Nearly NGD - sort of... Now a failed NGD! Calling electronics experts...

ThePrettyDamned · April 2015

I had this.

It was nice - the tones were superb, and after much tweaking and a fairly heavy shim, playability was pretty decent, too. The wiring was messy (first time) and there were noise issues and intermittent faults after several months of playing, and alas it was broken down again.

Now, it looks like this.

Just needs a couple more clear coats of Wudtone satin, then I can put it together for real and solder it back up.

Really like how it looks now, blingy but smart. The neck is the only thing I'd change - I'd love to refinish it because it's a beautiful, heavily flamed neck but it's got quite a thick finish on. I'm going to sand the back of it down a fair bit to give me a more satin surface to play on, and may try the same with the frets. Or, I may go the Warmoth route and buy a new neck for it.

I've raised the saddles up pretty high, so I'm not anticipating too many set up issues. I'm just very excited - it needs two or three more top coats, really, so it should be all ready in about a week.

ThePrettyDamned · April 2015

It's hard to get a decent sharp shot with my phone, the camera has always been a bit dodgy for focus..

meltedbuzzbox · April 2015

have you put the same picture up twice?

ThePrettyDamned · April 2015

meltedbuzzbox said:

have you put the same picture up twice?

Fixed!

meltedbuzzbox · April 2015

the gilmour JM ;-)

all you need are some proper Jazzmaster pickups now :-P

in all seriousness it looks good mate.

I am guessing from the third pic you can still see the grain in the body? It looks like a solid finish in the second pic?

xmrchi · April 2015

Love that, what a unique looking guitar, the Bridge bucker really sets it off.

ThePrettyDamned · April 2015

meltedbuzzbox said:

the gilmour JM ;-)

all you need are some proper Jazzmaster pickups now :-P

in all seriousness it looks good mate.
I am guessing from the third pic you can still see the grain in the body? It looks like a solid finish in the second pic?

Yeah, it's *very* grainy. I put it together to see if the grain distracted as it's a pretty busy looking guitar, but it looks quite nice I think. If not, I'd have stripped back, grain filled and sprayed it I think.

Yeah, it's Wudtone Black Magic Woman - dye the wood black first, then more solid top coats go on before the clear coats. Really nice colour, very black!

If I could turn back the hands of time, it would be routed for Jazzmaster pickups... *sigh*. It does sound great though, and in the spirit of the jazzmaster, it has an interesting wiring scheme with 7 different tones:

Neck

Neck and middle

Middle

Neck and bridge

Neck, middle and bridge

Middle and bridge

Bridge

So it's still got a bit of 'whacky' in it. The bridge won't have a tone control, mind, just a volume.

ThorpyFX · April 2015

very nice

DartmoorHedgehog · April 2015

I'm going to be the bastard who says they preferred the old look, sorry

But it still looks good with the black.

ThePrettyDamned · April 2015

DartmoorHedgehog;612313" said:
I'm going to be the bastard who says they preferred the old look, sorry

But it still looks good with the black.

I liked the colours, but bursts are just boring as all hell, whether it's a jazzmaster or a les paul.

Also, as it was my first, although okay from a distance, it was quite rough. This one is nicer finished, though I've started some early "relic" work by accidentally dropping it and slipping with a screwdriver...

The hardware is all gold, so relics easily.

DartmoorHedgehog · April 2015

I'm not really a sunburst fan either, but yours was so subtle it looked really good to me. There's nothing naffer looking than a sunburst LP or Strat IMO (could be slightly controversial... :-SS )

Black's good though - can't go wrong with black

ThePrettyDamned · May 2015

Yes, I'm aware it has just one string

Okay, so it's finished! But it's not. Basically, the wiring is as follows:

A 3 way standard telecaster wiring (volume and tone shared) for the neck and middle pickup. The output from the volume pot goes to the upper 3 way toggle switch.

Then a humbucker wired to a single volume control. The braided core is grounded to all three pots. The output of this volume pot also goes to the switch. The middle lug on the front of the toggle switch has been grounded. The rear two lugs have been pushed together and wired to the output jack, with the ground coming from the last pot (all grounds are connected).

When the toggle is down, the humbucker works fine. The pot is a bit crackly in the upper reaches, which I'm assuming is dust and will clear.

When the toggle is in the upper position (neck and middle only), none of the three positions on the telecaster blade switch work. There is a bit of noise as the pots rotate through the mid point of the turn, then back to silence.

When the toggle is in the middle, it works in each position when the telecaster volume pot is in the middle of it's travel. Going either way decreases volume.

Weird, huh? Anyone have any ideas as to why? I thought I wired it very carefully, but have clearly made an error somewhere. I'm going to check to see if any lugs are grounding against the cavity paint, as I've had that being a problem before.

Also, I've got too much angle on the neck so I'll reset that tomorrow morning...

Anyway, she's a bit of a looker! I'm rather proud, despite the wiring not quite going to plan. I'll cut the jack and take a photo of the rear of the plate tomorrow in case that helps.

ICBM · May 2015

It sounds like you have a short to ground somewhere, probably the toggle switch touching the shielding when the switch is in the neck/middle position. Or maybe more than one...

ThePrettyDamned · May 2015

ICBM said:

It sounds like you have a short to ground somewhere, probably the toggle switch touching the shielding when the switch is in the neck/middle position. Or maybe more than one...

I thought this was the most likely culprit - not sure where the short would be, but it sounds like one.

Goddamn shielding, keeping my guitar quiet. Too quiet...

But what about the odd volume knob behaviour on the neck/middle pickup? That just seems utterly bizarre. I'll look at it tomorrow morning. I'm too tired to bother now

ThePrettyDamned · May 2015

@icbm update time!

So, I took the plate off and have tested it. I get output from the neck on its own and the middle on it's own but the switch is wired the wrong way?! I thought they were symmetrical but the down position chooses the neck (even though the neck output is at the top of the switch).

The middle position of the two single coils is silent. Nothing at all.

The bridge pickup works with both neck and middle, but is humbucker only when in the middle position.

I think the toggle was grounding on the guitar too, as more things work more normally now the plate is out.

Have I been a massive bag of dickhead and wired the blade switch backwards?

Chalky · May 2015

The blade switch is symmetrical in its function but it still sounds like it isn't wired properly. The way you describe this, I think you need to recheck all your wiring runs against the schematic.

ThePrettyDamned · May 2015

Chalky;624326" said:
The blade switch is symmetrical in its function but it still sounds like it isn't wired properly. The way you describe this, I think you need to recheck all your wiring runs against the schematic.

I've recompared and don't see any obvious cock ups.

I'll see if I can get a photo or two. You get to see my horrendous wiring

actually it's not awful, just not as tidy as a pro I guess.

Flickr won't work for me though...

equalsql · May 2015

DartmoorHedgehog said:

I'm going to be the bastard who says they preferred the old look, sorry

But it still looks good with the black.

Same here. I love the original finish, the grain 'was' beautiful.

ThePrettyDamned · May 2015

equalsql said:

DartmoorHedgehog said:

I'm going to be the bastard who says they preferred the old look, sorry

But it still looks good with the black.

Same here. I love the original finish, the grain 'was' beautiful.

The grain is still there, very visible. I much prefer the black, super smart Gilmour jazzmaster ^_^

In the right light, the grain is white with the rest of the guitar going black as the finish has sunk. Looks super cool. Just need to work out my wiring woes...

ThePrettyDamned · May 2015

Okay, here we go!

ThePrettyDamned · May 2015

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Nearly NGD - sort of... Now a failed NGD! Calling electronics experts...

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