It's another Sunny fall day here in the NW...we have cooler days in the forecast, so I'm
looking at unfinished projects I should work on this fall/winter.
What's the weather like in your part of the world?
Lunch for me today will be a veggie sandwich on homemade bread , a bag of cashews and a couple of orange Sanpelligrino's.
As I've learned about the geometry, circuits ,etc. of electric instruments I got the bug to do a few mods and build some instruments from parts I bought.
Years ago I bought a couple Invaders that had been repainted (badly and repeatedly) and generally abused. Each was purchased for less than $200 and the artist in me seemed to take over.
I should have taken some before pics to show the transitions ; here are the after pics:
I pulled the Kahler on one, filled the cavity with a piece of cocobolo, and installed a brass bridge assembly. I had to raise it to make it work and a had chunk of maple around so I took a slice and liked the way it looked with the bit of bark and odd shape ( I sorta see texas in it) so I left it that way.
...besides stripping the old paint off and cutting a brass nut for it everything else is stock.
The other one already had the les paul style tailpiece and bridge installed, I had a slice of the raw maple left over from Invader 1 and decided to slip (after alot of fitting and refitting ) it under and around the bridge/tailpiece...about the only function it serves is as a handrest when picking close to the bridge...and to invoke curious looks : )
I changed the bridge pickup out for an old Bill Lawrence and installed a brass nut.
...and the fluted brass nut:
Here's a G&L born from parts I collected over the past few years. It has a late 80's SC-3 neck paired with a prototype Comanche body. The body is so light I would swear it is Balsa wood.
I've left the body just the way I bought it to show that it was some sort of test body at the factory ( raw elbow cut, no strap peg holes ). It is a work in progress..you'll notice I haven't run the bridge ground through the cavity yet.
I'm considering wiring the guitar in stereo , so that each half of the Z-coil can be sent to right or left...I know that some combinations will sound good and others won't so it will take a bit of
testing to see which combinations will end up in the final setup. The nice thing about this is that everything is reversible
.
I tried something similar with a crappy kramer years ago ( 12 mini switches in an array )...
Here is that kramer in its current and last incarnation, It intonates well and has a nice Sitar sound ( except it really needs a tone knob, amplified that high frequency buzzing can really get to you )...I know it looks like a POS..but I made something playable from an old body, an old neck, and a brass door knocker
Here's a close up of the "bridge"...the Low E string kept slipping out of the channel...it sits in nicer after I deepened the channel a little . This was an experiment in functionality as opposed to aesthetics.
I'm very impressed with Mac's mods...He takes things to the extremes while retaining all the G&L goodness. Maybe someday I'll feel confident to take use a torch as a paintbrush.
I don't have any pictures of Mac's work...if you do it'd be nice to revisit his mods with pictures for the newer members here (hint,hint WR)
I know a few folks here have put together G&L's from parts they acquired and the results
have been really good...let's see some pics if you have them. I'll admit I felt a little like Leo when assembling an ax from his well designed parts...Leo and George will always have my ultimate respect for everything they have done to make this world more musical and in simply more fun. It's really cool that their Legacy will live on for many decades if not centuries.
I'm curious about the new DF bridge materials, I know those of us who have the older G&Ls would love to try swapping out new parts for old to hear the changes in tone . Has anyone who has ordered a new G&L recently who also has an older G&L noticed a difference that can be attributed to the newer specs? I would love to hear GPD's take on the changes, but I know he has been busy...maybe next year we might hear from him : )
Here's a couple of pictures of my Comanche VI for dessert:
I'm a little pressed for time , I'll chime in later and maybe post more pics of past and ongoing projects.
Cheers,
Elwood
)
-- Darwin.
[/url]
[/url]
[/url]
[/url]
[/url]
[/url]
