Igor gets the Blues, The FrankenLab Reso Project.

[JB RETRO]

Personally I like SFG, but it has to be the right guitar. This isn't it. Or green. How would it look kinda relic'd and rusty?

[FrankenWashie]

like most things colour and shape are eye of the beholder JB, I like the relic idea but I’m leaning towards a Tobacco burst.
The neck and headstock are very plain, so the colour will bring them up somewhat. Still haven’t decided on the HS shape treatment yet either as there are the noted structural issues to address first.

[cork sniffer]

I would caution anyone thinking of getting one that it is definitely not a beginner kit.

We shall keep you all posted!

Get stuck into it mate (quickly), post lots of photos etc etc.
Mine is due Tuesday and I don't want to be the first crash test dummy.

[FrankenWashie]

Get stuck into it mate (quickly), post lots of photos etc etc.
Mine is due Tuesday and I don't want to be the first crash test dummy.

Righto, consider whip cracked then!

I have set up and executed the deepening of the sound well.

Effectively I added a block to the base of my palm router to make up the gap from the first cut to the bottom of the well as below.



This allows for routing out the required depth from around the periphery while you rest the block on the middle of the sound well.



So I worked in a circle around the outside of the well until I had a small area in the middle left, then I just added a second block the same height to the other side of the router to bring it all flush, the issue with that is now that that area is VERY thin and distorts under the weight of the router. You can see where I have filled a little whoops with CA and sawdust, it has actually distorted and warped the the base of the well.


The cone still sits flat, but I may just strip this thin section out as I don't want it to set up a buzz or vibration when it's all finished.




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[cork sniffer]

Righto, consider whip cracked then!

Thanks for what you've posted so far.
I don't pretend to have my head completely around the issues described yet. Australia Post reported Tomorrow (Monday) I'll have the bits on my bench :-) I'm sure all will be understood when under my nose. I USUALLY enjoy a challenge, hope the smile on my face prevails to jobs end. I guess a router just moved to top of my shopping list.

[FrankenWashie]

So I spent a fair amount and f time addressing the other issues.
Firstly, the pup lead through hole for the bridge piezo.


So I drilled through adjacent or as near as possible to where the spider leg will sit, so that the lead can be run along that leg and not just flop down into the cone.


To get It through I had to use a long series 1/8” bit but it did the job.



Then I turned my attention to the lead hole for the neck pup.



I used an 8mm auger bit for this, thankfully the standard bit was long enough to get all the way through.



So this also highlighted that I will need to extend the lead, as it won’t reach the control cavity as is.

I will also have to look at how to connect the piezo, as it has a little stereo jack end, not bare wires, and there is no instruction as to how this should connect or operate with the controls.


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[FrankenWashie]

Thanks for what you've posted so far.
I don't pretend to have my head completely around the issues described yet. Australia Post reported Tomorrow (Monday) I'll have the bits on my bench :-) I'm sure all will be understood when under my nose. I USUALLY enjoy a challenge, hope the smile on my face prevails to jobs end. I guess a router just moved to top of my shopping list.

Just go through the kit to start with, check everything out and see if your kit suffers the same issues. That will be of interest to Adam at PBG in terms of kit feedback.
you might be getting one where these things have been ironed out already 🤞🏾

[cork sniffer]

Just go through the kit to start with, check everything out and see if your kit suffers the same issues. That will be of interest to Adam at PBG in terms of kit feedback.
you might be getting one where these things have been ironed out already 🤞🏾

Given these are new products I'd expect yours and mine will be the same, BUT tomorrow is another day, we'll see.

[Simon Barden]

Your piezo strip is obviously intended to plug into a preamp. So I'd either think about fitting an acoustic guitar preamp for the piezo, or else take the piezo output to its own jack (or you could fit a selector switch for piezo or magnetic output). There will only be two wires in the piezo lead, the ground/braid and the signal wire.

Without a pre-amp, the piezo will need to be fed into a pre-amp with an input impedance of 10Meg or more, in order to get a flat frequency response. So that means either a dedicated acoustic amp that has a 10Meg input, or an external acoustic pre-amp pedal.

So it may be best to fit a cheap pre-amp somewhere into the body. Hopefully with an adjustable volume output so that you can at least pre-set it so that you can set it to match the magnetic pickup output, which would then allow you to set a blend of magnetic and piezo sounds, for whatever you think sounds the best mix. So you could then run with a blend pot, master volume and tone (though tone is always optional).

[FrankenWashie]

Your piezo strip is obviously intended to plug into a preamp. So I'd either think about fitting an acoustic guitar preamp for the piezo, or else take the piezo output to its own jack (or you could fit a selector switch for piezo or magnetic output). There will only be two wires in the piezo lead, the ground/braid and the signal wire.

Without a pre-amp, the piezo will need to be fed into a pre-amp with an input impedance of 10Meg or more, in order to get a flat frequency response. So that means either a dedicated acoustic amp that has a 10Meg input, or an external acoustic pre-amp pedal.

So it may be best to fit a cheap pre-amp somewhere into the body. Hopefully with an adjustable volume output so that you can at least pre-set it so that you can set it to match the magnetic pickup output, which would then allow you to set a blend of magnetic and piezo sounds, for whatever you think sounds the best mix. So you could then run with a blend pot, master volume and tone (though tone is always optional).

thanks Simon, I may be limited by the body thickness, so I’ll need to see what is about.