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Drak

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Everything posted by Drak

  1. So I decided to alter the Super-Satch and add an Afterburner to the assembly. This came about as I was pondering options for the Sonic Crayon and deciding/balancing options between the two. So, apart it comes. This is the pickguard 'part'. Pickups - DiMarzio Cruiser in the neck (5k), DiMarzio Fast Track 2 in the middle (17k full out), DiMarzio Fred (10.5k) in bridge. 5-way Schaller 'E' model megaswitch, P/P tone pot (coil splits the Fast Track), and the EMG RPC on the pickguard. That then gets screwed down to the body, then the rest of the show gets 'dealt with'. Additional EMG SPC and Afterburner pre-amp.
  2. Its done to hide the joint where the body switches from Mahogany to Maple. I'm just pulling figures out of my ass here for a moment for argument sake... If your core wood was 1.5" and your top (maple) was .75" (sorry I don't do metric) Then the binding is going to go down to that depth, where they meet. If your core wood is even less, say 1.5", and your top is 1", then the binding will be even deeper. Because it's hiding the transition, wherever that transition happens to be. The top of the carve at the neck area 'is what it is', (all the way around, actually) and the binding is not concerned with that final height. Its concerned with hiding the transition between the woods, with the top being whatever the carve says it is.
  3. You've completely exhausted the physical possibilities, time to go metaphysical. Look for an energy healer in your area, you've got some sort of energetic disturbance going on. In the part of the country where you live, the place is crawling with them. You could probably throw a rock from where you stand and hit one in the head. Although that would not be a very kind thing to do...
  4. I agree with this. Not only the points you made, but there is absolutely Zero room for dialing in the alignment of the neck to the bridge saddles. If your neck is off by the <slightest bit> and you have already drilled for the bridge based on a centerline, you're screwed, there's not the slightest bit of adjustment available. If the pocket is that tight, better off not drilling for the bridge until you can base the bridge off of the neck and not a centerline.
  5. That's beautiful, I really like it. And I generally don't hand out compliments unless I'm really moved to do so. Really well done Sir.
  6. It actually took a turn into very familiar territory now. Its now reasonably close to my other EMG builds but with a Floyd and hotter pickups. The VMC would have been a bit of a different fish, but not by that much. I decided with its range of 80Hz to 800Hz, it would be better suited to enhancing a SC pickup type guitar than a hot HB'ered job. The RPC is a better match for hot HB's than my usual EXG would be. So, everything's' actually working out quite well, it will all be familiar territory.
  7. Nope, doesn't matter to me, I've had old German builds with zero frets before, I don't mind them at all. Just thought it seemed a bit out of place as you typically are kinda persnickety about following original plans so closely. Carry on with your zero fret then!
  8. The EMG tone pots get wired in series, they each have an 'in', and an 'out' signal path wire. So you have to decide which one you want 'in front' of the other. When I use them in my typical config, I nearly never have them on together at the same time. If I'm using the EXG, the SPC is off, and vice-versa. So, although they get wired in series and you have to decide which you want in front of the other... It usually just doesn't matter to me as I don't use them together. EMG recommends putting the EXG or RPC first, then the SPC, so that's the way I usually wire them.
  9. So I flipped the magnet in the Fred to reverse the polarity (you have to do that to make the switch hum-cancel in all positions) That was a royal PITA compared to a Duncan, which is easy-peasy, 5 minutes in and out. Got the Schaller 'P' (PRS) 5-way megaswitch wired and checked all positions with a multimeter hooked to the volume pot output. Everything's working A-OK exactly as it should. All coil options working perfect. Installed the RPC on the guard. I can't really go any further until I finish the finish on the body. Then I can mount the guard, then mount the SPC on the body, and finish the wiring. This RPC has been sitting (new) in a box for years upon years. Based on the PC board, its a very old one, I think maybe from the very first version they ever manufactured. If you look at any EMG tone pot made now, they're encased in black plastic with the connector clips for easy install. But I've been using these things for probably 25 years, I've seen at least 3, maybe 4, different versions over the years. I'm pretty certain this one, with the little PC board, was from the very first production run.
  10. Why the zero fret? Seems out of place here. You must have a reason for purposely choosing that.
  11. That whole finish (your target) has a layer of opacity to it I find a bit curious. Even in the center, you can barely see the wood grain, just barely make it out. Now that I'm paying attention, the Schon/Kahler one has the exact same effect on it. Where the other two are very clear, you can see the wood grain perfectly clearly. Definitely a slightly different application method between the two sets. Wherever there's any level of opacity involved, there is a pigment present in the mix. My two go-to's are Mixol and Tints-All, those are my two lines of pigment colors. No trans dye is going to lend that level of opacity, has to be a pigment involved, even if only a few slight drops. I'd bet they used the slightly opaque finishes on top woods that weren't 'all that', and so they subtly hid the grain a bit. It makes the eye go towards the color and the burst and not fixate on the grain.
  12. In the past year, I have seen several burst jobs on other forums that were absolutely amazing. Their first go, with aerosols no less, that repeatedly blew me away, and I am not easily blown away. Either its something in the water or the aerosol suppliers are upping their game with better tips or whatever it is their doing. But people are blowing out some really nice aerosol bursts now, so its completely doable w/o much equipment.
  13. Was the Kahler a stock option or did someone just slap it on there? This one is quite attractive (to me). I think this one is what you're shooting for? They were really encroaching on the Ibanez Artist territory here.
  14. For one, I actually detest overly-complicated overly-optioned switching guitars. There is effective and useful, and then there is superfluous and stupid. This is just a 2 HB, (HH), not H/S/H. Technically speaking, there may be a way to put a 'coil dimmer' switch in front of the 5-way, that's slightly above my pay grade and I would need to ask a higher authority about it. However, if you take 3 steps backwards, back to the primary intention of the S-A-S to begin with, back to the 'root cause and intention', that has been solved for by using a different approach. Therefore, the S-A-S now becomes irrelevant. The new challenge is choosing two EMG pots that work well together and are both beneficial to the instrument at hand. I looked up the specs on the VMC and that device requires 18V straight-up, not an option, where the other pots are 9V normal, 18V optional. So I may just wind up using an RPC and the SPC, which would be 'straight-up right in my boathouse', since that is nearly my normal EMG layout I'm used to already. Actually better with 2 HB's, as the RPC doesn't enhance lows, only highs, where the EXG (its counterpart in SC guitars) enhances lows and highs and cuts mids. The RPC enhances highs and cuts lows, perfect for a hot 2-HB situation where an EXG would create a 'boomy' low end situation. So an RPC/SPC is a perfect combination for a 2-HB 'hot wind' guitar with various coil attachment options available. The S-A-S and the VMC will just have to sit this one out.
  15. Totally f'in hilarious you asked that exact specific question as that is exactly what I've been processing for the past two hours. I think the S-A-S is dead in the water as an idea. Why? Because I'm using a Schaller 'P' model Megaswitch (PRS). I didn't think things out thoroughly enough ahead of time. The switch needs every wire from both pickups dedicated to it to get all the switching options, with the volume coming after the switch. So: Pickups>Switch>Volume (Tone)>VMC>Output Jack. The S-A-S would need to go in front of the switch and it needs the two inner wires from the neck pkp. And I don't see any way to make that happen and give the 5-way switch the wire assignments it needs to get all the options. So I think, as they say, 'that fish, no swim'. I was bummed and pissed for a little bit but not for the reason you might think. The PRS switch should give me all the tonal variations I need, so it rendered the S-A-S a rather moot point I could just forget about. My initial concern was that the Fred would be a little too high output in the neck, but I have other ways of dealing with that. So that led to me being freaked out of what to do with the 3rd hole in the CUSTOM pickguard I just made, that's what skippered my jibby. AND I had drilled the hole in the body today for the VMC. There was No back door exit sign for me. There wasn't any assignment I could think of to make the hole useful, until 5 minutes ago I figured it out (finally) Another EMG active tone pot. I have both an SPC and an RPC here, so it's down to which one would I consider most useful. And I can use the blue knob on either of those. So I found safe harbor. The RPC would be the closest rendering of what a S-A-S does, and I don't think this guitar needs an SPC, its hot enough already. So the S-A-S is out, the RPC is in. That was a close call. And I have plenty of room to run an EMG dual-9V setup, which I've never run before, but probably will in this one. Now it's down to what makes the most logical sense of what goes in front of the other. Should the RPC go in front of the VMC, or vice-versa. Kind of a 'do you put your chorus in front of your dirt or your dirt in front of your chorus' kind of thing. Which now means I don't really need the treble bypass volume pot either, the RPC will take care of that too. So, nearly everything just got changed...
  16. Yes and no. I've done that kind of thing many times over the years. It is sprayed. It's not actually 'gold' per se (gold is a solid, opaque color that comes as a flaked dry mica powder). Its a mix of yellow and brown trans tint, with probably 3-4 coats/passes to get that darkness/depth. Its basically exactly how you spray white binding to mimic an authentic 'aged' look, but just taken a bit further (extra coats) to get to that darkness. The auto trim (good idea, poor outcome) is extremely fake and cheap plastic looking and you won't like it at all. The answer is to apply white binding and shoot over top of it with a yellow/brown mix. But...there's good news ahead. I'm pretty certain Re-Ranch will have some variant of a transparent Butterscotch color that will work in an aerosol can. I'd bet half their business is the Butterscotch colors (those damn Tele guys must have Butterscotch or they feel insecure, you know) So there's your answer. Apply white binding, shoot the whole thing, level-sand flat, tape off the rest of the guitar, shoot the binding only with the butterscotch aerosol, then spray more clearcoats until you're done. You can do the whole thing with aerosol cans. The tricky part (and it is very tricky) is taping off the binding with a really high quality detail tape that bends around the curves and getting that down right. The kind of tape guys who paint tricked out bikes use. Regular masking tape will not even come close to bending like you need bent. That's the hardest part of the job, the clean, detailed, accurate taping off part. Maybe not 'that' hard as you'd be spraying against black, so there might be some insurance room, but I wouldn't rely too heavily on that. You need to have the right tape and the patience and attention to detail to apply it right, everything else is pretty much cake.
  17. No pics, but always more work. I routed the rear cavity ledge <pinching fingers this much> too deep. So I'm gluing a piece of veneer onto the back of the cover to make up the difference. I also made a 25K No-Load pot for the Spin-A-Split. On another forum, someone who's been down this road told me a 25K or 50K worked much better than a 250K or up pot. And that I had to make it a No-Load pot. So I took one of my EMG pots (25K) and No-Loaded it last night, tested it (good, working) and ready to mount up. Also am switching out the normal volume pot for a specialty adjustable Treble-Bypass pot I bought awhile back. And drilling the body for the EMG VMC control. Getting ready to grab the gun, the last clearcoats should be going on the neck and body today. Finally...I'm really done shooting this, I so really am done pointing a spraygun at this thing. I need to drill the screwholes for the truss rod cover too, you haven't seen that yet. Tomorrow I should be able to pull tape from the neck and see those sharks teeth again, its been a long time since I've seen them last. That is yet another 'disparate design entity particle' to add to the overall mix, which I haven't been able to see yet.
  18. I had to choose the 'Summary in English'. I feel so ignorantly American sometimes...
  19. Your bit about 'humans always seek out (or replay) patterns'...There's a post on another forum where a guy just bought a Variac...and said he was expecting 'the Eddie magic' to happen...after forty years...And was severely disappointed in the outcome. Now, back in the '80's where information was not nearly as lubricated and flowing as it is now, and we were in our impressionable 20's...I could understand buying into that hype and mystique. But with the available information and tech (pedals, amps, etc.) today...I couldn't believe someone still actually held onto that 'mystical potato worship' for so long. From a psychological perspective, I found it fascinating that someone could hold onto a (fantasy) dream for forty years. As a funny aside, I used to work in a modem repair facility back in the 80's, and I actually had a real Variac on my bench to power up power supplies. Used the stupid thing all the time, I never saw anything 'mystical' in it, it sat on my bench as a piece of test equipment along with everything else. And I saw VH on their first tour ('78 I think?) and I never took the Variac home to try 'that'. Just found it funny, so far down the track, dreams do die hard. I saw dozens of these things every day..the 3451 was the 'hot lick' at the time, and they were still making acoustic-coupled models too, where you inserted the telephone handset into a foam-covered acoustic receiver. Am I old? Some would say yes...
  20. No, if you're not a constant trem user, that makes perfect sense and I'd do the same thing. I mean, you haven't glued it in place, but made it more stable, I get that. What I don't get...is pics, I want the pics.
  21. I want to see more pics, from all angles, from close up and far away. Yes I do.
  22. I figured you had to have known, but nothing in your post alluded to the fact that you did know.
  23. Personally, I would put the emphasis on the word 'white' over the word 'porcelain'. I don't think a white Floyd would be Satchel-approved, but a zebra-weed arm, yeah, he'd be down with that.
  24. Google Go-Bar Deck Mr. Biz, all will be explained. Its primarily for gluing up curved (arched) bracing to a curved (arched) acoustic top or back. Primarily...it has many other uses, but that's its primary purpose.
  25. Well, there is one area left for further artistic interpretation. Some people put a foam tubing (usually a piece of auto transmission line tubing) on the Floyd arm. You see it done 'occasionally', tho I kinda like the idea. I could maybe do that and spray it white, or do another seaweed black/white pattern. I wonder if Satchel would approve? (Steel Panther) This is a manufactured piece (with blatant marketing) for another kind of trem, ...but you get the idea.
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