Unusual timber Tester Guitar

[euroa guitars]

Saw this timber before Christmas at work it was a length of 70x35 T2 Pine (framing timber) had really unusual birdseye figuring so had to grab it. Wouldn't normally make a guitar from radiata pine especially six pieces, however this is going to be a "Testing Guitar" it will have a slide out drawer that various pickups can be secured into to test. I have about 40 different pickup samples on the way so it should get a workout

[Dedman]

oooooh, looks interesting, the testing sounds like fun too!

[euroa guitars]

oooooh, looks interesting, the testing sounds like fun too!

yeah, I saw a guitar made by Virgil Guitars on Youtube and his has the slide out drawer so thought might give it a try, at least then I can compare pickups a) in the same guitar and B) without removing strings

[Kick]

Nice idea but what exactly are you going to test? I mean, the sound of a PU is made by several things as sort of wood of the body, tuning, amplifier and so on...

[euroa guitars]

Nice idea but what exactly are you going to test? I mean, the sound of a PU is made by several things as sort of wood of the body, tuning, amplifier and so on...

Yep what Simon Barden said...
I have a number of different pickups coming in from different manufacturers, some are custom wound and others are stock.
And yes I agree it depends on a lot of factors but for comparison purposes having one guitar where everything else is constant apart from the pickups makes comparison easier.

[Simon Barden]

But you can at least test how different pickups compare to each other on the same guitar. The general characteristics are going to transfer between guitars, so if you've already got a similar pickup in another guitar, then you will know what one of the other tested pickups should do to the sound. If you choose one pickup (of each general type) as a standard, then you can compare the others as to the relative output, plus the different amounts of bass middle and treble they have compared to that.

Of course you are going to need some test equipment if you are doing it objectively, with at least an oscilloscope to measure signal levels and a frequency analyser (most DAWs have them as standard).

[euroa guitars]

Well its nearly finished, the shape was something I was playing around with for a customer, sort of a 60s Japanese look.
The drawer took a lot of working out but it seems to function fine and two humbuckers can be placed in at a time. I am also making the slider for single pickups as well.
All that's left to do is attach a neck and install a bridge, jack and a volume pot and 3way with alligator clip connections.

[Guvna19]

I think that green staining you've done looks magnificent ..well done !! what kinda product you using?

[euroa guitars]

I think that green staining you've done looks magnificent ..well done !! what kinda product you using?

Thanks Guvna
This was stained using U-Beaut stains blue and green mixed together. Its the first time I've used them thought they were a little weak in colour but not bad. The pine stained a little patchy but as I said wouldn't normally use Radiata Pine anyway (prefer Hoop Pine for light bodies) It was then finished with tru-oil.

[DrNomis_44]

Apparently the bodies of the first few original Fender Telecasters were made from Pine (not sure if it was Pinus Radiata).