Logical Frank

I think that was the right decision to make, especially if you're planning on making most of your guitars w/ tremolos. The way I see it, you're going to have to rout and install your first tremolo bridge one way or the so you might as well do that for the first time on your first guitar. You might as well screw up those little things that get screwed up because it's your first time doing it on a body w/ other little first time screw-ups. If that makes any sense...

Looking nice. Real clever fix w/ that modded mounting ring to cover the gaps. Real soapbars looks so much cooler than humbucker shaped p90s.

Good info, thanks. That looks really nice too! In fact, I think I might have found the method I'm gonna try on my next build.

That looks really nice, Rick. Did you apply it by hand and how many coats did you use? Would you say it darkens the wood much more than, say, applying mineral spirits to bring out the grain?

I don't really like trems in general. I like the looks a Bigsby on some guitars but don't find them too functional. I like strat-style trems because they have minimum impact on the looks of a guitar. If I were to put a trem on a guitar w/ the actual intent of using it frequently, I would go Floyd Rose all the way. I think they're ugly and I hate dealing w/ the lockable nut but in my experience they fall out of tune the least. People always tell me I can do this that or the other to get a strat trem to stay in tune but that simply has not been the case in my experience.

I would go 250K--or at least try that first. Two single coils in parallel (like, say, a tele in the middle position) would normally use 250K. So it would follow that two sets of two parallel single coils in parallel would also use 250K.

The three fourth inch actually turned out to be just a wee bit small even. I ended up putting a little sanding drum on my Dremel and expanding it a tiny bit to get the jack to fit.

Good thing I went w/ a three forth inch then! I used a woodboring bit and it worked just great. Thanks again.

Yeah. Mine are switchcraft-style. 3/8" seems to small though...

Thanks! Will a spade bit do or is there too much danger of splintering?

What size and type of drill bit should I use to drill the hole for a LP-style output jack?

Sorry, I'm sure this has been covered but I can't figure out what words to search for and don't have my copy of Hiscock's book w/ me and I need to stop off to buy this on the way home from work today. Thanks in advance.

Those look real nice. I will file them under "When I'm rich" though...

I think that looks pretty sharp. Sort of evolved to have some resemblance to a Firebird but still unique. Not really feeling the headstock though. Anyway, I'd play a guitar that looked like that.

That's an acronym. Anagrams are a cool idea though. Using the Internet Anagram Server, I plugged in "Rock and Roll" and got "ALL CORN DORK" so maybe you will want to try some different words in there...

Sometimes it's hard to believe the cheapest options can be good (and sometimes better than more expensive options). But... it all depends what you want. If you want a nice balanced tone and don't mind that you've got rather dull looking wood since you're doing a solid color, then basswood is perfect (or one flavor of perfect depending what you want tonally). If you want something gorgeous for a natural finish, you might as well not bother.

Poplar is even uglier than basswood but I really like the tone of it on a HSS strat I have. It's a lot like alder, I would say, but I might like the poplar better as far as tone. As far as not being pasty white and having ugly green streaks, I like alder better.

Nice. I'm not sure I'd want an EQ on my guitar per say but I gotta like how it meshes w/ the sort of retro-futuristic look of it. It's like the nineteen fifties version of the guitar of the future.

Of those two, I like six better. Though I still think I like the second version of draft two best. The pointy horn just isn't doing it for me.

I like the new version. I agree that it seems like the neck should be inset a bit further.

If you're spending three hundred bucks, I say go on eBay and find yourself a nice silverface Fender Champ or Vibro Champ from the seventies. Absolute tone monsters, especially if you upgrade the speaker or plug it into a cab. I got mine for about two-hundred not too long ago. Those Epiphone Valve Juniors are nice too. I owned one for a while and it's a good amp and very cheap but when you have a Champ sitting right next to it, it becomes a doorstop so I sold it. Those Line 6 Spiders are fun to tool around w/, I agree, but you have a choice between one of those and a American-made, hand-wired, point-to-point amp tube amp and... well... I know what I'd pick ten times out of ten.

So he doesn't have unglue it if he messes up fretting?

Maybe...

I like two the best but agree it could use a little fine tuning. It seems like you could change the upper horn to flow a little better. The shape is pretty original. The only thing I can think of that's all that close is this SX guitar style.

the title of the post at the top of the page

You can see it from the main forum page. The line under the title of the thread.

Also as far as over wound pickups, Fralins were mentioned so if you stick w/ them, you will get a warmer sound if you go for more windings on the same model. How much warmer, I cannot say.

Anyway, what I would do is... turn down the tone knob. I might try some flat or ground wound strings as well but not everyone likes the feel of those and its not necessarily the most rockin' sound in the world. You'd also be first person I'd heard of who put flat wounds on a Floyd.

There will definitely be a pretty big difference between all four coils and just two coils. There will be much less of a difference between the bottom half and the top half of it. When you get right down to it, it's like having two of the same pickup right next to each other so the sound difference there will be comparatively minimal but there will definitely be a difference. (I'm just going off my experience splitting coils in a regular humbucker, never owned the motherbucker myself). I'm not quite sure how I'd wire up what you're talking about w/ a standard five way but It'd be pretty simple w/ a superswitch. Personally, I like just having a regular pickup selector and then a three-way mini-switch to split the 'bucker. It's just more straightforward by my way of thinking.

I don't see how this is urgent but what I would change is to put the EQ right after the distortion and put the delay last. I'm not sure where your amp simulator would go. Right before the amp after the delay? You can also experiment w/ putting the octave and the chorus before and after the overdrive. It will change the sound a lot and it's all about personal preference. Experiment and see what you like. There is no wrong way.

Basically, im putting together a strat, and i would like to set it up for 2 volume, and NO tone pots. My worry is, by removing the tone pots from the picture, their resistance they would normally provide on Full/10 (250kOhm) is going to dissapear. Won't this change the sound of the guitar?

Yeah, it would make it a little brighter. I probably wouldn't worry about it but you could just stick a 250K Ohm resistor and the cap in between the hot output and the ground somewhere to get the same effect.