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acpken

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Everything posted by acpken

  1. acpken
    Hello all, I'm reading 'da bible' (Melvyn Hiscock's book) at the moment. Pages 94 and 95 mentions a fixture for drilling the truss rod holes in both ends of a bolt on guitar neck. Has anyone ever built this fixture or know where to find some detailed blueprints to make one? I'm trying to figure out how to drill the headstock end properly. Thank you, ken
  2. acpken
    Thanks for the good ideas. I'm leaning toward a 'dry method' of removing this stuff, since the body was refinned in a very nice shade of dark blue and I don't want to damage it. Supposedly heat might soften this stuff, so I was thinking about trying a small heat gun in the pickup pocket first to see what happens. I wish this was the 'modern' graphite based paint and not nickel paint. This stuff is probably hazardous too. ken
  3. acpken
    There is so much paint that the whole guitar sounds strange. Imagine playing with all the treble removed over 3khz or so and you get the idea - no sizzle to notes. It's not the neck, pickups or electronics, as I borrowed a buddy's Jazzmaster and switched the parts out to test them. BTW, all the electrical parts including pickups are original Fender parts. ken
  4. acpken
    I bought a refinished preCBS Jazzmaster awhile back, and unfortunately a past owner has painted all the body's cavities with very thick coats of 'nickel print', or old school liquid shielding paint. Does anyone know how to remove it without having to totally strip and refinish the body? Thank you, ken
  5. acpken
    Wow. I'll be busy for awhile - got some readin' to do. ken
  6. acpken
    This I can totally understand. I remember when I made my first pickups, and wife thought it was a waste of time. The area I'm looking at is basically a little less than a one car garage sized area, and I have a bandsaw, drillpress, drum and small disk sander, and three routers to put in it. It looks like I'll have to invest in some sheet plastic. ken
  7. acpken
    Like many other 'older' musicians, I have some fretting hand issues. I have been searching for a long time for a guitar neck that is actually comfortable to play for long periods without pain. Have any of you ever built a neck specifically for people with hand issues, or have any ideas on how to design necks to accomodate them? Thank you, ken
  8. acpken
    I tried a variation of this once. I soaked the decal in water to remove it from the backing, turned it uposide down on the backing and stretched it out so it wouldn't wrinkle while drying. When it was dry, I colored the 'gold' areas with a gold marker and let it dry. When it was finally dry, I moistened the decal as normal and placed it on the headstock. I like your idea better.
  9. acpken
    I'm sitting down with a pile of notepaper trying to figure out where to put everything. I really like the idea of a 'flip top' bench top, say with a 3/4" thick top and a tabletop bandsaw bolted to the underside to reclaim space. The paint area is a sticking point here, as I can only paint outside for four months of the year. The big problem will be where to keep the bodies while the paint dries. ken
  10. acpken
    What does this mean? I tried to like Prostheta's post, but I was denied. I got this instead... Also, how do you access the edit function for your posts in case you make a mistake?
  11. acpken
    I'm sorry about that. I just didn't want to seem greedy.
  12. acpken
    Thank you for the link. You were right, there are a lot of good ideas in that thread. You're telling me that some of you actually build guitars in apartments? Never mind what their SO's think... I'd be worried about the landlord myself. My last landlord used to get mad if I flushed the toilet too loud. I wish I could work outside, but I live in WI and the 'work outside' season here is only from midMay to midSeptember. I'm looking at a new workshop right now, but it will still have to be insulated and powered before winter. ken
  13. acpken
    You may have to flip the magnet on the humbucker to make it work with your single coils, depending on their polarity. Otherwise, if you use the fourth pickup switch position (middle and lead) it may phase and sound thin. The real problem you're goung to have is the volume pot value - the 250K pot you use with single coils will make your humbucker sound dark, while the 500K pot the humbucker wants will make your singlecoils sound bright. Your call. Either way, the mahogany/maple body construction will give you a bright sounding guitar anyway. I'd like to review your guitars too... why don't you send me a couple of archtops and maybe a LP jr. or two? ken
  14. acpken
    Hello all, This is for the members with very small areas to build in. How do you deal with squeezing everything you need into your own area? Thank you, ken
  15. acpken
    Hello all, Thank you for the welcome. It was my dream since I was 13 years old to make and play my own guitar, so I started doing it a couple of years ago. No, I'm not planning on selling guitars. I do like Fenders since it's what I grew up on, but I do own Gibsons too and I'm hoping to learn more about making guitars, whether set neck, neck thru or bolt on. About the guitars... I can't take credit for the pickguard on the green guitar. It was made by my friends at Gilroy Guitars from Canberra, Australia. However, I did make the spalted maple topped Tele. It's actually chambered with a solid center like an ES-335. It also has a relieved neck heel and no control cover plates. ken
  16. acpken
    Hello all, I'm Ken from Angeltone Custom Pickups. I found out about this place in a thread over at music-electronics-forum.com. I have been making guitar pickups for over eight years, but it was a dream of mine to make my own guitars. I have made a few bodies, and right now I'm trying to learn how to make my own necks. Here are two of my own creations. Thank you, ken
  17. acpken
    I had this one happen to me too once, and I ground screwdriver slots in my guitar's stripped nut so that I got a good fit with a large screwdriver. Then, I heated up the nut with a large soldering gun (250 watt) until the glue in it started to smoke. I took the gun off the nut and quickly turned the nut off with the screwdriver before it cooled. ken
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