ADA Depot - A Forum To Support Users of ADA Amplification Gear
Non ADA Gear => Guitars => Topic started by: El Chiguete on December 29, 2015, 08:23:25 AM
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So this year I decided to make my own custom guitar build, so far I have:
- Body: mahogany strat body with a black veneer quilted maple top
- Neck: mahogany strat neck with rosewood board
The idea is to have a LP wood combination for the classic heavy metal tone with dual Dimarzio Super Distortion pickups and a chromed OFR! :metal:
Updates comming when I get the other parts :banana-dance:
PS:
Since the neck came raw with no painting or clear I think I will oil it up like on the other thread that was posted here :)
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Hey El, :whoohoo!: , lots of fun :thumb-up: , I'm thinking to do the oiled thing on a squire strat I have.. (based on SCs posts), so you are stuck with standard strat bridge without some routing ?? but I like where you are going with this.. Will be a nice guitar :thumb-up:
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, so you are stuck with standard strat bridge without some routing ??
I got that body on offer because those bolts where done not in the correct place and they are actually closer to the neck than they should, so when the Floyd Rose post go in I wont use them (but this will be a players guitar and not a show guitar). My thoughts on the proyect is to have a Harley Davidson look with chrome hardware and black body that with that quilted top looks like a nice paint job on a bike!
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- Neck: mahogany strat neck with rosewood board
PS:
Since the neck came raw with no painting or clear I think I will oil it up like on the other thread that was posted here :)
Well Mahogany and oil are hard to combine, as mahogany will probably soak up more oil than you want. :-\
I did get a good result with just 2 filler coats of nitro (to seal the wood somewhat) and then finishing of some natural clear beeswax coats. :crazy:
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Hey SC, Well that makes sense, mahogany is much courser and softer grained than sugar maple (or other hardwoods) so will suck up the oil. Moreover, it won't be as smooth a finish so a couple of light coats of NC lacquer is maybe a better way to go.
Hey El, be really careful where you drill the FR post holes (hopefully you won't have to plug the 6 strat screw holes). I put a Shaller FR on my tele which I'd previously installed a Gotoh, I used the same holes as the Gotoh and now the saddles poke over the front edge a little and I had to file the bridge PU metal mounting plate a bit so it doesn't catch/foul. But I also did a full floating install (I copied my Anderson's routing) so the top of the FR plate is almost flush with the top (otherwise you have to shim the neck so it's slightly angled to get the action down). The other issue is neck radius as FRs are typically designed for fingerboards with less radius than fender style fingerboard. I ended up buying some FR saddle shims as the tele has quite a bit of radius (probably 7" circle) so when it has good action on the G and D the other strings were to high (so I shimmed from the outside in (and none under G and D)).
So scale length maths/geometry, the theoretical point for the saddles (not taking string thickness and angle/height into consideration) is the scale length (and 12th fret is 1/2 scale length (should be 25 1/2 " scale length and 12th fret should be 12 3/4" from the nut)). So line the bridge up so the top E saddle is in a good position on the bridge and is 25 1/2 " from the nut, all the saddles will need to be moved back away from the nut slightly to compensate for thickness of string and angle/height above the fretboard, make sure the bridge is perpendicular (use a set square ?) and in the centre to mark the FR post holes. While there is a fair bit of saddle adjustment available on a FR, you don't want to end up like my tele where they poke over the front a bit. I'm going to have to plug the holes and re-drill them at some point to get it just right. (which is why I mention it :thumb-up: :wave: )
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Well Mahogany and oil are hard to combine, as mahogany will probably soak up more oil than you want. :-\
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No issues with the Birchwood Casey Tru-/Gunstock Oil. Used it, apart from the obvious Maple, also on Mahogany and Pao Ferro with the same results...
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Wow didnt think there would be this much concern over the mahogany with neck. So SC you have used the Birchwood Casey Tru-/Gunstock Oil on other mahogany necks? Any tips? Would I need to reapply it because is a softer wood?
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I posted the YT vid somewhere....just follow the steps and you'll love it
http://adadepot.com/index.php?topic=1288.msg10941#msg10941 (http://adadepot.com/index.php?topic=1288.msg10941#msg10941)
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Yep I know, I just didn't know you had done it to a mahogany neck guitar.
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The mahogany necks I worked on were initially treated so I had to sand off the original finish.
Since your neck is completely unfinished, you might wanna start by applying some (2-3) coats of Birchwood Casey Sealer/Filler (http://www.amazon.com/Birchwood-Casey-Sealer-Filler-3-Ounce/dp/B001MQNJ40), sanding with 000 steel wool in between before applying the Gunstock Oil and Wax....
Check out this thread from the Kramer-Forum:
http://www.kramerforum.com/george/kollection/caliwarmoth.html (http://www.kramerforum.com/george/kollection/caliwarmoth.html)
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Thanks for the link!!!
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Ok so quick update, here are the parts that have arrived so far:
- body
- neck
- tuners
- neckplate
- straplocks
- pickguard
I will experiment with the a Dimarzio Super Distortion and a Bill Lawrance XL500 I have on another guitars and decide what to use in the bridge, then latter I will choose the neck pickup. Also onther parts are on the way including the Gotoh Floyd Rose that will probably be here next week.
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:whoohoo!: :thumb-up: :wave:
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Looking forward to see it!!! :thumb-up:
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Me too!!!
My thoughts on the proyect is to have a Harley Davidson look with chrome hardware and black body that with that quilted top looks like a nice paint job on a bike!
Hey El, my HD is completely de-chromed, matt black and downright nasty looking ... does that qualify? :lol:
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Mine has a some chrome left O0
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:whoohoo!: look at that ... is that a Dyna?
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look at that ... is that a Dyna?
Yes, a 1993 Wide Glide.
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Nice bike El, I like it. :thumb-up:
So, here's a coincidence for you ... a picture of my workshop at home, centre stage is a 1993 Dyna Wide Glide, it's a work in progress ;)
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Nice guitar project!
And we might have to share some bike pics in another thread. lol
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Hey Kim, that one's really nice too :thumb-up: You and El have completely outdone me on chrome, I need to find my sunglasses 8) 8) 8)
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If you look real close at my points cover, you can see there's a guitar on it with flames. :banana-rock:
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The mahogany necks I worked on were initially treated so I had to sand off the original finish.
Since your neck is completely unfinished, you might wanna start by applying some (2-3) coats of Birchwood Casey Sealer/Filler (http://www.amazon.com/Birchwood-Casey-Sealer-Filler-3-Ounce/dp/B001MQNJ40), sanding with 000 steel wool in between before applying the Gunstock Oil and Wax....
Check out this thread from the Kramer-Forum:
http://www.kramerforum.com/george/kollection/caliwarmoth.html (http://www.kramerforum.com/george/kollection/caliwarmoth.html)
:crazy:
How does he do know all this?!?
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SC is indeed a phont of knowledge :thumb-up: , how he has time :dunno:
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Ok so after a strange setback that ended with the tremolo that originaly was bought for this proyect getting "lost" in the mail and loosing that money I ordered a 2nd one and now I have all the parts to assemble the build!!! Phase one will be just 1 humbucker and 1 push-pull volume knob (for parallel not split) and then Phase two will add a neck hum and a switch to wire them with a Petrucci wiring! So this will be a busy weekend!!! :)
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Why parallel and not split?
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Because I want to test it out :)
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Well let me know,never tried parallel.
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I wire all my humbuckers series/parallel rather than split, it gives a similar effect and maintains the humbucker aspect. In the Anderson, each PU has a 3 way switch series/off/parallel. The squire strat I'm doing up has 2 push pull vol nobs again wired series/parallel, one for the hot rails (bridge) and one for the little 59 in the neck and the little 59 is out of phase.
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Well let's look at it in a pure electrical way.Let's say you have a PU with a 10k dc resistance.So in theory both coils are 5k.
If you do a split coil you end up with 5k but in parallel you end up with 2.5k.This will have an effect on the sound will it not?
And ok it's the dc resistance but the impedance will also change in the same manner.
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Absolutely, what you tend to get from a parallel connection (Coil A +ve to coil B +ve and Coil A -ve to coil B -ve) is a halving of impedance, which is similar to just one coil (coil tap) but it's 2 coils and you still get the humbucker noise reduction. It's not exactly the same but IMO works better and well worth trying (if you haven't; and hear what you think...).
And yes it has a major effect on the sound, it half's the impedance (so suddenly is like a single coil (impedance wise)) but is still 2 coils out of phase (depending on the PU) so 50hz cancellation but with a much toppyier/thinner sound, it's a tone I use to good effect without adding single coil noise..
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No, parallel is 1/4 and split coil is 1/2 of the series resistance .
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Hey MJMP, my understanding is is 2 cols in parallel = 1/2 the impedance (just like 2 speakers), split coil is just one of the 2 coils in a humbucker, ie one single coil. Unless you mean something else than what I consider split coil ??
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Nope it's 1/4,you see it a bit wrong.
A humbucker has 2 single coils in series.Correct?So let's say it has 10k resistance.Since both single coils are in series you have a single coil of 5k in series with another single coil of 5k.Ok?
Now if you put both single coils in parallel that means 5k in parallel with the other 5k equals 2.5k.Right?
Now if you use just one single in a split setup you have 5k.
So series is 10k,split is 5k (1/2) and parallel is 2.5k (1/4)
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Mmm I get what you are saying (and no doubt correct..), but I find the parallel of the 2 coils works well, is nice a toppy and keeps the hum canceling, hey they are all just different sounds. Standard humbuckers are more like 16k in series, single coil strat style PUs are IIRC around 6 ~ 7 k, so humbucker in parallel is around 4 k ish, but it obviously depends on the turns etc... But as you say, split coil will give a higher impedance but you loose the hum cancelling. In the end it's whatever floats your boat and works for you. Ideally it's good to be able to switch all the options including phase, but series parallel is and easier wiring option and works well with humbuckers (in my experience).
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Wellthe 10k was just an example choosen for easy calculation.I know it's usually higher.
Done some googling and it seems that split coil has a bit more high end but more noise too.Tone wise not exectly the same but close.
Mmmm nope split coil is way easier to do then series parallel.For split coil you only need a simple SPST switch while for series parallel you need a DPDT switch.2 connections vs 6 connections.
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As I said, they are quite similar but with less noise in parallel. The wiring is pretty straight forward, a couple of more lugs LoL, but if you are chasing a truly single coil sound, then split coil is the way to go. If you want a humbucker sound with some single coilish options, then series/parallel works well. The other thing to consider is out of phase, while I knew about it I'd never bothered, then I got the JPLP which replicates Jimmy Pages out of phase setup, so B PU has push/pull series/parallel and is out of phase with the N PU. I love the tones I can get with this setup, hence have wired the N PU in the strat upgrade out of phase.
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Well an update: since last friday I've taken everything to my luthier and it's been a stady process of seting up everything correctly :) Since I bough a separate body and a neck to be modified from a vintage trem to a Floyd Rose I knew it was better that he didn't it instead of me trying it out for may self and all I can say is that YOU CANT IMPROVISE ON EXPERIENCE!!! There where A TON of small details that someone else would probably just not pay much importance but he sure took his time so everything came out perfect! Some of these "issues" where:
- when we started moding the nut he noticed that not only was it not cut at a perfect 90 degree angle compared to the neck but also the actual fretboard is a bit bigger on the low E string than the high E string size! He had to make a custom shim for the Floyd nut to sit right and tomorow he will take care of the action.
- the tuner holes had to be enlarged a bit for the tuners, no problem on that BUT he noticed that the holes where not in a straight line.
- I bought the neck body at a special offer because the brindge screw where done not in the correct space... BUT in reality ALL of the cavities where not cut in the right place for the guitar to be set up in the correct scale lenght. This meens that the bridge holes where actually in the correct position compared to everything else on the body but looks like the template sliped back and everything actually was like a 1/4 of an inch moved. So to fixed he had to: a) route the pickup holes and the bridge hole foreward, but doing that there was too little wood to hold the bridge posts in there place that meens he had to add a bit of wood there and in the back of the trem block hole to fill the gap
Tomorow we will see if the action is good or not and see what has to be done in that respect.
In the end I think it will be just what I wanted it to be: a true players guitar with the potential of actually sounding great and looking really good too! Hopefully tomorow it will be done and I can test it out :)
PS:
The neck did gave a nice surprise and that was that when we started doing the oil down version like it was talked about in another thread with Tung Oild and Wax it revealed a NICE GOLDEN COLOR in the mahogany of the neck!!! Its amazing how awesome it looks! Depending on how the light hits it it really looks like it had little spots of gold actually in the wood!!! So I'm happy with this surprise :)
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Hey El, there's always a bunch of little annoyances :facepalm: . Sounds like the neck was rushed a bit when it was made. What will you do re machine head holes not being in line ?
When I pt a FR on my tele, I copied the Anderson sunken routing so the top of the FR bridge plate is flush with the top.
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Wauw it seems it had a few problems,hope it all works out.And we need to see some pics after it's finished.
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What will you do re machine head holes not being in line ?
I will leave it as it is. No major problem at all, just that is you put a ruller from the first to the last one the others wouldnt be 100% in line. It's not noticeable just by looking at it with your eyes. 8)
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Wauw it seems it had a few problems,hope it all works out.And we need to see some pics after it's finished.
Deffinetly! Need to ask around what friend photographer can help me out because for sure I won't be abble to catch those details using my phone camera jeje.
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It's good you can't see it easily, functionally it should make no difference. When he reams the holes for the machine heads he may be able to correct it slightly ?
Looking forward to some pics :thumb-up:
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Well good News and bad News...
Good News: I was abble to play the guitar and sounds good and looks killer all assemble!
Bad News: we couldnt finish it of because it will need a him on the neck pocket because the pocket hole was cut too deep :( We knew that before hand but the only was to be sure was to have verything put together and see...
Well for tomorow he will have ready the him with the correct size, then we set up the intonation on the bridge and we are good to rock on!!!
Also the series/parallel switch works great and the DiMarzio Súper Distortion really gives some convincing single coil tone like that!!! Marshall you should tired it out!
Finally you will drool over the figuring that the mahogany neck has... It look like it has gold dust inside of the mahogany!!!!!!!!
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The neck angle/height is the main reason to do a sunken route for the FR bridge so the bridge is flush with the top, otherwise you always have to shim the neck. Fender started to include a neck angle adjustment screw along the way (back when they went to the unfortunate 3 screw bolt on, later changed back to 4 screw due to sideways movement).
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Well yesterday I finally took the guitar home!!! I had to set up the bridge intonations and after spending a good time on that I finally tested it out on my rig and it has potential to be my main guitar for sure!
Today I'm going out of town for the weekend so I wont be abble to play it again until sunday... cant wait!
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Ok so first of I have to say that this guitar sound awesome :metal:!!! The I'm really happy with the action and the feel of the neck (it has a lot of meat but still confortable). Overall it came out great even tho we had to do a TON of stuff to get everything to fit right (build shims on the nut and the neck joint) but thats what you get when you match different parts from differente companies, BUT I knew it was going to happend so I'm not surprised.
Here are a few shots but I HAVE to get someone with a good camera to make better shots since my smartphone and the inside lighting take away the AWESOME looks of the guitar in person. The headstock and the back of the neck have some great 3D figuring that moves around depending on the light that hits it and it has a golden color that I've never seen before on mahogany! And the body has a cool quilted finish that looks like its smoking :banana: its actually darker than what you can see in the pics. Im a happy camper now. :banana-dance:
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:whoohoo!: , go El, it looks awesome my friend :thumb-up: . and I can see the gold sparkles wow they look good...
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Awesome indeed!!
Btw...how do you like the feel of the Gotoh-Floyd? :thumb-up:
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Wauw looks really special!! Very original. :thumb-up:
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Awesome indeed!!
Btw...how do you like the feel of the Gotoh-Floyd? :thumb-up:
I have to get used to it... tho I think is touching a bit of the picguard and it's maybe not returning back to 0 again... I will cut down a little to that side of the post and then see if its better.
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Wauw looks really special!! Very original. :thumb-up:
A hot rodded 80s look with the chrome pickuard was what I was going for :metal: John Sykes and Glen Tipton use chrome pickguards so I can too O0
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Great job El ... really nice :thumb-up: