This could be git related or not. So, what's on your workbench at the moment?
I have 4 scarf joint necks in different stages of work.
A 25" scale pine 5 string neck for a Banjo-Res, A 25" scale Red Oak neck for my 6 string Strat-Res build, A 24 & 1/2" scale Red Oak neck for my 6 string Double Cut Tele build and a 27" scale 6 string Baritone Conversion neck for a Modern Strat body I have.
Tags:
Well I've got more pickups than you can poke a stick at, but what I might try are these pictured here. Reflex pickups made in England. I've had them for over 20 years. Trying to find info on them to work out the wiring. They are low impedance so nead the preamp system. I'll keep you posted.
Feels unusual working on such a light neck. Modifying peghead shape and slottting the fingerboard this week.
Taff
Taff, I have some reprints of the reflex manual if you need them?
Oooh, Active Pickups. I had a EMG 85 in a Strat style back in the 80's and 90's. I should've switched to an 81 because the 85 had way to much distortion. Hope they work out for you Taff, interested in how they work out. I haven't had any experience with the active single coils.
Active pickups have come a long way since the 80’s, I used to hate them, but they’ve resolved all the pesky noise issues since then? EMG has championed the active game ever since
I recall Les Paul himself preferred low impedance pickups and that Gibson had models sporting them in the early 1970's.
I have not installed the Reflex pickups for many years and cant recall how they performed. Thanks for the offer of info Brian, I'll let you know if I cant find anything.
Taff
I've discovered how to make a 4 hour job last 2 weeks, Ihave a guitar I made 4 or 5 years ago, and although I really like the feel and balance of it, it just didn't sound right, so it sat there most of the time just looking at me, the body sides are made from a chunk of 2'' plywood shaped and hollowed, a doggy bowl resonator, home made single pole pup etc. Any way, over the years I've fiddled with it a bit, extra mag pup mounted to the bowl, which did nothing much, piezo rod, then discs on the bowl, not much better. I decided to pull it apart and start again, so I sanded the body sides , filled the grain etc, then put a couple of poly clear coats on it, and hung it up to dry, in the mean time I put an extra 1800 winds on the pup, I think it was around 5500 originally, then I thinned the aluminium top, down from around 3.2 mm to roughly 1.5 mm, except for an edge all around where it sat on the sides, I also domed the top to make it similar to an arch top. Then I took to the doggy bowl with a grinder and [ unscientifically] started to thin that , hoping to make it a bit more responsive, during all that, as I was crossing the shed at 1 time, I managed to bump the sides [ carcase] with my head, sending it to the floor, lucky me, I now had a 4 piece body, as plywood doesn't have much strength when it is cut in a curved shape and only 15mm or so thick for 80% of it's length, to remake the body to follow the aluminium top and bottom, particularly with the top now domed, and the screw holes near the edge, gave me no fudge room, so I decided to glue it back together, sand , fill and paint it, which I did, and started to assemble it, which is when I discovered my neck pocket had altered slightly, slightly enough to make the guitar about 1.5 mm short of scale, the peg head leaning to the bass side around 3 or 4 mm, and a slight twist down it's length, so I needed a shim for each of those issues, which I did, and managed to totally hide 2 of them, but because I only had about 1mm fretboard overhang I couldn't hide the lengthening shim, so decided to make it look deliberate and did it in white, all good so far, except , by thinning the top, I'd lost a bit of rigidity and when tuning up, the neck was lifting slightly, and pushing the top down in the pup area, oh, and the flex cause all my glue joints to show hairline cracks through the pain, So, strip it down again, fill, sand paint etc, bolster my neck mount block and put it together, all good now, but I need to make a shim for under the pup, as it's too low now under string tension, temporarily I have a bar magnet over the top of the poles which is working ok. I went back to piezo discs for the reso bowl, 4 discs in parallel , it sounds really good on piezo, but a bit light on output, so I think a pre amp will cure that, the mag sounds so much better with the extra winds on, so that's good as well, unfortunately, the work on the bowl had minimal effect accoustically, being such a small sound chamber probably is the chief culprit there, I'm still fiddling with the screw in the bridge to raise and lower contact with the bowl to get the best compromise, so far it seems just enough tension to raise the bridge off the top, then lower 1/2 a turn sounds best, no effect at all on the mag, but changes the piezo voice a lot.
Finding the right combination of parts or the right tweaks to the assembly can take time for you to discover on a build. Sometimes we get rid of "The Problem Guitar" and someone else makes the right tweak or part change.
My Dad told me when I was young that setting a problem aside for a time will often lead to ideas of fixing the problem.
I have a cheap old Japanese made guitar that has gone through 4 changes/tweaks over the last 40 years, the last version is awesome.
Hi, that's a nice looking guitar, lt reminded me of a Zematis style of build. I've got too many projects to revisit.
Taff
Started by J. D. Woods in Performances, How to Play, Lessons, Concerts. Last reply by Southern Ray yesterday. 8 Replies 1 Like
Started by Southern Ray in Other stuff - off topic, fun stuff, whatever. Last reply by Southern Ray yesterday. 6 Replies 0 Likes
Started by J. D. Woods in Performances, How to Play, Lessons, Concerts. Last reply by BrianQ. on Thursday. 4 Replies 0 Likes
Started by Rich Butters in Building Secrets, Tips, Advice, Discussion. Last reply by Crazed Fandango on Tuesday. 4 Replies 0 Likes
Started by Nomad Jack in Performances, How to Play, Lessons, Concerts. Last reply by J. D. Woods Apr 17. 7 Replies 2 Likes
Started by Moritz Voegeli in Building Secrets, Tips, Advice, Discussion. Last reply by Southern Ray Apr 14. 6 Replies 2 Likes
Started by Timothy Hunter in Other stuff - off topic, fun stuff, whatever. Last reply by Timothy Hunter Apr 10. 14 Replies 3 Likes
Started by Tom T in Building Secrets, Tips, Advice, Discussion. Last reply by Southern Ray Apr 9. 9 Replies 0 Likes
Started by Southern Ray in Building Secrets, Tips, Advice, Discussion. Last reply by Southern Ray Apr 4. 7 Replies 1 Like
Started by Timothy Hunter in Building Secrets, Tips, Advice, Discussion. Last reply by Southern Ray Mar 27. 1 Reply 2 Likes
Started by Taffy Evans in Building Secrets, Tips, Advice, Discussion. Last reply by Southern Ray Mar 10. 1 Reply 3 Likes
Started by Cigar Box Nation in Feature Articles. Last reply by BrianQ. Mar 9. 4 Replies 3 Likes
Started by Ghostbuttons in Building Secrets, Tips, Advice, Discussion. Last reply by Timothy Hunter Mar 9. 5 Replies 1 Like
Started by Justin Stanchfield in Building Secrets, Tips, Advice, Discussion. Last reply by Taffy Evans Mar 8. 6 Replies 0 Likes
Started by Ken I in Building Secrets, Tips, Advice, Discussion. Last reply by Brian partington Mar 8. 8 Replies 0 Likes
Started by Southern Ray in Cool gear discussion - that's not cigar box related. Last reply by Southern Ray Mar 6. 5 Replies 0 Likes
Started by Taffy Evans in Other stuff - off topic, fun stuff, whatever. Last reply by Taffy Evans Mar 5. 4 Replies 2 Likes
Started by Justin Stanchfield in Building Secrets, Tips, Advice, Discussion. Last reply by Carl Floyd Mar 1. 15 Replies 0 Likes
Started by Joe in Performances, How to Play, Lessons, Concerts. Last reply by Carl Floyd Feb 29. 13 Replies 0 Likes
Started by Chance in Building Secrets, Tips, Advice, Discussion. Last reply by Southern Ray Feb 22. 12 Replies 1 Like
Posted by Vlad on March 31, 2024 at 11:48pm 0 Comments 1 Like
Posted by Vlad on March 6, 2024 at 2:32am 5 Comments 2 Likes
Posted by billy jones bluez on February 28, 2024 at 2:09pm 0 Comments 0 Likes
Posted by billy jones bluez on February 17, 2024 at 11:00pm 0 Comments 0 Likes
Posted by Vlad on February 11, 2024 at 1:06am 1 Comment 1 Like
May 11, 2024 from 11am to 8pm – Speakeasy Grill
0 Comments 0 LikesMay 30, 2024 from 6:30pm to 10pm – The Casual Pint of Huntsville
0 Comments 0 Likes© 2024 Created by Ben "C. B. Gitty" Baker. Powered by
Cigar Box Nation is presented by C. B. Gitty Crafter Supply, your one-stop-shop for Cigar Box Guitar parts and accessories!