mutronboy

I know most guitarists are loathe to use them, but it seems like the old Alembic idea of using cannon plugs might be the way to go... As long as you've got a couple of spare leads made up you shouldn't get into trouble...and always keep one in the case.. It is, after all, a more reliable professional standard... I've had a bunch of guitars go through my hands with cannons fitted.. There's the regular 3-pin plus earth and the 4-pin... I'm pretty sure there's 5 and 6 pin ones, too It would just give you more scope, and less fuss...you could have piezos, magnetics, send & returns for floor effects, extra contact mics...whatever... I bet they even make a switching female socket, too Anyway, I've got to refinish my strat with graphics before I do this (I hate the irridescent pink...heh), but I might grab an X-bridge first 'cos I think $100 is a bargain...

I totally agree psw, Especially regarding getting the most out of modding ordinary gear... look at all those great 70's jap guitars...those solid Les Paul copies are fine with a few mods...get rid of all the brass bridge crap...stick a couple of maple plugs in...a tuneamatic...a pair of Duncans and you're laughing..the heads are usually good enough... I'm not really a Les Paul man, but the same applies to all the others...Strats etc I can't believe the new price of Gibson Les Pauls, though (especially in Australia) I recently eBayed an 'Axiom' branded Custom Agent (same as the Ibanez)... The price I got for it (AU$450) is about an eighth of the price of a new Gibson Custom... I've certainly played a lot of Gibsons that were worse than that Axiom.... Peace

Hi Jera, Sorry, when you said you were playing "Hells Bells' to test it, I was under the impression you were playing really loud...heh Potting the pickup involves immersing it from the top down, in melted wax, and letting the wax work into the coil winding..this stops the wires vibrating if they're a bit loose... I've never done it so it's probably better to get Greg to explain...he's done it before Good luck with it...

Good find on the switching jack, Pr3Va1L I checked with Baggs...they don't make black ones...oh well Problem with the Kinman is it has a circuit where the second tone pot dials in the neck pickup (so you can get all pickup combinations) I suppose I can use a double-ganged pot to get around that problem... tone control & neck p/up dial on the one pot...heh and change all the hardware to chrome...dang! mmm...don't really use the tone pot much anyway..think I'll ditch it

Thanks guys, You've convinced me to get a Baggs for my Kinman Blueprint Strat I've had a Baggs in my Gilet 00-45 acoustic for years, and I always liked it... I was lucky...I picked up a Baggs Para Acoustic DI at a pawnbrokers auction for AU$60 (US$45) Should work well with the X-bridge... Thanks for the info BTW..does anyone know if they do 'em in black?

Seems to me that if you've got a DeVille for your clean sound then a Rectifier would be overkill, volume wise.. I use a '64 Super Reverb for clean and a '65 Princeton Reverb for leads The Princeton's only 12 watts but with the EV 12" it pumps out just enough You probably want a bit more grunt than that...I'd recommend the old Boogie Studio .22 They actually sound better than the bigger Boogie combos and they don't blow yer head off...heh Plus, if you've got 2 amps you can do some nice stereo stuff... I run a Hughes & Kettner Tube Rotosphere... bass rotor into the Super, and treble rotor into the Princeton.... it's nice...

Yeah Greg,,, I keep thinkin'..'if I can get used to playin' 13 - 54's on my Strat, I'll get great tone like Stevie Ray'.. Then I realise that my favourite guitarist..with the best catalogue of tones...bar none, is Zappa... And he used 08 - 39's !!.....go figure..

Seems weird... if it's gone microphonic with loose windings you'd think it would feedback like crazy at high volume Is it noisier than the other pickup? Is it still humbucking? Is the scratchplate loose?...is the pickup sitting nice and solid? If it's not feeding back through the amp maybe you could isolate it from the scratchplate somehow.. Seems weird if the other pickups aren't doing it and it's not feeding back

Interesting to see that one...looks nice.. I don't think we got any locking trem Vantages in Australia...they mighta stopped before them. I sold a nice Vantage recently...a blue symetrical Alembic style...SB-20 I think.. It sounded great...the neck was nice, but a bit clubby for my taste... dang!..I musta dumped the pics...oh well...

Hi Trendsetters, got various parts here..haven't priced 'em yet, but any offers ? * 2 Kahler 2700 Trems (1 black, 1 silver) * 2 original Badass bridges (1 chrome, 1 gold) * Schaller chrome fine tuning tailpiece (Gibson style) * Schaller Badass with fine tuners (gold) * 2 sets black & chrome mini-Schaller heads (6-in-line) * set of chrome mini-Schallers (3 a side) * vintage Gotoh chrome heads (3 a side, tulip buttons) * Kramer neck-plate (80's I think) S/N S-04682 PM me for details... a few tuning buttons missing.. 1 each on the Kahlers & the Schaller Badass more stuff coming...Duncans, Klusons etc. Peace to all

Hi Slain, That Floyd copy doesn't look too bad...I've seen much worse.... I'd say it would work OK...just be careful adjusting it... the metal would be softer than a real one...nuts can be stripped much easier... 40 pounds isn't super cheap..it's like 120 Australian dollars... and if you look at the ad, it looks like you'll be payin' postage from the US as well... Doesn't look too bad though...the tuning knobs are the giveaway for it being a cheapie...

I bought a heap of the original Select's years ago, only 'cos they were running 'em out at $10 (US$7) a pop... I can't speak for the newer Select's...but those original ones were bog-ordinary... I just used 'em for replacing dead pickups in cheap guitars..they've got no real character, or tone...or power...they're fairly non-descript I suppose you could say they're clean...in a boring sort of way...their main redeeming feature is that they usually work...I can't remember seeing a dead one

Hi Moreau...I did have a Mutron Octave Divider and a Bi-Phase but I got rid of 'em ... Still got my Mutron IV Envelope Filter, though...I need that 'cos I play in a Zappa tribute band... gotta be able to get that 'Stinkfoot' sound...heh Hey....no hard feelings, idch... probably my fault anyway being a newbie and not lookin' for the right section..

Yeah Crafty, I changed the tuners...but it was the same model Sperzels so it's easy to change back... at the time I bought it they hadn't even released the production guitars...I didn't know they were gonna catch on... I was gonna put EMG's in it once..I had a set hanging around...but the routing is too narrow... even the strat pickups that are in it have been modded to extra skinny... and I wasn't gonna start chopping into it...heh

Hi Sambo, I don't mind the shape so much...I suppose I've gotten used to it...heh What get's me is that he's come up with such an innovative design... yet used the bog-standard Strat configuration for the pickups.. I suppose with some things you just gotta go with what you know that works.. The neck's a bit narrow for my hand, and has a bit too much curve (I prefer a wide, flat board) Interestingly, the plans have position markers, (which Parker have never used) and he also forgot the pickup switch (he might have originally intended a pot type switching system)

Greg, I did put the link up originally, but it was only for interest sake..I pasted the history on the last post... if I was gonna spam this thing I'd be doin' it to museums and big-time collectors...not guitar builders

Thanks Sambo...glad YOU recognised what it was... I'm pretty sure it's the first Fly made... there may have been a rough earlier version. History: Ken Parker sent this instrument to the Australian company Passac in 1985. They were developing a new advanced guitar to midi interface and were experimenting with piezo bridge pickups. The system they developed (the 'Sentient Six') was quite innovative, but unfortunately the company got into difficulty and was forced into liquidation. I attended the liquidation auction and saw the Parker guitar being sold. I didn't buy it at the time, but obtained the prototype scale drawing prints in another lot. Over the ensuing years the guitar went through various people's hands, I saw it hanging in several guitar shops. When I saw an article in Bass Player magazine announcing the Parker bass prototype, I immediately recognised the shape, and rushed down to the guitar shop to buy it. The guitar is as it was at the liquidation, the only change was swapping the gold sperzels for silver ones, I just thought the silver looked better on this particular guitar. Definitely a milestone in American guitar history

If you want me take these pics down I will... Jeez, I just thought other guitar heads would be interested... I only found this site today..

Hi Guys, Just thought you might be interested in seeing some pics of this rare beastie... Peace to all