Tags I use a lot: CNC ⎪ Custom guitars ⎪ Electronics ⎪ Hifi ⎪
About me
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Shit. It’s a cool day, a little too close to the dew point. Got a little blushing in the nitro, even with retarder. Set up the oil heater to see if I can warm the moisture out. I’ve read you can shoot straight thinner to get rid of it, but I haven’t had any luck with that.
My Fender Squier Jazz, this was my daily player in the mid-90’s. Bought it new at GC, upgraded it a bit right when I bought it. That’s a lot of sweat and beer underneath the pickguard. Lot of great memories with this bass. Decided to love on this bass a little—I’m replacing all the rusty screws with stainless, might buff out the body while it’s apart. I’m not a fan of ‘relic,’ even if it’s legit.
Sorry to take so long to post this! Sound sample of Dubhe, the most recent guitar I built. Direct into my Focusrite Saffire 24 —-> Garageband, no effects. I’m stoked about these pickups, I used 43 gauge wire, tiny stuff. Alnico 2 magnets in the neck position, Alnico 5 in the bridge. Tone control is sweet with the .022µF Orange Drop cap. all positions sound good to me.
http://soundcloud.com/adambeauchene/duhbe-sound-sample
Gluing a fretboard to a neck. I usually go the plethora-of-clamps route, but I thought I’d try this instead, simple electrical tape, stretched tight. Seems to apply even, firm pressure, just a little squeezeout. Since the fingerboard and neck back are already radiused, this is easier, as clamps tend to roll to one side or the other. The alignment is set with index dowels, so no worries about lateral movement. I use System Three T-88 epoxy almost exclusively in guitar building. CA glue for some occasional things, Sometimes Titebond 1 if I’m out of epoxy :)
Another project in progress: making a new electronics plate for my Strat. Pickguard from Warmoth, pickup covers from Mojotone. Note there are only two pots—going with a master tone control setup. The normal volume pot location is annoying.
Pickups:
Magnets: .671”x.195” alnico 5, flush poles
43AWG SPN wire:
6.5k neck
7.0k mid, rwrp
7.5k bridge
Other:
5 way switch
250k Bourns PDA-24 master tone
1000pf silver mica tone cap
250k Bourns master volume
The little one likes to rock out too. He sings a lot.
A peek inside the Jazz Chorus. You can see the two AD8397 opamps in place, and the four M5218 that are also about to be replaced.
Analog Devices AD8397’s on Brown Dog SIL-8 adapters, to re-chip my Jazz Chorus. I did two of them last week, finishing up the other four now.
Well, time to send this one out. Will snag a sound sample tonight then it’s off to UPS in the morning.
I don’t do serial numbers. This one is named “Dubhe,” (say dubbie), one of the two pointer stars in the Big Dipper.
Specs:
Original Beauchene Implements design
2-piece Honduran Mahogany body, contoured top and back, ivoroid binding.
Honduran Mahogany neck, ziricote headplates
Nitrocellulose laquer finish
24 fret Macassar Ebony fretboard, Abalone dots
Gotoh Tuning machines
Les Paul style tailpiece
Custom stainless steel bridge by Compton Compensated (2.25” spacing)
Custom made Strat-style pickups; 43AWG SPN wire:
-Neck is 7500 turns on AlNiCo 2 magnets
-Bridge is 9000 turns on AlNiCo 5 magnets
-polepieces aligned to string spacing
250k Bourns tone and volume pots, .022uF Orange Drop tone cap
SG-style pickup selector switch by Switchcraft
Please ignore the pbj sandwich on the floor. One of my little assistants was on scene during photography :)
I love a whammy bar, but it’s never seemed comfortable to hold and play at the same time. So I hacked off an inch and a half, rethreaded and rebent it—David Gilmour style. It’s a little less responsive now, which means it’s easier to use it subtly. All around win.
To try to tame the notorious hiss in my Jazz Chorus, I am swapping out all the M5218 opamps for OPA627s. To do this, I needed some SIL-8 to DIL-8 adapters; Griffin Effects has them in a kit, and a fantastic slogan to boot. Too bad I don’t own anything with warranties!
If an opamp swap doesn’t do it, I might swap all the carbon comp resistors in the signal path for carbon film.
American Standard Strat… 2x10” Roland Jazz Chorus (JC-77)… Alesis Quadraverb 2… I can stop buying guitar stuff, I own my dream rig now!
…hmm, what if I built a ‘56 Bassman clone in a 2x10” cabinet for the stereo channel of Quadraverb… Nevermind, not done yet :)
