My Roasted Soloist Eagle

[muns53]

Well, I finally bought the body and will use this thread to document the build. I am beyond pumped! This is my ultimate guitar and will also be a little bit of a family project.

In-stock Soloist body:
Single-piece Roasted Alder wood
Super light-weight at 3lbs 1oz
HSH pickups and semi-recessed Wilkinson trem route
Countour heel and double battery box route

In-stock Strat-style neck:
Flamed Roasted Maple wood
Indian Rosewood fretboard
Cream dots with LSR nut prep
Standard thin profile
25-1/2" scale with 22 SS6150 frets
10-16" Compound radius

 

[muns53]

For pickups, I wanted to get every sound possible that I love with moderate output. I had other high-output pickups when I was in a metal band that was fine, but I want nice clean tones. I want to be able to work the volume knob and switching options for variety and touch, too.

So, I selected these from Seymour Duncan:
Bridge: TB-16 59/Custom Hybrid (gets lots of cool sounds and splits nice)
Middle: STK-S4M STACK+ (keeps output matched with the split hums - quacky but noiseless)
Neck: SH-18s Whole Lotta HB Neck (cool variety for the neck sounds I like)

The 5-way superswitch will be:
1 - Bridge humbucker
2 - Bridge coil-tap (hottest outside coil) + middle single
3 - Neck + bridge coil-tap (outside coils)
4 - Neck coil-tap (outside coil) + middle single
5 - Neck Humbucker

I want simple switching for the sounds I like, and eliminate the ones I never use. So no push/pull any more and no extra switches to make the sounds. I always mess that up when I'm playing live... NO MORE! hahaha

This shows the wiring diagram but there will just be a master volume knob with the treble bleed mod. I don't ever use a tone control on my mag pickups...

 

[muns53]

On the Wilkinson VS-100 "chrome" bridge, I will install the black Graphtech piezo saddles. There is going to be some silver/black mixing on this axe, I think it's a cool look and adds some visual variety.

I know it will be some managing of the piezo wires on the bridge - that will be interesting. It was not fun to figure that out on the Trem King bridge I have now, but I made it work well enough. I have seen people on here sharing how they have drilled holes to hide them, so that will be cool to try and learn from. Something like this perhaps (not the same bridge but I like the black/silver look and the hidden wires):

I plan to place the Graphtech Acoustiphonic pre-amp in the battery box area (covered by a black cover not an actual battery box) to keep the wiring clean and from getting cramped. I learned that lesson from my last "swiss army guitar" build that was all too cramped. Also, I really suck at using MIDI, so eliminating that from the equation on this axe simplifies things a lot for me, too. There will be a stereo jack output, so I can operate the acoustic and magnetic through the same amp or different amps with a stereo chord. That's more than plenty for me to manage.

So there are two last two controls I will have on the front area. One is a piezo volume knob in the normal "Tone 2" position. Graphtech makes a pull-up mid-boost volume knob for the Acoustaphonic pre-amp - I do like to use that to change the acoustic sound a little.

The other control is a 3-way switch in the normal "Tone 1" position that will be inbetween the magnetic and piezo volume knobs.
Forward = magnetics only
Middle = magnetics and piezo working
Back = piezo only

For battery power, I have decided the Fishman Fluence battery back - most likely the trem cover unit (pic below), but they also have a small one that would fit in the double-battery cutout that Warmoth offers. Either way I suck at managing batteries properly. The wiring might be a challenge, but no biggie. I'm also debating internally about either creating rosewood back pieces to match the neck... or just going with black covers on the back holes or another color - either way making all of them match.

 

[muns53]

I've been inspired forever by GreatApe's amazing eagle guitar that he made. I wanted to commission him, but somehow, I was blessed with two elder children who have both become artists. So I decided that's how I make this a family project. My 21-year old son dropped out of art school and is pursing welding instead. Pretty sweet career option, really, and I hope it takes off for him. But he still dabbles in art and music and his art talent is just massive. (I posted a thread about the guitar he painted a while back and put together with lots of my old parts and a Warmoth neck. He still rocks with it.)

Anyway, I have tasked him with drawing and engraving me a soaring eagle on the front of the guitar. I gave him these two pictures for inspiration and he is fooling around with some really nice ideas that I occasionally get to see in his sketch book.

My 19-year old college freshman daughter just declared "Art Teacher" as her major and is kicking butt. She loves art and calligraphy and photography. We will also soon be parachuting out of airplanes together (kind of like eagles). She also has a developed a woodburning interest and talent and enjoys it a lot. She will also be selecting a quote (or quotes or quotes and pictures) and drawing/engraving that into the back and other areas. Not sure what yet, but something around "On Eagle's Wings" - I truly am obsessed with eagles and we both share a strong service/spiritual orientation.

Also on the back, to keep the silver/black mix thing going and tie-in with the eagle(s) and quote(s), I will either be using this square heel plate or a chrome curved heel plate to shave down the heel a bit more. In both cases, my plan is to carve the neck heel out a bit more and sink the plate into the alder rather than having it poke out. I had originally tried to modify down the neck heal and use a curved plate on an old Strat body, but I butchered it. So we'll see what happens this time.

Flat plate option:

 

[muns53]

I'm in debate on what to do with the headstock. One thought is to modify it a bit to be more "beakish" than a strat headstock. Other thoughts are to leave it as is. Either way, perhaps something eagle-related will show up on the front of it - the lines on it on the front are already really cool to me.

I will have my Tronical auto-tuner on the headstock, too, so that will probably prevent modifying it because it occupies some real-estate. I love this thing! I have it on my Taylor acoustic as well as my current electric and I love changing tunings with buttons and not hassling about being in tune all the time. (Oh, and I dig the silver/black thing.)

On the finish front, I ordered and plan to use Odie's Oil (www.odiesoil.com). I love how clean and unobtrusive the Roasted Alder body is. And I also love how the roasted woods darken with the finish. I do not currently plan on coloring the finish because I don't want the woodburning distracted. I also like the clean wood look. But we'll see. I will have to do a lot of fooling around to make final decisions on that part.

I know I'm stealing lots of pics for the thread so far until I get all my stuff in my hands. I stole this guitar one for inspiration - not the same wood, but this is the kind of thing I'm looking for. I don't think Alder grain pops a lot, but with the roasted woods, perhaps it does more like how it darkens? We'll see. Also, I spoke with the folks at Odie's and they said sand it as fine as you want to - will help it shine and be smooth. But they said be very careful and diligent so that any sanding dings don't pop. This will be an interesting challenge with the woodburned stuff on this axe. Who knows... maybe I'll have to go another direction all-together. We'll see.

 

[Cagey]

Nice plans!

I was going to suggest looking at the "Warhead" headstock if you wanted something a bit more "beak"-ish, but not having tried it I'm not sure that Tronical tuner will fit on it. I suspect it would - the  real difference from a Strat head is they undercut the curlicue top a bit, and I don't see any need for that to be there for tuner assembly support.

 

[muns53]

Cagey - Thank you for all the advice you provide here and that you also provided to me in some fantastic email/message exchanges. I would have loved to have commissioned you do a lot of the work we communicated about, too. I originally visualized a Roasted Swamp Ash body with a Roasted Flamed Maple top and using my JBE pickups that I love so much. But then the wiring possibilities and the whole family project idea derailed me from that and took over. (Also, I've been fighting a significant medical battle that eliminated my fund pool anyway.)

I do love your idea of the Warhead shape, that would be right on track with the beakish idea and also more Warmoth tie-in as a little bonus. Is there a drawing that would show how I can measure the lines on the strat headstock and see if I could that would work? It would just be a bit of a careful trim, right?

 

[stratamania]

Look forward to seeing how this turns out.

The Fishman trem cover battery pack I suspect the wiring you would just fish through the hole that normally is used for the ground wire.

 

[Cagey]

I don't know of any detailed scale drawings of the Warhead, but I have examples of both those headstocks here now with no tuners installed. Here's a shot of them tryin' to do buttsex laying on top of each other (you gotta watch these necks every minute, the little rascals)...

Shows the difference between a Strat neck and a Warhead. The only dimension I think you need to worry about is that long angled edge, which by my little ruler looks to be about 3/16" narrower.

 

[muns53]

THANK YOU!! 

:yourock:

 

[timezon3]

Nice looking parts.  I don't have an HSH guitar, but I think the next one I build will use that configuration, seems extremely versatile.

TZ

 

[Hendrix]

great idea use eagle image, share with you my build with eagle image too :

http://www.unofficialwarmoth.com/index.php?topic=28323.0

also a guitar body painting tutorial video :

https://youtu.be/qn3uS_sKerw

 

[muns53]

great idea use eagle image, share with you my build with eagle image too :

http://www.unofficialwarmoth.com/index.php?topic=28323.0

also a guitar body painting tutorial video :

https://youtu.be/qn3uS_sKerw

Thank you for sharing that - MY JAW WON'T CLOSE... THAT IS SPECTACULAR WORK... I AM BLOWN AWAY!!

I love having the scene on the pickguard - that's another angle we could go that we'll be needing to explore.

This Soloist is a rear-cavity body, but perhaps, I could route out a front Strat cavity in a Soloist body? Never thought of that or how it could be done. Is that possible?

 

[Hendrix]

I don't think you need add pickguard on this guitar, a whole body wood is easier to composition the drawing.

can drawing on wood just like my tutorial video.

 

[kolsky]

On the Wilkinson VS-100 "chrome" bridge, I will install the black Graphtech piezo saddles. There is going to be some silver/black mixing on this axe, I think it's a cool look and adds some visual variety.

I know it will be some managing of the piezo wires on the bridge - that will be interesting. It was not fun to figure that out on the Trem King bridge I have now, but I made it work well enough. I have seen people on here sharing how they have drilled holes to hide them, so that will be cool to try and learn from. Something like this perhaps (not the same bridge but I like the black/silver look and the hidden wires):

I plan to place the Graphtech Acoustiphonic pre-amp in the battery box area (covered by a black cover not an actual battery box) to keep the wiring clean and from getting cramped. I learned that lesson from my last "swiss army guitar" build that was all too cramped. Also, I really suck at using MIDI, so eliminating that from the equation on this axe simplifies things a lot for me, too. There will be a stereo jack output, so I can operate the acoustic and magnetic through the same amp or different amps with a stereo chord. That's more than plenty for me to manage.

So there are two last two controls I will have on the front area. One is a piezo volume knob in the normal "Tone 2" position. Graphtech makes a pull-up mid-boost volume knob for the Acoustaphonic pre-amp - I do like to use that to change the acoustic sound a little.

The other control is a 3-way switch in the normal "Tone 1" position that will be inbetween the magnetic and piezo volume knobs.
Forward = magnetics only
Middle = magnetics and piezo working
Back = piezo only

For battery power, I have decided the Fishman Fluence battery back - most likely the trem cover unit. I had a lot of internal debate but decided to go this way because I suck at managing batteries properly. The wiring might be a challenge, but no biggie. I hope the bump will feel good on the back. I debated internally about creating rosewood back pieces to match the neck... but decided against it and just am going with black covers on the back holes.

you may want to consider a 2 jack system so you can bypass the acoustic pre-amp in the event of a battery failure.  the graphtec i have was wired so the mag pickups signal does not pass thru the pre-amp.  also, i use a fishman loudbox dedicated to the acoustic output.  i'm using a fishman pro eq pre-amp as well.  the acoustic tone that comes from my live gigs are unbelievably authentic!

 

[Cagey]

I used a single TRS jack for both mag and piezo output on my Jazzmaster w/ Ghosts in a VS-100, and the mags still work when the battery's dead. I simply wired a separate volume for each type and used a small switch select mag/both/piezo. Two volumes let me mix as needed. Then, I put a toggle in the upper horn to select bridge/both/neck mags.

 

[muns53]

I used a single TRS jack for both mag and piezo output on my Jazzmaster w/ Ghosts in a VS-100, and the mags still work when the battery's dead. I simply wired a separate volume for each type and used a small switch select mag/both/piezo. Two volumes let me mix as needed. Then, I put a toggle in the upper horn to select bridge/both/neck mags.

Cagey, yes, my Parkers and the current strat I had set up have it this way with one stereo jack (1 parker factory setup, 1 parker modified by a luthier, and the strat cobbled by me). Same thing happens with them... if the piezo battery dies, the mags still work. Sounds like we like having the same strategy on the 3-way mag/both/piezo and mag/piezo volume knobs and the mag select switch! Woot!

you may want to consider a 2 jack system so you can bypass the acoustic pre-amp in the event of a battery failure.  the graphtec i have was wired so the mag pickups signal does not pass thru the pre-amp.  also, i use a fishman loudbox dedicated to the acoustic output.  i'm using a fishman pro eq pre-amp as well.  the acoustic tone that comes from my live gigs are unbelievably authentic!

Kolsky - I'm not opposed to operate on 2 cords, that is a cool idea. My understanding of the stereo jack on my 2 piezo/mag Parkers and my modified strat is that it accomplishes the same thing, but correct me if that is not the case. No mag signal through the pre-amp seems to be what keeps the mags working if the piezo battery dies. The stereo cord gives the ability to split to two amps, but right now when I use the stereo cord, I only use the piezo side of the cord for a PA input (since I'm not doing much with failing at MIDI any more). I am simplifying my rig system to make it all lighter and smaller while still giving me the variety of sounds and stereo effects, etc. I really like the dedicated acoustic amp and effects idea! Can you tell me more about your acoustic side setup?

I don't think you need add pickguard on this guitar, a whole body wood is easier to composition the drawing.

can drawing on wood just like my tutorial video.

Hendrix - Thanks again!

 

[Cagey]

Seemed like the most versatile way to wire it up without creating all sorts of sneak circuits and special requirements. Still a mono out - the stereo out jack was used because that's what turns the preamp on/off. Actually, more often it gets used to kill perfectly good batteries. I always forget to unplug the damned thing when I set it down :doh:

 

[kolsky]

I really like the dedicated acoustic amp and effects idea! Can you tell me more about your acoustic side setup?

here is my acoustic pedal board:

and i have had lots of fun and great sounds from this fishman loudbox.  using the additional fishman platinum pro eq adds acoustic guitar realism that is unreal!  everything on the board except the volume pedal goes thru the fx loop.

 

[muns53]

Thanks Kolsky, I appreciate it - gives me stuff to look into and figure out a cool setup.