Mickguard

The differences between our personalities is what makes this place and others like it interesting.

I saw nothing posted that warranted such a caustic, berating critique...maybe over-caffeinated today?

Oh no. Not you.

I mean, it's nice and all that you came trolling on back to the forum. But you really ought to stay out of this.

Obviously you see nothing wrong with anything Wes writes (unless you're in direct conflict with him, that is, since I believe Wes was why you dropped out of the forum the last time), because you enjoy taking the same role.

Yeah..I know people's feelings get hurt when they find they are not as creative as others...

edited by me

You don't know when to give up, do you?

I mean, I could enter into a discussion about what is and what is not creativity and whether it is in fact even possible to be "more" creative than someone else. But that would be pointless with you, since macho posturing is more your thing.

But if you want macho, I can play that too, and much harder than you:

To me you're an intellectual dwarf. You're far below who I am, and always will be. And if we were face to face, I would make you cry within five minutes. Whatever you might have to say about me --or anyone else for that matter--is completely and utterly meaningless. But you already know this, and that is why you come to a guitar builders' forum to fluff up your sorry ego.

I do believe it's time for you to bow out of the forum again, cool off, sort out whatever problems you're having in your personal life. Then if you're able to come back here with a willingness to contribute in a positive, friendly manner, by all means do so.

In the meantime, you have overstepped your role as moderator and should be removed from that status right away.

That is just something that uncreative people say when they are confronted with their uncreativity.

Spoken like a true unartist.

Well, I'm interested in what the single-coil is going to sound like. I have a humbucker in there right now, but I find the tone less focused than what I want. And I'll be able to mount half the precision without having to dismantle the entire guitar (much less route for the second half).

I've been playing around with a dual circuit on my baritone -- the neck and bridge pickups each have their own circuit, so I have two jacks. The bridge pickup feeds a Vox AC15, the neck pickup feeds my new Fender Rumble.

Right now I have a standard guitar humbucker at the neck, but I'd like to experiment with placing half of a Precision pickup set there instead -- this will focus that circuit mostly on the bass strings.

I have a Fender MIM Precision set -- there's a blue wire connecting the two halves to each other. The white lead attaches to Half One. The black ground attaches to the Half Two.

Am I'm right in thinking that I should connect the black ground to the blue wire's pole on Half One?

I like my Roman Quicksilver

I don't see where that's significantly different from a Strat shape.

I like the look of some of Zachary's designs too. But when you see someone holding one, they always look too small to be comfortable.

Anyone mention Scott French's designs? I think he puts a lot of care into his models.

I was under the impression that most of those amp walls are fake, just props for the show.

And even if they're real, I'd say it's just more codpiece stuffing.

Which may not be gay, but it IS queer -- since most of the audience for this type of tight-spandex endless solo-noodling music is male. Think about it.

Cool! Glad to hear it's working out well! What're you using for pickups on that thing?

I picked up a set of Filtertron-style humbuckers from the guy behind Eastwood Guitars a while back...been looking for a guitar to put them in. Sounds really great--surprisingly huge bass sound (through a 2x12 cabinet). I plan on picking up a bass amp with a 15" speaker tomorrow, should add some punch.

I think this string set is a good compromise -- it's still playable as a guitar, but it also feels like a bass when you're playing the bass strings.

I tried tuning down to A, but I found it lost a lot of clarity and presence -- maybe thicker strings would restore the snap? I'll try them out next string change.

I'm still toying with the idea of splitting a Precision pickup for the bass side.

I'm lacking patience for a full-scale build these days -- I'm more into making music than making guitars. And I really wanted/needed a baritone NOW, not in the six or eight months it will take for me to build one.

So I was eying my guitars...and my gaze fell on my trusty ol' Univox Hi-Flyer bass...hmm, thinks I, bet it wouldn't take much to convert that to a baritone...and since the Hi-flyer is a complete beater, it wouldn't matter what it looks like.

Only took a couple afternoons. I had to adjust the neck pocket for the Dano baritone neck, but the bass was already routed for humbuckers -- and since the bass is almost the same scale as the baritone neck, the pickup positions work just fine. Just needed a new bridge, correctly placed. I ended up using a vintage-tremelo type bridge, keeping the sustain block, but mounted as a hardtail.

While I was at it, I went ahead with the idea of having separate circuits and output jacks for the two pickups, so I can process each signal differently.

Right now it's strung up with .13 - .56, since that was they had at the store. Which means I could use the full set of Grovers on there. It's tuned to B -E- A- D -G -B right now, but I think I can go down to A without problem.

Not sure if I'll want to go to thicker strings, since these already seem really beefy and give a nice thump. Maybe if I decide to tune it as a Bass VI...it depends on how I end up using it. I have a feeling I'll end up playing bass with it more than guitar (since a lot of the guitar I play in my band is basically just bass riffs with noisy open strings). Also because I really like my other guitar (a Hofner Verythin) and want to keep using that for a lot of our songs.

I'm really surprised by how full the tone is -- and it feels a lot like playing bass, at least on the low strings. The guitar still needs a major setup, but I haven't had time yet, since I'm trying it out at band practice tonight.

The separate circuits seems to work great though -- just a volume and jack for each pickup. I'm going to need a bass amp now. And a ring modulator for the guitar side!

Meanwhile, I used the Hi-flyer body to make a template, in case I decide to stick with this body style for the full build. My other option would be another longhorn, but I'm not sure how comfortable that will be to play.

Well, at the risk of riling feathers, what's so special about the guy's bridges? I mean, why are they so much better than anything that, say, Gotoh makes? Are there design differences that make the part interesting (like a Trem King, for example, where the guy clearly spent a lot of time redesigning the wheel). Is this another overhyped voodoo product or what? Just curious.

What, there's tons of info on Mannmade bridges,

I couldn't find any info on his site, other than that the company's name changed. Unless his site only works with IE?

I didn't bother to use google, so I don't know what other people are saying. I guess his web site fits in with his lack of communications skills.

Well, it can take up to two weeks for the package to reach him from Hong Kong, then a few extra days for him to ship the package to you.

Seriously, there is no indication whatsoever that this company actually makes these parts. There's nothing at all to indicate that they are in any way different from any other similarly manufactured part coming from any one of a number of Chinese factories.

And the fact that he didn't respond promptly (it's not like he'd be receiving hundreds of orders every day...unless he's actually responding from the office in Guangdong) and only after launching a dispute-and then is trying to hold you hostage before he'll finally ship the part-- pretty much tells you what you need to know.

Do not end the dispute until you have received the part.

Man, if I had a dollar for every screwup I've made from getting ahead of myself, I'd have enough to buy a guitar...

Biggest thing I've learned from building is patience.

As long as you're already heavily into repairs on this thing, I'd pull the bridge, fill the hole and redo it.

I think you should leave it the way it is -- don't paint it, don't worry about the glue line, and leave the logo like that -- looks cool, and it's part of the 'history' of the guitar now.

Nice job on the fix.

There is only 1 guy in ireland that anyone with sense will trust with their guitar. he actually sets up and has made guitars for U2. Derek Nelson is his name, but he is very expensive. a setup is gona be anywhere from 150 - 200 euros (150 - 260 dollars) , with a waiting list of 2-4 months. That amount of money is not to be sneezed away lightly on a setup so id rather get it sorted myself before parting with that much cash.

Ouch. That better be one magical setup. For that price, you can take a holiday to France, and get a setup for 40 euros (includes a new set of strings at least). And you can say you took the strat on a world tour.

Anyway, try redoing the setup as I suggested -- I think the thing you were doing wrong was holding down the string at the end of the neck -- which doesn't allow you to measure the relief properly. So you ended up flattening the board too much. Which led to buzzing.

Your English is just fine. On the other hand, I suggest you spend some time reading up before you start buying --you'll save yourself a lot of unnecessary headache that way.

Depending on the type of chuck it is but if it's akin to the Makita - single large nut with a button on the back to lock the chuck when tightening - then it could just be metal collar that is inside the chuck that grips on the bit shaft when the nut is tightened.

Yes, it has a button in the back -- I'll give replacing the collars a go, if I can find replacements at the store, of course...

Try holding the string down at the 15th fret or so, and measuring (and setting) the relief at the 6th or 7th fret. 0.25 mm is just a guideline--some people like more, some less.

After the relief is sorted out, you can set your string height, measured at the 12th fret. You might want to check the height of the nut slots -- but you'll need the proper tools for that.

Although with an expensive guitar like that, why not pay a tech the 30 bucks or so to set the guitar up for you?

And if the guitar already needs a shim, then it wasn't built properly, and should be returned.

Anyway, see my 'Time for a new router' thread to understand what happens when you push a router to do things it's not supposed to....

saying scale length is the nut to high E is misleading

You're right, I should have added that I measure so that there's always some forward play for the saddle.

The bits are starting to slip on my router no matter how much I tighten the collar.

Is this something that can be remedied by replacing just the collar ? Is this an issue with the little adapter piece that fits into the shaft (to adapt the different bit shaft sizes)?

Or is it possible the shaft itself is dead --which I'm assuming will be more expensive to replace than buying a new router?

Obviously, it's impossible to route if the bit decides to go deeper than I want it to!

It's a Black and Decker....sure, I know, last time I buy anything from B&D....

First you need to establish the scale length of the neck itself -- i.e., measure from the nut to the crown of the 12th fret, then multiply by 2.

With that measurement, you are now able to establish the distance of the nut to the High E saddle. Doing so will show you exactly where you need to position the neck.

Because the neck needs to be set into the guitar in order for the nut to be exactly the scale length's distance from the bridge.

Which means, in the case of a 24-fret neck, the heel will have to enter deeper into the body than the 22 fret neck --and yes, that measurement will be closer to 3/4 of an inch, given that you have to accommodate for 2 entire frets more than a 22 fret neck in order for the scale length to be right.

Of course, this might then interfere with the neck pickup, since they're often placed fairly close to the heel.

Alternatively, you can set the 24-fret neck the same as the 22 fret neck -- but then you'll have to move the entire bridge that much farther away.

So yeah, you might be better off putting a 22-fret neck on there.

Scale length on a guitar refers to the measurement from the nut to the high E saddle (i.e., the thinnest string).

I'd always assumed the same was true for basses, i.e., the scale length is set for the thinnest string.

What you've discovered isn't a lesson about scale length, it's about guitar setup.

I'm building a 21 fret strat neck, what I need to know is the distance from the nut to the heel of the neck. I'm guessing it's the same as the distance to the 22nd fret, is this correct?

Thanks

Not necessarily.

I'd be reluctant to use plastic wood. Doesn't that stuff shrink over time?

Sorry, not trying to hijack thread there, but wanted to reply to this.

That's a great question. It's my first time to use it. I filled in the pup cavity about a week ago, so far so good. But perhaps that's not enough time to judge. I've still not painted the body so the plastic wood is still exposed to the elements.

Well, I was hoping someone with more experience with this might reply. All I know is from what I've read, which is that the wood is still going to move over time, and not at the same rate as the plastic wood. So there's a risk of things separating and otherwise becoming visible.