Alembic Guitars Club
Connecting => Miscellaneous => Topic started by: edwardofhuncote on March 30, 2022, 01:51:40 PM
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In the quest to explore, expand, and experience... circumstances led up to this Japanese (I'll call it, 'Alembic-inspired', rather than a copy, because I know the diff...) build. It's a mahogany body, made of about 20 pieces glued together. The neck is a maple beam with (I think) walnut veneer accents. Very rigid, and a very stable platform for a set of HG AE-1 activators.
It was a 24-3/4" scale, and 24 frets, which also checked a couple more boxes. The fretwork and overall build quality was pretty darn good. The hardware and electronics were absolutely junk. I replaced the bridge, tuners, and strap buttons immediately with some much nicer gold upgrades, then when the box of goodies came from Aunt Mary, I mounted the HG shaped pickups in new gold-plated brass rings.
Oh, and because I thought of it... I laminated a veneer of figured maple to the black plastic electronics cavity cover.
I'm working on a re-badging of the headstock, rather than the name of the store that commissioned these guitars backinthuhday.
Gently, often humorously teaching me discipline... y'all meet Mister Miyagi, my latest Alembicized guitar project.
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Very nice.
Peter
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Cool looking guitar.
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Nice!
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Nice. Definitely looks Japanese or Korean, late 70’s - early 80’s, would be my estimate. Similar to Vantage, Bambu, and others following Alembic’s lead at the time. Many of these were boat anchors, but some were lighter and most had impressive build quality. How much does this one weigh?
Bill, tgo
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I haven't weighed it, but not super heavy Bill... less than a Les, more than a Tele. I'm fairly sure you're correct on the age; the chain of music stores that stocked these around here went out of biz in the mid-80's. I think the neck-through models were made by Suzuki. No ID anywhere, just the guy's name who owned the stores, Don R. Miller. This one (and the others like it) had a C.F. Martin-esque logo, the Fender-shaped ones had a Miller waterslide that reminded you of a beer can label. I bought one of them too, from the same guy who had a few of them; they were new-old-stock still boxed up. Mine is a neck-through Tele copy... like Miyagi, it was a cool guitar but the electronics were glitchy and sounded pretty thin when they did work. So it received a set of EMG's, and a little dress-up in my shop. I laminated a veneer of Macassar ebony to the white plastic pickguard, then topped the face of the headstock to match it. Had to spend a good bit of time on the frets. Pretty smooth player now.
Bubba-San here, is my Office Guitar. I try to play a little bit every morning in here... it kinda' helps monitor my condition. Same at night when I get home.
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That turned out great! I really like the shape of the body.
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Way cool! Looks like my Alembic inspired Frontier 12 string. I have a 3 page document telling 'who made what make' of guitars in Japan if you are interested.
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Then there's this one. I get a kick out of all sorts of instruments!
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Fernandes?
David, I’d love to get a copy of your list of Japanese makers.
Bill, tgo
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I, too, would like a copy (that way, I wouldn't have to merely guess that the Frontier came from the same place as Vantage).
Peter
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Yeah, Fernandes (Ferbic) FAG. Emails sent on 'who made what in japan'.
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Got them; thanks muchly, David.
Peter
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Ditto!
Bill, tgo
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Miller Telecaster . . . . well, now that it's fixed up (even though you've since veneered over it), it's . . . . back in the high life . . . . again.
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Hee-hee-hee... I might get run offa' Broadway with this one Joey. ;D
Bubba-san is definitely better than stock now. Those EMG's (like we talked about) are silent as a tomb, and while not quite the same experience as, say, the custom alnico Sheptones in my other Fender Telecaster, but when you throw the switch back to the bridge and dial up, it has that unmistakable Telecaster *boing*. Super-Tele by contrast, with her Alembic activators, has this sparkly super-clean-clear high end. She can do Tele-like sounds, but it's like somebody tried to fling a Fender from Corona to Nashville, held on too long in the wind-up and hit Santa Rosa instead. The tone circuit also responds in a kinda' different way with the Filter/Q-boost function, but I think most of it is the ear of the beholder. You just have to understand where you're trying to be, sonically, and know how to find it. I love each off them for what they are, and in a couple cases, for what they aren't.
I've got a couple issues yet to sort out with Mister Miyagi (subject of the original post) but I'm very much looking forward to it. It's such a cool little guitar.
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EMGs are great!
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I had to go looking for this old thread, it had been so long...
I gifted Bubba-san (the EMG'd Telecaster type guitar) to a good friend and former bandmate, who treasures it.
But I kept Mister Miyagi here. In fitting the Alembic electronics into the cavity, and removing, and refitting a few times, I managed to wiggle the wires that connect the Q-switch to the Filter pot until they finally let go. Sadness. So I boxed the little bits up and sent them back with a mea-culpa note. Sure enough, right before I went the the hospital last week, a little box from Mica's Aunt Mary landed on my porch, and in it was my repaired Filter/Q-switch.
So as soon as I trust myself up in the shop, I hope to finish up with this project. I just hope Aglaope doesn't get jealous and use it as a chewy toy. ::)
In all seriousness, it's the completion of an experiment. I needed to experience these pickups with a simple circuit, in a mahogany body core, with a maple neck-through, and specifically this scale length. There are still a couple variables, but it should still give a good idea of what this combination would sound like and how it will respond. It's a radical departure from the long-scale Lil Darling, different woods, pickups, electronics, scale length, all of it.
More later...
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Very Nice! I hope all is well after your hospital visit too!
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All looks great, will be interesting to compare these guitars! :)
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Just double-checking on something here... I should know, and I think I do.
The pots and Q-switch should all contact the shielding directly, right? That's the ground. What about the pickup selector switch and jack? I can't remember if I backed up the switch with a knurled washer or not. I checked the jack, and it's making direct contact. I haven't checked the switch yet. I wouldn't think it mattered unless the washers were non-conductive. Like nylon or slate or something. But I am a card-carrying Wire Dunce.
Anyway, after reinstalling the Filter and Q-switch, and connecting the leads again, something still isn't quite right. I have output, but very, very little. If I dime every thing on the guitar and amp, I can hear the signal coming through the speaker. I can hear that each pickup is working. If I strike very hard, just a distorted pop or two. As if it is trying to work.
So far, I swapped out batteries, twice. Brand new, tested good.
None of the little circuit boards are touching the shielded sidewalls of the electronics cavity.
This has to be a simple one. What else to look for?
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Some Alembic circuits are not just generally grounded to everything, if I remember right?
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I ain't smart enough to know the answer to that, David.
I might ease that ball-bat switch loose this afternoon and see if it crackles to life.
I feel like it oughta' make some sound... I do know, if you unplug either of the two connectors that go to the Filter pot and reconnect them, a pretty good boom goes down the line. So this makes me think the preamp is getting powered. The switch is before that, and the pickups are connected to the switch, sooooo... maybe there is something to my observation.
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Could you try plugging one pickup at a time directly into the preamp? If that works then yeah, maybe that switch is the hangup.
Jimmy J
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Some Alembic circuits are not just generally grounded to everything, if I remember right?
IIRC, Alembic doesn't ground the strings/bridge.
Bill, tgo
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There is no ground wire from the bridge to anything in this case. (there was, but I removed it with the old electronics...)
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I have had 2 instruments I worked on over the years (Martin B-18 and Alembic Series one) fail in the way you describe. Both were caused by wires that went into caps or resistors (Not the wiring harness) that had come off or loose. I was able to find the problem by donning close up vision and gently tugging on the wiring with a dental tool or chopstick while examining the components.
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Okay this is really weird, and goes against everything that I thought I knew about activators. And after I'm done, everybody here, and the entire Wickersham Family included is invited to visit me at the Funny Farm.
With the guitar plugged up to my little toy workbench amp, I began to poke around. When I loosened the knurled fastener, and removed the pickup selector switch from its hole in the electronics cavity, as soon as it broke connection with the shielding, Mister Miyagi crackled to life. Full on, 100%. Switch works, as it should and all. Everything is great. It's even picking up my cell phone now! But if any part of the metal switch touches the shielding, dead short, dead quiet, nothing.
Soooo..... not to put too fine a point on it... what thuh ham-sandwich?! ???
I think I got a couple nylon washers around here somewhere. If I'm not nuts, that ought to fix it. Hang on, I'll be back.
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Just wondering; are the pickup cavities shielded, and if so, any chance there might be an issue there?
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Can you show us the business side of the switch where the wires are connected? If I understand that Gibson style switch correctly, i believe the shield of all 3 cables meeting there should attach to the thicker center lug of the row of 3. Then one pickup + wire to the left of the 3, one to the right of the 3. Then the upper 2 are connected together and serve as the "output". At least I think that's how it's supposed to be... If any of those cables were inadvertently reversed - say as they pass through those connectors - that could ground out the signal.
Jimmy J
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Alrighty... SUCCESS!!!
So I made a plastic washer to keep the switch from contacting the shielding, but I still had to keep the threads of the switch from contacting it as it passed through the hole. See, I had coated those inner surfaces too, because... that's ordinarily what you're supposed to do. So I Dremel-ed out the paint best I could, and to be extra-sure, I wrapped the threads of the switch with a couple winds of teflon plumber's thread tape. Absolutely no conductivity in that stuff. Here's a picture of my little washer; I made it with a little extension to support the arm where the leaves of the switch are working.
Jimmy J. you may be able to see what you're asking about in the picture above, where I had the switch dangling outside the guitar for my 'test'... I think you are probably correct, or headed the right way. I don't believe this is a part Alembic normally uses for any of their guitars, but rather a part that is sold for these activator sets, meant to be retrofit into a Gibson or Fender-type axe. They add the modular plugs to them though, so the pickups will easily plug-in. (nice!) *by the way, I totally missed your post the other day... that might have actually solved it, jumping around the switch to the preamp. I don't know if that works or not... but it stands to reason, the switch is just that; a selector between each pickup. The wire that leaves the switch goes to the preamp on the Filter pot. You see now how I got that Wire Dunce hat? ;D Thanks man!
Yessir Dave, the pickup cavities are shielded too... they actually were already, but I added a few more coats.
The guitar is dead-quiet, no RF noise, no hum, hiss, crackles, pops, or anything. It's just perfect, and plays like a dream too. (I'll take a little bit of credit for that much...) Will have to wait until I get some halfway playing chops back to give it a fair rundown, but it is definitely very, very Alembic-sounding... can tell that already. And super-hot output.
Thanks Everyone!
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Finished Pictures.
Mister Miyagi at some point counseled the Student; "Must have patience, Daniel-san!"
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Congrats!
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Well alrighty then, that's one way to solve it! Nice mod and we're glad you've got it up and running. Do you hear anything odd if you touch the metal part of the switch body while it's plugged in? I only ask because again, the body of that switch should not be the + side of the signal - which is the only reason it would stop passing sound when grounded. I looked hard at your dangling switch shot above but can't see from that angle which wires are soldered to which lugs. Moot point now since you've got it playing and sounding good. But next time you're in the cavity ... I'd love to see a shot of those solder lugs. And maybe a close up of the connectors...
Carry on. Enjoy it and put in some hours on that thing!
Jimmy J
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Nice guitar! Reminds me of the Electrum humbucker body style.
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Nice work! :)
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I checked everything out again; no noise at all touching the switch or the mounting nut. I really have no explanation... I probably still wouldn't understand if someone else explained it. I suppose the good news is that it works. I'm really looking forward to playing this one in a comparison with the Little Darling. I can already hear the similarities and differences between them, and there are are some very big differences. Unsurprisingly, the similar qualities are not unlike between two completely different Alembic basses. There's that commonality that you expect, that Alembic clarity, and everything else is... up for interpretation. I love the shorter scale. This little guitar has a nice neck too, the carve is chunky, but not too wide. I've got the action super-low. The intonation is remarkably accurate, all the way to the 24th fret. I do kinda' miss having the stoptail and bridge though... makes muting notes a bit awkward. There are some compromises, but I knew that.
I'm still thinking about how to respectfully rebrand Mister Miyagi here. The small chain of music stores that imported these guitars is long-gone, so I kinda' don't want to completely scrub it, though I really don't care for the C.F. Martin & Co.-esque decal. I'll think on it some more. Maybe some kind of surface mounted nameplate, with some appropriate Japanese charaters?
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Elite? Elise? Esprit?
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Nah, Mica might need those one day.
Mitsubishi? (more my style) 😄😄
I thought about a woodburning a little cartoon bonsai tree onto a shaped piece of veneer, glued to the upper headstock face, over the existing logo... hide glued, so it could be removed if one wanted to.
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Ha ha, how about Dodge Stealth VR4! (ask me why)
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Oh, I'm well aware... the 3000 GT VR4 was one of my dream rides. That whole platform was B-A. 8) My little Outlander AWD though, has been the best vehicle I've ever owned. I am approaching 250K mi. That little 2.4 ltr. MIVEC engine is one of the tightest 4-bangers they ever built. The Subaru Outback just out-classed it is all.
So here's what's transpired... this old friend of mine, and musical mentor happened to call yesterday evening. He is/was a professional player, with a foreign language major, lived in Japan working for Disney back in the 80's and 90's. Figured out he could make a better living, or at least augment his account by teaching English to Japanese folks, and tutoring American folks in Japanese while in-country. So in the course of catching up on my situation, I told him about my project guitar here, and asked for suggestions on characters for a headstock inlay. LSS; He's sending me some old bronze medallions, ingots, and out-of-circulation Japanese coinage to pick from.
Sounds like it might be something pretty cool.
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One last post on my project guitar here...
I just felt like a more appropriate logo for the headstock was needed... a little personalization, but not necessarily to me. I had very little to do with this one actually. I didn't want to scrub Don Miller's name from its history either, so I made a little headplate, affixed with tiny brass screws. The plate itself is two layers of purpleheart with a thicker layer of maple sandwiched between them. I traced the shape of the headstock end (which I think is meant to remind you of a Shinto Shrine) then reduced it so the headstock would outline it. The 'logo' is a bronze coin probably from the 1700's, called a Kan'ei Tsūhō. It was a small denomination, used by commonfolk as daily currency. These things were minted for several hundred years, so there are quite a few of them around. Anyway, I routed a shallow cavity for the coin, and even fitted a little bit of scrap veneer into the donut hole. (because... why not?) I rubbed in a little finishing wax, polished it up, then being very careful to miss the Don R. Miller & Co. decal, I drilled the headstock and mounted the new headplate on Mister Miyagi. It's cool, and totally removable, with four tiny holes to plug.
I think I'll quit now... good nuff!
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Very nice!
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Very nice work, looks great! :)
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Yes, nice indeed!