Crusader

Yes and avoid the hassles of holes in the top, unless there is a benefit for the way I want to use it Yes that is an explanation which nails it, thank you!

Hey thanks, yes I think it looks better too and hope it has a beneficial effect on sound. BTW I'm not concerned how it sounds accoustically but through an amp. I have thought about putting f-holes in it but the last one I made didn't improve anything by having them. The idea is it looks like a Les Paul but can also sound like an accoustic So today the Acousti-phonic Kit arrived YaY! I was off to do a quote and I saw the Fedex van going past so I did an illegal lane change on the roundabout and headed back home again. The first thing I noticed, it has the summing board for the basic kit. I'm pretty sure you don't need it for the preamp So here's another thing I've done, my plan with this project is to be fully hollow but when I was scooping out the maple top I was looking at the straight 'bars' thinking I could glue something on there. I saw an opportunity to experiment with a Centre-Block because it might help get away from that "too much maple" sound (I think its generally called 'nasal') I have timber from an old bed which my Dad says is Oregon but to me it looks like Cedar. But either way I think this wood must be 100 years old. So I cut off a length and fashioned it to fit in the guitar and I am really impressed with the result from doing this I can't decide whether to use this or keep the idea for a future project, it will take more sound testing before I make up my mind. It gives the guitar a more 'crisp' sound The drawback of course is the weight, an extra couple of pounds makes it on par with the '59 Reissue

Most of what you said there went straight over my head LOL but thanks for the info. I don't think I'll be buying any new amps atm but its good to know what's out there. And yes the different impedance is something I know and understand but when you go through two separate outputs with two separate amps its a non-issue. What I'm thinking now is I may as well use the Preamp seeing as I've bought it anyway and wondering if I can figure a way to have a switch so the magnetics can be used without the battery Talking about genuine accoustic sound, that's one reason why I want to keep this one fully hollow, and the other day I scooped the Top out more from the inside. Two reasons for this 1) It has that "too much Maple sound" and 2) for better resonance So for 1) I think it was a waste of time 'cos it still sounds exactly the same and 2) Probably also won't make any noticeable difference but it can't hurt One thing though about this though is I've ruled out a middle pickup, its just taking too much of the top out, deteriorating resonance and strength Doing a sound comparison, I recorded the guitar before I shaved the top out and there might be a slight difference like adjusting the eq. a bit. Another thing though it sounds a bit funny at first but it goes away after a while and I don't notice it What I'm talking about is the "too much Maple" sound (that's what I call it) A kind-of overly creamy sound in the midrange predominantly on the 3rd string. This is a tricky thing with guitars and tone, sometimes you hear something and sometimes you don't, and I think this is the cause of many an argument

Thank you for your comments Unfortunately I've already bought the "Advanced Preamp Kit" which cost a lot of money and waiting for it to arrive. This of course was before I found out you can run them without a battery. The Advanced Kit doesn't have the same Summing board so that's good but I'm more puzzled why you need the Preamp at all They say its necessary for blending with the regular pickups, and it seems they mean to plug into one amp But what kind of amp can do both electric and acoustic guitar?

Someone I know suggested velcro!

It would be good to come up with some idea, binding round the back would be a good start

I've been trying out the Piezo pickups LR Baggs and the Graphtech, both sound great and can't hear any tonal difference. Then I went back to comparing the Dimarzios and I'm thinking maybe I should have left the Bridge alone, it might have got closer to a Strat quack sound

A while back someone said I will need a Summing board, well here's my summing board... And this is the current state of my Big Les Paul, wondering if I can make a feature of the convenience!

Of course one way to solve all my problems is to have three humbuckers. I don't know why I didn't think of it before, maybe my brain just shut it out because I hate three humbuckers. I don't like the look, I can't play them because the plectrum hits the pickup, and it seems to me to be totally unnecessary But I will consider it because it will hide the patching in the top and will get the Strat-quack sound I so desire A quick photoshop to help my musings....I just hate it, it looks like a Spinal Tap 15 pickups in a row joke

Interesting thoughts! Yes there is a lot that can be talked about in that topic. I've found as guide that most guitars have the Neck pickup at (or near) 1/4 of the scale length, the Middle 1/6 and the Bridge 1/16th .... talking about looks, yes that is another grumble about having to move the humbucker closer to the bridge. It looks a bit odd and think it would look better and sound just as good with a HSS configuration And that leads me to another bit of a grumble about this guitar, it has that "too much Maple" kind of sound. I think you call it a mid-range 'honk' It seems to affect the Neck pickup mostly and it doesn't seem to matter if its in Humbucker mode or which coil used when split, it all sounds the same I keep comparing it to my ES which also had that mid-range honk when I first made it but it seems to have disappeared (or I've just gotten used to it)

In any situation, closer to the bridge means brighter sound... But having brought the topic up, it seems to me that some people can hear the difference when a pickup is on the second octave node and some people can't. In fact sometimes I can't. Hearing is a funny thing, I've shown my guitars to people who can't tell the difference between the Neck and Bridge pickup Also, I wouldn't see the point of having a longer scale length and take frets off in order to get the pickup on the second octave node. I anticipate that it wouldn't sound all that great and I think the idea of a longer scale is to have a broader range from low to high The reason I jumped back on the computer just now is because of something I forgot to mention earlier. This guitar has a very 'boomy' sound being fully hollow. It might be good for Jazz, like an ES-175. I've thought about putting a Mahogany block inside but its already quite heavy I've been playing it tuned to D and it gets feedback on the low D very easily, so that must be its resonant frequency and I wonder if it would be better suited to being tuned to Eb after all. I wouldn't find that very easy to get along with though Got to get the Graphtech Ghost Piezo going

No, with the situation I was speaking of the pickup is the same distance from the bridge as a regular 24 3/4" scale, its unchanged

Thanks guys, well I'm still quietly steaming over the mis-placed bridge pickup, its the dumbest thing in the world. I'm confident that I will patch it up nicely but would be so much better if I didn't have to. Now that its got strings and pickups on I've been playing it like crazy trying to decide on switching choices and maybe chuck in a middle pickup Every guitar I make is an experiment and some things with this one; When tuned to E the 666 scale is too bright. When Luthiers of the past chose 25 1/2 inches they got it right. and after all my idea is to tune to D, using 11-52 gauge strings, it works out well with tension I don't like the join at the 15th fret. The bridge would be 5/8th further up if joining at the 16th fret and I'm not so concerned about that now. The neck would be 5/8th longer too but that's not too much really. What concerns me with a longer neck is the effectiveness of the truss rod I'm not too crazy about the 24 frets but that's another reason against joining at the 15th fret, its a bit of a stretch to reach the high notes (I think Bucket Head's joins at the 17th fret) Going for a longer scale causes a dilemma of how many frets to have. My idea of a longer scale and 24 frets is to tune to D and still reach D at the top, and if you want you can put a capo at the 2nd fret then the markers aren't too confusing either. A previous guitar I made with 666 scale has 23 frets which means the Neck pickup doesn't need to be pushed closer to the bridge, but I find it just too confusing to play, so for me its either 22 or 24 frets. Some people tune to Eb, then 23 frets would be fine but as mentioned the markers would be too confusing, unless you put them one step up but that would be confusing as well So my conclusion for a longer scale always comes to 24 frets and tune to D Hope all my findings are interesting to someone out there, happy strumming!

Welcome to more mistakes and patching, I think I should drop "Crusader" as my handle and change it to "Mr Patch-up" This error highlights the need to check before chopping (CBC) Some time in the last 3 or 4 months I marked where the pickups will go and I got it wrong. I went ahead the other day and routered the pickup wells without making sure they were right. I made it 39mm to the centre of the coil rather than centre of the pickup, which made it 9mm too far from the bridge. If I had a single coil this would be the ideal location but not for a humbucker. Some of my guitars are rather dark sounding and I want to get a crisp bright tone out of this one (One reason for the Rock Maple) I took the piece I cut out and glued it back in hoping to get the grain to line up I had to square the corners and extend the notch for the ears for both locations And in the end the result wasn't spectacular but "she'll be right mate" And so here we are, not finished yet but its a living breathing monster This guitar has been no end of mistakes and stuff-ups but some things just work out right I was concerned about the bridge location in case there's any magic behind it that will affect tone. This is one reason I decided to go with the 666 scale length. I calculated that it would land about ten millimetres further up than to scale But due to the body turning out to be slightly smaller than planned (12.5% bigger) and the neck joining not quite at the 15th fret, the bridge location turned out to be perfectly to scale!

Hi thanks for your comment, no I just drilled through the headstock veneer (I have to be careful how I say things LOL) I did the truss rod channel the usual way with the maple filler etc. as you can see in this photo You can see the drill bit poking out the end on the next photo Here is my home made long drill bit. Its just a piece of truss rod and I did the twisty things on a bench grinder...? or a hand held grinder, I can't remember

Next I installed the Truss Rod, I do this with a very long drill bit and drill from the end of the neck and through the headstock. Then with a 12mm bit that I made with a pilot end I drill for the maple sleeve. I forgot that ebony is brittle and it chipped out so I had to mix up some ebony dust with glue to remedy the situation Then I realised I had no access to the truss rod anchor nut and chiselled a section out, then realised that would be no good either. So I glued the neck on and drilled the truss rod channel through the maple top, so its anchored in the same way as any of my other guitars. By the way when I glued the neck on I just held it in place with that one screw LOL! I also glued a block of wood to give the top a bit more strength if it needed it Then I did a bunch of other things and plugged it in

I thought I had not done much since last post but I've actually done quite a bit Finished block inlays, Binding done, Frets in, Neck Profile.....the list goes on ....and here's the proof! I made this neck quite wide being 45mm at the Nut, I like a wider string spacing Cleaned up the end of the fretboard and as shown before I haven't glued the Neck on yet and just hold it by a single screw Locating Bridge, setting intonation, filing nut slots I had to do something about the floating fretboard end and altered the Neck Carve Altering the Neck Carve meant making a few adjustments. Recessing the bridge was a very well-thought out feature (wink wink) which helps hide the wires of the Graphtech Resomax Ghost bridge Another feature I've put into this guitar is a rounded fretboard edge. I stuffed up when I trimmed the fretboard. So to keep the width I wanted I had to use thicker binding on the low E side. The photo is half way through the process of rounding the edge. Next photo, shaping the heel with an old door knob! And side dots, something I ALWAYS forget. But luckily I remembered them before glueing the neck on this time! Next I made the profile match my Gibson R9 Before I reshaped the profile here's how it compared to the Les Paul Axcess and the R9 I could just leave the profile as is but the R9 is my Holy Grail so whatever its got, I want The depth turned out a bit thinner than the R9 but I think I'm okay with that I think the R9 is 23.1mm at the 1st fret and about 25 at the 12th fret. You might think half a millimetre is nothing but it can actually be quite noticeable Next - Pickup location Then I installed the Tailpiece The way I do this is really quite laughable. I just get a drill and hold it, eye it up, "yep that's straight" and go for it! This one didn't turn out the best, the post holes had a bit of a lean, but with a bit of a wriggle it turned out alright And next the pickup wells, and another thing I ALWAYS forget is the notch for the pickup tabs Getting those tabs... And finally. I think this are the neatest pickup wells I've ever done!

Wow I had to dig a bit to find my post, but that's actually a good thing! I finally got a bit of progress recently, I decided what to do about the 24th fret inlay. Bought some random pieces of MOP and a saw. This one didn't fit very well and I had to fill the gaps with sawdust and I just used Superglue. Its just a matter of using what you've got Then I went to continue with the frets but the neck wouldn't fit in the jig, so I had to shape the back of the Headstock! Good thing I actually enjoy doing this part, it's bit of a challenge but not too hard and very rewarding I use the curve of the upper bout it seems a perfect match Just used sandpaper to smooth the back of the headstock and blend it in And after a bit more fussing about the end result is as I said quite rewarding

a quick google...yes, the Portuguese gave it that name in the 1500's

Yes I agree, I think people wouldn't recognise a single flower on its own, and locals wouldn't make the connection between "Sturt Desert Pea" and "Formosa"...and to put the last nail in the coffin for the whole idea.....the name Formosa is already taken! https://reverb.com/item/13806570-formosa-55101-70s-possible-80s

Laughing my hat off, those Italians! and btw what he was calling 'capsules' are Honky Nuts in our language

I'm still trying to think of a name or an emblem to put on my guitars. I've quite often thought it would be good to have something red and came up with the idea of using the Sturt Desert Pea flower because it is very Australian. It's scientific name is "Swainsona Formosa" and thought "Formosa" would be good for the name But I don't know how I'd get an image of the red flower onto the headstock https://www.seeds-gallery.shop/en/home/sturt-s-desert-pea-seeds-swainsona-formosa.html

That's exactly how a lot of Australians pronounce it too, in fact when an Aussie puts on an American accent it often comes out like a southern drawl. Otherwise in Oz "ba" rhymes with 'car' 'far' 'bar' 'star' - and the 'stard' part comes out like you skip the vowel sound like "std" ie. "baaarstd"

Thanks for the encouraging words mistermikev! A few details to finish it off... I'm not using the strap button on the accoustic output so I made it level And this is how I filled in the 1/2 inch hole left behind. I used a small off-cut of mahogany so the plug wouldn't fall through I used the wood from the battery box cut out, not that it really mattered. I put the button on upside down to clamp it all together while the glue dried Then screwed in the strap button, using the felt washer supplied to completely hide the joint, not that it really matters because there's scratches, dents and cracks galore In any case this is the most completed guitar I've made to date

I finally installed the battery box but I didn't put it there, I think it's just the wrong place, so I had a look to see where other people put them and I found a PRS with a piezo and did the same. Then I realised the battery connector doesn't fit so I had to use the wires supplied. I also moved the outlet jack because it seems silly to have them at two different places, and its hard to put a strap on with a lead plugged in