My (custom) gear

[yakkmeister]

Hopefully these will work ...

Picture 1:

That's my partscaster tele - Art by me; Pyrography.
She's a single piece of swamp ash with a tummy- anf forearm-cut (via angle-grinder).
Tonerider Hot Classic pickup set - wired in series with a full-bypass switch and paper-in-oil cap.

She's sitting on my Voodoo Child amp.
Based on a champ AA764 circuit, I modified a kit from Evatco. Added a negative-feedback switch and bypass-cap switch. Running a pair of 8" Jensens, one alnico and the other a ceramic, the amp sits in the bottom while two umbilical cables feed the signal and power lines up to the control panel.

Picture 2:

That's my Yamaha 112 Pacifica. Aside from the custom (glow in the dark) paintjob (by my dad), she's got a pair of DiMarzio ProTracks and a PAF-Pro. Scalloped the fretboard and put in a b-taper tone with 0.1 tone cap.

Picture 3:
1998 Danelectro U2-56 reissue. Stock wiring and pups but 'pro' bridge and wicked custom paint (again, by my dad). Locking, vintage-style tuners round her off. Planning to get a better nut in there ... the metal one is a pain for tuning.

[adam]

Fantastic artwork Yakkmeister. Are you and your Dad Aboriginal, or just inspired by that style? Either way, it really works on your guitars.

[keloooe]

Awesome artwork!!!

[yakkmeister]

Thanks gents!

Yeah, we're Palawa Kani - that's the Eastern Tasmanian tribe. We don't look incredibly indigenous though ... I often get those WTF looks when I tell people ... ha ha!

Couple more pics to go ...

Picture 1:
My 1996 model Godin SD.
Seen here without the new chicken-head knobs I installed a few weeks ago. She's now running a super-5-way that sorts out traditional hanging-from-hot issues (full coil isolation and shunting where required, gives an out-of-phase option and selects for a parallel resistor when single-coils are selected to really get the most out of the pickups (which are totally stock - and they rock!)

Picture 2:
My 90-something Canora 335-clone ...
Guitar bones knobs - Hard Rock Hotel Las Vegas dice - a tail-piece and triple-shot-equipped Tonerider Alnico IV pickups mounted backwards.
This puppy has 4 different configurations available *per pickup* and boasts 50's style wiring, paper-in-oil caps, 'mistake' cap positioning and just the nicest grain you ever did see.

Oh, and that's me playing her.

[pablopepper]

Hey Yakkmeister,

You've got some lovely instruments on show here, especially that danelectro....gorgeous. I have to ask about your 335 pickups though, are they mounted upside down or switched position (ie neck pickup in bridge position)? What effect does this have on your tone? I've seen it done before but never understood why.

[yakkmeister]

Quote from pablopepper on January 30, 2013, 08:29
Hey Yakkmeister,

You've got some lovely instruments on show here, especially that danelectro....gorgeous. I have to ask about your 335 pickups though, are they mounted upside down or switched position (ie neck pickup in bridge position)? What effect does this have on your tone? I've seen it done before but never understood why.

Hey, thanks!
I like to express my art in my instruments and, with the ones my dad painted (like the Dano) I hoped to stretch his expression as well. He's working on a 3rd guitar for me currently. Turns out he really likes painting them ^_^

As for the Canora - the 335-copy - let me explain a little about that ...

The pickups are a set of Tonerider AC4 with nickle covers. They're mounted in SD tripleshot rings then wired 50's style with the 'mistake' style cap position.
This means that the tone control works a little like a subtle notch filter. It also means that by mounting the pickups as I have, there is no real frame of reference to compare it to.
Typically, on a slug/screw, PAF-style humbucker, the screw coil tends to be slightly overwound in comparison to the slug side. This means that, in the inverted position (note that the neck pickup is still in the neck position, etc) the greater influence (the screw side) will 'see' more low harmonics in the bridge pickup and more high harmonics in the neck pickup. The net effect is a slightly smoother tonal transition between pickups. This is very slight and I only really did it to be clever ... :P

[dingobass]

Hey Yakkmeister,

I can't write what I thinking when I saw your Axe collection and the amazing artwork....

As forum moderator I would have had to edit my response

Outstanding work by your Dad, really inspirational stuff!

Thanks for sharing your Axes with us Mate.

[keloooe]

Quote from dingobass on January 31, 2013, 06:42
Hey Yakkmeister,

I can't write what I thinking when I saw your Axe collection and the amazing artwork....

As forum moderator I would have had to edit my response

Outstanding work by your Dad, really inspirational stuff!

Thanks for sharing your Axes with us Mate.

Challenge: to build something close to the awesomeness of those Axes... You up for it???

[yakkmeister]

I know I am:

I built the tele and everything else was modified by me...

About to strip and re-re-do the godin because the experimental wiring I was trying out doesn't really do it for me ... and the 5-way doesn't fit terribly well on the metal scratch-plate...

I have an ST-1 kit on the way and a sweet design for it!
Just need to save the coin for the pickups and other parts for the circuit