Whats on your work bench?

[mozz]

Disassemble it and put some thick grease on the shaft. That usually not being possible, how about a felt washer ( or two) under the knob and the knob pressed low as it will go. I have seen pots get sprayed with cleaner, then were spinning too easy.

[BrianSkeezer]

quick question: has anybody ever had a knob that moved too freely causing a problem? on my hss strat the volume knob moves very easily.. and it's an american elite so it has the rubber ring around it so it's extra grippy... and i find that when im playing i must like lightly tap it, becuase i neve rhave this problem with nay other strat but on that one when i'm playing sometimes, oops, my volume drops to nothing and when i check the knob's been adjusted to 0. i can try to avoid it by modifying my playing but it's distracting. if it was just slightly more stiff i don't think it would be a problem, iike i said never had this happen on my other strats where that knob is in the same spot. how can i make it a little stiffer, do i have to replace the pot?

I had this problem with my #1 Strat. I cut a piece of 1/4" foam a bit smaller than the knob and then popped a hole in the center. Remove the knob, put the foam on the pot shaft, and then press the knob back down. It puts a little pressure on the knob and pickguard to help keep the knob from spinning as easily.

[redman]

I finished my black strat this morning I really wish I took before pictures because this one was a bit of pain in the a$$. I wanted one with the old headstock and I found this one cheap but it must have belonged to a kid because it had been autographed on the front with one of those glittery paint pens by 4 people. I grabbed my StewMac scratch remover and it came right off.I stripped it and started the build that was CTS pots, Sprague orange drop caps, new wire, CLR switch, Fender Tex-Mex neck and middle pups with a SD SH-4 JB in the bridge GF tremolo with big brass block, AllParts locking tuners, TUSQ XL nut. The problem was that the tremolo cavitry was not right so I ended up with Dremmel and file in hand correcting the cavity and got it going so here's the pictures I did take. Oh yeah I started this on my couch while watching a movie so yes this is my couch in the pictures.

[redman]

I'm running out of projects after my P90's for my Agile come and I put them in my Agile I think I would like to build something with 1 pickup and a volume control like a LP Jr without a tone control.

[artandsoul]

I'm running out of projects after my P90's for my Agile come and I put them in my Agile I think I would like to build something with 1 pickup and a volume control like a LP Jr without a tone control.

I dont know what u thinking about but i know firefly. guitars garden website has a single humbucker gold top lp for sale for 210 shipped it will be a project. it has a tone control but could make it a kill switch button in the end. hard to find a 1 volume guitar lp unless its a kit which probably cost as much as the built firefly

[Partscaster]

Nice black strat !

I wonder how a neck-only humbucker guitar might be with no load volume and tone pots.

[andrewsrea]

1992 PRS CE24 (pre-factory) trem has been decked since I bought it. Decided to float the bridge, spritz the electronics and change the 6-year-old strings. I must say, IMHO PRS makes the best tremolo bridge bar none. Had some fun playing her, as she was my #1 from 1992 to 2003 (the birth of my AMI LP, which is still my #1).

Then on to fixing a solder joint which broke loose and also spritzing the electronics, on my 2009 Epiphone Custom Classic LP (pictured below, right). Also a joy to play with some distortion though a 100w amp!

[Rollin Hand]

I still wasn't happy with the spund out of the actives on my Spad. Then I heard something that sounded like a bad ground when the gate on my 11Rack let it by. I thought actives didn't need a ground wire to the bridge. Hmm....

Then I thought of a video I saw where Harley Benton actives were noisy as a dryer full of ball bearings because of a bad bridge ground. Hmmm....

So, I pulled the bridge and ran a ground wire. Success! Apparently these cheapo actives need a string/bridge ground. Now I just need to fix the pots. As suggested here, I tried a different cap -- no difference. That means bad soldering + cheap pots = bad pots. This time I will do them correctly.

[Partscaster]

1992 PRS CE24 (pre-factory) trem has been decked since I bought it. Decided to float the bridge, spritz the electronics and change the 6-year-old strings. I must say, IMHO PRS makes the best tremolo bridge bar none. Had some fun playing her, as she was my #1 from 1992 to 2003 (the birth of my AMI LP, which is still my #1).
PRS 1992 CE24 Face.jpg

Then on to fixing a solder joint which broke loose and also spritzing the electronics, on my 2009 Epiphone Custom Classic LP (pictured below, right). Also a joy to play with some distortion though a 100w amp!

Playpen 3-5 LSL.jpg

really nice looking epi custom.

[andrewsrea]

really nice looking epi custom.

Thank you!

She plays and sounds better than I remembered. This one is also light I am going to guess around 8lbs.

[redman]

Rob what is that showing up on your SG?

[LightWingStudios]

Rob what is that showing up on your SG?

Looks like a "Hot Babe".

[andrewsrea]

Rob what is that showing up on your SG?

@LightWingStudios got it - a hot babe. It is one of few Vargas in the public domain. It has been a long time since that decal was on the SG, which is now a 3 pup:

My AMI 'Bare Essentials' pedals now don the Vargas:

[redman]

I thought it was a hot babe but wasn't sure.

[voodoorat]

quick question: has anybody ever had a knob that moved too freely causing a problem? on my hss strat the volume knob moves very easily.. and it's an american elite so it has the rubber ring around it so it's extra grippy... and i find that when im playing i must like lightly tap it, becuase i neve rhave this problem with nay other strat but on that one when i'm playing sometimes, oops, my volume drops to nothing and when i check the knob's been adjusted to 0. i can try to avoid it by modifying my playing but it's distracting. if it was just slightly more stiff i don't think it would be a problem, iike i said never had this happen on my other strats where that knob is in the same spot. how can i make it a little stiffer, do i have to replace the pot?

I had this problem with my #1 Strat. I cut a piece of 1/4" foam a bit smaller than the knob and then popped a hole in the center. Remove the knob, put the foam on the pot shaft, and then press the knob back down. It puts a little pressure on the knob and pickguard to help keep the knob from spinning as easily.

muchas gracias, i did similar and it's definitely a little tighter now, i think that will do the trick. wasn't sure how the push-push knob/pot worked so i was a little nervous about pulling it off but now i know.

[SamIV]

1992 PRS CE24 (pre-factory) trem has been decked since I bought it. Decided to float the bridge, spritz the electronics and change the 6-year-old strings. I must say, IMHO PRS makes the best tremolo bridge bar none. Had some fun playing her, as she was my #1 from 1992 to 2003 (the birth of my AMI LP, which is still my #1).
PRS 1992 CE24 Face.jpg

Then on to fixing a solder joint which broke loose and also spritzing the electronics, on my 2009 Epiphone Custom Classic LP (pictured below, right). Also a joy to play with some distortion though a 100w amp!

Playpen 3-5 LSL.jpg

Those CE 24’s are such nice guitars. I had a that and a CE22. The neck was so nice on the 24, but I could not get used to 24 frets. And the 22 had a different neck carve that I just could not get comfortable with either. The older ones such as yours were such well built guitars.

[andrewsrea]

1992 PRS CE24 (pre-factory) trem has been decked since I bought it. Decided to float the bridge, spritz the electronics and change the 6-year-old strings. I must say, IMHO PRS makes the best tremolo bridge bar none. Had some fun playing her, as she was my #1 from 1992 to 2003 (the birth of my AMI LP, which is still my #1).
PRS 1992 CE24 Face.jpg

Then on to fixing a solder joint which broke loose and also spritzing the electronics, on my 2009 Epiphone Custom Classic LP (pictured below, right). Also a joy to play with some distortion though a 100w amp!

Playpen 3-5 LSL.jpg

Those CE 24’s are such nice guitars. I had a that and a CE22. The neck was so nice on the 24, but I could not get used to 24 frets. And the 22 had a different neck carve that I just could not get comfortable with either. The older ones such as yours were such well built guitars.

Thanks, Sam!

Your experience is pretty much mine as well, since about 2003. In the early 90's it was all about how thin the neck could get (mine has a wide-thin). Between the lack of girth and the smaller fret intervals to fit 24 frets, this guitar doesn't get the play it deserves. Additionally, The HFS bridge pickup is super loud and bright and is tough to get an amp set up where it sounds balanced with the much darker Vintage Bass neck pickup.

I think I am going to experiment with placing an additional resistor + capacitor to bleed off excess treble when in the bridge selection.

[JimyTheAssassin]

So despite the lack of a workbench, I felt I had to say something here about an amp I bought from UBuyGuitars.com. Remember those guys?!

I picked up among others, an “unknown” speakerless 2x10 cabinet with a chassis but no details for $30 (plus shipping) and when it arrived, I found what appeared to be a fully functional 5e3 (with mods) tweed deluxe chassis. I wasn’t able to fully determine its origins until last night.

I was trying to diagnose what sounds like ground loop noise. I’ve dealt with it for years but decided it’s time to fix it. The on Robrobinettes site I see the VHT standard 12 schematic and all the weird mods to a 5e3 that my amp has are there, point for point and values included. By far the weirdest most unique change I’ve seen is the 2.7meg local negative feedback resistor on channel 2. It also has a few differences that are odd but it’s mostly the same in all other ways.

So now I’m wondering, what do you call an amp that’s a prototype to a prototype. An experiment? The other giveaway is the terrible soldering and wire layout. VHT really didn’t excel at quality craftsmanship.

[mozz]

Oww, hope that isn't solid wire as it looks like telephone wire or Cat5 wire. Only made to handle 30volts. If you plan on never moving the power transformer, i would cut all those wires a lot shorter.

[JimyTheAssassin]

Oww, hope that isn't solid wire as it looks like telephone wire or Cat5 wire. Only made to handle 30volts. If you plan on never moving the power transformer, i would cut all those wires a lot shorter.

I remember when I first shared photos of this some years ago, there was a comment about the wire being tephlon? I forget but it was a positive attribute. Anyways I’ve played this amp cranked so many times for the past many years, if it wasn’t up to the task, I suppose it would have caught fire by now . Still what ever grace the wire type could afford, this thing is not well built. The more I look at it, the more I realize it needs to be near fully gutted and rebuilt correctly. It’s kind of a miracle that it sounds as good as it does.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[mozz]

Teflon should not burn or melt when touched with your soldering iron.

[Rollin Hand]

Uh....everything?

Maybe it's time to clean up.

[artandsoul]

Uh....everything?

20230119_135524.jpg

Maybe it's time to clean up.

Once u clean it up youll never find it again!

[artandsoul]

Put some p90s in the 100 buck benton I picked up other day. I was expecting to have to route it out but to my surprise it was almost a full swimming pool route and only had to sand a small edge piece with the dremel. And as with every pickguard ive ever installed on any import had to dremel the pickguard at neck.
Normal 250k pot strat wiring and replaced with 5 way with a 3 way so 1 vol and 2 tones like I never see. Still waiting on blk knobs but for a cheapo 40.00 all in upgrade it looks nice and its quiet.

[Rollin Hand]

Uh....everything?

20230119_135524.jpg

Maybe it's time to clean up.

Once u clean it up youll never find it again!

I try -- operative word TRY -- to organize things as I go. I don't always succeed.