mistermikev

so was talking on the axe fx forum about wiring and had mentioned one of my fav mods for a strat... is just wiring a dummy coil up to the 2nd volume as it allows for hum cancellation against the bridge or neck as you dial up the volume.  Someone had asked for a drawing so I did a quick and dirty... thought I'd share it here.  In fact... we should really have a schem repository but then they are so available in this day and age, perhaps not worth it.  anywho... this is that.

basically you grab another single coils that is similar in spec to your bridge/neck pickup... pound out the poles with a screwdriver or nail set... and wire it up as pictured below.  stick it in the extra space between your pickups or in the control cavity... doesn't really matter.

so... as you turn it up it cancels hum in the 1/5 positions... You can just turn it up until the hum stops... but also dials down the pickup output a hair... making it less aggressive.  also dials down the brightness just a touch... like a fine tune control.  

looking good brutha.

14 minutes ago, curtisa said:

Might be a silly question, but do you know for sure if you need to ground the strings? Depending on your preamp/pickup choice you might find that adding a string ground for noise suppression makes no difference to hum levels (think EMGs for example).

 

Dry milling aluminium (or aluminum if you prefer) is achievable on CNC, just need to take things slowly and in small bites. The harder grades of aluminium can polish up quite nicely too for an almost chrome look. Brass might be doable in the same way

Hello curtisa, always good to have your input. 

yes, I am aware of the fact that emg uses a difference amp to subtract the noise from the signal... and as such doesn't require a ground.  In fact most actives use some variation of this idea. 

in this case I was planning on using a cool pickup that was made for me by my friend over at oat soda pickups.  it's two p bass passives - one based on p bass and one based on a split jazz.  so in short they are passive, and could be quite bright (have not heard them yet). 

the orig carl t used an emg guitar pickup... and my early drafts of this bass were using that. 

the downside there is that there would be no splitting/combining of differing pickups ie less variety. another downside is I'd have to re-think the preamp I was going to use... i do have a haz lab pre pcb cut... and it does have an option to optimize for actives vs passives... but has more controls than I intended(bass/mid/treb + mid freq).  

the upsides being that the piezo doesn't require grounded strings, so using them would indeed mean no string ground required... and it would simplify the controls a lot...

hmm... I'm gonna think on that, good call on your part.  

I have a p/j set and a 707... would have to see how I would integrate them into my existing route/cover-design.  

well I thought of doing this but A ) the ferrules have black paint... which would have to scratch off where they make electrical conn and it might be problematic to actually solder to it, B ) it would seem a bit cumbersome as if it gets disconnected after the ferrules are in... would be a pain to take out. Also... running wire from each ferrule to the other... would be hard to hide this and not have issues with the ferrules sitting flat.

I had thought of running a ground wire to just one ferrule... then using a steel or brass nut to transfer ground to strings E-G... but again then with the nylon tape between the actual string and the nut I don't think there'd be a great electrical connection there and also would not be black. 

another idea I had was to just get some 1/16" flat brass and drill holes for the ferrules to mount in it, this would ground them together, then put a finish plate over the top of it.

with the radius there... would just create a route for the new ferrule block and given the string slots are pretty long on top... should be able to make it work.  again, would make a wood cover to top it and use magnets to secure.  would hide the whole thing.  

option z is I machine my own brass block and put make the holes follow the arc.  I guess it's really only drilling 6 holes... in theory my cnc can do brass... but then have to buy some bits for metal, have to get a coolant pump... not sure I want to go through all that.  

I guess I'll just keep thinking it over in my head until it comes time where it's the last thing I have to do and maybe then I'll know which way to go!

appreciate the input biz - thanks,

7 minutes ago, Bizman62 said:

Me too, and purdy she is indeed!

A simple brass bridge similar to a wooden one should be easy enough to do even with hand tools and that would also solve the grounding issue. Or, if you go wooden, insert a piece of fret wire similarly to the bone in acoustic bridges. Or even a thicker slab of brass, now that I got to thinking...

thank you.

well I'd kind of have some ideas how I'm going to do the bridge.  I bought these locking studs... that are for les paul style tailpiece and have tops that screw on... was thinking I could do an acoustic saddle... over a piezo ribbon, and create set screws in front/back of the studs to allow for fwd/rev action on the bridge.  so that rules out a ground connection via the bridge itself... but I was thinking I could buy one of these: https://graingerguitarparts.com/products/grainger-bass-string-ferrule-block-5-string-19mm-spacing and bury it in the backside and do some sort of wood overlay.  then just run a ground wire too it. 

the ironic thing is I use nylon tapewound strings which make a ground connection thru fingers rather weak... but you never know when you want to toss some round wounds on so best to have it.  having it at the ferrules at least makes connection to the string balls and not via the strings themselves so I think that will work best for my application.  

i do need to add working with brass to my skill set... but this bass isn't a great candidate since I don't want gold/brass.  finishing it would be problematic at best.  

anywho, thank you gents for getting my brain flowing!

38 minutes ago, ScottR said:

I have to admit I completely forgot about this build......and it is soo cool.

SR

well thank you sir... I forgot too in the sense that I don't know where I was at.  kevin came with the request for a tele and this just got pushed aside... and realizing now how much there is to do. 

turns out I made a mistake in my design in placing the stud holes too wide apart... so no worries... make lemonaid... was thinking I'll do a wood bridge w piezo.  so.. the electronics are going to be uber complicted. 

going to have a sep preamp for piezo, sep preamp for mags, the pickup is actually two p-style pickups together... so there will be the typical mike v "lotsaoptions" wiring... it's probably going to be too complicated.

have to solve some issues too like how to ground the strings if not via the bridge... think I'll just buy a brass 5 string insert... or perhaps try my hand at milling brass?  or perhaps run a ground wire to one string ferrule then use a brass nut?  i dunno.

decided to cut my own fretboard out of pupleheart... but my machine is only 24" so will have to attempt to tile it... lots to learn there.  My design for neck needs a lot of work yet... and this would be a first doing an angled headstock via cnc.  

bit overwhelming... but just have to put one foot in front of the other and repeat!

so actively back working on this build

decided to rebuild my tablesaw jig.  got it all built... and was so focused on getting the fence perpendicular to the base (it IS perp)... that I missed the fact that the fence is not quite tight to the rabbet in the middle... so both ends pull back about 1/32... which is the exact amount I won't let slide (hehe). 

fortunately I had the foresight to NOT glue down my handles... so those will come off easy.   

Room to improve anyway... my rabbet was a little too deep so I'll fix that in the design.  

right on.  1deg ain't much... but I bet it'll feel kinda nice.  yes, tele neck is typically 1/8" above body level + fretboard... so it sticks up 3/8" on a normal build.  that said... no rules.  my last it is about 1/8" higher than that... it's like walking a tightrope!  kind of nice tho in it's own way.  

dave/action... I am exactly the sm way.  i like them laying on the frets, the lower the better.  that said every once in a while i pickup a guitar that higher or just the action has changed due to temp/humid... kind of nice to play it a bit higher sometimes.  

anywho... I'll shut up now.

first off the tops... ooh la la.  very nice.  should be an outstanding looking guitar.  

interesting idea to put an angle on a flat top bridge.  I guess if you are maintaining a slope for the neck pickup that might be required?  Either way I'm sure it will add comfort.  25.5 scale... the devil's scale lol.  surprising how much dif a half inch can make in terms of feel.  

man... you crank out some guitars.  I admire that - your work ethic is impressive.  I think if I tried to go faster I'd just make that many more mistakes - it's a skill unto itself.  take a bow.

1 minute ago, JGTay said:

Yes, the cuts are mirrored so that it follows the wave pattern from both sides (if that makes sense) and it was a real pain to do... Didn't think too much about the actual process beforehand, just went for it and found that trying to clamp the pieces without them folding in on each other was something I should have realised and worked out before applying the glue.

 

Wow... Eddie Lang must have turned in his grave at that one. But at least it gave you another instrument to play and your mom supported you in it.

right on.  nice work on the fretboard!!

yes, george benson, pat metheney, and about a hundred other jazz guitar players said a collective "are you daft"?  all worked out tho!

look fwd to your next steps.

2 hours ago, JGTay said:

I am in the same boat. This will be the bass I learn on. The only bass I have tried has been a U-Bass.

Thanks for the input , I agree, think the 12" will be the best bet. 

oh snap... it's a bass.  ok!  i like what is going on with the fretboard if I'm seeing that right... is that 3 pieces joined together?  

bass... now you can officially tell folks "you slappa da bass mon".  I learned to play bass somewhere around my jr year high school.  Our band instructor... "you can't play guitar in jazz band"... mr bader was his actual name.  jackwagon... but thankfully that got my moms to buy me a yamaha motion b (32" scale) and so that's how I learned the bass.  guitar players are a dime a dozen... but bass players... all sorts of bands will hump your leg and try to get you to join lol!  kind of nice for a change!!  anywho, looking good brother!

1 hour ago, Nicco said:

Yeah thanks, Mike. The book recommended this method. I thought either this or @Dave Higham's method looked like the easiest. The router options are more solid and consistent, but I shudder at the thought of how much dust they'd make. Ha ha 

is it really dust tho....... or man glitter?  hehe, right on.  nice work.

13 hours ago, Nicco said:

Back from the family visit now, had a quick run at it today before I have to disappear for a few days again tomorrow. 

I've managed to get the radius dish done; I used the method from the book I purchased, 50mm wide pine strips cut to the right radius on the bandsaw, then a 3mm mdf panel glued down on the top. 

The underside of the bench doubles as a handy go bar deck

I like your low tech approach to this (dowels, rough radius + thin mdf). 

I have seen an interesting other take on this... you make a set of arched supports for a router to slide over w the radius you need... then you mount a circle underneath those arches attached to a lazy susan (used in kitchen counters... allows the circle to spin).  the idea being that you fix the router along the arch, turn it on, then spin/turn the wood mounted to the lazy susan.  then you move the router along the arch and fix it in another locale and repeat.  Always thought that was a cool idea anyway. 

nice clean work on the ukes.  bravo.

hehe, yeah, bukowski really knew how to put words together!

1 minute ago, RVA said:

I will create the jig and practice on a bunch of 2x4 fist!

Thanks for the advice on the build order. That makes sense to me. 

I will use a Tele template for the nut down and a Gibson headstock template.  I have a jointer and planer for flattening. Now all I need is some time and some nerve!

 

something I def don't do enough is a prototype/mockup.  that's def something that will increase your likelihood of success dramatically.  you got this. 

afa order... for me... the very first thing would be making a template and getting that perfect.  after that, if you are doing a scarf I suppose that has to be next.  next in my mind would be flattening the face of that blank.  then doing truss rod channel.  then glue on fretboard, then routing the shape.  then doing the profile.  

that said there are lots of schools of thought on that.  I've read that some do the profile before the flattening/fretboard (terry mcinturf) because you potentially get rid of any tension in the wood prior to glueing on the fretboard.  The prob with that is it's going to leave some very delicate edges.  

9 minutes ago, RVA said:

I thought 15/16 x 30" would be just adequate as a neck blank. The width is a bit much, but offcuts are always useful!

I do enjoy sourcing wood. My main concern is actually being able to create a neck out of one.  I am stalled in my first start, which did not happen with bodies. I guess step 1 is the scarf  joint, right?

well... taking on a scarf joint for your very first neck is pretty brave.  that said... what one man can do - another can do.  my first neck was a bolt on bass neck.  as I recall the hardest part was fretwork but that is still the hardest part mostly because - no matter how good you are - it's a lot of work.  I bought a slotted fretboard so that took that difficulty out of it.  there's always something!  getting the truss rod dead center and to the exact depth takes some precision... but I didn't really struggle with that.  some do so ymmv.

looks like some nice flame.  perhaps thick enough for resaw or are you doing slip matched?  

always nice to have more than you need... I have a local spot that would have decent flame from time to time.  haven't visited them in a while because I've got so much wood I feel like I should get to building things b4 I buy any more!  that said... you don't snap it up when it's available and you'll regret later.  Not to mention the place is literally about 4 blocks from my work so I figure it's therapy during lunch hour.

realizing this thread was started long ago... but yer honor I object - I def would like to see some of your headless builds!

crazy how much time/effort/love was put into restoring that plane.  respect.

2 minutes ago, avengers63 said:

GAS: It turns out my company gas card has a $1000 limit. I found this out by taking it down to less than 1/4 tank. It wasn't enough to fill it up. I now hit the fuel station at about 1/2 tank. That gives me room to fill up the reefer tank and top off the DEF tank as well. It usually hits $600-700.

AMP: Suggestions are always welcomed. They might not be followed up on, but they're welcomed nonetheless.  I'm trying one of those cheap headphone units on Amazon for about $35. It'll fit into the pocket of the gig bag, charged by USB cable, and has bluetooth. This SHOULD let it pair with a little Altec Lansing speaker I have. I was initially looking at the 7w Boss Katana, but I wanted to try this first. Less out of pocket initially.

TIME: I'm limited to about 4 hours on Saturday afternoon. It sucks, but it's what it is. This is part of the time sacrifice truckers make. Wifey & I are going through a rough patch while we're trying things to figure out how this lifestyle works for the both of us. On the good side, we both understand WHY we're crabbing at each other, but that doesn't make it any better right now.

suddenly feeling better about $85 fill up this morn lol.

afa time... well if it makes you feel any better... I'm limited to 10 minutes at a time... cause that's all I can stand it in my garage when it's 115 degrees out!

crabbing... I'm sorry to hear that.  can't be easy.  there have been a lot of off-roads on my way to 27 years w my wife... but you just stay on the highway no matter what!

I have a relative that is also a truck driver.  can't imagine gas prices are fun for you folks right now!  Can't imagine how you have time to build guitars.

i know you aren't asking but... you might consider the ruby amp over at runoff groove.  it's easy to build, very small... you can get a couple of 2" speakers for less than $10 over at taydaelec... less pieces to put in the truck anyway and would be interesting to see it all fit in there.  

anywho, rawk on.

1 minute ago, Dave Higham said:

Exactly. I'm not sure it really needed it and it complicated things a bit, but it turned out OK

right on.  I appreciate you answering.  is an interesting idea. 

have some carbon fiber in my near future for a bass build I'll be getting back to shortly... not really looking fwd to trimming it because as I understand it's nasty stuff.  what made you decide to have the carbon go into the fretboard?  not being critical, honestly wondering because I imagine that complicates things quite a bit.  I suppose it was because allows you to use a deeper piece of carbon fiber while maintaining a thinner profile?  anywho, cool beans.

bender - don't see a lot of those i imagine due to the expense of the hardware.  piqued my interest... i sure hope you'll do a recording of it at the end.  been wanting to try one for the longest.  dog looks great.  

wow, that is really sharp looking.  nice work.