Custom 77 loaded pickguards

A few months ago I posted about the fall of French guitar company Custom 77,  who decided to end their business when they realised that they couldn't manage their own success without the support of any bank... As I hoped, they keep making guitars under a new form with a successful crowd funding, but they still have to sell-off their old gear stock as they move from their shop. 

So I acquired two loaded pickguards at the fifth of their values, with custom P-90s, and just received them. I didn't make a new guitar since I moved to Vienna and lost my atelier in Berlin (and I didn't keep you posted about the last project, will do that soon) but I start to have new ideas about how to build guitars without a dedicated work place and machines...

gearing up for coming concerts

I will have a few concerts in the coming weeks - solo and with the Soft Power Ensemble of Vienna. Here is my pedal line for my improvised solo act next week - as you can see I added an EHX Holy Stain multi-effect to the line, that might surprise some people if you've read some bad reviews this pedal has online. I got it first to add reverb and distortion to my Volca Bass, then it was very convenient to put it in my bag when I go jamming at the Neu New York/Vienna Institute of Improvised Music - it replaces 3 of my basic pedals: fuzz, tremolo and reverb… Then for the same reason I started to use it for rehearsals until I mastered it enough to put it in my pedal line.

People often dislike the harshness of its fuzz and overdrive, that is true that they are not for the fainthearted, but they suit me, also the deep reverb and harsh tremolo. I even get along well with the pitch shifter, that I use either as a detuner or set on max where its bad tracking gives painfully artificial squeaky sounds. I like this a lot! I've even learned lately that you can upgrade the pedal by tweaking its chip and get a chorus and a flanger - and split the control for reverb and effect… There again my lack of knowledge in electronics prevents me from doing it myself, so I will be looking for someone to do it for me here in Vienna (would be even better if it could have a gain control…)

Actually I do need some more electronic help for I ruined my Sovtek Big Muff - I pulled off a wire of the battery connection then tried to replace it with a power jack and now it doesn't work at all… I almost dumped it to buy a EHX one but I like it - and if I have it fixed I will also ask for some mods and changing the input/output jacks positions - I favor efficiency over authenticity… 

So for now I went back to use my Boss FZ-5 - and here again the very bad reviews that pedal has feel like pure snobbery: compared to other fuzzes I have it sounds very powerful and rich. Maybe it doesn't sound how it's supposed to and all authentic and shit but I don't really care about that. 

  

Nicole killswitch

Since I installed a killswitch on my Dot, I've been using it happily and wondered how I could live without it for so long (I'm currently recording demos, there should be some samples to hear soon - I mean soon in my usual very slow pace...). But after a few thousands clicks, the push button started to be noisy, and I realized that the cheap piece or gear I acquired for less than 1€ wasn't designed for such an intensive use.

So I ordered a Rolls Royce killswitch from French Luthier Nicole for 9 €, and it seems to be serious stuff. The problem is that it's quite wide, and I'm not sure that it will fit on an archtop semi-hollow - because of the curve... So should I make the change or put it on a solid body with a flat front plate? Still thinking... 

Microfret neck and Sitarcaster

Just bought on eBay this MicroFrets neck - from a 1968 Calibra - at a fair price, but missing its trademark MicroNut. Before I received it, I had planed to use it for my Butcher Block Sitarcaster project, so I wouldn't have to wait until I've saved enough money to buy a baritone neck for the Doppelcaster and recycle one of its necks for the new project (is it clear?) 

But then I found out that the Calibra has a super short scale, and that it doesn't fit at all for a tele - and on top of that, Ikea has discontinued its famous massive birch butcher block of 48x38 cm in which you could cut a tele body, so the project goes back to limbos - not for too long I hope... 

Here you can see a cardboard model of the  Sitarcaster body with its double lower horn - I'm quite proud of it, a classic design with a killer detail (the MicroFrets headstock would have looked terrific with it, with its Starcaster look)... 

Now I have to figure out what to do with this neck, my best idea so far is to make quickly a total junk guitar out of a battered plank I picked up in the street and the left over gear that lays around on my desk for month... But the frets are really micro and this guitar would require super low action, something you don't improvise!

shaping aluminium pickguard

A few days ago, I was asked about how I made my aluminium pickguard, here is a quick overview of the tools I use, it might interest unskilled beginners such as I was one year ago. So I work on 1,5 mm alu plate, and I start with cutting roughly with a jigsaw (with an alu blade), then more precisely with snips, then large flat file to finish with small files with different shapes for the details. I drill the screw holes with a small screwdriver (I like it because it's quite slow and easier to control, I'm not good with too powerful tools - for the same reasons I gave up grinders or Dremels that always do more than I expect...)

A sanding sponge is a good way to start the sanding, then thin sandpaper used with water - then I finish with polishing wheels mounted on a drill. It's quite primitive but it worked so far, and each time I'm getting better at it! I hope that I will manage to do some engraving in the coming months...

Melobaritone project: gear

I had the opportunity to acquire this  B-stock Steinberger-like tremolo that will fit perfectely to the Melobaritone project - yes it is now a concrete project, I decided to go for it (have to find a better name though, this is not a Melobar copy anymore)! 

I've been thinking about the aluminium neck (with some help from the  Aluminium T-beam Guitar blog) and consider a.o. a tubular neck - since a fretboard is unnecessary -, a little bit like on a Gittler guitar.

Z. Cat auto-wah pedal

Got myself a Z. Cat auto-wah pedal - I've noticed this brand of hand-made pedals from Latvia a while ago, and decided to try this one - and I'm not disappointed. I still have to play it on a tube amp but so far it has a beautiful sound with overdrive - I will have to find the right settings for clean sound but I don't use this so much anyway...

So I keep feeding noise music with psychedelic vintage analog effects and I'm quite happy with it!

wiring

Had my electronics wired at Nick Page Guitars (I really have to learn to do that myself - I'm a little bit shy about it... And I want to add the killswitch) who by the way just released a new version of their Baron... I must stop working on this guitar for a couple of weeks now, it will stay almost finished until then...

important information about guitar killswitch

The day before yesterday, I tried to buy a killswitch on eBay for my new guitar project - it was proposed as the very same killswitch used by Buckethead on the song Jordan - you know, a revolutionary device that can introduce silence in music... You press the button, the circuit is cut, you release, it works again (anybody remembers the riff of Spirit in the Sky? - an easier way to do it).

The price rocketed at 16 £ so of course I didn't buy it, but then I made a little inquiries on the web, and today I went to my local electric shop and bought one for 0,88 € (1,28 US$ / 0,77 £).

I'm sorry for the guy who bought it so expansive, and for the other one who thought he found a good business, but I saw similar offers on eBay so I want to tell guitar makers and modifiers to keep their extra bucks for better pickups, and buy killswitches for their actual price - that is super cheap.

customable brand-less guitar

Ripped open this guitar, it's funny to see how a cheap guitar is made, I've been lucky enough so far to only deal with good stuff. The body is made of plywood, it should be OK with the crackle mod, it's even good that it's so light because there will be a lot of new embedded gear...