mistermikev

#1 for me.  nice.

2 hours ago, ADFinlayson said:

hot dang, I love the rosewood fretboard + headstock look, good job on bending the veneer, the binding too, it all ties in really nicely. Is this one wired in the same way as blue? 

thank you ad.  yes, this one is the same wiring as the blue but the pickups are a bit less output - 7k to 5.6k instead of 9k - 5.6k.  has a dif (more subtle) booster too.  Very much has an SRV thing going.  I was talking to some guy who works for moonstone guitars and he said they have an upcharge of $300 for body binding... now I know why!  was quite the learning experience. 

finding it difficult to get good pics of this... my wife says I'm not very good at taking pics (sad face).  chin up... here's a shot of the binding up close and some others.

need to get my office in order to work on a video.  this guitar very much turned out 'texas sounding'. 

my observations... it's hard to concentrate with your accent (hehe, I do realize I have the accent).  You are a very calm person on video!

just my two cents... but in general my fav build videos on youtube are all time lapse or otherwise edited to show fast progress.  I find it difficult to follow along in real time... just don't have patience (I don't know if I'm alone in this but these are MY thoughts).  I watch this guy a lot:

no idea what the kids these days like but this guy has 400k views.  If I were trying to do this... think I'd setup multiple cams as it's hard to have one that will 'follow along' with the action unless you pay someone to operate the cam.  just 2 cents

1 hour ago, Ronkirn said:

well. .   next time....  file the slot.... heat the screw with a solder tool... that melts the resins in the wood which acts as a glue when you first run the screw in...  back it out...  

always drill a pilot hole.... and use wax on the  screw to act as a lubricant when you run it in...

and pro tip . .  NEVER use the screws that come with parts.... with the possible exception of a few of the better known boutique parts makers, they all use the cheapest junk they can find..  made of inferior steel...   replace the screws with quality Stainless steel screws,,  you can usually find them at the local large chain Hardware store, Like Ace or True Value..  or the monster stores like Home Depot or Lowes... or on line at MCMaster-Carr ..

the only time I use the original supplied screws is if there are no Stainless substitutes available,, and then, I;m really very careful.

 

rk

thank you sir.  I followed 90% of that... hadn't thought of heating the screw... good call.  (btw I'm a big fan of many of your build threads at tdpri!)

I do always make a pilot, I never use screws that come with stuff - good advice.  The orig steel I used were from ace and were pretty decent quality (I over-tightened)... but the replacement was also from ace (dif location), the same thing, and was horrible.  Perhaps just a bad batch.  Def sticking to the stainless!

thank you for the response.

well I know none of y'all will be able to sleep until you hear the conclusion to the broken pickup screw saga so I thought I'd better update ma thread one last time...

drill several small holes next to each screw.  started working them back and forth with a thin screwdriver.  used a needle nose to pry them out once they were loose.  drilled a 3/8" hole on my press.  used a scored dowel - the type you might use on furniture, as these expand a bit with the moisture from the glue.  plugged it up, painted the area with conductive, drilled a new hole and voilla. 

swapped all the screws out w stainless... think I'll stick to stainless from here on out.  the originals were steel but the stainless feel real solid.  crisis averted!  in the process i managed to create another little fix... I dropped my screwdriver and put one little ding it the body.  it's hardly visible but I'm thinking I may spray some lacquer into a cup, and try to fill it, then wetsand... for now I'm enjoying a minute to play the damn thing!

you are too kind.

i think it boils down to how figured it is... as I've routered some light/med/heavy figure and it wasn't bad... but then some really heavy figure and it tears out just looking at it.  it has been my humble observation that if the wood actually looks shiny... it will tear out like crazy.  that said, I suspect wenge is hard as a rock.  probably a lot like rock maple.  and that tears out about as bad as really figured maple - whether it's figured or not.  all that said... I know nothing!

have some but haven't had the pleasure yet.  Currently out in my garage getting sidetracked by a 10 space studio rack project... flamed maple... that tears out very easy!

right on.  I don't think paudauk nor wenge require finish.  think that would look great on that guitar.  looks good.

generally if you are having issues with output it could be either an intermittent live OR ground.  If you have a multimeter, test continuity between points.  if it is dropping you should see it on your meter.  also, show us pics. 

I wouldn't get too frustrated, its hard when you first start out because of the intimidation of not knowing what direction to go.  More failures = more confidence as you get better at recognizing what's wrong right off the bat.  I believe in you.

Ok, got them both out without damaging my finish.  now... I could put this on my drill press, try to cut out an even 1/4" area for a dowel... but it's half excavated so... who knows how that ends.  I could just fill it with epoxy.  Not sure what way I'll go... what direction would you lean?

I doubt anyone is going to turn me on to a magic bullet here as I'm familiar with a lot of different ways so perhaps just some comisseration.   I broke a body mount pickup screw, couldn't get it out... so drilled a new hole and switched to new screws.  broke one half off on first attempt... that came out easy as some shank was exposed.  widened the hole... then broke another off clean.  now I've got two in there clean.  sum biotch!

i have tried filing a groove in the top and backing out with flathead but they are both broken right at the surface... so no go.  on a #4 screw a reverse bit isn't going to help ime.  they are in there pretty tight so I'm fairly sure how gluing on a piece using jbweld is gonna go.  at this point I'm thinking of drilling small holes right next to them and seeing if I can pry them out... then fill in with dowel.  my new screws are stainless.  (orig ones were actually steel but then one mans steel is not another mans steel). woe is me.

16 minutes ago, ZekeB said:

Ah there's no bad opinions.  I appreciate the perspective.   I do need to change the headstock anyway for hand ergonomics like Bizman was talking about.  I'd like it to match the body better as well.

right on... can't wait to see what you come up with.

yes, I know I said it privately, but publicly: nice work.  this is a build I'd love to noodle on!  Seriously off the hook.

love the body shape... reminds me of the neal schon jackson which i always loved.  I am not crazy about the headstock... just don't feel like it matches the beauty of the rest of the design.  Just one a-holes opinion so take it with a grain of salt.

oops, missed the link.  nice call curtisa.

A) yes this can certainly be done and is quite simple. 

B ) my advice would be - just think of it like any other strat.  if you aren't going to wire in any switching on the pickup... you could use any strat diagram you are comfy with.  you just need to wire the humbucker in series (for seymour I believe this will be black is live wire, red and white get wired together and taped off, green and bare to ground). 

Now... your humbucker is just like any other single coil... black is your live - put it where a std strat wiring bridge live is(red in diagram below), and green/bare is your ground - put it where the std single coil ground is(black in diagram below). 

note, that as a humbucker, this will not cancel hum in pos 2 like a normal strat.  you could do that by wiring in an auto split on the second half of the 5 way switch but to keep things simple for now lets just assume you don't want that. 

reference wire colors:

https://www.seymourduncan.com/blog/the-tone-garage/humbucker-wire-color-translation

std strat wires:

https://diagramart.com/products/electric-guitar-wiring-standard-strat-fender-switch-electric-circuit

love how the little circle makes a mirrored offset circle.  v nice.

looking good.  def appreciate that mahog... just a really nice piece there.

4 hours ago, Andyjr1515 said:

That last photo really brings it out.  It looks lovely

thank you sir!  def some subtleties to the top/finish - hard to get pics of.

2 hours ago, ADFinlayson said:

Looks great, I would like to see a closeup of that binding that gave you so much stick 

Thank you AD... will get some sunlight photos this weekend and will try to capture it better.

3 minutes ago, ZekeB said:

Mike that looks great.  Its going to have some great stage presence.

Thank you @ZekeB!  My wife says this is the one she likes best so far due to the color scheme... def very warm!

here's the current state of things: working on the wiring... have some touch ups to do on the fret slot edges... and nut isn't glued down.  def need to work up some better pictures... the rosewood on the pickup covers is hard to capture.

It's interesting how a little difference in neck profile and finish (no binding) can make for a noticeable difference in feel.  This is sort of a rounded C profile... and it feels fenderish... but with a 12" radius it plays sort of fast... my mind can't quite reconcile the two!

Anywho, been a long journey but I can see the finish line:

I like the fact that there is no epoxy through the center area... not because of tone/strength, but it just looks better to me.  nice work.

wow, don't take this wrong at all: I love it... my first impression is it's like a rickenbacker had sex with an eko.  really great retro vibe there.  nicely done.