natwalk

I don't know if there is a site with that on but i did a quick scribble on paint. Sorry its a bit rough. The box with 6 dots in is the DPDT switch and the earth goes to the jack ring/casing or anything earthed and the live is from where ever the tone usually goes from. EDIT: sorry i forgot the pot! just run the earth wire to the middle pin on the pot and the earth on the right hand pin (assuming the pins are pointing towards you and you are looking at the back of the pot). Thanks for that Mitch, I'll give it a go. Let you guys know how it ends up, Nate

Hey quick question for those with more electronics knowhow than myself, which will be most of you I'm guessing I am wiring up a guitar with a single coil at the neck and humbucker at the bridge and I want to use a push-pull pot to switch between cap values to suit the pickups. I know that a heap of guitars don't bother to do this, but i want to give it a go so could someone out there let me know of a link to a schematic or whatever that can get a noob through, I can handle basic wiring but my previous attempts in nutting things like this out myself have been less than spectacular, Thanks in advance for the help, Nate

Thanks for your help, been looking around the web and found a few wiring diagrams but none were exactly what I needed, I'll try and give the treble bleed cap a go if that doesn't cut the mustard for me I'll give the push pull a go and see if it works out better, Thanks for your help, Nate

Hi guys just ordered some pickups and a new pick guard for an old Strat body I'm making a partscaster out of I'm using a singlecoil for the neck and a humbucker for the bridge and want to wire it with a tele-like single tone and volume. So to the nub of the question, what would you guys suggest for pot values and so on to get the best out of the two pickups, or would you suggest some kind of by-pass with a resistor or something for one pickup to change the values to suit the hum versus the single? Any advice would be greatly appreciated, Thanks, Nate

Actually I was referring to the first reply I recieved (quoted below), I'd actually rather keep the brass strings as I like the sound of the guitar as is, just wanted to experiment with the old pickup system which I no-longer use. Thanks for all the responses, guess I'll get that stacked humbucker and give it a go then. Will let you guys know how it pans out. Nate

Hey Greg Yeah I really lijke the sound of the Dean pickup, have used it on a few recordings mixed with a mic gives a great detailed sound but still really obviously accoustic. I was actually thinking of modding the pickup I have (the old one not the Dean one) so it already has a single coil setup and 'frame', I've test fitted an old strat copy single coil I had laying around and it fits fine so I was looking to see if there was a way to fit a stacked Humbucker in its place and what else I would need to do basically, other than swap to steel strings rather than the bronze/ brass ones on it now. Nathan

Here is a link to the pickup on ebay, I'm pretty sure it's the same thing, I got mine about 10 years ago when I first got my acoustic. Have recently replaced it with one of those Dean Markley Acoustic Guitar Pickups that look like they are made from timber. Nate http://cgi.ebay.com.au/New-Pickup-For-Acou...1QQcmdZViewItem

Cool, thanks for that, I thought that I might need to use steel rather than the brass strings I've got on it now. One thing though, why doesn't it need a string earth now? It's just a thing that clips into the soundhole with the single coil pickup mounted in it, the tone and volume controls are in it and so is the jack, its an easily removed pickup system (and it was cheap). Nate

Hi all this might be impossible I'm not sure I think I heard somewhere that acoustic guitar pickups are big time different from normal electric pickups. What I'm thinking of doing is getting a stacked humbucker pickup and mounting it in a soundhole pickup that I have that I don't really use as it's a bit on the cheap side and doesn't sound great (plus the buzz from it being a single coil type hence the stacked humbucker). The pickup that is mounted in it at present is a standard single coil size with normal mounting screws etc. So my big question is is this even possible? will it sound lousey for some reason that I haven't thought of? any help with this would really be appreciated, Thanks all in advance, Nate

I bought a tremelo from Guitar Fetish recently which is Identical to this one (http://www.vintaxe.com/cgi-bin/vintaxe_viewer.pl?guitar_tiescotulip&japanese_guitar_tiescotulip) and it was pretty cheap too (http://store.guitarfetish.com/vistsumowhba.html), they also do a few surface mount pickups that might do the job until you can find the real thing, if your going for stock historic type setup. Hope this helps, Nathan

Thanks was a bit worried about that Nathan

Thanks, been scraping and sanding but he used a truckload of araldite so having a few issues with removing it, hopefully heat will do the trick, One other problem i've encountered is that the soundboard under the bridge looks to have deformed (raised lump under the area that was covered by main body of the bridge), it's only slight and after sanding back it'll probably be basically flat again, does that sound like a major problem or could it just be the dodgy job done by Vester originally and then added to by my mate? Thanks for all your help, Nathan

Thanks for your help, it had lifte so badly I wa able to use a sharp blade to seperate the bridge from the soundboard, now I guess it's just time for sanding, sanding and more sanding Nathan

Thanks for the quick reply. Would scraping off as much as I can and then using sandpaper to clean up the surface be the best bet for this? Is there a chemical that will remove araldite? I have got to get the bridge free of the soundboard yet, it has lifted quite a bit and is not able to be tuned due to the bridge moving. I was going to try a razor blade to cut the glue so I can get them apart and see whats what.

Hi a friend of mine has an oldish 12 string acoustic, not sure of the brand will see it in an hour or so, I remember it as a nice player and sounding pretty good but the bridge has become detached from the soundboard. My mate tried to use araldite to reattach it but it pulled free again so I was going to hit him up to borrow it and to try and fix it up. Any guesses on a good quality glue to use for the bridge and will the previous use of araldite be a big problem? If he agrees I'll post some pics of the problem when I can. Thanks for your help guys, Nathan

I don't know about anywhere else but here in Aus shoe repair places, like the ones you see in shopping centers, do that sort of thing for pet collars etc, and they do all sorts of fancy stuff if you ask usually. They also have examples of their work on display usually so you can see if they are up to it before going too far with it as well, Nathan

Here are a few photo's of my Sakai, you'll see what I mean about them being similar looks wise. I don't know why but I actually like that crappy burst on this guitar. Sakai SG copy http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j101/natwalk/PB250492.jpg Sakai SG copy close-up of the body http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j101/natwalk/PB250493.jpg Sakai SG copy close-up of the neck to body joint showing strap button http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j101/natwalk/P4220110.jpg Sakai SG copy close-up of the headstock http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j101/natwalk/P4220108.jpg Sakai SG copy another closeup of the body showing the Fender Vista-tone pick-up http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j101/natwalk/P4220109.jpg Hope these help or at least amuse Natwalk

I don't know if this'll help or not but I've got an SG knockoff by Sakai (god only knows who they were or anything about them) it has the same pickups and bridge systems and a similar looking neck. The bridge pickup on mine was screwed so I replaced it with a Fender Vistatone I'd pulled out of my Squire Musicmaster, replaced the bridge with a Gotoh tuneamatic style and put a good set of Tuners in it. With the Trem I gave up trying to make it stay in tune and pulled the arm and spring (which I don't really use anyway) and found a bolt about the right length and put it in its place. The result is a really cool trashy guitar which I use to record with occasionally and have written some of my favourite songs on, not a killer tone but good and usefull. Basically other than give up on the trem unless you know someone who has serious knowledge about springs and access to tons of them my only advice is to go for it. It may not be the hottest sounding guitar ever but you never know it may have that tone that your looking for! I don't know if it'd be of interest but I could post a few pics of my Sakai for you if you'd like, Nate

In what way does it sound bad? Dull? ie. lacking in sustain and resonance? If that is the case then maybe a bone nut and bridge saddle is the solution. You will be pleasantly surprised on how much of a tonal difference that can make. If there is nothing wrong structurally with the guitar soundboard, internal bracing or bridge mounting then I see no need to replace the entire top. Thats also a very attractive rosette, it would be a shame to just chuck it out. Thanks for the advice, the guitar sounds dull lifeless and basically 'plunky' and seriously cheap and nasty overall. Thanks for the advice about the bridge and nut, I'll try that first, maybe I could veneer the body for looks (would that make the problem worse?) the top is seriously thin and the nice looking rosette is actually a sticker of some sort it's not an actual rosette, that and I'm just not really a butterfly kinda guy!! Thanks for all your help, Nathan

Cool thanks for the advice Brian, will post when it starts getting somewhere Nathan

Hey guys I could really use some help here, not sure where to start! I want to remove and replace the top and back of an old nylon acoustic I have laying around that has a nice neck but sounds pretty bad. I was planning to use my favourite timber silky oak (http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j101/natwalk/Silkyoakgrain.jpg) for the top and back and leave the sides as they are, maybe a vaneer on the sides as well, not sure yet. Where my problems begin is I'm not sure that this would improve the sound of the guitar at all and secondly I'm not sure how to dismantle the thing without damaging the sides and neck etc. I've seen the threads around for removing the fretboard would the same techniques be able to remove the soundboard and back? Would the binding survive? I am willing to risk this guitar because it sounds bad and it cost me the princly sum of AUD$15.00 (was given the guitar and had to buy a set of tuners as it was missing them). I would appreciate any help or constructive abuse anyone was willing to offer, Thanks Nathan P.S- here are some photo's of the guitar I'm planning to work on an Emperador model 1122 from Korea http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j101/nat...uitarbridge.jpg http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j101/nat...arsoundhole.jpg http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j101/nat...arneckjoint.jpg http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j101/nat...tarneckheel.jpg http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j101/nat...gguitarback.jpg http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j101/nat...tringguitar.jpg

Hi I'm a newbie here, I've been lurking and checking things out for a bit, seems pretty cool. Well on to the question I am planning a ES-335 type build, my first real wood build (I have just completed a test body, my first build ever, of a Danelectro U-1 using masonite on a ply frame, learned a lot). I want to combine some of the Dano elements with the ES body I am planning to use les paul stop peice bridge and scale on a hollow ES-335 body made from Silky Oak (apparently similar to what is known as lace wood in the US) as it has a really nice grain pattern and I live in the area it predominantly comes from in northern Australia. I was planning to have only a very gentle curve to the body and only having a tone block under the tailpiece with the rest of the body left essentially hollow. I was planning to leave the interior flat for simplicity as it's my first real build. Just wanted some opinions any advice would be appreciated. Any Aussie builders out there able to give me some advice on a local timber that would be good for a neck? Thanks, sorry for the long post, Nathan