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thedoctor

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Everything posted by thedoctor

  1. thedoctor
    I forgot to add buffalo horn to my list as well as elk horn(not too bad) and man does that stuff stink in a milling machine. Almost had one guy quit over the stench(I use his machine over the weekends). I would like to add a couple of uses for soapstone. I learned many years ago that when you have belt-squeal on a machine or VEEHICKLE (courtesy of MASH) you rub rub the side of the belt with soapstone to stop the squeal. It seems to follow that a little soapstone rubbed on the wound strings where they hit the nut might make sliding through the nut a bit easier. BTW, most decent welding supply companies will give you two or three sticks for free.
  2. thedoctor
    Frank, figure this one out!! I just talked about transfering nut slots to the new nut with soapstone and what is the next topic about? A damned SOAPSTONE NUT!! Where is Mulder when you need him?
  3. thedoctor
    I sell soapstone in the marking grade and I am surprised you got the slots cut and in the pocket without it shattering. $13.00 per gross, by the way. There is a structural/architechal grade of soapstone that is a lot harder but no more durable. I have used brass, aluminum, bone, faux ivory, real ivory, carbon(about like soapstone)but a lot messier, copper, bare ebony, oil-soaked ebony, glass, teflon(high durometer), stainless, phenolic, mild steel and Oilite bronze. None of them are perfect. Never tried soapstone because it would seem impossible, to me, to sucsessfully cut it to shape and groove it. Didn't take long to file the slots, did it? So far, my favorite is yellow brass with 6061-T6 aluminum right behind it. Since you seem to be able to pull it off, why not try a bar of Ivory soap? Sorry, Wes made me say that.
  4. thedoctor
    I did not catch where he had Jumbo frets. Not unlike me to miss a few things. I order nut blanks whenever I am building with a premade neck. They(Warmoth) always send me a preslotted instead and I have to say, they are always REALLY close to right. Never NOT used em. If I were building something with a trem unit, I would get a Graphtech blank and start from there. If you got a nut that is preslotted and just a little too wide, file the ends and go. The only exception would be with them Jumbo frets. Gonna do a little neck-slithering, are we? You may want to get a blank nut, throw the ruler away, and make a nice template of paper off of an axe you like, transfer it to the new nut with soapstone and start filing.
  5. thedoctor
    3/32" sounds good to me. That is right close to what I go for when I make a nut from scratch.
  6. thedoctor
    Wait a minute. Your lid-route looks usable. Who says you HAVE to use those plastic factory boxes. I don't. Make a good-looking cover and put your batteries in with foam wrap. You are trying to accomodate a cheap, plastic box and I don't think it's worth it. IHMO
  7. thedoctor
    NO, NO, NO!!! Lead has a way low melting point. Titanium!!! Ceramics!! Actually, only the actual ohmic value of the rheostat is fiction. We had to front-rear balance the sound system of my jr. high school auditorium because the PA system was just a mono, 4-8-16 ohm amp. The term for that, I believe, was "padding" the output and you lose some wattage to heat but it worked. I think the actual rheostat was 20 ohms @ 165 watts. Newcolm sold them for the amps they used to make.
  8. thedoctor
    Depends almost entirely on the amp but in most cases, if your soundcard is unbalanced-compatible (ie:generic) you shouldn't have a problem. If you have a modeling amp or anything with built-in effects, other than reverb, you should make sure the volume booger on the lower right of MY screen is turned damned near off.
  9. thedoctor
    Not really a lack of interest, I was just absorbing the discussion as it went along. I thought that a good application of the search function could come close to a review process. It has it's shortcomings but works and doesn't tie a bunch of bandwidth up with absolute rants or raves. Maybe instead of going for the easy, drop in and see kind of review section like the catalog people and Harmony have a posted-topic requesting a review. That is how I find review-stuff using search on PG now. People need to learn to use search. I bought one guitar last night and passed on one other and an amp based on the "reviews" I found on PG using search. By the way, bought the Gibson SE135, passed on the Fender DeVille and the BC Rich.
  10. thedoctor
    No.
  11. thedoctor
    Way back when I was a kid and had no fear of large amounts of electricty, I started fooling with old DuKane, Bogen, Hammond, etc. tube amps. In the late 70s, solidstate kinda took over. Then we progress to modelling amps. NOW, every one is ranting to have a decent, cheap tube amp again. If I were to build anything with the thought of saving money, I would try building a 15-30 watt tube amp that will make anyone take notice and buy the modelling electronics and crap from the people who do it for a living. It is hard to save money building anything with double-sided PCBs, surface-mount passives and a robot doing the labor.
  12. thedoctor
    A gravity feed is very good at low-volume spraying because you need less air. They are a pain-in-the-butt to get used to after using siphons. The wasted paint saved is nothing, after cleanup. Gavity feeds are great for graphics and touchups for us regular folk. You can go SO slow with one. I own one but I haven't seen it since my wife took it to paint some doors in the temple kitchen. Wanna bet what happened to it?
  13. thedoctor
    "Motzart never ever made a lot of money and that what I keep tellin' my wife." That is very close to Mose Allison's Brambles of Love.
  14. thedoctor
    Nice jig you got there, Myka, but what whould I do with all my spare time if I built one? I just like to mess with a spokeshave for an hour or so every couple of days until the neck quits offending me. Gotta to have a 12" straightedge sitting around to keep me on course but that's my neck-shaping in a nutshell. Scrape and sand afterwards and you are (GOD, I hate this term!) good-to-go.
  15. thedoctor
    I don't even worry about it. I got the same attitude as Perry's customer. What they DON'T know is that I adjust my prices according to how well they treat my babies. Buckle scratches, edge nicks, pick scratches , etc. don't bother me at all. I would come unglued if one came in with rusty strings! I had a 7-string come back in for replacement of two tuners and it had some SERIOUS headstock damage. Looked like it had been dropped onto gravel from 4 feet maybe 20 times. AND, it smelled bad. The guy just plays in a really rowdy band. He can't help it. Does his best and pays his bills.
  16. thedoctor
    Nope, one amp, two cabs, one rheostat. Except on really cold nights where you would want to keep the off-line cab just above idle. Then, two amps, a VERY heavy blanket to silence the unused cab or gloves.
  17. thedoctor
    No, no, no, hugh ugh. He answered his own question better than any of us could with his spelling. It be a trust rod. THAT is why I put them in. I don't trust myself to get it perfect.
  18. thedoctor
    I am always wrong but I still thought that rerods were put in in pairs to keep the neck from warping left or right. Any truss rod worth it's salt could kick it some carbon rod butt in the bowing department. I think that is why the builders of the wider bass necks are going to two truss rods and no carbon. Been wrong MANY times before.
  19. thedoctor
    That #4483 fret press is worth the money, IMHO, if for no other reasons than to keep your neck/axe on a flat bench instead of 3 feet in the air, stronger press gearing means a better feedback of how hard you are pressing and NO wear on the quill gear of your drill press. Hate to send more jobs to asia but you can't beat that price with an Albert Lea.
  20. thedoctor
    Gripper just made a good suggestion to me. Get ahold of a 5/64" left-hand drill bit (no that is not a joke) and try to drill them out. I forgot that we used to do that with the larger bolts in machine covers. Should cost about $4.00 and last forever.
  21. thedoctor
    OK, no arguement with a single thing that has been said in this thread, but, the cheap, standalone little toys that I recommend are an EXCELLENT way to get the basics of mixing, multitracking, etc. down and they are an absolute HOOT to play with. Given, this person has a computer, else he would not be looking to this forum, but even the computer-literate (myself DEFINATELY excluded) will find the little cheap units to be a learning tool that will help them in so many "interface" issues and learning the basic terminology and such that I still reccomend one. I think the Tascom can double as a USB interface, also. That would be a good thing, Bull. OOPS, almost forgot! IMHO
  22. thedoctor
    Scott, don't make me cut your ARM off, for god's sake!! Jeesh! Just let me know when you die and I will take care of the rest. Would you be leaving a pretty, young widow behind, perhaps?
  23. thedoctor
    Well, I HATE fret work, after the fact, and that is because I do not have control over who says it is "good enough" or "done well". I can level and bevel and crown and radius and polish and blah, blah, blah for myself. (BTW, I just put in my first set of SS frets and they RULE!) When you got a person with something they want to be done, fretwise, actionwise, VINTAGE SOUND-wise or whatever, fretwork is at the top of the list that I advise people to stay away from. Offer too many options and you will be asked to do too many things. Say you can make it sound just like Van Morrison's Epi and you may as well go get drunk for a year. Fretwork for yourself is not a huge problem (I hate it) but to do it to make someone else happy is a Martha Stewart. Is she out of her ankle monitor, yet? I SO want to buy that ankle bracelet!!
  24. thedoctor
    I have to be honest in that I didn't expect this to be done until late fall of 2006. The contours of the butt of your guitar must have taken you weeks to get square-blocked like that. I wouldn't even attempt that but you did. Grovers! Grovers! WOW! I thought you had to be over 50 to use Grovers and here they are on a cool, metal axe! Worth the wait to see what your mettle is up to. BTW, my hickory trees can kick your oak's butt any day of the week. Well, until you hang a guitar on them for pictures. My trees are a little camera-shy.
  25. thedoctor
    Never, ever plan for failure! Build the axe, get the gaurd and see if you have a problem. It just be a piece of plastic but I realise it contributes in a large way to the look.
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