thirdstone

The sustainer circuitry is always been kept under wraps...so I don't know the value. However...

Usually there is a marking...something like 103 for instance (from recollection is 10k ohms)...

Otherwise, you can use a multimeter to measure the resistance at it's maximum (between the outer ends of the internal strip that the wiper (centre pin) travels on). Different trim pots have different formats and sizes so without a photo...etc...

Also, these commercial boards are often difficult to solder and desolder so take great care...best to find someone who has the right equipment as over heating for instance with an inappropriate iron can easily burn out a component further down the line or damage a track on the circuit board. Generally, a trim pot is an easier component that others to work with though as it is big enough to handle, but often the board is fragile or may have multilayers that can easily be damaged...

Hope that helps...

pete

PS...someone who can mend computer boards and such would have the skills...but with care you may be ok...how did it get damaged in the first place, what is the form of this damage?

Thanks for the reply. The trim pot fell apart when I was adjusting it , simple as that. I was pretty pissed off. I have soldered in a 250K pot which has the thing back up and running.,in fact its given me the oppotunity to have the control accessable on the guitar. The trim pot did have some numbers on them so based on what you said about the code I'll have a look. I hope I have not thrown it out.

Cheers ...Kev

thanks for all your suggestions!

further investigation revealed that it seems to be necessary to re-program one of the chips with CC++ or similar in order to make it possible.

I've got the Whammy 4 and it is midi controllable but I wouldn't actually need midi control if I have everything on board, would I?

I'd just like to play solos with the pitch shifting effect by turning a knob on the guitar. I imagine it being a lot more precise than using a pedal.

the midi strip found on manson guitars as the black and the bomber one is just able to control the unit, which is outside the guitar.

also, it only switches between the effect "presets" and is not able to affect the actual pitch like you do with the pedal.

hmmmm, maybe I really gotta put something other inside.

btw I'm not building it myself, I'm a noob at that, I get it made by a guy oversea in the US.

still I can't understand why its not simply possible to take all the inside of the Whammy that is necessary, put it into the guitar, wire here wire there knob and finished?

One word " POWER "

Manson guitars built the black manson for matt belamy which has a midi pad on it . This contols the wammy pedal via a special lead. so to do it you need the latest digitec wammy pedal as its midi controlable.

Sweet! What german e-bay seller did you get it from/how much was it? I've got a few ideas kicking around my head with woven CF..

re: tooling: it's carbide or bust, really.

Mattia This Ebay shop http://stores.ebay.com/x-work

Ive got P90 `s from Wilkingson (cheep but crap)

Lollar nice and compaired to a 60 something LP jr DC with original P90 sounds sweeter but less agresive. Great for blues.

Vintage Vibe P90 , my fave . it comes with both alnico and ceramic magnets that you can swap .Loaded with the ceramic and fitted to a LP jr its punk heaven. The alnico for blues.

Vintage Vibe

The kill switch is fun but dodgy --makes too much of a clicking noise in use. It's nice to have the volume control where it 'should' be.

OK PG people I need some real help now. I one broke of the sustainer trim pots. I am looking for help in the electronic forum This link

if you can help I would be really thankful.

Hi Guys I have managd to damage the VBC trim pot on the circuit board. I need to replace it but I do not know the value.

Please speak upm if you know.

Kev

cream but if the bridge was poles not bar then I would say zebra. The combination of zebra and two diffrent pole designs is too busy for my eyes. Put in two nickel (not chrome) covered pups, that would be the best although it looks like you want the high O/P blade at the bridge.

A bit more progress. I have sprayed a base coat of black and fitted the rest of the parts. Its starting to look ok now.

I need to move the tromolo on/off switch as its to close to the intonation screw. I missed that. If I could find a momentary on switch that didn't poke out it would fix the problem.

next is to buy some strings and check out the guitar electronics. After that I will pull it apart and spray the body black and oil the neck.

More progress. This is pretty slow going, next guitar will be something much more basic.

The CF plate is sunk into the top

and this is a pic of the rear showing the electronics. rear

I have just found out that ZVEX fuzz factory is being made outside the USA and is now sold in Australia for about $240 so now they are just affordable and viable to fit to a guitar. Maybe the next project- or maybe not

K

I got the Carbon Fibre plate from Germany via Ebay and I am very happy with the quality of CF. I can tell you that after using 1 worn bandsaw blade and 3 jigsaw blades to cut out the body shape it must be real CF. Sanding (with face mask) the stuff is pretty easy so over all cutting it out was not too bad.

Did you ever consider getting a metal-cutting blade for your bandsaw? That might have worked better on the CF. Sure, you'd have had to hassle with changing the blades, but that's better than chewing through wood blades.

Not really as it would have been too expensive. The band saw blade used was close to the end of its life anyway. But judging by the jig saw blades ,which were for general metal ,the band saw blade would not have lasted much longer. I think you would need something like blades for stainless steel..

Pete I bought the CF from this Ebay shop. http://stores.ebay.com.au/x-work They were very helpful with the custom size I asked for. It was expensive but alot cheeper than the RS spares sheet CF.

I wish I had known about the GF Modboards before .

Kev

Finally some more progress, after initially fitting the Beringer tremolo it stoped working. I thought I had blow it up so I fitted a very cheep Chinese analog delay which worked great – until it stopped working - something I did ,I think. After fretting about spending more money on more effects I had a go at getting the beringer tremolo working again , thank god it was a simple fix so in the end I am back to the beginning. I have changed the controls to

1 Volume ,1 Blend to mix the optical theremin and pickup, on / off switch for the theremin, pickup selector and sustainer controls. Two batterys 1 for sustainer and 1 for the tremolo and theremin. Depending on how the sustainer works ie if the pup output gets cut out with a flat sustainer battery, I will put in a switch to put guitar into passive mode – bridge pup direct to output jack. If anyone knows the answer to that please tell me.

I got the Carbon Fibre plate from Germany via Ebay and I am very happy with the quality of CF. I can tell you that after using 1 worn bandsaw blade and 3 jigsaw blades to cut out the body shape it must be real CF. Sanding (with face mask) the stuff is pretty easy so over all cutting it out was not too bad.

Next step is to counter sink the plate 2mm into the body to make it flat. This has to be done to not only make it look good but also to protect the players arm from the quite abrasive edge of the CF plate. After that the body will get painted a matt black to match the CF.

I am still waiting for an order from the states for hardware and duncan JB pup, it looks like that order has got lost so that will hold things up quite a bit

cool !!!!!!!! how much and what is the body wood??

Love the work on the new ones. A couple of questions. What do you tune the 7 string to, what pick ups are you using and what gauge strings are used on the 28" scale guitar?

Cheers

I love it , art meets function. What hight are the strings?? and what gauges , scale length ect

Glad you like it. The sensor used in that vid broke due to all the removing and refitting so I bought two more not knowing which one would work. Well they both worked so I have fitted both of them which makes it a bit more fun. ahhhh the bit at the end ...... I taped over my daughters tape so there is like 1 second of her in a wig..whoops.

Its been a while but I m back on track with the project. I have made the real body and i am just waiting for some carbon fibre for the top and a pickup which I found second hand, a SD JB. While i wait for that I have been playing with the electronics . Here is a very short video of the Theremin through a VOX moddling amp. VIDEO

One side observation; I was able to play this with zero finnish and now with a coat of paint.It was clearly more "lively unfinnished. From this observation I can honestly say the finnish affected the sound to the detrement,kind of mutes the treble freqs a bit. This is where I think good vintage instruments get their little bit of magic. As the guitar ages the finnish hardens and thins especialy the nitro type. Intresting is the recent development of "thin finnishes" by fender and PRS.

The paint on this was no thicker than normal , about 4 sesions of about 3 coats each time with a light scuff sand with 600 grit dry inbetween.

Its been a while but its finished now. I ended up buying a pickup from Vintage Vibe HSP model

Its pretty good service from Pete at VV, after I had Emailed the order he replied asking the type of guitar , woods and other pup fitments music styles ect. I had initialy ordered a very high output pup but he suggested a different wind based on the info I gave him. He went away and wound one for my spec. All for the price of a Duncan. Pretty cool I thought. Pete`s pups are a work of art , check out the shielding on this.

covers removed

Bottom View

The sound of the guitar is pretty IN YOUR FACE which was the aim ,it just loves distortion, the down side is that there is very little compression , its not smooth. Not for Jazz. The neck pup sounds good on this guitar , I have never been happy with it on other normal strats as it was too dark sounding but this body suits it.

The controls are Volume 500Kohm for bridge and 250Kohm for neck pup Volume and kill switch. 3 way selector Neck/both/bridge.

Back View

So there we have it, The makeover was well worth it and the costs although higher than I anticipated was worth it.

So you think its not a Theremin?? You might be right.

This is what I bought Opto Theremin

So ..after all that ......... Ok the Theremin was bought on EBay as a stand alone unit which I dissasembled and fitted. No big deal getting one, just the cost.

I have the neck completed (with grim reaper inlay) except for oiling it and the body is almost done. I`ll post soon. As for the EMI noise , I have played it on the test mule which was totaly open and unshielded. It had noise but nothing that can`t be fixed. The perspex is being replaced by Carbon Fibre. So there are no rear access panels , its all front mounted. I will make it so that the complete electronics except for the pups can be lifted off the body with strings attached. The CF will act as a EMI shield as a bonus.

I still don`t have a bridge pup for permenant fit so I might try to use one of the humbuckers I made out of the single coils I had.

This post

When I finish that strat project , which will be very soon I can get stuck into this one.

If anyone knows of a carbon fibre laminate maker in Australia let me know.

cool, did you get any drying of the wood, or small cracking accour?

redwoods a fairly pourus softwood, so i'm concerned.

No i can't think of any problems. It wont go completely white but it will go a few shades lighter. Redwood might go a bit pink. Its worth buying some a testing it.

For a gun, use a House Of Kolor primer Kp2cf , then their KoSeal black.

I was in a class all last week with HOK's tech instructor. He did a rock crawler with the stuff for the pro circuit and it lasted an entire season with no issues. Thats a little more abusive than what we put our gear through, unless you blow steaming transmission fluid all over your guitar.

I know a few other kustom painters that use it for their black. HOK's tech guy over there is named Owen, a really nice guy.

I have no idea what you are talking about lol but thanks the same. I ended up using a rattle can of Matte black acyrilic. For Aussi members, Dont let any one tell you GMH black is good for matte black. Yes its Matte black but it has a terrible finnish. Good for subframes only.