psw

That is wonderfully cool... My tele was also cobra inspired...the racing stripes in aluminum and tortoise shell and a fair amount of chrome...but the colour was also coded from an actual car...hahaha This looks like a great compromise and more impressive a transparent guitar than if it were completely clear...there's some impressive interior to see! looking forward to more pics and progress! pete

I don't know the dimensions...although I have actually seen one...hahaha however, John seems to have taken his "shape" from a les paul template and if you look at the above picture, that wouldn't be far wrong...kind of an LP with the classy bits cut out of it. Do people see the "raven"...it took me a while...but then maybe I'm a little slow. I detect a bit more of a wider lower leg rest cut than an LP, and the lower rear is shaved a bit too. The supposed "problem with balance" is more to do with the placement of the strap point, in reality it would depend a lot in what it was made of...probably, except for they ugliness and pointlessness of the design, it would be ok sitting and maybe even standing. ... IF I were to contribute (and the only thing stopping me really is the insecurity of my rented house and I'd hate to think this was the last guitar I made) I'd be going "cheap" but not necessarily 'nasty'. Perhaps an unorthodox 'shape' like this could take treatments and alternative approaches that a more conventional thing wouldn't allow. I'd suggest there are a number of ways that this 'competition' could be approached and kudos given to keeping costs down, ease of construction, tweaks or aesthetic treatments...besides the wood porn approach (which would be equally valid). If approached correctly, it could be instructive to see a number of approaches. For me, I just need to weigh up the personal situation and if I can really embark on this kind of thing just now. I may enter virtually with some "ideas" of how I could see an approach to it, and I think that may be something to aid in the "build off process" if conceptual ideas were considered (perhaps in a different category) it might make things a little more interesting and open it up to far more participation...and maybe a bit more fun! I think this could be achieved with anything from photoshoped realizations to sketches on paper scanned into the computer. anyway just a few thoughts, but not recanting on the ugliness and pointlessness of the object...but as an intellectual fantasy, I guess there is less harm done...and kind of appropriate as the only known player is Jack Corvus of GH!

I did do some stuff like this...but their are flaws and in some of the logic perhaps. I had thought of it being like a big ebow...but the ebow does actually exploit the driving of the pickup in use...the signal is coupled from the ebow driver into the pickup as it get's close to it...but that's a separate subject perhaps. The squeal is oscillation. It is exactly like putting a PA mic too close to the speaker...oscillation feedback. You can stop this by turning it down, and or moving away, and sometimes some EQing. The sensitivity can also be affected by the mic's pattern and if the soundwaves are blocked (by say a speakers head getting between the sound source and the mic). Considering this analogy we can use many of the same techniques: ~ Move the driver and the pickup further apart (the middle neck idea brings them closer!) ~ Running the device with less power (but still enough to be "hear" or in our case drive the strings adequately) ~ Filter problem frequencies, especially in the high end, but then you risk poor high string response and a balanced sustain. ~ Design drivers that direct the energy towards the strings, but less towards the pickup (as in the intention of the thin coil theory, magnetic shielding, in part dual coil and hex systems) ~ Put something to limit magnetic coupling between drivers and pickups...in the ebow there is a metal ring around both coils for instance. However, squeal can be completely eliminated as say on my guitar and others, or the commercial sustainers clearly. The manner in which this is done is a combination and more of the above basic principles to limit it. What needs to be realized is that if the system goes into oscillation, the fact that you can't hear it makes no difference...unless it is putting out something akin to the physical vibrations of the strings (which squeal obviously isn't) there will be no sustain! Looking back at the above list, I notice there are few circuit related issues there. A stable circuit is important as you generally need high gains and the circuit itself could self oscillate...however, the principles of driver placement, efficiency and power limiting still seem to be paramount...at least in my thinking...but perhaps I am biased or blinded. There have been people who have tried to address issues of a poorly made or performing driver design by subjecting it to more power. Generally, this will make matters worse. It is the equivalent of trying to stop PA squeal by turning the PA up...not likely to make things better! Col's and others use of AGC in circuits can offer a lot...it provides enough power and only enough and so giving a more controlled response, better battery life, etc. It still needs to be limited to a certain maximum threshold to avoid squealing though, but certainly a refinement. Anyway...not sure if that clears things up any...but you will still have issues if you try and use the signal from a middle pickup to drive the neck driver because you have halved the distance between the driver and the source. There lies the challenge of the mid driver that we have so far failed to resolve I guess! pete

Well...if it works... Seems like something wrong though...for instance, if the shielded braid is touching the shielded cavity (which should also be ground) this shouldn't cause a short and thus a loss of sound. A ground loop "may" introduce noise, but certainly not a short. If things are around the wrong way the ground wire to short the pickups (adding that wire) may introduce problems. pete

Yes...there you are, a typical IC preamp. There are some obsolete parts...like the 10K trim pot after the preamp stage, and the same before the LM386 stage. But with a gain of 100 in the preamp stage, this is going t be overly "hot"...this could be adjusted with the gain set resistor...but the more you "tweak" these things, the closer to getting to your own dedicated design. You are also making something significantly bigger and harder to fit into the guitar. Certainly all the earlier experiments I did in this thread was with modifying such circuits...but nothing really special...experimenting with preamp gain, playing with the LM386 gain (pins 1 and 8 resistor) deleting duplicated component functions and the output cap values...nothing super special. Working this way allowed me to concentrate on the driver aspects while I learned a bit more about how these things work till I could develop my own ideas from them. The danger of excessive preamp gain is that you could be generating a lot of distortion and over powering things...hearing the completed circuit through a speaker is an easy way to hear the kind of signal you are sending the driver...at the very least, you get a practice amp out of it! pete

You have no idea how rarely I hear that...must be my "tone"... This is a bit silly....however... I have always thought this kind of thing to be a neat idea for participation. Unfortunately I seem to have trouble with the computer programs to do something "special" with graphics...but it would be cool if people could conceptualize their ideas in the "virtual world" without having to commit to necessarily building something... This is particularly true of something like this...it could be really instructive to the purpose of guitar design to address the flaws or make the best of a design like this. It would feed back into more conventional design processes...without having to literally put router to wood and live with the results. I like the design challenge and instinctively put pen to paper and come up with a few "ideas" to retain the idea. OrgMorgs comment of a distressed found material/object kind of guitar could be really interesting...so a primitive take on it. Finally seeing the "Crow" in the shape, that too could be brought out in the carving. I think it could be a really neat thing to play with the "plywood" thread concepts. Best though would be if people could play this game without having to actually build these things with some simple sketches. I am not sure if the corvus is a good idea, but perhaps we could set up 'challenges' to come up with redesigns of the strat style, single cut, metal or whatever kinds of things...if only to give an idea of how people are thinking and the trends and to explore what's possible and practical. Unfortunately, the ability to manipulate graphics might sway things a little much to get the ideas across. My sketches are pretty, well sketchy as they serve only really to conceptualize and aid the "minds eye"...I do tend to get the general proportions right though but what would be super cool is a set of "parts" in which to design around. pete

Years back I had played with the idea of rear tuners (after seeing the BC rich's I imagine) and headless ideas and the books are still around here somewhere. Obviously you may well end up with something vaguely corvus like. The 'traveler guitars' are an interesting idea. as this does give the compact advantages of compactness without the dedicated headless hardware. However, are they a "good" idea? Difficult to tell...I guess it depends if the idea is aesthetic and "quirky" or practicality. As for whether you "can" cut off the head...I don't see a problem, there are all kinds of ways you might approach it..it should be easy enough to string through some timber beyond the nut, or drill holes through a piece of aluminium screwed to the headstub to hold the strings. I have made one such "experiment" and 'almost' made the fatal error of not allowing enough room behind the zero fret to clear the windings beyond the ball end. So, if you are going to do this, that would be my tip...make sure those windings are well clear. On the surface, rear tuning (like fine tuners) seem like a good idea...but in reality, using the picking hand, or reaching behind with the fretting hand is not the most convenient. I think the idea of going in this direction as a means to "correct" a flawed design like the Corvus though is an odd thought process. Better would be to use this idea for a more convincing set of goals. For instance, a compact ergonomic guitar with rear tuners might be an attractive proposition...perhaps with a built in amp or acoustic (as in my mini travel guitar concept)...the corvus really doesn't fit that bill (the larger Klien types have better ergonomic aspects). Really light guitars are something that might be worth exploring also (the steinberger that even has a hollow neck) but even though compact rear tuning and headless aspects are the most 'visual' features of the steinberger types, it was the exotic materials, climatic stability and neutral even tone and sustain that was more of it's feature. I don't know about the idea of just cutting the head off of things and adding a lot of weight down the other end though...you may find that you replace neck dive (caused by the tuners at the fat end of the neck working as a lever from the centre of gravity) by lightening the head and adding the weight on the rear end causing the opposite affect and the guitar trying to pitch up and smack the player in the head just a few thoughts...do what you must! pete

All these post and I look back...not one picture...perhaps it is time to remind people what we are talking about... 'nuff said really!

Hey there... Well...it's essentially the "CHAmp" circuit that I started out with and the LM386 part of the F/R circuit with my suggested mods (other than my preference for a 100uF output cap instead of the 220uF)... However, there is no preamp...this will cause loading and by itself will not be enough. You need some kind of buffer such as the F/R transistor stage, or some kind of op-amp or perhaps active pickups (you could use a stomp box as a preamp perhaps)... You might find that they sell a mono preamp kit as well...something like the related PreCHAmp could be adapted...or anything that accepts high input sources such as guitar pickups, then into this kit... There are lot's of this LM386 kits about and sometimes they can be cheaper to buy than separate components...however there are very few that include a preamp stage. I did find one at hobbytron (canada) but was unable to get one outside the USA so not really a solution for most of us. Anyway...good luck! pete

There ain't going to be no second edition, likely no first...the corvus will fall before it has flown. Ironic that I was the only one to take up the dare! I'll still do it if I don't loose the house in the current dare...but rules are not important and only holds things back...and changing it is not the same at all, so cutting the head off it is a no-no...or at least not a corvus in my book. It would be a great cheap project to do and with a bolt on neck could always be scraped later. It's not even the kind of challenge like the 2x4 or other build offs that had a more interesting slant to it...this is a build the worlds ugliest pointless guitar competition..you know the more I think about it, the less enthusiasim I have...but I could well be tempted simply to do something for the sheer irony of it...that I win would be a wonderful up for about 5 minutes...especially with a head start! I was thinking of giving myself a 1 week deadline and a cost of under $50 and a few bits and pieces. I even got out the sketchpad and thought...hmmm...what could make this design make sense (and maybe put john off his project and thus saving us all)...and then I saw that lower horn and the balance issues...I know...a little practice amp and 4" speaker in the lower part there with a louvered speaker grill...instant balancing and no amp required and I could take it outback and scare up a few roos...then hit them over the head with the pointy bits! Plus...it's still a corvus...but then, maybe I won't! pete

Q: How do you "relic" a Covus A: Polish it up as if it had come straight off the showroom floor, for like the original, it should look like it has never been played (or even seen the light of day!)

Hmmm Being a true hollowbody the top is going to vibrate...I'm not sure that it is the ring itself as it is presumably held down by 4 screws to the body. Was the cardboard stopping vibration of the ring or the pickup in the ring? Hard to picture. Anyway...i suspect it might be the pickup itself as this is only loosely in there on springs. If this is the case, perhaps something a bit more solid is required. Perhaps something like surgical tubing, or even som PVC cut to plength (kind of stuff for fish tank air hoses) and screwed in tight. Or...maybe adjust the pickup to the height required and then tak off the ring and pickup and apply liberal amounts of PVC tape (electrical tape) under the pickup to make sure it's not vibrating. If it is indeed the ring (seems odd to me) then filing it is probably a good option..and or, PVC tape under it to provide a cushion (cut away so you can't see it) and screw it down to that. But, it does seem like the pickup in the ring (reading your description again) and so a new ring or filing it down will have no effect at all on the symptom and the above suggestions should fix it (or something better you might think of!) pete

See: Can-opener thread if you need more reasons why... You are misguided and should seek professional attention...at least have your eyes checked! If it is a corvus build off...it should be a corvus of sorts...headless and such is really way outside the corvus design...that opens it up to just about anything...in which case I'll reenter my tele as a "corvus" that I "fixed" the design faults on! pete

Who needs sustain...I'll put a sustainer on it! Seriously...how do I get the "shape"...april 1st right? I won't accept the single pickup and no trem thing...I'm not buying any hardware for such a folly...

I didn't read that it had to be wood...I was thinking...cardboard!

How about April 1st...since this is obviously an april fools joke... pete ps...send me the plans and I'll show you a corvus buddy!

In a far away land, the tradition was that the most handsome man in the village was paired with the ugliest girl in marriage. On the eve of his wedding, sad, alone and outcast he was visited upon by his future father-in-law. A handsome man, though prematurely aged, he offered comfort. “I know how you feel son, I felt the exact same way but on my wedding eve my father-in-law gave me this to ease the pain and remind me ~ well remind me that there was something worse!” At that moment, he drew as if a sword, something he had been concealing behind his back ~ the young man gasped in horror. After some time he asked, “W-w-w-w-what is that, that…thing!” The father-in-law replied, “well at first it was called the ugly stick” but then in hushed tones, as if remembering how his wife had not improved with age and become the local witch he said “but now the villagers all know it as ~ The Corvus!”

Lets get serious... comes in a multitude of flavours, acoustic, electric, acoustic electric, bass, classical...

Q: "How Do I Make An Uglier Guitar Than A Covus?" A: "Cut Off It's Head!" Post: "What Do I Do If I Dont Know What Shape I Want My Guitar Body, nothing sticks out to me" Reply: "Build a Corvus" Q: "What is the collective noun for a whole bunch of Corvusesses's...ummm...?" A: Glad you asked! Well, it's Latin, so it would be a "Murder of Corvus", however, it is the only collective noun that can also be used for the singular...just one on it's own is a Major Crime! In E.A. Poes famous poem 'the raven' the raven quoth 'Nevermore' Q: "What did the Raven say when he heard about a potential Corvus Build Off?" A: he reverted back to his native instincts and all he could say was "FARK"!

Nooooooooo....that's exactly what I was suggestiong you don't DO!!!!! AHhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

No...not envy...worried...worried that you will make a fleet of them as you normally do when you get some cheap wood and discover like gibson you can just cookie cutter them out!

What's wrong with knotty pine, it burn's just as good...hang on, I think I see the "crow" now...nope, still looks like crap! What...and encourage john...well, with this headstock,just about anything from the 80's...reversed if you put socks down your lycra dacks...but how about an Ovation Breadwinner...then it would be all praise (till the neck fell off)!

I think you are right of course...but I think I will work further on my guitar unicycle, body from a wheel with mojo infused "tuned" spokes from last night's dreams...perhaps making something yet more pointless may lift the corvus curse somewhat... And all those people...Mandela, Lama, Annan, Nobel...what did they ever do for guitar design pete still...in all honesty, I have seen a lot worse one off "seemed like a good idea at the time" designs both here and elsewhere...the difference is they are not major companies foisting it onto an unsuspecting public. And to John's credit, he is going to be painting the thing a reflective safety "do not touch, don't even come near" vintage correct orange as a warning. And I hope you can see my point in this pic... You can't even pay a model to look at the thing...turning away, and closing his eyes (you can tell by the look of shame on his face that he is doing a bad thing here) to the horror that is the Corvus!

Nice clips Mr D. I liked the new one...but I'm a sucker for a clean tone. There's still a fair bit of piezo quack, but considering the recording set up that's not surprising. Still a great sound and illustrates the potential for piezos on solid bodies...the quack is no worse than a typical piezo equiped acoustic, better than many. I personally like the potential of the mixed sounds that are not available to "real" acoustics...the mags help round out the tone and give an interesting hybrid sound...and even with distortion, it gives a nice defining attack to the notes... Well done, it will surely help others who are contemplating the ghost system, or piezos in general on solid body guitars... pete

Just trying to save the world one post at a time so as to distract you from actually building the thing!