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 » Fri Oct 22, 2021 8:27 pm

Looking good Kifla! I hadn't noticed you used 8 ( x2) pole pieces on your pickups, that's a cool design.


Talking of templates...

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It seems I am becoming increasingly intolerant to MDF dust, which is a good excuse to get my templates laser-cut. While I'm at it I include a few features, like those two holes in the neck shaft through which I can insert two 1/4" rods to that the template automatically centers with the truss rod channel.

This one is (quite obviously) for a two-pickup P-type bass. One of the more minimalistic instruments I have ever been asked to make. No paint, no pickguard, minimal weight. I don't think I'll even get to use stainless steel on this one, which is unusual for me (just checked, it has been three years since my last SS-free build). I picked up a nice piece of pommele Bosse to make a bookmatched top. Bosse is quite a common wood over here, mostly used for window frames and doors. It is indistinguishable from mahogany once lacquered, but it has a very distinctive smell, something like juniper wood. My workshop will be smelling good for a few days.

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Re: What's on your workbench right now?

Post by JSett » Fri Oct 22, 2021 10:09 pm

Finally the parts arrived to rebuild my clients E-Series strat. I somehow managed to remember how to wire these things up by memory after what is probably 20years since I messed with a strat. I could have jumpered the switch so the bridge had access to a tone control but thought I'd leave it down to him to decide if it's a problem or not.

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After a rewire, fret polish and setup it's a really nice player and sounds pretty good. I can see why these are so highly regarded. The neck is too thin for my tastes but it was nice, after all this time, to play a Strat again. And he wanted 9-42 on it which was also weird after years of 11 or 12s. Maybe I should get out more 🤣

The volume control is still in a dumb location though.
Silly Rabbit, don't you know scooped mids are for kids?

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Re: What's on your workbench right now?

Post by ludobag1 » Sat Oct 23, 2021 1:34 am

when i see your lazer cut template and cnc cuting i feel really primitive with my old school tool :D
for mdf i avoid too also the dust is really unpleasant ,and i do the max with the hoover on ,then i cut the max to have less to rout or sand ,that why now i don't do body and neck template , i cut near the line with bandsaw and sand to the line with my sander (more over even if you rout it you need to sand it to erase burn and bearing marks,for neck i have old template or something straight that i copy )
maybe i must put in my signature? :D
"primitive offset builder since 2008"

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Re: What's on your workbench right now?

Post by kifla » Sat Oct 23, 2021 9:22 am

;D ;D
I've built guitars since 2001 till 2018 with handheld tools...when I stumbled upon Openbuilds forum. Spend the month lurking around and thought to myself; s..t, I can do that. Ended up building 5 CNCs...for me and my fellow "luthier" friends in Croatia.
It is fun, but still thinks that building guitars the "old" way is much more fun. And no, there is nothing primitive about that ;D ;D

MDF dust is bothering me too lately...but NOTHING is that bad like Samba wood dust! That sh.t is poisonous :ph34r:
But sounds incredible! ;D

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Re: What's on your workbench right now?

Post by Sauerkraut » Sun Oct 24, 2021 2:29 am

johnnysomersett wrote:
Fri Oct 22, 2021 10:09 pm
I could have jumpered the switch so the bridge had access to a tone control but thought I'd leave it down to him to decide if it's a problem or not.
With Strats, I think the switching that makes by far the most sense is master volume, master tone and a blend knob (for switch positions 1, 2, 4 & 5). I don’t understand why that isn’t the standard.

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Re: What's on your workbench right now?

Post by antisymmetric » Sun Oct 24, 2021 12:04 pm

Sauerkraut wrote:
Sun Oct 24, 2021 2:29 am
With Strats, I think the switching that makes by far the most sense is master volume, master tone and a blend knob (for switch positions 1, 2, 4 & 5). I don’t understand why that isn’t the standard.
I've done something not too different- master volume, 6-way rotary switch (that includes neck/bridge together), master tone. Not necessarily my ultimate solution but works for me much better than the standard setup. (Plus I pivoted the line the pots run in down away from the bridge pickup.)
Watching the corners turn corners

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Re: What's on your workbench right now?

Post by Lame Pseudonym » Thu Oct 28, 2021 7:42 pm

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Re: What's on your workbench right now?

Post by X-Ray Spex » Fri Oct 29, 2021 12:05 am

Lame Pseudonym wrote:
Thu Oct 28, 2021 7:42 pm
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Love a 3X3 headstock on a JM shape, any pics of the front?
''It's not what you play, it's what you play'' - Troy Van Leeuwen

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Re: What's on your workbench right now?

Post by Lame Pseudonym » Fri Oct 29, 2021 9:43 am

Soon. It's not finished yet. I have to go out and get some strings.

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Re: What's on your workbench right now?

Post by s_mcsleazy » Fri Oct 29, 2021 10:26 am

Lame Pseudonym wrote:
Thu Oct 28, 2021 7:42 pm
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this reminds me, i have a badger guitar neck laying around and that's a 3x3.
offset guitars resident bass player.
'Are you trying to seduce me Mrs Robinson? Or do you just want me to solder a couple of resistors into your Muff?'

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Re: What's on your workbench right now?

Post by ThePearDream » Sat Oct 30, 2021 6:55 am

Adding to all the recent ASAT talk around here. I have an upcoming build using a pair of G&L Jumbo MFD pickups. I had to order the pickups now so I can get accurate measurements of the covers for my laser cut templates and parts. I'm not revealing details yet, but it'll be an offset body with an offset vibrato + the G&L pups and a few G&l bits like switch tips.

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Also, the Performer is all polished up and ready for shielding. The pickguard has been wired for awhile, so it's won't be long now.
Doug
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Re: What's on your workbench right now?

Post by Dr Tony Balls » Sun Oct 31, 2021 7:46 am

Pentode Boost. All-tube boost/preamp.

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Instagram: thetonyballs

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Re: What's on your workbench right now?

Post by ThePearDream » Mon Nov 01, 2021 9:06 am

Just received a lovely 3lb 15oz Jaguar body from Guitar Mill. Now to find the right color of metal flake...

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I also just received a bunch of laser cut stainless steel and aluminum that needs to be countersunk and polished up.

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Re: What's on your workbench right now?

Post by Shadoweclipse13 » Thu Nov 11, 2021 6:01 am

I'm about to finally wire up my buddy's Ibanez GAX70, finish the lead circuit on my CV JM, and take apart my Deed_Poll Jag Bass so I can clearcoat it, and I've been thinking about wiring a lot.

The Jag Bass, I've got wired like this:
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The upper switch (series-parallel here) causes a dead-spot which I don't care for. In the last few months, I decided to change the 3-way toggle to a rotary (I'm slowly getting away from 3-way toggles in all my builds), and I'll wire the rotary like a Fender XII/Johnny Marr Jag (B, B+N parallel, N, B+N series), and change the upper 2-way slider over to a phase switch for the neck-side coil only. The way, no dead spots, and I can put the pickup out-of-phase in any position.

Then I started thinking about the pots. A while ago HNB put a MusicMan-style 2-band active EQ from Mojotone in a bass project, and I thought that since I had a MM style pickup, that might something to look into. I was playing my bass the other day and I wonder if using the pickup like a P-bass (2 bridge-side treble coils, 2 neck-side bass coils) vs using it as the full MM humbucker would sound different for the tone pot capacitor. I'm not sure what capacitor value I picked, but I have a feeling I picked one for a P-bass instead of a MM. I'm gonna play with that on my breadboard once I start rewiring it. If there's a difference where it sounds better with one capacitor in one pickup mode and another in a different mode, I might do something crazy. If I use a 2P4T rotary, I could theoretically make the pots concentric, and have an entirely separate tone stack for either series or parallel mode, or have one have one tone capacitor, etc. I'm still thinking.
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 Surfysonic » Fri Nov 19, 2021 11:12 pm

Surfysonic wrote:
Thu Oct 21, 2021 10:04 am
Anyone interested in seeing a first attempt at a re-tolexing project? I've been watching some great YT How-To vids on the topic and decided to give it a go. If it's recommended that I make this its own thread, I'll gladly oblige.

Helpful recommendations are always welcome. :)

I have a new (old) '63 Fender Showman head that was re-tolexed by a previous owner in brown tolex/oxblood & gold grillcloth and I love it. Only problem is, my 15" Tone Ring Cabinet that I'm pairing it with was done up in blonde tolex/wheat&gold grill cloth and I'd prefer they matched.

Edit: I forgot to mention that the cab is a modern custom cab build that I commissioned from Beaver Bottoms - http://www.beaverbottoms.com/PRICING.HTM.

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The blonde tolex is lifting on the top at both sides, so I decided to give it a go. I'm taking a lot of photos to keep track of how things were and record the progress.

1. Dismantle Cab

Front
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Back

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Tone Ring/Baffle - Front - Already removed the wheat&gold grillcloth before deciding to post about this project. It was a tedious effort in staple removing. :squint:

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Tone Ring/Baffle - Back

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JBL D140F speaker. I bought this in a pair deal - someday, I'll probably put the other speaker in a combo build. Not sure of the date, serial #45467. Other speaker's serial #45250. I understand they are difficult to determine date. I'm totally guessing maybe 1964 for both. :whistle:

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Amplified Parts Tolex Glue 1 gallon. Water-based. I understand the stronger, non-water-based glue may be better, but I don't want to deal with the fumes and reviews said this stuff will do the job and allows some time for adjustments when placing the tolex. I think I'll likely need that...a lot. Little disconcerting that there is no label on the container. At least they included instructions.

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The lighting might not display everything accurately but the new tolex and grillcloth match the head's tolex and grillcloth. Yay! :w00t:

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2. Remove tolex from back panel with heat gun...carefully...

Currently working on this today. I'll update with photos soon.

How soon is now? :P

Blonde tolex removed from back panel and cab. Fairly simple job, taking it slow & careful. Used my Wagner heat gun on the low setting and kept it moving as to not overheat any particular part of the tolex. My trusty Warner 5-In-1 Painter's Tool was very helpful in seperating the tolex from the cab without damaging the tolex.

I'm saving the blonde tolex to help with cutting the correct sizes for the new tolex per cab section and back panel. Also for reference, I took photos on my iPhone of the old tolex corners and such so I know how to repeat the process when putting on the new tolex.

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Next step - sanding back panel and cab to remove old glue.
Updates:

1. Last week, I removed 98% of the old glue. I started with a heat gun and scraper. It was really slow going, so I abandoned that plan and grabbed an old t-shirt and giving it the old rubdown with elbow grease. About 2 hours later, got most of the old glue off. All that's left of the old glue is on the inner ledges of the front and back of the cab. If my arms aren't absolutely useless tomorrow or the next day, I'll get the rest of the glue removed and run the sander over the cab before the next steps.

Next steps after the sanding will be to cut the tolex to match my old tolex pieces, then put the new glue down on the cab and new tolex. I want to do this in the next day or so while we still have some decent weather.

2. Last 2% of the old glue is gone. Whew. Next step, running the sander over the whole thing to catch anything I might have missed. Then wipe down with alcohol to clean up. Then, cutting the new tolex parts.

3. A few things accomplished the following day:

- Forgot to remove glue from edges and inside of back panel. Oops. Spent a good couple of hours on that. All done now. Yay.

- Cut pieces of the new tolex using old tolex as template. Definitely oversized each new piece. I'll spend some time in the next couple of days trimming the new pieces for proper fit.

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- Felt frisky to get the grill cloth on the tone ring baffle. My wife, Shannon, helped me with putting on the grill cloth. The actual size of the ordered tolex barely covers the tone ring baffle. Definitely not getting 2 - 4 inches extra to fold over - more like 1 - 2 inches. We made do and stapled over the lip where we could, but a good amount was stapled on the sides. Shannon did the stapling as I have the deftness of a caveman and she's done some upholstery work. She did a great job. We gently tapped in any staples that didn't get flush. Grill cloth is nice and taunt. First photo may not look so taut but actually is - bad photography on my part or poor lighting in the garage.

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I did the heat gun thing as gently and quickly as I could for extra tautness. Not gonna lie - Icarus got too close to the sun a couple of times and there was some slight grill cloth meltage...but won't be seen, just around some edges/end bits.

- Sanded all the cabinet and back panel sides, edges, ledges, etc. Then wiped all down with alcohol.

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4. Took advantage of the decent weather these past couple of days. Uncle Doug's "How to Cover a Cabinet with Tolex or Leatherette.....Part 2" video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qI8PTa4FieM was especially helpful. Decided to get this beastie finished.

Not gonna lie - many mistakes were made, but most can be hidden or I can simply live with - lessons learned. :derp:

Note to self - don't keep going when tired, mistakes get made. :fp:

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Job done! :w00t:

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The doofus formerly known as Snorre...

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