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Bill Harbour Male Mobile, AL United States: Like

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My amp builds

Started this discussion. Last reply by Bill Harbour Apr 27, 2011. 3 Replies 0 Likes

Maybe this isn't the right place for this, but I've been building and designing amps for quite a while...mostly tube amps, but some solid state too. I've added some pics of a couple of the…Continue

Calculated frets don't align with real guitar

Started this discussion. Last reply by Mark Bliss Oct 27, 2011. 24 Replies 0 Likes

Hi everyone...I'm a first time builder and I've used the Stewart McDonald fret calculator with a 22 fret 24.75" scale...same as my Les Paul. I've drawn the frets, as calculated, out on the CGB neck,…Continue

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At 4:12pm on November 11, 2011, Josh Gayou (SmokehouseGuitars) said…: Hey, brother. Check you're e-mail. I responded concerning fret placement.

At 7:13am on October 28, 2011, c baxter said…: Your right we don't live that far apart at all brother. Thats also great looking work and color on your new build.

At 8:49pm on August 6, 2011, Chuck Dubman said…: Formaldehyde was used to further harden the galalith. Immerse the finished piece and wait... takes about a year to harden a 1" thick chunk. Brushing on a coat of superglue would probably work as well, in less time. I'll check on that... just made my first two attempts. Used powdered no-fat milk (cheaper, apparently slightly higher casein percentage, better shelf life). Added a shot of red and black Transfast and Transtint with good results. The Transtint works a bit better, stays in the plastic instead of bleeding out.

At 9:00am on May 23, 2011, Ben said…: I kind of like it "ugly." It reminds me of some of the early steel guitar pups.

At 7:26am on May 23, 2011, Ben said…: That's certainly ONE way to mount it! I like the "outside of the box thinking" (pun intended). Looks and sounds great! Isn't it fun to see what you can make?

At 2:40pm on May 21, 2011, Ben said…: Let me know about the stronger magnets. I found that they didn't present that much of a difference. I hope it was a fun process!

At 8:23am on May 18, 2011, JonBouye said…: Hey Bill, Thanks for the comeback. No I haven't used LTSpice. After a quick peek it may be well over my head, but I plan to get into it for a closer look. I haven't been active with electronics since '70 when I was in the Navy. Simple amps using the LM386 I thought would be a good way to get back into it. I too am looking for alternatives due to the limitations you mentioned.

A CGB design would be great, but I don't think it should be just one. As you well know, one size doesn't fit all because of the difference in venues and applicable needs. So I think there should be at least 3 designs. I'll give it some more thought and post to your thread.

BTW, I almost forgot. I was curious if you are familiar with any of Rod Elliott's work. He's from Australia and has a good site with some info you may find useful @ http://sound.westhost.com/index2.html I really like his take on design elements of the Guitar Amp. Check it out and let me know what you think.

At 3:23am on May 18, 2011, JonBouye said…: Some Great pictures of a nice 1st build. I really like your harboramps site. It seems we have even more in common as Saturday is my birthday. For some reason I can't send messages and not all my posts are getting through. I wanted to wish you a HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!! so I hope this works.

At 2:54pm on May 13, 2011, Ben said…: (Read the other post first!) A third variation is set up in a P90 kind of style. I used two thin pieces of wood and put machine screws through them so that they just poked through the bottom piece of wood. I then glued magnets on the bottom of that piece so that the screws became "magnetized." You then wrap the screws with some electrical tape to make sure there aren't any sharp edges. The wire gets wrapped directly around the screws. Since the screws are thinner than the magnets, you can make skinnier pups this way. This is also good for customizing the string spacing more as you can vary the distance between the screws without having to worry about the magnets on the bottom. You can SEE this pup style on the black Cohiba six-string (I used real 42-gauge on that one) and you can hear it with all Radioshack parts on the two-string bass that my buddy Yahnatan is playing in our videos on my page. I hope I answered some questions for you. Let me know if I can help any more.

At 2:50pm on May 13, 2011, Ben said…: Hey Bill, The Radioshack pup is REALLY easy to make. Buy the 3-pack magnet wire set as shown here. Use the red spool that is 200 feet of 30-gauge wire. You know that really tough plastic packaging that they use for electronics? I cut out two pieces of that for my bobbins, one slightly smaller than the other. I then super glued three ceramic button magnets between the bobbins. This can be a little bit tricky as they will slightly repel each other. Then wrap the whole spool around the magnets, making sure that you leave some end pieces for the leads. Don't wrap it too tight. Unlike the real 42-gauge wire, you don't have to worry so much about it breaking, but if its too tight, the bobbins will start to warp from the pressure. When its all wrapped up, you can slap a piece of electrical tape around it to keep everything in place and solder it up to a jack. Due to the low resistance from the short length the wire is sold in, you get relatively low output but a really nice, warm sound. A preamp would definitely help but I just run it through a little 4-track mixer that really cranks for live situations. I actually put all of my guitars into it so that I can run them all into one amp and have them preset with roughly equal volume going into the amp. If you want to hear a sample, it is the pup used on "In The Pines" on my page's player. Another variation I did used a couple of stacked bar magnets that were mounted on small pieces of wood. I cut a rectangular hole in the top piece and fit the magnet in. That one can be heard on the melody-slide guitar on "Fishin' Hole" that's also on my player.