mikevirok

I'm most likely going to do both: shield the cavity/unit and use the cap. We'll see what occurs.

I figured as much. Thanks buddy!

Hey all; it's been a while since I've stopped by this forum. I've been really busy with my repairs business and haven't had much time for recreational luthierie in a while. But I'm back!!! Here's my dilemma. I recently purchased an Artec VR2 on-board guitar preamp (it's a variable boost that's not over-the-top). Well, before I install it into a custom build that I'm about to begin, I built a small project box to test it out... When I engage the boost (no guitar hooked up to the cable leading in) and turn the boost up, I begin to hear it pickup AM radio transmissions (think Spinal Tap folks, it's the same issue)... I need to make this stop before I begin the routing job for its installation. If I can't make it act only as a boost and not pickup the radio frequencies, then I can't use it for this project. Now I currently suspect the cause for this is a lack of shielding from outside frequencies. It's mounted in an old Seymour Duncan pickup box for testing purposes only. So, could a good copper-foil shield keep out the frequencies? Virok

So now that I see where I went wrong (actually, as I drove home from the shop tonight I had the epiphany)... 24 - 16.865 = 7.135 So, the distance from the bridge to the neck pocket is 7.135 inches. Well, since I need as close to 7.135 inches to finish the scale length from the heel of what ever neck I use, I calculated this using a 25.5 scale 22-fret neck... 25.5 - 18.344 = 7.156 I think I can do it using this and just adjust the saddles on the bridge to make up for the difference. I am going to give it a shot...

Ok... I kindof did the math this way and I think it should work out ok... Scale length divided by the difference of the 21st fret from the nut and the total scale length would equal the approximate ratio of where on the scale the neck must be placed... So, I ran a few tests... 25.5 (scale length) - 17.919 (distance of 21st to nut) = 7.581/25.5 = 3.363 24 (scale length) - 16.865 (distance of 21st fret to nut) = 7.135/24 = 3.363 24.75 - 17.392 = 7.358/24.75 = 3.363 28 - 19.676 = 8.324/28 = 3.363 Doesn't this mean that if the heal of the neck of a 21 fret guitar (regardless of the scale length) will most likely bolt into the same place?

I have a customer who has a 24" scale guitar with a 21 fret neck installed, but he wants it to have a 25.5" scale 21 fret neck installed instead. Before I order the neck and end up with a headache in the shop trying to make this work, is this a possibility?

Hey all; I've been MIA for quite some time. Things at the repair shop over the past year have been craZy (any VERY busy too). But alas I am back during the holidays to pick your brains a bit! A buddy of mine bought an old Mosrite 335-ish guitar. The frets are really worn down and since he is a semi-professional touring musician, we concluded that a refret would be in order. Now I've done quite a few refrets in my time as a luthier, but not yet one on a "zero-fret" guitar. In general, I'm thinking that using a slightly larger fret wire for this fret may be in order, but when I think about a normally constructed guitar, as long as the guitar is set-up properly, wouldn't the same height/size fret used on a zero fret work just as well with less need to address lowering the nut (in this case zero-fret) action? Anyone with experience in a zero-fret job, let me know your approach. Greatly appreciated as always fellas.

That's a great start... only the switch I am attempting to use is the one in the diagram below... .... so how do we make your suggested wiring scheme work on this style switch?

A friend of mine showed me the pick-sized strobe tuner back in October of last year. It was interesting. I didn't really like it much, and since I tune my own guitars to Eb, I wouldn't be able to use it at all. The only tuners I use are Petersons (I use a Strobo-Flip at my workbench & a Strobo-Stomp on my remote station). They are quite small and very accurate. This pick-sized thing isn't exactly something to holler about.

Y'know, it may be able to re-tune itself, but what about the truss rod? A guitar is set up properly with the correct tension on the truss rod to counter the tension of a particular gauge of strings in an equally particular tuning. Take a guitar set up for 10's in standard tuning and then detune the guitar for, let's say, dropped Db, then you have a boat load of buzzin' all over the neck. I'm not too happy with the robot guitar concept... but alas, that is only my opinion.

Instead of using sandpaper, I like to use a flat-head screwdriver to gently scrape any film from the surface of the pot back. Also, instead of taping (since over time electrical tape will leave a gooey residue on the covered areas) try using heat-shrink tubing. You can pick it up at your local hardware store (or Home Depot, Lowes, etc.). It's fairly cheap.

Here is a guitar that a fellow student built in luthierie school this past summer. It is completely bloodwood, and yes it was heavier than heck!

Hello again everyone! I know it's been quite some time since I posted anything on this forum, but I've been extremely busy with my repair shop & I haven't had the time to do much else of anything. A friend of mine recently decided to modify his Epiphone Les Paul (I haven't seen it personally, so I cannot elaborate much on the model), and he wants to install a 5-way rotary switch to select between three pickups. He was going to bring his guitar and the 5-way/4-pole rotary switch to another friend of his to do the work for him since I had no clue as to how this could be done. Unfortunately, I think he ran into some issues getting this done through his friend and I am now going to tackel this project personally. So, my question is: how can I wire a 5-way, 4-pole rotary switch to select between 3 humbuckers ala Strat-style?

Yeah, I already looked into that. I'm not trying to replace all of the tuners for this guy. Instead, I just want to replace the one tuner that is broken & retain as much of the original spec's & appearance as possible.

I have tried eBay, and I can't find it anywhere else. I need ONE Gibson Firebird-style tuner for a Gibson I am repairing for a friend. I know that Gibson used a modified banjo-tuner for these things, but I can't find a replacement tuner anywhere!!! Can anyone help?

Best wishes and prayers go out for her & your family.

As far as a warranty on my repairs, the company that I am associated with stands behind our work 100% unconditionally. For the first week, tweaks are on the house. After that, it's back to the average pay-scale (unless something was grossly overlooked from the original service rendered, then it's on the house again). We do have everything (I mean EVERYTHING) in writing for this contracted agreement as well as anything done for a customer or store. As long as I work on a guitar at a recognized location (ie: a Guitar Center or the contracting company which is a full-blown repair shop itself), I am legally covered under their insurance for the guitar. Now, as far as being able to "make it" doing this for a living, I have a particular case which some people don't have. Being that I am contracted to work in a store on both customer guitars and store stock guitars, I don't run out of jobs to do. Everything gets a set-up that enters/leaves the store's stock. So, everything sold, hanging, or received from a shipment is work for me to do. Used or new; it doesn't matter. So, someone in this case is always able to find something to work on and get paid for. Customer guitars are only another pipeline of business. So, as long as I do as much work throughout the day as I see fit, I will survive & so would anyone else in my scenario. Most people don't have a Guitar Center full of instruments that need maintenance, thus the jump to conclusion that "this isn't a good job to make a living off of". I'm not saying it's easy or care-free. But, all in all it is a totally "do-able" job.

If you are good, it will pay fine. This is a job that YOU are in control of your own success by how well you serve the customers. The better you are is directly related to how "well off" you will be.

As far as the insurance thing goes: I am covered underneath the company plan (I was assured that by them).

Hey everyone! I just wanted to post a little update following my first day on the job - THIS IS THE BEST JOB IN THE WORLD!!! Unfortunately, it's going to be a rough road for the first few months before I establish a steady client-base. I did a few store-stock set-ups yesterday, including a $5000 vintage Gibson hollow-body (which was wild to even have on my bench for a little while). The pay is reflected on how much I can get done in a week, so I need to build up my speed, since my know-how is there already. To answer the question of "where" posted earlier in this thread: I am an independent contracted luthier for Raritan Bay guitar Repair in Freehold, NJ who places me at a Guitar Center as a separately functioning repair shop for both customer and store jobs. I am not an employee of either company, rather I am a contracted worker. I eventually will do work from home as well for some friend pieces that I have as well as continue to build guitars once I get a larger place to work (other than my apartment!). So, that's that. I'm still kicking, and I have a long way to go until I'm "well-off". But Still, I'm happy with my choices to pursue this career.

I am excited to start my new full-time job today as a guitar luthier today!!! I am a bit worried about making enough money to compare with my past job as a pharmacy HR manager/ IT specialist, but this is going to be a much better preparation for what I want to establish for myself in this life. Here goes everything!!!

I can see the points on both ends of this debate. On the "pro" side, having a preamp section that is not based on physical tubes but the closest thing to tubes using digital modeling would bring the world of replacing preamp tubes for new tones to an end for some. Buffering the signal with tubes has been a hot topic on Line 6 forums for many years now (Institute Of Noise has been supporting all of the experimentation with Line 6 products for quite some time), and it's true that a lot of POD users have run their little bean-shaped buggers into tube sources with great results. On the "con" side, having tubes at all in their products is starting to degrade the integrity of their original purpose when they introduced the AXsys 212 many years ago. They were all about "no tubes, all digital", and that brought me to their common user ranks very quickly. I enjoy not having to maintain tubes or worry about their fragility in certain situations. Not saying that computers can't fail either (they do). The other issue is loudness; anyone with a Line 6 amp or product knows the glee that they can obtain by not blasting their amp to get their desired tones. Throw a tube into the power-amp mix and now the whole story changes. I live in an apartment built with paper thin walls, so volume is an issue. I don't know exactly what they will be cranking out of the Line 6 factory in the coming days & months, but I can assure you that it will be a nice piece or pieces of gear. Just don't get caught up in the hype if it's not the best for you, ya know? Try it out. Like it? Buy it! I have been telling people at the Line 6 forums the same thing, "You don't have to like every new product that Line 6 comes out with. Just stick with what works for you. They will be fine."

You could do as I did with my semi-hollow when I had this same problem with my template in keeping the router from tipping off the edge of the template: add a piece of wood that matches the height of the guitar surface + the template and rest that surface close to where the router will hang over from the body. It worked for me. I also use 3m Carpet Tape to keep my stuff in place.

Well, I do plan on using front veneers on the headstock of my custom builds though. The ears are not really of concern to me. The scarf joint residing on the headstock seems a bit easier to accomplish than the way I had illustrated in the beginning of this thread.

Hector - THANK YOU SOOOOO MUCH!!! That was exactly what I wanted to see!!! Awesome; I owe you a bunch!!!