GregP

Thanks for the reply, idch! Glad you've found my journey (such as it is) an interesting read so far. And if I've helped even one person with even one idea, I guess I'm doing a good enough job so far. I'm quite psyched to get right at it again. Tomorrow I plan to make my neck "template" and figure out what to do about the headstock.... It occurred to me that I didn't plane it down before gluing it up, so now I have to figure out a way to get it thin enough for the machine heads. <grumble> Greg

Cheers for the reply! I have not had great success with straight cuts on a table saw. As soon as it 'binds' a little bit, it's game over. Last time I tried it, I was horrified at the inaccurate result. I know that it should work in theory, but either my equipment isn't up to snuff (possible!) or the jig wasn't up to the task. As mentioned in the other thread, ABM do not make a trem model that I've been able to find. If you've seen a link that I've overlooked, that'd be great! Though I suspect that if their non-trem is $400, any sort of trem unit will be even more. I agree about making the neck myself... it might end up being the better option. Thanks again! Greg

ABM doesn't seem to make a headless trem unit, though, which is a real bummer. MusicYo.com sells some of the more expensive Steinberger trem units, but the cheap one is "out of stock" (yeah, right... just like the EZ-bender). If anyone has any more ideas, I'm sure there are at least a handful of us who are thinking of headless guitar projects. Greg

Compressor isn't strictly necessary, however it's handy esp. if you have a nice transparent one OR if you really like the 'character' it imparts. Why? Tames spiky peaky playing and makes it easier to set levels. Without a compressor, one extra-hard (accidental sometimes) pick attack, and it's digital distortion city, from whence you will never recover. If you have good quality inputs, there's usually no problem setting ultra-safe levels and just increasing gain within your sequencer without introducing much noise. Greg

Trust rod adjustments act agains the entire neck of your guitar, which is made of hardwood. It shouldn't be easy. Make only small adjustments, and keep in mind that sometimes the wood needs to "settle" before you'll notice an effect. I know of techs who will confide that they grab the neck and pull on it a bit to get the wood to "pop" into place rather than waiting for it, but: DO AT YOUR OWN RISK... I myself would only ever do this on a cheap guitar. I wouldn't be yarding on something that you prize. In any case, go in small steps. Greg

How you going to lock the strings in place? If you have a conventional headstock anyways, why not just throw a set of these on? Greg

My question, though-- can we buy the original made by Floyd Rose? I can't find individual units for sale anywhere. Greg

It certainly works! Hate to criticize after all the work you've done getting the sounds up, but-- They're all done with the same (mediocre) distortion! I'd like to hear it with a smoother distortion and also clean. The induction stuff was highly interesting! The possibilities to make either traditional "feedback" sounds, or just coast some screams out... neat-o! Greg

Plus it just looks oooogly.

Nah, I'm just too timid to screw things up... I'm a bit of a 'perfectionist'. The level of craftsmanship I've put into it so far isn't even anything decent so I don't know why I keep thinking to myself that this guitar has got to be 'perfect'. Probably mainly comes down to the fact that I'm broke and this is an expensive hobby for me and I can't go around just scrapping stuff. Some day... when they finally give me a full-time contract.... Greg

I don't dig the Baby Grand for this particular guitar, though I love it in general. The 510 is nice, but also Chrome. That was my big issue is that these things are all chrome rather than nickel. At the end of the day, I've already purchased the TOM... it was cheap enough (at only $15 or whatnot, without the tailpiece) that it's no big loss (and I could use it on my dad's LP if I ever get to it), but I bought it with conscious thought and design, and I just seem to have forgotten that along the way. Regarding the neck, the solution is so simple that a child could have come up with it... I feel like an idiot for not realizing how simple it was before: Once I've drawn the neck on my template material (MDF), all I need to do is drill or clamp another piece of wood over top of it, along the line, and use THAT as a surrogate 'template' for routing a more precise edge. Greg

I'd consider a SpinSaw that has a flex-shaft attachment. Not always variable speed like a Dremel, which is the main drawback, but just keep an eye the features and you'll get something with more juice and flexibility for the same price or only slightly more. I have to confess, I haven't used mine for a great many tasks yet, but I DO have a Dremel that I tried (unsuccessfully) to use for a few tasks. The collet and overall structure of the Dremel didn't instil me with confidence even though I know it's the industry standard. On the other hand, the SpinSaw is rugged, has power to spare, and also has attachments such as an angle grinder and router base. It wouldn't necessarily replace a full-on router unless you're very good at rough cutting and wouldn't have much material to shave off, but it very well may, at that. I'd worry about the motor and the attachments on the really cheap ones I've seen on eBay. Greg

After all that, it's back to the TOM and string-through after all. So... I got the final tool that I "need" to do this guitar, and now I don't have any more excuses to not continue... sort of... As mentioned on the Steinberger-copy thread, I'm pretty much quite nervous about effing up my neck. On the bright side, I finally remembered that the wood wasn't all that expensive and that I have permission to screw it up. I just don't want to have to do the scarf joint again, as it was a hassle (see earlier in the thread). I'm torn between ordering a neck template from somewhere (guitarbuildingtemplates.com or whatever it's called) and just trying my best. Thing is, I don't see how, with the tools I have available, I'm supposed to cut a neck with any sort of accuracy? What do the folks here do? Draw the neck out on the wood, rough cut it, and then go by hand to the right spot? Is it hard to get straight edges that way? How do you avoid geting a wavy, unprofessional looking edge? PS, right now I'm just referring to the shape of the neck as though you were looking directly at the fingerboard-- not referring to contouring the neck yet. Hrmm... off to do a forum search, but since I've already posted this much, I'm going to hit the submit button anyhow. Greg

Nothing new to add to the excellent information already provided. Just wanted to mention I use the Little 59 in a Tele-style guitar (actually a Pacifica 302 not a true Tele) and have it rigged up for coil split with no new hardware needed. I can't remember how I did it, but I could always open up the control cavity and take a snapshot (making people cringe at my crap soldering skills) if you're interested. The way it works is with tone at full, the coil gets split. Obviously that means that you can't use tone control on it in single coil mode. Once you go below "9" it's back to humbucker and you can in fact use the tone control. Greg

Sorry for the non-helpful post, but I don't know the answer. I'm a numpty. Had to hijack for a moment though with the following question: if anyone knows a source for the speedloader, I'd also like to check out specs and prices. Could someone point me in the right direction? Greg

So far, pretty much the whole thing. I think a lot of discomfort would be alleviated if I had more confidence in making accurate templates. Perhaps it's almost time to consider buying a template or two, even for non-headless. What it comes down to is that I keep hemming and hawing on my current project even, because I have little idea how to produce any sort of accuracy with the tools I have. I have a paranoia that my neck won't be straight and that when I finally put strings on it, I'm going to notice that it's either not mounted perfectly straight or that it'll turn out that I slipped a wee bit during cutting/routing and produced a curved or asymmetrical neck. I'll know better after I'm done this project, but for my future projects I don't think I have the equipment or know-how to build completely from scratch again. It's making a 3-month project into a 9-month and counting one, and I haven't even gotten to the finishing stage yet. Greg

A new question has occurred to me: I've always been assuming that I could add the... er... 'head' (ie. string holder thingy) to pretty much any pre-made neck that I just hack the headstock off of. Now it's occurring that there might be more to it than that. If so, I'll have to consider constructing my own neck for it. Anybody know if I can cut off a headstock in such a way that enough "appropriate" material is left for mounting the 'head' of the headless? Also, where is the truss rod adjustment on a headless? Probably on the body side rather than the headstock side, right? I don't know if I'll find a pre-made neck-through with that kind of truss rod. Drat, just when I was thinking it might make a nice easy project after the current one.... Greg

That's because they've done almost everything digitally before. Frankly, it's pretty hard to mess up the Boss overdrive pedals, I would think. I don't like the sound of THOSE either, mind. I'm just waiting for that GDI-21. THAT will be an interesting test. Greg

I wasn't really responding to any one particular person, Godin, although I suppose you're probably in the 'school of thought' that I was speaking to. FWIW, I agree that whether it was 'wrong' or not, it WAS certainly "stupid" for them to copy so closely. Greg

Yawp, Plus, anyone notice the source of that most recent link? "Source: Roland". Hardly objective journalism, though at the core the facts remain the same I guess. "Good for Boss/Roland", though? Give me a break. I have no sympathy for them in the least. They would pretty much HAVE to advance a law suit... there's not much else they COULD do because to hold back would mean a) Behringer WOULD use the 'trade dress', uncontested, and there would be implied permission on Boss's part. Surely Behringer knew that there's be no choice for them BUT to sue, so I agree that it could very well be a highly devious marketing trick. Greg

I don't think so. This looks like something to HARDEN wood, which isn't really the purpose of sanding sealer per se. Also, unless Babel Fish is lying to me, this claims specifically that it does NOT fill in the grain. HOWEVER-- I've never used the stuff, and by someone more knowledgable than me looking at the bottle, they might be able to confirm or emphatically refute what I've just said. Greg

Hey, well if Steve Vai himself wants one, you're bound to sell thousands of'em, psw!

The MusicYo uses the R-type, which is the one I'm considering. Cheers for the anecdotal evidence of quality. They sell for $90 when they're available (ie. not right now). I'm not concerned about double-ball-end, and would probably get the adapter that MusicYo also sells for an extra $25, allowing use of 'normal' strings. Cheers for the plans, too. Even with a different body shape, that will be useful-- maybe my lower bout snap-on / snap-off idea could be shaped like the lower bout of the Klein. Greg

Have a home studio, which means noisy computer fans, the house ventilation kicking in and out, and someone's got a TV turned on in the other room? If so, your ultra-sensitive large-diaphragm condenser mic might not quite cut it. It might be almost "too good" for the envirotnment. Take at least some of the background out of the equation while retaining clarity by using a medium-diaphragm instead! The one I use is a very humble Apex 435, which features a low-cut switch (internally, but very easily switched). $80 or so, and it'll work well with guitars OR voice. Another alternative is the Kel Audio HM-1, which seems to be even better for not much more money. Possibly not as clean as the Prosonous (I have no basis of comparison), but flexible and with the option to dial in some 'character' is the ART Tube MP Studio V3. There are also less expensive models, and to be honest the "Output Protection Limiter" on this unit isn't a deal-maker; however, the good sounds ARE. If not as clean as the Prosonous, at least cleaner than the crappy pre-amps in my Behringer UB802.

Oh, I'm definitely going neck-through... the only thing up for debate is if I'm going to make my own or use a pre-made one. I'm looking at options right now, but most of the available ones are maple, not mahogany. Greg