arrowheadguitars

why not use three of the single coil sized humbuckers and a single motherbucker (4 coils in a humbucker size) just to make it truly confusing

there must be room for at least three motherbuckers surely ?

Paul

ibanez sustainer

as you'll see there are no pics of the wiring but rest assured there was a lot of it

Paul

Well I'm about to fit a sustainer to a Jem so I'll try and post some pics as I go if you like

Paul

I have an old strat neck that I was hoping to get away with a small patch of new finish but seem to be having problems with.

http://www.arrowheadguitars.co.uk/images/stratneck.jpg

shows the problem, I sanded out a slight ding and applied some nitro sealer then a little clearcoat just to see what effect it would have against the original finish - obviously some colour is going to be needed to match the old clearcoat as it is now less than clear but what concerns me is that at the wrong angle you can see the new spray as a darker patch with a darker ring round it.

It would appear to me that I'm going to have to take all the finish off the back of the neck and do it all but any suggestions that would save me doing it all would be gratefully received.

cheers,

Paul

I wired up a three pickup Tele with three on/off/on mini toggles so you could have any of the pickups on at any time - each was wired so you could have on/off/phase reverse except for the bridge pickup which was on/off/on-with a resistor in line for a subtle change in tone. The middle pickup was a SD Little '59 and had a push/push vol pot to add coil splitting too.

The only slight drawback of this system is that it is possible to have no pickups on at all if you're not paying attention

Paul

http://www.pincotts.com or http://wdmusicproducts.com/ will supply the parts in the UK - if you want it all pre-wired then you'll have to speak to a local guitar tech, so you might as well get it all wired up for you.

If you let me know where you live I might be able to recommend someone local to you.

Paul

you an also mix the stain with the oil and apply it like that if you like - I've mixed black stain with Danish Oil - which is based on tung oil - without any problems

Paul

strange - I was asking for you to mail me them because I couldn't get the link on that page to work, no matter how hard I tried, but for some reason it worked today

thanks for the link anyway....

Paul

no.. I haven't found one but I already have 2 anyway.. so haven't been looking for one... I just got back from getting the Les Paul Jr. blueprint.. got 3 copies.. since I'm probably gonna glue the template onto the guitar body and cut it out that way. I'll look and see if I can find one.

any chance you could e-mail me a copy of the LP Junior DC plans ?

Paul

I have a friend asking if it is possible to repair a couple of large chips in the body of his guitar, which appears to be a poly finish rather than nitro, anyone have any experience of whether this can be repaired or is he looking at a complete refinish ? I have a little experience of patching small dings with superglue but these are way too big for that. I did read somewhere that it might be possible using a nitro repair stick but I'm doubtful myself.

Paul

There are a number of places you can get it in the UK - Pincotts (0845 345 5951) used to sell it, not sure if they still do. Bob Pearman Books (01553 810673) should have it too. Failing that get in touch with me and I'll source you a copy.

Paul

Hi guys,

I have an acoustic that needs the bridge regluing, however it appears to have been glued with titebond, or something similar, any suggestions on how to get it off ?

cheers,

Paul

not quite - when a log is quartersawn it is done so as many pieces as possible are cut with the grain running vertically through the plank (so end on the planks radiate out from the centre) - when it is flatsawn it's all cut one slice after the other so you get some planks (in the middle)which are essentially quartersawn and others which have the grain at an angle (towards the outsides) etc.

Paul

I would suggest that while it may be that older pieces of wood are less likely to warp without anything being done to them as they have done a fair amount of drying etc. over the years, what you can't predict is what will happen when you cut them. you may reveal an area of hidden tension which will cause huge amounts of twisting or bending, regardless of how old it is, as when you cut it the cut face will dry and shrink and the rest will stay as it was. you'll only know how good it's going to be when it settles.

Paul

didn't the Banjo top E get used in the 60's when the standard guitar string sets were very heavy, so if you took a standard set you moved all the strings down one - the E being used for the B etc. - then used a thinner banjo string for the top E - making a lighter and more bendable set ..

Paul

http://www.brandoniguitars.co.uk/index2.html

you can get kits here ...

Paul

the body shape is a stunted strat shape without any of the contours and if the one I have is anything to go by, finished very basically and heavily - there is a LOT of paint on it.

still, not very expensive so you don't have to waste a lot of money for something to experiment on

Paul

In the UK, Touchstone Tonewoods do them, as do Pincotts, and I have a couple kicking around somewhere too that you can have for a reasonable price

Paul

Craft Supplies do keep a wide range of supplies for guitar making and a mahogany body blank is 21" x 14" x 2" which is plenty for most body styles and £35 is a reasonable price, though you may well be able to pick up off cuts from places used to working with larger pieces for less.

They also stock most other things you need from glue to nitro lacquer, so don't write them off just yet

In my experience what happens is you go up with an idea of what you want and how much you are going to spend and end up coming away with twice as much and a big credit card bill.

They also stock some nice figured tops, although they can be a bit on the pricy side.

Paul

made myself one today and it worked very well - needs a little tweaking but still pretty good, thanks for that

Paul

if it's a flat top and back I usually stick it to the bench with some double sided sticky tape to stop things from moving while routing pickup cavities etc.

Paul

nice one - as I'm waiting for a radius block to turn up and so keeping a customer waiting - I might well have a go at that this afternoon

cheers,

Paul

I used black stain on this tele I made for a friend, plus stain mixed with Danish Oil for the top finish, both on the body and the (maple) neck

Paul

you may find bass wood is too soft for an oil finish - I'm refinishing an Ibanez at the moment and it's like balsa

Paul

how about this for an idea ?

http://www.arrowheadguitars.co.uk/bass%20gallery.html

:o

Paul