Stereo Strat Prototype

[Ted Spencer]

I just posted this in another forum here, so sorry for the cross-post - not sure where it best belongs...

Here's a custom Strat-type I recently completed. The body was clear-coated and routed SSS and vintage tremolo, plus an additional output rout for an XLR jack. I designed a custom pickguard shape and had it made by Terrapin in clear acrylic. The neck is a quartersawn maple Warmoth Pro, with a Unique Choice Bubinga fingerboard (picked to match the 'orange' body streaks, which are really more of a light brown color), abalone dot inlays, Earvana nut and Gold Schaller tuners. I put in Lindy Fralin Split Blade pickups (Vintage winding), which are fabulous. I finished the build (my first!) several weeks ago. The guitar is a dual-topology (stock and secret-sauce proprietary stereo) prototype design. That explains the extra controls, which I expect some to express distaste for. I'm a recording engineer by profession though, and if I may say so myself, the stereo sound is killer, and unlike any stereo electric anyone has ever done to the best of my knowledge. Here's a photo of how it came out. It's somewhat overlit directly from above, by halogen lamps, which makes the light color in the body pop much more than it does in more normal lighting. Click on it to see a bigger image (anyone know why it's not coming up big to begin with?):

 

[Panthur]

That is a stunning body. What's the run down on the controls etc ?

 

[Ted Spencer]

That is a stunning body. What's the run down on the controls etc ?

Thanks! And apologies again for the cross posting - now I've got two threads to respond to! (the other one is here: http://www.unofficialwarmoth.com/index.php?topic=9040.new;topicseen#new).

It's a proprietary (aka secret) stereo design prototype for now, but what I can tell you, like I said there, is:

It's 'dual topology'; so first and foremost, all the familiar Strat controls are there, in the normal locations (see the pic), so the guitar can work as a dead-stock instrument (with the little silver switch near the bottom flipped toward the neck) whenever desired, through a standard mono output jack. In that mode, all the extra (stereo mode) knobs and switches are out of the picture. Throw the switch the other way and the 'stock' controls are out, with the others doing the job in stereo, outputting to an XLR.

In use, it's much less complex than it looks due to the either/or control layout - only one set is in play at a time.

And it makes *really* cool tones in stereo : )

I'm showing it this month privately to some of my pro guitarist friends/clients here in NYC, then I'll see about unleashing it on the unsuspecting public ; )

 

[crash]

Damn that's some beautiful Korina!

 

[The Norwegian Guy]

That thing has more knobs than a F'ing cockpit!

A beautiful piece of wood!

 

[Ted Spencer]

That thing has more knobs than a F'ing cockpit!

Meh...the mixing consoles I sit in front of every day have about 10 times as many... : )

A beautiful piece of wood!

Thanks!

 

[Dan025]

A beautiful piece of wood!

that's what she said.

sorry couldn't resist.

 

[AndyG]

That thing has more knobs than a F'ing cockpit!

I was going to say ... that looks like you transplanted an old Neve channel strip on the top of that guitar!

Beautiful piece of work.

 

[elfro89]

That thing has more knobs than a F'ing cockpit!

A beautiful piece of wood!

Is it sad that i know what most of those do?  :doh:

 

[Ted Spencer]

Is it sad that i know what most of those do?  :doh:

Not to me it isn't! I'd love to know how to pilot a big airplane...

Funny though - when I work (as a recording engineer) on huge mixing consoles at big commercial studios, as opposed to my own, considerably smaller place, I often notice that people seem *much* more impressed by my (supposed) skills, which of course, are the same in either case. I call it the 'flying the big plane' effect... : )

It's fun, but sort of (to use your word) sad, at the same time...

 

[ocguy106]

That thing has more knobs than a F'ing cockpit!

A beautiful piece of wood!

Is it sad that i know what most of those do?  :doh:

I want to fly with the guy that know what ALL of those buttons do!!!!

 

[stubhead]

If I had that many knobs and switches on a guitar, I'd make three DPDT 3-way switches turn the pickups on, reverse phase and off; and I'd wire the three extra knobs to an active low impedance preamp with 12db boost/cut in bass, mids and treble. And I'd make the big doofus-ear knob a midrange sweep, or possibly to roll in one of Lawrence's Q-filters (these two are somewhat similar). I too have mad-scientist wiring secrets, but I can be bribed..... Can you reveal the power source, at least? 18V?

 

[Ted Spencer]

If I had that many knobs and switches on a guitar, I'd make three DPDT 3-way switches turn the pickups on, reverse phase and off; and I'd wire the three extra knobs to an active low impedance preamp with 12db boost/cut in bass, mids and treble. And I'd make the big doofus-ear knob a midrange sweep, or possibly to roll in one of Lawrence's Q-filters (these two are somewhat similar). I too have mad-scientist wiring secrets, but I can be bribed..... Can you reveal the power source, at least? 18V?

LOL.. : )

It's completely passive!

The extra controls are entirely to do with the stereo aspect of the design, and none of them are tone controls. Like I said, it's much simpler than it looks. Only the big black (doofus-ear LOL!) Mustang knob does anything particularly unusual, and again, it's all about stereo. The object of the design was to create a unique and flexible (you guessed it!) stereo tonality, based on some familiar recording techniques used on other instruments. I was quite surprised when I discovered that it (evidently) has never been done before, despite extensive internet searches for stereo electrics going all the way back in their history.

I will publicly unveil the design, here and elsewhere, once I have adequate feedback from my pro-guitarist friends and a couple of boutique dealers here in NYC (and have made any consequent tweaks). I'll also post sound clips, which I may do prior to the full unveiling.

I like it a lot, but who knows - other folks might, or might not...

For me, it's all about the sound... : )

 

[taez555]

Are the split blade pickups a key aspect of the getting the stereo sound? 

Beautiful guitar btw.  As a fan of switches (If a pickup can be wired a dozen ways, why only stick with one?) I'm completely intrigued by your build.

 

[Ted Spencer]

Are the split blade pickups a key aspect of the getting the stereo sound? 

Only to the extent that they help the guitar be quieter. In a stereo configuration you don't get the benefit of mixed-mono pickups and their consequent noise-canceling properties (like the 2nd and 4th switch positions on a modern Strat), so noiseless pups were a must. I tried several different types, and found Fralin's split-blades to be the best compromise between noise reduction and faithfulness to the single-coil tone.

Beautiful guitar btw.

Thanks! I had a great time building it, although I spent an inordinate amount of time in the R&D part. Months and months...

As a fan of switches (If a pickup can be wired a dozen ways, why only stick with one?)

Believe it or not, and despite its appearance - simplicity. I experimented extensively with active designs, active tone controls, onboard mix circuits, etc, etc, etc, and ultimately went with the simplest possible design that had sufficient flexibility in stereo. I should add that there is an optional outboard electronics package (about $600) that does all of the things I had ever considered building into the guitar. It also enables certain features of the design that can't be had any other way aside from plugging directly into a DAW environment.

I'm completely intrigued by your build.

Thank you! Sorry to be so cryptic about it for now : )

 

[exaN]

That's way more buttons and switches than my brain can handle :tard:! The guitar looks killer though!

 

[Ted Spencer]

That's way more buttons and switches than my brain can handle :tard:! The guitar looks killer though!

Thanks!

All you have to do is throw the little silver toggle switch to the left and the whole thing'll work just like a good ol' stock Strat does : )

 

[tangent]

The object of the design was to create a unique and flexible (you guessed it!) stereo tonality, based on some familiar recording techniques used on other instruments. I was quite surprised when I discovered that it (evidently) has never been done before, despite extensive internet searches for stereo electrics going all the way back in their history.

Looks like a switch to throw each pickup between l/r channel and a pot to adjust output for each pickup, or a switch to enable/disable and a pot to pan between l/r channel?  Or maybe it is more complex than that =) 

I used to have one of my strats wired up for stereo, output to dual TRS with 3 concentric pots controlling pan and volume, and 3 toggle switches for phase, its was fun to toy with but I ended up switching one of the outputs to 13pin for MIDI

I know Alembic has done lots of different stereo configurations over the years.

Love the black korina BTW, great looking guitar.

 

[elfro89]

That thing has more knobs than a F'ing cockpit!

A beautiful piece of wood!

Is it sad that i know what most of those do?  :doh:

I want to fly with the guy that know what ALL of those buttons do!!!!

its sad because im not a pilot... just an enthusiast... in another life maybe...

 

[Ted Spencer]

Looks like a switch to throw each pickup between l/r channel and a pot to adjust output for each pickup, or a switch to enable/disable and a pot to pan between l/r channel?  Or maybe it is more complex than that =)

You're not too far off, but mum's the word for now : )

There's also one particular proprietary aspect of the design that I can all but guarantee you no one will guess, and is not in any way evident from the photos : )

I used to have one of my strats wired up for stereo, output to dual TRS with 3 concentric pots controlling pan and volume, and 3 toggle switches for phase, its was fun to toy with but I ended up switching one of the outputs to 13pin for MIDI

One of the things I discovered during my lengthy research phase was that panning any more than one pickup across a stereo (2-channel) output was impossible to do *passively* (at least as far as I could conclude). They basically crossfed/summed themselves into variously weird mono and partially mono results - a total non-starter. An active onboard mono-in stereo-out mixer would have solved it, but extensive research produced no suitably miniature 9-18v DC circuits that would fill the bill, and custom-built circuits would have been prohibitively expensive at this stage. And I had other even more complex electronic aspects that needed attention as well, so the entire active part of the design was moved outboard. This also had the benefit of making the active section *optional*; a DAW like Pro Tools or Logic could do everything the external electronics package did (through various means, including either stock or aftermarket plugins). So as the concept exists now, it's a sort of 'tiered' build. Varying degrees of increasingly complex proprietary features can be implemented through different hardware/software solutions with similar results. Still, in its most basic form, the instrument can be used in all its stereo-ness without any external electronics at all.

We'll see what the first group of pundits (three of my pro-guitarist friends here in NYC) have to say when they see/hear/play it at my studio next week : )

I know Alembic has done lots of different stereo configurations over the years.

I'll do a search on that, thanks.

Love the black korina BTW, great looking guitar.

Thanks! I feel very fortunate - nothing like this kind of dramatically multicolored Black Korina has turned up in the Showcase since mine and a few others (notably a really wildly orange-streaked Tele) last summer. My only regret is that I'll never be able to make another just like it!

It's ok though really - like I said, it's a prototype, and whatever might (or might not) happen with the design commercially, this one will stay mine forever : )