Dugz Ink

There's some good (but basic) information about the on the Stew-Mac site. Understanding Guitar Wiring One section deals specifically with pots and caps. D~s

As you noted, they're designed for painting houses... not fine wood. They have high airflow and low pressure, which spews larger drops of thick paint. In simple terms... the opposite of what you want for a nice smooth finish on your guitar. I'm sure that some of our lacquer-gurus can give you more details, if you need them. D~s

Yeah... but Hide Glue has that tart aftertaste. Gelatin is much better on a fresh Tele. D~s

The "shield" is exactly that; it shields the low-level signal from outside interference. The metal body of a pot can do the same thing, if grounded properly. Of course, if it's not grounded at all, it will basically absorb the RFI, which puts the low-level signal in an RFI hot-spot. That leads to things like picking up bad AM radio stations on your guitar... or a ton of "buzz" (EMI) from a computer's CRT video monitor while youre trying to record some new licks on your computer. D~s

In my opinion, the method that kills the most noise is to run two seperate ground "circuits" that eventually go to the same ground point. Circuit #1 would include (but be limited to) all of the pickup wires that will be sent to "ground" and all of the pot/switch terminals that will be sent to "ground". Circuit #2 would include (but be limited to) all shielding (including pot/switch bodies) and the bridge. Both circuits would meet and terminate at the ground lug on the output jack. This method helps to keep the things that pick up RFI from transmitting said RFI to the ground terminals in your audio chain as said RFI is going to the ground lug. Instead, the RFI travels a parallel path that does not have direct contact to the audio chain's ground until it gets to the ground lug... which is where you're bleeding off the RFI. (Unless your guitar cable is hooked to a bad ground... then everything is screwed.) Some switches will have terminals that are connected to the switch cover/casing. In a case like that, you should avoid connecting the terminal to one circuit and the body to the other circuit. First, that introduces the RFI into the audio chain before it gets to the ground lug. Second, if there is any measureable resistance in one of the ground circuits (but not the other) it will create a ground-loop hum. With all of that said, you CAN ground everything to everything on something as simple/small as a guitar and get away with it... most of the time. Especially if 1) you're not in an RFI-rich environment, and 2) you have really good connections. But there are people who will argue to the death that there is ONLY one way to do it. I'm not one of them. I've seen too many things that defied the laws of science. D~s

Welcome tothe world of grounding... a world full of myths and mysteries. I spent numerous years of my broadcasting career chasing ground-related problems... which included RFI getting into the audio chain through the ground system... and I still don't have all of the answers. But there is one "grounding" fact that is absolute: Resistance is the enemy. You MUST have a nearly resistance-free ground system, otherwsie you WILL have trouble. (None are truly resistance-free, because wire/solder/etc. create minute levels of resistance.) As I pointed out before, resistance is the cause of what we call "ground-loop hum"... and the point of resistance can also be the reception point of RFI. Resistance can be caused by a little oxidation (rust) between a casing and the pot that is mounted to it. It can be caused by two pieces of metal that barely touch each other. It can be caused by a mediocre solder joint. All of the shielded equipment that I worked on was set up in one of two ways: 1) All components where grounded to the shielding, or 2) All components where insulated from the shielding, and had their own grounding location, which was then attached to the same point as the shield's grounding. If you're in an area where there's a lot of RFI, the second option is the best because the shielding is less likely to introduce RF into the audio chain. Otherwise, one will work just as good as the other... as long as there isn't any resistance. With all of that said, look at your problems and your wiring, and follow the paths. Your body introduces RF indirectly to the guitar. (That's a fact, not a myth.) In your case, this RF disappears when you ground yourself by touching the output jack/plug. But it looks like you're saying that it does NOT disappear completely when you touch the strings. That leads me to believe that you don't have a resistance-free path from the strings to the output jack. This could also mean that the strings were working as an RF antenna, picking up energy and transmitting it into the "ground" system... thus introducing it into the audio chain. I don't know how your bridge is grounded, but the best advice I have seen on this forum is to solder your ground wire to a piece of copper plate/foil that was almost as wide/long as the bridge... then place that piece of copper under the bridge. Of course, if your bridge is powder-coated (like the one I just bought) you'll need to file off all of the coating where the bridge contacts the copper. Just make the base-surface of the bridge as level and shiny as possible... without using chemicals to polish the surface. And if that doesn't fix the problem, then you move down the chain, in an orderly fashion, checking every connection, and everything that is connected to every connection. And sometimes you do all of that and you don't find the problem, so you throw out the pots, jacks, wires, and switches and start over... and the problem is "mysteriously" fixed... because there was a crack somewhere in something that was too small to see, but it was creating huge problems. Yeah... that's what I used to do for a living. It was so much fun... NOT! D~s

I never used Titebond before joining PG; you guys talked me into a good product. Now I have a question about it: If I have used Mineral Spirits (a petroleum distilate) on some wood, and allowed it to air-dry, will Titebond still stick to that wood? If not, would you recommend sanding down past the tainted wood, or using some sort of chemical that breaks up petroleum products? D~s

Now that IS interesting. If your pot is grounded to a wire AND the shield, and both connect to the same ground, you DO technically have a loop... but that won't matter unless one path has more resistance than the other. That's what creates the noise; the flow on one path is slower than the other path. D~s

First, a ground loop is caused by having two components (which share an audio input/output) grounded to two different grounding points or grounded through two different circuits. (Ground loops commonly occur when you plug your amp into one circuit breaker and your effects box into a different circuit breaker.) In this case, it sounds like you would be grounding to the same foil or the same wire, and that would not create a ground loop. RFI in a humbucker is usually a sign of one of three things: 1) your humbuckers are not wired properly, so they do not have any noise cancellation properties, 2) you're sitting next to a huge source of RFI, like a big fat CRT video monitor for a computer or a bad dimmer switch for the overhead lights, or 3) you have cracked/loose ground connections between the foil and the other components, in which case the foil is picking up RFI that cannot bleed off properly. In the first case, your pickup could be wired with the North Finish wire attached to the South Start wire, which is like wiring two single coils in series. It won't do anything but double the output, including the output of any noise they pick up. In the second case, well, you need at least 1/8" of aluminum to sheild against that much RFI, and the joints in the shielding have to be perfect... but an easy alternative is to walk away from the source of RFI, or just turn off the source of RFI. In the third case, cleaning contact points (between pots and foil) could make a big difference. Soldering a ground wire to the foil, which goes to the daisy chain that you mentioned, would eliminate that problem. However, there's something else to consider... on top of those three things. If the RFI increases when you touch the strings, then I would suspect that your bridge is not properly grounded. Most people think that the human body is a ground, but that would only be true if you were playing while standing barefoot in a puddle of water. Since you are probably wearing shoes and/or standing on a wooden/carpetted floor, YOU are not grounded, so your body picks up RFI and then transmits it to the guitar when you touch the strings, thus providing a conduit that transmits RFI the entire length of your guitar - your strings. Check the ground on your bridge, as well as the three things that I listed. D~s

I use hand planes for shaping... from block planes down to finger planes. But when I need a big piece perfectly flat, I take it to somebody who has an big planer. But that's just me. D~s

I usually just set the controls on my fretless acoustic/electric and play. Most of the time I don't even adjust anything. I just plug her in and listen to people say "Daaaaam that sounds good!" (They're clearly talking about the guitar, because my playing varies between "rough" and "cat-in-a-trash-can". D~s

Okay... time for the dumb question of the day... Can I use something like that BB 0333-001 and then run the strings thru the body? I know... there are bridges that are designed to be string-thru... but I was tinkering with the idea of mounting the ferrules in the butt of the guitar... sort of an angled string-thru thing. (Okay... maybe I'm over-thinking this one.) Now for an even dumber question: Would the "Hofner" bridge (BB 3200-0R1) be used with a trapeze... or ferrules? D~s

For a look at some killer hollow bodie Teles, check out DRAK'S PROJECTS. Here's the benefit I see to this idea: If the body is even a cheap piece of solid wood, it can still be used as a "frame" and a face can be attached to it. Depending on how the old body looks, you could make something decent out of "trash"... even if it isn't absolutely great. As for fretless, even flat-wound strings eventually mar the wood... and round-wound will chew it up relatively fast. I've read a lot of articles that say that Rosewood and Ebony will last a LOT longer than a Maple fingerboard... so replacing the fretboard (and frets) with a Rosewood fingerboard could be a good idea. D~s

OH YEAH! I like THIS PAGE! Thanks! (My wife is going to hate you. I just thought you should know.) D~s

I haven't stripped a cheapo Tele, but the cheapo (Chinese) LP is made out of plywood with a decent looking face. In a case like that, sanding down to the wood won't give anything beautiful... just a decent face with ugly edges. However, sanding down the paint (without sanding it off) isn't always a great idea. It really depends on what they used; the color from some paints will bleed through subsequent coats. Since you and I don't know what they used on this, you may consider sanding it down, shooting a primer that will block any previous colors, then shoot your final color. Of course, if you do that, and it gets chipped, you'll have this hideous hole with the old color showing through. That would really suck. Maybe you should just buy some nice wood and use the old body as a template. D~s

Depends on what you use. Wood putty? I think it will die. Tight-fitting hardwood dowels and glue? Much better chance of survival. Loose-fitting hardwood dowels and epoxy? I think that's the strongest. Results may vary. Not suitable for children with small parts. D~s

Thanks... that helps. D~s

I knew a guy in Missouri who swore that the best finish was numerous solid coats of tung oil (with light sanding in between as the grain filled) followed by a finishing coat of boiled linseed oil. I tried the same process on a gunstock I made for my brother, and I honestly can't tell the difference between that finish and the ones where I just used commercial tung oil. And I have never tried using just boiled linseed oil. D~s

My bad. I apologize. Seriously, it looks like there is some really neat character, but it's hard for me to say what could come out of which part when I look at this pic. Could you post something that has a straighter angle... maybe with a yard stick to give us a scale? D~s

Umm... a long-scale solid-body electric bass dulcimer?

This may sound completely strange, but I was thinking about mounting something like a tune-omatic bridge on an electric 4-string bass. (I'm thinking about doing what I would describe as a semi-string-thru end-loader.) The only thing I have found so far are some "Beatles bridges" on eBay. They look like this: The only other thought that I've had for this project would be to use single bridge/stops... without using them as stops... just as individual bridges. Any thoughts or warnings would be appreciated. I'm not ordering the bridge until after my current project is either finished or burned, so you have some time to respond. (Okay... I'm not really going to burn it... I'm just being obnoxious... which means I'm just being myself.) D~s

Yeah... you're right. And I made it worse when he called my reply "elitist". I'm sorry. But elists are the pros who sit at the Bluebird all night and run up a $70 bar tab instead of spending their evenings helping other people. If he had just said "I did a search, but I still need some answers" everything would have turned out differently. It's too bad; most people around here know that I LIKE to talk about using tung oil. Enough said. I don't need to burn up more drive space. D~s

I'm not arguing with you, just a making a point about differences fo opinions. Personally, I like spending the time putting 18 coats on something like Mahogany... and the first six go on in a row without any drying time in between... I just let it soak in as deep as it wants. And when it quits soaking it in, the grain really is filled, not just sealed. That's what I want from what I classify as a "wood finish"... as opposed to things that spray on like paint. But that's just me and my opinion... both of which can rub some people the wrong way. (sfsf) D~s

I've used a couple diferent kinds of automotive wax... but I don't use the "pure" tung oil. D~s

"How much" is a good question, but not an easy answer... in my opinion. If the grain is lifting, then you don't have a perfect seal. That either means putting on more and more coats of tung oil, or using something over the tung oil... like wax. When I work with the "consumer grade" tung oil (as opposed to pure tung oil) it isn't unusual for me to put on 10-20 coats, depending on the piece of wood that I'm using and the look that I want. I would agree with anybody who says that tung oil requires tons of patience. But, on the right project, I think it's worth every coat. D~s