I bought this kit guitar from DIY Guitars
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I bought this kit guitar from DIY Guitars
DC resistance is NOT a power rating, rather its the resistance of the wire in a pickup’s coil at zero hertz, something that only occurs when a guitar isn’t played. DC resistance specs are inadequate as sole power and tone indicators of an AC device like a pickup.
There doesn't seem to be any difference to the Pitbull kit, Tony. I wonder if they do come from the same factory?
There is a good chance that they do mate, alot of the factory pictures look identical to the next one.Quote:
Originally Posted by Swanny
The pots are Cherry Fan mini pots
kit looks pretty good Tony, sure you will work around any small issues.
Yeh mate its all to be expected at this price and easy to work around. Icant wait to start the stain process, but alot of other things i need to attend to before hand.Quote:
Originally Posted by wokkaboy
Headstock already shaped, i was hoping it wasnt, because i had another idea in mind, oh well saves some sawing.
Attachment 7862
Bit of a mock up
Attachment 7868
If anyone is looking to change out pots for CTS the number are
EP-0086-000 - CTS 500K Split Shaft Audio Pots
EP-4986-000 - CTS 500K Linear Tone Pots
One of 2 small cracks in the join of the cap, will make up a slurry of filler and that will fix that
Attachment 7871
Dissecting a pickup ;)
Remove the solder
Attachment 7872
Take the cover off and? hey someone poured some paraffin in there, not exactly wax potting, but it dispels any myth that they are
Attachment 7873
Bobbins are only half full and sealed off with tape, the base plate has copped the ye old paraffin trick as well.
Attachment 7874
Gauss, magnet strength is poor for a ceramic, South facing, North facing is half that reading again.
Attachment 7875
Getting into the guts of it, no shim, just some raised type of pole pieces moulded to the bobbins
Attachment 7876
Bobbins held together by the magnet with you guessed it, paraffin wax.
Attachment 7878
Bobbin half full, the sticky from the tape is all over the 42 AWG poly wire, the spacer bar is at an angle, might have been a Friday assembly.
Attachment 7879
All fixed and ready for the bin :D
Attachment 7880
I am surprised how well this plastic nut is made, its tempting to retain it. I have woolly mammoth tusk here and cow bone, i think i might make me a bone nut, the wooly mammoth can wait for the Ancient Kauri bodies i am yet to do.
The thing with a nut is, once you fret the guitar, the nut is out of the equation, but a well made nut also means less chance of cracking and breaking it.
Attachment 7889
@Tony: I've been asking myself the same question about the nut... I reckon I'm going to keep the plastic one on mine.
Worst case I'll swap it later if I find it's causing trouble.
I'm going to upgrade the pots though as once they're in I don't think I'll want to take them out and back in!
@Swanny: main differences I've noticed between the PBG model and the DIY are colour of hardware and fret markers. The PBG model has dots while this one has trapeze shaped markers.
Sent from my 0PJA10 using Tapatalk
Just minor changes in the ordering etc i think more than anything just to differentiate them, i want mine with dots someone else wants celtic crosses.Quote:
Originally Posted by FredA
I am keeping the nut on for now as well, i will wire up the new pots during the week, most of the parts that came with the guitar wont be used on the build, but may come in handy on cigar boxes, and the strings for Nashville tuning one of my teles.
Attachment 7895
Started to put together a wiring mock up, measure the guitar with baking paper than transferred it to a piece of cardboard, will make up a more accurate one on ply board later.
Attachment 7921Attachment 7926
Attachment 7923Attachment 7924
Pots matched set CTS 546k Volume pots
Tone pots CTS 555k will make for a little more treble and a Bourns 500k no load pot whci will take the pot out of the circuit for just the tone of the pickup. Not sure to go neck or bridge with the Bourns..
Caps 0.022 paper in oil Vit-Q
Switch WB Music Les Paul switch
Attachment 7927
Tend to agree. I remember 30 odd years ago brass nuts and brass/bone combos were all the rage and for the most part they helped make open notes sound brighter which is not always the sound you are after. Whilst plastic ones seem to be frowned upon, if they don't buzz, not too high, see how it goes for a while before spending the extra time, effort and money on a bone replacement.Quote:
Originally Posted by tonyw
Bone for tone.
And yes, even with fretted notes bone does make a difference as there are still vibrations happening at the nut that effect the overall tone of the guitar.
Not when its amplified, acoustically yes, plug in an you lose the lotQuote:
Originally Posted by dingobass
Listen and watch a steel guitar player and a slide player.Quote:
Originally Posted by dingobass
The steel player damps the strings behind the steel and most often the slide player will be undamped, the harmonic difference is enormous.
JMTBW
interesting discussion fellas. So many different sounds depending on style and feel of the player
If your nut is made incorrectly, your guitar will reflect that.
If you personally believe brand x is better than brand Y? then more power to you, i will never endeavour to change anyones opinions.
If you hear something in your guitar after a mod, well thats what your paying for. Nuts like tone woods are subjective and i dont dwell on either, i just play my guitars, good strings, good pickups, good wiring and a good setup.
For me, a guitar is basically an acoustic/mechanical/electrical system made up of parts that contribute to the functioning of that system, if one or more of the parts aren't functioning at their best then it's going to have an impact on the overall functioning of the whole system, that goes back to the saying "A chain is only as strong as it's weakest link".
My two cents worth.
I have a Watkins Rapier 33 in my rack, if i showed it to you it would go something like, oh my what a load of junk, then if you played it you would melt with its feel and tone and perfect setup.
Its all about setting a guitar up correct and it will all come together.
Looking at pickups today
1: i was going to roll my own but i have only enough bobbins for 1 HB
2: Order from Wilde Bills a pair of L500C's blade pickups
3: Take the pair out of my Telecaster Blacktop body
4: Some Gotoh HB's or the likes
Leaning toward the ones in my Tele
Have decided to use these pickups out of my Tele blacktop body.
These are Alnico BHK brand made in China, Fender call then a "Hot Vintage Alnico Humbucking Pickup with Nickel Cover"
Attachment 7947
The part i was deading was checking the neck levels, it didnt look right to me, but i got a pleasant surprise.
The worst part and its nothing really, the worst match up of tuner holes
Attachment 7972Attachment 7973
Checking the frets and neck over, everything is good, i got 2 slightly proud frets when i did a rocker test, and it has a very very slight concave, which is good as well.
Attachment 7974Attachment 7975
Pickups have been selected and paid for
Bill Lawrence (Wilde Bill) L90, i picked the 4 henry inductance rating for the bridge and the 2.8H for the neck.
Independent review
The 2.8H is around 6.5k, the 4.0H is around 7k its puts them in that Vintage PAF type of range but these things a very very clear.Quote:
"the L-90 is a humbucker that has a very clean, clear sound, almost like a single-coil. It's got a great, open, vintage sound, that you don't expect from a humbucker. It's great for blues, jazz, country, and rock. Most guys love it as a neck pickup because it's open and not muddy, but plenty use it as a bridge pickup too, Joe Perry and Buck Dharma love this pickup."
These are a blade pickup so no problems about the 12 string alignment.
What the late Bill Lawrence himself had to say about them.
His lovely wife Becky makes the pickups these daysQuote:
the L-90! The gleaming stainless steel blades guide a tightly focused magnetic window in a perfectly structured Alnico 5 circuit for unparalleled accuracy and with low magnetic attraction and complete immunity to noise. The pickup is responsive to the finest nuances in playing technique, smoothly balanced from crisp highs down to a detailed, powerful low end.
What you got with Bill was no industry BS, absolutely none at all (a bit like meself haha), its why over the years i have bought so many pickups of him, and now Becky. I have a lot of his pickups in my collection that i havent even put in a guitar yet. I used to many many years ago pry him for information about pickups as i wanted to wind my own and he soon rather abruptly at times dispelled alot of myths :o
Attachment 8011
A link to the blades, i nearly went the L500 but these are cleaner
http://wildepickups.com/Wilde_Bill_s_Twin_Blades.html
Those L90s sound like they are the biz, can't wait to hear them
Yeh Stan they should get the jingle jangle i am wanting out the 12 string.Quote:
Originally Posted by stan
$60 US a pop +$25 postage, you 100% know that your getting top quality every time.
If they sound as good as they look, they'll be a winner! It's good you know his products, so you can be confident in how they'll work out.
I have been a fan of Bills since the early 70'sQuote:
Originally Posted by Swanny
I have an Ultrasonic HB here of his he made when he was still in West Germany in the 70's, i also used his acoustic pickups back then.
Bill hardly advertised, he just let word of mouth sell his gear. He designed pickups for Framus, Gibson, and Fender, he did the American Deluxe series pickups from 2004 to 2009.
Passed away in 2013 but his wife a top winder in her own right carries on the business.
A link worth reading about their quality control
http://wildepickups.com/How_To_Order.html
hell f**k yeah!Quote:
Originally Posted by tonyw
Had some Bill Lawrence blade style PUPs dropped in a Japanese strat copy in 1980. The guitar tech wired them in a Mitey Mite Scratchplate that used 3 x 3 on-off-on mini switches so that they were humbucker in one position, off in the middle, and single coil in the last position. This allowed for multiple in and out of phase sounds, neck and bridge on together both in and out of phase too, plus all 3 on together whilst mucking around with phasing. Unbelievable the number of sound combinations you could get. Even 35 years ago they were very clean, had a warmth across each setting but the best part was no dropouts whilst bending notes as there were no staggered pole pieces to worry about. No doubt they have only got better with time.
Heres the Bill Lawrence pups i have laying around
Ultrasonic neck pickup
Attachment 8082 Attachment 8083
2 tele bridges,notice how they are stacked
Attachment 8084
And the strat pickup
Attachment 8085
The Ultrasonic, strat and a Tele Bridge are going into a telecaster HB/S/T and wired in all sorts of crazy ways, the other tele into a single coil tele Esquire kind of build with some more crazy wiring.
Got in and sanded the body today, 220 then 400, i then ran my fingers over the whole top and bottom and got any rough patches, the top bout was the worst, i didnt want to go too hard for fear of breaking through the lam top.
Attachment 8086
I quickly measured the front HB route with my HB template, and i can see i need to have a bit of a sanding out there. I need to leave the neck side of the route as is, i dont think theres room for the neck if i route it forward.
Attachment 8087
Out with the timbermate, i chose walnut to pump the flame a little, seeing as i am using the color tone cherry red.
The bass wood on the sides is having the filler then tru oil, with out anything else.
the rear of the guitar not filled yet, waiting for the top to dry, will be the same as the top.
Attachment 8117
whats a mess Mr Hart
Attachment 8118
Some blotching on the back, about 6 marks like this showing through, got a feeling its glue residue.
Will deal with it tomorrow when i sand the body.
Attachment 8119
Lots of trouble on the back, will try some Goof Off if that fails i will stain the back black and see how that goes if that fail i will spray it solid black. Still alot of sanding to do but i thought i would get stuck into the back because i knew those marks were there. On positive i found them before i tried to do a finish.
Theres always a work around, and then there's the bin haha jkn
Attachment 8122
Well its defiantely all chips, scratches and fill, sooo looks like a solid colour on the back, or try the black color-tone dye watered down a bit and see if it hides it at all.
Oh well it was a nice flame.
Attachment 8192
Shame...
Mine had a few similar spots, and that's partly why I went for the natural finish.
You can't see them with the Aussie Oil, so pretty happy with that.
I was going to tru oil it after i stained it, trouble is once i am committed it stays.Quote:
Originally Posted by FredA
The actual body colour looks lighter than the pics, and thought it would look good at is with the TO on it, but i am worried about the repairs they tried on it before it left China.
My brother has been through alot of Chinese guitar makers factories, he said he never saw one veener that wasnt as thin as rice paper.
A bit happier with the top, another going over with a wet 400 and it will be ready for stain.
The bouts have swirling tool marks from the factory, but i hope i can hide those with a touch up of 600, cant afford to go any harder.
Attachment 8239