Hi all, I’m Virgil from the US. This is my first build but I have previous woodworking experience. I’m a Jack of all trades for a custom home builder, but that’s not why I’m here so I digress.
I’m building this guitar to get my feet wet and build it for my dad. I myself am a bass player. Will most likely make a bass on my next build.
Here’s to many more builds and good times here
I have gone with a ceruse finish of blue to black. Trying to post photos but having issues.
Doing a typical strat style headstock with the tele body. Also I have a question about something in the kit. Most likely due to my first time building a guitar I’m unfamiliar with a part. Will try to post photos
This is the part I’m asking about. Is it string saddles for the headstock?
I think those are string guides for the headstock. Increases the break angle at the nut for the further tuners. I don't know what the loop of wire is for. I had it in my kit and didn't know what it was either.
Yes, string trees for the headstock. The bent metal part should sit on a small metal ring to raise it up a bit and held in place by a screw. Fit the strings first then place the bent piece over the D&G and B&E strings (refer to Fender headstocks for typical positions), then you can mark through the hole for a position to drill the pilot hole. It’s important that the trees don't pull the strings to one side and increase friction.
If it’s a high-pitched squealing that doesn’t stop when you mute the strings, then it’s almost certainly microphonic pickups. Is it one or both pickups? Select each pickup individually to check.
With either loud volume or high gain, the windings around the pickup bobbin can vibrate if they aren’t pressed tight enough together due to the way they are wound or aren’t wax potted/badly wax potted.
Treat each short length of winding down the long axis of the bobbin as a potential small guitar string, and you can see that if they can vibrate, the pickup will make its own noise. Because you are talking about 4cm or so max of length of winding on a side, the wavelength will be small and so the noise is high pitched. One length on its own won’t have a big output, but you have many thousand turns on a pickup, so they can all add up. Clean but loud will set loose windings vibrating, and quieter high gain will boost the lower levels of vibration to a point when the pickups produce enough output to create a feedback loop.
Pickups with metal covers also need wax filling the space between the top of the pickup and the cover, otherwise the cover can vibrate and also act like a string and make a noise. Press on the pickup cover and if the feedback stops or considerably reduces, then it’s likely that the wax under the cover isn’t damping the vibrations sufficiently. I had this the first time i fitted some covers onto open coil pickups and the wax I put in hadn’t filled the gap properly.
This cover issue can often be cured by pulling the pickup out and heating it with a hairdryer. With cardboard to protect the guitar, this can be done in situ. The pickup needs to get quite hot, so wear gloves. Once you start to see indications of the wax melting, then stop heating and turn the pickup over, as you want the wax to fill the gap between the top and the bobbins. Once it’s cooled down, you can wipe off any wax and try the pickup out to see if the feedback is cured.
If there is insufficient wax in the pickup (maybe the cover is sitting too far away from the bobbins) then this won’t fix it. If you don’t see any evidence of melted wax within 30 seconds or so I’d stop, as excess heat can damage the pickup.
If pressing the cover doesn’t stop the squealing, then it’s the windings that are the issue. Heating with a hairdryer won’t cure this and the pickup will either need to be repotted or replaced.
Annoying hum is persistent unless I touch th plate the knobs are mounted in. With my bare hands. Took my multimeter and tested continuity to make sure my ground is fine.
Let me clarify. It’s a buzz. Not really a hum. I put my bare fingers on the strings and it disappears as well
Two main areas for hum are 1) getting the signal and ground connections to the output jack crossed and 2) not fitting a bridge ground wire.
As you’ve got a multimeter, first plug in a guitar lead and check there is continuity from the sleeve of the jack on the other end of the cable to the control plate and not from the tip of the jack (you may have done this). If sleeve to control plate is low resistance, then check if there is continuity from the control plate to the strings.
If both if these checks are OK, then can you post some pics of the control plate wiring that clearly shows how all the wires are connected to the switch and pots (you may need to take a few from different angles and move the wires about for clarity.
Thanks Simon, it was the output Jack being wired backwards. Doing the test you suggest with the multimeter concluded it. Well wont make that mistake again lol. Again thanks all, and I look forward to my next build. Which is a toss up between the spalted maple violin bass and the p j bass
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