General Luthiery Thread

[Witz]

Hey guys. I need your help.

 

I was in at my local music shop buying pots etc.

The tech happened to be working on an old fernandes guitar, the topic of sustainers came up and turns out the tech has a fernandes 101 system with the humbucker driver at home, hes keen to sell it.

 

I've had a look into this. I know the driver needs to go in the neck, and that the bridge needs to be a humbucker or single coil sized humbucker. Which will be a slightly weird config on this build having a Single coil on the bridge and a humbucker sustainer on the neck.

 

However the guy at the music shop said that the 101 humbucker sustainer unit will work both as a sustainer and as a pickup by itself, without the need for a second pickup on the bridge, I'm not convinced as I'm pretty sure it will work as a pickup when the sustainer is off, but it needs a pickup to feed off when it's on.. Maybe..

You guys will be the team to ask. Any help would be much appreciated.

 

Maybe not for this build but it's a pretty sweet opportunity at a good price.

 

Your right you do need two pickups, when switching the sustainer on it uses the bridge pickup for output. I'd love to see if it would work but I wonder whether it would be strong enough to drive the strings as they are a shorter scale, I know you can adjust the output etc but that's about all I know, I'm sure someone else on here could she more details

 

Have you got any pics of your capri online as I'm quite a fan of them

[L32]

Near to be finished.

[Phill]

Looking good!

[Paul LyoNZ]

Thanks for your help there.

I didn't think the 101 humbucker worked without another pickup.

I guess the only option would be to swap the humbucker driver with a single coil sized one from the 101 set (anyone keen to sell or swap one?) And run a humbucker in the bridge like the original plan.

 

You may be right about not being able to sustain the short scale length strings.

Anyway, here's a link to my Capri. these were taken about 5 years ago ish.

Will find some recent pics with the Cosworth engine, new wheels, flared guards etc.

 

http://www.classiccar.co.nz/articles/1974-ford-capri-gt-mki-back-to-the-seventies-229

 

And just so I don't change my mind I started routing... And when I say routing I mean making a mess of the kitchen bench.

[Witz]

Thanks for your help there.

I didn't think the 101 humbucker worked without another pickup.

I guess the only option would be to swap the humbucker driver with a single coil sized one from the 101 set (anyone keen to sell or swap one?) And run a humbucker in the bridge like the original plan.

 

You may be right about not being able to sustain the short scale length strings.

Anyway, here's a link to my Capri. these were taken about 5 years ago ish.

Will find some recent pics with the Cosworth engine, new wheels, flared guards etc.

 

http://www.classiccar.co.nz/articles/1974-ford-capri-gt-mki-back-to-the-seventies-229

 

And just so I don't change my mind I started routing... And when I say routing I mean making a mess of the kitchen bench.

 

I thought that's what kitchens were for

 

On the Capri note that's a seriously nice car you have got there I have massive respect for the fact that; A) you use as your car and B) you went after your own image, because as nice as it is to have a replica of a car that already exists it's far riskier to go for something that's your own and only exists in your mind and its great to see when it works as well!

 

Can't believe the engine had a cracked piston that takes some doing. I have to admit I'm not a classic car nut (unless it's le mans cars ) but I have always had a soft spot for Capri's they are just so cool. I work for a top (them as a company not me personally!) consultant engineering company and a lot of the guys at work restore cars from mustangs to VW campers and everything in between and the Capris are always the most interesting. There is a bloke on site who has a 5.7L chevy V8 in his capri which seems slightly wrong to me

 

Back on guitars, you could always just stick a single coil in the neck for now and one day stick a sustainer in there and if it doesn't work you have a perfect excuse to start building a guitar! (not that anyway should every need an excuse for building a guitar)

[Paul LyoNZ]

Cheers Witz. Means a lot.

Yeah I love the old beast eh.. Found a couple of pics of how it looks now, a bit more aggressive wheels and flares and with it's new engine ( I blew the other one too..) I'm a graphic designer and even way back in high school (before I brought the car) I was sketching pics of what I wanted a Capri to look like. Thank god I had reasonably good taste when I was 17.. Not much has changed.

 

Back on guitars before I turn this into a General Luthiery & Horseshit thread.

Great plan with the single coil in the neck, Keeps my options open and the build going.

[Paul LyoNZ]

Here's a shot of the Ukulele with the bridge mounted, all strung up and playing acoustically before I go and ruin it with a router. It plays bloody well for something I haven't set up yet.

 

I'd be interested to hear from anyone who knows about how far away a sustainer driver can be placed from the pickup or has put them close together successfully etc. You can see my issue.

Or anyone who has a single coil sustainer they want to sell/swap.

[james90]

What's the proper way to make a back cover for a guitar? I need to make one for that project of mine, and I don't know what to do exactly. Do I just cut it out with a soldering iron?

 

If it makes a difference, I already have one to trace around. I just need to make a duplicate of it.

[Witz]

Cheers Witz. Means a lot.

Yeah I love the old beast eh.. Found a couple of pics of how it looks now, a bit more aggressive wheels and flares and with it's new engine ( I blew the other one too..) I'm a graphic designer and even way back in high school (before I brought the car) I was sketching pics of what I wanted a Capri to look like. Thank god I had reasonably good taste when I was 17.. Not much has changed.

 

Back on guitars before I turn this into a General Luthiery & Horseshit thread.

Great plan with the single coil in the neck, Keeps my options open and the build going.

 

That certainly is a nice car, that first pic is worthy of being in a calendar With spacing for the driver I think it is sort as far as possible as the bridge pickup can end up making some weird noises otherwise. Where you have it positioned is probably right at the limit so it might be a bit touch and go if it works or not, although I am no expert!!

 

What's the proper way to make a back cover for a guitar? I need to make one for that project of mine, and I don't know what to do exactly. Do I just cut it out with a soldering iron?

 

If it makes a difference, I already have one to trace around. I just need to make a duplicate of it.

 

I presume cavity cover, usually get as small as a piece as possible acrylic which is slightly bigger than the piece to be cut stick you template on top of the acrylic and cut it with a small hobby desk bandsaw or junior hacksaw, if you don't have a small bandsaw. You really don't want to get it hot as the fumes from acrylic are really really bad for you Basically once you cut sort of near the outline get a medium grade file and use that to carefully craft it to shape, that's what I used to do and it always worked well as acrylic disappears at a heck of a rate when you attack it with a big file!!

 

Of if you me use your CNC machine You could router it by hand but that would be pretty brave and not worth the risk as junior hacksaws and files work fine.

[james90]

ok thanks

 

hooglebug or musecasters, any chance of making me a back plate if I send you the dimensions?

[Paul LyoNZ]

James90. I have made these before and I get them laser cut.

If you trace the outline of the backplate onto A4 paper, scan it into a computer I'd be happy to trace it in my design programme and send you back a file ready for your local engravers etc to laser cut. Often key cutters have small laser cutters too.

 

You can even etch logos etc into it as most of them have the ability.

 

I know people get scared at the word laser cutting, but it really is cheap as hell and you can't beat the quality. Let me know if you are interested.

[Witz]

^^^

He's right that it's a cheap and very easy way to make them

[james90]

James90. I have made these before and I get them laser cut.

If you trace the outline of the backplate onto A4 paper, scan it into a computer I'd be happy to trace it in my design programme and send you back a file ready for your local engravers etc to laser cut. Often key cutters have small laser cutters too.

 

You can even etch logos etc into it as most of them have the ability.

 

I know people get scared at the word laser cutting, but it really is cheap as hell and you can't beat the quality. Let me know if you are interested.

 

Thanks for the offer - I'll have to figure out if there's someone locally who can work with the file, but I'll let you know.

 

Unless Witz can do a collaboration with us? I'm sure I can find someone, but chances are it will be in a different country. Same happened when I wanted a guitar built... I did some EXTENSIVE RESEARCH and didn't find one builder that would build something from the ground up exactly how I wanted.

[Paul LyoNZ]

Sweet James. Let me know if you want to make it happen.

Last lot of laser cutting I did was for a LP that belongs to my mate. He wanted black to replace the cream colour. Cost him less than $20 NZD

 

I can get the files sorted for you. Then we are just sending emails around the world and you can get it done locally. Most laser cutters want what's called a PDF or an Ai file, either way its no hassle for me. Talk to somebody local first and get back to me.

 

I picked up some mirror perspex sample strips while I was there too and got creative for curiosities sake..

[musecasters]

Sweet James. Let me know if you want to make it happen.

Last lot of laser cutting I did was for a LP that belongs to my mate. He wanted black to replace the cream colour. Cost him less than $20 NZD

 

I can get the files sorted for you. Then we are just sending emails around the world and you can get it done locally. Most laser cutters want what's called a PDF or an Ai file, either way its no hassle for me. Talk to somebody local first and get back to me.

 

I picked up some mirror perspex sample strips while I was there too and got creative for curiosities sake..

 

if you bend it in the vice towards you, showing the crome rather than the back it gives great results, but it will go off like a gun, be warned

 

[Jaicen]

Duuuuuuude, details...?

[james90]

[musecasters]

Duuuuuuude, details...?

 

[james90]

 

 

 

So I've found a laser cutter (in the US... apparently we are catching up.) I'll have to call them up today and find out if they can work with the files, but it looks pretty legit otherwise.

 

Also need to source a truss rod cover, but I think those are generic enough to find on eBay.

[L32]

Finally done. I need a neck (from hooglebug) and the pickups.

[Jaicen]

Very tidy work, well done. I see you're undecided on the Fuzz Factory?

[L32]

Thanks Jaicen and Phill.

I`m not a big fan of fuzz inside a guitar but once i started building it was easiest to have it done from the begining for future options

[james90]

Looks like I'll be getting the plates from musecasters. This should be a fun project that I can do myself... I received it today and the headstock repair seems just fine, so I just need to sort out the electronics.

 

In order to get the original spec and look back, I had to order some schaller parts from germany. Pickups might or might not be original to the guitar, but I decided to put those aside and pop in some new ones of the same type. It's weird though... they are meant to work both in the neck and bridge position.

 

http://www.dimarzio.com/pickups/humbuckers/high-power/super-2

 

Any thoughts on that? I do know that on my other one with the stock pickups, the DC resistance (for what that's worth) is nearly the same for both, yet they sound so unbalanced in output...neck is a lot louder than the bridge.

[TwoCherriesInstruments]

I realize this is an old post but I have full dimensions, plans, templates, xy midi pad kits, unfinished bodies and necks available through my website

http://www.twocherriesinstruments.com

[james90]

 

 

 

Do these come with a finish? Looks like there's masking tape on the fretboard, so I'm guessing they do