Dub's Wacky Project Guitars Thread--we're baaaaaack

Guitar tech, wiring, maintenance, projects, SOS calls, and more!

Moderator: Ghost Hip

User avatar
coldbrightsunlight
Supporter
Supporter
Posts: 13643
Joined: Tue Oct 12, 2010 12:20 pm
Location: UK

Re: Dub's Wacky Project Guitars Thread--we're baaaaaack

Post by coldbrightsunlight »

Oh nooo yeah that would bug me on the strat too. good luck with the repair! Fun story and classic philosophical question included with that one :lol:
füzz lover. Friend. Quilter evangelist.

I make music sometimes:

https://nitrx.bandcamp.com/

https://mediocrisy.bandcamp.com/

https://fleshcouch.bandcamp.com
User avatar
dubkitty
Supporter
Supporter
Posts: 13628
Joined: Wed Nov 10, 2010 2:03 pm
Location: somewhere between Never-Never Land and Wonderland, in a place called Never Wonder Land

Re: Dub's Wacky Project Guitars Thread--we're baaaaaack

Post by dubkitty »

while waiting for the body to be ready i decided to go into my bag of Strat tremolo parts in the parts box and revamp things. the import Fender plate i used is much better-made than the Gotoh plate i was using, better bevels and nicer chrome. happily the Gotoh block fits perfectly.i had some extra saddles as well and changed out the more tired-looking ones as well as swapping out length adjustment screws with chewed-up heads and changing a couple of the height adjustment screws for shorter ones that don't chew up my hand when i strum. the bottom two saddles are visibly different and i notice the new ones are a bit narrower which is good for string spacing over the pickups, so perhaps i should do the others if i have them.

revamped bridge.jpg
revamped bridge.jpg (87.21 KiB) Viewed 6267 times
In girum imus nocte et consumimur igni

FIFTY YEARS OF SCARING THE CHILDREN 1970-2020--and i'm not done yet

DUBZ LOOPZ 2: THE NEXT GENERATION OUT NOW: https://on.soundcloud.com/9HKgc5xbaaYz6FNL7

DUBZ ÄLTER LOOPZ (2012-14): https://soundcloud.com/dubkitteh-1/sets ... ks-2012-14
User avatar
dubkitty
Supporter
Supporter
Posts: 13628
Joined: Wed Nov 10, 2010 2:03 pm
Location: somewhere between Never-Never Land and Wonderland, in a place called Never Wonder Land

Re: Dub's Wacky Project Guitars Thread--we're baaaaaack

Post by dubkitty »

everything's back together now. i didn't get it exactly right, but it's better than it was and i guess i'll settle for that. it's pushed over a bit to the bass side, which was inadvertent but is good because the high E string is too far from the polepiece on the bridge pickup. taking a break before i do the intonation/string height/pickups.

bridge remounted.jpg
bridge remounted.jpg (94.42 KiB) Viewed 6262 times
reassembled.jpg

i'm sure there's old photos showing how much worse it was, but i don't care enough to dig them out. looking forward to having this guitar in good shape again. i'm not as much of a Strat Guy as i used to be, but i still love 'em.
In girum imus nocte et consumimur igni

FIFTY YEARS OF SCARING THE CHILDREN 1970-2020--and i'm not done yet

DUBZ LOOPZ 2: THE NEXT GENERATION OUT NOW: https://on.soundcloud.com/9HKgc5xbaaYz6FNL7

DUBZ ÄLTER LOOPZ (2012-14): https://soundcloud.com/dubkitteh-1/sets ... ks-2012-14
User avatar
dubkitty
Supporter
Supporter
Posts: 13628
Joined: Wed Nov 10, 2010 2:03 pm
Location: somewhere between Never-Never Land and Wonderland, in a place called Never Wonder Land

Re: Dub's Wacky Project Guitars Thread--we're baaaaaack

Post by dubkitty »

set everything up and it's just lovely. sounds like i remember it sounding 20 years ago. i just love when my projects come out well.
In girum imus nocte et consumimur igni

FIFTY YEARS OF SCARING THE CHILDREN 1970-2020--and i'm not done yet

DUBZ LOOPZ 2: THE NEXT GENERATION OUT NOW: https://on.soundcloud.com/9HKgc5xbaaYz6FNL7

DUBZ ÄLTER LOOPZ (2012-14): https://soundcloud.com/dubkitteh-1/sets ... ks-2012-14
User avatar
dubkitty
Supporter
Supporter
Posts: 13628
Joined: Wed Nov 10, 2010 2:03 pm
Location: somewhere between Never-Never Land and Wonderland, in a place called Never Wonder Land

Re: Dub's Wacky Project Guitars Thread--we're baaaaaack

Post by dubkitty »

i got out the Guild Jetstar because it was close by when i wanted to do some pedal evaluations and got a better idea of its issues. one unpleasant surprise was that the A and D strings rattle on the second fret when played on the first fret; this is where the impact that broke the neck occurred, and i expect the second fret got misshaped when the neck was glued together. so a bit of judicious sanding with a small block will be required to get frets 1-3 consistent.

i think i should sand the repaired part of the neck rather than trying to fill the places where the paint was separated….seems like a consistent wood (and glue presumably) surface would be best for touchup painting.

the large-ish ding in the left lower bout needs wood filler to create a smooth surface for paint.

i may do the bits that don’t require spraying sometimr soon, but as noted i need to wait to paint till it gets warm. it’s playable as is, so i’m not terribly motivated here.

on consideration i’m going to work on the Hopf next. it’s getting pickups i really like, and with the Falcon i
have a Filtertron Gretsch in active service so the Double Jet is somewhat redundant at the moment. i also need to order new pickup rings because none of the ones i have are correct.

then there’s the Galaxiemaster, which will likely be the last finished because it’s the most complex. i need to polish out the body, finish sanding the fingerboard, design the wiring, and design a pickguard for the 3 Höfner staple minihumbuckers i’ll have Pickguardian do. certainly the most complicated of all my guitar projects.
In girum imus nocte et consumimur igni

FIFTY YEARS OF SCARING THE CHILDREN 1970-2020--and i'm not done yet

DUBZ LOOPZ 2: THE NEXT GENERATION OUT NOW: https://on.soundcloud.com/9HKgc5xbaaYz6FNL7

DUBZ ÄLTER LOOPZ (2012-14): https://soundcloud.com/dubkitteh-1/sets ... ks-2012-14
User avatar
dubkitty
Supporter
Supporter
Posts: 13628
Joined: Wed Nov 10, 2010 2:03 pm
Location: somewhere between Never-Never Land and Wonderland, in a place called Never Wonder Land

Re: Dub's Wacky Project Guitars Thread--we're baaaaaack

Post by dubkitty »

<>
Last edited by dubkitty on Fri Jan 24, 2025 7:38 am, edited 1 time in total.
In girum imus nocte et consumimur igni

FIFTY YEARS OF SCARING THE CHILDREN 1970-2020--and i'm not done yet

DUBZ LOOPZ 2: THE NEXT GENERATION OUT NOW: https://on.soundcloud.com/9HKgc5xbaaYz6FNL7

DUBZ ÄLTER LOOPZ (2012-14): https://soundcloud.com/dubkitteh-1/sets ... ks-2012-14
User avatar
dubkitty
Supporter
Supporter
Posts: 13628
Joined: Wed Nov 10, 2010 2:03 pm
Location: somewhere between Never-Never Land and Wonderland, in a place called Never Wonder Land

Re: Dub's Wacky Project Guitars Thread--we're baaaaaack

Post by dubkitty »

after playing with the electric bouzouki i noticed issues. primarily, the tuners were terrible. using a clip-on claiming .01 cent accuracy, they still were out almost immediately. i’m not sure why they specced the Luna with Gibson F-style mandolin keys, but that narrowed down the options. it is NOT EASY to find high-ratio tuners that don’t cost $250 the set and have black buttons to match the Luna, but i found some. weirdly, they're closed back Klusons on a strip. the new tuners are SO MUCH BETTER. no wobble in them at all. the new knob shafts are a mm or 2 shorter, but my small fingers have no problem with the knob/headstock distance.

unfortunately the old bushings are too narrow to fit the new 1/4” posts. once again i ran afoul of the space between 7/16” and 3/4” drill bits so the larger bit caused chipping around two of the posts. interestingly, this revealed a gloss mahogany finish underneath. i’m not so curious as to start peeling, but i wonder if the original concept was natural before they went with the vaguely goth graphics and flat-black finish. new tuners on left, old tuners on right.

IMG_6417.jpeg
and then to make things even better two of the ferrules for the second strip disappeared. i tore up half the living room so i’m pretty sure they aren't here, thus they either got thrown out with the packing materials or they only sent four. so i found alternate Kluson eyelets on line that’ll fit and have a nicer top profile. i’ll go out today and find the specific bits needed so i don’t damage the treble holes. new bushings should be in next week. i ordered thin washers to go under the new ferrules to hide the chips.

in the meantime, i also have files and a nut blank. when i first got the bouzouki i noticed that the spacing on the third/fourth string course is too tight, which sometimes makes them deaden on each other, particularly on the first few frets. the blank is generic—just try to find a slotted replacement Irish bouzouki nut and let me know how that works out!—and will have to be sawn/sanded/filed for fit. i did a bone nut on the 12-string, so if i’m careful i can do this too. again, it’s not work i love, but it’s work i can do well.

i also decided to look for volume/tone knobs like the original ones and discovered that Luna make electro-acoustic mandolins with the same Tele knobs with black/white crescent moon inserts as my originals which i only ditched because one of the inserts had gone. i’ll ring them up this week. so by the weekend, depending on how my depression is doing, the ‘Bird should be much improved. i might consider redoing the volume/tone pots which are likely cheap Chinese shit.
In girum imus nocte et consumimur igni

FIFTY YEARS OF SCARING THE CHILDREN 1970-2020--and i'm not done yet

DUBZ LOOPZ 2: THE NEXT GENERATION OUT NOW: https://on.soundcloud.com/9HKgc5xbaaYz6FNL7

DUBZ ÄLTER LOOPZ (2012-14): https://soundcloud.com/dubkitteh-1/sets ... ks-2012-14
User avatar
dubkitty
Supporter
Supporter
Posts: 13628
Joined: Wed Nov 10, 2010 2:03 pm
Location: somewhere between Never-Never Land and Wonderland, in a place called Never Wonder Land

Re: Dub's Wacky Project Guitars Thread--we're baaaaaack

Post by dubkitty »

everything’ll be here today other than the washers. i’ll have to go out for drill bits, and i’m not sure if i’m up to that today.
In girum imus nocte et consumimur igni

FIFTY YEARS OF SCARING THE CHILDREN 1970-2020--and i'm not done yet

DUBZ LOOPZ 2: THE NEXT GENERATION OUT NOW: https://on.soundcloud.com/9HKgc5xbaaYz6FNL7

DUBZ ÄLTER LOOPZ (2012-14): https://soundcloud.com/dubkitteh-1/sets ... ks-2012-14
User avatar
dubkitty
Supporter
Supporter
Posts: 13628
Joined: Wed Nov 10, 2010 2:03 pm
Location: somewhere between Never-Never Land and Wonderland, in a place called Never Wonder Land

Re: Dub's Wacky Project Guitars Thread--we're baaaaaack

Post by dubkitty »

after a fair bit of hassle i finally managed to get the new tuners installed. i really need to get a peghole reamer before i have to redo tuner holes again; neither the drill nor the Dremel with cutting bit worked well at all. happily, standard-issue jack washers cover most of the bits that got chipped. the new tuners are MUCH better…their solidity really helps the tone and sustain which aren’t being dissipated by slop in the mechanism. so i’m classing that as a relative win.

i really don’t want to mess with cutting a new nut for now, but will do when i next have to change strings. i decided i wanted a different vibe from the ancillary bits so i put the black plastic switch knob back on and found some cool knobs by searching “bird knobs” on Reverb and eBay. i quite like them.

IMG_6445.jpeg
IMG_6446.jpeg
Attachments
IMG_6442.jpeg
IMG_6442.jpeg (65.57 KiB) Viewed 2124 times
In girum imus nocte et consumimur igni

FIFTY YEARS OF SCARING THE CHILDREN 1970-2020--and i'm not done yet

DUBZ LOOPZ 2: THE NEXT GENERATION OUT NOW: https://on.soundcloud.com/9HKgc5xbaaYz6FNL7

DUBZ ÄLTER LOOPZ (2012-14): https://soundcloud.com/dubkitteh-1/sets ... ks-2012-14
User avatar
coldbrightsunlight
Supporter
Supporter
Posts: 13643
Joined: Tue Oct 12, 2010 12:20 pm
Location: UK

Re: Dub's Wacky Project Guitars Thread--we're baaaaaack

Post by coldbrightsunlight »

Love those bird knobs!
füzz lover. Friend. Quilter evangelist.

I make music sometimes:

https://nitrx.bandcamp.com/

https://mediocrisy.bandcamp.com/

https://fleshcouch.bandcamp.com
User avatar
dubkitty
Supporter
Supporter
Posts: 13628
Joined: Wed Nov 10, 2010 2:03 pm
Location: somewhere between Never-Never Land and Wonderland, in a place called Never Wonder Land

Re: Dub's Wacky Project Guitars Thread--we're baaaaaack

Post by dubkitty »

even my girlfriend, who is not a music person at all and probably couldn’t tell the difference between a Les Paul and a Telecaster without pictures, loves them.

i think i’ve said in this thread before that the reason i spend so much time more or less randomly searching Reverb, eBay, and various shop sites is because sometimes i happen on something brilliant like these knobs.

having put the boards away for a little while, the living room looks like it’s been invaded by folkies. Becky bought the autoharp for me off Marketplace a couple of years ago, but it’s been sitting because i broke a string tuning it, the old strings are extremely dead—they probably haven’t been changed since it was new which from the typography on the body must have been the early/mid 70s!—and autoharp strings are $125 a set of 36. if i’m careful i should be able to get the strings out of this paycheck. i want to record some BoC-style shit with acoustic guitar, autoharp, synth from the Mighty Casio, and drum machines. i happened upon the chord progression from “Satellite Anthem Icarus” dicking around with the parlor guitar.

folk attack.jpg
folk attack.jpg (102.87 KiB) Viewed 2098 times
In girum imus nocte et consumimur igni

FIFTY YEARS OF SCARING THE CHILDREN 1970-2020--and i'm not done yet

DUBZ LOOPZ 2: THE NEXT GENERATION OUT NOW: https://on.soundcloud.com/9HKgc5xbaaYz6FNL7

DUBZ ÄLTER LOOPZ (2012-14): https://soundcloud.com/dubkitteh-1/sets ... ks-2012-14
User avatar
dubkitty
Supporter
Supporter
Posts: 13628
Joined: Wed Nov 10, 2010 2:03 pm
Location: somewhere between Never-Never Land and Wonderland, in a place called Never Wonder Land

Re: Dub's Wacky Project Guitars Thread--we're baaaaaack

Post by dubkitty »

i finally got it up to start working on the Hopf. i thought i might get away with not sanding the fingerboard, but it was just too rough. so i went at it with 800->1200 grit and then polishing with lemon oil. the board is really nice rosewood and feels smooth. i guess i’m never going to get the surfaces just exactly perfect (h/t Bob Weir) but it’s a lot better. the bottom 3 frets took maybe a couple of hours; at this rate i’ll be on to mounting the neck to the body maybe next weekend and then the pickups and pickguard mods which will be the tricky bit. but there’s not all that much to do, so it’ll be ready before spring.

IMG_6450.jpeg
Last edited by dubkitty on Sun Feb 02, 2025 11:06 pm, edited 1 time in total.
In girum imus nocte et consumimur igni

FIFTY YEARS OF SCARING THE CHILDREN 1970-2020--and i'm not done yet

DUBZ LOOPZ 2: THE NEXT GENERATION OUT NOW: https://on.soundcloud.com/9HKgc5xbaaYz6FNL7

DUBZ ÄLTER LOOPZ (2012-14): https://soundcloud.com/dubkitteh-1/sets ... ks-2012-14
User avatar
dubkitty
Supporter
Supporter
Posts: 13628
Joined: Wed Nov 10, 2010 2:03 pm
Location: somewhere between Never-Never Land and Wonderland, in a place called Never Wonder Land

Re: Dub's Wacky Project Guitars Thread--we're baaaaaack

Post by dubkitty »

one nice thing about working with 60s guitar parts is the quality of the wood…the Kent/Guyatone body on the Köndor is a single slab of mahogany with pretty tight grain. you’ll never, ever see a body like that again unless it’s salvaged from old furniture. the fingerboards on what were dime-store cheapies are nicer wood than you see on $1000+ guitars today if they even have rosewood boards.

an odd thing i’ve noticed when shopping for parts is that i see more necks that were never installed from West Germany than anywhere else on earth. the Hopf neck has never been drilled for neck bolts—and in fact there was another old Twisty neck online sans logo and tuners which also had never been installed—and it’s common to see old Höfner archtop or Verithin necks that haven’t even had the tuner holes drilled. i wonder if they jobbed out necks to smaller companies, which is the only way i can think of that so many uninstalled necks could be out in the wild 60 years after the fact. things that make you go “hmmmm…”
In girum imus nocte et consumimur igni

FIFTY YEARS OF SCARING THE CHILDREN 1970-2020--and i'm not done yet

DUBZ LOOPZ 2: THE NEXT GENERATION OUT NOW: https://on.soundcloud.com/9HKgc5xbaaYz6FNL7

DUBZ ÄLTER LOOPZ (2012-14): https://soundcloud.com/dubkitteh-1/sets ... ks-2012-14
User avatar
dubkitty
Supporter
Supporter
Posts: 13628
Joined: Wed Nov 10, 2010 2:03 pm
Location: somewhere between Never-Never Land and Wonderland, in a place called Never Wonder Land

Re: Dub's Wacky Project Guitars Thread--we're baaaaaack

Post by dubkitty »

the neck is coming along. i discovered a new way to get the wood flatter and not have a sort of shallow trench because the areas near the frets get sanded down less. i have a titanium camping fun spork i bought for backpacking which has a nice straight narrow handle profile; i wrap sandpaper around the edge of the handle and work down close to the frets before the larger space gets sanded. i’m about a quarter of the way done and am pretty happy with how it’s going. there’s really no point in going finer than 1500 grit because the board’s gonna get scraped a bit every time i bend a note.

IMG_6452.jpeg
In girum imus nocte et consumimur igni

FIFTY YEARS OF SCARING THE CHILDREN 1970-2020--and i'm not done yet

DUBZ LOOPZ 2: THE NEXT GENERATION OUT NOW: https://on.soundcloud.com/9HKgc5xbaaYz6FNL7

DUBZ ÄLTER LOOPZ (2012-14): https://soundcloud.com/dubkitteh-1/sets ... ks-2012-14
User avatar
dubkitty
Supporter
Supporter
Posts: 13628
Joined: Wed Nov 10, 2010 2:03 pm
Location: somewhere between Never-Never Land and Wonderland, in a place called Never Wonder Land

Re: Dub's Wacky Project Guitars Thread--we're baaaaaack

Post by dubkitty »

USPS didn’t send the bird knobs from Richmond to Charlottesville until after 12 yesterday so they won’t be delivered till this afternoon. while searching for Luna knobs i discovered that they sell A- and F-style mandolins with a pickup of some sort. i may have to get the A-type so i have a matching set…i’ve been meaning to replace the Brazilian mandolin that died in the early 2010s and mandos in that price class are 6 of one/half a dozen of the other so i might as well get the one that matches the bouzouki. i kind of wish it had the same pickup as the bouzouki, but it could be better to have it sound “more acoustic.” i’ll miss the peculiar qualities of the Brazilian mandolin, though…it was shaped roughly like the bouzouki body, but was about 1.75” deep with a flat cedar top. loudest mandolin i’ve ever seen by a factor of two. cheap as hell but tons of fun.

the other interesting electric mandolin option is by Ibanez, which has a rather wicked-looking blade single-coil that i’ll bet could do serious harm through a dirty amp. i’ll have to find demos.
In girum imus nocte et consumimur igni

FIFTY YEARS OF SCARING THE CHILDREN 1970-2020--and i'm not done yet

DUBZ LOOPZ 2: THE NEXT GENERATION OUT NOW: https://on.soundcloud.com/9HKgc5xbaaYz6FNL7

DUBZ ÄLTER LOOPZ (2012-14): https://soundcloud.com/dubkitteh-1/sets ... ks-2012-14
Post Reply