Southpa

Seek and ye shall find! Got it on the second try. http://www.harrisonholmes.com/html/holmes_amps.html

Sorry Eric, I matched up the proper template for my Newporter, its a perfect 9.5". I got my bridge saddle shaved down to that radius and its playing much better now..

I have a friend who owns a Traynor that he is not at all happy with. He wants to flog it ASAP in lieu of a smaller wattage tube-style amp. This Traynor is 100 watts and all SS. He says you can't really get any decent sound out of it unless its cranked to at least 5. That will DEFINITELY wake up the baby and he doesn't like making noise in the first place. I don't like making noise either, even tho I have a Musicman 210 Sixtyfive (that amp is LOUD). I prefer to play thru my Rockman X100 with the headphones when practicing at home.

For someone who didn't even know Iommi's first name you sure are making a lot of talk. Blackmore might have come close with songs off Deep Purple - In Rock (1970) like Speed King, and Living Wreck but that was pretty much the extent of his HM career. Geez, the guy was playing a strat with single coils! I'm not talking about pentatonics or style of playing, or speed of playing or riffs, I'm talking about THAT SOUND. Iommi started that sound and made it Black Sabbath's sound which is THE FIRST heavy metal sound. But don't argue with me about it, I'm 45 years old, I grew up listening to all those bands. If you read the reviews from Sabbath's first album (Black Sabbath -1970) that I posted earlier you will learn that I'm not the only one who feels this way: Just take your lumps Marcel and leave it at that. I introduced you to this website because you were having problems with people over at MIMF. If you are pursuing this just for the sake of argument and that type of behaviour is just ingrained in your personality, then its not worth continuing. Don't let me down, man. BTW, this is a cool site, nothin like Sabbath in midi format, . http://www.angelfire.com/ia/nationalacrobat/index.html

I live in Canada as well and found that in the long run its cheaper to order straight from the US. You can buy from a retail supplier in Canada, but guess where he gets it in the first place? And then he tacks on his shipping charges and profit to a ridiculous markup. If I'm going to be paying for shipping anyway I may as well use it for all the other stuff I order, along with the pickups, in one lump sum, instead of paying for someone else's shipping on individual pieces AND their profit. I couldn't believe prices of hardware being sold locally by stores like L & M. A chrome HB pickup cover lists for $6.63 US (about $8.83 Cdn) at Stewmac, the local store lists them at 18 bucks Cdn apiece. Its too bad we don't have any wholesale suppliers in Canada, basically, because the items aren't manufactured here. I get the same business from the local parts supplier for my old truck, WHEW! 40 bucks for a lousy rocker panel!

Good topic! I got spoiled from my "Quick Grip" clamps. When you're trying to set up a guide for the router on a table top there is nothing like being able to cinch things up with one hand while holding the piece steady. I have a few lab tools that I picked up from my school days, like small thin blade stainless spatulas. Great for fine prying work and packing filler, epoxy etc. I use a small syringe (minus the needle) for squirting glue under loose bracing in acoustic guitars. Thats about the only way to deliver glue effectively and accurately in those hard to reach places. Those little wood carving kits with all the different shaped blades are invaluable. I also have a kit with small screwdrivers (all kinds of bits) and pliers/wirecutters. I could go on but on a final note I would like to add that flat, round and halfmoon rasps are the most effective tools for the final rough-in of all my neck and body curves.

I just finished sorting out all my sandpaper from my last project. I can pretty much tell what it is by the feel, I have lots of sanding experience, except for the real fine grits like 1200 and up. I'm not sure exact grit numbers are all that important, all you really need is coarse, medium, fine and REAL fine, . Hell, a blind man can do it!

OK Marcel, put your money where your mouth is, its not just MY opinion but its also fact and I have NOT exaggerated. You'd best get your definition of Heavy Metal in order before you continue. Page, Blackmore, Hendrix weren't HEAVY METAL, they fit into the blues/rock category. They might have dabbled a little bit with various lower tunings etc. but it was never encorporated into their main playing styles. Believe me, Iommi was the first heavy metal guitarist, hands down, even before it was called "heavy metal". http://www.metaljudgement.com/classics/bla...th_frames2.html

Regardless of his skills as a guitar player "TONY" Iommi rates on top in my book. He was the one who started it all, he was the first to tune down a full step and crank the amp up to "11" volume setting to get "that sound", especially with using the primitive equipment he had available at the time. Comparing with malmsteen et al. is like comparing apples and oranges. I wouldn't consider those guys (Malmsteen, Eric Johnston, Satriani, Vai, Eddie Van Melon etc.) as HM guitar players anyway, they are more like classically trained "techno-geeks". I have a LOT of respect for Iommi, especially with having to put up with Ozzy all those years. You have to admit, he was THE heavy metal pioneer. He did it all the hard way, including having the resolve to continue playing with prosthetic fingertips after having them sliced off in a machine shop accident. I have yet to hear anyone reproduce the sound he got out of his guitar in Wheels of Confusion/The Straightener from Volume IV. Go ahead, FLAME ON!

Its definitely a Gretsch design , I don't think anyone else employs the use of 2 switches on the upper bout. Unless someone copied a Gretsch design. I don't think the pickup is supposed to be angled either. I would check under the pickguard and look for the original pickup mounting screwhole. I'm surprized that there is no real identification on the guitar, nothing on the headstock and no sticker inside? Not even any markings on the hardware? Look thru the electric archtop section of the website from my earlier post. I found a few guitars that closely resemble yours but not quite. There are others with only descriptions and no pictures. There should be some features/dimensions that should match up. For instance, a lot of the electric archtops featured have "thumbnail" fretboard inlays, whereas, yours does not. They also have a "zero fret" near the nut, can't tell from your picture. The closest match is the Viking.

Model number doesn't match up with anything at this site: http://www.provide.net/~cfh/gretsch.html#mod Got anys pics handy? Is it a flattop or archtop? See if specs match anything at the Vintage guitars site above.

Those old guitars sure got played alot. You sort of wonder how much magic was made on it over the last 50+ years, where some of the previous owners could be dead and gone by now. The fretboard is worn to the same degree as that on my Fender Newporter. The Newporter still plays well. When I got the guitar it was in similar condition to this one. Luckily, the guy had a couple pieces of spruce for a replacement top so I just copied the bracing etc. of the old mahogany one. So it looks like the Gibson has the original P90 non-adjustable pickup. I don't know about reconditioning the back and sides, there are a few holes here and there. You might have to opt for filling and then a solid paintjob. It looks like the guy who worked on it before you committed a little "bondocide" on the back anyway. But you might be able to leave the front as a burst finish. I'm glad to see there are still deals at garage sales. As far as I'm concerned 10 bucks for any Gibson is worthwhile. It almost makes me feel like getting up early on Saturday/Sunday mornings and cruising for old, nameless guitars that people want to get rid of...nahhhh . Have fun with it Wes!

I thought about Gibson then said ..."naaaahhhh, couldn't be!", but it must be so. More pics here and a little background info and specs. http://www.provide.net/~cfh/gibson3.html The "y" in the Factory Order Number (FON) designates it a 1953 model archtop. http://www.provide.net/~cfh/gibson.html#serial

Could be a Harmony or a Kay. Looks like a nice project. A friend had a similar guitar that he saved from a fire, it was a Harmony - Monterey. He figures he spent about $3000 refurbishing, ie. new finish and pickup w/ equalizer. I guess he really loved that guitar.

I use a spin saw for my routing , it has 2 speeds, 25,000 and 30,000 rpm. I was tearing small chunks out of mahogany at the lower speed at about 3/8" depth. The router is also harder to control, lots of bouncing and vibration. So I agree about making shallow, more frequent passes at the lower speed. Make sure you use guides/templates etc. to follow and your bits are in good condition and GO SLOW.

With what dentists charge these days I make sure I get a little extra out of them. My last trip to the dentist yielded about 200 bits all different types, shapes and sizes. Like Brian mentioned, good for inlay work etc., but thats about all I use my dremel for anyway.

I don't know, the last guitar I built was a non-metric guitar. I'm still stuck in the old system although the rest of the country is metric. When someone tells me the temperature is 13 degrees Celsius outside, I have no clue as to what that feels like. Is that relatively hot or cold? But if they said 55 degrees F then I know that I should wear a sweater. I guess it depends on what you grew up with. My truck speedometer reads mph although all the signs on the road read kph. I just multiply by 6 and take off the last digit to see if I'm going too fast. All my drill/router bits are in standard sizes, however I might use both systems as it suits me. If I find my standard measurements getting a little too small, like into 32's of an inch, I might use the more rounded off metric equivalent.

LOL, thanks for reminding me, I also use three! C-variations on occasion. But things tend to get confusing. EGCGCE CGCGCE CGCEGC I remember getting a phone call from a friend who I was visiting earlier. "What the hell did you do to my guitar and how do I fix it???!! Its all out of TUNE!!!!" I was messing around with his acoustic and must've forgotten to set it back to natural tuning, lol. Always good for a laugh, let them figure it out, its a learning experience.

Circuitry is enclosed in a black plastic cube, no way in unless you destroy the unit. I soldered one into my recently stolen mahogany custom. The guitar was wired up ala SG with Golden Age overwound humbuckers, 3 way switch, 1 vol. for each pickup, master tone, those three pots were 500Kohm, 4th pot was a 250Kohm and controlled the Black Ice Passive distortion. Installation is very specific and to deviate from instructions will make the unit operate at less than optimum potential. You NEED high output pickups and it MUST be installed on a 250K pot, nuf said. I tried it with a 500K ohm pot and it sounded muddy. The Golden Age pups I used were rated at 12 Kohms. So how did I like it? I found it worked best at higher volumes and affected the bass to midrange frequencies the most. I got it to sound like a dirty overdriven tube amp, sort of like that "fuzz" sound that came out of the 60's. It also added a nice edge to other distortion/effects pedal inputs. Should you get one? Its up to you, its sort of cool to be playing a distorted guitar and people don't see any pedals. But you have to make it work for you. I find its just another extra feature and something I don't really need. But thats me. I prefer a simple setup and my next guitar is going to be fairly basic, just one vol and one tone.

Most of the poly I have been using was Minwax fast drying high gloss in aerosol and paintable form. It usually sets in about 1/2 hour and remains tacky for the next 2 or 3 hrs. Its loose enough to settle into pores, regardless how its applied.

I use pretty much any and all open/alternate tunings. I have one acoustic tuned standard, one in open E, another in open A. I'll also retune for different songs. eg.: dropped D DADGAD DADF#AD (open D) CACGCE DGCGCD DGDGBD CFCFAF (open F)

I recently asked about attaining sanding sealer at a local supplier and he sneered and said, "nobody uses that anymore". I'm not sure where he was coming from as I have little experience with its applications. And he didn't venture to tell me what has taken its place. Anyway, as far as laying poly onto a porous surface goes, its going to sink into the grain anyway when freshly applied. I WILL be using grain filler on the next mahogany guitar for the simple fact that less clearcoat will be required to get a perfectly flat, smooth finish in the end. I found that the initial poly spraying stages were doing nothing but filling up the grain. Roughly six coats were required just to get a level surface. Sand a little bit and you are still touching wood where the high spots are, so further coats (about another 6) are necessary before wetsanding and polishing.

cumbaya my lord...cum..BA...YAAAAHHHH lol, juuuuuuuuust kidding. I spent many an hour around the fire with many an old acoustic guitar. People get drunk and start yelling into my ear while I'm playing. "Hey man! Do ya know any NEIL YOUNG!!??" So I start into The Needle and the Damage Done or something like that and some guy, who thinks hes Neil chimes in with his falsetto voice. Fine, doesn't bother me, my voice is crap anyway. Songs, songs, songs Ballads like American Pie by Don McLean are good. Everyone joins in at the chorus because its the only words they know in the song. A few others. Tangled Up In Blue by Bob Dylan Wish You Were Here - Pink Floyd End of the Line - Travelling Wilburys Time of Your Life - Greenday The list goes on. If you want to impress the girls (and sleep with them....maybe, ) you could try songs like Nights in White Satin - Moody Blues

jstoup111, as krazyderek mentioned 52 -52.5 mm or 2 1/8" is about correct for 1 5/8" nut spacing. You can measure all kinds of guitars with that nut spacing and you will find its pretty close to 2 1/8" where the neck meets the body. Thats why I'm always a sucker for TOM roller bridges. Even if you are slightly off, you can always adjust your string spacing to accomodate neck width.

I used to work at a boatbuilding shop. The last project I worked on was worth $8,000,000 US, a 65 ft. glass yacht for a gentleman named George F. Baker (billionaire) They say his daily cash flow is something like 10 million. Anyway, no expense was spared and all the woodwork was the straightest grained Honduras mahogany you ever saw. This wood was everywhere on the boat, all the strake rails, hand rails, bumper rails, interior panelling etc. etc. etc. I did a few favors for the head carpenter, helped him with some computer software programs, ie. procurer, and in return he gave me some 2" mahogany planks that they weren't planning to use on the boat. I asked him for some of the gnarliest grain he could find. What were they going to do with all these pieces that weren't going to be used on the boat you might ask??? The carpenter told me it was going to be BURNED! , he wasn't joking. I'm glad I got at least some of it, . I have enough left to make another half dozen guitars if I plan it right. One piece he gave me was 4" thick X 11" wide X 41" long. I asked him to bandsaw it into 2- 2" planks...can you say BOOKMATCH???