badsnap

The actual woodworking is my weakest point of a build so I ask this for knowledge, not to critique. Why would you use that Purpleheart layer (piece)? It sounds like you are using it to couple the sound from the body to the neck and/or vice versa. I know in metalurgy, dissimilar metals touching is not a preferred situation. Wouldn't you want the same, or at least more similar, wood together. I may simply be unware of the properties of the woods used and you do have very similar woods together. Purpleheart seems to me to be used predominatly for asthetics over sound characteristics. Enlighten me please. Peace...Rog

Perhaps you are right...I have no real experience with EMG pickups per se so I really don't even know what they sound like. I was under the impression that their was waveshaping going on, but that could easily be done with a few stages of amps. If they do indeed use a multistage amp, that would actually make it easier. Yous could even prototype with discreet compents and experiment until you find the right sound, then choose components to reduce the size. Choose your own 2 stage amp chip (much cheaper), mount it, provide the necessary external components and see what happens. I still believe that it will be difficult at best to find out what they are actually using, so have fun and experiment. This is what I love about this forum, there is always a voice of reason (another valid take on the subject) to get you thinking. Peace...Rog

The wires you describe are for each coil in the HB, one pair (don't remember colors off hand) of wires for the front single coil, the other pair for the rear coil. This means you can hardwire them to be HB only, or you can single out coils depending on how you wire them. They have a lot of versitility that way. You could cut the existing pick guard if you wish but new ones are cheap and come in a varity of cool colors and styles so you may want to go that way. Be advised that just because you put HBs in there, you may not like the sound, or at least miss the original sound. Peace...Rog

Well, let me throw in my two cents. I once modified a guitar, in a very simple way compared to what you are suggesting, and these were my results. I rewired the electronics (two HB's) in the following fashion. A 3 way switch for each PU wired front single/HB/rear single A 3 way switch for neck/both/bridge A phase swapping switch for the neck/bridge PU's. I found that I realistically could produce about 4 distinctive sounds. The other combination were hard differentially perceptable to MY ears. So I hard wired the combinations to a 2 way switch front(or rear) single and HB and a 3 way for neck/both/bridge. I kept the phase switch but it really only does any good in conjuction with 1 other setting. It was a good idea and experiment but all the coolness was taken away by the reality. Are you sure you want to try this on a PRS. You run a high risk of ruining the instrument. I would suggest that if you are going to perform this experiment in engineering, and I suggest that you do just for fun and knowledge, that you buy an unrouted body and a neck to go with it and build this guitar from ground up! You may be onto something here but is it worth potentiall destroying the PRS in the process? Personally, it sounds like a lot of work to dial in the sounds you want, and there are plenty of good effects untis that wil do the same thing at very reasonable prices. I truely hope you do end up developing a unique and wonderful instrument. Being predominently a studio player (actuall demo's, I know too many great players and I let them perform the actual final tracks) I have several guitars, each one different. Each guitar has it's purpose. Simple to operate and they give me the sounds I need. When we play live, I am far more accomplshed and comfortable behind the drum kit, so I have no need for a "super guitar". Peace...Rog

Just a little info on star grounding. By using the shielding as a ground plane, like the chasis in an electronics box, you ensure that all grounds have their own path to earth. Connect the shield to the ground (from your input jack) and the other ground wires to the shield. When you daisy chain grounds (connect the ground in a row, one to the next) you rely on the previous connection for the integrity of the next. This can created ground loops and not only create noise put amplify it. Star grounding ensures that each ground has a direct path to the device being grounded and greatly reduces the possibility of one device interferring with another because the path of least resistance for the current to any given device is straight to that device. If you only tried the tutorial method once, it is possible that you simply had a bad solder connection which you corrected while rewiring. I have reviewed both methods, and they both should work. In theory that is. Peace...Rog

If a solder joint is bad (cold, cracked etc.) it will change the resitance and therefore, coupled with the capacitors in your guitar circuitry, will change the filtered frequencies. If need be, and this is quite simple and easy, inspect all the solder joints. Make sure they are shiney, not excessive, and show no obvious flaws like cracks or lines. If they do, remove the old solder and apply new solder. Or use a "shotgun" approach and just resolder all connections, remove the old solder first though. Peace...Rog

I love my Fred in the neck position. With a little tweaking of the pole pieces, you can create some really warm, mid tone based sounds. Peace...Rog

As a professional robotics engineer, I deal with control circuitry as well as electro-mechanics and pure mechanics on a daily basis. I would suggest that you try not to reinvent the wheel. In other words, odds are that inside that device is more than just a few op amps. My guess is that is a circuit on a chip, complete with muti stage buffers, waveshape circuitry, and multiple cascading output (power, if you will) amplifiers. Your best chance at sucess is to browse the catalogs of circuit on a chip manufacturers and find a COC that would seem to meet your needs. There are many audio amplifier and waveshaping COCs to choose from. Before attempting to mount it with the coils as a unit, mount it on a prototype board and connect the externals (coils, power, resitors and capacitors) to it and see what you get. If you like the sound...cool, go on to the next step. If not, tweak it (change external components) or go back to the catalogs and find a different COC to try. Manufacturing on a circuit board should be easy and then you pot it with the coils and see what you have got!!! You seem to have a good understanding of the phyical parameters of the PU (wire, wraps etc.) so I won't even go there...you probably know more about that than I do anyway. I guess what I'm saying is even if you get that chip open you would need a SEM and a 1070nm laser based probe (several million dollars for each) to "see through" all the layers to reverse engineer...most likely more work and less fun than just trying to make your own. Remember, that COC is their trade secret, their bread and butter. It will not be easy to copy. I'm sure there are enough technophiles out there for you to partner up with to acheive your goal. Good luck, and keep us posted. Peace...Rog

My guess is that somewhere on this site there is a tutorial, a previous thread, or both. I cannot offer any other advice as I have never built an instrument with a tremolo or even modified one from fixed bridge to tremolo. Try doing a search and see what you come up with. Peace...Rog

OK primal - As a full time, accomplished drummer and a part time, a bit better than average guitarist...I love that joke! Drummerdude - While my guitar tech and modification skills are far beyond my playing skills, I have found 2 things in regard to this board. 1.) Listen to what these guys have to say. Rich and Perry, to single out two, have tons of valuable advice. 2.) YOU have to DO THE WORK, make your mistakes, and learn from them if you want to know how to get your action as low as possible. There is no right or wrong when dealing with someone's personal taste. But if you want your question answered, you have to listen to advice, read the suggested information, and (once again) DO THE WORK YOURSELF. You can try to "positive think" your fretboard level, frets level. radius correct and set up fine tuned, but that will not make it so. Only by doing it will you learn, gain experience, and achieve your goal of the lowest possible shred inducing action. Take my advice, I have learned so much from the information freely given to me on this board, but not nearly as much as when I put the knowledge into action, made mistakes, and then learned to do it better each time. Stop arguing about the possibility of the loweset possible action and do it! Peace...Rog PS - Please don't waste your time with banter and/or insults...I wil not respond to them. I will read them, chortle in amusment, and go on with my life.

Mattia...that site is too cool. I am in the design phase of a unique hybrid solid body which combines a HB, a piezo bridge, a truss adjustment located at the neck/body joint, and the looks of an old, oiled spanish guitar (the fake sound hole is the truss rod adjustment access cover). I think I will now add a homemade cow bone nut into the mix. Thanks for the link!! Peace...Rog

Oh so true Mick...The first guitar I refinished was about 20 years ago. My father painted cars so I had him shoot it a cool corvette purple with a pearl. Still have that axe to this day. Anyway, I slapped it together and proceeded to set it up. What a nightmare. Could not set the intonation no matter what I tried. I got it close and it would not tune right. Pulled the neck off, stripped the paint from the pocket and the contact surface of the neck and to this day it is such a sweet playing instrument!. My advice...keep the pcket and contact surface clean as you can. Peace...Rog

Hey Rich...good to see your input on this. I too (you and Mattia taught me well) did the research and thoroughly read the website information. It seems that they are just trying to excruciatingly compensate each fret for intonation. There are still variables involved (string type, bridge etc.) that were generalized, no matter how exact they claim to be. My thoughts were the same. What does the average person/player like to hear and the cost is quite high - INTRODUCTORY PRICE, Unlacquered neck: 3995 SEK / 450 EUR / 585 USD . Well...back to business. Peace...Rog

From my experience, every neck is unique, hence why we have adjustable bridges to fine tune the intonation. Now, I haven't spent the time to read through the sales pitch on the websight, but unless each neck is installed in the body that it is going to be mated with, and the crooked frets tuned to that setup, it seems to me that as soon as you attach it to the body, you WILL have anomalies that need to be compensated for. Basically, stringed instruments are not an exact science because the elements cannot be exactly contolled. I will, however, read through when time permits (i.e. when I have nothing else to do) and see what the heck this is!! Peace..Rog

There are several good books available for a very resonable price that will explain neck angle in detail. I, personally, like Melvin Hiscocks " Build your own electric guitar" - I believe this is the title, from memory. You can get it at Stew-Mac. I highly recommend reading a comprehensive book first before you dive in...it saved me many a time now!! The gist of it is this. If you are setting the neck so that the fret board sits right on top of the body, you will need a neck angle - see a Les Paul as an example. If you are setting the neck so the fret board is above the body, you can design the height so it matches the height of the bridge and you will not need a neck angle - many Fenders are this way. So, it is up to your design as to whether you need an angle or not. Those of you out there with much more experience than I...am I correct in this information? To the best of my limited knowledge, I am. Peace...Rog

I am by no means an expert in licensing issues but it seems to me that if you advertise that it is a modified Floyd Rose, you have covered your @$$. When you buy the parts, you have the intrinsic permission to use them. As long as you don't mislead the buyer into thinking it is what it is not, you should be OK. A quick email to the manufacturer might be the easiest way to glean the correct information. Peace...Rog

I am in the final design stages of a solid body electric - 1 HB and bridge piezo - that looks like a spanish classical guitar. I am going to use a long tenon with a fake sound hole (actually a cover for the truss rod adjustment), which will have the tenon under neath it. It will be roughly 4-6 inches into the body. I think this allows for more stability and continuity between the neck and the body. I will scan the basic plans and post very soon. But all in all, I like the long tenon (mine will be bolted) in either set or bolt on.

A good looking, deep, interesting piece of wood is stunning whether it is symetrical or not ...IMHO. No offense to PRS guys but the over abundance of perfect, matched, flamed and/or quilted tops has left me rather dulled on the whole look/experience. I personally would rather use a unique and interesting piece of wood. Hey, if everyone drove Porsche's, that VW would be the coolest car out there and draw the most attention...but then again, I love to break the rules!!!...Rog

I have to agree with Mickguard here...I would think the way to achieve your goal would be to build your own effects unit and keep the size small. Perhaps make it rack mount or just stackable on your head. Make a remote control pedal system and concentrate on keeping the size to a minimum (only include the switches you will need). Then you will have everything you want in a package that will take up a tiny amount of room on the stage (or studio) floor, and you can use it with any guitar...Rog

I know this is a lot to wrap your head around, but Mickguard has some great points. So...to further your options, if you can measure the difference in the height of the 2 bridges then you could make a WOOD shim of the correct thickness and then you would have wood to wood contact. I've never done it but it seems to be logical. If you use a shim to change the neck angle you are still shimming, so what's the point of the angle. It seems as though you want to keep your options open on this guitar (not make any irreversible changes) so the flat shim seems best to me. However, if you want to make some changes to the axe and keep it that way I would suggest either recess the bridge or (if you are ambitious) route the proper angle into the neck cavity or shave the bottom of the tenon of the neck to the correct angle. Melvyn Hiscocks book describes how to do the calculation, from a drawing, very well. Then the guitar would be set up to allow that insanely low action you are talking about. Any of the methods suggested in this post will work. Now you get to choose your poison!!! ...Rog

There are many vendors that sell bodies at a resonable price (Warmoth, Stew Mac etc) that are of very good quality. You could purchase one and customize your finish and electronics (good quality second hand pick ups are abound) and indoctrinate yourself into this addicting world. I would be willing to wager that most of us on this site started off that way...Rog

Sorry posted by mistake

As Sambo said, if you design a module for each: input, output, effects, monitor...that has exactly what you want and/or need and get them to look and work right - you just duplicate them for however many channels you want. It can easily be done...but very time consuming. I've built many control rooms and studios and wiring the boards and patch bays is an enormous and tedious task. So - yes it can be done, but I'm not up to it (especially in my spare time!!), I have guitars to work on (quite the addicting habit). Perry...I literally LAUGHED OUT LOAD at your post!!!...Rog

Just want to remind you that any time you attach something to a surface and leave it proud of that surface, you have a reduced contact area and risk chipping and flaking. You could lock the coating in with a clear coats (many of them) to provide a seal. I have never seen a Jem90 in person so I can't tell if the finish is actually textured or an illusion. It is possible that this is a graphic either painted, tranferred, or veneered onto the guitar. I have no idea which one it is, just blurting out possibilities. Does anyone know which it is, from personal experience???...Rog EDIT: Just another thought...someone early in the thread said they thought it was achieved by sandblasting. You could carve or blast (or any number of methods) the pattern INTO the guitar. No chipping or flaking then...Rog

Absolutely gorgeous!!!