends while playing chords...just like a B-bender...but by using the heel of the hand on the bridge. It's also a locking tremolo, to allow the tension changes. I also have plans for a spring system that will allow it to be surface mounted, i.e. no routing. This will enable it to be fitted to both strat and LP type guitars. So far I've made a few simple prototypes and have shown that it can be done but it takes a lot of work to physically make them. The shape of the pieces are critical, as is strength...otherwise it doesn't work. But it's coming along and promises to look really good. I started a couple of threads on the solid body section of the forum but it sank without a trace. Apparently everybody wants a floyd or there just not so interested as those who lurk here! On the electronics side of things (besides the sustainer, of course), I'm looking at making a stereo amp. Basically, a small self contained pair of preamps (or something) driving this 200 watt power amp I picked up recently. Kind of two small amps with it's own built in PA. The idea is too have a pair of small speakers inside so that it will work on it's own...and a pair of extension boxes for the full on surround sound stereo effect. It could also be used as a vocal/guitar amp or two channel PA. Ultra compact...if anyone's got some thoughts on this one, let me know...I might do another thread when I get onto it...next year! I also had a dream (I don't sleep too well) about a pickup design that is quite a bit different from the norm. This seems really exciting but again my have to wait. I might not be able to give details either because it really is different. It came from Kevan wanting to test out my "moon dust" pickups. The potential for rare earth magnets in pickups has really not been explored. Most people who have mucked about with them have tryed to get them to act like conventional magnets but the potential, a fact of there small size and intense localized field, offers an amazing amount of unexplored territory. I'd been working with Rare Earth Pickups for a while now but this idea seems like a winner. A hint is that it is a humbucking pickup with an adjustable magnetic field shape. Anyway, got to go psw

OK, so I've read the manual and that's pretty clear. Of course it's the best thing since sliced bread' to them, but how are players finding it. How does it compare for the player with other systems ... amount of drop, action, etc. There's no fly's around here, other than the buzzing kind! Also, do the piezos pick up noise from the trem movement, etc? ADMIN EDIT thank's guy's, psw

Thanks Darren, I just downloaded a PDF after posting this...I'll check it out!

Despite the lack-luster response to my last post I'm still working on some new tremolo ideas and coming up with some interesting designs and features. What I haven't been able to find are details of the parker fly tremolo system. I understand that it uses a plate spring(s) which is adjustable for tension. Does anyone have any details, pics, links or even the patent on this. If you've played a Fly...what's you're opinion on the system. If people are interested, I'll set up a brainstorming topic to share ideas on trem/bridge systems...otherwise I'll keep them to myself psw

Hey there Has anyone ever played or heard one of these or similar aluminium bodied guitars. I was thinking of making an aluminium fronted strat style, even got the aluminium, but not sure whether I'll have problems with movement of materials due to climate changes etc will be a problem. I heard the old travis beans used to have all sorts of problems with their alloy necks under stage lights. I love the look though and aluminium is not bad to work with...quite soft! psw

Fan-Tas-Tic Good on you Kevan....gives me some hope....stick to your guns Pete

I'm sure the string would be weakened by the heating effect and break!

I don't see the stetsbar staying in tune! I had a bigsby and had problems (and very little travel) and a Rocklinger style tailpiece (which was very bad). You've got the problem of the strings getting caught on the saddles...they don't even appear to be roller saddles (not to mention string wear)... and then on the other end the binding on the nut. Locking tuners won't really help as the strings on an LP splay out and are pulled back by the headstock angle. The only real solution to this is to lock the strings at the nut...but then you need fine tuners. That's where the floyd comes in. What I'm proposing/working on is something a bit more like a strat bridge with subtle fine tuners...top loaded without locks...locking nut...and very slim. This would be mounted on some kind of plate to fit on you Gibson style guitar using the tailpiece studs. Basically I have three unconventional "spring" designs that I'm trying...I can't promise Floyd style response...but it should be floating and have a travel similar to a strat. I'm using this as the benchmark anyway. I'm having a little problem making a good intonation and height adjustment system. Modern trems like the Floyd just lock them down to the bridge plate. I don't have experience with a Floyd so I'm not sure how you set these adjustments up...it looks a little tricky. The other thing I'm proposing is the use of reinforced epoxy resins for some of the parts...would people have a problem with that...crucial areas would use stainless steel...but I dont see there being any reason not to use it and it would make making them easier as some of the parts are quite complex shapes to make from metal. psw

Oh well mushy...you won't do it again...whatever it was...(I missed it)! Nice one....you really like to challenge those traditional ideas don't you...and the simplicity of the bridge(although non-adjustable), actually suits it. (It's used on most acoustics after all!) So tell me...how does the veneer come off...are we talking (headstock here)...is there no way to the electronics (not that you need it)? psw

Did you see my first post on the sustainer thread...I sent about 15 watts of signal through an electromagnet under the strings...they heated up so much at theat point they were too hot to touch and actually snapped off the guitar! Still, till then, I had sustain p

Now that you would get a tingle...actually I got something by sending a magnetic signal through the string by having the string running through an electro magnet. The problem with these ideas is that there are too kinds of feedback I've identified. There is the feedback that I'm trying to create where you are basically using the string as analogous to the cone of a speaker...the signal causes string to vibrate endlessly. The other is induced feedback where the pickups themselves feedback the signal...go into maximum saturation...then squeal at the combined resonant frequency of the system, when there is no signal. It is the latter that is produced as a signal going through the string from the bridge will be picked up directly by the bridge pickup...just like jamming a mic into a speaker...it doesn't actually make the string itself vibrate. In short, the idea would kind of work...though I suspect you'd need quite a bit of power going through the strings ...but in practice...NO! Sending a magnetic signal is certainly safer but suffers from the same fate I'm afraid The concepts of the sustainer and pickup ideas are similar...at least in the problems that need to be overcome...so it's very perceptive of you off the top of your head...hmmm, smells of parental involvement psw

You've really thought about this! Of course, the frets would short them...good point! I wonder if fretting changes anything to the single conductor coil that the strings have become...effectively shorting them out to each other as you play and shortening the effective length of the conductor...hmmmm By the way it's 240v down here... ...I wouldnt be playing with my teeth thats for sure...perhaps some sort of rubber gloves as a precaution With your intuition...perhaps you'd like to look into my sustainer thread...I could use some new ideas from outside the box PSW's Sustainer Thread cheers psw

OK, Good...that was going to be my next suggestion...if same poles the string pull would be substantially down...so with your way you've made quite a large field much of which is to the side. This would still inhibite vibration but be less problematic to tuning...except for those strings directly under the magnets! I didn't realize that one end of the string is ground and the other hot (ie both of the jack plug connections are used)...makes sense now...a little confused by earlier comments. I've got a little passive circuit that someone told me about(resistor/cap as I remember) in my strat to protect me from fatal shock. Basically, it's a transparent circuit (ie I can't here that it's there) which uses components of such low value that, should any large voltage pass through it, the components will burn out like a fuse. Come to think of it, maybe a fuse is all that's required, after all the pickup's AC voltage is in millivolts! Also, as the strings already vibrate in the magnetic field of conventional pickups, it stands to reason that some voltages are already produced but are run to ground and no one gets any tingles from that! I had an idea to make a pickup that senses changes in magnetic fields using a HALL EFFECT SENSOR. Basically, this tiny chip senses changes in magnetic fields. Changes are produced by metal strings vibrating in a magnetic field. Sorry, could'nt help putting one of my ideas into the mix psw

Yeah I saw the floyd and that helped rekindle some of my ideas as F.R. is trying to reproduce his trademark product...springs and all. LK, the Khaler did need some routing (about 3/4") as it worked by a cam with small tight springs at about 45 degrees. The Wonderbar by Washburn (see link above), long since deleted, was the only trem of any worth that did not require routing. It used a springless design using some kind of torsion rod, but I've never gotten my hands on one to check it out and I can't find a patent. I'm proposing to tackle the problem with a modular design with a similar mechanism to the wonderbar, but that treats each string individually and compactly. The design needs to incorporate fine tuners as a locking nut of some type will probably be necessary because of the tilt back head and string splay to the tuners. These modular units can be used to assemble a range of different trem styles by using different baseplates. more latter...seems to be working...and have a notebook of different options to explore... psw

Ok, I see, so you just have the two magnets a fair way aways from the strings. Not one or two per string as I kinda thought! Are the magnets the same polarity by the way (eg both north poles facing the strings)? I think smaller more focused magnets for each string would improve some of the problems. Also...I don't see any reason for the nut to be wired up (the srings wire it up after all) or even be metal, as all of the strings are connected at the bridge by your brass plate. psw

G'day there I played a Les Paul, A beautiful black 1969 model (I think) for about 25 years. Over the last 5 years I've been messing about on strat copies so I never fully explored something that I have thought about, off and on, for many years... A tremolo that requires no structural modification to the instrument yet works! So I took out the Dremel and some aluminium stock and made up some ideas and I think there is potential...not only for stud tailpieces like on the gibsons but as an alternative to the strat/floyd as, for the project guitar builder, it would require no routing but be surface mounted to the top. Anyway, I was wondering what sort of interest there would be in the idea, so that I could get an idea of how strongly I should pursue it... Give me your thoughts psw

Thanks...I don't give up easily! A more conventional approach may get results quicker...sometimes I get a little to clever, clever...getting ahead of oneself slows the process down quite a bit, believe me! psw

That's some powerfull magnets there...they will definitely cause problems with the string vibrations. I use 3x2mm or 5x1.5mm in my magnet and sustainer designs as I estimate that these have a similar pull as a conventional pickup. There's all sorts of supposed health effects both detrimental and benificial of magnets (these and crystals, etc are probably better discussed on some other wacky forum). Javacody has got the idea I was trying to express

I've heard of this idea from the Pickup Maker's Forum but the power was very low. Basically they described the string as acting in the role of of the coil...but with only the one winding. Compared to the thousands on a conventional pickup. Magnetic power can compensate for less windings to a degree but eventually they will inhibit the vibration of the string and certainly deflect it out of tune. I love rare earth magnets and encourage you to experiment further. I'll have a go myself. The most practical place to put the magnets is by the bridge as it's harder to deflect the strings and you can concentrate the field around the string. However the movement of the string is less here than at the 12th fret and this maybe important to the output you are getting so perhaps you'll need to play around with it. LK, the strings conduct very small amounts of inducted voltage...like on a normal pickup...But there is a risk as the strings can't really be grounded I guess. Perhaps some sort of circuit breaker to provide shock protection could be incorporated. I'm sure this would need quite a bit of preamping! How big a Magnet were you using Mushy? psw

Back in the land of the living I thought there maybe some wondering what has come of the sustainer... Well...I'm easily distracted... I put together several hex piezo systems but not quite to my satisfaction...its really hard to cut those buzzers without losing a lot of the crystal layer. I'm still keen to make this happen...I'm impressed with Graphtech's Ghost system and this looks like the perfect pickup system for a hex driver system. I have used their saddles for a while and have been really impressed. Anyway...so I took my whole strat apart...it's about time...And I was thinking that the spring cavity was ideal to put circuitry in...except for the springs. I had also thought of replacing the bridge rather than adapt the strat bridge as it maybe better to have something purpose built. The whole thing reminded me of some trem designs I was playing around with years ago. See, untill the last five years, I have always played a Les Paul...a beautiful guitar that I've had for about 25 years. But the Strat is such a good design, lighter and so much fun to play, I must admit to being a convert. I had always coverted the trem too but there's really nothing you can do with the Paul without chopping it up. Basically I had been looking into a "springless" design so I'm working on a few of these ideas and you may find a thread on this in the near future elsewhere on that. The bridge that I'm working on is modular and treats each string separately. This allows them to be mounted on different baseplates for different guitars. There should be no routing required and the whole thing pretty compact...smaller than a Floyd. I've incorporated fine tuners into the design as guitars like my Les Paul will need to be locked at the nut I haven't abandoned the sustainer but I'm re-thinking my approach. One reason for taking the strat apart was to take direct outs from the pickups. I have an idea for making a more conventional sustainer/pickup for the centre position and even an idea for a hidden device that will operate through that pickup. The circuitry would be far easier to implement than the hex designs I have been following. So that's it from the land of sustain for now...I'd love to hear any thoughts on the project or some of these new ideas...meanwhile, stay well as it's no fun being sick! PSW

Hi Has anyone thought of making a lefthanded strat for righties with knobs etc on the other side. I always thought jimi's looked cool...I even have a left copy that I'm going to convert to right. But has anyone done a reverse strat maybe with converted cutaways (for the top frets) and knobs on the bottom like a right? Or would this be just too strange!