HeavnerGuitarWorks

They are "muy grande" pickups. I used to put the Muy Grandes and Tallboys in every strat I owned til I started winding my own. As for the magnets, I believe they use both ceramic and alnico. Depends on the pickup. Street price is relatively high and once again depends on the pickup. I would give them a range of $50 - $80 per pickup on the street though. I haven't found them any cheaper than that. Its funny you're asking about them though. That's what I was planning on using in my carrieburst just cause they have the sparkle bobbins. I guess I have competition now.

Lucky bastard! I have a blackface Fender Twin and a Dumble for my bluesy stuff, and a TSL60 for everything else. I play in a blues/rock band right now (Black Crowes meets Stevie Ray Vaughan meets Black Sabbath). But when I record my own stuff, which is about all I ever do, I need alot of versatility as I am influenced by all styles of music. I have a ton of obscure little tube amps from the 40s and up that I use for recording along with the above mentioned amps. But I still want more. I've been looking at the Mode 4, but just can't seem to make myself shell out the cash just yet. What do you use to record with? If you don't mind me asking.

I am totally shocked that noone asked the questions that popped into my mind after reading this. What type of low end are you trying to get? You can't begin to compare the low end of KoRn to that of Metallica (Master of Puppets days). Two totally different styles of metal and totally different amp/recording technology. Keep in mind that a lot of the low end and clarity you here on albums is added in the recording/mixing/mastering process of making the album. What style of music do you play and who are your influences? I myself play blues/rock but go for more of a Steve Vai/Satriani type tone. Plenty of low end, at least more so than Muddy Waters. What type of amp/effects are you using? A Mode 4 definitly makes up the low end while a Peavey Rage doesn't. What type of wood is the guitar made of? Obviously, mahogany has more low end than maple. There are many many factors that weigh in on acheiving low end from a guitar. More so than just a set of pickups. I would have to agree though that EMGs have never failed me. I personally wind my own pickups, but if I were going to buy pickups to play any type of metal, they would definitely be an EMG 85 and 81. Listen to Ozzy's No More Tears. Zakk definitely had tons of low end and clarity to spare in that song. Just my 2 cents, and it ain't worth that though!

Check out this forum for a wealth of knowledge. It is devoted to winding pickups and Jason Lollar is a regular there. I would also get a copy of his book as it shows in good detail how to build a coil winder. I built my own by looking at pics of various winders on the web and a lot of trial and error. Pickup winding is almost as addictive as building guitars so be warned. Good luck. Everything you could possibly need to know and more about making your own pickups in one conveniently tiny package!

Pics of my last project.... be nice.

Thanks for the replies! First of all, the knob placement is just roughly sketched, not the actual placement as I havn't decided on what type of controls other than the five way switch I'm gonna' use. I will probably leave it with 1 volume and one tone though. Second, the head is just a very quick sketch I did. The tuner placement is not even close to correct. I tried making the bottom point match the bottom horn of the body, but just couldn't get it to look right. It kept looking like some wierd kinda' bottle opener or something. I am still working on that design, but will most likely go with something very close to this one. Third, these plans were done the old fashioned way. Pencil and paper. I prefer drawing them by hand as to using a computer for some strange reason. That's odd though since I am a computer technician by day. I guess it just ties in with my other passion... Art. Fourth, I guess I could give more details as to what I am using on this guitar. I already have the body cut out of solid 1 3/4" thick Ash (northern, not that crappy light stuff ) and capped it with some lightly quilted bookmatched maple that's about 1/4" thick (no carve on this one, I thought it would look better flat). I have completly chambered out the ash and placed a mahogany block in the middle (so it can't be seen from the outside) under the pickups and bridge area to add a little warmth to the tone. I put a tummy cut on the back of the body, ala Fender. I said in the first post that I am finishing it with blue dye, but I will actually keep the finish a secret. Sorry I am using the white pearloid binding and a white pearloid 5 ply les paul style pickguard mounted flat on the body. I said in the first post that I was using a h/s/s pickup configuration. I am using the Hipshot hardtail bridge with string thru body. Man I love those bridges This guitar is 25.5" scale cause I am a Fender kinda' guy. The maple neck has 21 frets, rosewood fretboard, dot inlays, and I will be using the StewMac vintage style tuners with locking string posts (#1954 in the catalog) cause, Man, I love those little oval buttons . It is a bolt on neck with ferrules. After working at the Gibson factory for several years, I will never build a set neck again. After all the repairs and neck sets and just having the necks pop off of those crap assed SGs, I can't stand em'. I never once saw Stevie Ray, Kurt Cobain, Hendrix or the coutless other Fender players break a neck at the neck joint. I ain't sayin' it ain't possible or never happened, just never seen it happen. Anyway, back to the point. All the hardware is chrome, the pickups are custom wound by me, and the knobs are probably gonna be Gibson top hats, cause I like em'. I'm building this guitar for me, which is funny, as this is the first guitar I've built for myself to keep. Damn paying customers I am also in the works on a guitar for George McConnell of Widespread Panic which is pretty sweet, but that's another story. Man, it's gonna be cool to have my design and hard work being played in front of fans at sold out stadiums.

Here's the new head design. It's just a rough sketch, not actually correct in measurements and such, but just the basic concept. I'm not dead set on it so any comments are welcome.

Workin' on em' right now... I'll try to get some pics of the new headstock design up later tonight or tomorrow.

Thanks for the idea! I don't have a clue in the world why I didn't think of that myself. I guess I just focused too much on the body design. I saw a neck on ebay off of an old univox or something that had a similar headstock to the one in my picture and it is supposed to be less "Fenderish" and more droopy looking. I've already made the neck, but haven't cut the head yet. Thank God! I didn't really like the head either. So... Something concave on the sides, slightly tapering, and the tip of the headstock slanted at the same angle as the front of the body. 3 tuners per side. Brilliant!

!Yo quiero la sacapunta!

I need honest opinions about my new design. This drawing is the first concept and its already been changed a little. The body is a little more warped looking. The headstock in this drawing is not even close to the way it is supposed to look but will give a general idea. The one I have started building has a 1 piece ash back (chambered) with a quilted maple cap. The cap is flat, no carve whatsoever. It is going to have a humbucker and 2 single coils instead of the pictured 2 humbuckers and the knob placement has been changed slightly. I plan on using white pearloid binding with a white pearloid Les Paul style pickguard mounted flat on the face. I am probably going to finish it with a blue dye and Nitro clear coats. I have seriously thought about adding a f-hole on the top bout, but I don't know if that would be overkill or not. Yes.... I know it looks like a mix between a Les Paul and a Yamaha Pacifica.... I try not to build other peoples designs or anything too similar to other peoples designs so if you have seen something that looks like this let me know.

If you are unhappy with the size of the templates, you could always put tape on the inside edges of the template to make the routed area somewhat smaller. Of course, it would depend on how much tape you used as to how small the hole would be. I do that with my neck pocket routes. I put the tape on the inside of the template edges and do all of the routing and then carefully remove the tape and do the last pass. I find that it helps with tear out. Since I am only knockin' off such a small amount of wood on the last pass. I wanna' say Myka does that too.

I use my very old Dremel Moto Shop scroll saw. I have a 16" Delta bandsaw but I'd rather put the wear and tear on the cheaper saw. You can buy a moto shop on ebay for about $25.00 and I have to say it is money well spent. If you're lucky enough to get all the attatchments that go on it, you could build a complete guitar with nothing else. They feature a disc sander attatchment, a buffing wheel, and a flex shaft attatchment that you could get a router base for, and many more. I was lucky, my grandfather-in-law bought one brand new with all the attatchments and never used it. It's now mine and I wouldn't use anything else to cut the bodies with. I have already bought 2 more in case something happens to this one. As long as the tool you use is properly set up and adjusted for the job at hand you shouldn't experience any problems. So long as you're not trying to cut a 2 1/2" slab of purpleheart with a $10.00 single speed "Handi-Works" jig saw with cheap Black and Decker blades that you bought at walmart, 10 for $1.50. I've burnt the motors on many a jigsaw trying to cut body blanks, and will never do it again. But, that's just my experience and my opinion.

As long as they are the right size covers for the pickup (and most humbuckers are the same size as most covers, with few exceptions) it is simple. You put the cover on the pickup and put a little dab of solder on both sides of the bottom to hold it in place and keep it from vibrating and causing unwanted noice. I usually just solder in the center of the long edge, just a little spot so it can easily be removed later. Look around at the bottoms of some covered humbuckers and you'll see what I'm saying. You can kinda see in this picture I found online where the solder is and how much to use. Oh, yeah! I almost forgot the obvious... make sure the holes in the cover line up correctly with the adjustable pole pieces.

I would tell you where I got my wood, but then I'd have to kill you! Seriously, I got it on ebay. One piece is from antlersexpress (can't remember if its one word or two) and the other piece is from cook_woods. They were both more expensive than a cheap spam, but totally worth it. They are both 14" wide and 49" long. The one in the top picture is obviosly quilted maple and it's a little over 2" thick. The piece in the bottom picture is highly figured Sapelle and it's 2 5/16" thick. I'm gonna have the maple cut into 1/2" thick caps and the sapelle, I'm gonna' have 2 5/16" caps cut from. I'll use the rest to make 2 really nice looking bodies with some spalted maple caps I've got around the shop. Of course, the carrie burst will probably be on the quilted maple, but maybe not...

The statement about the nickel was to prove that nickels are made from nickel, even if only slightly. I didn't bring the nickel into the conversation.... Just provin' a point. Furthermore... the comment I made referring to your "chrome" hardware and the "nickel" slide was a joke. Look at the smiley face! I have never seen a nickel slide in my 17 years of playing guitar. Of course, I've never looked for one either. As for the original arguement.... I guess I am colorblind and always have been, cause I swear the one in the middle looks more blueish to me. I guess I need to wipe the sawdust out of my eyes and go have them checked. Have I been staining my Bluebursts yellow all this time? That's also how we were told to distinguish between the two when I worked at the Gibson factory. So... to make a long story short.... there are a butt load of Les Pauls floating around with chrome hardware and ES135s with nickel. Sorry for the confusion, but I will stick with what I see with my own two eyes. As for my advice... Listen to the majority... Ignore the minority!

Gold humbuckers on ebay Gold humbucker that usually sells for about $25.00 on ebay Yet another Gold Humbucker on ebay OR.... buy a cheap set of exposed coil humbuckers and put some cheap covers on them.... Gold humbucker covers

EBAY.COM

gOt WoOd!!! http://img24.photobucket.com/albums/v72/ja...vner1/quilt.jpg BOOYAH!!! http://img24.photobucket.com/albums/v72/ja...er1/sapelle.jpg BOOYAH #2!!!! http://img24.photobucket.com/albums/v72/ja...urstlespaul.jpg I know it's not technically a carrie, but I thought it was worth showing.

Greg... Nickels are made from a nickel alloy and definitly have a blue tint to them. Obviously you have chrome hardware and a nickel slide then.

Very cool!!! I love the bark inclusions. Totally rocks! I once thought about using a cypress knot, like they make clocks out of, and trying to make a naturally shaped guitar out of a slab from it. Couldn't visualize it though. I know it's not the finished guitar in the pics, but its gotta have a rosewood fretboard. I think maple would push it overboard. And, I don't care for the traditional tele bridge. It covers too much of the top. What about this bridge: Bridge Pictures Mighty mite makes one that is almost identical but cost way less on the 'bay. Where did you get the wood from? I would leave the wife for grain like that!

I did this relic job on an ash strat with a little sandpaper, skipping it across a gravel driveway, various screwdrivers and rusty nails, and when all that failed to get the effect I wanted.... I used a little gas and a match. Stevie Ray Hendrix Strat Front of body Back of body Don't try this at home, kiddies!

I would tell you, but then I'd have to kill you!

Anyone know where I can get some perloid binding. White is fine, but I would kinda' like some other colors. LMI sells white, but that's all I could find when I googled it. Thanks

What if you used the D-tuna on all the strings and used a Tremsetter with the springs to stabilize the lack in tension when the tuning is dropped. Just a thought!