My first Warmoth - Blue Dyed Z Body

[ximes]

Here's the making of my new Z-body!
Specs:
Neck
25,5" Wizard Wenge neck, reverse Tele Headstock
Sperzel Mini Locking Tuners
Side inlays only
Body
Alder Z-body w/ Flame maple top
Dyed Blue Finish
Electronics
Air Norton / Tone Zone Pickups, both coil splittable
Killswitches on Volume pots
Recessed TOM Bridge w/Graphtec Piezo saddles
Graphtec Acousti-Phonic preamp, with dual Jack output
Double battery box

I apologise in advance for my bad English; I'd like to share some steps of the making of, because I spent many hours to make all this Graphtec stuff to work.
All pictures are here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/35598617@N00/sets/72157629491724633/with/7060448097/.

Hardware:


Knobs, Pickup frames, battery box and neck plate are from Warmoth. Pots & switches are from a local store. Bridge is a Tonepros TP6. I've choosen this bridge to match Graphtec Piezo Saddles (there's no enough black hardware around ??? :headbang1: :dontknow.

Graphtec installation:

Graphtec saddles are not conductive, so I needed to ground strings properly. I drilled on the back to add some wires and properly ground the string ferrules.


Back ferrules are painted with a black conductive painting. Just to be sure, I filed them and then pressed them into the wood:

Ferrules now touch the copper wires; all is grounded :blob7:.

After some more holes:


Then I shielded the back cavity and wired the rest...




There's a LOT a cables!

Graphtec list many schematics on their website, but no one were good for my case. I wanted a dual jack configuration using two Deep Barrel Jack (Ibanez Style), so I changed their layouts a little. I will post the full wiring later
Now I have the following configuration:
- A killswitch is ready to use on the Volume knob (pot pulled)
- A push-pull pot on the Tone splits both the pickups
- If I insert a single mono jack only , I can choose between magnetic pickups, piezo bridge or both blended, using the 3-way switch on the far right
- If I insert two mono jacks, I can have magnetic pickups on the first jack, and the piezo output on the second jack. In this mode, a killswitch is active on the Piezo Volume knob (pot pulled)

I mounted tuners, oiled the wenge neck and set up bridge and strings. The final result:




I hope you like it :glasses10:

 

[Cagey]

That's an excellent piece of work! Looks great! How do you like the piezo saddles? Are you getting what you expected/more/less?

 

[deajo]

i reverse tele headstock totally works with that body (who wudda thunk

i would be interested in hearing what you think of the ghost tech system as well, i have an unhealthy obsession with making
an electric guitar sound like an acoustic (with varying degrees of success...tried the acoustic sim pedal, x bridge piezo...it sounded
acoustic-ish...at best...

anyways, another opinion on the subject wouldn't hurt...

great build, helluva wiring job (too complicated for me to even think about...props)

and the pickups...i love the tone zone, air norton combo (same as my strat)...enjoy that fine beast...cheers

 

[Tipperman]

Flatwounds? 12s? If so, good call. Nice pickup choice, and an awesome guitar all around. Love those Z builds.

 

[bagman67]

i reverse tele headstock totally works with that body (who wudda thunk

I am surprised to find myself agreeing.  Lovely finished product.  As many have said, and will say, not my cup of tea, but I can sure see the quality.  Great job.


Bagman

 

[nexrex]

Looks amazing. I love everything about this. I think the reversed tele head stock fits really well with the z body.  arty07:

 

[AutoBat]

I might be the only one that doesn't like the reversed tele headstock on it.  Everything else is great though.
Kudos on fitting all the electronics in the cavity.

 

[Rickgrxbass]

Looks amazing. I love everything about this. I think the reversed tele head stock fits really well with the z body.  arty07:

I dig it; in wenge especially it approximates the carbon fiber of the Zetas. Maybe some spindle sanding to work down the ...nubbin... and I think we've got a winnar  :headbang1:

 

[taez555]

Awesome build man.  Love the complicated wiring (yet looks so simple on top), and gotta add like the others, really dig the reverse tele headstock.    It adds a great counterpoint and balance to the shape of the guitar.  I could actually see a reverse warhead doing the same sort of thing.

Very cool!

 

[fdesalvo]

OK - WOW - that guitar with that headstock is amazing!  It looks so sleek - like a retro concept train from the 50's.

 

[ximes]

That's an excellent piece of work! Looks great! How do you like the piezo saddles? Are you getting what you expected/more/less?

Thanks a lot!
In my band I often use electric and acoustic guitars. I choose this configuration to have one guitar and two separate outputs (mixer+amp). I've actually tested for few minutes on a Powerball. All sounds quite good, but it's all flat and metal oriented on this amp I'm going to test piezo bridge on a PA asap, and I can't wait to try the new baby on stage.
I was initially scared about piezos harshness. but I can say that everything seems to sound full and well balanced with not so much settings

 

[Cagey]

A lot of people worry about the "harshness" of piezos, but really what that is turns out to be a more full-range sound that they're just not used to. The positive thing about that is you can always filter out high frequencies if you don't want them, but you can't create them if they're not there in the first place. So, you're much better off if it does sound harsh. You can work with that.

 

[ximes]

Flatwounds? 12s? If so, good call. Nice pickup choice, and an awesome guitar all around. Love those Z builds.

0.11-0.49, but I usually use heavier strings on the bass side :headbang1:

 

[ximes]

i reverse tele headstock totally works with that body (who wudda thunk

i would be interested in hearing what you think of the ghost tech system as well, i have an unhealthy obsession with making
an electric guitar sound like an acoustic (with varying degrees of success...tried the acoustic sim pedal, x bridge piezo...it sounded
acoustic-ish...at best...

Well I haven't compared with a real acoustic yet. Piezo seems to sound more thin and less resonant, but the overall sound it's quite similar.
Don't forget that I could also turn the guitar into a synth in the future, just adding the graphtec midi expander module (not the ugly roland hex)  :evil4:

 

[ximes]

I might be the only one that doesn't like the reversed tele headstock on it. Everything else is great though.
Kudos on fitting all the electronics in the cavity.

It's a sort of love or hate thing, I think I was tired of angled and big paddles and wanted a reversed one for this project. I wasn't sure at the beginning, but I like it very much now. :redflag:

For the soldering lovers, there's the wiring (I hope i didn't forget anything):


It's not complicated but there are many many cables around

Notes:
- Graphtec use their switched stereo jacks in their schematics. If you want to use deep barrel jacks (like me) you need to add a relay linked to the switch of the piezo jack. The relay replaces the missing switch; otherwise you won't get the full dual jack configuration. The relay absorbs about 60mA but it's active only if the piezo jack is in
- Control cavity it's quite large, after all. If you choose a better pot arrangement than mine, I think you can put the mid/dark switch on the Piezo Volume. Or also a Graphtec expander
- grey, dashed lines are ground wires.

If you have any questions about please write me

 

[rapfohl09]

Wow, the Z-body looks really awesome with the reverse tele neck!