dpm99

I've used Guitar Parts Site. They are quite honestly the worst guitar parts supplier I've ever dealt with. I was ordering an Ibanez mono bridge, and it said they had one in stock. Weeks later I had nothing more than a confirmation email saying they'd taken my money. You can log into their site and check your order status. Within 24 hours of my order it said it was in final processing, and the order couldn't be changed. It just sat in final processing forever. I tried calling over and over, at different times of the day. I sent several emails that were flat out ignored. Finally I sent them a threatening email, and whadayaknow? The part shipped and I got a response. I'm generally a pretty nice guy, but it is my pleasure to trash these guys in a public forum.

What Ripthorn says is the conventional thinking. I keep 28+ gauge solid core around for really tiny solder terminals, like the ones on push-pull pots, but stranded is the way to go. What you say about mechanical connections is key here too. Also, grounding to the back of pots isn't the best way to do it. If you work at Gibson, and that's all you do all day, fine. But it's really easy to fry a pot that way. I like using solder lugs, like the ones here: http://www.guitarpartsresource.com/bass_elec.htm

Well, I learned something today. Thanks. It's amazing how forgiving piezos are.

Great. I'm curious to see how this one turns out. I've always wondered about what an under saddle transducer would do without a free soundboard. It makes sense to me that it would work.

I like it. But I'm curious. As I understand, the Veillette Gryphon is an acoustic guitar, and you're building it as a semi-hollow electric? Are you gonna put a magnetic pickup on there somewhere?

I'd be interested to see how that would work out. If it were me, I'd at least shove some fiberglass down in that cavity if I were trying to fill it with epoxy. I'm gonna be surprised if anyone's tried this one. I will say that, as I understand it, both epoxy and acrylic will adhere to the surface without chemical bonding, whereas something like Titebond would actually bond to the wood.

Good to know. Those guys have never let me down.

Nice work, Mike. It's a build to be proud of. We should talk. I could really use some help or advice on a preamp I'm thinking through.

Welcome Tom! And if you ever decide to build from raw lumber, we can help you there too.

Let me be the first to say that an airplane just flew over my head. Where's Pete when you need him? PETE!

Ok. Thanks for stopping by. Let's do it again sometime!

Upload your pictures to a hosting site like Flickr or Photobucket, and then link to them.

Yeah, I guess I'm thinking more about inexperienced builders on this one. I've developed preferences in strings, but I'm not quite the victim of marketing I once was.

Yeah, yeah, you're right. I just don't think people ever figure strings into the tonal equation. That's all.

Just in the interest of healthy debate, I think this is a lot like the debate over how wood affects tone. I wouldn't say that strings determine tone, but I would say they influence tone in the same way body wood does - that is to say, they provide a subtle influence that only matters to keen ears. My point is that some people will change out pickups over and over trying to get the right tone to pair with wood without ever giving thought to the strings they're using. And others (we see these all the time) ask crazy questions about sourcing "dolphin wood" or something because they're looking for an exact tone, or switch out a maple neck for a wenge neck because they want a warmer tone, when maybe they ought to just try some round core strings. As for strings being simply warmer or brighter, I think there's some truth to that, but many people make the same argument about wood.

Wes, I know that some people consider strings more than others do, but if you're really chasing tone, it seems worthwhile to consider it more than we often do. Sorry, it's a pet peeve of mine. As for all strings being more or less the same, well, here's DR's lineup of electric guitar strings, which I think speaks for itself: http://www.drstrings.com/catalogs/electric-strings

You're going to have to upload it somewhere first, like Flickr or Photobucket.

Maybe I'm missing something here. I may have said this before, but why do people spend so much money on "tone wood" and give no thought whatsoever to strings? Strings do a whole lot more vibrating than wood ever will.

In that price range, I'd probably go with Bare Knuckles. http://www.bareknucklepickups.co.uk/main/pickups.php?cat=teles http://guitarasylum.com/index.php?/pickups/bare-knuckle-pickups/single-coils-for-tele/view-all-products Although, I probably wouldn't be in that price range, and would just go for some of Bill Lawrence's Wilde pickups. http://www.wildepickups.com/ Oh, who am I kidding? If I ever build a tele, it would probably have P90's or stacked humbuckers or something weird like that.

Wow. I don't know of any other courses that cover that angle of building. That's cool, Doug. EDIT: It just occurred to me. Why are you CNC'ing radius blocks, rather than just radiusing fretboards with the CNC?

Sounds like it's gonna be ok, but that's tragic. Go easy on that finger. It's an important one.

Oh man! I didn't know about that. I'm gonna have to check that out sometime.

Now that's different. I like it to look at, and I'm a fan of anyone willing to step out and be a mad scientist, but I wonder about the ergonomics. Don't you think it might be hard to reach those strings with your arm against the body. In principle, I'd think the sound would be very, very, very good. I wish he'd put up some A/B soundclips with a traditional archtop.

Welcome, Shane. There are at least a couple of us in the Dallas area. I'm in McKinney. Make sure at some point you also check out lint.org.

I don't have any aniline dyes, but I do have some tints, if that helps. I'd be glad to send a little of the PTC stuff for the cost of shipping, if you can figure out a good way to ship it. In the Mixol universal tints, I have a good bit of red, and one of the 20ml bottles of blue, though if that's what you wanted, I suppose you'd just get something like this: http://www.amazon.com/Mixol-Universal-Tints-Blue-09/dp/B0036AYXR2/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1320463038&sr=8-6 If I can help, let me know.