Next Project Ideas

Is there really enough money for this to happen

"Play your guitar like it is the last time you are going to pick it up"  Eric Clapton

Little Acoustic Thing

Saw this in Nashville for $1900 - little Schoen uke. Turbo Diddley resonator uke, new, 6" Quarterman resonator cone, koa fingerboard on black walnut neck, cigar box body, no case.

Hollow Body Using a Thin Smaller Body (smaller than Gibson 330)- This project is waiting for the right body- still looking since May 2015

This is still a future project.  A hollow body with a body size similar to a solid body. Production models are the Gibson 339, Fender Thinline Telecaster and Fender Starcaster. Fender also made a hollow body Thinline Jaguar.  Treys guitar is another option.

Something Phish-like if a hollow body

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nG-jXPQe1ak

Just need to watch 1st 3 minutes

Koa wood / strat scale / coils can split but humbuck when split

Scale length- Article below on why it is important.  I think it is more about feel than tone but article highlights tone.  Trey uses Schallar pickups. They are not soapbar pickups, but normal humbuckers, and they are not Schectars, but Schaller Golden 50 humbukcers with chrome covers, just like an old Gibson PAF in a Les Paul. Check the Stewart-Macdonald Luthiers catalog (p. 59 in the fall 1997 issue). Paul told Guitar World (12/98) that they "are Seymour Duncan PAF-style. 'The wiring is very simple, too,' says Languedoc. 'Just a selector switch, volume and tone knob.'" This may not be accurate since Trey talks about humcanceling as a selection option.

http://www.guitarplayer.com/article/5-things-about-scale-length/411

Fender reissued the Starcaster for 2013.  This has possibilities since it has a bolt on neck.

Gibson 2007 release of ES339- smaller Languedoc size but the Gibson scale length

"While the ES-335 is thin like a solidbody, its body width and length are similar to the large dimensions of an archtop guitar. As a result, many players accustomed to solidbody instruments often find the ES-335’s size and weight somewhat unwieldy. Now solidbody players can enjoy the distinctive tones of a semi-hollow guitar thanks to Gibson’s new ES-339 model

Volume and Tone Controls - The Gibson Memphis ES-339 uses an independent Volume and Tone control for each pickup. These consist of a quality CTS 500k audio-taper potentiometer for a smooth, natural roll-off, with .022mF tone capacitors on the Tone pots for a broad, usable range from this control. The guitar also includes Gibson’s Nashville Tone Circuit on both Volume controls, which retains the highs of the pickups when the pots are wound down."

Looking for a body now but this will take a while. Update April 2015- no decent bodies yet but I let a Mosrite slip by on eBay.  Be patient.

Fender Modified Esquire & P90 pickups- This project is waiting for a light alder body 

Vedder plays a Fender Esquire dubbed the "Old Man." Like many of Vedder's guitars, this instrument has been modified quite a bit. A P-90 neck pickup was cleverly added at some point in this guitar's life giving it a telecaster setup with 2 pickups. The neck sports the decal of a '55 though we're not sure about the vintage of the body. The back of the headstock is signed by Paul Burlison of the Rock and Roll Trio, though it's hard to say if this guitar ever belonged to the rockabilly legend.

Vedder is a fan of Pete Townsend using the P90 pickup on his guitars and the 1" hole punch on all his guitar straps. Anyway the guitar looks like a mashup of parts with an old neck attached to an old body then at some time the neck pickup was added. From the body color wear it looks like a white body that is painted over yellow. He plays other telecasters - a blue, a black and a blond.

Petes Fender Stratocaster with P-90 pickups (from thewho.net- also has complete tab archive)

For one song in each of two consecutive shows in July 2002 (Baba O’Riley at Tweeter Center For the Performing Arts, Mansfield, Massachusetts, 26 July, 2002; and I Can’t Explain at Tweeter Center at the Waterfront, Camden, N.J., 27 July, 2002), Pete Townshend used a black Fender Stratocaster guitar equipped with two P-90-style pickups, rather than the usual Gold Lace Sensor pickups found in the Eric Clapton model guitars. This guitar was also customised with the Fishman Powerbridge and additional blend control knob, although the traditional controls consisted of only two knobs (presumably volume and tone), rather than the traditional three, and a traditional Fender-style “blade” pickup selector.

In 2004, Pete’s brother Simon has been playing this guitar for Who gigs.

In 2003, Fender introduced a two-control-knob, P-90-style pickup-equipped model, the Strat-o-Sonic DVII, which features two DE-9000 Black Dove soapbar-style single-coil pickups, which appear to be the same as in Pete’s model, and a Gibson-style pickup toggle switch, rather than the traditional Fender “blade”-style selector.

History of the P-90

P-90 pickups were introduced in 1946, when Gibson resumed guitar production after World War II. They were initially used to replace Gibson's original "bar" or "blade" pickup (also known by many as the "Charlie Christian pickup") on models such as the ES-150, and by the end of the 1940s it was the standard pickup on all models.

The P-90's reign as the Gibson standard pickup was short-lived, however, as a new design of pickup, the humbucker, was introduced in 1957. Equipped with double coils, the new pickup boasted greater output and less hum, although with less high end response. This new pickup, occasionally named PAF, very quickly took over as the preferred choice for all Gibson models, relegating the P-90 to budget models such as the ES-330, the Les Paul Junior and Special, and the SG Junior and Special, such as those used by Pete Townshend and Carlos Santana. This trend continued throughout the 1960s and particularly in the early 1970s, where the pickup all but disappeared from the entire Gibson range. 

Here is 1964 Gibson ES 330 with P90s (personal collection).

Amps 

After screwing around with the original amp stuff ( Amps ) I picked up a Egnator 15W head with 6V6 tubes and after the Blues Junior project (  Blues Junior   )  now have a 15 Watt EL84 tube amp.  I am not a Marshall or head banger guy so the only thing missing is a 6L6 tube amp.  Louder and 40 watts or more.  

Not recommended for normal home play but I have up to 6 - 8 ohm speakers to drive in a good spot so why not?  Want at least 2 tubes since 1 tube tends to hum. 

Choices narrowed down from the following references:

https://reverb.com/blog/a-power-tube-primer

https://reverb.com/blog/five-hot-vintage-amplifiers-underdog-amps-lighting-up-the-used-market

Fender

https://reverb.com/blog/the-evolution-of-fender-amps

Hot Rod Deluxe

Supro

Traynor

https://reverb.com/blog/daves-corner-5-vintage-picks-from-modern-amp-masters

Silvertone

https://reverb.com/blog/silvertone-1480s

30s Archtop - This is underway August 2014 

Pre Gibson Epiphone with a bigger body than the R-18 Martin from the previous project. The Zenith and Olympic models are smaller bouts of the Epiphone line.

During the 30s and early 40s Epiphone was the largest producer and highest quality archtop producer.  Their success was due to the Epi family innovation and quality standards and they outpaced all other companies including Gibson who now owns the archtop category.  This changed during the war and the loss of one of the Epi brothers as a driving force and eventually the company was bought by Gibson and all production moved off shore.  

The following production years for the models left to right: Blackstone (1931-1949), Broadway (1931-1957), De Luxe (1931-1957), Olympic (1931-1945), Royal (1931-1934),Triumph (1931-1957), Zenith (1931-1957)

Other archtops not pictured and started later production: Tudor (1934-1935), Spartan (1934-1949), Emperor (1935-1957), Ritz (1940-1945), Byron (1949-1954), Devon (1949-1957).

Zenith on left with pickup added

http://dutcharchtopguitarmuseum.nl/epiphone-archtops/

1931 Zenith introduction specs:

13 5/8" wide.
Segmented F-holes.
Maple back and sides.

Dot fingerboard inlays.

Single bound top and back.

Sunburst finish.

1934 Zenith specs:

14 3/4" wide.

Walnut back and sides.

Stickpin peghead logo.

Block peghead logo.

1936-1969
Body: Grand Auditorium sized body
Carved spruce top
Walnut back & sides (1936-1948)
Maple back & sides (1949-1969)
Standard F-holes
16.375" body width

Neck: Set 3-piece mahogany neck
Adjustable truss rod
Rosewood fingerboard with pearl inlays
Double-dot inlays at 7th fret 1936-1957
25.5" scale
1.68" nut width
Neck Variations:
Tombstone-style headstock (1936-1938)
Open-book style headstock (1939-1966)

1954 Zenith specs:

Blond finish available.

Vertical oval peghead inlay.

David Rawlings achieves his signature guitar sound flatpicking a small archtop guitar. The 1935 Epiphone Olympic that has been his primary instrument was a mid-priced guitar for its time, with a carved arched solid sprucewood top, carved arched solid mahogany back and mahogany sides.[1] It sold for about $35 in 1935.[2] The guitar's lower bout measures 13 5/8 inches wide, and it has three piece f-holes.[1] (Wikipedia)

Epiphone Olympic archtop.

1931 Olympic specs: 13" wide, mahogany back and sides, 3 segmented "f" holes.

1933 Olympic specs: 13 5/8" wide, trapeze tailpiece, rounded end fingerboard with dot inlays, rounded non-peak peghead, sunburst finish.

1934 Olympic specs: decal logo with "Epiphone" on a banner and "masterbilt" underneath banner.

1937 Olympic specs: 15 1/4" wide, standard "f" holes. Tenor and plectrum version available.

1942 Olympic specs: script peghead logo with tail underneath.

1939 Olympic specs: center dip peghead.

1950 Olympic specs: discontinued.

Project-50s/60s Telecaster- Completed December 2014

Old telecasters have blond finishes or a solid color which may or may not have a clear overcoat. The blondes show the grain and the solid colors are no grain finishes so they are easy to tell apart. One interesting finish is to have an old guitar with a color base and a clear topcoat that has yellowed. If the top yellowed coat is worn through then the color coat comes through.  

Blonde

Blonde with pickguard
removed showing darkened finish

65 Jag with guard removed
pickguard
Shows how top clear coat darkened

White with a yellowed
topcoat. worn to white in some spots

Eddies guitar

Original white with wear through the
darkened clear topcoat to
white base coat
Worn to wood on some places

Info on finishes at http://home.provide.net/~cfh/fenderc.html

Unity Gain Preamp Buffer

Completed August 18, 2013

A unity gain preamp buffer changes the pickup output signal from high impedance to low impedance and has no other effect. This stops the loss of tone highs as the signal passes through cables and effect pedals on its way to to the speakers.

It is most useful for setups with pedal boards that may drain the highs off the signal. Something like this:

J. Mayers setup. Looks like 10 pedals and a Qtron+ in the lower left (for Wildfire solo).
10 pedals-What do you expect from someone that uses a different guitar every few shows
Trey only uses 4 pedals but it probably only takes 3 or 4 pedals to kill the treble 

More here on the buffer with a demo is here on youtube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dMxwT7BT7oE&feature=c4-overview-vl&list=PLCzwfVTc1jWQByHsiRM7I0-x1Oze5-UPT

There are many articles out there and this is a good one:

http://proguitarshop.com/andyscorner/buffers-explained

I wanted to add a buffer to the SG project if it made a difference. I also wanted to build it instead of buying one since they cost $50-$125 online but only about $5 in parts.  I do not use many pedals and was not sure if the boost in the on line demos would come through.  Typical setup is up to 25 ft of cable>Qtron+ (bypassed or slight effect)>Nova System effects box with 1 to 5 effects in series using analog circuits>25 watt tube amp.  

Decided to build it fast and rough to see if it worked- for my setup it did not make a difference but it did not cost much to figure out.  Anyway here's the work.

This is the circuit and the youtube video link above shows how to build it in '10 minutes' 

Parts 

This is the mockup which is good enough for a test. Looks a mess but its all there.

Below is the circuit built on a circuit board with a button and LED to test if the battery is good. This box can clip on a belt or guitar strap before a long cable run.  Most of the circuits online are built as foot switches that need a power plug and may be after a long cable run.  The battery in this circuit will last a few hundred hours and will only draw when both jacks are plugged in.