mikhailgtrski

Well, okay, six holes. I think that's a new record for me....

Well, that's only 30 minutes per hole...

15 minutes of pondering

5 minutes to measure and re-measure

4 minutes for more pondering and re-measuring

30 seconds to drill

5 1/2 minutes to admire your workmanship

Sounds like me. Totally reasonable.

when the tone control is at maximum, the 500k of the tone pot is also in series with the tone cap, so it is quite different than being directly in parallel with the volume control.

Hmmm... true, I suppose it wouldn't be quite the same. What's your take on this thread?

So bypassing a Tone control, a 250K pot should be used? I didn't know that. I guess a little experimenting is in order.

You don't have to - whatever sounds good to you... but when you have both volume and tone pots, they are connected to ground in parallel. 500k + 500k paralleled = 250k to ground, so if you just took out the tone pot you'd have 500k, which would tend to give you a brighter sound with a touch more output.

How much previous electronic experience did you have before you built this? How hard was it? Did you buy a kit from some where?

Nope - no kit. I gathered the components from a number of different sources and assembled it based on schematics and layouts provided by a great Hiwatt enthusiast by the name of Mark Huss. mhuss.com

Not a lot of prior electronics experience, although I have a pretty good basic understanding, having worked in the electrical construction industry for 27+ years. It took some time studying old tube amp theory books, staring at schematics, and hanging out at the metroamp forum before it all started making sense to me.

After that it wasn't too difficult, you just have to have follow the layout carefully and possess decent soldering skills. But I don't recommend poking around the innards of a tube amp (mine puts 450vdc on the plates) unless you know what you're doing.

It sure is a rush flipping that standby switch for the very first time...

If you leave out the tone control you may want to adjust the value of your volume pots... example, if you would normally use a 500k volume + 500k tone, change the volume to 250k to maintain the same loading.

Thanks! It sure sounds nice.

I got the chassis (blank) from Komboking.

Here we go...

waiting for tolex...

hi-res pics

front back guts more guts left guts right guts

Mike

Soon, soon... my son just got an MBox 2 for his Mac, so now we've got an excuse to try it out.

I got the head cab built last weekend (minus tolex & hardware) and took her out on her maiden voyage... sweet.

Looking to buy a decent size clean amp anyone recommend a good one?

I'm a bit partial to Hiwatt - incredible clean tones, and they break up real nice when you crank 'em.

FWIW - My chambered PRS clone has a nice, open sound and sustains for days. I played a PRS Hollowbody II a few months ago, and it played and sounded really nice - very resonant and plenty of sustain.

Do those units spray evenly? I think I saw in a thread where some people were complaining that it sputtered. Maybe they didn't keep the nozzle clean, or they tried to use the propellant after most was already gone?

Dan Erlewine uses a Preval sprayer in one of the finishing videos... he keeps two propellant units handy and switches them often, because they start getting cold and will sputter if you try to use them too long without letting them warm up. With practice you could probably do a decent job for the translucent stuff, then switch to regular rattlecan clear lacquer.

It's normal for it to "dull down" as it dries. The color pops back when you clearcoat it.

Mahogany can be hard to stain evenly... I normally use water with the stewmac stuff. Alcohol dries much faster and makes it more difficult to apply without getting streaks. Work quickly and try to wipe it on as evenly as possible.

Mike

I decided to go DIY... ordered a chassis for a Hiwatt clone this morning.

...and now the Hiwatt is DONE! Sounds absolutely wonderful dimed into the loadbox/re-amp rig. I'll post some pics and possibly some sound clips later.

If only I could finish a guitar that quickly...

Mike

How did you mask yours off to prevent dye bleeding? I'm considering using painted-on shellac, or perhaps masking the body using painters tape and spraying sanding sealer. The sandback colour is going to be black with a bit of red added for bringing up the final "redness" with a slightly lighter sanding accent around the carves to bring out the shape of the instrument.

Hi, sorry, didn't realize this thread was still active... I've been "away" from this forum - building an amp.

Almost done.

Steal all you want... It's totally PRS anyway.

For the faux binding I masked off both sides, using 1/8" green 3M pinstriping tape at the edges, then sealed it with 1 or 2 lb. shellac, two or three coats (you can also use thinned lacquer). Once it dried, I unmasked it and scraped any areas where the shellac got under the tape. The trick in masking is to not stretch the tape (it will tend to lift) and to rub it down hard to get a good edge seal. Take your time and make sure the line is perfect!

Once the binding edges were cleaned up I masked the bottom edge with the 1/8" green, then masked off the entire top so I could pore fill, stain and seal the back.

After the back was sealed (again with the shellac, although I'll probably use lacquer next time, as the alcohol in the shellac likes to redissolve the dye, making blotches) I unmasked the top, then masked just the sides in preparation for dyeing the top. Once the top was done I used a razor blade (taped onto a plastic strip for a depth stop) to scrape the dye off the top edge of the "binding". I made it a little wider than I had planned, and found that the dark brown had soaked in really deep, so the binding has the figure "enhanced" as well. It looks ok, but I prefer just the white maple. Lesson is, don't scrape it too wide, just the edge like a PRS.

Anyway, hope that makes sense. There are other (probably simpler) ways to do it. I adapted my method from the StewMac Trade Secrets "PRS Blue Tele" tutorial, and Myka's process pages.

Good luck with it, and be sure to post some pics.

Mike

You never heard of Memphis guitars?

Sure, my first electric guitar was a Memphis tobacco burst LP copy, similar to that one.

It came complete with bolt-on neck, flatwound strings, veneer-over-plywood body, and pickups that looked like PAFs until you opened them up. :D

I stripped that one down and painted it black, then polar white...

Cool, John - glad it worked for you. Looks great!

It's been raining like crazy here... but the ski areas are opening today, a week or two earlier than normal!

Where do you get the foam pads for your orbital sander?

I used Meguiar's #W8006 hook/loop pads for the buffing compound and #W9006 for the swirl remover. I found them at a local automotive finishing store, but they're also available at amazon.com.

They work well for the sides also, and you don't have to worry so much about catching an edge and burning through. I ran them at a fairly high orbit speed. The neck and cutaways I had to do by hand, not that big a deal.

Mike

Very, very nice!

If you want to save giving the cat a bath a random orbit sander with foam buffing pads works well without flinging compound all over... although it takes a little extra attention to make sure the recurve areas get fully buffed. As you found, yes, by hand is the ticket for the neck. A fret end will make short work of a foam pad.

Beautiful job!

Mike

Check out this thread. Lots of help there.

People are referring to my work? Y'all are in trouble now - that was just beginner's luck (with some help).

Mine is tortoise shell and it is a different look than the violin amber.

PRS calls that "double-stained violin amber" but that pic doesn't look much like their normal violin amber. According to Rodney there is no sand back on violin amber, just several applications of diluted brown + red (IIRC) scrubbed back with alcohol, then yellow, scrub out, then several more topcoats of yellow (again, IIRC). Although that Private Stock #1 has an "old overcoat" which I'm guessing is a toner added to the clearcoat. Might explain why it's darker looking.

Mike

I'm getting ready to replace the fingerboard on an Epi dreadnought, leaving the neck in place.

Is there any risk of neck warpage if if it sits with the fingerboard off for an extended period? I'd slacken the truss rod first, of course.

Thanks,

Mike

Our work site is in Algeciras but we stayed in Sotogrande (very nice). Had a day trip to Cadiz, but that was business and only got to another construction site. Had lots of fine Spanish food and wine (including Jamon Iberico and Fino .)

Sounds like a terrible job to have. I love that area, my wife lived in El Puerto de Santa Maria in the mid-70s and we've been back several times. Sadly, the town has grown rapidly in recent years and lost some of its charm. Still, nothing like tapas hopping at the waterfront bars and cafes.

The LP is looking sweet.

Mohawk is the parent company of H. Behlen Co. At least that's what I seem to recall...

Behlen produces very good quality lacquers. Rockler's, Woodcraft, Stewmac all carry Behlen's.

Here's a link to Mohawk.

Maybe I just got lucky... my tortoise shell geetar has a pretty heavy stain/sandback, yet the figure retains that pronounced 3D quality - the flame looks quite deep and shifts nicely depending on the light and viewing angle.

I'm sure you'll elaborate on the pickups -or lack thereof- later...

Part II of your "Fire and Ice" series? Nice.