I've made a couple of additions to the switching system of my black SG. One of them is a series/parallel switch down by the tone and volume knobs - on the brass disc that leads the copper tubes into the control cavity. I also added a copper shield to cover the holes left by the original knobs and switches. It's still quite fresh and pink, and looks a bit out of place, but I expect that once it has oxidised a little it will turn a more brownish hue and blend in nicely with the rest of the metal.At present, the shield is only fixed by the nut of the tone and volume pots. I'm still contemplating wheter to use a few screws like on the brass shield or - which would look interesting - a lot of small brass tacks along the edge.
10 comments:
soon your fanbase will demand a video to see how it's playing...
Thanks, but that would mean that they'd also see how _I'm_ playing, and I'm not sure that I'd like that ;-)
Very steampunk-looking! And totally original too.
Thanks Gavin
I'm glad you find it original. I guess that if it had been done before, you'd know about it.
hey havnt talked to you in awhile on spring break so the guitar is on hold good new's I got a job so some much needed funding is finally being put into the guitar! the biggest issue im facing right now is the coarse tuner's we had everything all set on the drill press the first screw turned out beautiful the 2nd one the drill bit danced all over the threads any suggestions?
Drilling the string holes is a tough job. In average, I broke one drill bit per successful tuning peg. I used cheap drill bits, because the expensive ones broke as easily as the cheap ones.
Here's what I did:
File a flat area on the blind screw where you're going to drill. That gives the drill bit a better surface to rest on. Plus, if the drill bit catches the thread on the screw, it can break.
Don't drill too slow. Your screw might be subject to deformation hardening if you do. Unfortunately, I can't recommend a particular speed or feed rate... my drill press has no indicators. Also, if drilling doesn't work, take a new screw rather than trying again with the old one, because it might have hardened.
Only let a short piece of the drill bit protrude from the chuck. That will make it less prone to flexing.
You might want to make a jig to hold the blind screw. I made one from aluminium with a threaded hole to hold the blind screw.
Btw, you migh want to chamfer the holes. That'll make a softer edge and make the strings less prone to breaking.
Good luck. And btw, I'm no expert on metal work. There might be people that can give you additional advice that'll make your job easier.
Hey Alex figured you waited long enough so I put together some pictures for you to take a look at whats going on. http://s842.photobucket.com/albums/zz345/Megadeth408/Project%20Guitar%20Dean%20Explorer/
Well and it's unfortunate but because of time I had to abandon the coarse tuners for these kind of tuners http://buildingtheergonomicguitar.com/2008/03/headless-guitar-tuning-keys.html But beyond that my project is going very well and hopefully will be done next month.
I remember those tuners from the BTEG site. Looks like a good design, though that might take you some time as well as the coarse tuners would. They don't look like the simplest tuners in the world... and the plungers that draw the strings aren't standard components, are they? I believe you'll have to machine them yourself.
I had a look at your photos, and it seems the project is progressing. Are you going to paint the body or keep it natural?
Im going to keep it natural not sure if I want to stain it or not though. I've actually simplified the design enough with something that I believe would work very well. It's kind of a combination of the guitar tuners I showed you along with this system http://buildingtheergonomicguitar.com/2008/06/abm-headless-bridge-detail.html. The Finish itself is going to be a very thin lacquer. I heard satin Lacquer is ideal for the neck. Good new's though, tonight the neck was Attached 3/4 of the studs went in perfect. We tightened the studs down as much as possible and that neck wont budge, so im pretty confident that it's going to stay put. We also made a contour in the bottom horn so I can reach the upper frets better. I'll update the pictures tomorrow or Saturday.
Great blog I enjoyed readiing
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