fookgub

I agree 100% about the "mojo-speak." I can't stand that stuff. I have, however, heard that the Tiapan parts are nice. They sure look good in the pictures. Dubious total benefits aside, if you consider the quality of the finished pieces, and the fact that they're machined on a small production basis by a guy that's trying to make a living doing this, I don't think $40 is a bad deal. Anyway, I've used retainer blocks on a couple of guitars, and I prefer them to ferrules. Mostly for the reasons Wes stated -- they're just easier to deal with. I also prefer the look. It's a bit more unique than ferrules. Honestly, I don't think I'll ever use ferrules on any of my from scratch builds again. (Actually, I prefer top-loading bridges anyway, but I haven't found one I like that doesn't break the bank.) Here are a couple I've done. The first is 1/8" spring steel, the second is full 1" thick bass. http://users.ece.utexas.edu/~wrobert/vax-testfit5.jpg http://users.ece.utexas.edu/~wrobert/rg_hw.jpg http://users.ece.utexas.edu/~wrobert/rg-done11.jpg

I tend to treat HC reviews with an extra degree of skepticism. There are a lot of folks that will buy pickups, play them for 5 minutes, then immediately get online and rave about how great they are. I call it New Gear Review Syndrome, and it makes finding a balanced review quite difficult. I tried a bunch of GFS pickups -- Neo7, Crunchy PAT neck, Power Rails neck, Crunchy rails bridge, Dream 90 neck, Fatbody Tele neck & bridge, Lil' Killer lead, and the "clearance" overwound Strat set. Honestly, I feel like you mostly get what you pay for. Some of the pickups I've tried sounded quite good, more were mediocre, and nearly all of them howled badly with moderate gain and volume, despite what they say about that "meticulous" vacuum wax potting (Neovin being an exception -- mine is extremely quiet). For the most part, their pickups seem to be voiced for a more wide range sound than I generally prefer. I like DiMarzio's characteristic peaky midrange, whereas GFS's humbuckers tend to have a more Seymour Duncan-like voicing. Anyway, a pickup is such a simple device that I really don't see why a cheap one is less likely to sound good. It's just a bunch of copper wire and a couple magnets, after all. But my experience is that the name brands do tend to sound better, and they tend to be quieter. GFS does make a couple gems, and I would be happy to provide a little feedback on any of the pickups I've used, but I think it would be wise to temper your expectations a little when it comes to cheap pickups.

Forget that stuff - that's for kids. I tried it once and it stayed sticky forever. Go with the real deal (Zpoxy, System3, or West System). +1 to all that. I have had nothing but problems with the Loctite brand epoxy. Bad for gluing, worse for finishing.

Too bad Drak left... his work was really inspiring. Here is a picture of his "Magma Attack" guitar. http://projectguitar.ibforums.com/index.php?showtopic=25866

I agree. Great job on the post-apocalyptic look.

Did a little reading on TDPRI today, and it looks like some of the guys over there are running dual rail pickups in parallel. Opinions are generally positive enough for an experiment, I'd say. So, unless anyone's got anything to add here, I'm going to buy myself a cheap dual rail after the holidays and try it out in my beater guitar.

I got a lefty 500 off eBay for pretty cheap. The only way to get the electronics is to gut a guitar, so if you find them by themselves it's because someone did the gutting for you.

Let me preface this with a little explanation of some terms I want to use. This stuff is very subjective, so it's nice to have a common starting point regarding terminology. Having played with more than a few pickups, I've found that practically all of the Strat-style pickups (by this I mean single coil pickups with individual polepieces and coil geometries similar to true Strat pickups) I've used have a recognizably "Strat" character. That is, regardless of the actual frequency response of the pickup, there is something about the sound that makes me say "that sounds like a Strat pickup," regardless of the magnet type or number of windings. I like to call this the "voice" of the pickup. Now, that doesn't mean that all Strat-style pickups sound the same. I've found that the higher output pickups, due the the increased inductance they usually have, tend to sound darker, having a lot more midrange and less treble. I like the bright sound of vintage-style Strat pickups, and, for lack of a better term, I'll just call that abundant treble "chime." I'm planning a SSH guitar, and, like many people, I want to have modern hard rock and vintage tones from the same guitar. My beater guitar is a SHH configuration with series/parallel switches for the humbuckers. It's got a nice variety of tones, with heavy rock sounds in series mode, and brighter/twangier tones in parallel mode. But the humbuckers don't have the Strat voice that I'm looking for. I'm planning to use a high output bridge humbucker in my new SSH guitar. This is essential to getting the kind of hard rock tones I like. Lower output humbuckers have too much treble and not enough midrange for my sound. The problem is finding single coil pickups that can balance with the hot humbucker. All the ones I've tried are too dark sounding, totally lacking the chime I want. So, based on what I learned with my beater guitar, I had an idea. What if I use high output dual-rail Strat-size humbuckers (ala DiMarzio Chopper or SD Hot Rails) with series/parallel switches? The hope is that these pickups would be a good match tonally and with regard to output for the bridge humbucker when wired in series, but would sound nice and chimey in parallel mode. Has anyone tried this? Do the dual-rail pickups retain the Strat voice, and are they indeed chimey when wired in parallel? Any comments are welcome.

Wow, I guess I was just tempting fate with that post. I did something really stupid yesterday. I was in a bit of a hurry (standard opening line for these kind of stories) to drill some holes with the drill press. While I was tightening the chuck, I reached up with my other hand to turn on the light. But I turned on the drill press instead. Before I even knew what happened, it had spun up and smashed the back of my hand (which was still gripping the chuck key) into the chuck, giving my wrist a little tweak in the process. Luckily, the chuck key let go when it did or else I could have broken my wrist on the thing. It's really sort of a bewildering feeling to be standing in the middle of your shop staring at a tool you've used about a thousand times before, knowing you almost hurt yourself doing something extremely careless. I'm fine now except for a couple small cuts on the back of my hand, but man that was messed up.

I know everyone here thinks they're super careful, and a bad accident could never happen to them, but let's be honest. We've all had close calls, which are usually followed by the statement "damn, that was stupid. what was i thinking?" If you know enough woodworkers, chances are you know someone that's had a nasty encounter with a tool. Chances are they were doing something stupid. Chances are they were an experienced woodworker at the time, and they knew better. Almost all of us have operated our machines in a unsafe manner before. It only takes a little bit of bad luck to turn that into a nasty accident. To me, the SawStop is some comforting insurance, but the tool that scares me the most is still the shaper.

wow, pretty! Dig the carves and the top is very nice. I'm getting orange overload from your couch, though. Don't mean to alarm you, but you built it upside down.

Academy, too.

hmm... bandsaws are pretty safe as far a power saws are concerned. They should be working on a SawStop jointer... talk about a finger muncher.

Here's a demo at normal speed: You can use any blade you want, but tripping the mechanism ruins the blade. You also have to replace the brake. Personally, I'd rather be out about $200 than one of my fingers. The idea is that you never want to have to use this safety feature, but it's there if/when you need it. Kind of like airbags, I suppose.

pete - I doubt wood movement is the issue. This joint was never good from day 1. It's been sitting in my shop for a while waiting for me to deal with it, and I been watching the garolite/mahogany joint to see if it comes apart. I think the surface prep on the maple may not have been good enough. I roughed it up with 80-grit in the orbital, but it still seemed pretty smooth to me. Maybe the epoxy just couldn't find anything to hold on to. I'll inspect it if I manage to separate the top. wes - I know you ordered some garolite a while back when we were having a discussion about it. Did you ever end up using the stuff for anything? Woodenspoke - I'm going to try Titebond I & III and Gorilla glue on a couple test pieces before I decide what to glue the new top on with. I understand your comments re PU glue, but I've been using it more and more lately, and I've started to like it quite a bit. Have you had any experiences gluing up phenolic with Titebond or white glue? It doesn't seem like it would stick well, but I guess you never know.

Good points, Pete. I did actually use a slow setting epoxy, but it was cheap stuff. I got good squeeze out, and the epoxy was still nice and fluid when I clamped the top on. I think West Systems or some other "good" brand would have worked better. I'm not so sure wood glue is good choice, though. Garolite is a synthetic, non-porous material. When I glued this up, I scuffed both surfaces with 80 grit, but the glue just didn't stick. I'm considering Gorilla glue for re-gluing the top. I've had pretty good luck with that stuff so far. Anyway, given that the glue is really not sticking well, I'd like to try to break the joint without heat. I'm worried that using heat will affect the garolite/mahogany joint, which seems to be holding quite well so far.

The top is delaminating on one of my guitar builds. It is a maple top on a mahogany body with a garolite contrast strip. The layers are glued with epoxy. The maple is coming off, but the mahogany/garolite joint seems solid. I've already tried to wick superglue into the gaps, but it didn't hold. The pictures shows just one particular spot, but the top is coming off in multiple places. I figure I have two options: 1. Try to separate the top, possibly using heat. Clean up the surfaces, and glue it back on. 2. Plane off the top, buy a new one, and glue it on. I used hardware store epoxy for this joint. This is the last time I will use that stuff for anything serious. I've already hosed a neck using cheap epoxy, and now it looks like I hosed a body, too. What do you guys think? http://www.ece.utexas.edu/~wrobert/tm2-top1.jpg

A friend of mine has the cabinet saw version. The safety factor is awesome, but beyond that, it's also a very nice saw. I don't see myself getting a table saw for a long time, but when I finally do, it will be a SawStop. My friend is a lawyer, and he feels that now that this technology exists, the other saw manufacturers are just a few lawsuits away from being forced to license the technology and use it in their own saws.

Good post. I've learned some of those same lessons. Number 1 especially. There's no reason to sand the same guitar out 4 times. I also don't sand to high grits. For oil or dye jobs, 320-400 is fine. For lacquer jobs on woods that don't show scratches too easily, I just go to 220. I started out spraying Behlen stringed instrument lacquer mixed 1:1 with thinner. Never had any real problems, but I've since switched to McFadden. The Behlen stuff is intended for acoustic instuments and had plasticizers added to make the finish more flexible. The McFadden lacquer seems to cure a little harder. I can get the McFadden lacquer to flow out better than I was able to with the Behlen lacquer, but that may be more due to improved technique than anything else. I spray a couple coats mixed 1:1 over raw wood as a sealer, then about 10-15 coats mixed 75/25 with 5% retarder to build the thickness. I only sand between coats if I need to take care of inclusions, runs, or sags. I level sand the guitar once after about 6 coats using 600 grit and again after the last coat of 75/25 lacquer using 800 or 1000 grit. After that I spray 2 coats of 50/50 lacquer and hang the guitar up to cure for a month. I don't use vinyl sealer either. I haven't had many problems with runs or curtaining, but if I get one, I don't worry about it. I just finish spraying, wait a few hours, then sand it level with 600 grit. I do the same thing when some little piece of fuzz gets into the finish. Trying to pull it out while the lacquer is still wet just causes more problems. This has worked quite well for my last three guitars.

I'm confused... what does E'EE mean? Two standard tuned e-strings and one an octave lower?

Matt, your short scale looks awesome. Mine is not quite so intricate, but I'm having fun with it. Don't think I'll be trying uke tuning anytime soon, though. I would have to change the nut and the bridge (and probably build it too). I'm starting to get the hang of playing it the way it is. String tension is pretty high, but I don't know what could be done about it. I'd like to try Nashville tuning at some point, too. Anyway, I need to fix a couple things. I misjudged the neck angle slightly, so the bridge saddles are a bit lower than I'd like. I'll have to shorten the saddle height adjustment screws by about 1/16". Since I'm using a top-loading bridge, the break angle over the saddles isn't very steep. It doesn't seem to be affecting anything, but it looks precarious. I'll probably convert it to string-though-body when I disassemble for it finishing. The break angle at the nut isn't so hot either, but I think I'll leave it for now. I may add spacers to a couple of the tuners or do a Floyd Rose-style string retainer (probably not).

So after the Less Tall came though here a couple months ago, I got interested. Well, not really interested... more like curious. I wanted to know what it would be like to play such a tiny, high-pitched guitar, so the only logical choice was to build one. I was looking for a "just for a fun" project anyway, and I had enough parts to build this without buying anything except the tuners. So, here it is. Progress pics (there's tons, and most aren't interesting, so feel free to not look at them): A paper mockup: Gluing the headstock lams, body and neck blanks: http://www.ece.utexas.edu/~wrobert/octave_002.jpg http://www.ece.utexas.edu/~wrobert/octave_003.jpg http://www.ece.utexas.edu/~wrobert/octave_004.jpg http://www.ece.utexas.edu/~wrobert/octave_006.jpg http://www.ece.utexas.edu/~wrobert/octave_007.jpg Body cut out (small, huh?): http://www.ece.utexas.edu/~wrobert/octave_008.jpg http://www.ece.utexas.edu/~wrobert/octave_009.jpg Another mockup: http://www.ece.utexas.edu/~wrobert/octave_010.jpg http://www.ece.utexas.edu/~wrobert/octave_011.jpg Working on the scarf joint: http://www.ece.utexas.edu/~wrobert/octave_012.jpg http://www.ece.utexas.edu/~wrobert/octave_013.jpg http://www.ece.utexas.edu/~wrobert/octave_014.jpg http://www.ece.utexas.edu/~wrobert/octave_015.jpg http://www.ece.utexas.edu/~wrobert/octave_016.jpg Couple shots of the neck after roughing in the thickness with my router jig: http://www.ece.utexas.edu/~wrobert/octave_017.jpg http://www.ece.utexas.edu/~wrobert/octave_018.jpg Neck stiffening bar (no truss rod, just a pair of 3/16" x 3/8" steel rods) http://www.ece.utexas.edu/~wrobert/octave_019.jpg http://www.ece.utexas.edu/~wrobert/octave_020.jpg http://www.ece.utexas.edu/~wrobert/octave_021.jpg Neck mockup: http://www.ece.utexas.edu/~wrobert/octave_022.jpg Bandsawing out the headstock shape: http://www.ece.utexas.edu/~wrobert/octave_023.jpg Headstock mockup with tuners: http://www.ece.utexas.edu/~wrobert/octave_024.jpg http://www.ece.utexas.edu/~wrobert/octave_025.jpg Fretboard slotting (not my favorite job, but not as bad as some people make it out to be): http://www.ece.utexas.edu/~wrobert/octave_026.jpg http://www.ece.utexas.edu/~wrobert/octave_027.jpg http://www.ece.utexas.edu/~wrobert/octave_028.jpg http://www.ece.utexas.edu/~wrobert/octave_029.jpg Gluing on the fretboard: http://www.ece.utexas.edu/~wrobert/octave_030.jpg http://www.ece.utexas.edu/~wrobert/octave_031.jpg http://www.ece.utexas.edu/~wrobert/octave_032.jpg http://www.ece.utexas.edu/~wrobert/octave_033.jpg Routing neck pocket (the neck fits tightly, and I can hold up the body with no glue) http://www.ece.utexas.edu/~wrobert/octave_034.jpg http://www.ece.utexas.edu/~wrobert/octave_035.jpg http://www.ece.utexas.edu/~wrobert/octave_037.jpg http://www.ece.utexas.edu/~wrobert/octave_038.jpg http://www.ece.utexas.edu/~wrobert/octave_039.jpg Neck shaping mostly done (I use microplane rasps, a spokshave, scrapers, and sandpaper) http://www.ece.utexas.edu/~wrobert/octave_040.jpg http://www.ece.utexas.edu/~wrobert/octave_041.jpg http://www.ece.utexas.edu/~wrobert/octave_042.jpg http://www.ece.utexas.edu/~wrobert/octave_043.jpg http://www.ece.utexas.edu/~wrobert/octave_044.jpg Gluing in the neck: http://www.ece.utexas.edu/~wrobert/octave_045.jpg http://www.ece.utexas.edu/~wrobert/octave_046.jpg http://www.ece.utexas.edu/~wrobert/octave_047.jpg http://www.ece.utexas.edu/~wrobert/octave_048.jpg http://www.ece.utexas.edu/~wrobert/octave_049.jpg A quick pass with the router clean up the neck joint: http://www.ece.utexas.edu/~wrobert/octave_053.jpg Routing the pickup cavity: http://www.ece.utexas.edu/~wrobert/octave_055.jpg http://www.ece.utexas.edu/~wrobert/octave_056.jpg Assembled: http://www.ece.utexas.edu/~wrobert/octave_062.jpg http://www.ece.utexas.edu/~wrobert/octave_064.jpg http://www.ece.utexas.edu/~wrobert/octave_066.jpg Specs: 14.5" scale length Strung with .008"-.038" strings Jatoba fretboard Soft maple body and neck Maple/garolite/jatoba headstock GFS "Power Rails" pickup wired in series Couple of things to note: 1. I shamelessly stole this body shape from another forum member. See his thread here: http://projectguitar.ibforums.com/index.ph...c=32026&hl= 2. I used a few different glues, depending on suitability and what I was feeling at the time. The body blank, headstock bookmatch, and scarf joint are titebond. The headstock laminations are epoxy. The neck joint and fretboard are gorilla glue, and the side dots are CA. Neat, huh? 3. How does it play? Well, it takes some getting used to. It's very small. The strings are actually higher tension than a set of 9's on a standard guitar, so they tend to dig into my fingers. Once I got the action and intonation adjusted I started having a lot more fun with it. Still haven't found a practical use yet... but I've been enjoying pretending like I'm a tape recorder on fast forward and playing stuff double time and an octave up. Anyway, this is the current state. It needs a lot of cleanup before finishing. I'm not sure when I'll be starting, so don't hold your breath, but it will get finished eventually. Any ideas for the finish? I was thinking burgundy-ish candy over silver metallic for the body and the same burgundy-ish translucent for the neck. Have to shoot some test samples and see if it will work first, though.

It's because the 12-tone equal temperament tuning system is a compromise. Even if your guitar is perfectly set up and intonated, you still have to deal with the inherent problems in 12 tone ET. There's lots of info about this on the net. Try here and here for a start.

Awesome! Kinda like the vacuum clamps Ken Smith uses for shaper templates, but better.

Pictures aren't working for me. Looks like your link was truncated?