Waaayy off topic project.

[kb426]

This is some pics of a Fender jazzmaster that I'm modding. To make a hotrod comparison, the original pickups are like 97's. The new pickups are like 3 deuces. Each deuce is two stage like the Weber carbs that were on Pintos. The single barrel is like a standard Fender pickup. The secondary is both barrels wide open. These are Mosrite clones such as the Ventures used for a while in the later 60's. The original tail piece was fixed like a solid mount rear axle. I wanted better suspension and less friction so I installed a roller bearing bridge and a suspension rear. ( tremolo tail piece) The original switching was just on/off. When I'm done, I'll have low, off, high and the ability to reverse the polarity of the bridge pickup. I made a jig to hold the body to clamp it in the mill. I had to remove the area between the original pickups. I made a simple jig to drill the mounting holes for the new pickup. The roller bridge was 8mm and the original posts were 6mm. I put the posts in the lathe and turned them down and threaded them to use the factory posts. The bridge spacing was about .030 per side wider than the new bridge. Back to the mill for a little machine work. I measured from the original bridge mount to square up the tremolo tail piece. The pickguard is machined but not edged. I have to wire everything and them see if I accomplished my goal. If all is well, it comes back apart to paint the body.

[butch27]

Beautiful workman ship.

[Carnut]

Heh, heh, the gist of what I got out of it was that there's a lot of thought and work there, and I really liked the late 60's Ventures.

Would have liked some more descriptive labels on the pics to understand what and why it was being shown..

[kb426]

Ask and ye shall receive! The bottom pic is as originally produced. The next  is the cutout to hold the body while machining. Is machining correct when you are working with wood???  2360 is a simple jig plate to line up the new holes for the third pickup in relation to the 2 originals. 2361 is a chuck I borrowed to use the .068 drill bit for the number 4 screws. This has a bearing around it that allows you to manually feed it down within the stroke of the unit. 2360 is a pic of the roller bridge and tremolo installed. 2364 is the 3 pickups in their proper placement. My apologies for not being more descriptive.   :oops:

[Carnut]

Ok, so you actually cutout and hand fabricated an entirely new body for the guitar, and then 'machined' it to accept the new goodies that you installed to get the results you desire.

Kinda looks like you just built your own guitar and it's no longer anyone elses vintage of guitar. or maybe you have built a new hot rod clone version of an original guitar using some original and some new components.

Cool dude.

Heh, heh, bet you are the kinda guy who could appreciate the 1961 Gibson SG Les Paul Custom formerly owned by Mary Ford.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/24/pawn-stars-les-paul-guitar-video_n_1226062.html

[34ford]

Ok, so you actually cutout and hand fabricated an entirely new body for the guitar, and then 'machined' it to accept the new goodies that you installed to get the results you desire.

No George,

He cut out an outline of the orginal guitar in the picture 2359.

Then he laid that piece on top of the piece in pic 2357 creating a jig to hold the orginal guitar

Now the body of the orginal can be clamped in the jig mounted to the mill table so he can machine in the 3rd pick up and the openings.

clear as mud, right

[kb426]

34FORD is correct. This next pic is the new pickgaurd that is close to being finished. It needs some hand finishing and then it will be time for wiring.

[Carnut]

Heh, heh, old age is really getting to me. I totally missed the 'simple jig' part.

And to think in one of my previous lives I was a tool designer and 'simple jigs' was one of my specialties.

Oh well.

[34ford]

Yeh at our age we need all the help we can get most times.  

[kb426]

George, if I had done a better job, you wouldn't have asked questions. I think I got an F in post descriptions. We all need some help.

[348tripower]

Nice!!!
I have a bit of a back ground in them gitars. I have four myself. Seldom touched anymore. My favorite is a 1960s Kay single pickup sunburst. I had one when I was about 14. Sold it an bought this solid body triple pickup piece of junk. Always wanted that one back.  A few years back I was doing one of my early morning internet searches and found the exact one on the northeast coast. Made the deal. Found the Kay amp on Ebay. Just no time to play anymore. And lost touch with the group I used to play with. That is one thing I miss about loosing the day job.

[kb426]

I'm getting close to completion of the electronics. This is a pic of it ready for a test. I have 60 cycle hum worse than it should have. I'll have to remove most of the stuff and check the wiring and maybe make a bunch of shielding to solve that problem. I don't have the answer, yet.

[BFS57]

Hello;
What year is that guitar? If it was an origional 60's guitar you just destroyed the value of it! But if it was a foreign made Fender than you just made it better than it was!
I've had and sold guitars and basses most of my life it is suprising that a "trashed" looking instrument is worth way more just because it is in "origional" condition! Sometimes it makes the difference between "thousands" and a "few dollars" when it's time to sell or trade.
If you play it all the time and love the new mods than thats all that needs to be said and done!

Bruce

[UGLY OLDS]

OK Guys .... Time for a silly question ...  I know nothing about guitars, amps ,strings, etc .... Never messed with one ...

 I usually spend Friday PM "De-compressing" from my work week by visiting garage sales ... Some times good stuff ...Most times junk but relaxing either way .....

Here's the deal ...  Last summer I stopped at a sale, at a place that normally has a sale every year ... One of the items for sale was a "Double Neck" guitar & amp .. The best way to describe it ...An electric guitar with various knobs , switchs & etc like the I see here but with two "Necks" I think you call them ... It was not "homemade" that I could tell ..It had one roundish or oval shaped "body"...  A nice metalflake finish , & two sets of stings  & "adjusters" approx 8" apart coming out of the body ... It was like 2 guitars made into one body ... I assumed that it worked as it was wired to the amp & setting on a chair ready to play .... Not being into playing  music , I did not ask ...

Questions ....
Is it something special ??     Rare ??    
 A 401 booster witout equal  :?:
Something  to pursue when the sale comes back this year :?:    

Sorry for the questions but I prolly would have trouble carrying a tune in a shopping cart .....


Bob ....

[kb426]

Bob, several companies have made dual neck models. Without knowing the brand and model, it's real difficult to ascertain a value to it. It's always interesting to look at oddities.