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Joined:
March 2002
Posts: 873
Location: puerto vallarta, mexico | i have accumulated almost everything i need to put together a solid body synth guitar and could use some suggestions from my multi talented amigos here.
first, it will use an ovation deacon natural mahogany neck that john budny at ovation was kind enough to dig up in a corner of the shop and sell to me. (i sure would work for free for a month or two dusting and sorting stuff for you john.) he has never failed to be prompt and exceptionaly helpful with anything i have needed to keep my collection playing. the neck is like on the ukII but i cant say that i have seen a natural one used on a ukII but i'm sure they must have been. 24 fret with block abalone inlay. after checking out 2 octave necks on ebay, i decided i should stick with what feels familiar and works well for me. most of the 24 fret necks are aggressive looking speed metal necks. the headstocks look lethal on many of them.
the neck will be fit into a neck pocket in a piece of mahogany that will run the length of the guitar and quilted maple wings will attach to the mahogany. i'll try my hand at sculpting (carving) the top and back.
i have graph tech's piezo saddles (and all of their onboard circuitry) on their way to mount into a hipshot machined brass bridge (strat type/ string through body. i chose this setup for the midi signal since it is hexaphonic pickup that doesn't look like one. unlike the magnetic pickups there is almost no signal pollution from adjacent strings. this pickup also puts out an acoustic guitar sound that as well can produce a variety of sounds through a standard guitar effects processor you can use a mono phone jack and run the mixed or unmixed signal to an amp, or use a stereo jack and split the signal running the acoustic signal to the pa and the processed or magnetic pickup signal to a guitar amp. the piezo also sends the signal to another processor that is for midi and cosm units like rolands gr 33 and vg88 through a 13 pin jack/cable. this also has a switch on the jack so it will work with the axon 100 guitar-midi convertor. this has zero latency from the reviews, but costs another grand.
i want to keep the guitar super clean and will use only one magnetic pickup. i could use some suggestions. i so far have a seymour duncan hotrails on my list. it is the size of a single coil but is a humbucker that also recieves good reviews. i dont know much about lace sensors, or really that much at all about pickups in general to make an educated decision. my ovation solid body guitars, fender strat, as well ad the other few odd ball guitars, have given me a variety of sounds based upon multiple pickups.
what do you think is a hot single pickup for blues and classic rock sound. i find with the coil tap and bridge pickup on a ukII i can get allot of the sounds i like, but it is bigger than i want to use. i could use some suggestions as i need to get this ordered so i can pick it up in california at the end of this month.
another question--- are the saddles on the gold ukII bridges the same as tunamatic? (i think i spelled that wrong, it looks like a sandwich spread maker by popeil on late night tv). how about the black plastic covered bridge?
i think i'll play a couple of bedtime tunes and hit the sack. bunches garcias y bonus nachos amigos. |
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Joined:
May 2002
Posts: 3005
Location: Las Cruces, NM | buenas noches amigo
I can't give you any advice, and I am impressed by your technical prowess. I, too, am interested in the answers to some of your questions. I have been eyeing a Seymour Duncan Hot Rail for my '66 Fender Mustang that has original SD's on it from somewhere in the 70's.
Bailey |
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Joined:
December 2001
Posts: 10583
Location: NJ | FWIW I have NEVER found a split coil sound that was good enough to use for a substitute for a single coil pickup |
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Joined:
May 2004
Posts: 338
Location: Toronto | Buenos dias Musicamex
Can't help much with your questions on pick-ups - but I know that the boys at either of these 2 forums have tons of opinions based on trial and error. You may want to check them out...
http://www.instituteofnoise.com/forum/
http://146.145.5.218/board/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi
Personally - I'm just having a ck2 mounted onto my Variax 700. I figured that fi I can get everything else on one guitar, then I could save valuable realestate in my office! I have the amp models, the axe models and now the synth access all in one shop!!
Good luck - post pictures when you're done!
Dano |
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Joined:
March 2002
Posts: 873
Location: puerto vallarta, mexico | Originally posted by alpep:
FWIW I have NEVER found a split coil sound that was good enough to use for a substitute for a single coil pickup
thanks al, i value your opinion allot.
i was thinking of the hotrails for it's noise cancelling ability over a single coil, but i like the squaky sound of a singlecoil for blues. i thought of starting out with a single coil slot routed in the top to keep a cleaner look. also easy to make bigger, tough to make smaller. what is your take on a really good single coil al? also, what can you tell me about lace sensors? |
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Joined:
March 2002
Posts: 873
Location: puerto vallarta, mexico | Originally posted by MrDano:
Buenos dias Musicamex
Can't help much with your questions on pick-ups - but I know that the boys at either of these 2 forums have tons of opinions based on trial and error. You may want to check them out...
http://www.instituteofnoise.com/forum/
http://146.145.5.218/board/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi
Personally - I'm just having a ck2 mounted onto my Variax 700. I figured that fi I can get everything else on one guitar, then I could save valuable realestate in my office! I have the amp models, the axe models and now the synth access all in one shop!!
Good luck - post pictures when you're done!
Dano
thanks for the links. i will check them out when i get some time today. i played a variax at a gig and it was fun to see the crowd try to figure out where the constantly changing sound was coming from. the external add on roland gk makes the guitar look obviously different. that is one reason for trying to make the guitar i'm building look as simple as a fender squire in a sunday shirt. |
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Joined:
March 2002
Posts: 873
Location: puerto vallarta, mexico | Originally posted by Bailey:
buenas noches amigo
I can't give you any advice, and I am impressed by your technical prowess. I, too, am interested in the answers to some of your questions. I have been eyeing a Seymour Duncan Hot Rail for my '66 Fender Mustang that has original SD's on it from somewhere in the 70's.
Bailey
thanks for the compliment bailey, but i know just enough to be dangerous. wait till you see/hear the finished guitar before "empiezas a hechar rosas". you might want to throw tomatoes instead.
gotta quit these late nights (not partying). haven't been to bed before 3am in a week. |
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synth guitar project/0pen and need suggestions
