What's on your workbench right now?

Talk about modding or building your own guitar from scratch.
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epizootics
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Re: What's on your workbench right now?

Post by epizootics » Thu Sep 19, 2019 3:23 am

SuperAxe wrote:
Wed Sep 18, 2019 11:49 pm
In our part of the world we use Australian Kwila (similar to Indonesian Merbau) for necks without truss rods. I made one Tele all from Kwila a few years ago and without truss rod and the neck ain't going anywhere.

Actually, just checked that and I posted a photo of that guitar 4.5 years ago.... the neck is still straight as...
http://www.offsetguitars.com/forums/vie ... e#p1266080
Nice! And that pickup looks nuts. What magnets did you use?
Did you sand any relief into the neck or just made it as straight as possible?

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Re: What's on your workbench right now?

Post by Rgand » Thu Sep 19, 2019 5:56 am

That'll be a nice neck. Chechen makes a nice looking neck. I made a solid body mandolin years ago without a truss rod. I used hard maple and to keep it from warping, I sliced it vertically down the middle and glued it back together. Then I capped it with a rosewood fretboard. That thing never warped over the ten years I had it.

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Re: What's on your workbench right now?

Post by SuperAxe » Thu Sep 19, 2019 6:27 pm

epizootics wrote:
Thu Sep 19, 2019 3:23 am
SuperAxe wrote:
Wed Sep 18, 2019 11:49 pm
In our part of the world we use Australian Kwila (similar to Indonesian Merbau) for necks without truss rods. I made one Tele all from Kwila a few years ago and without truss rod and the neck ain't going anywhere.

Actually, just checked that and I posted a photo of that guitar 4.5 years ago.... the neck is still straight as...
http://www.offsetguitars.com/forums/vie ... e#p1266080
Nice! And that pickup looks nuts. What magnets did you use?
Did you sand any relief into the neck or just made it as straight as possible?
Neck absolutely straight and no buzzing, so left it straight.

Neodymium magnets, the sound those coils create are mix of P90/single coil. I wired it in series humbucking style, so 3 coils cancelling out the other 3. That unit was prototype no.2. I am on to No.4 now which is slightly hotter. The videos show prototype no.3 which i built into a ebony timber enclosure.

Here a couple of videos with my BadLad's in action.
Pickup sounds: both, neck, bridge

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DhX9-PEq5vI[/youtube]

Audio (both pickups on) starts first followed by video a few seconds later...

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sK8UPiwX1Dc[/youtube]

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Re: What's on your workbench right now?

Post by antisymmetric » Thu Sep 19, 2019 6:46 pm

^Those pickups! :w00t: :-*
Watching the corners turn corners

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Re: What's on your workbench right now?

Post by Shadoweclipse13 » Thu Sep 19, 2019 7:58 pm

antisymmetric wrote:
Thu Sep 19, 2019 6:46 pm
^Those pickups! :w00t: :-*
Seconded :w00t: ! Those pickups look incredible and sound even better!! I'd probably buy a set if you ever decided to make some to sell :whistle:
Pickup Switching Mad Scientist
http://www.offsetguitars.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=104282&p=1438384#p1438384

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Re: What's on your workbench right now?

Post by epizootics » Thu Sep 19, 2019 8:12 pm

Shadoweclipse, that is why I love this forum - people don't go straight to the 'nah, that's neodymium, it ain't proper vintage, no way this sounds good' (when those pickups sound bloody amazing!)
The level of prejudice on this board is abnormally low, which is very refreshing :blush:

Really cool job SuperAxe, both on the pickups and the guitar!

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Re: What's on your workbench right now?

Post by SuperAxe » Thu Sep 19, 2019 8:24 pm

epizootics wrote:
Thu Sep 19, 2019 8:12 pm
Shadoweclipse, that is why I love this forum - people don't go straight to the 'nah, that's neodymium, it ain't proper vintage, no way this sounds good' (when those pickups sound bloody amazing!)
The level of prejudice on this board is abnormally low, which is very refreshing :blush:

Really cool job SuperAxe, both on the pickups and the guitar!
No like button so I have to use words...
Thanks guys for the nice comments, I was going to make a few to sell but life/work got in the way.... neodymium is a very strong magnet and allows for fewer windings while still providing a good output voltage. The added advantage of having one coil per string is that I can bring each string signal out to its own amp or preamp to do funny things...

Not sure which guitar you mean, the Tele or the orange one. The latter is another prototype I built in preparation of building one with 'proper' timber...

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Re: What's on your workbench right now?

Post by Shadoweclipse13 » Thu Sep 19, 2019 10:04 pm

epizootics wrote:
Thu Sep 19, 2019 8:12 pm
Shadoweclipse, that is why I love this forum - people don't go straight to the 'nah, that's neodymium, it ain't proper vintage, no way this sounds good' (when those pickups sound bloody amazing!)
The level of prejudice on this board is abnormally low, which is very refreshing :blush:
Me too! I love this place. I have never really fit in anywhere, and I don't like a lot of things that are "standard" or "normal". There are some good sounding pickups and guitars out there, but I like things that are unique too. The only thing I'm a snob about is how I classify the music genres on my own computer/phone (don't care about how anyone else does). And maybe certain brands of chocolate milk :D

SuperAxe wrote:
Thu Sep 19, 2019 8:24 pm
No like button so I have to use words...
Thanks guys for the nice comments, I was going to make a few to sell but life/work got in the way.... neodymium is a very strong magnet and allows for fewer windings while still providing a good output voltage. The added advantage of having one coil per string is that I can bring each string signal out to its own amp or preamp to do funny things...
So, the orange guitar with the 6 stagger-pole pickups is a 6-conductor output?!? Do you actually have 6 output jacks on that guitar?!? That is super cool! Delay on the B and high e string, phaser on the low E and A, and fuzz on the D and G :D 8) :w00t: :?
Pickup Switching Mad Scientist
http://www.offsetguitars.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=104282&p=1438384#p1438384

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Re: What's on your workbench right now?

Post by SuperAxe » Thu Sep 19, 2019 10:32 pm

Shadoweclipse13 wrote:
Thu Sep 19, 2019 10:04 pm
So, the orange guitar with the 6 stagger-pole pickups is a 6-conductor output?!? Do you actually have 6 output jacks on that guitar?!? That is super cool! Delay on the B and high e string, phaser on the low E and A, and fuzz on the D and G :D 8) :w00t: :?
It can be, but I have not wired that up as such. The poles are staggered as each coil takes up too much space underneath the string to have all the 6 coils in one straight line. The Tele photo shows each coil exposed with a blue tape over the windings. The coils are mounted on a PCB... See pic below.

The dimensions you see in these pics is very similar to DeArmond Dynasonics. I have also got a standard humbucker size PCB and a P90 PCB is still in the design stage.

Image

Image

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Re: What's on your workbench right now?

Post by epizootics » Thu Sep 19, 2019 11:58 pm

Those taped-up coils really look like makis and are making me hungry even though it's only 10am over here...

I was looking at the bottom of the stacks of...uh...stuff that I have in various corners of my workshop and found this:

Image

Which led me to some serious fiddling on photoshop...

Image

It is the body of the stalled-down Tupelo. The original neck was the first one I had ever made and I don't think I could've lived with all its little defects. I might use it with this neck instead of building a whole new body...

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Re: What's on your workbench right now?

Post by Shadoweclipse13 » Fri Sep 20, 2019 12:25 am

SuperAxe wrote:
Thu Sep 19, 2019 10:32 pm
Image

Image
I've never seen a pickup where the coils were mounted to a PCB. That's super cool! Easy to repair if something got damaged too!

epizootics wrote:
Thu Sep 19, 2019 11:58 pm
Those taped-up coils really look like makis and are making me hungry even though it's only 10am over here...
Maybe it's just the morning. I had lunch (at work) a couple hours ago, and I'm already hungry again. I'm gonna have to get some food when I get out of work. Haha :D
Pickup Switching Mad Scientist
http://www.offsetguitars.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=104282&p=1438384#p1438384

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Re: What's on your workbench right now?

Post by Rgand » Fri Sep 20, 2019 6:59 am

SuperAxe wrote:
Thu Sep 19, 2019 10:32 pm
Shadoweclipse13 wrote:
Thu Sep 19, 2019 10:04 pm
So, the orange guitar with the 6 stagger-pole pickups is a 6-conductor output?!? Do you actually have 6 output jacks on that guitar?!? That is super cool! Delay on the B and high e string, phaser on the low E and A, and fuzz on the D and G :D 8) :w00t: :?
It can be, but I have not wired that up as such. The poles are staggered as each coil takes up too much space underneath the string to have all the 6 coils in one straight line. The Tele photo shows each coil exposed with a blue tape over the windings. The coils are mounted on a PCB... See pic below.

The dimensions you see in these pics is very similar to DeArmond Dynasonics. I have also got a standard humbucker size PCB and a P90 PCB is still in the design stage.

Image

Image
I've never seen anything similar. I like them.

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Re: What's on your workbench right now?

Post by JakeNelson2002 » Sat Sep 21, 2019 7:13 pm

Image

neck is on

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Re: What's on your workbench right now?

Post by min7b5 » Mon Sep 23, 2019 10:13 am

Just completed modding (part 1) my SJMJM:

Image

Mods:
Staytrem bridge
  • Curtis Novak pickups: JM-V/JM-FAT
    Witch Hat Knobs
    CTS 1M audio pots (Vol & Tone)
    AVRI Tremolo
    Switchcraft output jack
    Copper foil shielding
    WD Music/Switchcraft 3-way switch (not the L-style)
    Parchment 3-ply pickguard (had mint previously)
So, after doing all this, I decided to leave the stock wiring (for now) to bond with it. I had some wiring mod ideas, but that'll come down the road. It's been to long without me actually playing guitar - i just needed to put it together!

As it stands, the taper on the CTS pots are terrible and stiff. They don't turn on until about 6. So, I ordered some Emerson CTS vintage taper smooth turning knobs. It'll be interesting to see how they fair.
Besides that, the only other thing I'd change on it would be to upgrade the nut to a bone one.

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Re: What's on your workbench right now?

Post by Shadoweclipse13 » Wed Oct 09, 2019 9:24 pm

I've been working on some stuff for the garage/shop itself lately, and haven't posted here in a while. I'll get some pictures when things calm down in a month or two, but I did want to post this one. I've been wanting to make some side tables for my couch (basic storage, etc.) and a few weeks ago, while trolling through the new posted videos on YouTube, I found a video from Tamar of this "waterfall" side table. I instantly fell in love with the design (and the look of the grain of hers :?) and the versatility of it since it's easily movable.

I didn't go nearly as nuts (or as awesome) for mine, but just used basic butt joints with screws and fairly plain looking oak for mine. Especially since I added a second little cubby, I didn't want to go nuts for my first attempt in case the design was too top-heavy or just wouldn't work out. I like it so far. Still need to plug the screw holes and finish it. I cut and drilled pieces for a second one, but haven't put it together just yet.

Image

Image

Image

I also added a second board under the top (at the top of the top cubby) as I was thinking about drilling a hole in the top for a cup (so it would sink in a little bit, and not slide off), but haven't decided if I'll do that just yet. If I don't do that, maybe I'll leave that extra board off on the second one so I have a bit more room in the upper cubby.
Pickup Switching Mad Scientist
http://www.offsetguitars.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=104282&p=1438384#p1438384

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