I bought an old steel string parlour guitar off eBay for twenty quid, basically because it looked quite interesting and for giggles but also with half an idea in the back of my mind to keep it at work if it was any good.
Turns out it's crap! Action very high, the bridge can't go any lower, no truss rod (well no adjustment anyway) and it sounds like a banjo.
Now it's possible that once in a blue moon I might use it for recording for some sufjan Stevens esq uber melodic parts, but I'm not keeping it just in case.
So what shall I do with it?
I was thinking slide maybe. Or, fit a pickup and use it for 'there there', or Jack white style feedbacking. Or make it into a lap steel - could that work?
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Studio: https://www.voltperoctave.com
Music: https://www.euclideancircuits.com
Me: https://www.jamesrichmond.com
Seriously: If you value it, take/fetch it yourself
http://i1361.photobucket.com/albums/r680/midiglitch/20130826_102256_zpse7017fb9.jpg
Formerly TheGuitarWeasel ... Oil City Pickups ... Oil City Blog 7 String.org profile and message
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
http://i1361.photobucket.com/albums/r680/midiglitch/20130826_171659_zps4f6628e3.jpg
I tried a magnetic sound hole pickup but the sound hole is too small hence the humbucker idea. To fit the humbucker I screwed blocks of wood to each end of it and then I glued these inside the guitar. The glue will break of easily enough if I want to remove it-tried a test piece this morning.
I then made a little wooden box and put a volume pot and a Jack in it and wired the whole thing outside the guitar. I stuck the humbucker wire down to the scratch plate with some tape to stop it hitting the high e and i stuck the wooden box with the controls to the guitar with some tape too.
http://i1361.photobucket.com/albums/r680/midiglitch/20130826_171712_zpsfc1e053c.jpg
So. .. plugged it in-bit of hum (forgot to wire the ground to the bridge) turned up and great! Bit of a feedback beast with the gain up but had loads of fun playing slide on it.
Success!
Ps-thought about going without a volume pot at all as suggested but decided it'd be good to have some control of volume/tone/feedback!
Also the more astute readers will notice I'm missing a string. It broke when I loosened the strings and I wasn't going to replace it until I knew it works! (Just in case you wondered if there was some magical tuning I am using! )
just because you do, doesn't mean you should.