djhollowman

Hi, welcome to the 'boards! You can always install the nut, and try to set up the guitar as normal. If the nut is too low and is causing excessive string buzzing on the frets, you can raise it with a shim of suitable material. The shim thickness would be determined by how much higher from the fingerboard you wanted the nut to lie. Shimming like this is very common on factory guitars with locking nuts, for example. Bear in mind that other things come into this though, like the neck angle, the bridge height, and the truss rod adjstment - all of which affect the finished action. I'm sure some of the other guys will chip in with good advice too! DJ

Well, at the risk of being pedantic, I think you'll find Gene's bass fired rockets and "blew up" part of the PA at shows on the US Asylum tour in 85/6....... DJ Sorry, I too am hijacking your thread....

.....I'm sure I've read somewhere that purpleheart dust can be poisonous..........???????? Never used it myself. DJ

Hi, Do you mean how do you accurately place the tunomatic on the body to determine correct scale length? If so, there's a nice explanation on stewmac's site: http://www.stewmac.com/FretCalculator Please note you MUST enter the number of frets and scale length you intend to use, then hit "Calculate". When you do that, the page refreshes with extra info lower down which gives you the exact placement distances from the nut for various styles of bridge, tunomatics included. Normally the bass side of the tunomatic is slightly further from the nut than the treble side, but this compensation is detailed on the page. Hope this helps! DJ

Which pickups are you talking about? Active pickups are usually covered with the covers we were talking about painting over. It was just a harmless dig at the actives, that's all. Haha no prob. Really? I didn't know that! I've always been under the impression that those kind of covers were active, apart from like Lace Sensors. I've never really looked into actives that much. Yeah, for example: EMG HZs and Selects look like EMG actives but are passive. DJ

Yup, that's rockin'.....I'm loving it! Are you gonna fix rockets to the back of the headstock too? DJ

Excellent, thank you David! That Dragonfly Supreme of yours looks fantastic! I love the figuring on the headstock, and the tailpiece is beautiful! That's really useful to be able to see what I have in mind in actual operation, thanks! I've never fitted a piezo system before. Do I need a preamp? If so, what type etc? Thanks. DJ

I like it! Are you gonna get some fake blood capsules too? Maybe Godzilla boots.......................? "oh yeah...I said, oh yeah.......oooooh they call me......doctor love" Ahhh..........it's 1977 again!

Hey all, I'm thinking about doing a guitar with active EMGs in bridge and neck. It'll have a tun-o-matic bridge. But I've seen a TOM bridge with built-in piezos - can I use that as well as the EMGs? I don't mean that I want to hear the piezo and EMGs at the same time. I'm thinking more along the lines of the piezo arrangement being entirely separate. Would I need a separate jack and pot(s) for the piezo? I'd appreciate anyone's thoughts or suggestions etc. Thanks, DJ

Thanks for all your input fellas! I'm going to leave the amp unplugged with switches on to dissipate any remaining electricity, as Prostheta suggested, for at least a week. I'm also actively reading up on amp technology, and electronics in general! I have no way at all of watching someone work on an amp, which would be ideal, because of where I live etc. At the moment I'm thinking I will probably return the amp to my friend having NOT done the work. I don't want to put myself at risk. I do want to get the experience of doing work like this, though. I feel confident about installing the component, from following the instructions which came with it. It's just the thought of residual charge which is putting me off. Is there a way to let you guys read the .pdf file I have detailing this? Appreciate anything constructive. DJ

Here's some things to try/think about: Could the cracking sound just be the tremelo springs working? (Expanding and contracting) Or maybe the pivot points are not shaped nicely? (The points where the bridge touches the mounting posts) When you say you replaced the nut, did you swap the entire nut or just the clamps? Are the contact points of the bridge saddles in good shape? (which is what ihockey mentioned) It could be worth sanding/filing the underside of the licensed nut's clamp pads flat. I have one of those that was actually painted there, and it just didn't grip the strings properly until I flattened the surface underneath. Also, it's worth pointing out that your high E string is obviously thinner than the B string. It may be worth trying different string gauges, to make those two strings more similar in thickness, with a view to evening up the clamping effect of that clamp pad?????????? [i remember reading a whole long thread somewhere about the effects/effectiveness of the retainer bar....... ] Hope this helps! DJ

Hey all, I've come to realise I know far too little about how amps work! Can anyone suggest some good reading for the total novice? Basic electronics would be necessary too, I imagine. Preferably some printed matter as well as websites. I'm interested in eventually being able to build and service tube amps. I'm at the very beginning! Thanks! DJ

Thanks everyone! I have some resisitors lying around. They're rated: Power 1/4 W, Value 510 ohm - could I use one of those to discharge? What does the k-rating on resistors refer to? 10k = 10 kilo ohms, yes? So my resistor I mentioned would be rated at 0.5k? Is that safe to use? Gotta learn more about amp circuitry!!! (I did follow and read the link you posted David, thank you! ) I could post up the .pdf which details how to install the attenuator if anyone's interested, and if you can tell me how to post a link to a .pdf! Would I have to host it somewhere first, then post a link to it? BTW, what's the difference(s) between an attenuator and a power scaling kit, just for my own information? Thanks DJ

Hey all, A friend has asked me if I could fit a power attenuator into his amp head. It's a kit conversion with full instructions and it seems a straightforward enough job, just wondering about electricity though! Obviously I will have the amp unplugged, but will it STORE any electricity? Will I need to ground it or discharge it or anything first, to avoid shocking myself? Sorry, I'm a noob when it comes to amp circuits etc Thanks, DJ

Thanks for all the input fellas! Reckon I might just leave this one alone for now. Just for the record, I actually bought this pedal 2nd hand on "the 'bay" (I'm sure you know what I mean......), so I had no issues with salesmen and mispresentation or anything like that. This is more like my own curiousity. I'd been reading somewhere about tone loss, and how having true bypass could help - wondered if it could be applied to this pedal, as I feel the tone "shrinks" slightly when I have it plugged in. It's not something I can't live with, though. I'm happy enough with the pedal, but I did have to alter the optical switching LED a fraction, as it was peaking in the wrong place and sounded odd! The fact that I've found modding info on the net would suggest that it's not uncommon to have to do this! The switch works like this: an LED and a light sensor face each other, with a thin strip of black card between them. The card is attached to the pedal (but perpendicular to it), and has a triangular hole placed where the LED and sensor meet. As you move the pedal, the triangle widens and lets more light through the card, which is registered by the light sensor and it converts that into the wah effect. It's great cos there's no stomp switch - you just put your foot on the pedal and it switches on. It also has a wah delay function, where you can set how long the wah remains after taking your foot off the pedal. The schematic hasn't come out very clear I'm afraid! I had it as a .pdf, and had to convert it to .jpg, which has made it smaller and less clear - sorry! Thanks again! DJ

Cool, thanks! I understand the switch you mention, but my pedal has an optical arrangement for the pedal travel. There is no stomp switch. Would this make it impossible? Here's the schematic: hope this helps! DJ

There is a VERY weak signal you can just make out with the battery removed. I mean VERY weak, I had to have the gain channel cranked half up to hear anything, and even then it was a thin sound. The schematic is a .pdf - how do I post this please? I think my understanding of these matters needs work! I do have a longer-than-necessary cable from the wah to the amp, it's about 5 metres. Maybe I should try a shorter one then? DJ

Sadly that's what I thought might be the case! (Thanks for the replies guys!) So is there nothing I can do to make it quieter? DJ

Hi all, I have a Morley Bad Horsie wah pedal. Is it possible to convert it so that it has a true bypass? I believe it is claimed that it already has true bypass, but I'm sure it doesn't. It really sounds like it sucks the tone a bit when it's included in the circuit. I have it going straight in to the front of a Marshall AVT275 2x12 combo. It's not in the FX loop, and there are no other pedals. I run it from a 9v battery as I don't have a regulated power supply for it - don't know if that's significant. I have a schematic for it in .pdf format, but I just don't understand enough about it! Any thoughts anyone? Thanks. DJ

Hi all! I have a guitar with a H-S-S configuration with active pickups: EMG89 in the bridge and a pair of Guitarheads active single coil pickups in the middle and neck positions. The EMG89 is fantastic, absolutely silent even in single coil mode, but the single coils are NOISY with any kind of gain applied! They're better with a less "gain-y" setting, like going through the amp's clean channel. But I want to be able to use them with the dirty channel as well. If I do, they just hum loudly. Anyone else had this problem with active singles?? Is it the fact that they're active that's contributing to this noise? Anyone got any ideas for how to quiet them down a bit? I can't shield the pickup cavities because it would be seen (there's no pickguard) The control cavity is already shielded. I'm pretty certain the wiring is good - I installed all 3 pickups at one time, and I'm pretty confident in my wiring skills. I've never had any problems with noisy pickups like these before. I've read plenty of good things about Guitarheads active pickups before, maybe they were all humbuckers??? (I don't know.) Would appreciate any thoughts/suggestions please. Thanks! DJ

I have a related question: Just finished my first bolt-on neck, it will be finished with Tru-Oil. I've made the neck pocket already, and the join is so tight that I can pick up the body from lying horizontally just by lifting the neck up. I've been led to believe this is the ideal scenario of join to achieve. So, my question is this: as I will be painting the body, will I still be able to fit the neck in the pocket, or will I have to slightly "slacken" the joint to allow for paint thickness? How do you guys do this? Thanks! DJ

....or those companies that re-trim vehicle interiors?? Also, there's a tutorial on here by (I think) Brian Calvert where he details the process of adding fabric to an RG/JEM body. Ahh, hair metal! [sigh] Where are Warrant, Skid Row, Roxx Gang et al??? [i liked how you used capitals for the H and M there, BTW! Gives it added significance ] DJ

Yeah, I tried something very similar to this on my old Westone Spectrum LX. It has neck and bridge humbuckers but also a middle single coil. Switching is via a Gibson-style 3-way toggle, and there's 3 pots. I wanted to wire it so that the 3-way controlled the humbuckers in the normal fashion: bridge/both/neck. I wanted the pots to be a master volume, master tone, but wasn't sure what to do with the 3rd one. I thought I could use the middle pickup, with this 3rd pot acting as a separate volume just for that pickup, but I wanted it routed through the master volume pot so that when it (master) was turned off then it stopped all noise. But when I wired it like that, what happened was unexpected, and undesirable! The "2nd" vol pot ended up acting like a 2nd master vol, you had to have (I'll call it..) Vol 2 turned up to get any noise at all from any pickup selected! So, in desperation, I tried wiring the single coil middle pickup through Vol 2 and then straight on to the jack (thus bypassing my master "Vol 1" knob), but the same thing happened! Huh?? Sorry, Traveler, I'm not trying to hijack your thread here man! I really do have a vested interest in seeing how to get around this one!! +1 for guitarnuts2 forum, immensely helpful! http://guitarnuts2.proboards45.com/index.cgi DJ

Ahhhhhh.............. Now I get it! Thanks! So what would you all do with this repair? Would it get a refinish? DJ

I'm not sure this is gonna be possible with a 3-way. A 3-way is usually a 5-way anyway, just with added stops for the inbetween positions ie: instead of 1,2,3 for a 3-way, it becomes 1,1+2,3,3+4,5 for a 5-way. There are only 4 contacts on each side of the switch, one of which is the output, so I think that's why 3-pickup guitars normally have to use a 5-way lever switch. I think you may be able to wire it so that you permanently combine the middle pickup with either of the other two, but I don't see how you could do what you're asking about, sorry! Then again, there is Malmsteen's Strat wiring, which has 3 single coils and (so I'm led to believe) a 3-way lever. Here's a diagram: http://www.fender.com/support/diagrams/pdf...7100_02APg2.pdf but I think that's showing a 5-way, not a 3-way! Hopefully someone more knowledgeable can shed some light here!! DJ