Geo

In my limited experience (2 finished projects), I've ended up with "tone" which I didn't expect. However, it was a pleasant surprise. Respectfully, I suggest that you go with a traditional combo of woods rather than trying to mix and match in search of a "certain sound". "Tone" is a combination of so many factors--every single component from the strings down to the speaker cab.

Same here. I love Tele and Strat tones, but can't get over the look of the necks!

Very cool! I think the wooden bridge will give you an interesting tone.

I use a jigsaw for bodies... the trouble is that the blade won't always cut square to the plane of your blank. You can adjust the bottom plate of the jigsaw to be square, but since the blade isn't guided at the tip, it can wander at the end if it wants to. Just a caution.

I think you need to allow air to circulate on the surfaces of the boards. This is what "stickering" means--placing spacers between the boards but still keeping them "flat" with pressure.

Wow, the 3-on-3 headstock looks great with the Tele body. That's my gripe about Fender guitars aesthetically--flat headstocks. It's great to see another unique interpretation of the Tele!

Wow, that "power tuning" is ridiculous! (ridiculously sweet). I'd be afraid it wouldn't work. It takes me a few seconds to tune a guitar anyway... (assuming it was already somewhere close)

Any ideas????

Weight might be an issue with both guitar and bass in one instrument. I would design for a lighter body, and use smaller tuners, etc.

Hey black labb, thanks for sharing the pics! DIY pickups are so awesome.

Dude, that's fantastic. Is that a cocobolo fingerboard?

I'll be making a neck from wood that is about 15/16" thick. Will this provide a thick enough neck tenon? My tenon length can be 3 1/2" if I extend it into the neck pickup area (that part will be routed away of course). The width is 1 5/8". I could laminate another piece of maple to make the tenon deeper... but I don't think I can route a very deep pocket with my bearing bit (it's the Stewmac bit). I think it will be adequate, but I'd appreciate other opinions. Thanks.

If I remember right, his screen name was bilious-frog (or something like that). I think the thread was called "single cut with P-90's"??? Look in the "In Progress" board.

I thought maybe you had one of these. http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&...sa=N&tab=wi Sweet project though!

If you could draw a diagram of your setup we might be better able to help. Basically, with your setup, you need to wire the pickups in parallel and then have two kill switches. There's a simpler way to do this--use one switch, a Gibson-style toggle. It gives you neck, bridge, or both in parellel.

The answers are cracking me up... Here's a serious one. Just plan everything out full-size on paper. Base it all around your bridge. Buy Melvyn Hiscock's book. It's very helpful. In my experience, the construction is the same... the differences are the obvious things. (Dimensions, 4 strings.)

Hey black labb, thanks for the reply. I'd like to see a picture of your pickup of you don't mind posting. I'm thinking now that I will just build a pair of "normal" P-90's. It hadn't occurred to me how different the magnetic fields would be, and how much that would affect the sound.

I get it now... thanks! So essentially, the bobbin hangs from the cover. The cover is screwed to the bobbin with screws between the polepieces. Now, that sounds like the "soapbar" style. But I'm hoping to use the dogear style, so that my pickups can hang in bottomless pickup routes (this will be a semihollow). I don't see the between-polepiece screws on a dogear pickup. I can definitely figure it out, and I don't have to do it "the Gibson way". Just curious.

This discussion is great.... just to bump my question back to the top.....

I think this is the right board. I'm also awaiting answers.

For a first project, you might want to copy a tried-and-true design, from a plan. Of course you can design your own too (much cooler)--just study the beginning of Melvyn's book very carefully. He explains how to figure out a neck angle, lay out string spacing, etc. If you decide to design your own, get your bridge first and base everything around that. If you mess that up, the strings may lay flat against the frets or else be way too high. You can get poplar from Lowe's. Just laminate the body from 4 or 6 pieces. It'll probably cost about $20.

Thanks for sharing all this information! "To my knowledge no base plate is used in a traditional P90 pickup." I must have misinterpreted the diagram I was looking at. I've never seen a P90 out of a guitar, so I'm clueless. If there's no baseplate, how does the bobbin stay attached to the cover? I'm thinking of the dogear type that can "hang" in a hollowbody. If you have pictures or links, please share. I'll probably make "normal" P90's rather than Jazzmaster-style pickups. I hadn't found anywhere to get bobbins, so thanks for the pointer to Allparts. For bar magents... do you use "humbucker" magnets such as Allparts and Stewmac sell, or something else? I know the poles on a humb. magnet are along the thin edges rather than the flat "top and bottom" like the bar magnet on a cheap Strat style pickup. I think humbucker magnets would work. I would point two like poles (repelling poles) towards the screw polepieces.

Mm, I was wondering about that too. I have played a Jazzmaster once or twice and didn't really like it. Hm...

Definitely!!!

Thanks for the reply, Mike. The length of the magnets shouldn't be a problem. This guitar will be semi-hollow, so there will be plenty of space below. Does anyone have any thoughts on the "coverless" option? I.e., is it enough protection to wrap the coil with tape? That would make things so pleasantly simple! Another option is to use a standard P90 cover. I would enlarge the polepiece holes in the cover to fit Strat magnets. I would also make a simple baseplate with the necessary holes, to allow use of the cover. This might look better.