Tim37

Please don't take this the wrong way you build some really nice Guitars but

why not try a different shape? Expand a little

Yeah i know im not one to talk i haven't even built my first guitar but you have a lot of talent i would like to see you challenge yourself get better.

I suppose it depends on what you want... but I think slightly mismatched coils in a humbucker could have an interesting tone. But then again, when I make pickups, I'm not trying to match anyone's specs, just expirementing.

I don't use a counter. I just wind till the bobbin is full. You can always remove windings but you can't add 'em.

Stew mac has magnets too, don't they? Also try Allparts.

I don't remember the maker but i remember reading on a web site a guy was "offset" winding humbuckers that way it would have a truer single coil sound when tapped the problem is it loose some of the noise canceling qualities

i don't know if it is even possible but i will through it out there

would it be possible to trun the fret board upside down and reslot it?

Stranded or solid will work equally well. Solid is actually easier to use because it stays how you bend it. Also if you use solid wire, you don't have to worry about stray strands shorting to other parts of the circuit. (Of course if you're careful that won't happen, but with solid wire it CAN'T happen. )

There is so little going on in a guitar electrically that any kind of conductive material should work. You have a signal in millivolts, and I can't imagine how small the current must be.

And there are SO many variables in the signal chain, from strings to speakers and room size, I wouldn't get hung up on the kind of wire in the control cavity. Use what you have on hand.

The downside of solid, is when it has to be moved. Particularly if it is connecting a part that has to be lifted off for servicing. Solid wire will break after surprisingly few bends because the metal stress fatigues, especially on sharp bends.

Thanks couldn't have said it better

btw if you are worried about those stray wires just twist the strands to gather then solder them together that way they go in to the eyelets on the pots clean and easy

also be sure to get stranded wire.

i think what they are trying to say is this

you don't need an expensive piece of wood for a guitar but you do need a very stable piece. than means properly dried so that it won't warp or split you alson dont want knotts in your guitar

now here is the proble you take a fairly cheap peice off wood like bass wood and then find a piece large enough to build a guitar out of with no flaws then dry it and all that good stuff now its not so cheap and thats with any wood.

you don't want to go too cheap on this part because the body of the guitar is the foundation every thing attaches to it and if its not right that means the rest of your guitar wont' be right

and here is my thing if you want a low end guitar then save some money and just buy one you can pick up a squire or epiphone a lot cheaper than you can build a guitar.

I think lace dually pickups are just two single coils that are reverse wound,

yeah i figure i can put another 150 or so in it and still be ok i am just gonna have to be careful where i put my money i am looking at graphtech saddles nut and string tree, then bumping up the springs and some pickups

doesn any one have experence with the fender tex mex pickups they look nice but how do they sound i know they are the right price.

well i think i am gonna do like Borge and just max out the springs until the brigde is down then if i decide to use the trem i can always use it

The graphtech sound nice i may try them and if it isn't bright enough make up with it when i buy pickups but im not one of those guys that has to have a ultra bright guitar.

Any way thanks for all the great advise guys.

Yeah i was thinking of trying a couple of different sizes of string 10's and 11's and mayber heavier but first off i want to get it set up right the action is really high and i havent went out to the shop to get a allen wrench i may just make up a order and get some springs and saddles before i play with it too much and get this thing set up right

btw i adjusted the claw and it brought the bridge down a lot but not completely. i also want put some pickups in it right now it has a duncan performer (baiscaly korean seymoure duncan) hot rail in the bridge and im not loving that im wanting that bluesy strat sound.

when you mean the bridge is raised, do you mean its tilted up so pitch can be lowered and raised?

some prefer it fully floating, i read richie blackmore has his set at 45 degrees

yeah thats whats going on but when its raised the action is raised and like i said i have always had TOM's and if i had got this new i would have gotten a hardtail but it was the right price. any way it jsut seems that with all the complaints about the trems not staying in tune having it floating would just cause it to be even wrose about staying in tune. i may be wrong

and do they even go up to 45 degrees?

I'm just jealous I had to teach myself after university with an old manual typewriter...only to discover a year later the PC was actually going to take off and I had to invest heavily in 5~1/4" discs...speaking of which, I have a box of a thousand of them...anyone got a use for them...make a guitar out of them...any use at all?

Im not sure what they use then for but our IT dept at work still uses them

I kinda find that amusing for some reason.

thanks guys

i haven't restrung it yet i was trying to find some info on the bridge first that way i could check the set up befor hand.

Well i was crusin the pawn shops today and found a mexi strat for 150 bucks so i picked it up the frets are a little warn but not too bad but i do have some stupid questions and pleas don't think i didn't do a search

First off this is my first tremolo guitar so this my be a stupid question the back of the bridge is raised about 1/8" i don't think that is right so what do i need to do adjust the claw, add springs, or replace the bridge? (that wouldn't hurt my feelings i don't like the looks of the sadles theres nothing to keep the string centered and it has a little rust on it.)

my second quesiton are parts for this guitar the same as an american or are they like a squire? things like the nut pickgaurd bridge

Bloody hell! 2 replies before I got mine typed!

DJ

Best thing I ever did was learn how to touchtype.

yeah but i really hated that class in jr high.

Ok so PSW is correct (i read it the same way) so first off you would need tofind a piece of maple that is big enough well thats not too hard i know where a few maple trees are that are big enough and maple isn't a extremely common tree here well not as common as oak or pine.

wow totaly off subject sorta a friend of mine has some old black walnut trees in his back yard i was looking at the bas off one of them its plenty big do build a one peice walnut giutar but what i am drooling over is the what isn't seen im sure there is enough burl walnut in the base to build an entire one piece body.

im just kinda wondering the reasoning behind the roller bridge i could think of many other places your money could have gone pickups and tuners spring to mind.

oh ouch sorry man

i am in the process of planning a build and doing that is my greatest fear.

if it works for you then do it

btw i think i read some where the SRV's guitar had been refreted so many times that the fret board was almost flat and he set his action high and used heavy strings. and it apparently worked for him

i hope so right now its sitting in a buddy of mines shop waiting for paint.

PLEASE DON"T TAKE THIS THE WRONG WAY......

When I started playing, I bought a cheap Memphis guitar. (FWIW: Memphis was a low-grade brand made by Westone.) I wanted to put a Chandler neck on it, some good hardware, and some DiMArzip pups in it. The dude at my guitar store asked me straight-up:

Why are you trying to polish a turd? You'd be MUCH better off putting that money into a better instrument than trying to make that one good. Take it for what it is, don't expect too much out of it, and upgrade later.

So I'll ask you the same thing: Why are you trying to polish a turd?

i don't know i have the same turd an i am in the process of polishing it's basicaly my first project i was just gonna start with a kit but the dean was about 50 buck cheaper than a saga kit and this way i get a befor and after

btw i kinda liked that cheap guitar befor i tore it down i was more likely to pick it up than my schecter

idk i like knobs too but then agian we don't all play metal

also idon't like the selector swith onthat guitar now icould see that getting in the way.

why do you want a roller on it its just a pretty straight forward string though i doupt that your gonna gain any thing i think most people use a roller with a bigsby

so i don't get it are you trying to use the inserts that came with the cheapie factory tom?

any way just yank the inserts out and toss the new ones in.

actives arnt that much harder to wire infact i honesly think they are easier you don't have to worry about making sure every thing sheilded and all that.

i like stranded because with solid wire if you nick it while stripping it weakens it and can break.

from your post i don't think you want a momentary switch.

but i think what you are wanting is just a way to turn the volume off when your in between sets or what ever if so i think i would just build a small stomp box to turn if off and on. this way you don't have to even worry about brushing a toggle when your playing.

the plus side of this is just hit that when switching guitars.