What the hell is it..?

[Magicbisket]

Frets needing to be touched up and trimmed.

Sanded back of body

Headstock. Still needs filler on the glued cracks and a bit more sanding.

Raw Grain of the Neck.

Picks Delivered.

-D.T. Latty

 

[Dan025]

those are actually a couple nice pieces of wood. that fretboard really needs some love though, with a nice finish on that body the fretboard deserves to be replaced. if it were me i might have just done the frets if i wanted a beater but it looks like you have some loose fret ends. like the frets need a bit of radius and some glue. is that body really one piece? looks that way in the photo. the project has potential if that neck gets fixed.. but as long as you're having fun go with it..

 

[Corey P.]

Yeah, the fretboard looks like it was stained/blackened/painted originally - the radius of the board itself doesn't look all that bad - I think the discoloration makes the surface look worse than it really is - I agree that the frets look like they lack enough of a radius/seem to be a little bit raised towards the outer edges.  That said, some of the gouges from whomever removed them make that hard to judge in places - it's certainly a much better job than I could do or feel comfortable attempting any time soon.  It might be a nice effect using some wood filler for those spots & blackening it like ebony.

Is that back a laminate/thinner ply of wood?  It looks really nice.

 

[Magicbisket]

As you guys said, the fretboard is pretty screwy looking with all the gouges, and yeah, if was black before I sanded it down to remove scratches and fix the radius a bit. As for the frets, I've got some with the frets still hanging over, (It's bound) but they've been detanged and just need to be filed back. I can see what you mean by a few looking as though they don't have enough of a radius, but until it causes any problems playing, i'm not going to try to Over fix it.

And sadly no... it's a ply body; but I'm alright with it, after all, my current guitar is a modified cheap ply guitar. Lover her.

And Now for the two finishing ideas.

One: My friend has been wanting to start playing guitar for a while now. I've got an old amp she can have and i'd been wanting to get her a guitar for a long while now. I originally planned on getting her a gfs kit and upgrading some of the hardware, however the cash I thought I would be coming into fell through. When this little gem came along, it gave some hope to the idea.

So she's more of a modernish metal fan... which goes against everything I believe in but I still love her... and her favorite colors are black and orange. So i'm thinking black out the hardware, which I have researched, perhaps some strat rails, and finish it something like this.

Two: She may not be able to accept it due to her boyfriend getting easily jealous.... I know.... but If she cant, I'm going to finish I how I want.
A burst to hide the ply, to a slightly darkened natural, either through a tintcoat or a light stain. Keep the pickups, creme knobs, tortoiseshell pickguard, neck is kept wholly natural dings and all. To look something like this.

I appreciate the good words and I hope to get working again on it today barring I finish my Soc in time.

-D. T. Latty

 

[Cagey]

Either way looks like a good plan to me, but the orange to black one may be pushing it. Also, I'd get rid of the 2nd tone control.

 

[Jumble Jumble]

I think on a two pickup guitar with three knobs I'd go separate volume for each pickup and master tone. Actually I'm about to mod a Squier Strat to two pickups, and that's what I'm going to do (plus some push/pulls for the hell of it).

I like the black and orange, it's very unusual. Plus I love orange anyway.

 

[Cagey]

Dual volume and/or dual tone controls interact with each other when you have more than one pickup selected, as you put the controls in parallel. You change the output impedance in unpredictable ways, so you can end up surprised at those switch positions. You almost always have to adjust when changing pickups anyway and you may not know which control is off. So, why make life difficult? Some can get along with it, but it drives me nuts. I like predictable scenarios that I don't have to think about. If I always have to adjust, I want the knobs in the same place every time so my hand does an automatic adjustment. If it's off, nail the volume and/or tone and be done with it. I don't want to go searching for the right pot. Time is critical when you're playing live; there are no do-overs like you get in the bedroom/basement/studio.

 

[Magicbisket]

I'm pretty sure it is universal tone and two volumes. But I may just go screw it when I get the new pickguard and rewire it with a 3 way switch, one tone, one volume. A bit of good news, the pickups are reverse wound for noise canceling.

As for the orange/black finish. It kinda is pushing it but pushing it is kinda her style. I personally wouldn't ever want a guitar that looked like that but that's not what it's about. Anyways, I can hardly see her anymore since she's trying moving in with her boyfriend so I'm not sure how that'll pan out anyways.

My only worry is that I'm not sure how to get an angled neck pickup (maybe jaguar) and a non angled bridge pickup.

Always appreciated

-D.T. Latty

 

[Jumble Jumble]

Dual volume and/or dual tone controls interact with each other when you have more than one pickup selected, as you put the controls in parallel. You change the output impedance in unpredictable ways, so you can end up surprised at those switch positions. You almost always have to adjust when changing pickups anyway and you may not know which control is off. So, why make life difficult? Some can get along with it, but it drives me nuts. I like predictable scenarios that I don't have to think about. If I always have to adjust, I want the knobs in the same place every time so my hand does an automatic adjustment. If it's off, nail the volume and/or tone and be done with it. I don't want to go searching for the right pot. Time is critical when you're playing live; there are no do-overs like you get in the bedroom/basement/studio.

Yeah, we've talked about this before, I said you could get the controls isolated (eg with a super switch), you said it was impossible, I drew a diagram, you didn't like it, I drew a bunch more diagrams until there was one you understood and finally you admitted OK, the controls were isolated, and then you went back to discouraging everyone from ever having more than a master volume and master tone, ignoring the fact that that conversation ever happened.

To hear you'd talk you'd think nobody had ever managed to get a Les Paul to sound good live!

 

[Strat Avenger]

One volume control, no tone controls. 

Have a nice day.

 

[Magicbisket]

Speakin' of no tone control... I did pick up one of those black ice passive overdrive units for S**t's and Giggles.

http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Electronics,_pickups/Components:_Black_Ice_overdrive/Black_Ice.html

Might be fun.

-D.T. Latty

 

[stubhead]

Oh give me a tank 'n' a hose, so I'ze can go a-snarkeling....

Dual volume and/or dual tone controls interact with each other when you have more than one pickup selected, as you put the controls in parallel. You change the output impedance in unpredictable ways, so you can end up surprised at those switch positions. You almost always have to adjust when changing pickups anyway and you may not know which control is off. So, why make life difficult?* Some can get along with it, but it drives me nuts. I like predictable scenarios that I don't have to think about. If I always have to adjust, I want the knobs in the same place every time so my hand does an automatic adjustment. If it's off, nail the volume and/or tone and be done with it. I don't want to go searching for the right pot. Time is critical when you're playing live;* there are no do-overs like you get in the bedroom/basement/studio.

Amazingly enough, a couple of people have managed to turn this crippling fault into something of a virtue, realizing that with the proper arrangement they can control a huge variety of tones with the knobs alone. You may have heard of Duane Allman? Or the Page fellow, played for Dezz Zelpedamn or something. Switch in the middle, both V's at 7, neck tone at 10 and bridge tone at 6. THEN set your amp for ideal tone. Just varying the V's alone opens up the rainbow... If that doesn't serve as the Keys to the Kingdom, you're capacitors oar too large, your amp sucks - or you do. Or you need a better guitar...

:toothy12:  :toothy12: :toothy12:​

The modern method, of course, is to simply have a pedalboard set with a switch-in combination for every tone you need. You never have to understand how your guitar works at all! 

:hello2: :hello2: :hello2:​

Which is just one reason why modern guitar-based music is so much better than that cheezy old 70's stuff, and why every list of "Great Guitar Solos" or "Great Guitar Songs" never includes anything before 1995 or so. And why every guitarist - even that guy who has never played a gig, doesn't have one lined up and never will - everyone still has the Big Boy Cool Guy10-cylinder pedalboard, and is therefore earnestly qualified to discuss whether the Timmy goes before the OCD or the OCD goes before the Timmy - it all depends on how high the cat jumps out of a sound sleep, when you ambush him with your "Live at Leeds" chord.

*(ya don't say....)

 

[Cagey]

Yeah, we've talked about this before, I said you could get the controls isolated (eg with a super switch), you said it was impossible, I drew a diagram, you didn't like it, I drew a bunch more diagrams until there was one you understood and finally you admitted OK, the controls were isolated, and then you went back to discouraging everyone from ever having more than a master volume and master tone, ignoring the fact that that conversation ever happened.

To hear you'd talk you'd think nobody had ever managed to get a Les Paul to sound good live!

I seem to remember a conversation along those lines, but I don't remember the resolution. I may have conceded or clarified some points, but I can't imagine agreeing that you could isolate two pickups with individual controls that ended up in parallel due to switching, regardless of the type of switch.

In any event, I've never said you couldn't get a good tone that way. Certainly many have. My point all along has been that you can't always predict what that volume/tone is going to be if you have controls in parallel.

 

[Cagey]

Amazingly enough, a couple of people have managed to turn this crippling fault into something of a virtue, realizing that with the proper arrangement they can control a huge variety of tones with the knobs alone. You may have heard of Duane Allman? Or the Page fellow, played for Dezz Zelpedamn or something. Switch in the middle, both V's at 7, neck tone at 10 and bridge tone at 6. THEN set your amp for ideal tone. Just varying the V's alone opens up the rainbow... If that doesn't serve as the Keys to the Kingdom, you're capacitors oar too large, your amp sucks - or you do. Or you need a better guitar... 

I'd hardly call it a "crippling fault". As I said above, many have certainly learned to live with that arrangement and produce fantastic music. All I'm saying is it's easier if you don't have to fondle a lot of controls to get where you need to be.

 

[Magicbisket]

I've been thinking... I love this guitar and it doesn't really fit her style at it's heart. My other guitar, although not modern, can be used to play metal quite well.

I could give her my other guitar. Modified Epi LP Speciall II with Completely redone electronics. CTS Push pull pots for dual coil split, Seymour Duncan Pickups, professional wiring job. Fix up the frets, make sure she's set up properly, clean her up nicely.

It may seem like I'm just doing a hand-me-down guitar thing but It's my very first guitar so it's got some serious sentimental value. I'll give her my very first amp as well. Then she'll be set.

Now considering it is my first guitar, It won't be a permanent thing. I will work on getting the proper funds for building a guitar I originally intended to.

This way she can have a guitar that plays nicely, sounds nice, and more fits her style.  I get a new project guitar. And she can be better versed on what she's looking for as well as know how to play it once I have the funds for the upcoming guitar build.

Opinions?

Also I really, really love this guitar. Not finished, hardware's not properly installed, string tree's arent on making the E and B pop out from the nut... but I already love her.

I figure I can take a bit more time to give her something of the quality and style I originally planned.

Sorry, didn't mean to turn this into a Dear Warmoth letter.

Always have been,

-D.T. Latty

 

[Dan025]

Dual volume and/or dual tone controls interact with each other when you have more than one pickup selected, as you put the controls in parallel. You change the output impedance in unpredictable ways, so you can end up surprised at those switch positions. You almost always have to adjust when changing pickups anyway and you may not know which control is off. So, why make life difficult? Some can get along with it, but it drives me nuts. I like predictable scenarios that I don't have to think about. If I always have to adjust, I want the knobs in the same place every time so my hand does an automatic adjustment. If it's off, nail the volume and/or tone and be done with it. I don't want to go searching for the right pot. Time is critical when you're playing live; there are no do-overs like you get in the bedroom/basement/studio.

Yeah, we've talked about this before, I said you could get the controls isolated (eg with a super switch), you said it was impossible, I drew a diagram, you didn't like it, I drew a bunch more diagrams until there was one you understood and finally you admitted OK, the controls were isolated, and then you went back to discouraging everyone from ever having more than a master volume and master tone, ignoring the fact that that conversation ever happened.

To hear you'd talk you'd think nobody had ever managed to get a Les Paul to sound good live!

link to that thread please.... reason i ask is most of the time two intelligent people disagree they are usually talking about two different things the whole time...


that said. if you have 2 pickups each with a volume and they are in parallel with the volumes wired the traditional way having the wiper to the output or switch then varying one volume will variably shunt the output of the other. in a guitar that changes the pickup load changing volume of the pickup you didn;t intend to alter and can create a low pass filter because of the pickup inductance. it will effect the resonant peak most because at that point the interaction of the pickup inductance and the parasitic capacitance between windings and of the cabling and tone circuit can create a point with rather high impedance where if not shunted the current drops near very low but he voltage spikes which is a big part of the pickups character and part of the "magic" that make guitar player like passive electronics better than active.

if you keep the volumes both between 5 and 8 it should avoid unexpected muddyness. that should be enough range for one to over power the other without unexpected results. the only way around this would be dual buffers. one for each pickup after the volume (or the volume alters the gain ratio of the preamp/buffer rater than a passive voltage divider) and before the switch. with dual buffers you could have linear volume control without tone weirdness and true mixing, one volume knob wouldn't shunt the output of the other pickup but i've never seen it implimented in a guitar like i described. you could also wire the volumes backwards for more mixing ability where the pickup is connected to the wiper instead of the switch. this has a drawback because you shunt the pickup directly with the volume as you roll it down which means you lose highs any time you turn down the volume, not just in the middle position when you turn down the opposite pickup.

with a single tone and two volumes the crossover point may do some weird stuff since it must be after the switch which is after the volumes. the impedance from the pickup to the output increases as the volume is turned down, this should lower the crossover point but the impedance to ground in parallel to the tone is also droping which should mean that the crossover point will go up. i would really have to calculate the impedance at a few frequencies to get a picture of what is really going on but even if the crossover point stays steady i'm sure the shape of the curve does some weird stuff. what this means is that what the tone does with the volume pegged is a bit different from what it does at partial volume. the tone changes with volume especially when the tone knob is rolled down. that doesn't necessarily mean it's not "predictable" the tone will still cut more highs when turned down. the volume will still lessen when turned down. but there is gonna be some change in tone with volume change and some non linearity. not exactly the end of the world.

if you can live with the volumes interacting but not the tone interacting with the volumes you could use a stacked "stereo" or a concentric pot. a stereo pot would give a singe control but control he tone of each pickup on seperate circuits so you can pu them in parallel to the volume input instead of the volume output. with a concentric pot you can get full les paul controls fit into a strat like arangment. 

 

[Jumble Jumble]

Yeah, we've talked about this before, I said you could get the controls isolated (eg with a super switch), you said it was impossible, I drew a diagram, you didn't like it, I drew a bunch more diagrams until there was one you understood and finally you admitted OK, the controls were isolated, and then you went back to discouraging everyone from ever having more than a master volume and master tone, ignoring the fact that that conversation ever happened.

To hear you'd talk you'd think nobody had ever managed to get a Les Paul to sound good live!

I seem to remember a conversation along those lines, but I don't remember the resolution. I may have conceded or clarified some points, but I can't imagine agreeing that you could isolate two pickups with individual controls that ended up in parallel due to switching, regardless of the type of switch.

In any event, I've never said you couldn't get a good tone that way. Certainly many have. My point all along has been that you can't always predict what that volume/tone is going to be if you have controls in parallel.

Actually yes, I'm wrong on this. The conversation was about a Strat - I said I was going to make it so that only one tone control was ever active, on every position of the switch, and that was what you said couldn't be done.

I agree that in a Les Paul you're always going to have controls in parallel in the middle position. I don't think it's a problem with the volumes but I think both tones are pretty much working as a master tone, so turning either one down a bit is turning all the tone down. You can't, for example, have the treble from one pickup and not from the other. But having the two volumes is really nice, and that's what I'm going to do on this Squier. Two volumes and a master tone.

 

[Jumble Jumble]

Oh, here's the link, even though it's not relevant.

http://www.unofficialwarmoth.com/index.php?topic=20136.msg297096#msg297096

 

[Magicbisket]

Well this escalated quickly,

 

[Magicbisket]

Picked up some new string trees, an input jack, and some pickguard screws. Oddly enough, the screws are a bit too big. Not a big problem, I'd be better to drill out the screw holes anyways because I'm sure a lot of them are becoming stripped.

Anyways the guy as GC showed great interest in the project which made me quite happy. Fixed the height on the bridge pickup and I starting to dig the tone a lot more. Neck is nice and mellow. Bridge has a wonderful jangles I just die for. I've decided I'm keeping all of the original electronics I can. Only replacing the input jack and maybe tampering with putting that Black Ice in.

I show great dislike for being so impersonal so... Thank you,

-Dayton T. Latty