Just received the kit, here we go!
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Just received the kit, here we go!
Hi Trev and welcome to the forum.
I think there have been 3 of that kit built or still under construction and best to check them out with it being a fairly new and unique addition. You will find them under My Build Diary.... here is a link... http://www.buildyourownguitar.com.au...splay.php?f=56
Cheers, Waz
Welcome and congratulations on taking a resonator on.
A couple things to look out for are fitting the mini-humbucker under the neck, I had to remove timber. Also had to cut the bottom of body out to give clearance for the cone. Also drilling all holes for wiring was another thing not done that normally is expected. My cone hole was not central to the neck, had to mount bridge off centre. Silly little things that are easy to correct as long as you don't rush it.
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good luck with the build, I don't think I have the nerves to attempt to build that one, love the look of them though
Hi Waz, thanks for getting in touch. Will be picking your brains with this one for sure! Luckily I have built a few Teles, a Strat, an SG, and an LP Junior is in progress, all from scratch no kits. would not tackle this one as a first up. Did a quick mock-up last night and it looks like the bridge may be too low, the cone seems ok but the neck pickup will be tight, the wood provided for the bridge is a bit iffy, and the face of the guitar has quite a few very low spots where the grain goes a bit funny. This bit is disappointing as there will be a heap of sanding to get it out or it needs to be filled which will mean a solid colour and not the cherry I was thinking about. Oh well, will see.Quote:
Originally Posted by wazkelly
The piezo pickup seems a bit weird. Has a jack fitting on the cable but nothing to plug into and I'm not really sure where to place it. Where did you put yours?
Cheers, Trev.
Thanks Hard, looks like its going to be a tricky one but hopefully worth it. Cheers, Trev.
Corksniffer, Frankenwashie & Singing Frog are the only forum members I am aware of who have either built or made a start on one of these resonator kits.
As a humble observer the Resonator kit would appear to have a few common challenges that either one of those 3 forum members have encountered.
Corksniffer posted above and maybe there is a link on his signature to the build diary?
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Thanks, looks like there are similar things with this one too. The neck pickup will be tight but it looks like the cone etc will be ok. Quick look last night shows that the bridge looks like it is going to be a bit low and the piece of wood supplied is a bit ragged. How did you go with the piezo? Not sure where it goes and it has a connector but nothing to connect to. The kit seems basically ok but overall not really well thought out, maybe bits added as they went along. Timber front has lots of deep grain imperfections which will need lots of careful sanding out but filling if too deep and there goes a nice stain / clear finish. Stay tuned!. Cheers, Trev.Quote:
Originally Posted by cork sniffer
I drilled a hole through the spider (red arrow) to allow the piezo to sit correctly. Purchased an inexpensive female jack to accept the supplied piezo connector and plugged it in within the pot cavity. Did the same for the humbucker but plugs together under the cone. I can now upgrade the piezo and humbucker without soldering. A friend planned this wiring and it works well. I upgraded my pots and made new all new wire.Quote:
Originally Posted by Trev56
EDIT. The piezo sits under the bridge, string pressure onto the wooden bridge transfers vibration into the piezo. Hope this helps.
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2nd EDIT. This may help.
http://www.buildyourownguitar.com.au...ead.php?t=8512
http://www.buildyourownguitar.com.au...ead.php?t=8487
http://www.buildyourownguitar.com.au...t=singing+frog
Piezo connection.
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Ahah she said! Thanks heaps, makes a whole lot of sense now. I was thinking along those lines but (silly me probably) thought that it might be a bit more clear in the kit! Since starting the thread I found a few references to line pre-amps being used with these pickups and guess that is the idea of the plug. I like your solution, very neat and well thought out. Thanks also for the wiring diagram. Found a few suggestions where either two vol pots used or one vol and and a blend pot. Decisions decisions! Cheers, Trev.
If wiring my way I'd call call it two "blending" volume pots and one tone.Quote:
Originally Posted by Trev56
I'm not much of a player but a few real playing friends have had mine sounding SO GOOD and versatile, getting unexpected tones and ability to play a variety of styles.
Start a build diary, plenty of knowledge here to chip in if you ask and sometimes if you don't ;-)
Welcome aboard the reso train Trev! Mine is still in the works but it keeps getting shunted from the workbench. Part of the issue as laid out by Corksniffer is the Pre-amp or not to Pre-amp question.
I’ve elected to go full mad scientist with mine and FrankenHack an integrated Fishman unit into it.
http://www.buildyourownguitar.com.au...highlight=Igor
It has stalled here, but we are slowly getting back to it. Best of luck with your build, and post up if you get stuck, this forum is fantastic at helping out.
Thanks Cork and Frank (hope you don't mind me using shortnames!). Great ideas and advice from you both. I have done a complete mock up of the kit (more like a collection of related parts than a kit but more on that later) and decided to go without a preamp for now and have seated the bridge pickup the same as Cork, nice and neat. First up the bridge was a full 5mm (nearly a 1/4 inch in old money) and the neck heel was at a very jaunty angle so trimmed it and straightened the cut and the scale is now spot on. I also had to cut out the bottom of the cone routing so the cone would sit properly and flatten out the wobbly edges of the aluminium. The spider casting is a bit rough so cleaned the dags off that too. Any work on the body needs to be very carefully done. The 'wood' is very soft and light and the ply is like biscuit - think more SAO then Gingernut! The routing for the cone is a bit over 1/4 inch to the right side of the body so the neck was never going to properly line up so I have massaged the neck pocket to fix most of it and will put up with offsetting the bridge a couple of mm so the strings line up properly. I also had to enlarge the rout to move the neck pickup back 3mm so the neck seated properly.
My thoughts so far is that this kit is made to a basic cheap plan but most of the routing is done by hand or with very basic jigs not really up to the job. As a first kit it would probably remain unfinished and stop any thoughts of trying anything else. Definitely one for the experienced and determined builder. Having said all that, it won't beat me and I will put up some pics when it has moved on a bit. Cheers everyone, T.
Yeah, that’s the truth of if Trev. I found a laundry list if similar issues and catalogued them for PBG, with some potential workarounds. It’s sounds as though you’re on top of yours. Look forward to seeing how it goes!Quote:
Originally Posted by Trev56
Well, it's update time and it seems most of the problems I have encountered are similar to those by Cork and Frank as mentioned before.
Neck has been glued in with Titebond Liquid Hide Glue, body and neck finished with Feast Watson Black Japan and 6 acrylic clear coats, hardware installed, strung up acoustically but no electronics as yet. There are (I hope) some pics at the end here for your comic relief! Yes, I know the cover plate is missing but hey, give me a break! If I had to sum the kit up so far in 5 words it would be "Should have sent it back" but, to be fair, a lot of the problems are not immediately obvious and only become so when construction starts.
Neck - actually really good. Straight, apparently well-made, fretboard is nice dark timber, frets are even and nicely rounded with no sharp edges. Heel was a bit wonky as mentioned before but had enough meat to allow cleaning up and still fit well.
Body - this is where a bit of prior experience certainly helped. Similar problems with the cone cavity as mentioned by Cork. However, the face or front on this one was not flat and fell away by about 2-3 mm at the sides (looks like a victim of the sanding process) but was ok front to back. This means that when the cone cavity is routed with the router sitting on the guitar face, the rim of the cavity also falls away to the sides. The cone has to be flat at the rim and seated evenly all the way around for good tone and volume, in this case my cone rocked up and down at the sides pivoting along the centreline. I glued in trimmed pieces of veneer laminated in two or three layers as required at the left and right sides to even things out and the cone now sits nicely all round.
Finish - the body material is very soft and porous. Even with sealer a test with mahogany tint was terribly patchy and uneven. I eventually decided on a black japan tint which did not come out too badly. There seemed to be small areas of resin or oil from the wood itself so there are a few spots where the colour did not take well, I did not really get overly worried about it as this will never look like a top end instrument and it looks a little worn in places which I like. The neck took colour really well as it is much better timber.
Cone and bridge - the kit bridge piece is way too small and does not provide sufficient string height and is too thin to fit snuggly in the slot. I ordered a new maple / ebony one from Stewmac but made one out of Tassie Oak in the meantime. The action is a little high but good for slide and I can fit and fiddle this one to what I want and then make the Stewmac one the same. In the pics you can see that the cone rout is off centre about 6mm (1/4) inch to the right (closer to the binding). I was able to take some of this out when fine fitting the neck but still keeping a snug pocket. The rest was taken up by allowing the bridge to be just off-centre as it just sits in the slot and is held by string tension. The cone is pressed aluminium and the rim needed to be gently smoothed of wrinkles and flattened but it now sits nicely in the rout with no wobbles. There are a few holes around the rim which fool you into thinking it is screwed down but, like the bridge, string tension holds it down and it will not resonate properly if screwed down. The main thing is the neck, bridge, and tailpiece are all dead inline and the strings locate perfectly down the neck.
Nice and clean Trev, any positive result with these kits is a win. As you'd commented earlier there were a lot of pitfalls hiding away in the details. Great Job!
Thank you for your support. Hope to get the wiring done this week and finish the job off. Then back to the 2 Teles and LP Junior currently in progress, built from scratch. I might post some pics of these and previous builds shortly.
Trev, I'd be a bit worried about vibration between the piezo wire and the cone. I secured mine along a spider leg and into the body above the cone. Other than "my" concern as mentioned you've nailed it, well done!
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Thanks for your support and advice Cork, much appreciated. Yes, the wiring is not completed as yet and will be secured to avoid any wandering around and rattling. Your pics seem to show a much nicer grain and figure in the body which would have been a shame to stain black like I did, mine was very patchy and the black tended to even it out somewhat. Still, for the price the kit came out ok provided expectations were suitably adjusted as it progressed. With all the thinking time and problem solving required the satisfaction per $ ratio came out reasonably high :rolleyes:.
Without a photo of yours pre-stained I can't comment on comparisons. Mine had hard and soft grain lines on the top (see blue X's in photo) creating a challenge when attempting to sand flat. I agree re your comment "satisfaction per $ ratio", I enjoyed the trip and am considering doing another resonator some time. Before that it's just about time to assemble a 12 string Tele at hand for the long suffering wife.
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