Very interesting, looking forward to seeing this develop.
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Very interesting, looking forward to seeing this develop.
AI work....Artificial Intelligence?
Adobe Illustrator?
I'm poor so use Inkscape myself.
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Yeah, I tried Inkscape and it didn’t gel for me, Adobe is way over the top but I’m finding it easier to pick up for the things I want to do.Quote:
Originally Posted by kuanjb
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https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...beba2ecda7.jpg
This. Because the brain started wandering off into wild ideas of other inlay to carry that thin line theme through the rest of the build:
- a line down the back of the headstock
- a line down the bottom end of the body (which would be covered by the string cradle anyway)
- A continuous line down the back of the neck
Fanciful stuff really, so I elected to set the neck to prevent me from delving further into that silliness.
Now that it is one piece I am forced to get the electronics set up and operating properly as well as carve the faceplate for the preamp and the new TRC which will echo the singular line at the top of the headstock.
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The actual line is 1/16” thick and the same wide.i went as thick as I could as there is likely to be some further scraping and sanding of that feature later on.Quote:
Originally Posted by DarkMark
The whole thing is going to get a coat of sanding sealer first, then a base colour for the burst in paint/ a clear then the black edges then more clear.
Unless I completely arse it up. Then it will be black.
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It's difficult to do with stain, and stain take-up will be dependent on the material used. It's a lot easier with paint, as long as the inlay is slightly proud of the top, as you just paint over it all, then sand it down flush, so that you sand off the paint over the inlay so it shows through again.Quote:
Originally Posted by DarkMark
I've just re-stained the fretboard of a 70's Hondo II and that had celluloid block markers on it. I used a strong black, and that certainly stuck to the celluloid. In this instance, sanding wouldn't work well as I'd be taking off the surface layer of wood that's stained and I'd be back where I was. Rubbing with some Brasso helped a bit, but was hard work. So I used a Dremel with the buffing disk attached, using Brasso, with the Dremel on a slow setting, and that worked at wearing away the stain (plus some use of a scalpel blade for scraping in the dips). You need to be careful with celluloid as it's easy to soften it with heat from friction (and I did add some small ridges in it due to that), but proper MOP or Abalone etc. should be sturdier.
But it is a lot easier to use paint. rather than stain, if you are using inlay.
If you do use stain, then try and get as much free stain off the board first before using TruOil. Lemon oil will both nourish the wood and help get excess stain off. Then polish the inlay as much as possible (Micromesh and a buffing compound) so that it's nice and shiny and less liable to take up stain.
Then you could scrape the edges of the inlay with a sharp blade to remove any stained TruOil on the inlay if it did spread a bit. By the time you've got a couple of coats of TruOil on, then you shouldn't get any more smearing, and then you can just build up the layers and fill in the slight indentation around the edge of the inlay where you've scraped the TruOil off.
Interesting Simon, thanks for that. I wonder...(and sorry FrankenWashie) if you could stain a headstock black, lay down several layers of Tru Oil or Poly, engrave your design, pour in liquid inlay material (eg glitter and super glue), sand back without reaching the bare stained wood?
Well, it works as a resonator....
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...c3d58ccbd0.jpg
I would say it sounds a bit thin, but then I have spent half of the afternoon playing my Dobro.
I’m not sure how much it will change with the Beard cone in it, I’m tempted to put the beard cone in my dobro and the dobro factory cone in this but that’s for future Igor to play with.
Action is high at the nut
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And high at the board end which I knew would be the case as I made the nut higher to allow for shaping to the board radius.
Now I just have to get the electrickery bit sorted and making sound.
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The tension may be off. The two places I've found online say to adjust the screw after putting the strings on. Bit hard with the single piece bridge and piezo rod though.
http://www.beardguitars.com/resonatorconecare/
Another thought is the lack of sound holes. If my understanding is correct the two sound holes should be like bass reflex tubes in speakers. Without them being connected you're losing your bass.
For my build I was considering both connecting the holes to the rear chamber and enlarging the chamber by cutting away not only the bottom middle section but the mid section also so that the hole is a cylinder (just like normal acoustic resonators). Not sure if there's enough space between the back panel and the sound holes though so might need to drill horizontally to connect up to the centre.
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i did adjust the cone a bit but that is impossible with strings on in the current set up. I am going to split the bridge but there is still the rod piezo in the way.Quote:
Originally Posted by kuanjb
it May be possible to use a split piezo or 2 separate rods like in a Fishman type one.
The Bass is okay, it’s more thin on the treble end, I follow your logic, I still have time to bore some connecting holes, I have to strip the strings and hardware for paint anyway.
what through hole size are you going with?
Not really sure currently. I'd think it would be 2-3cm diameter max. Couldn't really get much deeper with the thickness of the body. Could make it rectangular though. So maybe 25 * 40 mm.Quote:
Originally Posted by FrankenWashie
As an aside I saw talk of other resolectric guitars which have vents in the back of the guitar. National 1133, and Andy Solloway guitars to name a couple.
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A problem you may encounter trying to make the acoustic voice louder, is a tendency to feedback when used amplified. You've already got a cone that resonates, so adding some extra acoustic 'gain' to the guitar will bring the point of feedback down a bit. I'd try it out first and see what it sounds like plugged in. It isn't an acoustic resonator, it's an electric one. However if the body is very well sealed, then some venting might be required just to let the cone vibrate a bit more, rather than having to compress the internal air quite so much when the cone moves inwards. A bit like a closed vs open back cab.
No reason you can't use two piezo elements and connect their outputs together, though I'm not sure about how well a split bridge will work without something to hold the bridge pieces secure at either end of the slot.
And speaking of slots, the two resonators I have had in the past both has slots cut in the wooden saddle to hold the strings in place. I don't know if this is universal or not. My two resos both had a much narrower tailpiece compared to this kit, so the slots were needed to stop the strings slipping inwards. But it did mean that you could adjust the string height downwards by cutting the slots deeper. It would remove any requirement to keep adjusting the under-saddle screw.
Note that if you do that, then you'll also need to file/sand down the saddle itself, as you don't want much excess saddle height above the strings, as (especially with the outside of the two E slots). The taller the saddle is above the slot depth, the more leverage there is if you accidentally catch the end of the saddle with say your sleeve, and the easier that piece of wood will break off. The saddle's protected once you've got the metal cover on, but it's quite vulnerable whenever it's off.
I thought the screw was for transferring the vibration of the bridge to the cone, not for height adjustment of the bridge. Reading the link I posted above suggests the same to me. I.e. you tighten it just enough and after you have the strings on which lowers the bridge due to the string tension.
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You are almost certainly right. I've never built one. I'm just a bit surprised that the spider would move quite so much. I had it in my head that with its shape, it would be a pretty rigid item. You live and learn! I really need to look into the mechanics a bit more, as it's something I've obviously overlooked in the past.
I’m going to see what I can squeeze in. Possibly a 25mm speed bore bit. I already have a through hole at the top via the cable entry and the pre amp rout, so that’s probably why the bass sounds louder.Quote:
Originally Posted by kuanjb
Yes, that’s why I’m going to concentrate on getting the electrics up and running next, to test that out prior to boring any more holes.Quote:
Originally Posted by Simon Barden
Fishman make a specific split piezo for these types of guitars, so it can be done, I’m not sure my electrickery skills are up to making one though. The dobro I have also has a split bridge, and that seems to stay put rather well, the pieces are a good tight fit in the bridge slot.
i have yet to match the beige the the fretboard radius, but at the moment the strings are sitting in notches to hold the spacing even, as the tailpiece anchor hole spacing is considerably narrower than the desired string spacing as per your experience.
i was just itchy to see what noise it would make,hence the string up
Any continuous piezo strip can be cut down in size - a friend has just done it on a Fishman guitar piezo to fit a smaller dulcimer saddle. Some piezos have six individual small piezos strung together and I'm not sure about cutting that type, but certainly the more common solid strip type is fine. The Fishman and Graphtec power bridges for Strats, Teles etc. have six individual piezo saddles that are then paralleled up on a small PCB before the signal hits the pre-amp, so it's not a problem wiring piezos up in parallel.
The kit piezo is actually one that has Six separate cells on it. You can see them through the covering.
Might need to look at alternatives or see how involved the other processes around them are. I have room for a small PCB etc in the recess behind the cone so that is all doable.
I was actually trying to post an audio sample it it seems it won’t work from my phone
You can cut the ones with the individual piezo elements too. In fact if you did it carefully you might be able to split the rod and rewire the bit you cut off for the other half of the bridge. Should all just be wired in parallel giving you just two wires.Quote:
Originally Posted by FrankenWashie
https://www.cigarboxguitar.com/knowl...t-a-rod-piezo/
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So one wire will go to the braid and the other the lead? Might be worthy of an experiment.Quote:
Originally Posted by kuanjb
I found a video:Quote:
Originally Posted by FrankenWashie
https://youtu.be/BL3alVUCmgo
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Quote:
Originally Posted by kuanjb
Thanks for that KuanJB, very instructive, I might play with that with the one i have. split it, resolder and bring the two ends into a single connection.
IGOR! FETCH THE ELCTRODES!! MWA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!!!!
Thankfully he'll have to wait for a thunderstorm before starting the experiment.
So I got slightly OCD with my neck joint transition.
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...d3e1c5ff4b.jpg
Then I evened out the heel to neck shaft transition. When I sanded it finer and wiped it off with gum turps I noticed this..
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It appears to be a very faint Birdseye maple pattern, not a classic Birdseye effect but still, it means I’m going to have to treat it better than just whack black over the top of it.
The tobacco burst is still going to happen but that it might have to echo something a bit more like these,
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https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...5c495a5538.jpg
not sure of whether to use acrylics or nitro lacquer or enamels so any advice from anyone whose done a burst would be appreciated.
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I used Dingtone to do my double neck burst. not the cheapest method but other dyes (like Keyda) would work?
Attachment 29563
Its certainly an option to go that way, though my experiences with dyes haven't been fantastic (To be fair my experiences with paint haven't been stellar either!).Quote:
Originally Posted by Andy40
I will have to review what is available and consider options prior to experiments.
I used Feast Watson stains. If you go down the stain path just be prepared for things to turn out different to what you expect. I was trying to do a neck burst like in the above photos, but the timber had other ideas.
Thats one of the reasons I was thinking the lacquer or nitro route, slightly easier to shield off or mask etcQuote:
Originally Posted by DarkMark
Masking off binding, what a fiddly, PITA job!
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Hey Frankie,
Is the preamp compulsory for the piezo pickup to work? I think I may have accidentally bought the last kit... I should do some Google research, I guess.
You'll really need a separate output for the piezo if you don't use a preamp. For a flat response, the piezo needs to feed into an impedance of around 10 Megohms. A standard guitar amp has an impedance of 1 Megohm and the line input on a mixer of 10-47k ohms.
You'll get a sound from it if connected to a guitar amp, but it will be all midrangey and horrid. Maybe more acceptable for a resonator but the sound will still need a lot of EQ work to get it reasonable, which probably won't be similar to the EQ you'd want for the magnetic pickup.
You can use an external pre-amp designed for an acoustic guitar with a piezo - but again that's going to require a separate output.
Another option is an acoustic guitar amp with a 10Megohm input. I've just bought a Fishman Loudbox Mini acoustic amp (which is a very reasonable priced and good performing compact amp) and I found out after purchasing that it has a 10k instrument input, so can take piezos directly.
If you want to use the piezo rather than the magnetic sound, then you are better off using a full-range amp such as an acoustic guitar amp or an active PA speaker, as the limited frequency response of a guitar amp speaker will take off some of the top-end and clarity that the piezo gives.
So unless you want to use a separate amp or external pre-amp, then fitting an on-board pre-amp is really going to be the best sounding option when using a single output.
What Simon said Swannie!😁Quote:
Originally Posted by Swanny
I’ve gone completely FrankenHack with mine, but you can find all sorts of different pre amps on line, if you look at Corksniffers build diary, he didn’t go with a preamp and still got a good result. I think he has a wiring diagram in there somewhere.
Cheers, gentlemen! I have some research and buying to do while on nightshift for the week.
I’ve not been a fan of working with the Pawlonia, it’s fibrous and pulls under even the sharpest tools, though it does machine reasonably well.
After slapping on some sanding sealer this afternoon, I may have to review how I go about attacking the final colouring and finish scheme.
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...3912ff5f2b.jpg
The back doesn’t fare quite as well as it is rather plain to begin with. So it is likely to get the full blackout, but I want to try and leave some of the grain visible through the cutaways, so it may more of a varied edge with the black brown fading in and out.
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Ever so slowly forwards!
“Beware the Igorbotch, my son!Quote:
Originally Posted by FrankenWashie
The curves not masked, the tape that lifts!
Beware exposed edges and shun
The frumious binding cracks!”
Yers, verily some clean up and re taping before stain, a full sealer sand will be required.Quote:
Originally Posted by Simon Barden
We’ve all got projects that for one reason or another get put aside. Out of frustration, out of fear, out of time whatever.
This has been one of those. I’d pushed skills and knowledge beyond limit. I’d started rushing things out of frustration and put it aside as life got a lot busier.
I’ve spent some time recently tidying and reorganising the lab during which I dusted this off.
I need to get done with the stain burst on the rear and the repainting of the neck and headstock, but first I had to get done with the HS inlay and reshaping the added node feature.
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...394ab5a943.jpg
I had to tidy up and even up the recesses, they were slightly asymmetrical amd they were too shallow.
Once I had that done, the shaping of the pearl took about an hour to get to fit.
There is still an asymmetry to them, I think I measured a .5 mm width differential left to right.
What it does also highlight is a slight irregularity in the orientation of my Center line to the headstock.
I continued the indicated Center line as an extension of the bridge/body/neck C/L. That unfortunately puts it off to the left a smidge in relation to the headstock, about 1.5mm or thereabouts. Peeved? Much. But I am not about to rip it all out, skim the Headstock back, apply a face plate, re-center and then start inlay again. Blow that for a joke!
I’ve still got a nut to shape, an EQ faceplate to machine and some kooky wiring to get sorted.
Stay tuned for pictures of my diabolical hand rubbed burst!
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I was wondering what had happened to this.
Looking forward to your hand rubbed burst debut.