Whats on your work bench?

[mkgearhead]

I picked up this 1996 Washburn Billy T a couple of weeks ago. When I was adjusting the action the B and G strings were considerably lower than the others. I don’t know if it was the string slots on the saddles or a collapsed bridge. I had a roller bridge in the parts drawer so I decided it would be easier to just swap it out. The body bushings for the new bridge were too small for the body and the original studs were too big to fit in the new bridge. I ended up chucking the original studs in the drill press and turning them down with a file to fit the new bridge. It turned out pretty good.

[jtcnj]

My first build from 2015: 5f1 Tweed Champ with added Princeton / 5f2a tone control and switchable v1a bypass caps.
Home brew and a bit sloppy.

It worked and I was happy. But the voltages were higher than the schematic / layout by like 20% or more, compared to the stated +-10%.
I read where some folks added a 1k resistor on the B+ after the rectifier tube, so I did.

It never sounded Great. So, I decided to look it over and ended up with a 250Ω resistor, and the Russian 6P6S version of the 6V6GT biased at 90%.
Really sounds ALIVE now.

[mozz]

I wouldn't have worried about the high voltage unless it was extreme. Some russian tubes don't come close to specs before blowing up. The screens can't take it. 6v6 you can run at over 400 volts. 6V6S from JJ are good tubes and you can abuse them. Also you should swap in a old American 6V6 just to see what changes. Also you can run a single ended amp at 100% dissipation, or even more. I don't care what Rob Robinettes website says. Was this the amp with a 6X5 or a 6v rectifier tube?
"With single-ended amps, the output tube runs the hardest when there is no signal passing through it. "

[Cyphre]

I’m in the middle of modding the heck out of my VM Jaguar… or I guess to be more accurate you could say building a parts Jaguar… VM neck, with the back deglossed/satinized…. Wilkinson locking tuners, new alder body painted charcoal frost… i have a new wiring harness, Q vintage correct pickups, staytrem bridge and avri tremolo… i removed some material from the body to make wiring installation easier… and copper taped all cavities

[jtcnj]

I wouldn't have worried about the high voltage unless it was extreme. Some Russian tubes don't come close to specs before blowing up. The screens can't take it. 6v6 you can run at over 400 volts. 6V6S from JJ are good tubes and you can abuse them. Also you should swap in a old American 6V6 just to see what changes. Also you can run a single ended amp at 100% dissipation, or even more. I don't care what Rob Robinettes website says. Was this the amp with a 6X5 or a 6v rectifier tube?
"With single-ended amps, the output tube runs the hardest when there is no signal passing through it. "

5y3 rectifier.
I started looking into the high voltages because the first output tube after start up checkout was a new Tung Sol 6v6gt.
It failed after not a ton of hours, and most of them at lower volume.

I would have been comfortable with a result of %100 but the resistor values I had on hand is where I ended up.
I could have done it with zener diodes I have on hand but the 1k was already in the B+ circuit.

With the 250Ω there now, it was (or so I thought) at about 94% because initially I forgot to figure in the screen current.
Percentages are based on 6P6S rated at 13.2w max as opposed to 14w for the 6V6GT.

[mozz]

There is a Russian one, it's like a 6l6a/b older version. Stronger than a 6v6 yet not as robust as a 6l6gc. I have the guys website marked, he's in CA, very good prices.
https://nesstone.com/product/sovtek-6l6gb-nos-tube/ even though it says 250v max, they can do more. He is also on reverb.

https://nesstone.com/product/reflektor- ... v6gt-tube/

[jtcnj]

I have a pair of the Russian 6l6 I was afraid to run at the 450v on the plates of my 50w amp.
i'll have to check the current for those against the Champ PT available current.

I think those Russian 6v6 are the ones I am running in the Champ and my 6G2 build.

[jtcnj]

This is my first bone nut fab from a blank from a few months ago. Not perfect, but works well.
The Hosco double sided nut file set includes an .017, but it cuts a slot too wide for a plain G string.

Sanded up some bone dust from another blank, add CA glue, recut the slot with the .013 blade and massaged it a bit.
I rubbed some candle wax on the jaws of the clamp so the CA glue wouldn't stick.

Ugly but All good!

[TVvoodoo]

Pink paisley tele in teeny-tiny 2.2mm glass crystals.





Vastly underestimated the number of white gems needed, have ordered more. Now waiting to mix those with
the ones I already have to make sure there is better continuity. I figure about 25,000-26,000 gems total when done,
including the matching headstock.

It's a stupid silly project, but in my head it needed to be done.

[jtcnj]

Got this Gibson 490T "open box" from Stratosphere ebay store to try in the EPI G400.
Plugged in to verify operation, will try it out later today.

[JimyTheAssassin]

Ive been home in covid quarantine so I decided to give my 1966 Ampeg Gemini II a close evaluation after getting a cheap ESR tester for Christmas. Although I updated the cap can a couple years ago and it works “okay”, the Reverb and tremolo have never worked for me. So here it is with little labels showing what seems to have either failed, drifted or appear unreadable because they are running parallel to a resistor.

Anyways it was a good exercise and I have to say that the cheap LCR-T7 isn’t half bad. In most cases it’s close enough to the measurements my Fluke sees. It’s already proven it’s worth.

I’m hoping my efforts will fix the reverb and tremolo. Fingers crossed.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[mozz]

Hope you are measuring these with 1 end lifted out of circuit. Those red cardboard caps should be replaced, or restuffed.

[JimyTheAssassin]

Hope you are measuring these with 1 end lifted out of circuit. Those red cardboard caps should be replaced, or restuffed.

Right on! I will lift and measure once more before I totally call them cooked. Still a few are measuring way above 20% off. I want to check if those that remain are leaking, but first I’ll probably focus on the reverb and tremolo. And I abandoned the cardboard caps but I agree. I should restuff them and make it look right.


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[glasshand]

Replacing the P90s in my SX Hawk with Wilkinson alnico mini-humbuckers, after they got good recommendations from some people here. I don't know how they sound yet, but they look cool as hell!

Addendum: Some notes on the installation - you need to attach the rings to the body with the supplied screws, but in my case at least, the ring would sit way too low in the body. I used some dense pickup foam in the rout to prevent the ring from sitting too deep, but a bit of rubber tubing around the ring screws would have also worked. The pickup height screws are also a little too long and would actually hit the bottom of the rout, so I marked where they would be and drilled a 1/4" hole just a little deeper to give them some room. It was a little more involved than ideal, but not too hard.

[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.

Further to this...

Harnes fasteners and brass block added. I still need to sort the lock nut.

The redrilling of the posts will wait until the number of COVID cases around here drops. Gotta limit those outside contacts. The kids won't be full vaccinated for another month.

[honyock]

Just replaced pickups and added a Bigsby to my Gretsch Streamliner

One thing I will never have to do again...what a pain in the ass that was. I got really good at making slip knots with thread then using safety needles and a magnetic screwdriver to pull the thread through the holes.

I used a hot glue gun to stick the washers to the pots/jack/switch. I even found a few extra washers had stuck to the old pickups from when it was wired at the factory.

Going to get a tension bar I think, the break angle is shallow much like my Casino after the Bigsby install, but now I have the open stop tailpiece holes. May even try making one since they seem pretty simple. Should cost less than the $30 plus shipping...

I moved the ground from the tailpiece to the bridge and used the roller TOM I got with my Valkyrie C stock and the strings don't seem to jump out of the slots in the rollers for now at least.

Pickups are a 14.5k Alnico V bridge. A2 Humbucker sized p90. Used some fancy screw poles ala Super Distortion style hex buckers in place of original zinc plated hardware and it looks a little cleaner.




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[Partscaster]

Just put an old Argonne single coil pickup, that I've had laying around for years, onto my Tiesco-like luan-laminated guitar that I've been using for open tuning/slide. It used to just have its original faux goldfoil. I thought why not make good use of the old Argonne.

Both pups onto one volume pot with a tone pot. It sounds nice, it can be bright, it can be fairly dark. Wound strings sound good and thick...a -swampy but detailed tone. The Argonne is a 60's jazz pickup "monkey on a stick" type, originally. I got it off a very old archtop that had warped itself to non-use which I bought for 25$ in the 80's. It was ancient then, and someone had thrown the Argonne onto it.

The Argonne is in neck position.

[jtcnj]

The nut on the CV 50s strat I just got needs tuning.
The bass side strings slots are cut too low and the E really buzzes a lot.
All the strings are cut deep into the top face as well.
Did the baking soda and CA glue fill the E and filed the top down some.
Ramping the tape up the side of the nut helps prevent any glue overspill where I dont want it.
Will do the A and probably the D this weekend.

Plan is to make a bone nut soon, but I'll take the practice reps here.

This guitar had a bad volume pot and the seller included a new alpha.
Replaced it but didnt realize it is a long shaft.
Larger diameter too. This is where the stepped bit really shines.
I will add some washers when I do the nut and string change.

[glasshand]

Got one of these as an experiment for the SX Hawk with P-90s and TOM:

It's about the cheapest "blank" pickguard I could find. I bought it to see if a standard Strat pickguard would work on the TOM Hawk: your standard Strat has a cutaway for the bridge, but the Hawk's pickguard doesn't. If a standard pickguard just looks a little weird, I don't mind, but if the bridge cutaway hits the Hawk's bridge pickup rout, that's going to be ugly and awkward.

So far I can say it's a definite maybe. It looks to me like the cutaway won't hit the pickup rout, but there might be something like 1/8" of material left, which is not great. I don't think I'll know for sure until I pull the Hawk pickguard and actually line up the two.

[Partscaster]

Got one of these as an experiment for the SX Hawk with P-90s and TOM:

It's about the cheapest "blank" pickguard I could find. I bought it to see if a standard Strat pickguard would work on the TOM Hawk: your standard Strat has a cutaway for the bridge, but the Hawk's pickguard doesn't. If a standard pickguard just looks a little weird, I don't mind, but if the bridge cutaway hits the Hawk's bridge pickup rout, that's going to be ugly and awkward.

So far I can say it's a definite maybe. It looks to me like the cutaway won't hit the pickup rout, but there might be something like 1/8" of material left, which is not great. I don't think I'll know for sure until I pull the Hawk pickguard and actually line up the two.

I was surprised to see a few different pickguard designs for TOM P90 Hawks.
I love my "my-hog-any" p90 hawks (3).

[glasshand]

I was surprised to see a few different pickguard designs for TOM P90 Hawks.
I love my "my-hog-any" p90 hawks (3).

True that - I ran across this photo, which is almost identical to mine, but they definitely did something different on this model; on mine the pickguard is not touching the bridge studs.



And these are single-coil Hawks, but here's one where there is no bridge cutaway, and one where there is!

[Partscaster]

I've had time this weekend ( due to poor snow coverage) to finally get around to putting old 2-1/16th width full-block strat bridges into my three SX Hawk P-90 guitars. They've all got different p90' pickups. I had the bridges left over from converting strats to 2-7/32" vintage string width. These bridges have zinc/potmetal blocks. I dont always prefer steel blocks, and its good to use the zinc blocks up.

And, I had three 7.25 radius allparts strat necks mostly left over from my "Strat Fest - pickup and neck swap month".
(That was a huge ordeal of taking all necks off bodies and rating them by knock-tone. Bodies too. Then trying to match them up with how my known pickup assortment could best be paired. It wasnt always what I would have figured. But, by the end, all pickups were matched into very good sounding combo's. I now believe the neck adds more influence than the body, not always. And some pickups can be quite picky about the wood combo's, others not so much. Mine are all vintage or slighly hotter winds.)

Back to the Hawk P-90s, I now have 2 Hawks with trem cavities all routed, and swapped out, necks swapped out too. And should get 3rd one done today.

[glasshand]

And, I had three 7.25 radius allparts strat necks mostly left over from my "Strat Fest - pickup and neck swap month".
...
Back to the Hawk P-90s, I now have 2 Hawks with trem cavities all routed, and swapped out, necks swapped out too. And should get 3rd one done today.

That's good to hear, because I have not been 100% sure that a Fender-standard replacement neck would fit on the Hawk, but this gives me some confidence. Some day when I'm feeling rich I might get that Warmoth neck - Gibson scale, rosewood on mahogany, 3x3 headstock...

[Partscaster]

And, I had three 7.25 radius allparts strat necks mostly left over from my "Strat Fest - pickup and neck swap month".
...
Back to the Hawk P-90s, I now have 2 Hawks with trem cavities all routed, and swapped out, necks swapped out too. And should get 3rd one done today.

That's good to hear, because I have not been 100% sure that a Fender-standard replacement neck would fit on the Hawk, but this gives me some confidence. Some day when I'm feeling rich I might get that Warmoth neck - Gibson scale, rosewood on mahogany, 3x3 headstock...

with 2 of the hawks, the allparts strat necks needed no shims. It was about 1 mm thinner front to back at heel, and I could address that by lowering saddles. And the fender licensed necks were a hair less side to side, but I kept it tight to bass side wall of pocket with good string lineup.
Thats were they wanted to align, and it worked well with plenty of room outside E/e strings to edge of fb.

For the 3rd p90 hawk I have added one thin washer each, around the two rear most neck screws in the pocket, to tilt the neck headstock back because saddles couldnt be lowered enough. I am setting up this third one now. Just glued in nut, which needs slots lowered alot. I bought a tall one. I can tell by pinching each string down at first fret while measuring action at 12th fret, that the saddles will easily be able to accommodate the degree of back tilt now in place and with the nutslots lowered to typical height above first fret. This last hawk did have sloppy neck bolt hole placements. They were not square, and were off to one side. Luckily this last hawk was lined up to get an undrilled neck. So I drilled it to fit the off-balanced holes. EEeeek!

When I file my slots, I use a tuner to watch to see that first and second frettings for each string are actually getting in tune with moderate fretting pressure. Its easy for me to estimate that I've lowered the slots well enough, only to find that those first frets are still creating sharp notes at first few frets. The risk is slotting too low and then the fret buzz of course occurs. In that case, might need more neck relief, might need to b-soda-crazy glue that slot, etc. Back to drawing board, chasing my tail.
I like about 4.5/64ths action at 12th fret ...I have a Stew Mac string quage metal card. That cheap tool is great for getting action consistent.

[honyock]

Just replaced pickups and added a Bigsby to my Gretsch Streamliner

One thing I will never have to do again...what a pain in the ass that was. I got really good at making slip knots with thread then using safety needles and a magnetic screwdriver to pull the thread through the holes.

I used a hot glue gun to stick the washers to the pots/jack/switch. I even found a few extra washers had stuck to the old pickups from when it was wired at the factory.

Going to get a tension bar I think, the break angle is shallow much like my Casino after the Bigsby install, but now I have the open stop tailpiece holes. May even try making one since they seem pretty simple. Should cost less than the $30 plus shipping...

I moved the ground from the tailpiece to the bridge and used the roller TOM I got with my Valkyrie C stock and the strings don't seem to jump out of the slots in the rollers for now at least.

Pickups are a 14.5k Alnico V bridge. A2 Humbucker sized p90. Used some fancy screw poles ala Super Distortion style hex buckers in place of original zinc plated hardware and it looks a little cleaner.




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Playing this tonight I just realized, I believe I have wired the bridge pickup in parallel instead of series. I was bouncing back and forth between it and my SGJ and I would have thought the bridge pickup at 14.5k and ALnico V would be more muscular. Then it hit me. I am not sure I have the energy to rewire it at this point even just the one pot it would take.

It probably is more suited to the style of the guitar, but the P90 sounds so much fuller and the mid position has a unique not quite out of phase tone unless you bias it with the neck pickup louder.

Guess I should have just hooked up the ol' DMM or asked for a refresher on the wiring diagram. However there was already a shrink wrap on the one pair I connected together so I may have chosen to do it that way for a reason years ago when I got the pickups.