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Just got a new gigging acoustic (cole clarke angel), but immediateley noticed what I'm missing from my old gig axe, a crafter SA (similar to the more popular taylor T5), in that it has tge ability to switch and blend peizo and electromagnetic pickups which was great for looping. so, I have orded a soundhole humbucker to put in it, an "a little thunder" which has a 6 string output. and an octaver bass only output. rather than start hacking into my new guitar, I'm opting for external mixing/eq, BUT, I use wireless most of the time, so I need a passive bodypack mixer before my wireless.... I've accepted it will need to be a custom build, BUT, on the off chance anyone is aware of a commercially available product please let me know (likewise, if you've seen a gold/brass locking strap solution for a locking strap with trs jack passthrough, like the acoustilok by music nomad, im struggling to find that in the right colour too). anyway, failing that, onto building a belt pack... having never done such a thing im after any tips you can offer. particularly- clip & housing, wtf do I use? knobs, potentiometers, faders, what is and isnt workable for me? im thinking 2 in one knobs would be perfect for eq controls for bass and 6string humbucker output so i have full eq control over that, but, I need small to make surenit all fits in a tiny gousing, what would you suggest, and what other electronics will i require to get good tone control from said knobs ill be wanting 3x channels in, (acoustic, bass, electric) & 3x channels out,. channel 1 out, ive decided a 5 way toggle to switch from acoustic only, electric only, acoustic + bass, electric + bass, acoustic + electric with 3x level controls (one for each of the input channels) and an output channel mute/off toggle channel 2 out will be dedicated bass with a volume attenuator and a mute toggle. channel 3 out will be the same as channel 1 this gives me the option to route acoustic to an aux input on my looper while sending the electric through my fx chain, but being able to switch it up if needed, and being able to run a single output mode before my wireless with the choice of one or all signals. I toyed with the idea of crossfaders, but have since decided it will be more limiting as i would have to chose between fixed contour profiles and some situations i may want addition of humbucker without losing the acoustic , and a linear fade in other situations, so individual voluumes it is... im mostly handy with a soldering iron (albeit pretty sloppy and messy with my fit n finish, hence the desire to not butcher the guitar), Where do i get parts, and what do i actually require to make life easy as possible?

The beautiful MSPaint diagram I created gives basically all the detail I can provide. The pots are from a 2011 Gibson Les Paul. I'm not sure what I'm trying to achieve is even possible without more components. Basically all I want is for each of the two pickups to have their own volume control knob. Seems simple enough! In the diagram it shows the two configurations I've soldered it in already following some online diagrams I found googling my plan. I'm glad I found this forum as it looks like has a wealth of knowledge! Thanks for any info anyone can provide! -Dylan

I just finished a custom build of an Ibanez Destroyer - dual humbuckers with 500 cts pro pots, 1 tone control with a 220 orange drop cap. Pushback and shielded old school wiring. I had great fun doing a french polish on it! Sounds great, and is very quiet - but I just don't like the taper on these pots. My main players are my ibanez jems, and their taper is very smooth and even. Is there anything I can do to make them work better across their full range? Thanks!

Trying to keep cost down in building I'm always looking for alternative suppliers for everything. One thing that always amazes me are the prices for guitar-related electronics. Caps at $10, pots at $12 etc., whereas if you source capacitors for other electronics they cost around $0.05 anybody here ever found an electronics supplier to get stuff at 'normal' prices?

Ok, so I wasn't sure where to post this but here seems like the best spot. Got given an old bass from a mate to have a look at. It was his first bass (an old ProAx pbass copy made of MDF that for some bizarre reason has always sounded quite amazing) and he and his brother bought it together before his bro died so its worth more to him than a new one. Anyways, he'd put in some new pickups and a whole new wiring harness and fancy cap etc... sounds really good, but the problem is the Alessandro pots he put in stop just short of poking out the other side (rear mounted). My thinking was to get a couple of 3/8" deep round nuts like the ones you use for LP toggle switches, but I cannot for the life of me find any that size. (like this) http://www.allparts.com/EP-4923-001-Nickel-Deep-Round-Nut_p_1466.html I'm afraid to route any more out of the body because its MDF and I have no idea how strong that is really. Any other suggestions for how to get around this? He brought the bass to me with the chrome knobs holding the whole thing together, but I have a feeling that given time the pots will turn inside the cavity and screw up all the wiring.