komodo
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Everything posted by komodo
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And routed. If I had done this first, the jack would’ve been located further away. Since the retainer is flush with the body, and the jack scoots around a little bit and has some minor adjustment, the jack plate can overlap it, or be just touching like the pic. Also I could leave the retainer polished or chemically turn it black. It’s not pushed in yet, cause once it’s in it’s probably not coming out.
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Pandemic is a good argument for respirator mask. Therefore, I should wet sand outside in a strong wind, if I've tested positive? This is easy!
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Made a new one, I wanted to make the inner holes smaller. Really pleased with the result. All I need to do now is route a 1/2” slot. This is going to add some mass to the body, it weighs 3.7oz and is made from stainless.
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Well. I mean...I guess cause there it is. LOL
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Like this: “Jeff, why could you pop into your shop and build that in 1/2 hour out of stainless bar and get the holes perfect, when you coulda just done that with the ash in the first place?”
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Eh, I didn't explain well. I thought they were 3/8", and have a little hole gauge to test and it felt a little loose, so I drilled test piece at 23/64" but it was too tight. Then tried 3/8" and it was great. The 23/64" bit I had was twist, and robotically moved up to the 3/8" instead of grabbing the brad point. Also, using the pin method, assuming it would be good as the front was perfect. Ferrules are not lipped. Good warning about the glue line since this relies on the tannin reaction. If it got really bad, I could always do the long block with ferrules, maybe in coco.
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@Prostheta Of course you are right. I did this last at the end of a long day of work, shoulda slowed and thought about it that last 10%. Makes me want to plug them and try again. It will be jet black, so everything would be hidden. If it didn't come out perfect the second time, I'd probably hurt something. There are times when I've resorted to twist bits because its the one I had in a non standard size. I think this was 23/64ths or some such nonsense, but when I drilled test pieces for fit, the 3/8" worked great. One thing I hate is when it's JUST too big and has slop. Of course, I've got more 3/8" bits of every kind on hand.
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Way to go! How do you even decide which one to play? And, what’s next?!
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Lots of headway. Routed for battery box and jack plate. Fixed pickguard (with great effort!), sanding out scratches. Located and drilled for volume, pup switch and Fluence voice switch. Located and drilled string throughs and used the pin locating trick for back ferrules and STILL didn’t get it tight on. That has to be the single hardest operation in building guitars by hand. Also have a few coats of the Fiddes hard wax oil in the test piece, it’s a slammin’ finish, and super easy. Getting close. Need nut, frets, final neck shaping and finishing, drilling tuner holes, and wiring. When I had the neck bolted in (strong af) and the top and bottom strings on to locate the bridge, it got pretty exciting to look at. lol
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Fine sanding, edges broken, lines honed. Tea painted. Looks splotchy but remember it’s only for loading tannin into it.
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Tried again with the Quebracho. You can mix it with water, DNA or acetone. This time I tried DNA thinking it may soak in better and not raise grain. But I also sanded a previous example and hit that. First, the dyed layer is quite difficult to sand off (good), second, it’s a really nice rich black (not blueish or grey, a mix of all colors), and maybe some sanding dust got into the grain? IDK but this time it really turned solid black. It’s blacker than aniline dyes. So, we’re back in black, and none more black it is!
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Oh no its great. Im a drama queen, lol.
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Not yet, and I would need to pull the pups first. And cut out the ebony neck. And maybe sand off the top and try refinishing it first.
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@Prostheta I don't know if I'm a wuss or something, but this steel did not like being worked at all. Well, this may be obvious to some, but my checking issues are due to wet sanding, It seems obvious now, but I've never had the issue before. Using too much water, the clear is so thick and many open areas (pup cavities, switch and knob openings) is a recipe for disaster. Good news is I've learned how to deal with it many times over. LOL I'll take care of these last cracks and finish it without water. I know we are all hard on our own builds, it;s easy to focus on mistakes and imperfections. This one seems to be riddled with them, and it's become a red-headed stepchild to me. Blasphemous I know. With that Cthulhu 8-string breathing down it's neck, it better sound F-ing amazing or it may end up being a WOD candidate.
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Well, I had some steel on hand (don't know why but there it was) that just happened to be the same diameter of a trem bar. I filed a little groove and then bent it in a vice on that groove. Then cut it to length, filed and belt sanded the round end, and used a die to thread the other end. It required some heavy filing to take the diameter down a bit to get the die to cut without binding. Was a pita (steel is hard), but custom made length and angle.
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Still plugging away. I’ve used the Cellusolve on several checks, drop filled with nitro, scraped and did fine level sand only to have more checks appear. I’m baffled. The new checks only appear when I do level sanding. When it’s resting, it’s fine. As soon as I do sanding, they appear. And this is 1200-2400 type sanding. My best guess is somehow the water is creating a temperature differential and causing or releasing stresses in the lacquer?! IDK. Thought I had it today as I got to 3200, but several appeared. They are almost all on the top, and usually connecting something like pup to pup cavity, or bridge post to rear cavity. Anyhoo, I may just finish out at this point. My original plan was to use a trem arm from an SG but It’s just not gonna fit right. So, I made a new simple one from scratch. The extra thread will be down inside the cover.
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Experimented with the Quebracho tea that adds tannin to the ash, then vinegar/rust solution for ebonizing. The brown pieces are the tea, the wet black was just after a second wet coat. The next pic is the next day after it dried. Sooooper jet black. But, it doesn’t get into then deep grain of the ash. Plan B is leather dye which is equally black and covers everything. Very messy.
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yeeesssss No better reason to start a build than no reason at all. What finish are you aiming at?
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Thanks Scott. There's something about the geometry, with the bridge being so far back, the whole body compressed in the lower part, the neck set really far into the body, yet clear access up to 24. It all compliments the fanned frets and just works. Hopefully with hardware, it's still balanced. I've got Sperzel open backs again which are super light, and the two Fishman pups plus battery should keep it there.
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Neck is maybe 95% done, still need some final scraping and minor sanding. Feels like an F1 car. It’s ridiculous. The swamp ash is SO light, and the weight lost from neck carving brings the total weight to exactly 6 pounds right now without hardware. but its also really balanced which I don’t get but am not complaining!!
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Brass inserts, too soft and easy to destroy the slot or strip the allen socket. I was thinking these may be tough to insert, but they were just right. Strength of the carbon steel helps me sleep. Coco was easy to tap, and even with the 5/16” hole, could be put in with fingers until the last couple threads. Screwdriver gave a nice firm finish. The 3/8” thread is quite coarse, will help me sleep well. @Prostheta Moar toanz was exactly my goal here with the extended range. Also, I didn’t want the neck to pop off.
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I think these are perfect for any neck really. I used six because of the extra string tension, and I've got a lot of heel space up into the pup cavity. The 10-24 bolts are pretty similar to regular neck screws and probably a finer pitch. I'd use 4 for a strat. http://www.philtone.com/inserts.html I don't agree with his 23/64" pilot hole. I drilled and tapped 4 holes sizes, progressively smaller to find the right size. 5/16 worked great in Coco with maximum thread contact.
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Inserts are EZ-Lok, 3/8-16 outside threads, with 10-24 inside. I used the carbon steel ones made for metal working, they are more robust. There is an epoxy on the outside of them, but I removed that as it doesn't work with wood, and I'd like these to me reversible, or at least not permanent. Tap is 3/8-16 flat bottom, and I found a 5/16" bit worked best before tapping.
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Inserts inserted, used flat bottom tap. Joint will be strong AF. Coco neck, rough cut.
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Fishman Fluence Abasi 8 with Schaller Megaswitch M
komodo replied to disasterpiece's topic in Electronics Chat
I am also installing an Abasi 8-string set currently. Wiring is my weakest area, but I;ve poured over the Fishman diagrams to come up with my own idea. I agree that their descriptions are not intuitive at all. I've had an exchange of emails with support, and they do get back to you with some help. Let me know your specific questions and I'll see if I can help. But, I doubt I can offer a lot of advice with the megaswitch, more on the Abasi pups side of it.
