PumpinIron
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Anyone got a cool Mooncaster build? I'd love to see it!
I'm considering building one.
I'm considering building one.
Mooncaster builds? Let's see em'!
- Thread starter PumpinIron
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Cagey
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They're nice. I put one together for a gentleman in Australia...
The only thing tricky about them is if you ask for the pickup selector switch to be drilled in one of the horns. The way the bodies are made, there's no easy way to get that thing mounted. There just isn't enough room in there. You have to use one the "L" shaped Switchcraft switches...
...and even then you're in for a fight. Warmoth really needs to put an access panel of some sort behind the thing.
The only thing tricky about them is if you ask for the pickup selector switch to be drilled in one of the horns. The way the bodies are made, there's no easy way to get that thing mounted. There just isn't enough room in there. You have to use one the "L" shaped Switchcraft switches...
...and even then you're in for a fight. Warmoth really needs to put an access panel of some sort behind the thing.
PumpinIron
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Cagey said:They're nice. I put one together for a gentleman in Australia...
The only thing tricky about them is if you ask for the pickup selector switch to be drilled in one of the horns. The way the bodies are made, there's no easy way to get that thing mounted. There just isn't enough room in there. You have to use one the "L" shaped Switchcraft switches...
...and even then you're in for a fight. Warmoth really needs to put an access panel of some sort behind the thing.
Gorgeous guitar! I was looking at a Mooncaster because I've been wanting to build a semi-hollow.
I'm glad you brought up the pickup selector switch too, because most of the ones in Warmoth's showcase have it already drilled in them. I was wondering how on earth you were supposed to put a switch in there when there is no backing plate (which there should be)... It sounds like it's going to be a royal pain in the butt.
Cagey
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Normally with hollow bodies, you feed a string or wire in through the hole you need a pot or switch mounted in, fish it out through an F hole or pickup hole, attach it to whatever you want to mount, then pull the component through the F hole or pickup hole to the mounting point. After a bit of twiddling, you get it to where you can thread on a fastener and call it good. It's not as difficult as it might sound, although it can try your patience.
The Mooncaster body isn't like a normal hollow or semi-hollow body, though. It's milled out of two solid blocks that are ultimately glued together and bound, so the "envelope", if you will, is a bit thicker. That means the interior cavity is a bit smaller, especially up in the horns. Makes getting a switch to make the journey through the body and turn into the hole a very real cast iron bitch. And I don't say that lightly - I've worked on a lotta guitars in my day and bent them to my will one way or another, so I take a lotta complaints about design with a grain of salt, but that thing is enough to piss off a saint.
On the plus side, it's obviously doable. There's a picture of one a couple posts up. I'd tell you the secret, but then I'd have to kill you :laughing7:
Everybody cried for a long time to get Warmoth to make that body style, so we should probably just STFU and take it. Your only choice is to find a used Fender Starcaster and live with whatever idiosyncrasies that thing has, and knowing Fender, they're many and varied.
I don't know why Warmoth couldn't put an access plate behind that switch location. I suspect it's because they're done with R&D on the thing until sales justify further attention. In any event, I wouldn't let it put you off one. It's an otherwise great design that you can't get anywhere else.
The Mooncaster body isn't like a normal hollow or semi-hollow body, though. It's milled out of two solid blocks that are ultimately glued together and bound, so the "envelope", if you will, is a bit thicker. That means the interior cavity is a bit smaller, especially up in the horns. Makes getting a switch to make the journey through the body and turn into the hole a very real cast iron bitch. And I don't say that lightly - I've worked on a lotta guitars in my day and bent them to my will one way or another, so I take a lotta complaints about design with a grain of salt, but that thing is enough to piss off a saint.
On the plus side, it's obviously doable. There's a picture of one a couple posts up. I'd tell you the secret, but then I'd have to kill you :laughing7:
Everybody cried for a long time to get Warmoth to make that body style, so we should probably just STFU and take it. Your only choice is to find a used Fender Starcaster and live with whatever idiosyncrasies that thing has, and knowing Fender, they're many and varied.
I don't know why Warmoth couldn't put an access plate behind that switch location. I suspect it's because they're done with R&D on the thing until sales justify further attention. In any event, I wouldn't let it put you off one. It's an otherwise great design that you can't get anywhere else.
PumpinIron
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Would it really be that hard to put a access plate in that area yourself? I mean you'd have to drill a large hole, but I'm sure it couldn't be that hard. Though I'm not sure how it might affect the structure of the guitar potentially.
rgand
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Joe Gore built one and installed a cover behind the switch, just like discussed here. In this article, he shows a picture of how he did it, or rather how his tech did it.
Verne Bunsen
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PumpinIron said:
I suspect you'd want to route that hole rather than drill it. I think the harder part would be creating the recess around the hole for the cover to sit in and affix to. Not hard necessarily but certainly precision work if you want it to look right. Any error in the perimeter will be glaring at you with the cover in place.
Cagey
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No, it's not. It's like a semi-hollow, in that there's a center piece in the body, with the two sides being hollow. You can't really see it in the pictures here, but it's sorta implied by the way the parts get installed. There are more control panel shots from Ghotiphry's Mooncaster project here.
I believe that Warmoth now offers an option to place the switch in one of the knob positions. I think if I had my time again I'd take up that option. There's no problem now that Cagey has done the hard work for me, but sooner or later the switch is going to need to be replaced and I'm really not looking forward to it.
Dive on in though. The world needs more offset guitars and the Mooncaster is a real beauty. The one above has become my go-to guitar. A lot of that is because it's my only one with stainless steel frets and other guitars feel like sandpaper now, but a good chunk of it is how satisfying it is to play such a pretty instrument.
Dive on in though. The world needs more offset guitars and the Mooncaster is a real beauty. The one above has become my go-to guitar. A lot of that is because it's my only one with stainless steel frets and other guitars feel like sandpaper now, but a good chunk of it is how satisfying it is to play such a pretty instrument.
BigSteve22
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Generally, you would bore the step first. Using a forstner bit, which rides on the outer rim of the bit giving a clean edge and also has a brad point to center it. You bore the larger diameter first, just drilling to the depth needed, (1/16"?), which will also leave you with a centered recess to line up the through hole. (Through the back, not all the way through the body, hopefully!)-VB- said:
I don't have any experience with this guitar type, so I don't know how much room there is, but you can get LP switch access covers all over the place. They measure 2-1/8" in diameter. If you do go this way, make sure you get a solid rim bit, and not the toothed variety, much cleaner edge IMHO.
Verne Bunsen
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BigSteve22 said:
That makes good sense for a perfectly round cavity, without a doubt. I was envisioning an elongated cavity along the lines of what is seen in Joe Gore's (linked above). But, if a big enough circle can fit there, seems like it would indeed be the way to go...
PumpinIron
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Verne Bunsen
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Oh my, that will be something!
PumpinIron
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PumpinIron
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Oh, also something kind of cool... I've made a wiring harness with a Varitone switch that I'll be installing in this. I'll have to drill another hole for the Varitone, but it should fit just fine.
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