Bare Knuckle Pickups Forum
Forum Ringside => Guitars, Amps and Effects => Topic started by: Drac on February 02, 2008, 11:28:35 AM
-
Hello BKPeople...
Just back from the void-I've been working fulltime running a repair shop for a chain of music stores here in DK-doesn't leave much time for building guitars, so I've just moved back to my old workshop, and going back to independence-WOOHOO!
-This guitar is a Warmoth buildup for a mate-
mahoganybody/neck cores, with ziricote fingerboard and body top, double bound, BK Piledriver Tele bridge PUp, Fernandes 401sk sustainer in the neck pos. , Bigsby B-5 vibrato, roller nut and bridge...gold Sperzels, and bling-bling all over. Not my preference, but the owner loves it!
The Sustainer is not made to work with single coil pickups, and we burned considerable amounts of time getting things working- Fernandes' instructions and diagrams for the sustainer system are TERRIBLE!-illegible diagrams that contradict one another, and leave you alone in the dark- stick to the recipe!
In the end, it was worth it-the Piledriver/sustainer/Bigsby are a great combo-
The Piledriver has the 'twang', and the extra power makes for dynamic volume pot control-cheers, Tim-everyone that tries it, loves it!
unlike a Floyd, the strings stay at a constant action over the PUps & sustainer, and the roller nut & bridge are Fantastic !-metal on metal pedal steel sound, reduced friction, and fantastic tonal stability-there is no comparison to Fender's Tele/Bigsby, using a stock corian nut, and the deplorable Jag/Jazzmaster "screw-saddle" bridge-
Another nice feature is Warmoth's trussrod side adjuster...
the neck has standard neckpocket access to a two way truss rod, but once you get the neck set to approx. level, you can bolt the neck on to the body, tune up, and make fine adjustments without tuning down, or loosening the neck to get to the truss rod- just use an allen key with the side adjuster- YEAH!- also makes for a nice tidy headstock without the
unsightly orifice of modern imports...well done.
Warmoth parts are spendy, but the quality is great!-
I often point people in this direction if they want conventional designs for their guitar projects, as it's still less expensive than I can do it for...
This guitar is getting lacquered later this month- I'll post some more pix with the 'wet look' when able...
cheers from Drac of the icy North
-
Drac's back!
Nice guitar, I agree about the blingy gold but I love the look of the matching top/fingerboard and the binding on both body and neck. Reminds me of that Jaguar Strat Fender did a few years back, for some reason.
-
good to see you back Drac! and that is a fine looking Tele, slightly different from your usual stuff...
i have to ask, how did you get the sustainer working with the single coil?
-
wonderful guitar!
and nice to see you back dude!
-
DRAC!
Good to see you man!
Brilliant guitar - Love the top!
-
The sustainer 401 sports two modes-
1. fundamental -sustain only
2. Harmonic -octave/fifth sustain...
If you use a single coil Pickup, you lose one of the two modes...
you can retain the second mode by using an additional switch-
the pickup's 2 wires are attached directly to the sustainer pcb, and therefore we had to reverse the wiring ( black removed from the shielding plate became our hot wire, yellow became the ground once it was joined to the shielding backplate)-
We had to do this because of magnetic polarity issues with the sustainer itself-was phasing, and creating poor performance from the sustainer.
A tele bridge pickup is assymetrical-you can't just turn it around.
my mate I put this guitar together for is an electronics tech-
he wanted the Tele/single coil sound, and our only option was a stacked teleHB- not what he wanted.
This is not the first time I've done a sustainer/single coil install...
another tele with a MuleHB in the bridge, and a MississippiQueen BKP-90 also worked, again after some degree of fiddling.
I recommend sticking to HB's in the bridge position unless you are ready to burn the midnight oil...
but it can be done.
Sustainer instructions are terrible- It's a great device, though.
I'm considering posting some online info after all my battling for understanding how this thing works...Fernandes never replied to questions for support, so it really feels like you're on your own when deviating from the standard installations.
cheers from Drac
-
Nice guitar!
Good to see you back :D
-
Sweet guitar!
Show a pic of the entire baby :D
-
The sustainer 401 sports two modes-
1. fundamental -sustain only
2. Harmonic -octave/fifth sustain...
If you use a single coil Pickup, you lose one of the two modes...
you can retain the second mode by using an additional switch-
the pickup's 2 wires are attached directly to the sustainer pcb, and therefore we had to reverse the wiring ( black removed from the shielding plate became our hot wire, yellow became the ground once it was joined to the shielding backplate)-
We had to do this because of magnetic polarity issues with the sustainer itself-was phasing, and creating poor performance from the sustainer.
A tele bridge pickup is assymetrical-you can't just turn it around.
my mate I put this guitar together for is an electronics tech-
he wanted the Tele/single coil sound, and our only option was a stacked teleHB- not what he wanted.
This is not the first time I've done a sustainer/single coil install...
another tele with a MuleHB in the bridge, and a MississippiQueen BKP-90 also worked, again after some degree of fiddling.
I recommend sticking to HB's in the bridge position unless you are ready to burn the midnight oil...
but it can be done.
Sustainer instructions are terrible- It's a great device, though.
I'm considering posting some online info after all my battling for understanding how this thing works...Fernandes never replied to questions for support, so it really feels like you're on your own when deviating from the standard installations.
cheers from Drac
thanks for the info Drac, ingenious!
-
great work -- since i am always going on about the wonders of ziracote i have been meaning to try it for a top.. certainly looks cool
-
Nice to see you posting again, Drac. It's a very nice Tele, although I wouldn't have wanted it like that.
It must have been hard for you not to put the bottom horn of a Warlock on it.
Oh yeah, this is feeding my Tele GAS again.
-
Cheers, mates, here's the full size shot...
-Drac
-
Hi Drac, good to see you back and obviously in fine form. That is one sweet Tele.
-
Nice work!
A Tele is the last guitar I ever expected to see Drac have a hand in building, it doesn't have enough sharp edges :twisted:
-
Really like the single inlay.
-
that tele's gorgeous, and i HATE teles! The hardware should be Black Chrome however. :roll:
-
Bigsbys on tele's look so right.
-
I think I'm in love BOOINNGGGG!!!!!
-
DRAC!
You sly old insane-guitar-building dog!
TELES?!!? Whatever next?
You gonna start building acoustics now?
(Sweet tele, though. And like opprobrium, I never normally like them!)