The pressure on the internal block wasn’t enough, so there’s a small gap. I’m going to try injecting glue and then clamp up again.
And twenty-four hours later:
Jack of all trades and master of my own destiny. It’s only a small destiny.
I was going to suggest some decent nails, but your approach seems to have worked just as well!
😉
Getting there Jim, getting there ...
Online guitar making courses – guitarmaking.co.uk
@jamesbisset it's looking awesome! A proper jazz box and love the headstock detail.
The back is on, the neck is in, the finish applied, the bridge fitted. Now it’s time to tackle the wiring.
To make sure I didn’t make any wires too short, or too long, I made up a wiring jig with the same dimensions as the guitar. Am I starting to get the hang of this guitar-building lark or wot?
Blend pot, volume pot with treble bleed, two tone controls which earth out one pickup coil when the tone is wide open and a stereo jack socket to deliver mini humbuckers and piezos as separate signals.
Now all I have to do is get that lot into the guitar through a pickup slot.
Hey Presto!
There’s only one problem:
I should have marked out the ƒ hole on the jig as well, and made the wiring long enough to meander around it - maybe even using cable ties or heat shrink.
Ah well, back to the wiring board.
Jack of all trades and master of my own destiny. It’s only a small destiny.
I was very impressed with the final result when I heard it being played yesterday. FB is nicely finished and I like the way you have worked around some of the lamination problems. It’s not an easy thing to do. Interesting combination of piezo and magnetic pick ups.
Some people call me a tool, others are less complimentary. Tools being useful things.
Thanks Bill. 🙂
I used the guitar for a full gig at PrestFest 2024 on Sunday (where Bill saw me) and then up to Glasgow for Sammy’s Open Mic at the Glad Cafe. It certainly does a lot of the stuff I planned it do. I’ll probably do a rewire at some point soon, because this is the first guitar I’ve used a treble bleed in, and I’m not convinced it’s doing quite what I want. Acoustically, the guitar sounds like a loud electric, rather than a quiet flat-top, which the piezos reproduce, so I’m going to experiment with them to see if I can get a more resonant sound.
But I’ll do a video soon...
Jack of all trades and master of my own destiny. It’s only a small destiny.
It does have more of electric guitar sound than piezo. Did the original models use flat wound strings or round wound ? A different magnetic response might produce a softer sound to the pickups. Less amplitude.
I have a set of round wound from years ago which I’ve never opened and the picture on the cover is an electric 335 style.
Some people call me a tool, others are less complimentary. Tools being useful things.