My first Velocity.

[Unwound G]

Received this a while back for a customer who is still deciding on what choice of humbucker pickups to use.  I have a few mounting rings in stock and wondering which ones will suit it most.  The customer has indicated that he wants the flat metal rings since the guitar works with a Fender Am Standard tremolo and the pickups will not be set too high from the body.  Not a big issue but I am wonder if I need to bend the metal rings slightly to make it sit well with the minimally arched body.

 

[stratamania]

Is it arched where the pickups and rings will sit?

If not you could do something like this...or an adaptation of the procedure, I doubt it would take much if anything is needed.

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qBusI7wEjOc[/youtube]

 

[Cagey]

...I am wonder if I need to bend the metal rings slightly to make it sit well with the minimally arched body.

No. I've done a few now, and there's no curve to the top in the pickup area. Even on mine, which used wider rings to hold single-coil sized pickups, there's no arch to deal with.

 

[stratamania]

...I am wonder if I need to bend the metal rings slightly to make it sit well with the minimally arched body.

No. I've done a few now, and there's no curve to the top in the pickup area. Even on mine, which used wider rings to hold single-coil sized pickups, there's no arch to deal with.

That's what I thought that they were flat, but I don't have one so hence the question and the just in case video...

 

[Cagey]

Warmoth carved top Teles the same way, even in bridge area.

 

[Unwound G]

Thanks guys.  Cagey, you're right.

 

[stratamania]

Warmoth carved top Teles the same way, even in bridge area.

Good to know I shall store that in the old grey matter.  :icon_thumright:

 

[wildbill]

Dan's got the King Kong roll of masking tape. LOL.

 

[Cagey]

What he's using isn't typical masking tape, it's "sign painter's" tape. It's essentially the same thing, but the adhesive has been more completely dried before rolling it up, so it's very low tack. Barely sticks, but more importantly and because of that, it doesn't pull off finish. That's important to sign painters, as they're often masking fresh finish layers that would be easy to pull off with regular masking tape. It's nice for guitar work because sometimes, especially on older finishes, the finish isn't always in very good shape. Plus, it doesn't leave any residue to speak of, and since more of the original solvents have been dried out it won't tear up lacquer. The solvents used in masking tape adhesive are the same ones used to dissolve lacquer (toluene, acetone, etc.), so you don't want to expose lacquer to it any longer than you have to.

 

[BigSteve22]

The solvents used in masking tape adhesive are the same ones used to dissolve lacquer (toluene, acetone, etc.), so you don't want to expose lacquer to it any longer than you have to.

Didn't know that, always something to learn from Kevin!  :headbang:

 

[Cagey]

I learned more about tape than I'll ever need to know writing some process monitoring software for a major mfr's drying systems. Oddly enough, making tape is pretty simple/straightforward. Much like a single stage offset printing press. Drying it and recovering the solvents? Tougher than you might think. It's actually most of the process and takes most of the room if you disregard packaging, which is where most of the money is.

Pretty stinky operation, too, unless you're a weirdo like me who likes the smell of highly volatile organic compounds :laughing7:  It was a constant worry, that the whole place was basically a live bomb just daring us to screw up. Every time I went back there I kept expecting to find a giant crater where the plant used to be.

 

[mayfly]

You're not talking about the great 3M are you???

 

[Cagey]

No, it was German company nobody who doesn't/hasn't worked there would recognize with manufacturing here. They private label for a lot of other companies who want to fill out their lines without maintaining a facility for a particular product line.

Appliance manufacturers do a lot of that, too. For instance, White Consolidated makes a lotta refrigerators for companies who either specialize in washer/dryer pairs or dishwashers or whatever and want to present a full line of home appliances without having lines/plants for each type.