Whats on your work bench?

[deeaa]

Got this Dimavery V for a song, scrapoed the neck and now I'm fitting a 24 fret Yamaha neck in it. Being longer I had to move the neck pup backwards a bit, and anyhow to keep a proper scale it had to be totally repositioned.

It's also a '67 shape so I had to cut the horns almost an inch shorter and also cut off a LOT of wood around the neck, as in a '67 the body reaches up to 16th or so fret...I don't like that. Now it's a lot more like my other Vs which are all the smaller 58 shape.

Got everything done today, up to primer coat 1, and now I have to wait a day to let it cure before final sand and topcoat. And after that lacquer after a few days of drying.

I had some nice Blade Levinson pickups on the shelf so I used those. Maybe I'll swap the bridge to a 498t later, will have to see how do these sound in this.

It's gonna be cream colored when done.

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[voodoorat]

I really didn’t like the Fishman Sonitone piezo in my J45 Studio Rosewood—so much so that I actually briefly listed it but I wound up delisting it and buying an LR Baggs element to replace it.

So I spent about 10 minutes swapping that out over the weekend (and another 30 minutes or so figuring out why the high E string had such low output). Then I decided to install the Fishman into the Orangewood Oliver Jr travel, which also was surprisingly easy although I did have to drill and ream some holes. I figured it would be good experience if nothing else but I think it sounds okay in that guitar (I expect less of that one) and adds a little extra utility to it.

Although I think if I put pickups in my remaining acoustic-only guitars they probably won’t be under saddle piezos, just used that one in that guitar because I have one in the Eastman E10D and it sounds pretty good.


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[andrewsrea]

Got most of the correct parts for the Vemuram Jan Ray (expensive Timmy), quantity of 10 being built for now. Also got a really good deal on 500 pieces of aluminum knobs in silver and black, don't know which i will use on these yet, or what color LED.

20211029_174632_resized.jpg20211029_180024_resized.jpg20211029_180301_resized.jpg

Love the finish!

[Partscaster]

Got most of the correct parts for the Vemuram Jan Ray (expensive Timmy), quantity of 10 being built for now. Also got a really good deal on 500 pieces of aluminum knobs in silver and black, don't know which i will use on these yet, or what color LED.

20211029_174632_resized.jpg20211029_180024_resized.jpg20211029_180301_resized.jpg

Love the finish!

I'm interested.

ediot-oops, thought you were building them, Andrew. I see its mozz.

[Partscaster]

Got most of the correct parts for the Vemuram Jan Ray (expensive Timmy), quantity of 10 being built for now. Also got a really good deal on 500 pieces of aluminum knobs in silver and black, don't know which i will use on these yet, or what color LED.

20211029_174632_resized.jpg20211029_180024_resized.jpg20211029_180301_resized.jpg

i'm interested.

[mozz]

I finally got the correct stomp switch with pins instead of eye holes. First one is almost done, just have to align the power jack hole to the proper spot. Once i get those measurements i shall drill out the remaining 9.

[jtcnj]

New beater Yamaha bass got cleaned up, fixed up, stupid sticker removed, shielding paint with ground from pickup cavity, bridge ground conductivity fixed, sharp fret ends or bevels knocked down, new pots (re-used old Rondo SX pulled when new), new strings.

Gotta remount the string retainer bar.
The holes were sloppy to begin with and pulled out when I tuned up to pitch.

[Partscaster]

been getting into slide, got that resonator guitar, and have an old tiesco thats plywood and sounds wonderful for slide.
But wanted another to keep in other open tunings.

had my Furrian Thinline all packaged up to take to consignment guitar shop...might get 150 for it, etc.
So...second thought was to build a Keith Richards tele-ish guitar. Slap in a humbucker in neck, and swap in an allparts soft-v strat neck.
Butchered the pickguard myself to accommodate humbucker. Routed out neck pup cavity of course.

Took out old ceramic pups that I had recently put back in for the sale of it. Had a Fralin Big Single neck kicking around ...humbucker sized single coil with dummy coil..I think. Warm and full with clarity is its ballpark. Put that in neck, with a D Allen "Specials" tele bridge that is a5, about 9.0 ohms.

Had 500k pots on hand, used. The Bridge is hot enough to sound not shrill with the 500k, and the Big Single I have is a hotter version which Fralin suggests 500k with.

They balance really well. Warm punchy clears in neck, clear to hint of growl in bridge. I havent been able to crank it yet, but it sounds great for open G stuff, especially close to voice of Richards' tele tones with champ tube amp. I bet it starts to brake up nicely when I have a bit bigger amp hitched up or OD/boost it. It plays very well. Didnt need to shim for new neck. First 5 stringer for me. Didnt spend a penny.


Here it is: Simon likes the color.

[jtcnj]

The GFS black shielding paint does not show conductivity on meter.
Added coat of MG Chemicals 841AR shielding paint, and copper tape to the cover. Dead quiet now, unless the vol and tone both maxed, hear a little elec. noise.
WAY better than before.

Remounted the string retainer bar without the E string, and added new foam blocks under the pickups - the old ones were beat.

[jtcnj]

fret work in progress

[jtcnj]

First crack at making plastics. The one I used for the pattern is slightly oversize of the new one.
Even at the slowest speed on jigsaw, the plastic melts and rehardens behind the blade!
Had to cut it almost 3 whole times.

[tobijohn]

First crack at making plastics. The one I used for the pattern is slightly oversize of the new one.
Even at the slowest speed on jigsaw, the plastic melts and rehardens behind the blade!
Had to cut it almost 3 whole times.

So what did you do differently the third time?

[rrobbone]

First crack at making plastics. The one I used for the pattern is slightly oversize of the new one.
Even at the slowest speed on jigsaw, the plastic melts and rehardens behind the blade!
Had to cut it almost 3 whole times.

20211214_101748.jpg

20211214_112948.jpg

Far easier to cut 1/8" outside the line, then sand to shape - if your tool situation allows.

[jtcnj]

Far easier to cut 1/8" outside the line, then sand to shape - if your tool situation allows.

I did, the first piece is the finished piece.

So what did you do differently the third time?

After the first go I slowed the saw to the lowest speed.
Some sections cut smoothly and some re-melted again and became like a score line.
Then I snapped off the piece and shaped it with a belt sander upside down on the bench steadied with a Jorgensen clamp and then hand sanded to final dimension.

[deeaa]

I've found out that scraping with a sharp knife edge is real quick and good for making pickguards etc...not alone but as an addition to sanding.

Usually I dremel the part clearly too large, then use a coarse sandpaper to get within a millimeter or a few, and then scrape with the knife. Very easy to make slanted edges, too, to show the ply. Way faster than sanding too.

Then finish off with a fine sandpaper as per necessary.

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[tobijohn]

Then finish off with a fine sandpaper as per necessary.

How fine? I ask these questions because I have a bunch of pickguards to do myself, TIA...

[deeaa]

600 or so, 400 even....whatever I have at hand smooth nough

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[andrewsrea]

This is a partial refin (back and heel) of an Eric Johnson Strat neck. Tint-matched nitro-cellulose lacquer, reparis to the fretboard and a new Fender decal. Blue masking tape interacted with the original finish on the fret board and took the decals off the headstock, which cause the repairs to those.

This was a real labor of love...

[Partscaster]

I'm building a 2 layer 8 ft long shelf (using 2x12's and an old cabinet) to have amps stored on with organized ready access for using,...combos, heads and cabinets rather than continuing to keep them in different rooms here and there. Will have 8" space underneath first shelf to slide pedal board partially under when I'm done playing. Pics when done.

[jtcnj]

my 5e3 build was making some cackling noises.

No wait, some light crackling noises intermittently, sometimes if I wiggled v1 a bit.
While I had it on the bench I went over the voltages and output tube bias, looks good at @ 90% plate dissipation.
I cleaned up / resoldered the v1 socket.
Didnt find a specific cause, but so far so good.

[Rollin Hand]

I got a flying V kit for my birthday the other week. It's from Solo Music here in Canada, and is mofied from the original design a little. The idea is for my son and me to build it together.

https://www.solomusicgear.com/product/s ... wood-body/

(It isn't basswood -- it's mahogany)

We can't paint for another few months but we can get started on grain filling et al. (If needed -- the site says it has a poly resin sealer)

It's a bolt-on, and the neck is crazy tight in the pocket.

Right now, I am thinking dark metallic green for the colour.

As well, I decided to keep a guitar I was going to sell. It's an old Watson Wolfgang copy. The current plan is to take a trem from Axcessories.com:

https://www.axcessories.com/Floyd-Rose- ... olo-Chrome

...and add my usual spate of hardened steel fasteners, and add an old brass block. This will be a HUGE upgrade over the bridge on the guitar as it has a hardened steel baseplate and steel saddles.

I will also redo the electronics.

Lastly, I will have to get one of the trem posts redrilled as it is very slightly angled. The posts from my GFS Heavy Duty trem will screw right in to the bushings, and they will be an upgrade from the original posts.

[jtcnj]

I'm interested to know if that licensed Floyd is a winner.

[jtcnj]

The 5e3 was acting up again last night, turns out both 12ay7 tubes I swapped as part of trouble shooting have similar, not the exact same, but similar issues. Or so I thjnk.
One was a used, tested good Ebay find, the other a not very old Electro Harmonix.

I swapped in another EH and it was all good, until it started cutting in and out completely.
turns out the 6' cord from my board to the amp had a broken tip connector.

What a night.
Full moon maybe, idk.
Wouldn't want this kind of thing if I was a gigging musician.

So, I didnt toss either tube, as they both may be good.

[Rollin Hand]

I'm interested to know if that licensed Floyd is a winner.

I already have one on an older guitar. I would put them around a Floyd special. They are made by the same company (Sung Il). I added hardened screws and a biiig brass block, and the damn thing sustains like crazy when decked.

They are all steel, but to really get the most out of them, you need to change the intonation and the block screws, and add a brass block. I have had zero luck changing the string lock bolts and blocks -- I had to go back to the originals to keep things in tune.

Worth noting is they don't come with a nut, posts and springs. The nut and the posts are key to a good performing trem, as is lubrication of the pivot points.

The hardened screws should be available for pennies at a decent fastener supply place.

[jtcnj]

Update on the 5e3; cable bad, tubes good!!