Seattle, WA area

[Cagey]

and should somebody fork out the green and 'force' me to sell ... I can always build myself another  :cool01:

Perzactly.

 

[SkuttleFunk]

a little more on where this one is going (see attached)

a black Babicz bridge arrives this week, so I'm using the Hipshot bent plate bridge as a placeholder in the interim

all the best,

R

 

[stubhead]

One thing's for sure, on that 6-stringer with the 24 frets (that lets you play a "tenor" C5 - the one on the 8th fret of a guitar's high E string) - the bass player who buys that ain't gonna have his band with him, cause they never let him go above the 5th fret on the D string! :toothy12:

Every song's a ten-minute bass solo! Whee! Whee!  :redflag:

there didn't used to be such a thing as an unemployed bass player 'til Jaco and Stanley went bonkers and them weird boogers started showin' up.... :doh:

 

[SkuttleFunk]

more goodness from the bench this past weekend

these still need nuts and strings, but you get the idea how this design dresses out

all the best,

R

 

[SkuttleFunk]

here's a family portrait including 3 of the 4 thin strings we'll have available at the show

L to R

- Regenerator™ SS ‘62
- Shelby™ 22
- Regenerator™ SS

The Shelby™ is our first in-house designed thin-string model, and has a Mahogany body finished in Gibby Red™ stain. The 22-fret 25.5" scale neck features an angled headstock and Pau Ferro fretboard (production models will utilize an Ebony or dark Rosewood fretboard) and a rear contour reminiscent of the ultra thin Wizard series guitars from Ibanez. Electronics are a pair of Lollar Imperial Humbuckers with a 3-way switch wired somewhat uniquely to select from both neck - two outer-most coils - both bridge. There is a single volume control pot, and no tone control. The bridge is a Babicz tremolo with wide Fender spacing. Hipshot tuners and Dunlop strap locks round out the package.

In early Spring we'll introduce the 24-fret version cousin of this model

all the best,

R

 

[SkuttleFunk]

the latest goodness being cooked up at the RGW ranch - split-coil J's. main activity on these is focused on a 'close as can be' balanced PJ set

the attached image is of a split-coil bridge J right after winding. this will get magnetized, set into a baseplate keeper (not shown), wired up, and then potted before loading it into a cover and field testing paired with one of our standard P4's

 

[stubhead]

Just out of curiosity - do you wire the split ones in series or parallel? I absolutely lost any last vestige of thinking that hum was something you had to put up with for a good single coil sound a few decades ago, when I realized how much a parallel-wired humbucker sounded like a split one - but I've never done the comparison of series vs. parallel on a narrow, side-by-side "window."

I'm not sure whether my ear is just too insensitive to hear the difference (split vs. parallel on a HB) or whether 3/4 of an inch or less difference in "aperture" really doesn't make a hoot's difference on a 2-foot-long string, and people are just making up reasons after-the-fact for why a Strat doesn't sound like a Les Paul. Though I have my suspicions....  :icon_scratch: ??? :laughing11: :icon_thumright:

 

[Jumble Jumble]

I've done parallel and series on a SD Vintage Rails. Basically, parallel is quieter, and, er, that's about it. However, the quietness, of course, makes it closer to a single coil in terms of how it then interacts with your pedals and amp.

I always thought the "aperture" thing was related to wavelengths or frequencies or something. Like, if you pick up sound from two places on the string, there will be some frequencies for which you have a positive voltage on one pickup, and a negative on the other. So those will cancel out.

Obviously it definitely does do something, because neck + middle on a Strat sounds different to either of them alone. It seems to me that moving the two pickups closer together will cause different frequencies to be cancelled.

I don't know, though, and would be interested in being educated. :sign13:

 

[SkuttleFunk]

this J pickup with two stubby RWRP coils will be wired in series, just like the split-coil P pickup it's being worked to pair with.

if this instead was a pair of full length coils like a typical MM pickup ... I typically like them wired in series for the added volume and midrange burp. I would also utilize a 4-wire lead off of the pickup to allow for the use of a Series/Tap/Parallel toggle switch, should a customer wish one to be added.


specific to this spit-coil J design -  there's a lot of volume difference for it to have to compete with given that the P has roughly 10K turns each that are all within 1/4" from the underside of the top bobbin face, and the J has less parallel face area with half of its roughly 9K winds further away from the bobbin face - and it's positioned in a location with lower string amplitude. it's really a lot of work to  get these to have similar enough volumes while also keeping as much of the typical bridge J sound as possible.

it's much MUCH easier to formulate a paired bridge position pickup utilizing a soapbar sized pickup shell - but that isn't the vintage look, so it makes for a difficult sell to the average buyer

 

[SkuttleFunk]

well good things come to those who keep plugging away at something, and as of last weekend I finally have the production recipe for a split-coil J bridge to pair with a P pickup in the standard neck position

volume wise it blends nicely thru the entire blend pot range and holds its own at full on parity. it's about 95% the openness of a true single-coil, and that small difference is easily missed when in the context of a live/studio mix.

for a noisy room, it sure is nice to be able to solo the bridge and how be plastered with 60Hz hum.


field testers liked the sound of this split-coil J so much that I was asked to match a neck position split-coil J to it ... and I've done just that with equally great results.

one unusual and unexpected thing with the split-coil J pair is that it has 'increased headroom' (I can't think of a better term) when slapping. a regular single-coil tends to compress some when slapping, but this split-coil set just keeps opening up dynamically the more you throw at it. only drawback is that is 2.5x more work to make a split J set than a regular single-coil set. we'll see if the market will bear the added price for the added labor and custom materials.

 

[stubhead]

that isn't the vintage look, so it makes for a difficult sell to the average buyer

Which is about the point I start heating the tar and plucking the feathers in anticipation, but - I can't figure out who to dip! I swear, at least half the modifications you read about for the common grub shovels are built around the idea that they're secret modifications, so your guitar still looks vintage, annnnn... the girls will want to wash your socks, all the little grommets will think you're cool and the talent scouts from the giant record companies will fight for the privilege of bombarding you with gobs of mone... well you know. And everyone knows that not only do the push-pull switches on pots get pushed and pulled accidentally more often than on purpose but the switch part is mechanically inferior to the 1.69c jobbies and when IT breaks you have to replace the whole damn $20 P.O.S. And they've even somehow managed to get themselves defined as real slickee so people even put them on NEW guitars... :icon_scratch:

PRS has been flapping their gums about their "wide-aperture" and "narrow-aperture" humbucking pickups, but jeez, there can't be more than maybe a 0.25" difference in distance between the coils in the two of them - just by some pretty tiny dicking around with magnets and windings (AND YOUR TONE KNOB) you could completely overwhelm that part of it.

In the same way, there's a lot of after-the-fact bloviatorial tongue-gymnastics* "explaining" why mini-humbuckers sound brighter than those poor, decrepid sloppy old PAFs ever could, and Fender's "Wide-Range" pickups were just that because... they... were... wide........ RRRRRRGHHHHHH. Actually the design runup to both of those were launched because the "market always knows best" and the market knew that regular humbuckings sucked. But "the Market" forgot to tell Mike Bloomfield and Eric Clapton and Keith Richards and Jimmy Page and Peter Green and all those other earless tone-dead doofs in time so now ALL the guitars suck. No, wait - ALL the guitars are GREAT! Yeah, that's it. Aw hell, just send all your money now and we'll decide what you like later.

*(Yep I kinda like it mesef)

 

[bagman67]

that isn't the vintage look, so it makes for a difficult sell to the average buyer

Which is about the point I start heating the tar and plucking the feathers in anticipation, but - I can't figure out who to dip! I swear, at least half the modifications you read about for the common grub shovels are built around the idea that they're secret modifications, so your guitar still looks vintage, annnnn... the girls will want to wash your socks, all the little grommets will think you're cool and the talent scouts from the giant record companies will fight for the privilege of bombarding you with gobs of mone... well you know. And everyone knows that not only do the push-pull switches on pots get pushed and pulled accidentally more often than on purpose but the switch part is mechanically inferior to the 1.69c jobbies and when IT breaks you have to replace the whole damn $20 P.O.S. And they've even somehow managed to get themselves defined as real slickee so people even put them on NEW guitars... :icon_scratch:

PRS has been flapping their gums about their "wide-aperture" and "narrow-aperture" humbucking pickups, but jeez, there can't be more than maybe a 0.25" difference in distance between the coils in the two of them - just by some pretty tiny dicking around with magnets and windings (AND YOUR TONE KNOB) you could completely overwhelm that part of it.

In the same way, there's a lot of after-the-fact bloviatorial tongue-gymnastics* "explaining" why mini-humbuckers sound brighter than those poor, decrepid sloppy old PAFs ever could, and Fender's "Wide-Range" pickups were just that because... they... were... wide........ RRRRRRGHHHHHH. Actually the design runup to both of those were launched because the "market always knows best" and the market knew that regular humbuckings sucked. But "the Market" forgot to tell Mike Bloomfield and Eric Clapton and Keith Richards and Jimmy Page and Peter Green and all those other earless tone-dead doofs in time so now ALL the guitars suck. No, wait - ALL the guitars are GREAT! Yeah, that's it. Aw hell, just send all your money now and we'll decide what you like later.

*(Yep I kinda like it mesef)

Or to crib from another famous cynic, H. L. Mencken, "No one in this world, so far as I know—and I have researched the records for years, and employed agents to help me—has ever lost money by underestimating the intelligence of the great masses of the plain people."
[/size]
[/size]Well put, as usual, Monsieur Head o' Stubbularity.  The more often I find myself agreeing with you, the happier I am, despite the world's evident progress toward Hades via the hand basket superhighway.

 

[SkuttleFunk]

Bill Clements 'field testing' a set of Regenerate RJ4m J/J pickups live with the Bill Clements Axiom

http://youtu.be/PRbRI23fhS8

if you have opportunity to catch a live show - don't miss it!

 

[stubhead]

I don't know, man, that seems like taking "the Jerry Mod" a little too far.

Do you know this guy? I mean, well enough to tell him that the drummer in that video was obliterating everything between about 600 to 3,000 Hz? I could hear certain parts of the guitar playing... and Mr. Clements was obviously trying to get himself heard, and he was obviously playing... something, but I couldn't hear it. It was a tiny club, there weren't any microphones on the drums, so you couldn't "fix it in the mix" - the drummer just has to learn how to make the drums snap without playing so hard. Lighter sticks, for one thing. I do know it's not easy... I wouldn't ordinarily squeak, but Mr. Clements has obviously had to do some work to overcome... his little spot of bother there, and to have it all be lost to the cymbal banshee... :sad1: I just watched their studio clip and when Clements is trying to teach the guitarist a certain part, the drummer still won't stop playing.  :dontknow: But, I can't say anything myself, I've always found bald drummers unaccountably terrifying for some reason.

 

[SkuttleFunk]

final cleanup pass along the edge of a VRB style fretless Maple/Maple neck. there's still a whole lot of hand detailing and sanding yet to go on this one before it's ready for the finish to be applied.

 

[DangerousR6]

:headbang1:

 

[SkuttleFunk]

It’s one thing to craft a neck that caresses you back, adjusts like a fine watch, holds its form thru environmental extremes, and effortlessly delivers the goods night after night after night. As a player, I need to know that what I build is going to hold-up in situations that are far beyond the average live or studio session. As a builder, I need to know that when I send a product out, it will thrive in environments significantly different than the shop and final QA studio here in Seattle. As a businessman, I need to know that all of my profits aren’t going to be eaten up by endless warranty work.

Not very often do you see builders offering up one of their crafted masterpieces to -that- corner of the shop … but that’s exactly what we did this afternoon here at the RGW ranch, proving again that our necks can endure more than their share of unexpected chaos and defiantly stand up to the (fat) man

Here’s a grab shot from today’s +220 pound live-load test being performed by the only one in the shop willing and able to set the neck on a pair of Alder blocks, crank up Van Halen … and JUMP!

Just in case you’re interested in neck specs, this is one of our VRB 5-string 1-piece Maple necks with a Maple fretboard, 1-7/8” nut width, dual action trussrod, and NO carbon fiber (or any other king of) stiffening bars. It’s a modern ‘C’ shape that’s 0.80” thick at the first fret.

and no, the neck didn't break or crack ... it just may find itself installed on a blemish body and used for gigs where I would feel uncomfortable bringing anything remotely shiny (OK boys, Raw Hide in G - hit it!)

 

[DangerousR6]

QA testing at it's best... :headbang:

 

[Cagey]

No doubt.

Although, I remember back 100 years ago when Whirlwind first came out with their Cobra cables.

The things were super-heavy duty relative to the phone cords most guitarists used back then. Actually, just super-heavy duty, period. Things weighed a ton, and had milled brass military-style plug ends. The salesmen used to like to put the plug under their heel and jerk on the cord as if their lives depended on it, and the things would still work. None the worse for wear.

Of course, as we found out by excessive demonstrations to our buddies, you could only that so many times and the thing would finally just say "To hell with him. He wants the cable out, let it go!"  :laughing7:

Under normal use, though, they were beasties. Had to be careful if your amp was on casters or the thing would follow you around, or you could pull down a stack.

 

[DangerousR6]

No doubt.

Although, I remember back 100 years ago when Whirlwind first came out with their Cobra cables.

The things were super-heavy duty relative to the phone cords most guitarists used back then. Actually, just super-heavy duty, period. Things weighed a ton, and had milled brass military-style plug ends. The salesmen used to like to put the plug under their heel and jerk on the cord as if their lives depended on it, and the things would still work. None the worse for wear.

Of course, as we found out by excessive demonstrations to our buddies, you could only that so many times and the thing would finally just say "To hell with him. He wants the cable out, let it go!"  :laughing7:

Under normal use, though, they were beasties. Had to be careful if your amp was on casters or the thing would follow you around, or you could pull down a stack.

I actually did pull an amp over with one of those, an original 70's Kustom..