zionstrat

Hello, I've built many parts guitars, but would like to build a body with a set or neck thru and build the body around it. What I would like is a non feedback hollowbody with a neck like a 4003 with some of that snap with thicker mids and bottom. So longscale narrow neck 4 string. I've never played a 4005, but imagine its the right tonal direction, but I would like to do away with F holes to get rid of feedback... Of course that monkeys with resonance, so wondering how that factors in. So first question is what's the design? Perhaps 4005 shape, but flat top and back to make the build easier? Would like to buy a prebuilt thru neck and imagine I would design around the neck? Maple top and back and bend maple for sides? If so, maybe a 330 shape would be better for a newbie? Less curves and more angular joints? Assuming the wood approach ibe mentioned makes sense, thinking the hardware would be much like a solid body... Routing pickups into the neck block, attaching bridge farther down, etc? So you can see I'm at the ideation stage and open to tone, design and construction input. Thanks in advance for any and all thoughts!

Hello wood working gurus! I’m a woodworking neophyte and would like to do a project with my Dad- I’ve built lots of parts instruments, so hoping that a bass body won’t be too hard= Long scale, 34 inch bolt on- Buying everything except the body I could use input on a wide range of topics- Concept follows and totally open to ideas! 1. Wood- I have a eucaliptus trunk that has been drying for a few years and would like to cut into planks, join and make a bass body from it and wonder if this makes sense? a. Eucalyptus Trunk is roughly 12’ long * 5”circumfrance b. Cut into strips i. Maybe 2”*2”*2’ ii. End up with a solid hunk of wood that is 2 inches thick iii. Band saw shape and rout as if we were making a solid body iv. My Dad has a lot of joining and non-guitar woodworking experience v. Does this make sense so far? 2. Design-I understand that eucalyptus has great tone, but is very heavy, so we were thinking a. Bass sized, L5 shape with a flat top (would look something like a Rumblecat) b. Rout out the wings from the backside c. Keep the complete center section from neck pocket to end pin intact to support neck, bridge, pups d. Will end up with 2 symmetrical, routed sections on either side of the center i. Bevel those edges and cover with plastic covers that are significantly larger than the average back plates e. Does this make sense? 3. What would it Sound like? a. Technically it won’t be a hallow body, but I image it will have more thump and less sustain- like a chambered electric? b. I imagine eucalyptus is bright c. I imagine that this design might do well with 3 passive pups i. Neck mini-humbucker, maybe get a somewhat thin thump similar to a 60s hollow body 1. The size would be nice 2. Or alternatively, a big Gibson EB3 L neck pickup that would be less bright? ii. Pbass center, normal placement for somewhat traditional Pbass thick sound 1. I’m a jbass nut and could imagine J pup in the center could work- But trying to make up for the ‘hollow’ nature and image the pbass pup would be the only ‘heavy bottom’ pup iii. Jbass bridge pup- 1. As I said, I’m a J nut and Joco rules, but if eucalyptus is bright, this might be rather bright iv. Probably a standard Jbass bridge v. 3 vol and master tone vi. Will probably go with a 5 position blade 1. Jbass bridge 2. Jbass + Pbass 3. Pbass 4. Pbass + Neck 5. Neck d. Does this make sense and what would it probably sound like? 4. Questions a. Appreciate feedback on all question above b. How deep should we rout the wings? i. Leave ¼ inch of top? ii. Is this strong enough and the top isn’t really acoustic, so no reason to go thinner? Any reason to go thicker c. Controls- Would have to route controls sections much farther to allow pots and switches to make it through the top- I guess these are standard thickness, and we are depending on the strength of the rest of the top to keep control cavities from collapsing d. How wide should the sides be? i. I image that we would route the wing cavities to leave ½ sides? ii. Would this be strong enough, considering that the center section will be solid? e. Ideas on a free design app? i. Google markup? ii. Something better? Appreciate any additional ideas, thoughts-

Yep, variaxe does this well and it's fallback in case my project turns out differetly than I hoped- This design will have an incredible amount of empty space, I'll be using a piezo bridge, and one day someone is bound to make a variaxe like mod- So if I cant get the sustain variation I'm after non-modeling, I expect I can always instal a variaxe like board one of these days- Sidebar- The first VG8s had guitar modeling so we know Roland's been down that path and I wonder why no one has yet offered a guitar modeling circuit board yet? Thanks again and see you on the sustainer thread! m

Thanks Pete! Good info adn glad to hear that the idea of increasing sustain of a low sustain guitar makes sense- I'm planning a true hollowbody in LP DC shape and thinking thick maple top and back. I'll have a neck block and frame down to a tail block, but no centerblock- So the mass will mainly be in the top and back, the core should mainly be air, and if I seal it really well, I'm hoping to get as low as banjo sustain if I'm lucky. I know that with a non-hex pup I cant really dial in sustain that would be even acrros the strings- Otherwise it would be fun to have sustain settings of banjo, rick, strat, SG and LP:) Still reading as I think I will go ahead and build the circuit now, but still have big questions about how to build the proper driver. Jtech- That's a great way to increase sustain, but I'm looking electronic to see if I can dial in a given amount- Thanks again all! Michael

ha- yes that's the problem:) Too much developmental detail and impossible for someone like me to understand the state of thinking. The original primer was good but, things have changed so much since it was written. It does sound like some people were able to keep their middle pup in play and this is one of the issues that would be crucial to me.. ie can I use the bridge pup to drive the sustainer in a neck position but use the middle pup as the output to the jack? I'm still reading and appreciate all of the input-

Guys- Thanks so much for the input! I really would like to build my own since I'm already building the guitar, but there are more variables right now than I can deal with. I could build the ciruit board that seems to be the most recent develeopment, however I would have no idea how to 'tune' it, and I'm still very confused about all of the options for drivers, how to best integrate this with 'regular' wiring, etc. One thing I like about this option is not having to use the forced pup combinations that seem to be required with the products on the market. I almost always have something interesting in the cicuit and would definately try different combinations if I knew that I could get this to work fairly well- So here's a big request to Pete, Col, or anyone who takes pitty on those of us who can barely follow a schematic... A simple primer that sums all of this up with a few vairiables, would be really, really appreciated! Thanks again! Michael

Oh yeah, one other thought- For rhythm purposes I was planning on going with bright pups, but I'm concerned that a sustained, bright bridge pup may be too bright for lead. If I understand correctly, most designs use the bridge pup to 'see' the signal that is then emitted by the driver (sorry I'm sure I'm messing up the terminology)- But is it possible to then 'monitor' a pup that's in another position? It sounds like the neck pup is our of the question due to RF. But is it possible to use a mid position pup as the sound source? In other words, if I had a relatively dark mid position pup that was creating the sound going to the amp, could that work with the bridge pup as the source for the sustainer?

I am planing to build a hollow body in the summer that will have as little sustain as possible- There are many times I want to do complex rhythm patterns that are simply impossible even on a strat, and I'm very excited about that aspect of the guitar. But it would be useless for lead and the sustainer thread got me thinking about the idea of working a sustainer into the plans. I was wondering if anyone has any thoughts on the following. Please forgive the stupidity as I have just enough electronics to wire, not to understand the depths of 99.9% of that thread- 1. I'm assuming that I would be able to get ebow type sounds even on a low sustain guitar. 2. I doubt this is possible, but is there a way to control the intensity of the effect and could this restore any of the 'lost' sustain more like a 'regular' guitar? Again, I doubt it, but if just a small amount of sustaner was added, is it possible that it would cause the guitar to behave more as if it had more average sustain? I'm expecting this will not work because I've never found anything like this with an ebow..you either get tons of sustain and have to use lots of muted techniques, or I get nothing. I've never found a traditional guitar with a little more sustain mode. 3. It sounds like a mid position driver won't work, which would force me to put my driver north or south of the neck pup- Are there any pluses or negatives on either direction? And does the sustainer have to be off when using the neck pup? 4. Is the sustainer thread far enough along that someone could go back and 'kit' the whole thing? It sounds like there is so much variability that this is unlikely, but if I'm missing something I would sure love the 'here's how to make this thing for dummies' version. 5. You may end up telling me that I would be better of considering one of the currently produced sustainers and I would appreciate any thoughts based on the project I've described- Thanks in advance!

Happy happy joy joy- superb news! My tech got physical with the bass this morning and things couldnt be any better- The sound and neck feel was already incredible, but now she's all buzz free and it's a blast- And here's a serious recomdenadation for anyone needing a great 2nd bass or a first 6th string.. if you are willing to do the setup, this is a seriously great bass for the price- I sitll love my J for what it does, but it will be easy to leave at home for 99% of gigs- I've never had to make a serious truss rod adjstment on a bass, and this is a double 35, so I was backing off before I should have.Here's the secret... The rod (a different one each time) was binding and all he had to do was flex the neck around the 14th fret- As a non tech I would never, ever do this, but he litterally bent the neck by applying knee pressure, the rod came free, and total adjstment time was under 2 minutes. For $249 with free shipping, this is one of the best deals I've ever seen- On the other hand, unless everyone takes this model into their tech, there's about 100% chance ( from my experiemce) that they will be disapointed when it comes in the door. thanks for sticking with me through this one- you guys nailed it up front and gave me the confidnce to stick with it- big big thanks!

guess it's time for me to take it to my tecnician but i feel whimpy- ive never had trouble setting up a guitar and didnt think bass would be any different- The action is very low and the string gauge is very low (things I wanted on this bass- opposite of my jbass)- But ive read many others that have had sucess with this modlel so the odds are it's just me- unless anyone else has ideas short of heavier strings) i'd be very interested- otherwise will report in when it comes back from the shop- Thx again! Michael

bump- really appreciate any help with this neck!

Ok, time for stage 2- I sent the bass back and got the replacement yesterday-this one is much closer out of the box and I only get buzzing and frettout on the first 3 fretts- Keeping in mind there are 2 dobule action truss rods, this time the right one easily loosens and the left one doesnt want to budge! opposite of last time- I really want to keep this one- I took it to local gtr shop last night and dverone ooh and ahad- a college kid litterally cancelled his ibanez order because he liked the neck so much- So I really really want to figure this out- Here's the summary- Right rod is loose- Left doesnt want to move either direction with or without string tension. Please, please please help me get this set up right! Thanks again- m

ah ha.. the perfect candidate for.. AN OLD CELLO! Trust me you will have a blast- I played in school and picked up a bsted one for $25 from a pawn shop- Tune in 4ths instead of 5ths and what do you have? A 4 string, bowable, frettless- Double stopable instrument of the same scale lenth as a guitar- I'm seriously considering inlaying fretllines in the fingerboard, as the old 5th positions that are embeded in my fingers aren't very useful when tunred to 4ths:) There's a great article out there on how to put a very good contact pup under the bridge for $25- Anyone rember old ELO? Go for it!

yep. 2 dual action rods according to their web site- The left one easily loosened counterclockwise- The right one wouln't go coutner at all- just clockwise so I haven't forced it- I've tested it with and without string tension and I know better than taking it any farther on my own- So if I dont get any more ideas it will go back this week- Again its a shame..very pretty and good sound except the buzz- Cheers m

OK, I'm about to give up on this rogue (althoguth I really love the look and feel outside of no action:) But it has 2 double action truss rods- I loosened the left one counter-clockwise as I usually do to get relief- However the right one only wants to turn clockwise- I dont want to force it counterclockwise and wonder if maybe this is all due to me not understanding dobule action rods? But one thing is for sure- Most of the strings have no clearance when I hold down 1st and 12th fret at same time- And those that have some clearace (because of high saddles) are buzzign bad- input appreciated again!

spazzyone- Yep, couldn't figure that one out at all- "in fact one of the saddles is using a non-matching short set screw and was already well over-extended upon receipt-" Seems that you would always use the same set screw on both sides of every saddle, as I've never know a situation where you would like the saddle not to be horizontal- OK, that does it- I'm loosening both truss rods when I get home and if it doesn't settle in (and revert to the hieght of the shortest set screw) by Monday, it will be going back- You guys are great! happy friday

ok, I'll lossen both rods for sure- cant hurt not sure if I 'm in the mood for a shim- maybe a dean would make more sense at that point:) much appreciated!

oh yeah, I also explained all of above to musician's friend and their reply suggested a setup- Why didn't I think of that? Surprisingly, they also reminded me I could send it back, but don't want to give up this easily..

Guys- Been playing a 5 string American active Jbass for years, but decided to take a try on an inexpenseive 6 string for the fun of it- So I went cheap- Take a look at http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/Rog...Bass?sku=519246 Overall seems nice, but no where near playbale yet-I've set up a lot of gtrs over the years, but I'm a bit concerned and wondering if I'm missign something obvious? It was detuned on receipt as one would expect, but upon bringing it up to pitch, the strings remained touching all of the frets up to 7th fret on hi strings A string is probably farther and the low b isnt out of buzz range after I raised the saddle farther than it would go- Traditionally, I would raise the saddles to bring the action up, however the saddles are already max hight, in fact one of the saddles is using a non-matching short set screw and was already well over-extended upon receipt- The neck appears nearly flat (havent tried a straigh edge yet), but this seems more than a little relief from the truss rod for mid neck if I am reading this correctly. I don't believe there are any other bridge height adjustments and I believe this means the neck angle would have to be adjusted. I am not familiar with 6 bolt necks, and perhaps there is a simple adjustment that would bring the action into a workable level with 6 bolts? But if there is not, this appears to be more of neck alignment than a simple set up and I wanted to get your input. Are there any simple set up techniques that I am overlooking? Or are we talking about neck off, shims, etc? If the neck angle needs to be fixed and this is not a simple adjustment, I would consider this a bigger than a setup and would probalby send it back as I dont want to get cauth in the 'you messed this up not us" But otherwise it appears to be a really, really fine instrument for a ridiculous price- Anyone know this style and can provide any input would be very appreciated!

also consider duncans new stacked single- getting good press- with any 4 constucto, you can use the stack, or just the top coil as a hum rejector with another coil assuming you have the right polarity-

1) Do you find the current companies have sufficient options available on their guitars? b ) No 2) What do you find is the area that these companies could improve most in? b ) Pickups choice and variety in terms of styles, function, 3) What do you find is the second most crucial area these companies could improve in? Same choices as question 2 c) Electronics wiring 4) Do you find that when companies do offer extra options outside their common methods that they are reasonablly priced (ie: benefit equals or outways the cost)? a) Yes 5) Do you have any other comments, suggestions, criticisms, or complaints about the current guitar market that you feel this survey did not address? As an x music vendor marketing type, I'm pretty sure you will need to target much tighter than a board if you want useful data- If this is just for a project, go for it, but my guess is there are at least 2 or 3 user personas to consider- 1. Consumer 2. Pro and semi-pro I'm betting you can survey consumers just like any other prodcut- They will be driven by whatever is currently cool- Boards will probably bias towords semi-pro and their needs are probalbly very different from consumers- They recognise that their sound is far more important than what is popular, and will understand, and demand details like scale length and radius- Pros are probably too concentrated and diverse to poll IMHO Hope this helps!

Great input folks- I knew that Dremel was sitting there for a reason:) Went with Varithane for this project and will give a full report when finshed- But I've been doing 25 other things (gigs are usually good, but:) so it's getting rock hard and by teh time I buff it out, I expect to be blinding folks in surrounding counties. Thanks again! Michael Why take the chance? Generally speaking, the right tool for the job is best. -Doug

I'm just completing the finish on a warmoth neck and the overspray has slightly narrowed the tuner holes to the point they no longer fit. In the past I've wrapped sandpaper around a pencil to ream out the hole without risking overdoing it. Anyone have better best practice? Thx!

Have been thinking about 2 projects for a long time and wonder if I can merge them together? This is a bit different and I would really appreciate your thoughts, as it is complete fantasy now- I've done some of this kind of construction before and some of this would be new to me so open to all thoughts! 1. I would like a semi-bright, very low sustain guitar for rhythm and riffs- Inspired by a p90 powered ESS225 and fast rhythm changes in classics like "what is life" by George Harrison- Thinking this would be a good sound for Petty, old byrds/beatles, etc. 2. I've been thinking about making a thin line Rickish electric 12 string but with a much wider neck- I know 'convertibles' have been done before, but I'd like to think about making a guitar as follows as both a 6 and 12 string- It will probably be more useful in one mode than the other so in time, and once I have gotten used to it, I'm guessing I will treat it as one or the other. Here's what I'm thinking- 1. Start with a warmoth maple neck with 12 string nut- No surprises there 2. Build a neck block that runs the length of the guitar, accepts a TOM bridge, and a tail end piece- I want low sustain- Would basswood be a good choice and strong enough to take the pressure? Is there a stronger wood with less sustain? 3. 335 body shape- Considering I want low sustain and no feedback, shape a flat front and back using 5/8 maple (kills sustain? Thinner possible?)- No arch, no f holes- Rout the edges to accept the sides. Glue the center blocks onto the back. 4. No idea what the sides should be- A wood that steam bends well- I'd like a very thin body (is 1.5 inches possible?)- Bend these out one piece per side to fit in the rout edges of the top and bottom. 5. Glue it up 6. Anyone make a 12 string TOM Bridge? Could go with a trapeze tail but no intonation 7. Or use 335 trapeze tail with TOM 7. Debating on p90s vs filltrons In summary, I'm not after a resonate body, I want low sustain and just a tad on the bright side. So time for your input! -Any thoughts on what this would sound like? -Wood choices -I know this is unusual construction, but does it sound like a reasonable garage project for a first hollow body? -Most important, any reason this can't be a good 6 string or a good 12 string? -Also what kind of software do you guys use to draw this stuff out? Freeware cad of some sort? Looking forward to your input!

Just wanted to comment on niteflys- I've got a maple NA and consider it one of the best shapes out there- Well ballanced, lots of room up the neck and plenty of space for electronics- Hope to hear what you do soon!