crackle guitar session 2

Our working process has been quite chaotic, so I kept the pictures in complete disorder - would have been pointless to pretend that there's been a logical progression... The key thing that happened is at least that our expectations that the crackle box would work as a filter for the guitar pickups are fulfilled - see the video...

Next session and achievement of the crackle guitars should be next February in Amsterdam!

crackle guitar session

The last week-end was dedicated to the conception and making of 2 crackle guitars (yes we do it Sonic Youth style, each of us has his own personalized model) - these are the more or less definitive sketches of the guitars.

There's been a few modifications of the original projects, a. o. with the introduction of stroboscopic LEDs than can interfere with the crackle circuits and add rhythmic patterns, and of little speakers to respect the original spirit of the crackle bow, that is to be independent from external amplification (but there are outputs too of course).

Photos of the working process in the next post.

crackle guitars gear

Finally gathered the gear for the crackle guitars project - the problem being that the strings are also contacters for the crackle circuit, so they have to be isolated from each other and have separated contacts on the body to connect to the electronics one by one.

We decided to use Sung Il Tune-o-matic bridges with Graph Tech teflon saddles and string-thru-body system - the ferrules will be the contact points. Otherwise we have Wilkinson tuners. We recycle the pick-ups of the base guitars.

Probably what I'm saying doesn't make sense to most people - that will be more clear in a few days, since we will have a crackle guitar working session on the week-end.

Epiphone frenzy

Yesterday was a special day, I received two new guitars the very same day, an Epiphone Dot Studio I bought six months ago in the US (thanks to the low dollar and the wrecked car I sold for hardly more than what I paid for the guitar) and that was waiting since a way to cross the Atlantic ocean, and an Epiphone Thunderbird pro IV bass I just acquired for the project I'm currently working on.

Two classic beauties! The Thunderbird pro IV is Epiphone's new neck-through model with transparent black finish and black hardware and pickguards, it has an incredibly rich sound, I'm sorry for my faithful old Musima, but she cannot compete!

The Dot Studio is a simplified version of the Dot with just one volume and one tone controls - but I never use the knobs on guitars anyway. I will replace the pick-ups with some Epiphone SGs chrome cover humbuckers I have around, until I find better - and I consider a ES335 style metal pickguard...

GAS is a good drug and the healthiest of all!

more neckless guitar sketches

If the concept behind the neckless guitar project proves successful, there are plenty of possible variations (OK, some are over the edge, but there are 2 or 3 that would be quite cool). Unfortunately I'm very busy on another project right now, and soon I will have a working session with Daniel Schorno on the crackle guitar project, so the neckless one has to wait a little bit...

more double-neck and neckless guitar sketches

I don't always upload these sketches in chronological order - hence the slight incoherent progression... But much probably my brain is also responsible for this.

more double-neck and neckless guitar sketches

I realized that since double-neck guitars are mostly stage guitars - in the studio you can just change your guitar - they follow other ergonomic rules - and they don't need the lower curve to rest on the leg (I assume that most player stand on stage).

And there are many little details for the neckless guitar project that require that I explore it again and again - hence the new sketches...

neckless guitar studies

Slowly but steadily, the neckless guitar project progresses... I have now the wood - it's beech wood, rarely used for solid bodies but - like birch wood - much appreciated usually for drums and speakers...

I decided finally to go for a Wilkinson bridge humbucker... Since the scale of the fretboard is different than the one I used for my calculations, I have to readjust everything a little bit... I realise that the connection between the pickups, the knobs and the jack socket will be problematic... And I'm considering adding a removable leg rest, probably home-made - a Steingerger leg rest is as expensive as a Seymour Duncan pickup!

more sketches

It's been a long time since I didn't draw double-neck guitars. Seems to me that the Flying V is the best design when you have two necks of the same length - I'm surprised that it's not widely used. But a double-neck is better with a regular neck and a baritone neck - the more different the better! And necks should not be parallel of course...