Members Smilin' Bob Posted December 4, 2011 Members Share Posted December 4, 2011 Excellent progress Freeman! I always enjoy checking this thread.As for your two questions, my votes are as followed:Black plastic truss rod coverYes pickguard, but in a darker cream to match the pickup rings. Exactamente! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Vibroluxman Posted December 4, 2011 Members Share Posted December 4, 2011 rosewood truss rod cover, flamed maple pickguard a la Heritage. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members bdhn Posted December 4, 2011 Members Share Posted December 4, 2011 i vote no guard,but either way it's beautiful i am jealous Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members jack harper Posted December 4, 2011 Members Share Posted December 4, 2011 with Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members soundcreation Posted December 4, 2011 Members Share Posted December 4, 2011 No guard on that one. And on the truss rod cover what I think would look perfect is the same shade/color as the wood of the headstock. The black plastic is almost too black. (no spinal tap jokes) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members mistersully Posted December 4, 2011 Members Share Posted December 4, 2011 no guard Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Grant Harding Posted December 4, 2011 Members Share Posted December 4, 2011 Looks amazing!!! I vote black truss rod cover or rosewood. Or maybe shoot more of the dark brown onto the maple bit to darken it right up? No guard is my vote. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members linusâ„¢ Posted December 4, 2011 Members Share Posted December 4, 2011 I think the burst trust rod cover looks phenomenal.. very unique. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members PrawnHeed Posted December 4, 2011 Members Share Posted December 4, 2011 With guard Trussrod cover to match headstock, but don't forget to put your signature on it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Hozze Posted December 4, 2011 Members Share Posted December 4, 2011 No guard. They should be forbidden on LPs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Jan Deal Posted December 4, 2011 Members Share Posted December 4, 2011 I looks much better without the pickguard. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members s1120 Posted December 4, 2011 Members Share Posted December 4, 2011 I gotta say I had liked the idea of the wood truss rod cover.... till I saw it... I think the black would look better. As for the pick guard... Frankly I like pickguards on LP's, so Im biased... [what is strange, becouse I dont use a pick....] so I would install it if it was mine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Gas Hed Posted December 4, 2011 Members Share Posted December 4, 2011 Definitely no on the pickguard, don't want to hide home made custom work. That's like grandma putting all those radishes on top of her award winning potato salad. I for one think the wood truss cover is a must. Fits in very nicely with the feel of what you are creating. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Seano Porno Posted December 4, 2011 Members Share Posted December 4, 2011 Excellent progress Freeman! I always enjoy checking this thread.As for your two questions, my votes are as followed:Black plastic truss rod coverYes pickguard, but in a darker cream to match the pickup rings. I agree, if you go with a Guard, then it needs to match the pickup rings. I do like it with a Guard tho. As for the TRC, Could we see the burst one in a pic of the whole guitar? Maybe it'd make more sense if we see it along side the body's colour. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Kuz929 Posted December 4, 2011 Members Share Posted December 4, 2011 No guard! Let's see as much of that amazing finish as possible! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Freeman Keller Posted December 4, 2011 Author Members Share Posted December 4, 2011 Thanks everyone. For right now I'm going to leave the p/g off - I don't use them on my acoustics and once I drill the holes I'm committed. If I start to scratch it I can always put one on. And I'm going to play around with the TR cover some more - it was kind of fun to make the maple one but I'm not too crazy about it. I've got some rosewood scrap - maybe I can make one with a very fine around the edge - I'll experiment and see what happens. Tonight I'll post some pictures of setting it up - today we are going out to hunt our Christmas tree. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members jamdogg Posted December 4, 2011 Members Share Posted December 4, 2011 Very nice. and good luck on finding the perfect Christmas tree. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members seagullplayer77 Posted December 4, 2011 Members Share Posted December 4, 2011 My vote would be:no guardrosewood (or similar dark matching wood/grain) truss rod cover (isn't the headstock veneer rosewood? or use whatever you used for the headstock). That one is too busy/jarring, and a cheap black plastic cover simply doesn't suit the guitar. A cover that matches the headstock would look very classy. Agreed on all counts. I think it looks great without the pickguard. Normally, I like pickguards, but with this particular guitar, it doesn't seem like the PG belongs. I also think a dark wood truss rod cover is in order; the sunburst doesn't look right and the black plastic one doesn't fit either. Keep up the great work, and keep posting updates! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Verne Andru Posted December 4, 2011 Members Share Posted December 4, 2011 Since you're asking, I think that one would look great in a "black guard" treatment - like this with a black guard: Suggestion FWIW: While you have it still apartable, perhaps line the electronic cavities with copper tape which you then run to ground. This provides shielding and helps reduce noise issues. I've found using a star ground throughout with 50's wiring is also a marked improvement over stock. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Grant Harding Posted December 4, 2011 Members Share Posted December 4, 2011 Agreed on all counts.I think it looks great without the pickguard. Normally, I like pickguards, but with this particular guitar, it doesn't seem like the PG belongs. I also think a dark wood truss rod cover is in order; the sunburst doesn't look right and the black plastic one doesn't fit either. Keep up the great work, and keep posting updates!Agree - rosewood or ebony Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members MattLivingInVan Posted December 4, 2011 Members Share Posted December 4, 2011 no guard Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Vibroluxman Posted December 5, 2011 Members Share Posted December 5, 2011 Suggestion FWIW: While you have it still apartable, perhaps line the electronic cavities with copper tape which you then run to ground. This provides shielding and helps reduce noise issues. I've found using a star ground throughout with 50's wiring is also a marked improvement over stock. Verne, what is a star ground? I have grounding issues with my paul. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Verne Andru Posted December 5, 2011 Members Share Posted December 5, 2011 Verne, what is a star ground? I have grounding issues with my paul. All grounds go to a central grounding point. I use a washer that takes to solder. Makes for a big concentration of wires, but it eliminates any chance of a ground loop, which is the number one source of hum after the pickups themselves. Common wiring is to do things like use the casings of pots as ground terminals and wire those together, which is were ground loops happen. google is your friend - lots of articles on this especially for strats. Principles are the same... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Freeman Keller Posted December 5, 2011 Author Members Share Posted December 5, 2011 Verne, that is a bit of a coincidence. I am dealing with some ground issues in my work - we use something called "variable frequency drives" to control the speeds of motors. They produce a spectrum of high frequency signals which radiate as electromagnetic interference, which then is picked up by sensitive wiring such as ethernet cables. We uses shielded cables for the wires from the vfd's to their motors, but if the shields are not properly grounded it can be worse - electrical cabinets can become great big antennas radiating the EMI rather than containing it. I've got this wired pretty much follow the classic grounding systme (tying all the pot cases togther and bonding that to the ground lug on the jack with a big pice of flexible strap. If I have any problem I will follow your advice - it makes sense. Got a nice tree which I stood up in the garage against the band saw. Guess that means I can't cut out the rosewood truss rod cover for a couple of days. In the mean time there are some details to wrap up - mainly the setup. I've set up quite a few acoustics for different styles of play but never an electric so I'm kind of winging it here. If you guys have any suggestions on measurements please let me know - I'm going to start like it was an acoustic with light strings and low action. I've already cut the nut slots very close to the zero fret line, when I put a capo at 3 there is just a hair of clearance at 1. Measuring the clearance with no capo I've got about 0.010 on the high E and 0.020 on the low. I've had strings on it for a week tuned to pitch to give the neck a chance to take whatever curve it wants. Putting a capo on 1 and holding the string down at the neck joint (16) I measure about 0.010 at 8 - that is about where a bluegrass flat picker would want it but I prefer something around 0.004. A couple of 1/8 turns tighter on the truss rod adjuster brings it to 0.004 (this is another of those Photobucket rotated pictures, I'm tired of trying to get them back so please bear with me) Having sanded saddles on dozens of acoustics I love the bridge on this thing. It was a new bridge and had small lines cut in each saddle, I used my nut files to make slots that are slightly deeper than half the string depth - just like a nut. Then I just cranked the adjusting screws up and down until the action at 12 was about 0.080 on the low E and 0.070 on the high E (maybe a hair lower). This is cool little gauge from StewMac that makes reading the string height really easy - much better than the machinist rule that I used for years. (another apology about the focus - kind of hard to take pictures while I'm doing this stuff). Next I plugged it in to my strobe tuner and set the intonation. Tuned each string to pitch, then fretted at 12. If it was sharp I just moved the saddle back, retuned and rechecked. Another good way is to compare the fretted note with the harmonic - you can do that by ear. Again, this is so much easier and more accurate that an acoustic As a last check that the action isn't too low (or that I don't have a high fret) I just simply play each note at each fret all the way up the board, listening for buzzes. Guess what, at about 19 every fret started buzzing - oh crap, I've got a high fret. Looking a little closer I realized that they were buzzing against the edge of the pickup ring - I had put the damn ring on backwards. Pulled the strings, removed the pup, took the ring off and turned it around (those little springs want to jump out and hide in the clutter on my work bench). Put it all back together and called it a night - I'll restring it tomorrow and tweak the pups, but right now a cold IPA is calling. Anyway - my action right now is 0.004 relief, nut 0.010 high E and 0.020 low, 12th fret 0.065 high E and 0.080 low. Pole pieces are all about 3/32 to the strings, I know I need to balance those by ear. If you all have better ideas please let me know - I'm in uncharted waters. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members MisterTV Posted December 5, 2011 Members Share Posted December 5, 2011 I just discovered this thread and had to go back and read the whole thing. Wow. Freeman, while I respect your reluctance to call yourself a luthier, hobbyist woodworker seems wholly inadequate. To me, this is a master class in guitar building. I wonder how many of the professional guitar techs in my area would put this much care and skill into a similar project. Simply stunning! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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