WNO's!

[mickey]

Couldn't leave the Douglas forum with no posts, now could I?

[mickey]

^-- That is my WNO-630
But this is my WNO-640

It gained a T.O.M. bridge after that pic was taken.

[Brendan]

I regret not grabbing one when they were available. Hopefully one pops up someday.

[mickey]

I regret not grabbing one when they were available. Hopefully one pops up someday.

They were an absolute steal, just ugly as they came from Rondo.
Can't imaging why anyone would specify a red guitar with a tort pickguard, creme pickup rings & amber knobs
but that is how my WNO-630 in the 1st post began life.

[t100d]

Home-made pg copied from my 1962 (original owner) Guild Slim Jim, black pup rings and metal knobs, Switchcraft jack and Chinese "Hohner" bridge … click on thumbnail and it shows vertically, as intended—weird …

[peskypesky]

Douglas WNO-650 BR

[dabbler]

^-- That is my WNO-630
But this is my WNO-640

NoZit.jpg

It gained a T.O.M. bridge after that pic was taken.

Oh, yeah!

[Buddha Pickups]

I got this for 159ish I believe when Kurt was closing them out

[Gear_Junky]

Hi, Mickey (and everyone, sorry, I remember some of y'all's names but not all of youz). I feel like I came back from a coma

[uwmcscott]

I got this for 159ish I believe when Kurt was closing them out

Nice...I had one of the naturals from that same blowout, should have hung on to it.

[Gear_Junky]

I just got my WNO-630 SO out of storage (from my parents' house), I'll post pics when I get around to it. Mine was a $100 b-stock, it was silly not to grab it.

[mickey]

I just got my WNO-630 SO out of storage (from my parents' house), I'll post pics when I get around to it. Mine was a $100 b-stock, it was silly not to grab it.

Looking forward to it. You aren't aware but that orange WNO of yours co$t me a bunch of ca$h!
Love my WNO 630 & always wanted an orange one like yours, but Kurt never stocked them (leftys) before
the factory went belly up. The ones since (from a different factory) appear to me to be nothing like as good.
I always admired yours & drooled every time you posted pics.

I ended up getting an orange Gretsch 6120 from my local mom & pop shop.
Someone had ordered a lefty 6120 thru them but when it arrived the guy wouldn't touch it.
Why, you ask? Here is how the box was marked when it arrived.

Well, nobody could ever find any reason for it to have been marked as a B-STOCK.

The bottom line was that I bought a Gretsch 6120 for a bit less than the usual co$t of the Electromatic version!
So I ain't complaining!

[honyock]

not sure why I sold my 640, regret it after reading the regret thread.

[honyock]

after adding my Frequensator tailpiece

[Gear_Junky]

...You aren't aware but that orange WNO of yours co$t me a bunch of ca$h!
Love my WNO 630 & always wanted an orange one like yours, but Kurt never stocked them (leftys) before
the factory went belly up. The ones since (from a different factory) appear to me to be nothing like as good.
I always admired yours & drooled every time you posted pics.

I ended up getting an orange Gretsch 6120 from my local mom & pop shop.
Someone had ordered a lefty 6120 thru them but when it arrived the guy wouldn't touch it.
Why, you ask? Here is how the box was marked when it arrived.

6120-1.JPG

Well, nobody could ever find any reason for it to have been marked as a B-STOCK.

6120-2.JPG

The bottom line was that I bought a Gretsch 6120 for a bit less than the usual co$t of the Electromatic version!
So I ain't complaining!

Well... that's just "turrible" for you, mate! Mine looks nice but has its quirks, I need to figure out how to get the neck pickup close enough to the strings, somehow there's a lot more clearance than most such guitars. And I just have both pups only wired to a 3-way switch + master volume (no tones and no individual volumes) because I was lazy to build a full harness. I would like to do that eventually. Last few things I did before dropping off the face of the AGF was to remove the pickguard and put a correct Bigsby on it (I had a shorter tail one, which moved onto my Epi LP, but I'll probably sell/trade it as I am converting the LP back to proper hard-tail).

I'll need to ask you if you prefer Gretsch switching (the tone or "mud" switch) or the common LP/Gibson style wiring with a 3-way and 2V/2T knobs? I like rockabilly style tones but wouldn't mind playing some occasional jazzy tunes, so rolling off some highs at some point would be a nice option.

[mickey]

Well... that's just "turrible" for you, mate! Mine looks nice but has its quirks, I need to figure out how to get the neck pickup close enough to the strings, somehow there's a lot more clearance than most such guitars. And I just have both pups only wired to a 3-way switch + master volume (no tones and no individual volumes) because I was lazy to build a full harness. I would like to do that eventually. Last few things I did before dropping off the face of the AGF was to remove the pickguard and put a correct Bigsby on it (I had a shorter tail one, which moved onto my Epi LP, but I'll probably sell/trade it as I am converting the LP back to proper hard-tail).

I'll need to ask you if you prefer Gretsch switching (the tone or "mud" switch) or the common LP/Gibson style wiring with a 3-way and 2V/2T knobs? I like rockabilly style tones but wouldn't mind playing some occasional jazzy tunes, so rolling off some highs at some point would be a nice option.

Well, I have said on this forum many times over the years that I utterly detest Les Paul style wiring because the volume pots interact! That is the first thing I normally "repair" when I get a guitar wired like that.

If you look at my WNO in the OP of this thread, you will notice it has three pots and two switches. That is because the WNO had five holes drilled in the top and it is easier to stick a pot/switch in one than to fill & refinish. Looking at the quad where the pots normally are on a Les Paul, the left most pot is the master volume, the upper pot is the bridge volume, the lower pot is the master tone. The switch is the pickup selector.

The switch on the upper bout is my version of a mud switch. Up is a .015uF tone cap, down is a .022uF tone cap & middle is both or .037uF tone cap.

[Gear_Junky]

Well, I have said on this forum many times over the years that I utterly detest Les Paul style wiring because the volume pots interact! That is the first thing I normally "repair" when I get a guitar wired like that.

If you look at my WNO in the OP of this thread, you will notice it has three pots and two switches. That is because the WNO had five holes drilled in the top and it is easier to stick a pot/switch in one than to fill & refinish. Looking at the quad where the pots normally are on a Les Paul, the left most pot is the master volume, the upper pot is the bridge volume, the lower pot is the master tone. The switch is the pickup selector.

The switch on the upper bout is my version of a mud switch. Up is a .015uF tone cap, down is a .022uF tone cap & middle is both or .037uF tone cap.

Mickey, I must have missed all those times you said it. But I would be very interested to learn more. I'm someone who typically leaves everything wide open, which is why I could allow myself to just install a master volume for the time being.

But I am definitely interested in learning to use tone controls more. I listened on YouTube for how the Gretsch "mud switch" sounds and I have to say that I liked all 3 settings. But I have to ask: are these same sounds not available via the conventional pot+cap tone controls? And I've never noticed or known that LP-style volume controls interact. I'll have to learn more about how that sounds.

In my WNO-630 I have the original 4 LP-style vol/tone control holes, plus the upper bout switch hole and the master volume hole that I drilled near the cutaway, like the Gretsch MV. And I am not opposed to drill another hole for a second switch if I decide. I've noticed that many Gretsch hollowbodies have different controls, some have 2 switches (pickup selector and tone) and 3 knobs, some have 2 knobs or 4 knobs (I think), some only have 1 switch (pickup selector), etc. I'll try to gather enough info to decide what I want to do. I don't want to complicate matters unnecessarily or spend a lot more, but at the same time I'd hate to do this fairly difficult (for me) job and skimp on a little cap that could give me a nice tone option.

[mickey]

Ok, take a Les Paul style guitar and set the pickup selector switch to turn both pickups on.
Plug into an amp, turn both pickup volumes all the way up & strum a chord.
Turn either pickup volume all the way down & strum a chord.
Turn that volume back up & turn the other one all the way down, strum a chord.

I rest my case.
Drives me nuts!

All the Gretsch mud switch does is switch in different sizes of tone caps.
With standard Gretsch wiring the center position = NO tone cap.
The way I wired my WNO center position = BOTH tone caps.

Can you get the sounds of a Gretsch with mud switch from a Les Paul style guitar?
Only if you re-wire it.

[Gear_Junky]

Ok, take a Les Paul style guitar and set the pickup selector switch to turn both pickups on.
Plug into an amp, turn both pickup volumes all the way up & strum a chord.
Turn either pickup volume all the way down & strum a chord.
Turn that volume back up & turn the other one all the way down, strum a chord.

I will try this (almost ready to put new strings on my Epi LP). But I thought since the 2 pickups are "mixed" together in the mid position, by reducing one volume you are "subtracting" that pickup's output, so naturally the overall sound changes... are you saying there's something else that happens? Maybe I never paid attention/noticed

[mickey]

Ok, take a Les Paul style guitar and set the pickup selector switch to turn both pickups on.
Plug into an amp, turn both pickup volumes all the way up & strum a chord.
Turn either pickup volume all the way down & strum a chord.
Turn that volume back up & turn the other one all the way down, strum a chord.

I will try this (almost ready to put new strings on my Epi LP). But I thought since the 2 pickups are "mixed" together in the mid position, by reducing one volume you are "subtracting" that pickup's output, so naturally the overall sound changes... are you saying there's something else that happens? Maybe I never paid attention/noticed

Yes, Sir.

[Gear_Junky]

Well, I have said on this forum many times over the years that I utterly detest Les Paul style wiring because the volume pots interact! That is the first thing I normally "repair" when I get a guitar wired like that.

Mickey, I watched the videos. I never noticed! Shows how much I use the guitar controls

How would you feel about Gibson layout with independent volumes and "vintage wiring", i.e. pickup switch, individual volumes and tones? Any thoughts on maybe using different value tone caps on neck vs. bridge? I already have these 6 holes in the guitar and if I'm going to go through with this job, I might as well do my homework and decide on a way to use them all.

I do like the Gretsch concept of "Master Tone" knob - I really doubt it's all that practical to have separate tone knobs for most people. But then what else could I do with that extra knob? I doubt I need/want a phase switch on a guitar like this...

I welcome everyone's ideas on what to do. I am not trying to make this into a Gretsch, but Gretsch tone is what I seem to like.

[Gear_Junky]

Found an old picture. I put on a proper-er Bigsby since then (longer, so the bar reaches where the playing hand is).

[Gear_Junky]

Thank you, I quite like it myself. I still have to find a way to raise the neck pickup closer to strings, decided to order GFS mounting brackets. And, of course, at some point I'd like to wire up a proper harness - right now it's "hot rod" wired (only switch and MV, nothing else).

[mickey]

Thank you, I quite like it myself. I still have to find a way to raise the neck pickup closer to strings, decided to order GFS mounting brackets. And, of course, at some point I'd like to wire up a proper harness - right now it's "hot rod" wired (only switch and MV, nothing else).

What I did was keep the original WNO pickup rings. The neck one is waaay thicker than normal pickup rings.
But I painted them black with a Rust-oleum paint designed for direct application to plastic.
I've never found a pickup ring as thick as the one on the neck of the WNO.
T.V. Jones sells spacers for use with Gretsch style mountings to raise them closer to the strings.
I suppose you could stack several?

[Gear_Junky]

What I did was keep the original WNO pickup rings. The neck one is waaay thicker than normal pickup rings.
But I painted them black with a Rust-oleum paint designed for direct application to plastic.
I've never found a pickup ring as thick as the one on the neck of the WNO.
T.V. Jones sells spacers for use with Gretsch style mountings to raise them closer to the strings.
I suppose you could stack several?

You're right, of course. But in my case I started out painting them gold, then black (or the other way around), which caused the paint to bubble up - ruined. Then I had GFS Memphis Retrotrons (I think I still have them) - they sounded great but I just "hatta have" the Filtertron look, with the Gretsch rings (it was a bit of an obsession at the time). And yes, I already have TV risers in there, but the actual "english mounts" are my own (I cut the base plate ears from the stock mudbuckers). And they are not quite right. So there's still some room for adjusting with screws, just need proper mounts.

Looking back at it, this guitar looks more like a Gibson copy, so instead of trying to gretschify it, if I had to do it again, I'd try to emphasize the gibbishness (but I'd probably use GFS Surf 90's or Mean 90's). But still, looks like a million bucks