GregP

It's on because you're gonna bring it? Or because you got served?

Good 1!

Cool beans, aaron. Did they arrive yet? Anybody else have confidence-inspiring information about this vendor? I don't buy from unknowns for the most part, but I'm rather intrigued. Greg

EMG's wiring diagrams should work out for ya. Question: where does one find EMG copies? I'm thinking of replacing some single-coils in a pair of guitars, and I'm loathe to pay EMG prices on my beaters. Greg

Not metal, but while we're on the subject, this is pretty great: http://www.lutherwright.com/thewall.php soundclips and purchase info hosted here: http://www.zunior.com/product_info.php?products_id=622

The only way a soapbar P-90 mounts is with a pair of screws. Without those screws, the cover won't hold, either. That said, where there's a will, there's a way. You could modify any number of things to accomplish what you want. For example, you could create dents in the pickup covers and leave tabs in the pickguard, so that it "snaps" into place. Not absolutely sure it would work, but it'd be worth experimenting with. Another alternative: simple double-backed tape. <shrug> 'Nother alternative, somehow attach your own "ears" for mounting. All kinds of possibilities, but there's no "one" way that I've ever come across. You'd have to be the pioneering trailblazer and come up with your own good method.

If you did the stencil-based burst, my uninformed (as mentioned, I haven't tried it) but educated guess would be: - Your stencil isn't lifted high enough at the edges - You're spraying too close and too straight down The idea of lifting the stencil at the edges is that it allows a bit of paint in... but if you point straight down, no particles will float under and create that "fade". Or, if you're spraying too close, the particles won't be able to "cloud" and dissipate before contacting the wood. Not having tried it, all I can recommend again is practicing more. You don't even really need scrap wood in order to practice the 'burst' spray... newsprint will let you know if you're spraying from the right distance, at the right angle, and with the stencil lifted the right amount.

I'm not even giving it a -1 because of the sound. I'm just giving it a -1 because it's about the geekiest thing you could possibly do. If you have the resources to do a "different"-shaped acoustic guitar, why a V? Yuk.

It doesn't look at all like a burst in those photos. I'm not saying I could do better (I've never tried) but I do suggest sanding back, then practicing on some scrap before trying again. What technique are you using for the burst?

I'm kinduv a couch player, so I always wonder how guitar designs will sit on the lap. Once you had the body cut out, how did it feel? In my imagination, the lower bouts are so fat compared to the wee "lap" area/cuttaway, that I can't imagine it sitting comfortably. That said, my idea of "comfort" is pretty finicky... I think Les Pauls feel fairly terrible on the lap, and I'm not that fond of the way my Godin LG feels on my lap, either. Not enough girth in the cutaway. Worksmanship is looking good so far, and "comfort" doubts aside, I really like the shape.

One of mine was ebony and the other rosewood, both pre-radiused as well as pre-slotted. The slots were indeed plenty deep for the pre-radiused ones; however, I can't speak to the flat boards.

The question's incomplete without some information, namely: where are the High E and Low E in their "range of movement", and as Rick asks, how far off are they from being intonated? Do you know how to intonate? That'd be the first thing to try. It's common and even necessary in almost all cases for the Low E to be a bit further back from scale length. It's also common for the High E to be a bit forward from scale length if it's all the way forward in its range of motion; however, it should only be by the barest smidge... you NEVER need to compensate any of the saddles closer than the scale length. That would defy the laws of physics. But you'll still have even factory guitars allowing the high E to be, like I said, just the barest amount forward. Greg

Very cool! Thanks for sharing, and I hope to see more. I'm also not a fan of the finish (would've preferred just a clearcoat!) but you definitely succeeded in getting it to look like tooled leather, which is pretty danged cool. Too bad about that bridge humbucker rout, eh?

Does it require a neck angle? I assume that the saddles don't have to be angled quite as much as the trem, but you'll still want positive contact...?

I don't know anything about finish... but I have a working understanding of colour in general... and without offering an expert opinion, my instant reaction to your last post was, "Don't use red!!" You want to highlight the light parts, right? If you apply red, the way colour frequencies work as filters, the darker parts will only get a bit redder than their natural colour, while the yellowish parts will become a darker orange or red... consequently, you will produce the opposite intended effect! You will make the light bands have LESS contrast, rather than more! Again, not a professional opinion, but I think a clear or light blonde finish has to be the way to go, no? Greg

Wilkinson's. They cost about $25 total. I don't plan on them sounding nice, I just want a signal to test prototype builds. I'm sure they'll sound just fine. What kind of active electronics are available? Do the Wilkinsons -require- active electronics, or are they just recommended?

Hey Xanthus, The P-Megaswitch emulates the standard PRS pickup selection options, so you can always Google a bit to find out what people say about them. When you split a humbucker and use just one of the coils, you will sort of "halve" the output... as well as restore some higher frequencies. That's going to get you sort of into Strat territory; however, there are other differences in construction (bar magnet vs. separate magnet polepieces, different wire guage and # of wraps) that make a split coil not quite the same. Some manufacturers have made humbuckers that will split into a "true" single-coil, but your PAF isn't one of them. Series vs. Parallel is easy to understand once you sit back and think about what the words mean. Two coils/pickups wired in "series" are ganged one after another. Coils/pickups that are "parallel" each generate their own output, which gets "blended" before output. Humbuckers in "full humbucker" mode are two coils wired in series, which is why the resistance (inductance? I'm not quite knowledgable enough to pull off the right terminology and I don't want to look it up. ) is higher and consequently the output is higher. By contrast, when two pickups are wired parallel, the resistance/inductance of one coil isn't added into the next... meaning that the actual resistance/inductance (whichever is correct... both?) isn't doubled. End result in terms of the P-switch: The "series" option is in a class all its own-- strats don't have the outside coils in series without wiring modifications. It'll be a bit fuller than any strat sound, but also different than a single humbucker because of the locations of the 2 coils. The 2 parallel options won't be THAT different from one-another-- using the inside coils and you'll get a sound *sort of* like the in-between "hollow" sound that so many strat lovers enjoy. The advantage over the E-switch is that all positions are humbucking. This "disadvantage" (and IMO not really that bad) is that you don't get a true single-coil strat sound in any of the positions. ---- Or the short version: don't worry about the names "parallel" or "series". Just know that you'll get your full humbuckers, plus the ability to emulate lower-powered strat "in-between" sounds, while retaining humbucking performance in all positions. Add the unique "outside coil series" option, and I really think it's a better option than the E-switch, but that's just my personal opinion. Greg

You won't notice it during the flick from 1 to 5. But if you use positions 2 or 4, you WILL have exactly the same problems as any other single-coil. I haven't split a PAF, but my Jazz/JB combo is set up to have coil-tap options. I don't really use them as single-coils that much. It's a "different" sound compared to the full humbuckers, but I don't find it nearly as characterful as true single-coils. For my personal preferences only, the "P" megaswitch is the one to go for. The parallel coils modes are hum-cancelling and reasonable facsimiles of a strat "in-between" sound. And the outside in series is another useful tone in and of itself. Greg

Ever see that David Lee Roth (I know, it's not metal... it just got me thinking) bluegrass thang? Pretty cool, though obviously novelty music is only "so" interesting.

Anti-Idiot, I wouldn't count on the fine-tuners giving you a full dropped note. But I don't have any experience, so I couldn't say for sure. I'm wondering-- does anyone have an opinion on the Kahler fixed Bridge? It seems like a pretty big chunk of metal to go on a guitar, just for the sake of fine-tuners. On the other hand, by the time you add the TOM and the fine-tune tailpiece together for a system like on BB King's Lucille guitar... it's not exactly "elegant" either. Greg

Cool... new vocabulary-- now I have to remember it. You can find plenty of marettes small enough. Once upon a day I bought a variety pack for my general home toolbox, and there are at least a few different sizes which work fine. Reason being, the threads come to a point. Larger marettes won't quite cut the mustard because they come to more or less a dome on the inside rather than a point. The really small ones do not use metal threads; however, they still twist the wires together quite nicely. In any event, I certainly wouldn't have recommended the marette if I hadn't myself used it for guitar electronics. I'm losing the forest for the trees, though-- I think that the best solution is to just replace the entire length. 2 quick joints to desolder then resolder, and you're done. Very little fuss. Greg

+1 -- the same applies to print. You use EITHER indentation OR a blank line to indicate a new paragraph. Never both.

I agree, re: the PM, and I also understand the frustration. Looks like a cool project so far, though. Don't wanna join another forum, so it kinda sucks I can't yammer with you here, though.

The element that should pop out INSTANTLY to anyone visiting is an invitation to contact or get a quote, or whatever other language you want to use to drive business. The primary thing you want from visitors is to be interested in buying, right? I also agree that you don't want to have to scroll. As for size-- 800X600 is still an acceptable standard, but 1024 X 768 is overwhelmingly the resolution used by most machines, so it is considered an acceptable alternative. Either way, though, you should have it centered on the page, rather than a fixed width from the edge. If you want help with text copy, feel welcome to PM me.

Doesn't that style of TOM require a neck angle? You might need to recess it.