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MuffinPunch

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Posts posted by MuffinPunch

  1. So ive searched the forum for responses to similar problems, but my specific problem doesnt seem to be common. Im having trouble wiring my 7 string build, due to the fact that I dont really know much about electronics and because the parts im using for the wiring are slightly different from those pictured in the wiring diagrams I have found. Im using 2 EMG-HZ 707 pickups (passive) and a prewired EMG vol/tone pot package connecting to a 3 way selector switch and a flush mount stereo jack. The prewird kit includes 2 quick-connect wires which are pre-soldered at the green and bare wires and at the black and white wires. Heres the diagram Ive been referring to:

    h-h.jpg

    One thing I dont understand is what to do with the black and white wires coming from the pickups which are soldered together. The diagram shows them just hanging there, but Im sure im supposed to ground one of them or something...

    Also, the 3 way selector switch is a different variety from the one in the diagram and has all the pins on the same side. Every other pair of pins is connected by a small band of metal from the stamping. it looks like this:

    100_5608.jpg

    Could anyone tell me which pins correspond to the ones in the diagram? Also, the flush mount jack is pretty non-descriptive when trying to determine which pin is the sleeve, the ring, and the tip, so any help there would also be greatly appreciated. Here is what the jack looks like:

    100_5612.jpg100_5613.jpg

    these images are taken of identical parts meant to go in my other 7 string build. The parts im referring to are already installed in the guitar and I wired them up to the best of my understanding before posting this... I have also spent a good couple of hours trouble shooting on my own to no avail which is why im turning to you guys. Thanks in advance for the help.

  2. Im a bit bummed that I didnt get this finished before school closed up... I did get the first few coats of primer on the body and core top and sanded them down relatively smooth. I had to assemble the thing and string it up for final presentation anyway and all things considered it went very well. I have learned a great deal with this build overall though. The main point being that: Unless you have absolutely no responsibilities outside of building guitars and can travel to and from your shop within a few minutes of your home, building 4 guitars simultaneously with a goal of completing at least 2 of them in 14 weeks is not very realistic. I was lucky to get this one as far as I did, given the fact that I abandoned (temporarily) the other three builds I was working on altogether about 10 weeks in.

    Anyhow, Im glad I didnt try and rush the finish, it could have turned out disastrous. I would like to spend the next three weeks finishing her all up tho if at all possible. I will have to find a place locally that will let me use their spray booth for a couple of hours a day. I have a few more coats of primer and then some final sanding before clear, and that will conclude my first COMPLETE build. Im thinking that the core itself should have been a bit wider for a seven string model but was probably adequate for a 6. Dont know If ill actually pursue this design any further as it seems like so much more work than doing a set neck or neckthru even. There are also issues that need working out before the concept is actually viable, not the least of which being the fact that its impossible to wire the pickups separately from the body as the pots, switch and output are all confined to the body. It definitely requires some electronics expertise which I do not have.

    But she is playable and sounds great. Feels really good too. The heel contour is as comfortable if not more so than any neckthru or set neck ive ever played, and the mounting screws for the core are completely out of the way. There are some felt strap button gaskets sandwiched between the core and body at each bolt which act as risers since the cavity is slightly deeper than the core is thick. This adds an interesting acoustic quality to the tone which I kind of like. Its a lot more noticeable when the guitar is not plugged in. I really like this guitar and my sister in law wants one now too. It will probably become my regular player as soon as I figure out what to do with the extra string :D.

    p_00204.jpg

    p_00206.jpg

    p_00210.jpg

  3. Its good to see youre enjoying this project. Although its not really to my taste, and I would never use any product from Harbor freight to build a guitar with. Im a student so I understand the budget thing, but "Harbor Freight" is Chinese for "poop". You'll end up spending just as much if not more money fixing and replacing bad tools than you would getting good ones in the first place. Personally I prefer the P-Bass over what youve done. I think a refinishing would have been more appropriate, but thats just me. In the future, you will find that starting from a new piece of wood will be even more fun as you have a lot more to work with and therefor much more liberty to create shapes. Its always a good idea to have a shape in mind before you start hacking away, otherwise youre at the mercy of the tools. Some people enjoy working that way and have had success doing so. Take Our Souls Inc. for example. But I like to really plan out every aspect of a build before even touching the wood. Good luck with the rest of the build!

    By the way, that body's not made of plywood is it? If so, I wouldnt have bothered modifying it at all. Its like polishing a turd. I would have gotten a new board to make a body from scratch. Easily just as much work as youre doing on this one.

  4. No, it shouldn't be too snug. Ill be sanding it down quite a bit anyway before final gloss, but it was quite a loose fit to begin with. Maybe too loose. Since I am making a mould out of this at some point in the future, the surface need to be class A for casting. The core itself still needs a bit of sanding and Im leaving the back and sides "natural" with just clear over it so I can always tweak it a bit before final fitting.

  5. Got the heel transition dialed in the other day. I also spent some time sculpting the joint so that the transition feels more subtle. I feel I have a pretty good start of finish sanding, so since the body is going to be opaque, I decided to go with a black poly primer coat. This way, even if I dont get it completed by thurs (presentation day) it looks close to the way its supposed to. Heres a teaser, I wont update this thread until I can plug her in and make some noise with her...

    p_00198.jpg

  6. I used templates. I took measurements off the Ibanez website for the Wizard 7 neck and went from there. So I had a goal for the 1st and 12th frets. I realized only afterwords that it would have been more efficient to have rough shaped the heel and HS transition ( no volute) prior to carving the neck between the 1st and 12th frets. Once again, a sureform would really have made short work of it. Unfortunately the spindle sander at school is only any use if your using drums larger than 6" in diameter. The sanding sleeves on anything smaller than that literally slip off due to abuse and neglect.

  7. These two statements are crucial points in whether this design would be an economically reproducible product. Finding some way to speed up the coarse neck and heel shaping to under 30 mins with say, 10 mins hand finishing would go a long way towards making this a truly viable product design ;-)

    Great work. Good to see something develop from concept through to a realised product.

    I completely agree with you there. I may have been exaggerating a bit with the 3 hours comment. It was probably more like 1 hour 45 min, but it felt like forever and my palms feel all bruised up from the rasp handle. On my practice neck I carved a few weeks back I used a round sureform which worked amazingly. Unfortunately I did not have access to one last night and I just wanted to go for it anyway. I am convinced using a sureform would easily cut the time down by half if not more. I think with a bit more practice I could speed up the process substantially, but as this is my first time and I have no real wood working experience, its really a learning curve. I beginning to understand how certain tools react to different materials and why its necessary to use the right tools for performing a specific task. Im glad I didnt go out and drop hundreds of dollars on tools that I might need to build a guitar. Doing it this way has opened my eyes to which tools are essential and which ones are purely for convenience.

  8. Then I spent an hour and a half carving the neck and another 3 hours shaping the heel and HS transition last night with nothing but my 12" half-round rasp, a spokeshave and some 100 grit sandpaper. My phone battery died so I didnt get any pics of the carving unfortunately, but this is the result.

    100_5470.jpg

    My hands are still killing me, but Im satisfied with the result.

    100_5474.jpg

    The next one will be even better!

    100_5473.jpg

    So this is how she stands (or lays). Nothing left to do but some finish sanding and paint before final assembly and setup! Unfortunately I have to build this thing digitally from the ground up including pots, switches and screws by thursday night for my final in addition to all of my other projects for school... UGH!

    100_5466.jpg

    Sorry these pics are all blown out. Ill get some better ones when i finish her up. Until then youll have to imagine the pristine beauty of my workmanship... :D

  9. StewMac 16" fret press insert in a chunk of scrap maple. Best $5 I evers pent.

    p_00183.jpg

    Made fretting this a breeze.

    p_00186.jpg

    4 feet of LMII extra jumbo pre bent gold fretwire was BARELY enough. I used GuitarNut's fretwire saving method to stretch it out as far as I possibly could.

    p_00188.jpg

    Not bad for a first go, eh?

    p_00192.jpg

  10. Thats better.

    p_00167.jpg

    Then I went ahead and routed the pickup cavities. They didnt come out perfect, but good enough for for now. The next one will be better.

    p_00170.jpg

    After that it was time to install the fretboard.

    p_00173.jpg

    Im a huge proponent of using a clamping cowl for this. As you all know, this is my first fretboard installation and it came out perfectly with no gaps whatsoever. And I only had to use 6 clamps. I double stick taped a strip of 10 lbs. blue foam to the surface of the cowl for added protection. Dont know if this gave any added value, but it theoretically kept the ebony fingerboard from sliding around under the pressure of the clamps.

  11. Despite what many of you may think, I have not been idle. This thing is trucking along and since I know how a little over a week to complete it, some decisions have been made. As far as school is concerned, I have been focusing on finishing up just the one. The graphic on the top will now bw sand blasted into the finish of the guitar after clear rather in the wood before primer, and the casting will have to wait. My other 2 builds have also been on hold for the time being. So... progress:

    I started to drill the mounting holes and string thru holes and ferrule cavities into the core, but I must have been running on close to no sleep, cuz I wasnt thinking and I drilled the ferrule holes into the top of the core... DOH!

    100_5416.jpg

    So I had to mill it out and patch it with a piece of cutoff.

    100_5418.jpg

    Lets try that again...

    100_5419.jpg

  12. I tried to get this going again got it all set up to work on (been to busy) but noticed the top split down the glue joint the crack is to small to fill and I can't get it to close so this will be burned this winter to heat my house :D I will be practicing a few techniques on it before that and I will be starting a new seven string this spring or winter.

    Oh no! What a waste man! Cant you just plane the top down and start again from there?

  13. Sounds like most of us share a similar view where design is concerned. And though I realize many of you probably didnt intend on "defending" my design with your replies, I appreciate it all the same.

    Sardine, you made it more plain than I ever could with just a few words. \m/

  14. It is truly hard to come up with anything innovative in a saturated done-to-death market like guitar design. I personally appreciate MP's approach to product design whilst maintaining the important elements of working instrument design, as this is something I aspire to myself. When I see an instrument, I not only appreciate the visual aesthetics (whether these are original isn't important) but also the underlying approach and technical aspects of the build.

    This is a fantastic venture, and I think you're gaining a lot of good experience MP. Your original Tabar Zin didn't set my world on fire (apart from the laser cutting which always sets things on fire, natch) but you're developing well with your ideas and their execution. To hell with the naysayers, as copying/loaning/inspiration-from other designs isn't important unless you're making a commercial venture out of a design. Until then, tip yer hat friend and make with the sawdust.

    Thanks. I really am learning a ton developing these designs and seeing them through.

    To hell with the naysayers

    Damn right.Haters be hatin'

    Thanks

    Well, I think the build is cool :D

    I don't see anyone yelling at killemall for his KL copies.

    not anymore, anyways :D

    I had stated earlier that it looked like LGMs shape. I really dont care if people copy any design... They are just designs. the only time it should EVER matter is if the copier is taking away business from the original designer... which, 99% of the time, is not eve possible. I feel credit should definitely be given, but i really dont see why people care so much about a "copy" It doesnt even matter.

    While I appreciate and agree with your remarks, I will risk beating the dead horse by once again stating that this is not a copied design. My San Dimas on the other hand, thats a copy without question. I guess you werent accusing me of that, but this thread is turning into a discussion on plagiarism, and of all of the other builds going on in this forum, this thread doesn't deserve it!

    Honestly I dont know why you (now addressing OurSouls) have such a problem with my designs... We butted heads about almost the same thing during the early stages of my Tabar Zin build. Seems that so long as I dont attempt to create my own designs, you approve, but If I try to mix things up a little bit... well, this happens. Oddly though, I seem to recall you saying that "people would buy those" when I was developing this body shape for my Crimson King bass. Maybe you didnt realize it, but this is the same body and HS design appropriated for a 7 string guitar rather than a 4 string bass. I did the top carve differently, but thats it. If this pattern holds true, you'll wait until I actually start building that one before you accuse me of ripping off other designs, even though you witnessed its development...

  15. HOW DARE YOU?!?!! lol Those are cool! I really like the Aces High one! If you want the templates I made I can post them up in the downloads section of the forum... I think you should make one too! We all should!!!

    In other news, I got my Floyd the other day, so I will be drilling the last few holes before finish sanding, then its primer for this baby! Ill be working on the necks at the same time, so dont expect anything too soon. Ill finish up one of them first since Im running short on time for my other projects. The other will be on the back burner for a few months I think.

  16. Dude, are you f-ing kidding me?!?! Get over it! Youre obviously trying to be an azz. I was simply excited about the prospect of getting this thing done! I respect the opinions of people on this forum and wanted to share my excitement with them. So ,my guitar design happens to have elements similar to other guitar designs. For accusing me of being unoriginal, you sure say the same thing a lot. This is like the third or fourth time you pointed out that my guitar looks like a cross between an Ibanez, the LGM Leviiathan, and Metalheads HS. I get it, you dont think I designed it. Fine, you're entitled. I fail to see the connection between my guitar and any Ibanez besides the Giger model, and I specifically stated that I felt inclined to ask permission of Mr. Giger himself before I used his graphic on it. Any similarities between the other two guitars are purely coincidental, as Ive pointed out more times than I care to count. I went back to take a look at Metalheads builds to see what you were talking about, and relized they are similar, but after pointing it out to Metalhead himself, he appears to disagree with you too. The Leviiathan is cool, but It looks like someone took an RG to the spindle sander and had their way with it. I admit, it has cool aspects, but overall, I just dont care for it and its one of the last guitars I would try to make a copy of. The fact that it happens to have a return hook on the back of the upper horn is really the only basis you have for comparing the two, and as my "hook" is a completely different shape, youll have to excuse me if I dont give credit to LGM for designing my guitar for me. I believe design to be the proper combination of elements and proportion, not just coming up with new shapes. I have never seen any one guitar that shares all the same elements as my guitar, nor have I seen one with the same proportions as mine. Apples to Apples my friend. If you want to dumb everything down to its most basic shape to compare it, than the Leviiathan is a Strat copy anyways, as is the Ibanez.

    Yes, I understand this is all your opinion (an opinion which you sound convinced is shared by many other "timid" posters on this forum) and I respect it. I just dont see the reasoning behind MULTIPLE condemning posts saying the EXACT same thing. My question was: "What did you mean by O.P.I?"

    You could have just said "other peoples ideas" but you had go off on this rampant opinionated tangent to emphasize things that you already made pretty darn clear more than once on this thread alone. You continue to state that I get all y ideas from "this website", but Metalhead is the only reference you seem to be able to come up with. We have established that the HS isnt similar enough to refer to a copy and its similarities are coincidental not borrowed, so that reference can be put to bed. As far as I know, the HRGR1Z wasnt designed, built, and chronicled here. LGM may very well be a member here, but I havent run into any builds since I have been here. Yes, I probably got the idea of building a guitar from this website. Its a very inspirational place! And before you make accusations of me being egotistical, read my entire post, not just the part that makes you uneasy. I said "If these turn out well"... I am under no misconception that I could very well screw the pooch and fail miserably. I really hope I dont, and I want to make a beautiful guitar for my own sake, but if the school wants to use it in the student gallery they will. It happens quite frequently. I have had multiple projects show up there in the past, and it wouldnt surprise me if it happened again. In that sense I suppose I do hold myself in pretty high regard, but not above anyone else.

    Im proud of the talents that I have, but not once have I claimed to be a talented luthier or builder, which seems to be what your so upset about. I suppose you'll respond to this post by stating that I didnt design this guitar so Ill save you the effort and post it for you.

    "This guitar is a copy of an Ibby, a Leviiathan, and Metalhead28's headstock. I have also not built a single guitar and I took all of my ideas off PG"... Does that about sum it up?

  17. Looks great I love this whole project! I was wondering how are you planing to to do the graphics themselves?

    Thanks BigJim! I havent completely decided on how Im doing the graphics just yet. Most likely I will print it out on vinyl and glue it on after primer, then shoot black on the back and transition the burst, then clear. Originally I was thinking canvas, but the surface is so coarse and the image wouldn't be quite so crisp.

    KpCrash: \m/ :D

    Another possibility is do the colour base coat on the body, print out the graphic on water slide membrane and slide it on, then some clear over the top :D

    That actually sounds like it could work better... I dont have much experience using water slide though. Ill have to look into it. Thanks.

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