fookgub

Huh? Saturation issue? A pot doesn't provide any gain, so what exactly is saturating? The preamp? It doesn't care what's going on with the pot as long as it can drive enough current into the load to maintain its output voltage. Are you implying that the output from the guitar depends only on the absolute resistance from wiper to ground on the volume pot? That's really not how these kind of circuits work. Depends. Without going too deep into the difference between current sources and voltage sources, this is true if you have a voltage source across the pot, and you're pulling your signal from the wiper. There are plenty of other ways to wire a pot. Feel free to get as deep with the difference between current sources and voltage sources as you desire, but I don't see the point. The preamp in EMG pickups is essentially a voltage source. They claim it has a output impedance of 2k ohms, which I assume is mostly resistive. They use audio taper pots, and the pots are wired exactly as you described above. Now, why should a larger value pot "act more like a switch"?

I have a Pacifica, so the body, headstock, and pickguard are all copied from that guitar. I bought the pickguard blank from Stewmac, and it's big enough to make two pickguards. I would like to add Strat pickups to this guitar at some point, so the extra pickguard material may come in handy. I like the Pacifica shape a lot, too. It sort of walks the line between normal strats and superstrats. Not as bulky as a Fender, but not as edgy as an Ibanez. Anyway, I'm sticking pretty close to schedule on the guitar. I'll probably have to push the buffing out to early next week, as I'm planing to assemble my Tonemaster this weekend. Buffing takes about 4 days the way I do it (using micromesh papers and taking my time). Not the fastest way to do things, but it's pretty much idiot-proof. Assembly should go quickly after that... I'm planning on about four hours.

No kidding. Guys on Youtube are tripping over each other to be the best or "fastest." Now, I love metal and badass guitar solos, but this kind of stuff sucks. It's not music. It's just a contest where everyone's a loser.

I also purchased the conversion varnish after seeing Wes' Exploder. It sprays very well and appears to be compatible with the MEK-based dye concentrates that LMI sells. One comment about the CV is that the fumes are nasty. Probably just as bad as urethane. I would not spray it inside. Also, xylene eats latex gloves and goes through nitrile, too (but a little slower). You really need PVA gloves to handle the stuff.

Thanks for the comments, guys. That picture is not the best... it's a little out of focus, which obscures some of the intersting stuff that's going on in the wood. Also, the colors aren't quite right. They have a little more contrast and a more gradual transition zone than the pictures shows. Anyway, I finished the clear coats today. I'll start buffing at the end of the week and will hopefully be playing the thing towards the end of next week.

Or maybe urban camo \M/ I vote flip-flop... like this: http://alsacorp.com/products/spectrafx/spe...fx_prodinfo.htm. Alsa sells it in cans now. Talk about easy!

Depends on what you want to do. You couldn't ask for a better base than what's on the guitar if you're after a solid color. Just sand it flat to 220 grit and you're good to go. If you're looking to do a natural finish, it might not be worth it. Chances are the wood is not much to look at.

Nitro is nice because you can always dissolve it in lacquer thinner. When I used to shoot nitro, I never did much for cleaning besides shooting a bit of thinner through the gun after each coat. Never had a problem. Now I'm using conversion varnish and I have to be a lot more careful about gun cleaning. I dismantle if after each coat, go over it with a brush and xylene, then blow it out with compressed air.

Wow soapbar, you have the same exact Crapsman router as I do. I've been wanting to replace mine forever, but it just won't die!

It's your build, Matt... you don't have to beg for permission to stop building it just because a few people on the forum are frustrated by the fact that you haven't finished any of your last few projects. That said, I don't see any reason to stop. If you don't like the purpleheart, then paint it a solid color. If you don't like the pickup location, then move it.

Indeed they will. My drill press has problems just using a drum sander. I can say for a fact that it would not take the side load necessary to do even the lightest milling operations. As others have said, this is a very quick and easy milling operation. If you can't get access to a mill yourself, take it to a machine shop. They'll fix you right up.

Clear coats are done. It's got to sit for about a week, then I'll buff it out. These pictures are a little funny looking because of the flash, but they were the closest I could get to the real life colors. Everything I took in the sun ended up looking very washed out and orange. They're a little blurry (especially noticable in the figuring on the front), but they at least give the general idea. Front: Back: http://www.ece.utexas.edu/~wrobert/tm-clear-back.jpg

Thanks for the link, Rich. Which buffs would be best for guitar-type stuff? The canton flannel wheels seem the closest to what Stewmac sells, but they don't have metal grommets. Is that a big deal, or can I just tighten the buffs between a couple of fender washers? I was planning to stay around 2500 sfpm (equivalent to a 12" wheel at 800 rpm). How's that sound?

Burst is done! I'm spraying barrier coats of shellac right now. I'll spray until I can sand it perfectly flat, then I'm going to do about 6 coats of conversion varnish. If everything stays on schedule (which never happens), I'll be spraying the top coats next weekend. Anyway, this is my first burst. I'm sure my next one will be better, but I'm very pleased with how it turned out. This was taken in direct sunlight. It's a little more red under normal light. What do y'all think? Front: Back: http://www.ece.utexas.edu/~wrobert/vax-burst2.jpg

The only way I was able to get a quote was from a "US Distributor" -- really a manufacturer that uses their parts and would be willing to tack-on an item or two to their usual order. IIRC, it was BassLabs that was able to get a quote for me. Ray Out of curiosity, when was this? I got a quote from ETS direct last December. Customer service was awful, though, and it took three months and a lot of headaches to get the bridge. I won't be dealing with them direct again, which is a shame because I would like to use more of their hardware.

Never heard of a chambered neck... you sure you got that right?

Welcome to the forum . Very nice looking work you got there. Too bad about the routing mishap, but you seem to have made the best of it. Any idea on what kind of finish you'll go after? I have to warn you that you've broken the PG picture post rules, which only allow one picture per post (the rest have to be linked). Also, you're not really supposed to post back to back (prevents people from circumventing the picture posting rules). Not trying to bring you down at all, but it would promote general goodwill if you save the mods the trouble of editing your posts by changing them yourself. Anyway, I really like that Bassman cabinet. It's so nice it would almost be a shame to gig it.

I'm revisiting this idea now that I've found a supplier for cheap pillow block bearings and shafts. I'm planning to use a 5/8" x 36" shaft so I can use the buffs the Stewmac sells, but I noticed that the Stewmac buffer has a 3/4" shaft that is turned down to 5/8" on the ends. Also, the Stewmac buffer's shaft is 9 inches shorter than the one I want to use. Am I risking anything by using just a straight 5/8" shaft? I indend to secure the buffs in place using a pair of collars and, if necessary, some fender washers.

You are cleaning up with edges with a router and/or sanding, right? You shouldn't just cut it out with a saw then slap on filler until you get a clean edge. I'm sure you know this already, but the wording in your post is a little ambiguous. As far as putty goes, if the store bought stuff you have is just a general purpose wood putty for carpentry (like Elmer's or something), don't use it. It will shrink and do other nasty stuff, making it very difficult to get a good finish.

Dude, strip it and start over! Even if that stuff eventually cures hard enough to buff, it will never stand up to the kind of handling a guitar gets. It will look awful within a year. I know you're very happy with the artwork under the clear, but why can't you just redo that, too? If you did a good job once, surely you can do it again. Guitar2005: I've used nitro over Duplicolor colors before with no problems. A barrier coat of shellac was all I needed.

Thanks for the heads up... I've never actually tried one. Along those lines, I've got some leftover arcade-style joystick buttons from a pair of joysticks I built a couple years ago. They're too deep to mount in a guitar, but there might be some shorter ones available somewhere. You really can't beat 'em for tapping. Also, I consciously try to avoid push/pull pots, and there is a reason for that: I think mini-toggles are easier to operate on-stage. I usually delegate the least used task to a push/pull, and along those lines it would probably make more sense to use the push/pull on the volume for the Ghost system bypass, and use the two mini-toggles for the Sustainer (this won't make any sense if you haven't read my post above). I'm one of those guys that loved swiss army knives when I was a kid, and that's carried over some into my guitar building. My ideas always seem to end up with as many "features" as possible, but you have to make some trade-offs between aesthetics, functionality/ease of use, and features. I went for functionality and features in the setup I described above, but tried to at least give a passing nod to aesthetics. Not everybody wants their guitar to look like the NORAD command center . On the other hand I went for aesthetics on my Tele-style build (still in progress, search Tonemaster if you want to see it). I used a Gibson style toggle, and included a push/pull to get the series mode. It's all about choices, man. Anyway, that' s some classic late-night rambling for ya. I'm really liking the concept drawing above, though, and the feature set could be absolutely killer if it's done right.

I have some comments . Let me preface this by saying that what follows is purely my personal opinion. Some people will disagree, and that's cool. I've been messing with stuff like this for a while now, though, so I've at least figured out what I like. First, if you're going for two Tele pickups in the bridge, check into Rio Grande's line of pickups. They're not cheap, but you can get exactly what I think you're looking for. Those pickups are actually regular single coils placed side-by-side, so they should make for a pretty powerful humucker in series. Plus you can buy the matching bridge from them, which saves you from having to fabricate something. Second, I say ditch the individual tone and volume controls. Use master tone & volume like a normal Tele. And don't mess with a push/pull for series/parallel operation between the bridge and neck pickups. Buy one of these instead. In fact, I would probably buy two. One for the bridge pickup and one for the bridge + neck combination. That's just me, though... I've found that having various series and parallel combinations of pickups available adds a lot of versatility to an instrument. If you don't like the two blade switches idea, make sure you include at least a mini-toggle for coil splitting... you don't want to be missing out on those classic Tele sounds. Third, unless you have a midi setup already, I say don't bother with the Graphtech Hexpander. Just a lot of extra clutter, and you'll have to buy a bunch of supporting equipment to make it do anything. The Ghost system is worth it, though. I have one on my main guitar... pretty convincing sounds, and it definitely adds some variety. I'm not head-over-heels about the preamp, but it gets the job done. If you do go for the Ghost system, install the optional Quick Switch. You'll use it a lot. Also, I think you should use a stacked pot for the tone and put the piezo volume on there, too. Helps to minimize visual clutter, and saves a little space. Almost forgot, if you go with the Graptch system, make sure to install a bypass switch, too... you'll thank me the first time your battery dies! Fourth, using a stacked pot for the tone means you can't have a push/pull pot there for the sustainer. I say add a mini toggle for sustainer on/off, then make the volume control a push/pull pot and use it to change the harmonic setting on the Sustainiac. Fifth, don't bother with on-board effects. Even something really interactive like a fuzz face could be built into a box with pedals to control various parameters. That way you've still got your hands free to play guitar. Also, it's a lot easier to swap a pedal out of your rig than out of your guitar if/when you get bored with it. Sixth, killswitch? I dunno... a lot of people seem to like them, but I would rather build it into a box and put it on the floor. My thinking is the only stuff that should be in the guitar is stuff that has to be in the guitar to work properly. An extra bonus from leaving the killswtich off would be that you could put a Gibson-style toggle on the upper horn and use it instead of the Graphtech quickswitch. That would making switching from piezos to magnetics just super easy. Anyway, I like the direction you're headed in. It could be a very versatile instrument, but you have to make sure you get the controls right. They need to be unobtrusive, intuitive (at least for you), and easy to operate. Having a ton of versatility is wasted if you can't operate the controls onstage. That way I've describe you would have 2 pots, one push/pull and one stacked, two mini toggles (Graphtech bypass and Sustainer on/off), one Gibson-style toggle, and two blade switches... fairly uncluttered controls for the amount of options you're getting.

How about posting a link to the other thread instead? I'm curious about this myself.

Ok, I finally got a color sample I can live with. Took me 8 tries, but at least I feel like I earned it. Picture is a little out of focus, but the color looks about right, at least on my monitor. I've just finished the second coat on the guitar. I'm going to check it out once the paint dries... it may need one more coat, but I'm not sure yet. I've been testing the Sherwin-Williams stuff, and I like it a lot. Took me a bit of time to figure out how to spray it, as it's more prone to running than lacquer. The good news is that now I can get a coat to lie flatter than I was ever able to with lacquer. Also, it's ready to sand within about a half hour, and it powders nicely... no gummy mess like lacquer or shellac. I had to give my gun a real thorough cleaning before I could spray this stuff. Previously, I shot a lot of lacquer through it, and never did much for cleaning besides spraying a bit of thinner before I put the gun up. Well, there was built up lacquer in the gun as a result. The lacquer isn't soluble in Xylene, so it tends to flake off and get sprayed on the workpiece in little chips, causing fisheyes and other nasty stuff. I've been using shellac for the color coats. Lacquer isn't compatible with the conversion varnish, and I didn't want to commit to the vinyl sealer that Sherwin-Williams sells just yet. Overall, I'm pretty unhappy with the shellac. I tried a 1# cut at first because I didn't want to build up too much thickness and extend the cure time. That was a mistake. I simple could not get that stuff to spray without running. I ended up stripping the guitar and starting over with a 2# cut. The heavier cut is much less prone to running, but it really likes to orange peel. I suppose if I played with the gun for long enough I could get it to work better, but right now I'm not too happy with the shellac. I'm getting good results, but it has taken far more effort than I expected. I will probably use the SW vinyl sealer next time. Anyway, here is the basic plan (I'm hoping to finish step 4 by the end of the weekend): 1. Sand unfinished body to 320 grit, raising the grain a couple times in the process. 2. Spray two coats of 2# cut shellac as a sealer, sanding after each coat. 3. Spray two to three coats of tinted 2# cut shellac. 4. Spray two to three coats of 2# cut shellac as a barrier/sealer. 5. Let the shellac cure for a week, sand flat, then spray about 6 coats of conversion varnish (3 per day, sanding between coats). 6. Let the CV cure for a week, then buff and assemble. I shooting for about 6 coats of CV because the guy at Sherwin-Williams cautioned me that applying too many coats would risk cracking down the road. Also, the CV has nearly double the solids content of lacquer, so it should build fast. Well, that's about it. I should have a picture of the guitar ready for clear coats up tomorrow. The hardest part by far has been getting the correct dye mix and concentration. I never expected it to be so difficult. If anyone is interested, here is what I settled on using the metal acid dye concentrates sold by LMI: 5.33 parts red 4.66 parts yellow 2 parts black 1 part brown Mixed approximately 3 oz of dye per quart of 2# cut shellac.

Well, the razor blade trick didn't work. Seemed like a good idea, but I just couldn't get it to go. I'm going to strip the guitar and start over. This time I'll use a heavier cut of shellac, which I hope will not be as prone to running.