Thank you Simon for the confirmation!
i also had a look to Wazzkelly Tru-Oil past work as proposed by colin2121 also wandered around the forum and find that all necessary info and more seem available here, giving me confidence to achieve the axe i dreamed of for so long!
Hi !
Happy father's day to those concerns
As it is very humid actually in Montreal (and i dont have climatiser at home) i will need to wait a bit to hit the board with oil until i can have a few days aligned with workable humidity.
Might as well share some of my thoughts in regards of the hardware i selected and also ask some advices on the way!
I already received a "Premium wiring kit for SG" including CTS pots and switchcraft toggle switch, extra single coil hookup & shielded pushback wires. Also received all my Tulip buttons to replace the button that will arrive on the Grover tuners 305 series i ordered.
Now waiting for a second switchcraft toggle switch, 4 top hat bell reflector knobs, and 2 black switch knobs.
First question;
Anyone have a wiring diagram for using only 2 switches ?
i would like to have the middle switch (close to the bridges) to select the neck and the bottom switch (close to the 6 string neck) to select pickups. from what i read aroud the web, it seem Gibson doubleneck are wired this way, anyway this is how i would like it to work.
Second questions;
What pickup would you recommand?
i shot for the classic tone of course.....i read that Seymour Duncan 59' would do the job in the 4 pu slots, or a pair of Jazz on the 12 string and 59's on the 6 strings. I read that Alnico 5 is what i should look for. Would be happy to get your input.
Thankx in advance & looking forward to read you
Alnico 2, 4 or 5 will do. Alnico 5 is the strongest magnet type of the three, so those pickups will have a higher output than the others, given the same number of wire turns of the same thickness wire on the coils. However it's more complicated than just that as a lot of things can influence output and tone.
If you want the 12-string to remain clear, rather tha ever have a driven sound from it, then the SD Jazz are very clear sounding pickups. I had one in the neck position in a LP copy, and it was clearer/brighter than the bridge pickup (a Gibson 57 Classic). The SD '59s are also very clear sounding pickups (for a humbucker), but not quite as bright as the Jazz. I like the SD '59s, they are a very decent PAF style pickup and would happily fit a set on a Les Paul or similar. So 2 x Jazz for the 12-string and 2 x '59 for the 6-string would be one choice for a balanced sound from each guitar.
You could always go for a JB and '59 or Jazz pairing for the 6-string. I'm not a fan of the SD JB pickup for general use. For me, it's just too powerful and not good on cleans. Fine if you are only doing driven or distorted sounds, but I think it lacks subtlety if you play a fair bit of clean sound as well. However with the higher output, it does coil tap better than say a '59 would in terms of output, so you could get a cleaner sound by fitting a coil tap whilst having the ability to have a hotter bridge pickup.
The trouble is that there are so many pickups out there, and none of them are really right or wrong choices (except the very high output models if you are going for a classic sound). Likewise magnet type. Don't get too hung up on the 'correct' magnet type. Original PAF pickups were fitted with Alnico 2, 4 and 5 magnets depending on what Gibson had available at the time. Just concentrate more on the overall sound produced by the pickup.
It's not easy, and you'll always be wondering what the guitar would sound like if you'd gone for different pickups. If you can buy them used, then I'd do it (though you may need to extend the leads if they've been cut a bit short). then if you really don't like the sound, or you want more output or even less output, then you can always sell them for a similar price as you bought them for, and try something else instead.
This page https://guitarelectronics.com/origin...ng-schematics/ has the EDS 1275 wiring diagram with a 2-switch option. You'll need a special pickup selector switch, not a standard one, as you'll need one with two x 2 sets of normally closed contacts. I believe it's this one as each side has two sets of normally closed contacts. http://www.switchcraft.com/Product.aspx?ID=3343 The neck toggle selector is the normal 3-way type.
Thank you very much Simon for such thorough explanation!
I definitely want "clean" cleans as i can get it driven further down the signal chain when needed.
i am a fan of JB and his sound, but for what i do i'd rather remain as clean a possible and built from there.
i want to avoid volume difference when i'll switch from one neck to the other, but you convinced me to go with the jazz for the 12 & 59's for the 6 as far as sonority i am looking for!
i appreciate!
Here's an update of the llast days evolution;
As the wood has no dent or mark whatsoever, i did one round of 240 grit & ended up with 320 grit, blown clean with air and dusted of with tack clothes. (long story short)
After 3 Tru-Oil coats, i am very happy how the oil darken the wood.
Depending on the angle and light, the tint changes wich is just amazing!! I hope this effect remain when TO coats will layers on....
I am very thankfull to Adam (and/or the team at Pitbull) for sending me such beautifull wood piece!!
On a more uncertain note, i have ordered 3 kits of Grover Mid-Size Rotomatics (305 Series 3+3 Tuners), but i notice after ordering the tuners that came with the kit from Pitbull Guitars are same size as Grover mini-size tuners
If anyone could confirm if the midsize will fit or if they will bump into each other, i would appreciate.
Cheers for now,
Last edited by Wingmike11; 29-06-2020 at 11:04 AM.
Hi There,
I had a problem after the 4th first coats of Tru-Oil applied with my gloves directly.
One of the last coat, I have put too much and didn't wiped even properly so i could see drips once dry....
So i removed (gently) all drip marks with 400 grit and finish with 1500, blown with air and clean with tack cloth.
Applied 4 coats of Tru-Oil with a clean cloth rolled in another cloth that i secure with a tie-wrap.
Every 5 coats i wet sand with 1500 grit to even the layers and so far it seem to work fine.
I completed over 10 coats and can definitely see the oil starting to build up.
The biggest challenge so far have been the headstock decals....
I wanted a custom water decal and did many unsuccessful trials prior to have it right.
It's the "Packing tape over printer paper, bathed into warm water for 20 minutes" that finally got a "ok" result.
More to come,
Well that's nice! I was just looking at the ad for the AGD-612L, and lo and behold, somebody has started one.
I started a left-handed standard Stratocaster a couple of years back. I've got it working and it plays really well, but due to family problems beyond my control, my workroom suddenly became somebody's bedroom and my woodworking stuff was buried under a pile of cardboard boxes, so I never got round to the final finishing touches.
I've only just recently gotten to the stage where I can get back to it again, and I'm also looking seriously at a AGD-612L.
Regarding Basswood, I just wanted to share what I did for the final finish.
First of all, I don't agree with the notion that your guitar has to look like something that's been dipped in glucose syrup to be a successful build.
You can see plenty of examples of big-name rock stars who play the most decrepit-looking instruments. Flea of The Red Hot Chili Peppers plays an extremely "distressed"-looking shell pink Fender Jazz Bass, and not only is he clearly not interested in having it restored, Fender actually make a "Flea" Jazz Bass, with all the banged-up paintwork faithfully reproduced!
https://www.fender.com/pages/flea-signature-bass/
Francis Rossi of Status Quo has been playing the same beat-up green Telecaster for over 60 years, and there are places that will custom modify new guitars to look like your particular hero's "vintage" job.
https://www.worthpoint.com/worthoped...een-1545256206
He recently decided to sell it; check out how much it sold for!
https://www.gearnews.com/francis-ros...for-over-100k/
I've used Feast Watson fine rubbing oil and cabinet wax on the Strat and an earlier Jazz Bass I built, and I'm more than happy with the finish. The great thing is that you can just apply it with fine steel wool which automatically smooths the surface down, it just smells like furniture polish, not paint thinner, and you don't have to clean anything up between coats.
I originally went for a Sunburst design. To achieve that, I first brushed the body down with a weak solution of yellow inkjet refill dye, and then carefully rubbed the edges with a cotton wool pad dipped in a weak cyan inkjet dye. That produced a nice green-and-gold sunburst effect; but the only problem was that once I'd applied the wax, the join between the two pieces of basswood became painfully obvious!
(Unfortunately I don't seem to have a photo of that).
So then I got some very coarse sandpaper and carefully cut a series of scratches through the wax coating along the grain, and then rubbed over it with the cyan dye pad, producing a what looks like green woodgrain that nicely disguises the joins in the wood! I did a bit more heavy duty rubbing around the edges to enhance the "worn out by love" effect, al la Francis Rossi's Telecaster.
I also re-shaped the headstock into an animal claw shape and dyed it with more inkjet ink. The maple grain really takes it up well as you can see.
The only problem with the design is that, unless you're fairly close, it's not obvious what it's supposed to be.
The hole where the guitar lead normally plugs in is meant to contain a valve (tube) with an orange LED to make it look like it's actually operating. I'll have to find that, and the mesh cover I made for it.
Last edited by Keith Walters; 06-07-2020 at 02:42 PM. Reason: Minor errors
Looking really good Wingmike.
A lot of area to cover with a twin neck and that is a good solution to the problem of cloth drag.
I have done the multiple tru-oil coats and it give a great finish when it hardens off. And the tru oil also polishes up nicely at the end. I have also discovered that you can patch with tru-oil if you get a ding in the finish later.
It is always nice to have a great looking guitar.
i agree with you about glucose syrupOriginally Posted by Keith Walters
I am very close now to what i was going for initially.
As far as i am concern, an iconic "beaten up" axe i would like to have a built for is definitively the Washburn N4 with this incredible cutaway, but in lefthand version please!
(Santa? God? u'guys listening? just in case i'd been a good boy recently
I like your green Strat and the audacious headstock. For my AGD-612L, i'd rather remain with more standard headstock as double neck can quick look like i have taken a "bad decision"
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