Geo

"Any particular precautions I should take when checking the connections?" Yeah. Look at the schematic and take note of where there are high voltages. UNPLUG THE AMP, but as I'm sure you know, the power supply can still hold its DC charge and zap you. If the power supply has more than ~20VDC on it, discharge it with a resistor (say 10k-220k) clipped between any node and ground. If you're testing the amp while it's running, with the chassis open, you have to be extra careful. If there's absolutely no signal getting through, then there may be a more serious problem. If a power supply cap blew, it could have taken out other more expensive components. It's hard to say what's going on without more info, pictures, etc.

Your work is amazing! The difference in the headstock figure from those two angles is stunning. Love the fingerboard binding too!!! I have to vote natural for that top.

I'd love to see some pictures of the insides of your bender.

Perhaps a long shot, but what about removing the fretboard, installing a 2-way rod, and reattaching?

That's crazy, I don't know what I would do with a bass tremolo, and I'm a bassist! Come on, tell us what it's like!

Replacing the caps should cost you almost nothing. Try one of these places. https://taweber.powweb.com/store/capord.htm http://tubesandmore.com/ Also, you can sometimes find 200v power supply caps in computer power supplies or in old monitors. The value doesn't matter much in this kind of amp, anything from say 8uf-50uf will probably work. I'm sure that amp isn't hifi/doesn't have good bass, so it doesn't really matter what value you use. Note, however: even if your filter caps were dying and your signal caps were leaking DC, you should still hear SOMETHING when you play the guitar. So there may be another problem somewhere. Take some voltage readings, check for broken connections, etc. Also, new tubes is always the first thing you try when an amp is sick. So, when you buy your caps, you should probly buy some tubes too. Here's a trick... you say you can hear crackling and popping in the speaker. So something is getting through the power amp. Assume for the moment that the power amp is good. Take a probe on your multimeter and touch it to points in the signal chain before the power amp. You should hear a pop. If you don't, you know that something in that stage is wrong and killing the signal. Some pics of the exposed chassis would be interesting, perhaps helpful. These guys can answer any question you have. http://www.el34world.com/Forum/yabb2/YaBB.pl

There's hardware on the guitar that MUST be grounded. The part of the jack that you can touch is on the ground circuit, as is the metal tube that screws down to the plug on your cable (if you have one of those types). Just FYI.

"I play in a 3 piece punk/hardcore band so i need something thatis really full on the low end to make up for the lack of a second guitar."" Probably want solid-state then. "Hardcore", in my mind, pretty much rules out tubes for the bass player. A good cab goes a long way to getting good low end. All that said... go with the amp that sounds best to you.

Maybe try these.... http://www.allparts.com/store/guitar-bridg...es,Category.asp http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Bridges,_tailp...ric_Guitar.html You might have to settle for chrome.

You can also just clamp a hand-drill to the workbench and make something that will fit in the chuck and hold the bobbin. Don't bother counting windings, just wind until the bobbin is full!

A jigsaw is pretty useful for cutting out body shapes and headstocks and even cutting the waste off the sides of the neck. Of course, it doesn't cut perpendicular sides because the blade wanders at the unattached end, but you can clean it up with a bearing bit on your router if it's a problem.

How about planing it flat?

Love the look of the blonde one w/ P-90's.

Quite right... the thing is, you might want to ease up on the offensive comments. They don't offend me, but they offend others, and I'm just trying to point it out to you, so that perhaps in the future things like this won't happen. It's a cool metal-style Tele. Love the sparkle paint. I think it would look better without the decals, but hey, this is art and you get to do what you want!

Hm, sounds like faster money than collecting scrap metal ... but to each his own!

Thanks for sharing that! Doh, I should know that Stewmac is overpriced on everything!

It sounds like you're on the right track. Forgive me if what I'm about to say is inaccurate... I am assuming you're a high school student. My sincere apologies if you aren't. But if you are, there is a simpler way to get money. Get a job; if you're in high school, you have no bills, so you'll have cash rolling in in no time and you'll have plenty to buy decent hardware etc. A jigsaw is always an option for cutting out the body. You won't get a perpendicular cut (the blade flexes from side to side), but you can clean it up with a template and a bearing bit. If you won't splurge on new fretwire for your axe, I doubt you can afford to buy a few router bits. The one you want (the one I use anyway, a flush cutting bearing bit) is about $25 from Stewmac. You can build a guitar without a router (I've done it), but there's no substitute for a well-fretted and dressed neck!

Invert that headstock, brotha! You got a great "off-kilter" Fender vibe going, and the flipped headstock matches perfectly.

I'd have to agree, that sounds like a mess. What are the chances that the frets will match the width of the neck? If they overhang, do you know how to deal with that? If they're too short, what then?

The thing you wanna watch is electrolytic caps. They don't last as long. If they're bulging or discolored or there's crud seeping out, don't use them, they're probably about to blow! (And when they do, they'll short your power supply to ground! )

Fretwire will cost you $5 man, maybe $8 shipping! Well worth having a complete neck, I would think...

And yet, you chastise them in the previous statement... ANYWAY, decent job, the paint color looks good with the blonde neck and I'm sure it sounds awesome!

I am pretty sure maple makes a brighter guitar. I think we all agree with you that EVERY factor is important, but I wouldn't rule out the neck wood. This is not "evidence" of any sort, but just some information... I built a guitar with a maple neck, maple top on mahogany, and bloodwood fingerboard. I made two P-90's for it. Now the P-90's are underwound compared to traditional P-90's, but this guitar is significantly brighter than a LP Junior with 2 P-90's. In this case I think the biggest factors are: 1) the pickups, and 2) the large amount of maple on the guitar. That guitar is oil finished, and let me tell you, the neck feels superior to alot of stuff I've played!

Thank you guys. This is very helpful as I stumble my way through this.

That's got a cool vibe. I like it alot, especially the oversized cartoonish fret markers! I also like the end of the fretboard.