Well I finished putting it all together, though not too happy with the paint (automotive rattle cans) Probably rushed the prep due to workshop constraints too. I may revisit the finish at a later date and use decent nitro c paint. I used a 2vol 1 tone control panel, slightly modified MM type. It works fine but the piezo pickup is about half the volume of the neck single bar tele type. I sort of expected this, so may fit a pre-amp, for now running with the neck at half works fine. The resonator sounds authentic, with a metallic, banjo-esque tone which is nice for picking. The neck pickup is capturing some of the resonator tone and is deep and solid. With both on it has a good usable tone with a very acoustic feel at low volumes. I have not yet put it through the AC30, but through the Pignose at full volume the piezo feeds back like Hendrix on acid! Acoustically, the guitar is loud enough to not need an amp and has a nice resonator tone even with the light strings that I have used (EB Slinky 10-46) The action is pretty much Ok and will be finally addressed when I fit a brass nut so that all contact will be metal to metal. With heavier gauge strings I believe this would be a good slide guitar. I finished the headstock with roller trees and my circle37 logo
Pics show kitchen table workbench (wife at work) the piezo attached to the resonator, the solution to the over vibration of the string tails (rubber sleeve on strings, tail piece dropped by about 3/8" to improve the break angle from the bridge) and the guitar front and back (showing 3mm aluminium back which contributes largely to the weight)
ALL in all, I am fairly happy with this attempt at something different and as a working prototype it does actually work! It is playable, despite being larger than a regular tele and apart from being on the heavy side, is not too uncomfortable. Many lessons learned, particularly in wood choice, whatever this was it did not like being worked and fought me with chips and splinters plus even a bit of resin!
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