Matt

I just had to vote for Toddler68 not only does it look really cool, but its also quite similar to mine- thats why im voting for it :D Matt

Well Wix we hav't herd much in a while hows it going on the tutorial? Matt

Ha ha lol, I didn't mean it sound as though I was going to build it out of Oak!!! I just wanted to see what the tonal chars of it were. I'll try post some pics tomorrow, but I'll do it in another fresh thread. Matt

Right well I'll try and post some pics of the progress of the neck at the weekend, and maybe some of the baseplate for the FR. i think I might start a new thread in the project section tho I want to keep the sound close to the original Jem, but Has anyone got any ideas of a really nice sounding wood similar in weight and tone to alder or ash? What about oak or cherry (just for interest)? Matt

No Its all good, I understand what you mean and how strings/waves/fundamentals etc work, I was just curious about how the DPDT worked. But thanks for a very informative post!!

Ah, well its the single action for me then. well Ive just been milling the base-plate for the FR. Bl**dy-hard stuff, top quality! Unfortunately I've been limited to an hour a week in the workshop. so Im not sure if I'll get it finished But I shall perservere .

I got the stainless at my school from a technition who used to work for Westlands (the place that makes the Apache longbow, lynx, merlin in England). I will hardenen it some more when I have finished the main bits either heating it or dipping it in oil to get it really hard. your quite right tho, when I wind the coils, ill loop a bit out over part of the end of the bobbin to 'Tap'. I don't know if its possible but I want a flip paint that will go from black to white/silver but Im not sure if thats possible. plus If its a USA seller I wont be able to get it cos. Im trying to find a cool simple vine type inlay at the mo:) Matt

OK well sorry i havn't put in any input to the thread for a while but ive been busy, since I sort of put this idea to the forum in the first place a few pages back, I was wondering if someone could give me a quick low-down as Im about to attempt it for myself. By the way GREAT idea using a stacked singe coil!!!! How well is it working? Does that little gem thing work well enough? How close can you have the driver to the bridge PU? -(im thinking to try it in the middle PU place) Sorry I have skim read the last few pages but im slightly confused. How do you make it do the harmonic thing, (using a DPDT switch am i right?) Anyway this is a great thread and very constructive. Thanks Matt

Yea im serious!! I'll either go for an ebony fretboard or ill veneer the headstock and body with quilted maple and dye it black with a dyed quilted maple fretboard. Im thinking of getting some silver wire and white or silvery looking abelone for a cool looking vine inlay or something The neck I have nearly finished and is made out of birdseye maple. I have cut out a blank for the bridge plate out of 6mm aircraft-grade hardened stainless steel. I cant remember where i got the scematics from but try typing it into google, There are loads of wiring schematics on the website as well. -the evo uses something like 5400 turns of 43 and 42 guage wire, but I'll have to check that. winding them by hand (scatter winding) should improve their sound quality by loads!! Also It might not be all black if I see something that looks cool in the mean-time then ill contemplate that. Where can i get those Truss rods from? Im slightly unsure about what types do what. (single acting???). I understand the PRS wiring but as im not too experienced, then ill probably get lost in the forest of wires!! the sustainer looks pretty simple and it was my input that put it under PSW's thread in the first place, so I better give it a go myself eh? Anyway all imput is greatly appreciated Matt cheers Matt

Ok well im not quite sure which type you mean by a single acting double thingamyboby. So where can I get one of these super-duper TR's from then? Cheers Matt

Ive seen these before but in a true Humbucker format and it was called a motherbucker or something. I wonder what it would sound like?

Basically a jem, is a pointier version of a strat, if you know steve vai then you should know what i mean. The neck im building is around 17-19mm at the 1st fret and 20-21mm at the 12th. I just want to know how deep thin i can leave the back without threat of the TR breaking through. cheers Matt

Mate, check out the search button and there should be a whole load of stuff, also if you look under 'in-progress and finished work' there should be alot of info. Spend some time just sifting through the info on the site and forum first and alot of your questions shall be answered, otherwise you can annoy certain members as they get asked these questions alot, and if you look its around here somewhere. I reckon a mahogany explorer would be a great idea for a first guitar, my tips would be to try, neck-thru design Look at the Kent Armstrong humbuckers as they are as good as SD or dimarzio for half the price. WD music products do some decent cheap tuners for around £30 that I find stay in tune very well, even when using a Floyd Rose bridge with no locking nut! Rustins platic coating is a good laquer to use however I have yet to try any nitrocelulose based laquer. any questions then feel free to pm me. Happy building Matt

Well Im about to embark on a third project ....A Jem well not only do i need peoples opinions on what truss rods would be best for a jem but also and input on my idea would be greaty appreciated. All black jem -Birdseye maple neck with scarf-joint (what finishes would look cool, but i want it to be super smooth and not tacky that some laquer feels like) -Alder/ash body -Hand wound Evo PU's with coil taps -PRS 513 style wiring -Maybe an active high/low booster/cutter -black body with a cool flip-flop silver paint scheme of lots of faces -Maybe a homemade sustainer, (the little gem type) -Home made Floyd Rose bridge, Lo-pro style made using military aircraft grade hardened stainless steel!!! - a real B**ch to cut!!! I might be able to make some titanium saddles as well for the FR but I'll have to see. Oh and dont expect anything to soon as I have Exams and No money so it should be done middle summer after I've finished building one for a mate. Cheers Matt

Im looking to make an all black jem style axe, But the problem is that im on a tight budget. Does anyone know where I can get a cheap, decent neck from, I found a place on ebay that sells jem style necks at £40 each (woodycustom) and he seems reliable and good feedback, but im slightly dubious at the cheap pricing. I am thinking of making my own neck as i have done 2 before, but at £40 it would cost me more anyway. Has anyone any thoughts? The term 'what you get is what you pay for' springs to mind. matt

Basically are these kits very well made and are they worth looking at? cheers Matt

Wow im like second!! Thanks for all the great comments. I think I would have voted for setch as well but It was such a hard choice that i couldn't vote. matt

I have a Kent armstrong motherbucker and its HOT!! I have a set of EMG's as well and although I havn't been able to use the motherbucker lately, I reckon its about as hot if not hotter than the EMG 81. Also you get AWESOME harmonics off it and it can be wired in loads of different combos. However its clean tones aren't great and it doesn't have much top end. I might look at getting the alnico MM motherbuckers though becaus ethey sound more like a les paul on steriods and sound a bit sweeter. Or you could get a KA closed distortion alnico and a closed high out put for the neck. Then it would look like EMG but be 1/4 of the price for both and they sound good. Could you let me know what the saga kist are like and the quality of them? cheers Matt

well its been almost 2 weeks now and it looks the same. But i do understand your point. Had I the time in the world and not have had a time limit then I would have put on twice the amount of coats (8) and left it longer to buff. I however left it up to a day between each coat so that each coat itself was pretty much hard.

I found i only put 4 coats on for that effect and the polish did help. And i buffed it within 12 hours!!

Thanks alot dude! Yea didn't do a great job in sanding between coats so it meant i had to do ALOT on the last coat. Rustins Plastic coating is a laquer that i got form a wood supplier like axeminster powertools. (UK) im not quite sure where internationally you would get it but id look on google or something, Also I would try and get it in spray cans or use a spray gun becasue painting it on leaves brush marks i found. Also you cant wash out the brushes unless you get special thinners so i left them in a plastic bag. Also you will want the buffing compound and then i used wax furniture polish afterwards to see what would haoppen and it gave it an even deeper shine. Hope this helps Matt

Im looking for some cool decals to make/copy to put on my next guitar (all black Jem), I love the Ouja board scheme that Kirk Hammet has one one of his, but i want something different (i dont want to copy another persons axes). So if anyone has any cool ideas they would be greatly appreciated and i thought that this could turn out to be a usefull thread for everyone. Anyway thanks Matt

Wow thanks very much. As i was progressing through the stages of laquering i had a sinking feeling that it was going badly and i should have sprayed it instead of using a cheap brush, but it turned out ok in the end. And agian thanks for the advice Maiden69. Just have to add my praise though, they all look fantasic, i really like the les paul....theres something beautifully classic about it. It just shows that you don't need fansy wood to make a great looking guitar! Matt

Well i have some info on number of windings and coil sizes on the evos as well as other pickups, some im just going to do that except by doing it myself i can scatterwind them for better tone. I was also thinking of putting the sustainer in the middle. Matt P.S. Thanks skibum5545

Well if anyone has the scematics to that timemachine thingy id really like that and if anyone has the scematics to the robert keeley SD-1 that would be great!! I like the idea of having the harmonic control on the time machine How does that work?.......Id really crank that up Matt