Robert_the_damned

thanks Pete I don't think I explained my phase idea properly but nevermind! I'm just sure there's got to be a way of getting everying into one pickup oh and here's a pickture of a quad rail type: they're 8 conductor wired plus screens I see what you mean about the whole idea of the mono input -output and the six differant strings....I'd be more than likely to be only using this on solos rather than chords. I might just stick with having huge amounts of distortion and just get by with reverb for clean......I just think there has to be a way of getting everything to work in one unit.

darn looks like someone can use photo editing stuff better than I can!! oh well!! here's my poor attempts: hope they're helpful!

the only problem I see with those cigarette pack amps is if you sit on them! crunch! I did think about a pignose. but I think I could make one pretty easily and save myself some money.

I remember reading something about how Matt Belemy (of Muse) lazer mason was made. they used a plastic mirror from a DIY store and stuck it to the front of the guitar(after smashing it!)

I had an idea today (never a good thing) for using a 180 phase shift to cancel the emitter pluses out of the detectors signal. ie. putting the signal going to the emitter through the 180 shift and then adding this into the detectors signal. I thought I'd cracked it. then I realised this will more than likely remove the string vibrations from the signal as well!! though there is at least some degree of phase differance (pun intended) between the strings vibrations and the pulses of the emitter. I did work it out but I think I screwed up somewhere and I'll re-do it when I can find the sheet of paper I had! a second idea that was suggested to me was that the emitter pulses could be digital. A four or five level digital system wouldn't be to hard to make (a few voltage dividers and transistors) and the these pluses would be easier to filter out of the detectors signal (just some NOT gates with ground shunts so they have the correct output to take out the correct voltage level) any comments on these ideas?

thanks for the links idch and you're probably right about the headphone amp thing.....saves other people from my racket too!! other than that there are always thoes 'mini marshall stacks' that are about 12" x 4" x 2"

I know I should have read more but it was late at night! I was thinking of using one of the 'quad rail' dual humbuckers. so you have a sensor, a driver and a hum canceling pickup all in one unit. would the hum cancelling not efffect the EM output of the driver? but as you've said that'd probably mean re-winding one of the coils to make a driver (I've thought aboue making some pickups anyway so why not start now!) I guess this would still have the oscilation problem of the driver and sensor being to close. I'm sure they's an electronic way arround that (some modification of a 90 degree phaser to make a 180 degree unit that would cancel the oscilation?) but that'd just make things more and more complicated. I had a thought about the problems with single notes and chords: as long as you were playing something that wasn't dischordant shouldn't all the notes frequencies be harmonics (I know that's the wrong term but I can't rememeber the right word)? guess I'll have to go back to the drawingboard!

Thanks Matt I think that it'd look cool in green or red. I like red quilt top a lot. I think that's about the only finnish I'd use gold hardware on! EMG 707's are good. I've heard them and they 'master' metallica tones easily (couldn't resist that pun) and are good for all sorts of trash and cool metal sounds! but they're emg's so what else do you expect! nice to see someone else that's not using tremelo's too!! like that new pic. the grain looks superb! if you want I'll try and do some photo shops to show you what the green/red colours might look like on the grain.....but it'll have to be tomorrow.....its 11:52 and I have to be up in the morning tomorrow! (no midday breakfast for me!)

this isn't going to turn into one of those 'asymetrical cliping topics' is it? I have done a lot of research into guitar effects and asymetrical diode cliping seems to be a heavily discussed subject! I think it sounds cool:P but then again I like transistor cliping a lot too and osilator noise....I'll try the passive diodes when I've got a few spare seconds and a hot soldering iron...I've got plenty of diodes lieing arround...

I'm not *that* bothered by weight. its more a combination of the weight and the size. plus I'd like an onboard amp so that's one less heavy thing to carry. I'm just worrying if it'll sound like I'm playing a tissue box with rubber bands if I don't have enough wood in the body. The design I've got that the moment : I have some good hard wood about an inch thick to make the body and my design would essentially remove the top 'bulge' in the body where the pickup selector switch is and remove a lot of the rear of the body as well but try and leave the lower parts of the guitar there so it still plays like a LP when sat down. this with a combination tail piece/wrapover bridge and two humbuckers wouldn't leave me with a lot of room for an inbuilt amp. I have a range of small-sih speakers which would fit with some wood hacking. I'm just worried that the tone will suffer too much. but then again its only a travel guitar.......

I've heard a lot of very good things about Kent Armstrong pickups. They seem to be good and are about 3/4 or 1/2 the price of the 'big brand' pickups. and they do a lot of pickups that are designed for 'rock' and 'hot rod' type sounds. they're avaliable in the UK and US too!!! but if I had to choose from your candidates I'd go for the 59 and 500XL combo.....Di Marzio pickups only seem to sound like nu metal to me

cool I'll have a look at that site. I've already had some ideas in my head: basicly a very thin les paul design with a LOT of the body cut off!! I'm rather stuck playing Les Paul type guitars. its what I'm used to and its what I feel comfortable with!

**got to page 10 of this topic then skiped to the end** I've been intrested by sustainers as a band I quite like (Type O Negative) uses the sustainer sound a lot (there guitarist curses the day he got some fernades sustainers....he can't play without them now!! ). I was thinking if it were possible to do a 'all in one' block sustainer using one of the 'double humbucker' pickups that are available? using the first coil as a detector for the sustainer and amplifying this signal with a simple op-amp circuit then use the other coil of this humbucker to drive the strings then use the remaining humbucker for sound pickup? or would this have the problems of the EM interferance that have been occuring with the other designs?

cool thanks. I was thinking that the active distortion unit would boost the signal like an accoustics preamp (though I think that's more for impedance matching?) and that it might make my passive pickups more of a match for actives.

yeah I've looked a lot into DIY effects and thats what got mwe thinking of this plan. The passive clipping sounds intresting and it might work as I'm planning on 15K and 20L pick ups so that might work!!

some humbukers have 'uneven' coils ie. one witth more windings than the other. so that might make SOME differance.

WOW!!! thats one nice axe!! what hardware and electrics are you going for?? I think i'd look lovely in green!! Robert P.S METAL RULES!!!

Hi I've just joined as I wanted to talk to some others who were crazy and desperate enough to make there own guitars! (only sensible people buy them and who'd want to be sensible!!). just a little question: has anyone here made a travel guitar? are the worth making or should I just put up with the few extra kilos? also (though I should probably up this into the electronics fourm) is it a good idea to try and make an 'inbult' amp with speaker? thanks, Robert

Hi I'm new to the forums but have completed one project guitar so far and have two more on the way (I've been bitten by the guitar building bug!!). ok now for the question: has anyone here tried fitting an onboard distortion unit? is it worth the hasttle or not? I'm planning to make my own unit based aarround a boss HM-2 (just the ditortion and not the tone circuity). and I'm planning to use this handy little dual pot and switch that I got out of a radio for the gain volume abnd on/off control. all thats gotta go into a les paul body cavity + a battery (though I'm only using 1 vol an 1 tone pot) and I've managed to get a reasonable silverburst finnish on the body (after screwing it up twice and having several 'accidents' that have ment respraying)