Warmoth "Uber Tele" project.

[DangerousR6]

That's just freaking amazing....Nice job Pete.... If I ever make it out to "The Rock", I'll definitely have to stop by and pay homage to the Tele shrine of Uberness.... :toothy11:

 

[Death by Uberschall]

:headbang1:

 

[Patriot54]

Future GOTM  :headbang:

I'd love to do a similar concept on a Jazzmaster with no pickguard and a figured top

 

[Patriot54]

dp

 

[OzziePete]

Future GOTM  :headbang:

I'd love to do a similar concept on a Jazzmaster with no pickguard and a figured top

Thank you for your interest in the Uber Tele project....
This project came about because I had the EMG system sitting around without a guitar to go into......the EMGs were meant to go into a Jazzmaster guitar but I could not physically fit them in with the restraints of the cavity sizes of the front routed body and the old styled roller pots and upper switch. My idea back then was to take what Leo considered his most technologically advanced designs in the JM and Jaguar and update them with fixes to problems the guitar players had encountered with those designs, and also update the pickup system to a  very modern standard.

That is why I originally bought the EMG 89s, which are the more fancy type of EMG pickup with the dual sound switching, AND the EQ circuits (SPC & EXG)....but it proved a near impossibility under the constraints of the front routed JM body with the older styled controls. I had forgotten too, to specify a battery box for the JM body and I was reluctant to try my hand at routing first up on such a hard piece of wood and a finished poly paint job. So the EMG system came out and I have been working on a passive pickup system for the Jazzmonster as I call it since..... This has been ongoing since 2002, I kid you not....but  personal issues kept getting it pushed back.

So to have the EMGs roaring yesterday was a sweet 'payday' for me and I'm just happy the thing is now complete.

On the issue of Jazzmasters, if you are using an EMG system, get a battery box rout, and have the guitar rear routed so the cavity is large enough to take the wiring. And ditch that gawd awful trem while you are at it!  :icon_thumright:

 

[Cagey]

PROJECT COMPLETE!
:blob7: :blob7: :blob7:

And once again we have a Tele that makes me wanna build a Tele. That is simply gorgeous! Super-fine piece of work! You must be very pleased!

I especially like the Warmoth headstock neck with the block inlays. Fixes that droopy-dick look Tele headstocks normally have. Then, getting rid of the typical Tele tailpiece and putting a Wilkie on there was a good move. Looks better, adds functionality and allows you to set your intonation properly. Nice finish choice on a premium base... the whole thing is just nice, Nice, NICE! <grin>

 

[pabloman]

I would definitely rub my balls on it.  :guitaristgif:

 

[OzziePete]

Thanx everyone for the compliments, inc that last one I think!  :laughing7:

Cagey, you mentioned the Les Paul style of volume controls interacting with each other.....After my rewire, I noticed that the controls are indeed independent of each other. The new solderless system has a buss board that everything runs into, and I guess through using that, it keeps the two volume controls isolated.  :icon_thumright:

This forum has been very helpful in getting this particular guitar to fruition, and by buying a premium quality neck, I was obliged to pimp the rest of the project up to that standard. When I previewed this Thread the pressure was on to complete it. I am the kind of person who needs external motivators so this Thread and this forum certainly provided that. But it all fits in well and plays well now and , yes, I am very happy.

 

[Cagey]

They'll only interact when both pickups are selected. In that case you'll have controls connected in parallel, as if they're on a bus, albeit a very small one. So, if any pot on the bus is near ground, that'll be the path of least resistance to signal flow. Set your pickup selector to both, and turn either volume pot all the way down. You should lose all output.

 

[OzziePete]

They'll only interact when both pickups are selected. In that case you'll have controls connected in parallel, as if they're on a bus, albeit a very small one. So, if any pot on the bus is near ground, that'll be the path of least resistance to signal flow. Set your pickup selector to both, and turn either volume pot all the way down. You should lose all output.

I have just dragged the Uber Tele out and did a quick sound check for you, and yep, the controls are independent of each other. Switched to the middle position and turned the neck volume pot down to 0, lost completely the neck pickup, but the bridge pickup could still be heard (but reduced in volume). Did the same the other way around, lost the bridge pickup and had the neck pickup still being heard  - but at reduced volume.

One quick question too? I had a ground wire to run from the toggle switch and ran that into the Ground socket on the Buss Board....Do I need to now run a wire to a grounding point or is the buss somehow grounding that component? This is where the active systems start confusing me - they say don't need aground wire - presumably for the pickups and actives, but what about the switch and passive pots?  :dontknow:

ATM, the guitar sounds quiet enough, but I haven't had it blaring on a loud system yet, juts a very small acoustic amp ....

 

[Cagey]

Sometimes, switch housings are grounded if they're metal and can possibly have any shielding effect, although you don't see that very often. It's more important that the signal lines be shielded, and the shield grounded. You can ground the shield anywhere along it's length and it'll work, so you may not need to run a ground all the way out to the switch.

 

[Patriot54]

Thank you for your interest in the Uber Tele project....
This project came about because I had the EMG system sitting around without a guitar to go into......the EMGs were meant to go into a Jazzmaster guitar but I could not physically fit them in with the restraints of the cavity sizes of the front routed body and the old styled roller pots and upper switch. My idea back then was to take what Leo considered his most technologically advanced designs in the JM and Jaguar and update them with fixes to problems the guitar players had encountered with those designs, and also update the pickup system to a  very modern standard.

That is why I originally bought the EMG 89s, which are the more fancy type of EMG pickup with the dual sound switching, AND the EQ circuits (SPC & EXG)....but it proved a near impossibility under the constraints of the front routed JM body with the older styled controls. I had forgotten too, to specify a battery box for the JM body and I was reluctant to try my hand at routing first up on such a hard piece of wood and a finished poly paint job. So the EMG system came out and I have been working on a passive pickup system for the Jazzmonster as I call it since..... This has been ongoing since 2002, I kid you not....but  personal issues kept getting it pushed back.

So to have the EMGs roaring yesterday was a sweet 'payday' for me and I'm just happy the thing is now complete.

On the issue of Jazzmasters, if you are using an EMG system, get a battery box rout, and have the guitar rear routed so the cavity is large enough to take the wiring. And ditch that gawd awful trem while you are at it!  :icon_thumright:

If possible, please record a video of your UberTele in action, or at least some audio. Also, do you have any pics of your JM project?

As for the mockup I posted, they didn't have an option for different bridges or figured maple tops, but I picture a guitar like that with an LP-style bridge. After I finish my current project, and the next one after that, then I'll be thinking about an "uber" JM or Z-body.

 

[OzziePete]

Thank you for your interest in the Uber Tele project....
This project came about because I had the EMG system sitting around without a guitar to go into......the EMGs were meant to go into a Jazzmaster guitar but I could not physically fit them in with the restraints of the cavity sizes of the front routed body and the old styled roller pots and upper switch. My idea back then was to take what Leo considered his most technologically advanced designs in the JM and Jaguar and update them with fixes to problems the guitar players had encountered with those designs, and also update the pickup system to a  very modern standard.

That is why I originally bought the EMG 89s, which are the more fancy type of EMG pickup with the dual sound switching, AND the EQ circuits (SPC & EXG)....but it proved a near impossibility under the constraints of the front routed JM body with the older styled controls. I had forgotten too, to specify a battery box for the JM body and I was reluctant to try my hand at routing first up on such a hard piece of wood and a finished poly paint job. So the EMG system came out and I have been working on a passive pickup system for the Jazzmonster as I call it since..... This has been ongoing since 2002, I kid you not....but  personal issues kept getting it pushed back.

So to have the EMGs roaring yesterday was a sweet 'payday' for me and I'm just happy the thing is now complete.

On the issue of Jazzmasters, if you are using an EMG system, get a battery box rout, and have the guitar rear routed so the cavity is large enough to take the wiring. And ditch that gawd awful trem while you are at it!  :icon_thumright:

If possible, please record a video of your UberTele in action, or at least some audio. Also, do you have any pics of your JM project?

As for the mockup I posted, they didn't have an option for different bridges or figured maple tops, but I picture a guitar like that with an LP-style bridge. After I finish my current project, and the next one after that, then I'll be thinking about an "uber" JM or Z-body.

Thanx.  :icon_thumright:

I'm pretty camera shy, so I doubt a video would be up anytime soon.......I will be trying sometime in the future to sharpen up my playing good enough to do some audio.....I also have to continue shaking down my home recording system, so that recording would be a good project.

The Jazzmonster project has led me to become a mini expert in JM projects and mini humbuckers!  In a not so good way... :evil4:

It is coming up to it's 9th year since I first thought of the idea, I know that...it has had more incarnations and redoes than Joan Rivers' face.

ATM, I am still trying to shove the mini hums in there, and I am trying a different kind of tone circuit and using the main bottom controls (2 x CTS 300K Audio taper)  as independent volume controls.

The top roller pot circuit and switch is being used to switch one of the two pots onto a Bill Lawrence Q Filter, so with the vast variance in the pot values you have there (1M & 50K), it acts kinda like a more bassier tone EQ pot (50K) or a more treblier one (1M). The Q-Filter is also a bit different as it tends to keep the whole tone there but shifts the inductance of the pickup that you have selected and gives the effect of winding off the coil winds on the pickup (as you would hear that). Now, that means I cannot set up coil tap settings or have too much in the way of these tone pots from the pickup, the Q-Filter likes to 'see' the pickup signal, and if you put other pots and switches in the way it is less effective, but yeah I got that working once and did sound better. So I'd like to persevere with that if I can as the tone will be good.

IF you order a JM body double check with Warmoth what they WILL NOT rout in that body, BEFORE you buy pickups or hardware that can't be routed for....Do not assume that just because they do routings for your fav pickup or bridge in say, a LP, Strat or Tele body, that they will automatically do it for a JM, Jaguar or Mustang..For some reason, and all I have ever got from Warmoth was "sorry we don't do that" - no real explanation, they don't do mini humbucker routs on the body or it's pickguard, and things like the trem or bridge routings are probably a bit hit and miss too.

http://www.unofficialwarmoth.com/index.php?topic=16231.0

It has been a major stumbling block for me. As I have had some success with the tone of the mini hums matching the all maple body (which was another error on my part as the maple is too lively and will thin out a lot of pickups or make them sound sterile), I would like to see that to playing stage.

 

[Patriot54]

Thanx.  :icon_thumright:

I'm pretty camera shy, so I doubt a video would be up anytime soon.......I will be trying sometime in the future to sharpen up my playing good enough to do some audio.....I also have to continue shaking down my home recording system, so that recording would be a good project.

The Jazzmonster project has led me to become a mini expert in JM projects and mini humbuckers!  In a not so good way... :evil4:

It is coming up to it's 9th year since I first thought of the idea, I know that...it has had more incarnations and redoes than Joan Rivers' face.

ATM, I am still trying to shove the mini hums in there, and I am trying a different kind of tone circuit and using the main bottom controls (2 x CTS 300K Audio taper)  as independent volume controls.

The top roller pot circuit and switch is being used to switch one of the two pots onto a Bill Lawrence Q Filter, so with the vast variance in the pot values you have there (1M & 50K), it acts kinda like a more bassier tone EQ pot (50K) or a more treblier one (1M). The Q-Filter is also a bit different as it tends to keep the whole tone there but shifts the inductance of the pickup that you have selected and gives the effect of winding off the coil winds on the pickup (as you would hear that). Now, that means I cannot set up coil tap settings or have too much in the way of these tone pots from the pickup, the Q-Filter likes to 'see' the pickup signal, and if you put other pots and switches in the way it is less effective, but yeah I got that working once and did sound better. So I'd like to persevere with that if I can as the tone will be good.

IF you order a JM body double check with Warmoth what they WILL NOT rout in that body, BEFORE you buy pickups or hardware that can't be routed for....Do not assume that just because they do routings for your fav pickup or bridge in say, a LP, Strat or Tele body, that they will automatically do it for a JM, Jaguar or Mustang..For some reason, and all I have ever got from Warmoth was "sorry we don't do that" - no real explanation, they don't do mini humbucker routs on the body or it's pickguard, and things like the trem or bridge routings are probably a bit hit and miss too.

http://www.unofficialwarmoth.com/index.php?topic=16231.0

It has been a major stumbling block for me. As I have had some success with the tone of the mini hums matching the all maple body (which was another error on my part as the maple is too lively and will thin out a lot of pickups or make them sound sterile), I would like to see that to playing stage.

Thanks for the info - the Strat I'm working on is also an all maple body, neck and fretboard so it will be interesting to see how that affects the sound. At the moment, I forget what pickups I was considering but my signature sound is very hollow without much midrange so maybe the maple will compliment that. Whenever I get around to building my JM or Z-body, I might do two P-90s and a single coil  :dontknow:

 

[Revo]

All you need is strings  :headbang:

 

[OzziePete]

Now listed in the Gallery...
http://www.unofficialwarmoth.com/index.php?topic=16706.msg245496#new