ToddW

Is the guitar a gibson or something that you'd consider modifying? Because adding a tone control might be a nice thing. Todd

Hi Paul, I think the Explorer has individual tone controls for each PUP, so your answer is valid. Interesting little puzzle, maybe we should have said try heavier strings Anyway, Guitar 2005 hasn't replied, so maybe he already solved this. Todd

I was shooting for something that would only knock the top off the bridge PUP. Why I suggested trying the cap between the coils. Voicing only the bridge PUP is easy if you only use one PUP at a time, but get's harder when both on is an option and you don't want to change the sound of the neck PUP. Thinking about it a touch more, could he put a small inductor between the bridge hot lead and the switch (with or without a cap to ground before that). That'd stop most of the neck PUPs high end from shunting down the cap . . . Or between the bridge tone control and the switch? I'd ask over at guitar nuts. Todd

You're sensitized, so it's quite possible you'll have a reaction to related woods, and it's quite possible your rxn will get stronger. I'd recommend a good dust collector and a good dust mask to most people, but if you're having shortness of breath, it's probably worth seeing your doctor. I manage with the same 3M masks I used to use to see TB patients, but if that doesn't cut it for you: http://www.woodcraft.com/family.aspx?famil...mp;mode=details might work. and Bill's site here: http://billpentz.com/woodworking/cyclone/DocsOrders.cfm may have some info for you. Be safe! Todd

Hey, if you want to see if that'll be enough, just drop a 500k resistor across the pot and see how it sounds.

I'm not sure how much effort you want to put into this, but the easy thing to do, assuming going from parallel to series wiring isn't in the cards, is to use a small cap to shunt some of the high's to ground. If it's a 4 conductor PUP and you're worried a cap will shunt to much of the high end to ground when you have both pups on, you could try putting a .0047uf cap to ground between the coils. I don't know what that'd do, but it'd be very easy to test. Another slighty more complicated option would be to put in a notch filter with a cap and an inductor in series. Mouser sells some tiny transformers, they're about 1 cubic cm, with various inductances. They're only a couple of bucks each, but you'd also wind up paying $7 for shipping and handling, maybe more to Canada. I'll be interested to see what other options people suggest, besides changing PUPs Todd Edit PS) I think Prostheta meant to say bias your tone pot with a permanent Cap, not a resistor.

I think I downloaded it from Duncan Amps, but it's on a different computer so I can't check now. I used it to get close to the values I wound up with on a tone stack I put in my daughter's amp. That was a one knob deal , but the calculator has your standard fender TMB, Bax, Big Muff, and others. Too techy for me, but no reason big mfgr's couldn't put an EQ in an amp for very little money. But were are you going to put it? After the first gain stage, between the pre-amp and power stage, between the amp and the cab? The TMB passive filters in a fender or marshal are in the pre-amp. run that sound through a few more tube sections, and you're pretty far from accurate. If you want that much control, Xanthus, go look at the London Power Studio Amps! Todd

I can understand that. I clamp everything, even though it's a pain to do because you then can't slide it easily. I have a jointer now, but when I did this, I really didn't use the "shooting board" as much as the base board to hold the plane at 90 degrees. As to the #5 width, you're right, it's pretty narrow. Too narrow for me to use on an 8/4 board! I'm not that good with a plane. Todd

Hi Kenny, Blades are spec'd by depth, 1/16" to maybe 1.5", teeth per inch, tooth shape, material, and kerf. Kerf is how thick the metal is at the teeth, so it's how wide the cut is. With the 14 or 16" wheels, the blades that you probably couldn't use would be the those thin kerf blades over 1" deep with carbide teeth. Ie, the super thin and very durable veneer slicing blades. Honestly, I doubt you'll ever need one. The laguna guides will let you use a 1/8" blade comfortably for fairly tight turns and you can get a 3/4" silicone steel blade for when you resaw. That will probably span everything you want and then some. You don't "Need" a saw as fancy as the Lagunas, but if you're going to spend that much, I'd spring for the 16"er. Todd

You guys sure have nice toys. By the way, Minimax does make an 18" bandsaw, only 12" resaw compared to Laguna's 18", but that would be plenty for me. It's one of their lighter duty saws. They both make 16" saws, in the lower priced ones I think the Laguna is a tiny bit nicer. a touch heavier while the Minimax 16" has a foot brake standard. Laguna charges extra for that, but I probaby wouldn't get a brake on a 16" saw since mine spins down fast enough. In their upper end 16" saws both companies seem very comparable, but I'd never buy a 16" saw that expensive. If I'd had 220V access, I'd have bought this: http://www.grizzly.com/products/17-Ultimate-Bandsaw/G0636X Kenny, I still think that 14" Laguna is a very nice saw unless you plan to do a lot of resawing of hardwoods. Hope you let us know what you decide on and good luck. Todd

Hi DJ Putting the power attenuator after the power stage is exactly what you want to do if you want to be able to overdrive the power tubes at a lower volume. You can overdrive the pre-amp tubes and simply turn down the master volume for preamp distortion. Think about it like this, which is sort of schematically. Coming in from the left you have your guitar signal going to a control grid on a tube. It's a TINY voltage swing. From the tube top to it's bottom is a very high voltage and inside the tube, the tiny voltage swing on the grid causes a big swing in the current that flows from the tube top to it's bottom. (it's really bottom to top, but ignore that). If you put a resistor in that high voltage current, then as the current flow changes, that voltage also changes We tap that voltage swing, and with our drive/gain/volume control, send a portion of it to the right and into the next tubes control grid. Now it's a bigger voltage swing than you got from your guitar. Could be 40x bigger with a pre-amp tube, could be 1000x bigger with a power tube pentode. So your pre-amp takes the signal voltage from tiny to small, possibly using several gain stages, and then you use that voltage to control the current running through your power tubes. At this point, you don't take your voltage swing, you take that current and put it thru one side of a transformer. On the other side you get a MUCH lower voltage, but higher current signal which goes through your coil, makes a magnetic field, and moves your speakers. Whoo hoo, sound. Because of how the tubes work, they amplify different frequencies different amounts, add some cool harmonics, and . . . if you hit the control grid with too big a swing, they clip or . . . . distort . . . and we like that sound if it's done well. Here's the kicker. It's fairly easy to get the little preamp tubes to clip, or you can just run your signal through several stages to add harmonics, but waste a lot of the gain so you don't clip. But the harmonics and tone is different than what you get pushing the big power tubes into distortion. That's what you get running an amp full out on a stage. I describe it as less buzzy, but that may be a lame description. Anyway, the post power section attenuator is taking a portion of the signal that should go to the speakers and turning it into heat. It might even be using some of the power output to run a lightbulb If your friend wants to push the power section into distortion, he needs to hit the control grids with a big voltage swing. With a lot of voltage across those power tubes, that makes a big current change, and without the attenuator, it'd be super loud. With power scaling, you drop the voltage, ie. starve the tubes, and surprisingly, it still sounds great with certain tubes. But the reality is, it's hard to get big amp tone at bedroom volumes. I built a 1watt amp that comes close, and a single ended amp with power scaling that does it better. I've never tried a power attenuator. I don't like the idea of intentionally wasting power, but it should let your friend drop the volume. Realize, however, that even if the attenuator wastes 99% of the 50 watt output, if you run it into an efficient cab, that 1/2 watt is going to be VERY LOUD in a bedroom. I can't crank my daughter's 1 watt amp and carry on a conversation even running it through an inefficient 10" Weber driver. Put it through a Marshal 2x12 and you wouldn't want to be in the room. Long post, hope it helps a touch. Todd

Nice to know you didn't get zapped (yet ) Anyway, gain, drive, volume . . . are usually the same thing in an amp. It sounds like they're adding a pot somewhere in the amp, basically a variable voltage divider so you can adjust how much of the signal passes to the next stage, and how much goes to ground. That'll let you increase or decrease the "Drive". Odd that'd be an add on. Sure it isn't a Sag control? Anyway, and more importantly, that amp has a power attenuator, why would you need to add another one? Todd

Hi Kenny, I'll do my best to share my minimal knowledge, but I think I'll also PM Fryovani to chime in on this one. I think that really high quality band saws start at the 14" wheel size and go up from there. But it really isn't the resaw capacity that's limited by the wheel size, which is why that Laguna has more resaw than my 16" Steel City. (BTW, I got the steel city because I only had access to 110V and didn't want to start running electrical wiring just for the saw.) The real issue with the smaller 14" wheels, and also my 16" wheels, is less throat capacity behind the blade, and also that you curve the blade into a tighter arc. The tighter curve puts more stress on the blade and it's weld. Since I use regular non-carbide timberwolf blades from suffolk, I figure I'll probably dull a blade before I break it, but it also means I probably wouldn't get a .025" kerf carbide blade for resawing. In theory, bending a thin kerf blade around 14" wheels increases the risk that it'll fatique and break before it wears it out. Likely true with 16" as well, but every little bit helps and I get a touch more throat capacity with the 16". How much difference 14" to 16 inches makes is probably debatable, but, let's see if Fryovani chimes in since he clearly re-saws a lot of wood. And honestly, I don't know how much price difference there is between the Laguna 14" and the Minimax 16" delivered. I personally would have bought the 18" steel city saw if I'd had 220V in my current home. (And that's despite the review in FWW magazine, where the guy measured the table surface with the pin out and didn't know how to align the saws special features, and therefore panned it. ) Regards, Todd

Saw this thread popped back up and thought maybe DJ had posted a follow up, but nope . . . So DJ, did you have a go at it? Todd

Hi Nicko, It makes the neck slightly stiffer and some people say in eliminates dead spots. I don't know about the latter, but I figure I put so much time into a single guitar, that the slight insurance the rods offer to twisting or warping of the wood make it worth a little extra effort and the $15 it cost. If the neck is going to move a lot, I'm sure the rods won't entirely stop it, but I think they will resist smaller movements. I also like laminates, so maybe it's just that I'm a fan of overkill. Best, Todd

Hey Kenny, I did have one more thought. Just wanted to make sure you knew the reason some people go from 14" up to 16,18,20 etc isn't just the resaw capacity. It's more because you don't have to bend the blade into as tight a curve, which lets the blade makers offer you deeper or thinner blades for resawing. Todd

Fair enough. I don't think Minimax makes a 14", but I'd check to see what the total cost is going to be for their 16" versus the Laguna 14. I think they're close. But like I said, both companies make nice stuff and I don't think you can go wrong with either. Their stuff does show up on IRS auctions around here a lot, but it's often really big stuff. Still, there was a 24" Laguna that went for under 2,000 several months ago. Even had a couple of blades carbide blades, but it was 3phase. If I'd had room I would have bought it and changed it to a 5hp single phase for another $400! Gonna get 3phase in the woodshop of our next house just so I can find deals like that. Right now, I'm perfectly happy with my Steel City. If you get it, I think you'll love it. Todd

Hi Kenny, They make beautiful bandsaws. So does Minimax so I'd be sure to look at theirs too. From curiosity, by would you want to buy a 14" if you're going to spend that much money? Why not get an 18" Steel City or a larger Grizzly or such, and then tune them up a little? Todd

Hey Erik, The prices are simply so much lower than Stew Mac that even with sepparate S&H, I saved money. 48" for 14.75 instead of 18.75 for 24" . . . Actually ordered some of the .25"x.25" ones to put under those fretboards you're working on for me. Figured 1/4" depth means I don't need to worry about carving through to the rods.

Just found these sites. Thought they were worth listing here. Prices look good to me. May already be listed, and if so, sorry for the repeat. http://www.acp-composites.com/acp-cr.htm http://www.goodwindskites.com/merch/list.s...solidflatcarbon Regards, Todd

Hi Woodenspoke, If you don't have a fence for your hand plane, a shooting board does make it easier to keep the hand plane at 90 degrees to the edge. Yeah, you can just put the board you're jointing on another board and rest the side of your plane on the bottom board for 90 degree angles, but for me, keeping the edge perfectly straight still seems easier with a shooting board type setup if the board is thin. I supposed if I had a number 7 or 8 plane I wouldn't worry, but I just have a no. 5 and like the straight edge effect. Regards, Todd http://www.taunton.com/finewoodworking/Com...l.aspx?id=28150

Hi Dave, Congrats on the wood. Glad not ordering a glued up body blank worked out for you. Now for the bad news Ok, it's not really bad news, just some advice. I know Mahogany is very stable, but let the wood sit for at least a week before you cut it. If it cups a little, it'll be easier to flatten while it's still squared up. Also, carbide.com is another source of router bits that's worked for me several times. They also sell single drill bits of odd sizes, so when I needed a 9/16" or such and the smaller one for the sperzel tuners, that's where I found it. Best, Todd

Isn't drano a base, not an acid ? ? ? Be careful what you use.

Hi Dave, Not to argue with Jason on pricing, but you're only buying 4 board feet or so of lumber. So don't drive too far to save 2 dollars a board foot If the store will joint an edge for you, that'd be a big plus! For most boards I like to let them sit in the same place for a while, but if you buy one four foot board and cut it, it's pretty much gonna have the same moisture content in both halves. Anyone see that as causing a problem for Dave if he goes that route? Jointing the wood right after he buys it? It'd certainly be less than buying a blank pre-glued up. Todd edit to add: You can buy a used Stanley Plane for a lot less than $100 and tune it up with a piece of plate glass and wet dry sandpaper.

Hi Dave, You have a neck already, so I suggest you start by building the body. Don't bother reshaping the headstock until you see how things are going. As to creating the body, I would NOT buy a pre-glued body blank. That's expensive! You're only talking about 4 board feet of lumber, and you can probably use shorts, pieces under 4 feet or so. They cost less per board foot. Mahogany shorts are under $5/board foot around me, so to buy two 2" thick pieces 8"x24" you need less than $25. If your wood store is like mine, they'll probalby joint the edges for you for free. With the money you save, buy a plane and a bottle of titebond. Oh, and an assortment of wet/dry sandpaper at the autostore to tune up your plane You can make your own body blank and get a useful tool. Then go and trace a Jazzmaster body. Transfer to your template material and rough cut that out using a jigsaw. Then perfect the template shape with rasps and sandpaper. You can use the actual neck and a few boards to make a temporary jig for the neck pocket. Might need some double sided tape and clamps, but the end fit should be good. That's all my money saving idea at the moment, and I don't have any finishing advice for you, except: DON'T SPRAY NITRO IN YOUR APARTMENT ! ! ! Regards, Todd