Prostheta

Props on the Broken Miho avatar, Elynnia :-D

If I had have seen this post last night, Karl Svarc would have been able to name and probably date that for you. If nobody else knows what it is, I'll ask Karl to have a look at this next time he is around.

- Carl

+1 also.

The amusing thing is that too many people jump straight at the distortion and level knobs before even flattening the EQ when dialling anything in, plus a lot of people have no idea how to change a distorted tone to complement and work with the rest of a band....yes, the Metal Zone is difficult to use correctly, because it has the beauty of having a WIDE range of EQ and character settings. Not a one-trick-pony like a lot of pedals.

<sarcasm>

I guess the last paragraph makes me a hypocrit. I also have a very similar habit of pressing the car accelerator to the floor and turning the wheel randomly before considering even putting the key, starting the engine or even choosing a nice CD to play first of all.

</sarcasm>

I do indeed remember that Cyclone :-D I would say that given the experience with my Vampyre build (well, I actually have two) if you don't carve the perimeter then the recesses look too small. I opened mine out on the five-string to balance it all out for a straight contouring.

Are you shaping the edges like the "original"? Nice bit of walnut!

Wes, if you can track down a Zoom TM-01 Tri-Metal pedal, they're MUCH better than the Metal Zone just make sure you look past the ZOOM name. The pedal series was short-lived and really didn't seem like Zoom pedals (cast metal case with a fat bottom plate and big rubber sole, big solid switch, widely variable usable quality sound, etc.) plus they're a lot cheaper than amp heads! I really can't stress enough how much of an investment one of these things are. I used to drive the front end of my JCM800s with that baby and it blows all kinds of hell up the pre-amp stage if that's what you want! It made a 2203 single channel head into a usable clean to drive monster.

Thanks for bring that one up Setch/WezV - you have to take into account that each string has a thickness, plus you're bending/stretching the string when fretting it. If you consider an action of (for arguments sake) 1mm, it makes a huge difference when you have a range of 3-4mm to set your range in making placement that much more crucial if you want comfortable room to intonate either way. I'm currently fighting with a TOM setup on my Explorer as the 6th string is showing a few cents sharp at 12th when open is in tune, even when the saddle is dropped back. I think the bridge might need angling back just slightly more than it has been built to be. It stripped and being oiled right now, but that's another story. Back on topic....

I didn't mean passive EMGs of course - I despise those with a passion! I meant something nice and dynamic, perhaps a little more organic like DiMarzio Tone Zones or FREDs, or perhaps something from Bare Knuckle. I think EMGs will sound awesome in there, but I think sometimes that they disguise some of the finer points of how an instrument is made and the natural properties of the materials also.

In fact, I'll give you an offer for your EMGs if you're willing. PM me.

Drak mentioned that oiling wood can be a stage under a lacquer finish as long as the wood has had PLENTY of time to dry out. I hope he clarifies this in terms of your build. That said, it'll be a LOT lighter without several tons of finish on there! Great contouring around the upper and lower cutout too. Very slick. Despite me being an EMG man myself, it seems a shame not to use some nice passives in there....

Bias the upper and lower conditions using a pair of miniature preset potentiometers - one in series to add a minimum resistance, and one in series to provide a maximum.

I think the biggest challenge would be keeping each of the blades true and not running out slightly. Very difficult if you're proposing 22 blades spaced to around 0.1mm each.

I would imagine that a machine shop millling a set of 21 accurately made mid-blade shims plus two end spacers, and two or three rods to go through the spacers, blades and end caps with tightening nuts would be a bluffers approach. Kind of like a diminishing stack.

Have you had many problems working around the dust? I'm a bit circumspect about rosewood at the moment. I presume you have adequate extraction unless you sweep and clean up before photos ;-) That and you've just reminded me that I need a router bit to cut the recesses for plates better....

BTW - only one 640 x 480 pic per post, you'll need to link the rest.

Agreed. This doesn't help Thirsty develop his work, it's just a march of the sausage party. Perhaps Thirsty introduced his project and intentions badly, incorrectly or misleadingly to others - maybe. Whatever. Maybe the work wasn't done how other people would have done it - granted. Nobody is perfect and everyone still possesses the capacity to learn and progress. Not enough reason to stomp on the guy you know?

All you guitarists are such drama queens.

Pretty much all notes ring sharp on the attack, but settle down during the dwell. You'll notice this when using a tuner. It's entirely possible your nut is at fault though. Is there a lot of clearance above the first fret to the string when open? Are the slots wider than necessary? Do the slots slant backward marginally over the nut (a good thing)?

Well, just called me attached to those finger and eye things I have, you know?

Okay, lets math this one.

A 12'000rpm router with a 2cm sanding drum (TINY!).

The drum has a circumference of just under 6.28cm.

Multiply the circumference by the rpm, divide by sixty.

The edge of the drum will traverse 12.6m in a SECOND. An 8cm drum, just over 50m per second. That's 112mph. 162fps. A .38 Special's bullet probably travels about 500fps.

Imagine bits of your nice normally safe sanding drum flying at your soft compliant damageable body at that speed. Probably very hot and melty by that point too. Unpleasant is too flowery a term for this one.

Russian Roulette is more appropriate I believe. Your fingers won't grow back. Or your teeth, nose, lumps of arm, etc.

DO IT PROPERLY.

Sorry to be so blunt, but that's the way it is.

I've seen worse build errors on vintage Fenders due to the low cost of production on 50s-60s models. Tele string ferrules off by 2mm-3mm!! At least modern production Fender "relics" will play better than most vintages....

I agree with Oz, especially if you use black or gold ferrules - the finish will wear off 'em pretty quickly if they're not recessed at a guess. Practicality aside - either way is functional so the cosmetics are up to you.

I think that's some very admirable work. Did you refret to get the binding done, or did you hand cut the channels?

I use dyed black poplar veneer for my pinstriping, so I would say YES quite severely. we're talking black-black as well, so test on scrap first and go ahead.

Fookgub, can you do me a favour and convince my wife of that one? My power of lure and persuasion seem to have no effect :-D

Ugh. Guitars made by Vintage are the pits. Yeuch. You made it a hundred times better, man.

Exact location, no - not really. As long as the tuners can rotate without fouling each other or the headstock itself (I bet it's been done!) and as Marzocchi says - with as straight a string pull as is practical. Here's how I placed the tuners on my bass headstock. You can see the string paths drawn onto the wood, allowing for the tuner posts having a width also. I allowed a little more for the lower strings :-D Also, when doing this - make sure the tuners won't overlap on the back of the headstock for when you mount them! I staggered mine which works nicely.

How about this as an example of how Jackson lay out their tuners on headstocks? Not exactly straight string pulls, but the tension looks fairly even both ways from the two low to the four high strings. A small dab of Titebond would keep that but in there nice and sweet.

Wow. Thanks ever so much for the analysis Drak. I'm tempted to try it on my bass when it comes to the finishing stage to maintain the figure, but I'm unsure as to where (if at all) dye can sit in this mix. I suspect it can't as it would "flatten" the figuring hugely, correct?

Anyway - back to Godin's new instrument....sorry to hijack!

I hate quoting myself:

I suspect that the dark Titebond was created for non-perfectionist woodwork where mating surfaces aren't always going to be planed tight parallel and glue will be apparent if it is a contrasting colour (say, kitchen units or general home carpentry).

That's my suspicion anyway! Oh yes, Titebond is also used to glue other things than hardwood, such as leather, softwoods, particle board and other porous materials. A lot of materials people are adhering won't always develop a seamless join and a glue line will be evident. This is where a darker glue is useful. We - on the other hand - go out of our way to calibrate, mask, scale, flatten, plumb, align, stabilise, match, grade, regularise, measure, surface, gauge, scrape, flush, smooth, plane, sand, scuff and true our edges to make sure the join is foremost mechanically stable, and hopefully by design cosmetically perfect. I can understand why you'd want to achieve what you want Chris, but unfortunately this product won't produce the goods in that way. Blame the faulty universe, not me or Franklin.

I have - however - some choice wenge veneer you'd be interested in, but shipping from the UK would be a killer!