The PBG B46.....Behemoth bass and guitar kit.

[ozzbike]

Drum,

The glue just turned up in random places....not seams. Like a glue stained hand picked up the body. It is better to find and deal with it now.

[Drummerdude]

Oh man.. well I'm sure you will make them disappear.. I wish we could get the workers to take a little more caution with the glue.. but then we wouldn't have the challenge of finding those pesky things and making them disappear.

[ozzbike]

I got rid of the glue and two scratch marks I found. I have begun some interesting Blue and Black fade options.....re-wet twice...sanded once so far...only a little sand...not a bare wood one.

Got this little number in the mail today. Plugged in a strat copy and pounded away on two Amps on two different power sources....not a murmur in the house. Works great too...no clicks burps etc as you change from A to B to Both. Seamless.

Made in Australia...on the Gold Coast as well. It only needs power if you wish flashy lights.

[Simon Barden]

Two different power sources is far worse scenario for creating ground loops than a single power source. It's always best to run connected equipment from the same power outlet using multi-way distribution boards (unless the equipment uses balanced signal cables and has shield ground lift switches available).

But you're unlikely to run into any serious noise issues until you start using digital FX pedals, which is where the multiple ground paths can really make a difference. Using a PSU with isolated power supplies certainly helps here, but even then, using two amps, you may then need to use a switcher with isolated outputs.

[ozzbike]

Two different power sources is far worse scenario for creating ground loops than a single power source. It's always best to run connected equipment from the same power outlet using multi-way distribution boards (unless the equipment uses balanced signal cables and has shield ground lift switches available).

But you're unlikely to run into any serious noise issues until you start using digital FX pedals, which is where the multiple ground paths can really make a difference. Using a PSU with isolated power supplies certainly helps here, but even then, using two amps, you may then need to use a switcher with isolated outputs.

I think I will be fine...it is just so I can plug this guitar into a Bass amp and a guitar amp at the same time.

The second paragraph makes no sense to me. This is just for me to use at home mate. Thanks for the info though.

[Simon Barden]

Question:- I have some nice lengths of the braided shielded wire. I have seen a number of negative comments in relation to using the outer braid as a ground/earth and the inner as the hot wire. Is there a reason for this? Because I can see that running one wire through some areas of this body will be very helpful. I can see that you can pinch out a leg from the braid and bathe that in solder and then solder that to the back of a pot or earth lug. The wire is shielded so therefore you would think that the hot wire would be better protected from RFI. As long as I get a good solder joint at the ends, and earth points along the length of the wire, I cannot see any issue in doing this.

No problem with using it at all, especially over such a relatively short distance. A pure shield works best if only connected at one end (except when run over very long distances when a connection at the other end via a capacitor is often recommended). What you ideally want to avoid is connecting up the braids where you don't need to. E.g. on say a LP's three-position switch, the switch ground should be connected to the output wire's braid to be grounded, but the two signal wires braid shouldn't be connected to anything at the switch end, just the signal wire (and the braids connected to a pot ground in the control cavity. Unless you insulate the braids, it's almost impossible to stop them touching and ruining the ideal set-up. But it's better than using unshielded wires, even if twisted together with a ground wire.

[wazkelly]

Hi Simon, for what it's worth a lot of Aussie properties seem to have a couple of 240v sources, very few have 3 or the industrial grade 3 phase outlets.

Just a humble muso with no electrical or engineering background however I remember 30 odd years ago playing in many old crappy pubs where we had to run long extension leads all over the place to stop the PA humming as it was worst when everything was plugged into the same source. Maybe things are different in the UK but from personal experience across many venues in Qld Ozzie has done good to isolate his humming problem by plugging his amps in through 2 different outlets.

[Simon Barden]

More likely a different earth connection method then. UK typically has an mains/earth ring arrangement, so each socket on a circuit is connected to the same common earth wire. A break in one part of the ring main cable still allows power and earth protection to be provided to all the other sockets. It's economic and works well but does lead to ground loop issues. If it's more standard in Australia to star-wire out from a single distribution point so that each outlet has it's own ground cable running directly to the main building ground, then that could explain it.

Certainly it's UK recommended practice to use a single outlet if possible to reduce ground loops.

It's also not unknown for the electrical wiring in old venues like pubs to be of a poor standard, often with grounds missing, though things have generally got a lot better recently as regs get tightened up and safety inspections have to be undertaken.

[ozzbike]

I found a tide mark across the back of the body.....think I will let her hang for two or three days...then some sanding...colour and polyurethane again.

Otherwise the mix of U-Beaut stain Blue and then a wipe of Black over the top in places is going well. I actually like it a lot. The Blue was very bright...and the black has made the colour dance around in the grain in places.

The headstocks were given two coats of Tru Oil...left to dry and now the necks, except the fingerboards, have had two thin coats of wipe on polyurethane. The body has had two thin coats of poly as well. (Oh the headstocks are U Beaut Yellow stained under the Tru Oil.)

I was going to mount, drill, situate things before I finished the sealing...as I did in the past. But there is just so much space to cover, so many things to do with this build. I have decided to finish the body....apply the blue 3M tape where it needs to be....measure...drill...and remove the tape.

[Dedman]

looking fantastic!