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November 2002
Posts: 3611
Location: Pacific Northwest Inland Empire | OK, so it's not on an Ovation platform. But, I am maintaining my BFLG mantra- "all costs were spared". Had the notion of making a hollowbody electric, using the neck leftover from selling the lefty Tele body a few months ago. So, here it is. It is functional and plays adequately for my taste. The wiring was pretty straight-up using a standard Strat model, but using only one tone control. Amazing the impedance matching is fairly close between the humbuckers & the piezo disc pasted under the top plate.
Edited by seesquare 2023-09-30 8:38 AM
 (Hollowbody bridge small.jpg)
 (Hollowbody bridge 2- small.jpg)
 (Hollowbody bridge 3- small.jpg)
 (drawing 1- small.jpg)
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 Hollowbody bridge small.jpg (33KB - 2 downloads)
Hollowbody bridge 2- small.jpg (32KB - 0 downloads)
Hollowbody bridge 3- small.jpg (35KB - 1 downloads)
drawing 1- small.jpg (26KB - 0 downloads)
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December 2003
Posts: 13987
Location: Upper Left USA | That's amazing! |
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Joined:
November 2002
Posts: 3611
Location: Pacific Northwest Inland Empire | Thanx! Shadetree luthiery is alive and well in this bailiwick. |
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February 2016
Posts: 1801
Location: When?? | Yet another awesome product from the plant over in Seesquaresville. We saw saw smoke coming from the factory stacks, so we knew you were up to something in there, but didn't know it was magic. Reason being that our engineering guy can't figure out how you used a lefty neck on a righty body and still have the headstock pointing the original direction. I told him, "Maynard, sometimes you just have to admit that he's smarter than you." He didn't like that, so he asked me how I thought it was was done. I said, "How should I know? That's why we hired you." Then he walked off and quit. So now I'm asking.. did the lefty Tele body have an upside-down righty neck to begin with??
Edited by Love O Fair 2023-10-01 4:59 AM
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Joined:
November 2002
Posts: 3611
Location: Pacific Northwest Inland Empire | In a word, yes. I salvaged the body & neck from a local thrift store. It had the lefty body attached to the righty neck. Sold the body, kept the neck. And, typical response by engineers. Tell Maynard he needs a laxative- stuff is backing up on him.
Spent my Sunday AM dialing in the action on this critter. The more I play with it, the more I understand why it needs a booster for the piezo. The signal comes a bit short, compared with the humbuckers. Should be able to wire up a circuit onboard. I think I can cram a 9-volt into the crawlspace by the control switch & knobs. |
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February 2016
Posts: 1801
Location: When?? | I'm not much up on guitar electronic configuration builds (gee, big shocker there), so I am curious as to how the switch selection works if both the pickups and the piezo are running. Does it switch between the pickups like typical neck/bridge/combo switch options do, but with the piezo on full time, or is the piezo incorporated into the switch choices, too? |
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Joined:
November 2002
Posts: 3611
Location: Pacific Northwest Inland Empire | As it is presently wired, the switch positions, left-to-right: Position 1 is neck HB only, Position 2 is neck HB/ middle HB, Position 3 is middle HB only, Position 4 is middle HB/ piezo, Position 5 is piezo only. So, the piezo is active in 2 modes. All 3 pickups are never active at the same time, though I could probably accomplish that. Adding in the preamp circuit before connection to Position 5 is what I am planning to do, with the battery power switched at that connection, too. Otherwise, if switched at the output jack, the circuit is always on, and draining the battery unnecessarily. |
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February 2016
Posts: 1801
Location: When?? | The only electric I've ever had with three pickups is a cheap Rogue I leave at the studio (I never leave nice stuff down there). But they are all three standard-type pickups. Never had a piezo mixed into the fray like you are doing here. I've been playing so umplugged most of my life that I barely speak the pickup language. I typically record guitar (rare occasion) with acoustics and mics in the booth. It amazes me how many amps I own for someone who never uses them. One is an old (70's looking) something that everyone refers to as "the polytone", but it doesn't have a label or placard on it, so I don't know exactly what the thing is. I traded (something forgotten) for it years ago and it mostly lives in the closet at the studio. That, I do, leave there since it's so heavy no one could thug it out the small windows, and the door leads into a secure hallway, so maybe I should post a photo of it to get help identifying its actual nomenclature. It plays very nice, but has only the most basic of effects.. reverb and distortion and such. My fave amp is just a little Fender something (only a couple years old) that has all the effects and stuff and is light and easy to use at home.. but that's fairly rare, too. I often scratch my head and wonder why I even pay rent for the studio since I only go there a couple times per month. But when I need it, I need it. |
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Joined:
January 2006
Posts: 1118
Location: NW Washington State | Here's a little FET preamp on eBay that might fit- appears to be a version of the classic Don Tillman design: https://www.ebay.com/itm/275062569722. Battery drain is pretty low.
"the polytone" is probably a Polytone, I have a couple that are heavy for their size: https://www.google.com/search?sca_esv=571184275&q=polytone+ampli...
-Steve W. |
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February 2016
Posts: 1801
Location: When?? | Thanks for the link, Steve. I checked out a few Polytones and see some similarities in both cabinet appointments and controls, so you're probably right. It has been passed around to many people over the years, but overall the unit still plays wonderfully.
Unfortunately, the link for the preamp for Chris' new guitar doesn't lead to the product.. at least not on my browser. |
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Joined:
November 2002
Posts: 3611
Location: Pacific Northwest Inland Empire | I think this is a preamp I will wire up & install in the Hollowman Tele
 (2N3904 preamp schematic.jpg)
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2N3904 preamp schematic.jpg (17KB - 2 downloads)
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January 2006
Posts: 1118
Location: NW Washington State | Looks like a good preamp project.
I had shortened the URL, let me try the eBay link again: https://www.ebay.com/itm/275062569722?hash=item400b01bafa:g:IMsAAOSw...
-Steve W. |
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Joined:
November 2002
Posts: 3611
Location: Pacific Northwest Inland Empire | Geez, for 16 bucks, you can't build one for much less. Plus, it reduces the heartburn & hypertension indices significantly. So, bought one. I will post my results & impressions. Probably take a month to ship it from Poland, also! Made a request for the 10Mohm model, also, given the piezo disc scenario.
Thanks for the link, Steve. And, my reading activities have taken a decidedly rapid upswing in the past week. Who knew?! Tubes are just fancy, heated diodes with a few extra bells & whistles.
Edited by seesquare 2023-10-06 1:39 PM
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Posts: 1555
Location: Indiana |  |
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March 2007
Posts: 698
Location: Cork, Ireland | I love it. I'm getting ideas for my tele-like build as the body is thicker than average and very heavy. Some hollowing out plus an f-hole might be just the tickett
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Joined:
November 2002
Posts: 3611
Location: Pacific Northwest Inland Empire | So, an update. I got the preamp from Poland, in about 3 weeks (thanks for the lead, Steve!). I got it wired into Position 5 on the switch (piezo input), which is bridged to Position 4 with the middle humbucker, and the 9V-battery is switched at the output stereo plug. If I ever get motivated to post audio files, I will give y'all a tour. The preamp really pumps up the piezo pickup, with significantly more gain than the humbuckers. I think I would have to wire in another pot to balance the signal with the humbucker output. Probably live with this arrangement awhile. Things are a bit chaotic under the hood, already. |
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Joined:
February 2016
Posts: 1801
Location: When?? | Merely using this thread to check to see why my font size is changing from large to small.. or if it was just on one post in another thread.
Testing 1..2..3.
Yep.. seems to be normal again.
Now back to regular scheduled programming.
(thanks Chris)
Edited by Love O Fair 2023-12-07 7:06 PM
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Joined:
February 2016
Posts: 1801
Location: When?? | And furthermore...
Ha! I now surmise what happened.. so if anyone is interested for future reference..
I attempted to place the word "small" into brackets "[ ]", which is likely HTML code for making the post's remaining font small because that is where the size changed since the word did not appear in the post. Suppose I am correct? Let's try it for sure--
Dear, Chris. I am sorry for using your thread to make a comment about an off topic.
Yep! Sure enough! It should have said "small comment" with "small" in brackets.
Okay, done now.
Edited by Love O Fair 2023-12-07 8:04 PM
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Joined:
November 2002
Posts: 3611
Location: Pacific Northwest Inland Empire | S'OK. A bit challenging for my trifocals, though......
S'OK. A bit challenging for my trifocals, though......
Edited by seesquare 2023-12-08 5:53 AM
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On to other endeavors.....
