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Scott Novak

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Everything posted by Scott Novak

  1. Epoxy may not scratch, but it won't be as controlable as a polyurethane varnish. With the polyurethane I can just start adding thin layers until I achieve the look I desire. Polyurethane is also quite durable and probably more flexible than epoxy. So I'm leaning towards using polyurethane for the finish.
  2. So far the idea of laminating layers of veneer seems like the best one overall. I'm not very keen on the idea of using a porous veneer, so epoxy probably wouldn't be necessary. Plus, if you keep the veneer clamped flat while gluing I don't think that there would be a huge chance of warping. Bracing the pickguard sounds like a great idea. You would never see the bracing. You could even radius the pickguard slightly for appearance if you so desired. As the purpose of a pickguard is to protect the guitar from scratches, it makes me wonder what the best finish would be. Epoxy is tough, but scratch repairs would be more difficult. I'm thinking that for a pickguard a polyurethane varnish might be a good choice. I've used thinned out polyurethane in multiple coats for oak door thresholds and that was extremely durable. I applied 30 thin coats and completely filled the oak grain and they really looked great. I also plan to make wooden pickup mounting rings for the ES-335. Now I'm thinking that maybe I need to make wooden knobs for the controls and switches. Perhaps a layer of ebony veneer over the pickup tops. would look nice.
  3. Here are two methods of laminating pickguards from veneer: Guitar Repair A Wooden Pickguard: make a DIY Wood pickguard How To: This guy glued thin strips of wood together to make a pickguard: How to make a Guitar Pickguard: This video just shows examples of wooden pickguards: Wood Pickguards Custom Made...:
  4. No, I'm not putting the tubes inside the guitar. With a low impedance pickups there isn't much advantage to mounting the tubes inside the guitar like the Valvebucker. Low impedance pickups have a wide bandwidth and you don't have to compensate inside your amplifier for tonal problems caused by high impedance pickups. And of course the low impedance also makes them less susceptible to noise pickup. Balanced cables also sound better than coaxial cables that are commonly used with high impedance pickups.
  5. I've already widened the pickup routes to accommodate standard size Gibson humbuckers. However, I'm winding low impedance pickups for the guitar as well as building a vacuum tube preamp with a transformerless low impedance input. It will be about as far away from vintage as it can get. I also contoured the horn area for easier access to the upper frets. Nothing extreme, just rounding the original 90° edges.
  6. I've also been considering modifying the headstock for straight string pull. For that I'd need to glue some mahogany to the sides of the headstock to widen it for the 1st and 6th string tuning keys. Then it would also make sense to add a veneer over the front of the headstock and a thicker piece over the rear of the headstock Before anyone gets too bent out of shape about modifying a vintage guitar like this, let me assure you that this had been a very abused guitar before I purchased it for $77.00. Anything that I do with it will be a huge improvement.
  7. I'm refinishing a 1965 double pickup Gibson Melody Maker. I want to replace the black plastic pick guard with a wooden pick guard. The neck is a slightly yellowish Honduras Mahogany and the body is a slightly more reddish colored Mahogany. I'm looking for wood suggestions for the pick guard. The pick guard would also be supporting the controls. As the pick guard will be relatively thin, I need a wood that will be sufficiently strong, as well as being complementary to the Mahogany body. I also want to laminate a thin piece of wood the back of the headstock to thicken it, as it is too thin for some brands of tuning keys. I'm also thinking about making a wooden pick guard for my walnut finish Gibson ES-335. What say you?
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