Post Your Pics of Store-Bought Instruments/Amps Here

Longish post this, mostly from something I posted a couple of years back on another forum under guitar building:

In the late 60's what I now call my "Chimera" was a thru' neck bass guitar I used to play in blues bands around South London. In the 70's I decided to change it to a 'normal' guitar so off came the four elephant winders, the holes were filled in, and on went a six set. I then took out all the frets, sanded away the existing slots, and re-fretted and position marked it to its current two octaves using a non-bass-guitar scale. In those days I had a 9 Volt powered pre-amp embedded in the back end of the bodywork but the control setup was rather more orthodox than today. The early version had home-made wire wound pickups that ran thru'an internal microphone transformer to boost the output a bit.

A bit later the guitars back end cracked off, mainly due to the rather large hole I'd made for the pre-amp so I straightened it across and contoured the remaining body a bit which naturally also reduced the overall weight of the guitar! Since the seventies there have been numerous other changes, mostly by way of pick-up swaps (the two current pickups were moved across from an old Maya strat copy) and re-wiring experiments. I finally dumped the internal pre-amp about four years ago.

The current wiring is a bit unorthodox. The three knobs are Volume 1, Volume 2 and Tone. The output socket is actually a stereo one for a reason explained later. A particular knob doesn't do anything if its related (very small) switch is in the UP position. There are actually five of these tiny switches in a row. Starting at the neck end Switch 1 is OFF/ON for the neck pickup and Switch 2 is OFF/ON for the bridge pickup. Switch 3 is UP for the two pickups to work as single coil and DOWN for the two pickups to be humbucked together (took me ages to figure the wiring for that!). Switch 4 is UP to de-activate the volume and tone control and DOWN to activate. The reason for this switchable activation and de-activation is that I rarely fiddle with the rotary controls while playing, I just switch in whatever preset I've adjusted them to beforehand! Another oddity lies in switch 5, a three position switch. Its 'neutral' position is upright, nothing is activated when in that position. UP, however, activates the other volume control which happens to be the knob nearest to the pickups. The connections from that control feed to the second signal output on the stereo socket already mentioned.

So, if I use a mono guitar cable the second connection in the socket gets grounded. But when I use a stereo guitar cable its split into two mono jacks at the other end where I have a Digitech processor (an RP50 actually, cheap as they come!). One of the mono jacks goes into the INPUT socket on the Digitech and the other goes into the EXPRESSION PEDAL socket. Depending on the Digitech's effects settings any variable resistance plugged into the EP socket will control either Volume, Wah or Whammy. So what I'm doing here is moving an EP onto the face of the guitar as an alternative to having it on the floor.

Finally there is the DOWN position of Switch 5. That re-directs the signal away from the EP knob to a miniature jack socket at the end of the line of switches. This accepts a device I call a RAT TAIL. Actually all that amounts to is a mini jack plug with about 9 inches of coax attached, on the other end of which is a very small modified push button. Normally such a push button would have a simple ON/OFF action. The modification was to dismantle it and insert something called Quantum Tunnelling Composite (a metal-filled polymer) between the contacts, then re-assemble it. QTC is interesting stuff. First it's very cheap, less than 2 Quid for a pack of 4 tablets about 2mm square. In its normal state it presents a resistance of around 1M Ohm, but squash it and its resistance drops progressively thru' to 0 Ohms. So ... DOWN on Switch 5 wakes up the RAT TAIL!!!! The tail is long enough for the end to be held in the right hand along with a pick. Push the button at the same time as picking and some pre-determined effect comes into play on the Digitech. I'm working on ideas for a 'pressure plectrum' (the harder you grip it the more effect you get) and even a pressure device that can be bitten upon, putting it on the end of a cable threaded down clothing to inside a shoe, you name it! As I'm currently learning to play alto saxophone it has occurred to me that even a pressure sensitive mouthpiece for that is possible ... a painless way of bending notes perhaps!

Finally on the Chimera there is also a further straightforward push button override. That is mounted near the neck pickup and is reachable with some playing styles using r.h. 2nd or 3rd finger pressure. High resistance to low resistance in one button push in this case and it overrides the Rat Tail.

Another mod I've done is to make the scratch plate in sections so that I can get at my wiring without slackening or removing strings etc. to free the pickups which are on a separate plate.

The guitar at the moment weighs 5 pounds which is pretty light. It's kinda hard to nail down what production guitar it sounds like, if any, as so much can be done with the particular effect used. A couple of my tracks, where on both all the guitar sounds, including 'bass' via an octave dropper, come from the Chimera, can be found at:

http://www.soundclick.com/rojalesbluesband

The following pictures are of the Chimera face-on, control plate, and the back. The funny looking thing sticking out of the back is a recent add-on. It just plugs in for the times I'm using the guitar standing up on a strap and holds the guitar more-or-less in place against my waist and also tilts it up a bit so I can see what I'm playing!!

Here are the pics:

http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k56/losaavedra/MUSIC/CHIMERA.jpg

http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k56/losaavedra/MUSIC/CHIMFRON.jpg

http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k56/losaavedra/MUSIC/CHIMBACK.jpg

Hmmm ... I think a re-paint might be in order!!

Anyway I'm always interested to hear what others have done or any other general comments.
 
My half completed project.......

Yeah, disability and the lack of a real shop have slowed progress significantly......but here is a Epi SG body and EpiLP neck that I got ahold of for cheap and been molesting for a while.....getting ready to finish it soon.....just need a paint booth.......(I hate sanding......lol)

An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.


An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.


and this is the "practice rig", Ive been putting together......look for the "knight amp" thread for details.......

An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.


may not be pretty,, but it makes me smile.....
 
Well, every other section has something similar, so - let's post pics of our instruments!
So, what do you guys play?
Chris

Edit: I use a 3.00 mm pick, because using a thin one means you never learn things exactly right.
 

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What's with all the guitars? Doesn't anyone play anything else any more?

I own 23 instruments and only one is a guitar. Six saxes, several clarinets, a grand piano, a double bass, set of drums, trombone, two cornets, trumpet, bass clarinet, chromatic harmonica, flute, more....
 
My gears.

Hi all,
These are my babies... :D
Hope you guys will enjoy the show...
Amps: Blackstar HT-5 head - H&K Vortex - Marshall Silver Jubilee model 2558.
Ext cab: Marshall 1922.
Effects: Boss SD-1, Boss MT-2, Boss CS-1, Ibanez Tube King TS-999, Dunlop Cry Baby.
Here we go:
Jackson DR-X [1996]
Jackson-1.jpg

Hamer Slammer series Diablo [ca. 1997]
Hamer.jpg

Ibanez JS-100
Ibanez.jpg

American Std. Strat. [1996]
Fender.jpg

Takamine
Takamine.jpg
 
Very nice. Green is my favourite colour, but if that one goes missing, it wasn't me - honest.

At the moment, I play a Squier Strat, neck pickup, tone controls set to 4. The pedal is a boss ME-20, the amp is very very old, made by Intermusic (anyone heard of them?). In the future, I'd like a 1x12" combo, with a 1x12" extension cab, preferably Marshall for both.
 
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Very nice. Green is my favourite colour, but if that one goes missing, it wasn't me - honest.
Thanx Chris... :D
Right: the green one is one of my favourite, along with the Jackson...
I'm kind of a 'heavy stuff' guy.
While the JS-100 is modified on all electronics (I changed both p.u. with DiMarzio Fred on the neck and Joe on bridge position). All pots have been changed and circuitry was wired accordin to JS-1200 schematics.
I also changed the tremolo with a licensed floyd rose made by guitar depot.
Sounds pretty nice now... :D
 
Those are some beautiful pictures.

When I am cleared from the doctors, I will post the pictures of my guitars. I have Eppi Les Paul, XV550, and a Thinline Telecaster copy, that was built for me at the factory when I visited Korea, years..., back (1984) Pusan. Pick it up for $200.00.

Take care

Ivey
 
Thanks kavermei,

A lot of time & effort goes into every individual guitar, your comment is very gratifying.



Gday EverythingPCB,

I don't think there's any showing off as such, I think the main thing is to show what we can do or what we may have.
Everyone who owns a Guitar normally has there preferences, some for nostalgic reasons like the Fenders or Gibsons etc.

Others because of owning something Custom or Hand Made with unique tones but at the end of the day as long as we are happy with what we have or what we hand craft then that is what it's all about.

Guitars are very much a personal taste item.
Personally I much prefer hand made custom guitars rather than the mass produced copies of the originals.
It's like Fender for instance, a REAL Fender hasn't been produced since about 1967 when Mr Fender sold his business for about 13 Million dollars, a lot of money back then & even now.
They are all just Mass produced copies since then & more than likely are now being made cheaply in China unfortunately.

I prefer a Natural timber finish rather than just paint, as the saying goes, if you have to paint timber to make it look ok, then it can't be all that good underneath.
A lot of other people are very different of course, they prefer painted boards with plastic parts all over them that are produced in there tens of thousands at a dollar each.

I know what I prefer & quality is the first requirement:).

Cheers
 
I've been playing guitar for 29 years. Got this Washburn A-10K in 1987. If you look closely, you can see where my pic is actually digging into the guitar because I play so hard and heavy. I use #11 strings and break them regularly. :D I have a Crate G120C stereo head which is powering 4 12" speakers, and a wireless system that allows complete freedom. If you are not playing with a wireless, I highly recommend it!
Drums are a double bass Pearl set that hammers.
 

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Gday metalthrashinman,

I went to have a look at your pictures but they are very big & you can't see them properly.

A bit of a hint is to right click on the pictures & go "open with" Paint & how you see them in Paint is how they will upload.
Normally they are far to big so you just go to Image then resize in Paint, I normally resize to 30% X 30% & they are fine.
Just go save as & when you do they are the correct size & will be compressed into a much smaller file size easier to upload as well.
It works for me.
I would like to have a look at your pictures if you can resize them in Paint & upload them again.

Cheers
 
Gday metalthrashinman,

I went to have a look at your pictures but they are very big & you can't see them properly.

A bit of a hint is to right click on the pictures & go "open with" Paint & how you see them in Paint is how they will upload.
Normally they are far to big so you just go to Image then resize in Paint, I normally resize to 30% X 30% & they are fine.
Just go save as & when you do they are the correct size & will be compressed into a much smaller file size easier to upload as well.
It works for me.
I would like to have a look at your pictures if you can resize them in Paint & upload them again.

Cheers

I appreciate your reply and would like to do this, but cannot find 'open with'. I used the 'manage attachments' and pulled them from 'my documents'. They seem to be loading properly on my computer- shown as thumbnails and even growing slowly in size as they load when clicked on... Are they too big for everyone else to see? They seem the same as the others on this forum. Hummmm.........:confused: Can you see the thumbnails?
 
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Ex-Moderator R.I.P.
Joined 2005
My new bass
I have been looking at short scale for a while
Didnt find one I liked, so I ordered a Moses custom neck
But its a very long wait
This 100EUR short scale just popped up, so I bought one

at first I was dissapointed
completely unplayable
but after countless hours of never ending adjustments, it has turned out quite nice
with a light soft touch, it has a very melodic and fine tune, all the way up :note:

I guess I have learned what the adjustable bridge is good fore
and its only just begun :eek: :D

:)
 

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I appreciate your reply and would like to do this, but cannot find 'open with'. I used the 'manage attachments' and pulled them from 'my documents'. They seem to be loading properly on my computer- shown as thumbnails and even growing slowly in size as they load when clicked on... Are they too big for everyone else to see? They seem the same as the others on this forum. Hummmm.........:confused: Can you see the thumbnails?

The "open with" is on windows, before you upload.

Just "right click" on the file name, it's there.

It's also there when using windows photo viewer, at the top.

Reducing image size makes my uploads much faster and reliable.
 
Ex-Moderator R.I.P.
Joined 2005
my "bass" combo :D

well, as you can see, its a small guitar thingie, 15watt
a friend gave it to me

much to my surprice, it makes my new short scale bass sound quite nice, really
for night practice its more than enough

there are ways to improve it
change to a better suited 8" woofer
or mount additional woofer on back (awkward)
or, theres a jack speaker out on front for a slave speaker
etc, etc

but its a cool little combo
tho I also have my eyes on a BBE Bmax preamp
with a Crown XTI
and the money begins to roll
 

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Had this Epi Wildkat sitting under my bed for few years, lovely neck to play, but I didn't like the sound. Eventually disconnected the individual volume controls & replaced the neck pu with an Ibanez strat copy pu. It gets a regular thrashing now...
Amp is an Aussie ss 'Jade' amp, ~50W, swapped the distortion LEDs for Mosfets & never looked back.
 

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