komodo

2 hours ago, ADFinlayson said:

Congrats! well deserved.

Thanks Ash!

(I realized I'm calling you Ash, cause I work directly with two Ashleys and call them both that. Advise if you have a preferred drinking name. LOL We'll make it to the pubs before all of this is over, I promise.)

@Prostheta@mistermikev

Just a little deeper...
So most of my pups have been Duncan, and most (all?) of my bridge pups are 14k-17k. As mentioned you don't find a lot of consistent data on the actual Henries of output though. It'll be very interesting to see what these Giovannis do. I've also got that Black Winter, which is a 16-17k ceramic, and wondered how that one would respond with an A2 mag in it? I mean just for the hell of it. I like to blow stuff up.

Not exactly related but you guys will be interested in this: as I was assessing The Dragon, which I haven't played for awhile, I was struck by it's resonance. Most of my guitars feel great, and have a typical resonant quality to them, but this one is different. It's a swamp ash core, with maple top and maple back, and set rosewood neck. When you strum it unplugged, it's so loud it almost sounds acoustic. I would strum as I was holding it up in the air out in front of me, and when you rotated the guitar along the axis of the neck, the back would project the sound in an almost beaming way as well as the front. It has a very strong doppler effect. The quality of the sound projecting from the front/back was very similar to how a guitar sounds when you rest and edge on a table and strum, or when you rest your jaw on the top. It's extremely lively. My guess is that the sandwiched, porous swamp ash is vibrating and energizing the top and back plates. IDK but it's really cool.

21 hours ago, mistermikev said:

well now... do tell... gear upgrades sounds nice!  

I've been going down pickup rabbit holes. I'm of the mind that there isn't a ton of difference in most pickups, it's a pretty rudimentary device. You've got the quality of the materials, and build quality, but as far as the recipes there is WAY too much marketing. If you take a GFS, a Duncan and a Lollar and did a double blind, I bet they'd be much closer than most think. People are going into tailspins comparing the marketing copy of sound descriptions and it's just not that complicated.

The Korina metal tele is going to get a pair of Giovanni GVH1 8k to test this theory. They're using all the right parts down to nickel silver baseplates, and were 75 for the pair. Exploring the old idea of EVH using lower output pups for more dynamics. I get that dc resistance isn't output, so hard to find consistent manufacturer data there.

On my Dragon, I'm swapping out the Duncan Jazz/Alt8 pups for an old pair of Rocksongs which will also test this theory, These are 14k - 10k and less expensive parts but they have good reputations.

I'll save the Duncan Jazz/Alt8 for a new build, but I'm thinking of swapping out the A8 mag for an UOA5 mag I've got. New build in my head is a straight up superstrat, laminated neck through koa or mappa burl top, Hannes bridge. Think Black Machine. I'll probably dismantle my partscaster if that one goes well.

Pedals are constantly rotating like a merry-go-round but I've been taking some time to dig into each pedal to really explore it before I decide it's fate. Chain order, power, settings, different guitars, etc. I've been tweaking a few home builts, swapping transistors to dial in fuzz gain, etc. I just nailed a Skreddy P19 clone yesterday that was like night and day after the change. May be my fav fuzz ever and I'm not a fuzz guy!

African mahogany, maple neck, rosewood or ebony fretboard. Focus all your energy on the craft!

Thanks @mistermikev. I probably shoulda waited to build or finish my last two for when I really needed the distraction from the dumpster fire. Now I've got health, family and work issues throw on top and reaaaaaally need  a diversion. 

@Prostheta I've also been playing a lot, and now with new guitars comes a round of reevaluating amps, pedals, pickups, and everything else. I've got some serious shop editing, and cleaning to do before I start another, but there are two builds already knocking on the door in my head.

I appreciate it @Bizman62. It sounds ridiculous to say but we’re all winners here. So great we can share our common bond across the planet. 

That example you show doesn't look like it has any stain to me. There might be some tinted grain filler, but if so that is subtle. Looks like straight clear, but this is only my opinion!

Have never heard of heat stabilization before. I saw your other post on the cocobolo, and struggled a little on what the heat is actually doing? My last neck was solid coco and after sanding and a couple coats of oil, it looks like your last pictures. Is the heat supposed to keep it lighter and not darken further? I might be able to try something along these lines with bloodwood, coco, etc, but probably not anytime soon. I did a bunch of white oak once and my wife nearly killed me for using the oven like that. Stunk up the house real bad (I thought it smelled great).

Shellac is pretty much a bullet proof undercoat. It sticks to everything and everything sticks to it. Don't know about the 2K question, but will say take extra special precautions with that. It will send you to the ER quick, and there isn't a lot they can do about it. It's like spraying super glue in your lungs.

Also never heard of the Armor all thing? I'd be leery of any silicones in it. That would be a major issue.

What @Bizman62 said. That's an easy fix.

That's funny, as I was reading your initial post I was thinking of exactly the solution you ended up doing. Certainly worth trying if there is no damage done before you went whole hog removing the fret board. My second thought was of the Hot Rod I've had sitting here for 15 years and afraid to use because of all the stories I've heard of Hot Rod nuts breaking off! I'm pretty sure you've sealed the deal (no deal) for me!

If anyone wants it, I'd love to move it outta here.

Echoing Mike - the smaller the piece, the more wary I am. 

Re: dust, I’ve got a monster cyclone dust collector and I still only do routing outside.

Ya I’m not seeing the 3rd 4th or 5th pics in the last post. What I do see is killer!

Your enthusiasm is infectious, you clearly have the mindset for this work. It’s slow and methodical, there are some accepted truths (or just really good ways to do something), but lot’s of room to do your own thing. I can comment more later, but I’d say:

-don’t get too hungup on having the right tool. There are lots of ways to get a job done.

-Go slow and with purpose. Its not a race, more like a puzzle.

-Don’t be afraid to put some nice wood into it. People can get apprehensive about nicer woods, but you’ll be happy when you’re done.

- Most tasks - when you think you’re done, keep going, you’re probably only 1/2 way done. (sanding, refining, measuring, polishing, etc)

-do not be afraid to show and share triumphs, mistakes, and failures with this group. It’s a wonderful community, and many people will have been where you are. It’s a great support system.

congrats on another fine build!

Not sure if this is what you mean, but I used this on the 8-string to figure out tensions of each string based on scale length and pitch:

https://tension.stringjoy.com/

It looks so friendly, and yet it could turn around and melt your face. How does it feel now thats its strung up? Wish we knew what wood it is!

Yeah the Galileo certainly puts that mid in there, but I;d say most of that was the pups. They also spit out harmonics all over the place.

Never tried an EL34 version. I get really great cleans and pedals work great before or in the loop. Not sure what I did for tube rolling but I tried a ton of combos, and pretty sure I swapped the phase inverter too. The red channel can be a wall of insanity, but pulling the gain back some tightened it up. It also made the blue channel a little more ACDC like  tight. One of the best things about it is the knob on the back, resonance I think? It's basically like a 4x12 thump control. I play at really low volumes, and can adjust that to make it sound way bigger.

1 hour ago, Lumberjack said:

Is the 5150 III what you used to demo the Black Queen?

Yes sir it is. You are hearing a lot of the Trisonics there, they impart a vocal tone more than any other pickup I've ever used. Also, I may have been using a Catalinbread Galileo clone I built which also has a boost. I can get similar tones with clean channel and Galileo, or blue channel (med gain) and the boost. The red channel is full balls to the wall high gain, which I actually pulled back by using lower gain tubes.

Sweet! Thanks man!

This is funny. We clearly need a "What's your signal chain?" thread.
I'm on a Steinberg UR22 > puter, but mostly it's just guitar > one million pedals > EVH 5150 III >Thiele cab with Creamback. The 5150 was tube rolled to high heaven until I found the sweet spot and now it's beautiful.

None of this does any good to relieve the pain of me selling my 72 Marshall Superlead back in the day, not having any idea what I had.

And here I was feeling good about picking up a used iRig HD2 today. ahahahahahahahhaa

So, I was just eating my lunch scrolling through Instagram and was fed a #guitarbuilding post that was your vid you just shared here. I was all 'wha?!' and checked out your feed. Super great stuff! You are the shredder I want to be but don't have the theory. I;m going to dig into some of your teachings and see if I can;t pick something up.

Definitely check belts, and this sounds funny but I'd be checking the pulleys to make sure they aren't spinning freely on the motor shaft? Something is certainly wrong.

Man, I know this is an art form and all, but I would've freaked out and used a Lancelot blade carver in a right angle grinder on this by now. Good job on your patience.

Nice to see my favorite bench again!

Killer! I know we are talking about the guitar, but maybe a brief thing of your signal path?
This is the final straw - I'm vowing to come out of COVID being able to do rudimentary sweep picking. It eludes me so.