Matt

Im looking at winding my own coils for a Jem project that im looking at. One problem tho, Although i love steve vai's EVO PU's i find them a bit sterile sounding. Really id like to emulate the sound that he gets on the crossroads Duel, which i think he uses PAF Pro's so EVO's... Ceramic mag DC 13.62k I think one coil is AWG43 and the other is AWG42 to get the duel resonance PAF Pro Alnico mag DC 8.4K Not sure what guage wire he uses Preferably id like to keep the wide range of harmonics that you can get out of an EVO except with moer of a gritty mid range wail that the PAF Pro gets. so im thinking of winding an EVO with an Alnico magnet except underwinding it to compensate for the mid spike of an alnico mag and drop in highs and lows. has anyone got any input that would help, im not sure abot how much i underwind it so all help would be greatfully recieved.

I have an all maple birdseye guitar that i made, set neck, and sounds quite good, but it was my first build with no help from this website or books as i didn't find any. its quite heavy but not overly heavy and the body and neck are thicker than normal

fair enough, i didn't realize that you can get them so cheap but i still think mine was money well spent, although I wouldn't have the cash to BKP all my guitars:)

OK they are expensive, but If u don't like them then you can swap them for a different one or if there's nothing u completely like then he will custom wind one for you!! the customer service is fantastic and I really mean it when they kick my EMG's asses, they really are good! Listen to some of the properly done BKP soundclips if you can. Tim the guy plays in an Ozzmossis ozzy tribute band and not only is he a fantastic player but he gets ZW spot on. The MM was designed to repicate ZW and it does but better. I don't what to rant but they really are great, Its either £70 for a stock SD or DM or £100 for a tailor made PU, the extra £30 is worth it. so far all PU;s that he makes that have been reviewed by Total guitar and such like have got 5 stars and gold awards and stuff so they can't be that bad Im not knocking other guitar makes or playes, im just saying that these are really good. Anyway whatever you feel comfortable with, happy hunting MMM

OK check out www.bareknucklepickups.co.uk these sound better than anything else out there and he's a fast growing hand-wound company. I have aMiracle Man that pisses all over my EMG ZW set in terms of tone and harmonics (pinch harmonics are awesome!!!) and cos its passive it splits well. Or Go for the Warpig, this has more output than an 81 but sounds so good that by winding back the volume it cleans up great!! this is because it uses an Alnico magnet and all are scatter wound, apparently French jazz players love them so they must be able to clean up well as well as splitting very well. I strongly reccomend them and if you talk to Tim the guy and al of the BKP staff, then they can point you in the right direction.

Im building an all black jem at the mo, What are peoples opinions on the steinberg R-Trem? Ive herd that they are very good, but that they are quite stiff and dont give as much pull up as a FR or Ibz edge e.t.c? considering an R-trem is supposed to cost around $90 then it seems like a good deal? thanks alot for any advice Matt

Thanks alot guys, shall be looking into it:)

Unfortunately I'm not able to carry on with the bridge construction as i can't get access to the tools anymore, so a bought one shall have to be my next option.

cheers daveq i found a web site that allows you to do a custom creation of most guitars and i did a mock up of the BD im looking at doing. I might miss out doing the silver vine as I like the look of a flat black ebony FB but im still wondering.

OK well ive had a bit of a scout around but there doesn't seem to be anywhere near me that sells silver wire. Its for a Jem vine inlay, silver wire is the only thing i can think of unless i can get some good stainless wire from somewhere. does anyone have any ideas? and what size the actual wire on jem inlays are? thanks Matt

Does anyone know where i could get some silver wire for the vine stem for the fretboard??? I live in the UK so a International one would be cool. Its nice to see psw's sustainer thread is really getting deep.

I tell you what..... get a curved cabinet scraper. that is a must i find!!!!!

The maple guitar isn't that heavy although its not light It hangs quite well, but i reckon a second attemp could make the thing killer!!! I might have to take a different slant on the 513 wiring but I'll hopefully get the same essence, im wondering where to put the sustainer at the mo and am wondering if the middle is too close to the bridge??

HA haaaaa (jumps out from behind an inconspicuos hiding place into a poised stance) Well Im back and ive picked up some awesome wood for the body. Looking through an article on allthingsguitar i found something on tonewoods saying that the original Strats were made using poplar but were changed due to it being expensive, and that it was supposed to be better than alder and ash Anyway I got an 8 by 1 (vagely) from my local timber merchant Yandals for £11!!! This stuff is soo light!!! the plank was about one third of the wieght of a plank of ash that was only 5-6 feet??!!! and its nice to bandsaw. so Heres the start of the body.

Ah well I was using left over bits form a previous all-maple birdseye guitar that I made... guitar Due to the constriction of bits I had, then I had to do the headstock in that way as I would have needed a londer middle bit for the headstock which I didn't have.....As well as being a muppet and not taking note which way Ibz did it I glued it with Titebond which is supposed to be one of the best and the bond is supposed to be stronger than the wood itself so we'll see.

Now this is a cool Idea!!! I might just have to make one of these myself as Im about to wind my own as well!! How long approx does it take you to wind a coil on that thing? Matt

Exactly.. Im gonna give winding my own PU on a sewing machine a go and see how far I get Does anyone know approx how many turns of 42 and 43 guage wire I would need to make a the bobbins in the region of 6.8Kohms? Im guessing around 6000, but it would be nice to have an idea:) Looking around for a FB at the mo and also some Alder for a body but that wont be for a few days yet. Matt

Hey Kyle thanks thats a great idea!! For the Evo's I went to a webiste 'DGB' something but Ive lost the link and cant find it again and looked up the No. of windings Basically its a hummer but one coil uses something liek 42 guage and the other uses 43 guage, thats how it gets its 'dual resonance' cr@p or whatever Dimarzio try and scam. Sorry I havn't had the time yet to experiment so expect it to be a long drawn-out projo!!

Yea I would use rustins, but I want a nice fast non-stick feel, which I found rustins to be, thats why I was gonna use Danish oil?

Right well Due to the fact that I have been GIVEN some walnut fretboard thickness by my Dad then I might be using that instead and staining it black. Is walnut a good choice for a FB, its quite hard and fairly dense so I should think so... Ive actually found that my neck is now THINNER than a wizard neck!!! but it seems fairly strong so well have to see...

Hey I dont know what your doing PU wise but check out the www.bareknucklepickups.co.uk and look up pictures of the Warpig!! it has a sort of distressed /rusted/badass covers like the rings you have, plus they sound awesome and kick SD,EMG and DM's arse! Matt

Yea the direction of the curve shouldn't make a difference directionally wize, he maple is of the same plank, but the headstock but is just less figured- this will be veneered anyway so it doesn't matter too much, The neck is shown roughly cabinet-scraped (my best friend) and so when its all sanded back, it should look killer, Im just wondering... to go with the black headstock veneer and black body what colour shall I have the neck? -leave it as it is, -stain it black as well, -Stain it a lighter whiter colour, -or a light blue or green colour? Im hoping to oil it so are stains a good plan? thanks Matt

No the neck will be oiled or waxed!! the rest of the body will be black and I will get a nice headstock veneer of quilt maple and stain it black, I might even get a veneer for the body as well and do the same. Im not intending to waste the figuring. Matt

Just a quick note Sorry i just re read the rules about posting pics and saw that i could only post one at a time. How do i add a tag thingy, I havn't quite got the hang of posts yet sorry, ill edit it when i know how Cheers Matt

Ok heres the outline for my next project. All black Jem Birdseye maple wizard neck with ebony FB, Hopefully a silver vine inlay, Black body, Scratch plate, and covered PU's liek on the PRS 513, Homewound Evo style PU's, Home made sustainer, PRS 513 style wiring, Home made FR style bridge!! So far I have started to mill the bridge baseplate out of Military aircraft grade hardened stainless steel!! but more will come of that in a few weeks or so, due to limited access to milling machines. I have already started to make the neck and truss rod here are a few pics of the neck, although they aren't the latest. The headstock is a bit larger and different that Ibanez ones but its PP. The Scarf joint is actually the reverse of what Ibanez do, im slightly worried about if this will make it weaker, but judging that the glue is suposed to be stronger than the wood then I hope it will be OK. http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y125/mcmeat51/100_0369.jpg