MUYFUE said:
I think this is a GREAT project, dont' scrap nothing!
+10 million to moving the battery box! There is so much more room that can be freed up for the tone circuit...they come on little boards right?
A new solid pickguard would look better. You can still keep your desired control layout (too complex for its own good :icon_tongue
if you can take that dremel and remove some wood from under the pickguard...maybe get a freind...If you were in S.A. TX I'd help, I'm pretty handy with that thing. In short, there's enough wood left to remove just what you need to make room for your controls.
IDEA!...take that Dremel and route out the middle pup slot to be deeper and stick the batteries in there?
So so close to what I originally had in mind when I ordered the body Muyfue! I had thoughts of shoving the batteries in that middle cavity with the wires running down the centre of the cavity. But alas, the batteries are just a fraction too big to install side on and yes, I'd have to attack the cavity with the Dremel to make slots for them.
One of the things I have wanted to do with this project is challenge my own skills (tick - done that!) and engineer better ways of installing things and make the instrument look as close as I can to the original guitar in layout design and application.
However,.....
Death by Uberschall said:
Get somebody to open up the route for the dual battery box.
Or with all the room in that body cavity, just put the batteries in there wrapped in foam.
This is
now pretty much on the money to what I think can be achieved.
There is a decent sized gap between the toggle switch, located on the lower bout of the body, and the main larger controls and output jack. I *can* fit two 9v batteries in there, and as these batteries don't go dead all that often, it won't be too much of an inconvenience having them there - save for the 14 screws to be undone each time I want to lift the pickguard! (Oh, I do miss the simplicity of the old Tele 8 screw pickguard, lol!)
Failing installing the batteries there, I have found a pretty good repairer ( a father and son team who build guitars - Upfold Guitars) who would be able to rout the double battery box on the back of the guitar.
But I must admit to being more than a little ashamed of the way this project has spanned out - and with all the stop / starts this project has incurred. If it hasn't been illness or major family issues, or too damn busy with the commute to Sydney or just plain 'no money', I think this project would be over and done. I guess I have a developed a bit of a paranoia about the whole thing and get quite uptight looking at all the money I have spent on this - and the ancillary equipment/tools to get it to this stage - and it is
still unfinished. That's why I have turned to other people to get the advice... I really can't trust my judgement on this thing anymore.
I will give the larger 25K pots a go and see if I can get them into the cavity. It makes sense to try and get these to fit as I then won't have to resort to using Linear pots and parallel wiring in resistors.
I also will try and fashion a bracket for the JM because I do not want to waste more time and money spending USD$10 (PLUS postage) on a bracket that is essentially a 90 degree piece of aluminium with 4 holes in it. I have an almost identical strip of aluminium now, and just need to cut it to shape and drill the 3/8" holes for the pots and the smaller ones for the screws. BTW, Warmoth now sells them too. (When I started this project, they sold none of this roller bracket and knob assembly stuff, I remember trawling the net on a 56K connection when I was renting in Sydney trying to find the brackets and roller knobs!)
dmraco said:
Are you 100% sold on the EMGs?? I have them and love them too. Personally, I have found the DiMarzio Breed just as good and cleans up nicer too. Of course you lose some of the silence of active PUs, but the Breeds have very little background noise too.
You should be able to sinc the pots you need as nononsensetele states.
I am more sold on these EMGs because I go them for an absolute bargain because the then Distributor for them in Australia, accidentally sold them to me for the Wholesale Price! I got the 1x EMG89, 1 x EMG89R, 1 x SPC, 1 x EXG, for about the price you would have got for just the two pickups. I bought them before the last Christmas I was living in Sydney, the Distributor must have thought I was a retailer and made the mistake on not only quoting me the wholesale price but actually invoiced me for that price too. It was only when he went to send the gear out, that he realised his mistake. He sent me a lovely note wishing me well for Christmas, and stuck to his price. No longer their Distributor though.
But I have been a fan of EMGs going back to the days of Iva Davies using them in his Strat when doing live work for Icehouse. I think he was one of the first to have them in Australia. I know Iva is very picky with his sounds and if he went for EMGs then they are certainly noise less as much as you can make them. Also like the principle of having the pre amp inside the pickup. So I have always wanted to have a guitar with this sort of set up.
AND FINALLY :doh:, Thank you so much for all the advice, it has been much appreciated. I will now get busy and see what can be achieved with this JazzMonster!
