Hollow-body AND sliding pickups. How hollow is hollow? You'd have a solid block beneath the bridge, right? (You'd need it there anyway for the pickup rails? What about the insides of the pickup hole?
the most realistic option is indeed to build the guitar around a wood block on which I'd bold the neck and the bridge, routed for the sliding pickups, and fix it inside an aluminium case.
it would be more elegant to make a press-formed alu box for the pickups but it would require machines, and a central wooden beam would probably still be necessary.
this is just the beginning of an idea, sliding lipstick pickups are a seducing concept, but I'm not convinced that it has a decisive effect on the sound.
anyway, I didn't yet thought through the technical aspects of it all!
Fascinating project. Regarding the wooden block, I came to think of this: http://www.longfellowguitars.com/
On one of the pictures (almost at the bottom of the page), you can see a strat bottom plate with two alu beams running lengthwise. Maybe something similar would work for your project. It would leave you sufficient room for the sliding pickups.
In my own experience, sliding the pickup forth and back makes a big difference. Why not only one pickup, btw?
thank you alex, interesting link (like the last one to Norton guitars), they have a splendid alu bo-style guitar...
for some reason, with a wooden neck I prefer a wooden central block. the best would probably to have a neck-through-body but I will keep avoiding making a neck myself unless I put my hand on a real wood-workshop! same with the alu, if I can make a square box out of alu in my bedroom it's already not bad...
I'd put two single coil lipsticks to have the possibility to combine them to have a humbucker like on the wilkes (http://guitarz.blogspot.com/2010/03/wilkes-answer.html) - though I have to get precise info about this because it sounds too easy!
tomorrow i will post new sketches with a smater sliding system.
Hollow-body AND sliding pickups. How hollow is hollow? You'd have a solid block beneath the bridge, right? (You'd need it there anyway for the pickup rails? What about the insides of the pickup hole?
ReplyDeletethe most realistic option is indeed to build the guitar around a wood block on which I'd bold the neck and the bridge, routed for the sliding pickups, and fix it inside an aluminium case.
ReplyDeleteit would be more elegant to make a press-formed alu box for the pickups but it would require machines, and a central wooden beam would probably still be necessary.
this is just the beginning of an idea, sliding lipstick pickups are a seducing concept, but I'm not convinced that it has a decisive effect on the sound.
anyway, I didn't yet thought through the technical aspects of it all!
Fascinating project. Regarding the wooden block, I came to think of this: http://www.longfellowguitars.com/
ReplyDeleteOn one of the pictures (almost at the bottom of the page), you can see a strat bottom plate with two alu beams running lengthwise. Maybe something similar would work for your project. It would leave you sufficient room for the sliding pickups.
In my own experience, sliding the pickup forth and back makes a big difference. Why not only one pickup, btw?
/Alex
thank you alex, interesting link (like the last one to Norton guitars), they have a splendid alu bo-style guitar...
ReplyDeletefor some reason, with a wooden neck I prefer a wooden central block. the best would probably to have a neck-through-body but I will keep avoiding making a neck myself unless I put my hand on a real wood-workshop! same with the alu, if I can make a square box out of alu in my bedroom it's already not bad...
I'd put two single coil lipsticks to have the possibility to combine them to have a humbucker like on the wilkes (http://guitarz.blogspot.com/2010/03/wilkes-answer.html) - though I have to get precise info about this because it sounds too easy!
tomorrow i will post new sketches with a smater sliding system.