Built in Gtr Electronics/Solid Body Gtr Project-It's Done!!

[Paul Marossy]

Sorry guys, the Floyd Rose floating "tremolo" is just too much a part of my style to disable it...

[jayp5150]

That's cool, just a suggestion.  I don't think I would ever pull up on my bar anyhow, so I thought I would mention it.  I have a heavy right hand mute, so a floater is  bummer for me.

[Gilles C]

That's cool, just a suggestion.  I don't think I would ever pull up on my bar anyhow, so I thought I would mention it.  I have a heavy right hand mute, so a floater is  bummer for me.

I have the same problem. I like to rest my right hand on the bridge.

Too much Blues, I suppose.  

Gilles

[vanhansen]

That's cool then.  I personally don't like the floating.  Break a string and the whole thing goes out of whack.  I own one guitar with a Floyd and it's non-recessed, 1988 Kramer Baretta.  I guess I just never got in to pulling up on the trem, just pushing down.  I actually have sort of wheened myself of using a trem at all lately.  Only time I use it is when it's 5150 time.  

[Paul Marossy]

I also do the muted string thing by resting my hand on the bridge. I have a light touch, though, so even though I play Floyd Rose equipped guitars, it's not much of a problem for me because I have a light touch.

I like doing pitch rises with my Floyd Rose, or wavering chords, so the routed body is necessary for me.

Breaking strings isn't a big deal for me, either. I have never broken a string while playing, even when doing some pretty serious string bends. I have only broken a few strings in the last 10 years, and that was only when trying to tune a guitar with new strings before I knew how to handle these locking trems. Those high E strings will only take so much tension, darn it!  :evil:

[Paul Marossy]

Well, I have asked around some more at various guitar related forums, and I decided to go with my original idea for the finish on the body based on mostly positive feedback.

You can see my progress so far here: http://www.diyguitarist.com/Guitars/SuperStrat.htm

It won't be too long now before I am finished with this project. I am undecided if I am going to actually use Ansil's sustain circuit thingie, though. So far, I have heard only one "build report" on that circuit and it didn't sound very positive. I tried contacting Ansil about it, but I haven't heard back from him on it...

[Paul Marossy]

Well, I'm finally almost done with this project. All I have left to do is to finish the neck and then I can see how this thing sounds. Hopefully, it sounds as good as it looks...

Here's a pic of the completed body:


I still am buffing the body to get a really good shine. This picture doesn't really show how shiny it really is so far. Anyhow, you can see the whole story here: http://www.diyguitarist.com/Guitars/SuperStrat.htm

[Paul Marossy]

Well, I finished up the neck this morning. I should have it strung up and intonated by Tues/Wed. Then the moment of truth... will it sound good or not? I vote for it will sound good.  

[Mark Hammer]

Adrian Belew would be proud.

Glad to see you went with the 2-piece pick-guard.   Cosmetically, not where I would have put the split, but doesn't look all that bad either.  Nice to know you can tinker away all you want with the electronics and NEVER have to de/restring, eh?

[Paul Marossy]

Yeah, I thought of Adrian when I was doing this. But his guitars didn't look as sophisticated as mine, or at least the ones that I have seen.  :wink:
Thanks for the two piece pickguard suggestion, that was a good idea. BTW, where would you have done the split?

[Eric H]

Adrian Belew would be proud.

 Cosmetically, not where I would have put the split, but doesn't look all that bad either.  

I think when it's stringed-up the split will be a lot less noticeable --just another parallel line. It makes for a larger area that can be utilised under it as well. I really like the color of the paint, and subtlety of the fabric --even though you wish it were brighter. Looking forward to the completion.

-Eric

[Paul Marossy]

I think when it's stringed-up the split will be a lot less noticeable --just another parallel line

That was my thinking exactly.

I really like the color of the paint, and subtlety of the fabric --even though you wish it were brighter

What actually happened is the white became a little less white with the sanding sealer applied. Then there is some particles of overspray that tinted it some more. But, I am OK with the end result. I like it like it is - it's kind of loud, but tasteful at the same time. That picture makes it look a little darker than it really is. I need to take a picture of it in the sunlight. In hindsight, I probably should have put a coat of white primer underneath the fabric. The overspray from the blue paint is the main culprit, though. In person, it looks like the whole thing has some metal flake on it. I guess I could have sanded some of that out, but I liked it as it was.

And the shocker is, my wife likes it!  :shock:
(Well, actually she likes most of my stuff. The part she doesn't like is the time consuming part because it takes me away from helping out with the childrens - 1 and 3)

[gtech]

The kind of splits that I would like to do on my Strat is something like this:

http://www.burnsguitars.com/home.php

Except that the control pots would be on a separate part also

Maybe like this:

http://www.burnsguitars.com/guitars/SteerGSBcutside.jpg

Gilles

[Paul Marossy]

Hmm... that is an interesting looking pickguard on that white guitar. Kinda different. I was following the traditional Strat pickguard on my project.

[Paul Marossy]

Well, I finished it last night. It has great sustain and a nice round tone. The neck also vibrates nicely, it's the old "Fender log" type of neck. The guitar is pretty heavy, it nearly feels like a Les Paul! It's not heavy due to a bunch of sanding sealer, either. I only used maybe 3-4 ounces of sanding sealer on it. I finished the neck with tung oil and gave it a satin feel.
I am just waiting for my Fender decal to put on the headstock and I can call it good. I have only one buzzing fret to address still. The preamp provides a noticeable boost, too. Overall, I am pleased with the results of my first effort. (Sorry for the low-fi pic)

[Paul Marossy]

Just one last thing, I promise.  :wink:

That Donald Tillman preamp provides a heck of a boost when you add a 10uF cap in parallel with the source resistor! You can really pummel the preamp section of your amplifier with it.  :shock:

I wonder how it compares with the Stratoblaster? Has anyone done a side by side comparison of these two circuits?

[Ben N]

I LOVE the way you finished that guitar--looks fabulous!  How do you have the switching set up--is the preamp completely bypassed when you turn it off, or do you switch between buffer and boost?  That source bypass cap idea would seem to work well for the latter arrangement.  I was also wondering ab0ut a comparison b/w preamps.
Ben

[Paul Marossy]

I LOVE the way you finished that guitar--looks fabulous! How do you have the switching set up--is the preamp completely bypassed when you turn it off, or do you switch between buffer and boost? That source bypass cap idea would seem to work well for the latter arrangement. I was also wondering ab0ut a comparison b/w preamps.

Yeah, the more I play it, the more I like it. It sounds as good as it looks. I'm glad that this story had a happy ending - I took a few risks along the way, but it all came together in the end. Anyhow, the preamp is true bypass, what else would you expect?!  :wink:
I guess one could also have an FET buffer in bypass mode. But I like it just the way it is.  

EDIT: Here is a few close-ups of the body. The sunburst looks lighter or darker depending on how the light hits it.