Paul Marossy

I set the overall EQ at the amp and then I use my guitar's tone control and/or pickup switch to select between different tones. I usually leave the tone controls alone on my guitar, but sometimes I roll them back if it sounds brighter than I'd like.

I also have tone controls on all my pedals, DIY ones included, but those have been set a certain way and left like that for several years now.

That turned out very nice.

you can't really bend more than an eighth or quarter step before the strings roll over the fret edges

Have a look/lend an ear to David Gillmore. He does those 2 1/2 note bends and he probably cross several poles during those bends and you newer hear any volume drop or anything like that wehen he gets going.

Yeah, I think people try to split hairs too much over this sort of thing. I would also say that people that have been playing a long time, if they think that they hear a drop in volume, probably compensate by picking a little harder when bending the strings. If you hear a volume drop off when bending strings, it's a problem with your technique, not the pickups.

My feelings on this is that it is another wive's tale kind of thing. I've been doing a lot of string bending for years and never heard a perceptible "volume dropoff". I bet if you could see the magnetic fields around each pole piece, that they would actually be invading eachother's space a bit, and there is no weak spots to speak of. At least nothing significant.

Maybe look into one of the looper pedals that retains its memory. Get a sample of the helicopter and play it back from the pedal. Then it could be used for other sounds and looping as well.

Hey, that's not a bad idea...

The old Arion SAD-1 delay pedals also oscillate very nicely.

I resoldered all of my joints, then realized i was messy with my solder the first time around, as solder had dripped down around two contacts of the switch, i just couldnt see it until i took out the switch.

It still buzzes like crazy though. think im just gona have to bite the bullet and pay a pro to have a look at it. thanks for your help all.

Well, that was part of your problem. The buzz is probably a ground thing.

A cold solder joint is a solder joint that looks like its making a connection, but isnt actually fused and doesnt make a full connection.

Correct. And that will give you an intermittent connection and/or possibly make it sound like your volume control is turned way down because it's making a poor connection.

A lot of people like the LPB-1, too. I built one once, but I wasn't that excited about it.

I have an original, same thing for vocalists called the ego booster...no, I'm not impressed either...plenty of good alternatives like the tilman, fetzer or even an opamp design

Cool, I'm glad that I'm not the only one that feels that way about the LPB-1.

where can i find info on different ways to wire them and the advantages?

This is a good start here: http://www.guitarnuts.com/wiring/howitallworks.php

And here: http://www.guitarnuts.com/wiring/menu.php

And here: http://www.guitarnuts.com/wiring/factory.php

Since you mentioned it was your first time soldering, check for "cold solder joints". You might just have a bad solder connection(s) in your wiring somewhere. Very common thing to have happen when your new at soldering stuff.

OMG!! I just took a look and that is exactly what it is. I can't believe that's what it was, I'll get the iron warmed up and get those switched around.

Thanks Mammoth guitars.

Hmm...good to know. I haven't done that yet, but I'm sure that I probably will one day.

I've built the BMTB, not a huge fan, although I do have some guitars where it really makes the neck pickups sound pretty cool.

I really like the LPB boost circuit, myself. (Information is again available at General Guitar Gadgets and Tonepad, as well as all the other usual pedal building sites.)

Boosts are really really easy to build in general, often will last all sorts of time on a single battery, and need minimal controls. Ideal for putting something in a guitar. I had one a guitar once - I wired it to max boost, (no control knob) and put it after my guitars controls in the circuit. A flick of a switch and you've got a lead boost, pushing the amp into sweet singing solo tone.

If you ever want to get into the wild world of pedal building, a boost is a great way to start. You can order kits from a few places, or build your own with a handful of parts from radioshack. There's about a zillion different schematics for boosts, whether you want a treble boost or a straight boost. Many are easily adaptable to either. Not needing a heavy duty footswitch or a box cuts about a third of the cost out of the build.

A lot of people like the LPB-1, too. I built one once, but I wasn't that excited about it.

I think 4-wire humbucking pickups are generally the way way to go as they give you the most options when it comes to wiring them. You don't have to use all of the available options, but it's nice to have the option to use them sometime later down the road.

The guy that did it on his 7-string Ibanez did a pretty good job. A floating trem would be a lot harder to do...

If you want to hear it, check out the soundclip called "Brian May Boost" here: http://www.home-wrecker.com/salvo.html

Here is also another source of info on this circuit: http://www.tonepad.com/project.asp?id=40

If there is room in your guitar, you could put something like this into it:

http://generalguitargadgets.com/index.php?...6&Itemid=26

It would be pretty cheap to build and effective. Just my 2 centavos...

i wouldnt use WD40 on electric components, i have had to re-wire amore than one guitar because the owner decided to use copious amounts of WD40 instead of proper contact cleaner

Yeah, WD-40 is a bad idea. It also ruins bypass switches on wah pedals and stuff like that.

gtrplyr-

A mini toggle switch looks like the one 4th down on the right side of this page: http://www.kpsec.freeuk.com/components/switch.htm

See here: http://www.blueshawk.info/varitone.htm

And here: http://www.bigdguitars.com/varitone.html

Here's something you could try, which I personally think would sound better than messing with pickup phasing:

http://www.diystompboxes.com/smfforum/inde...p?topic=42087.0

I haven't built it myself, but it's kind of a very simplified passive version of the Eric Clapton mid boost circuit. The effect would be much more obvious than simply reversing the pickup phase because it's somewhat resonant due to the inductor.

I just put Fender "Hot Noiseless" pickups in my guitar. They act like a humbucker but sound like a single coil. To me, that's the easiest, most direct way to eliminate that pesky 60-cycle hum. I'm glad I did it!

Pete is right, you need an active, resonant "Q" filter to get that sound.

I made a compact Maestro Boomerang wah circuit to put into my "SpankenStrat": http://www.diyguitarist.com/Guitars/SuperStrat.htm - I'm pretty happy with it, but I honestly don't use it that much...

Cool, Al, thanks for letting me know about that.

Getting a pop from an LED switching on and off can be a problem in a DIY distortion pedal, but I guess in a passive device it generally shouldn't do that.

There's some cool variations on a theme, I like the A/B/C one in particular.

On question, though: since the LED power supply ground and signal ground are common, isn't there a possibility that you could get a POP when switching? I personally like to keep LED ground and signal ground seperate in passive devices like these to avoid that *potential* problem...

It can happen with any pickup. It is just the result of a poor quality pickup. SC or HB doesn't matter.

+1