Ya, it's been a long time. I want to get three done. This is the hardest of all three. Thought it would be awesome to get the fun one first. This will be a piezo semi hollow guitar.
The guitar will be made in four layers. The top is 1/4 ply. The second layer down is 1/2 ply. Third layer is 3/4 maple from a table top. This layer will support the neck. Bottom layer is another layer of 1/4 ply.
First. Each layer will first be cut into 13 11/16 x 17 7/16 rectangles. Each piece of wood will get a 3x3 inch grid. There are three patterns. Each patter has 3x3 grid markings. So they will line up in the very same spot on each piece of wood.
The bottom layer gets two recessed plates. The will be cut out of and sit flush in the 1/4 ply. I'll have to start each with a knife cut. Then use a jig saw to finish them. These tow access plates will screw into the maple layer above them.
The maple layer will get three cavities cut out of it. One for the pots and jack. One for the three way toggle switch. And one large one on the left side, as your looking at it in a stand, of the guitar.
The 1/2 ply layer is mostly one large cavity. There will be support for the output jack. And a block of the same wood for under the bridge.
The top layer will get holes for four knobs, the output jack and three way switch. There will also be a sound hole.
At this point the four layers are still rectangles. I'll first glue the top two layers together. Then cut the neck pocket out of them. Then glue the rest to make one block. Once dry I'll cut the body shape out.
The two piezos. The one at the neck will be permanently sealed within the guitar. the only way to have access to it is to make a plate on the face of the guitar. Choosing looks over function. The second piezo will be under the bridge/
Two pics. The first pic is the maple layer. The second is the 1/2 ply along with the block for the bridge.
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Good that you found a use for the table top. It is hard to tell sometimes what is solid wood and what isn't. One thing I've noticed is that the solid wood is often lighter than the engineered wood.
The noiseless single coil pickups are hated by those that like the single coil sound that has more attack and bite. Noiseless versions always loose some of those traits.
Careful about how to videos, lots of them are wrong and don't get taken down. I fell victim to that with my BO Diddly build and I'm a bit worried if it'll be okay or not. The usual way is center of bridge on the scale length line, high string(plain) side 3mm towards neck and low string(wound) 3mm away from neck. Unless you have a compensated bridge like a Jr. Lightning bridge like mine, then the entire bridge remains on the scale length line. Hope mine works out okay, guess I'll find out soon.
One step forward, one step back to take a look and a different step forward.....Just learned you can't coil tap a Fender noiseless pickup. It has three wires for a single coil. But two of them are meant as shielding and ground. Well that takes two pots off of that guitar. It will still have a master tone and volume with separate volumes for both pickups. Or I could eliminate two more pots and the switch. Use a blend pot with a master volume and tone. Ch ch ch changes.... I miss David Bowie.
One thing i did learn today is how to wire a dummy coil up with single coils in a strat. And i have plenty of really badly cheap single coil pickups to play with.
Ceramic bar mag on the bottom?
Paul, not sure what you mean by ceramic bar bag on bottom. The three wires that come out of a Fender noiseless pickup are one hot, one ground and one shield. So in effect, one hot and two grounds. As far as the dummy coil for hum canceling in a strat this is the vid I have,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EmX_5tlPFUo
Can also do this for P90's and other wide single coil pickups.
I was talking about your referenced cheapy Strat pickups.
If they have a bar magnet across the bottom(ceramic magnet from factory) you can change them out for Alnico magnets or Neodymium magnets with great changes in tone. But the the great thing about using these as dummy coils is the magnet is easily removed and the poles will come out with ease since they are in a plastic coil bobbin.
Fender and some other companies have poles that are the magnets. These pickups are harder to remove the poles without destroying the pickup due to the bobbin being a piece of flatwork on bottom and top with wire wrapped around the poles.Hard to remove the poles without deforming the bobbin and snagging a wire in the process.
You may know this, but at least the info is hear for others now. ;)
Thanks Paul. No, didn't know this. I'm brand new at taring these things apart. I was actually thinking of using one of these really cheap Pbass pickups I have. That it may not be the size of the coil that matters. Just the idea of having a coil.
No real work on the guitar. But did try the pickup wiring I plan on using. This guitar will have a single blade style single coil in center position. With a volume, variable coil tap and tone control. I have a strat style guitar so I wired it up with the pickup I want to use. It's a Duncan Cool Rails. As far as I'm concerned one of their worst pickups. Or the worst one I have from them. Wiring it up with way I was able to bring in and out the second coil. All the way up and it's the usual midrange mud tone. All the way down and it was half power. But had the singing highs of a thin single coil. Dialing the second coil in and I can get some fat single coil sounds. Happy with the choice.
Pickups are interesting in the way they can impact tone. The size of the coil, how tall, how wide and how thick helps shape the magnetic field. P90 sounds different than a Strat or Jazzmaster pickup. The amount of wire will determine the strength of the coil.
A pickup's tone and performance can be changed with height adjustments, pots/caps/wiring schemes and types and strength of magnets. Low pickup height lowers the output response, but also changes the tone which can be a bad thing or good thing. I always mount them low and adjust upwards til I get the best tone. Muddy pickups are usually neck pickups that are too hot for that position or adjusted too high. A .047 cap wired in the signal line of the pickup can take away unwanted muddiness if the adjustment doesn't work. A pickup will not give the same results in every guitar. All the parts of the guitar including the wood will have a part in the guitar's tone for the good or the bad. I've had pickups that were terrible in one guitar and fantastic in others.
What value caps and pots are you using? Have you tried lowering the pickup height? Also having the low side of the pickup lower the the high side might help.
I've used this pickup in different guitars. It's the design of the pickup itself. It has a huge midrange with very low high and low end outputs. It's a neck/mid pickup so it's in the right spot. You can brighten it up a bit with pots and caps but that high mid output is still there. Like turning your treble and bass to 0 and your mid all the way up on your amp. This really shines with a variable coil tap. Turning the dummy coil down brings out more of the top and bottom. to a point. All the way down it sounds like a really cheap single coil. But I can use that sound too.
Here's a link to SD site with sound samples of this pickup.
Honestly think they maxed out the treble on the amp to get it to sound that crisp.
this is a better sound sample.
star the vid at 5:11 and at 8:35
If you go to 10:40 he splits the pickup. You can hear the highs it has when I turn the variable coil tap down.
I played in a band with a guy who had a Gibson Less Paul with the humbuckers as low as he could get them in the guitar. He would allow his tube Marshal to overwork to get a volume out of it. Really an awesome smooth sound. If you using humbuckers and what a true fuzz sound use a cap to keep your highs on the volume and turn it down.
To much to do this weekend. No time to work on the guitar again.
The SD site sound samples was good for the clean and crunchy was decent. The Dirty one was just too much.
That video was good to me and the coil tap was nice and clean.
Most ceramic magnet pickups I've come across have had a mid scoop, but that has a big midrange output. A DCR of nearly 10k is hot for a neck position on a mid heavy pickup. adjust that one as low as possible. You might consider a magnet change to a weaker magnet to tame it, like the ones on the cheap pickups.
Sounds like you like the low output pickups more than the hot ones.
Yes I do prefer low to mid output pickups. Some high output pickups sacrifice tone for output. To the point of sounding bad when played clean. They are also better for those who want tube amps. Overdriving a solid state amp isn't the same. So I do favor vintage to medium output pickups. I can get all the distortion and crunch I need from pedals or the amp. Love the sound of the Duncan Custom Custom. Had a guitar loaded with them. They are a mid to high output pickup,. But could still distort when I got a bit heavy handed. I've tried distortion pickups. Still have a Duncan Hot Rails resting in a box. The rest when away to happier homes.
Love the Duncan Custom Custom, Whole Lotta Humbucker and the 78's.
My two favs from Duncan would be the 59's and Pearly Gates. The 59's because they sound exactly like a humbucker should. And better quality than the over priced Gibson PAFs. Yap, old school. The Pearly Gates have a sound that for me translates well either clean or heavy distorted. Both pickups have high clarity properties when played live. With the Gates having clearer highs.
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