GregP

Ah, for an Adobe bundle... I'm making do with RealDraw Pro and Jasc Paint Shop Pro 5. <chuckle> RealDraw lets you do some pretty good bitmapped based stuff, though it's not entirely intuitive or hassle-free. (sorry for the hijack)

Perhaps. A smart man will use vector-based illustration programs, though. If he wants that mockup to be full-sized (or at least bigger), it's gotta be vector-based! That said, you're absolutely right-- some ridiculously good work gets done with Photoshop. Greg

Thanks for that information, both of you! I'll try to remember the name. <tries deperately to commit to memory>

My SD Jazz pickup didn't seem to have the wires coming from the correct corner. I just oriented it according to the polepieces and the logo.

You've probably been asked before, but-- what software do you use for these renders? That looks great! As for the bass itself, this one is going to be wicked-awesome. I've never heard of Sassafras before-- at risk of being told to Wikipedia for it, what are its qualities similar to in terms of tone and working? Or since it's a veneer, is it mainly an aesthetic choice? Reminds me of black limba in some ways, but with a grain pattern that has accents almost like spalted maple.

Holy crap, that Marshall looks amazing. <wibble>

[edit: cross-posted with Wes... his post is more to your point] Distortion is the end result of overdrive. So if an amp is "easily overdriven", then it can easily produce distortion. They're not synonymous terms, but marketing folks use them in synonymous ways. To add to the confusion, marketing types often refer to soft-clipped and lightly-distorted (often called "creamy") tones an "overdrive" sound, with harder-clipped and spikier sounds as "distortion." A better question is-- what is the sound you're after? The marketing departments of the various manufacturers will drive you nuts... just get an amp that is known for the kind of sound you're after. Most "bone crushing" sounds won't come from what marketing types refer to as an "overdrive" sound, though you typically need to overdrive tubes to get that kind of sound. Greg

Dunno. Sounds about right to me.

pg57 is definitely a dynamic mic-- does NOT require phantom power.

What kind of microphone is it? It might require phantom power, which your soundcard won't provide. Also, you might need to enable the mic input of your soundcard. Some can only use line-in or mic-in, but not have both enabled at the same time. Still others have the same jack handle line-level and mic-level signals, so you have to switch those into "mic" mode, which enables the preamp. Once you get up and going, you can get reasonable performance from today's soundcards. I still recommend getting something to bypass all this headache. If you get something like the TonePort UX1, you get a dedicated mic input, and guitar amp modeling, all in one. Get the UX2, and you add phantom power and extra connectivity to the mix. Greg

Seems to me that you're overthinking something here! I just got a spool of wire from Tandy so that I didn't have to fart around looking for short lengths... but I ALSO salvage wire from broken things or cheap things. Saw a microphone at the "Dollar Store" for example that had a long flexible cable and a 1/4" jack. Normally a 1/4" jack goes for $3-5 alone! I've got a whole box of salvaged crap... sometimes kept for no reason other than, "Oh, look, this uses a 12-pin connector and therefore has 12 different coloured wires!" You'll hear differently from different people, but you can use almost any kind of wire for wiring a guitar. A few people on PG have used solid-core wire simply because it's easier to bend into place and then solder down. This, despite the scientific fact that a stranded wire has more conductive surface area. It's just not a big issue for an electronics cavity. Greg

You don't need any intonation compensation whatsoever. We set our bridge saddles at different lengths to compensate for pressing down (and therefore stretching) the strings. Since you're using a tone bar (ie. NOT fretting), You can locate your bridge at exactly scale length for all strings. Had a chance to string'er up yet? How's the humbucker? Greg

Welcome to the forum! Some great-looking wood there. She's gonna sound great, too, I'm betting. Pretty hard to screw up mahogany+maple+2'buckers. I admire your patience with the Tru-Oil. 30 coats! Madness!

Well you have to admit, it DOES look rather like a wrench.

Great work! I'm not sure if it was my lap steel project you're referring to, but you certainly did a better job than me anyhow. Love the alternating "fret board". As for intonation-- you don't have to intonate slide instruments. Just position it at exactly scale length. The shape looks vaguely familiar. *cough*

It sometimes takes a few days. It'll get there.

I suspect wiring/electronics. I'd have to hear sound clips, though. C'mon... record the sound of your funky fingers!

2-piece is also used in the bookmatching process, and as an added benefit (bookmatching or not) gives you a perfect "centre line" for basing many of your measurements. Greg

Not really. Sort of... I guess... If it was me, I'd press down on the string, and THEN find where the correct pitch is, if you're going to mark them. With this freedom, you'll get more accurate results than if you try to measure them out and mark them mathmatically. So, you could pretty much throw your bridge wherever you want, get out an accurate tuner, and mark from there. it'll get you into the right ballpark and like all fretless instrument players, you'll actually intonate individual notes by ear.

I don't think you can just "mid scoop" with a passive circuit, can you?

Nick, it's not really much of a risk, if you just want some dots at the 12th fret! Try it out on some scrap (use the technique I mentioned on this thread) and you'll smack yourself for ever thinking it's difficult. The only part that would invoke any sort of risk is sanding the pearl or clay back down flat with the fingerboard. You don't want to accidentally sand down the fingerboard. The dot inlay part is easy! Greg

Trem...!

You can get the Synapse headstock assembly for $100. It accepts regular strings as well. Or, you might luck into a special attachment piece they used to make for the old-style headpieces that allowed for regular strings. OR, you could even get an ABM headpiece instead. The problem is more at the bridge. I've definitely thought of cannibalizing a bridge (as per Robert Irazzary). If the "Spirit by Steinberger" R-trem bridges are high quality, I might still go that way... I dunno. I really like the spec and description of the Kahler bridges. I think it's the only bridge on the market that's exactly what I want in a heavy-duty trem; however, not compatible (directly) with headless. I'll probably just get a Kahler for a different guitar at some point in time in my life. Greg

Star grounding just means that all of the wires that go 'to ground' will go to the SAME place (many people use a metal washer for this purpose) and then from there, this "star" gets connected to the ground lug of the output jack. Looking at the diagram again, though, it looks like the vol casing is already a pretty good "star". The only modifications you would need to make would be sending the capacitor directly to the back of the volume pot, and then ensuring that the volume lug (on the right in your diagram) is actually soldered to the casing. In other words, make those 2 separate paths to ground instead of "ganging" them together on that volume lug. But... even if you have it wired up as per the diagram (even with tone -> vol lug -> casing -> ground) you actually probably don't need star grounding. Forget I mentioned it. One curious thing is that the tone casing isn't sent to ground (just a wee bit of extra shielding, as it were). Greg

Guitarpartsdepot doesn't even carry them anymore. I had a look a while ago for a black one, and they only had chrome left. Then I looked a few days ago and they didn't have any at all! Where do you suggest I get one? I have very low confidence that the strings will be available past the next few years or so. Man, it HAS been years that I've been wanting a headless...