Ezra's Custom Guitar

[eardolin]

Thanks for your input oso- It's my understanding that piezos aren't an option on an Alembic- I think I remember reading this on a few past threads?-

[lbpesq]

I have the RMCs on both my synth guitars - my Alemfer and a Godin LGX-SA.  They are great.  However they replace the saddles in a strat type through-body string load type bridge.  Doesn't work with Alembic.
 
Bill, tgo

[osoloco69]

I have had the ghost tonepros type of saddles/bridge and it works well...I have had one of those tonepros stripped of the saddles and placed onto a gibson style bridge by phil gawen and it was on one of his wolf type guitars.  I would think that it could be done on an alembic...

[eardolin]

Take a look at this photo of an Alembic bridge-  

I think the saddles are a bit different than what are used on Phil Gawen's guitars or in Tonepros or Tune-O-Matic bridges for that matter- The Tonepros type saddles seem to have a centered set screw while the Alembic saddles seem to have a rod with an offset set screw and a customized slot for each string- Don't get me wrong I think a piezo setup would be superior to the Roland but I'm not aware of a way that it could happen beyond using a non-Alembic bridge (something I don't want to do) or having custom piezo saddles made (something that Graph Tech won't do, they have a 1000pc. minimun for custom saddles)- Maybe RMC would do custom saddles or piezify some Alembic saddles, I haven't had any luck getting in touch with them...

[eardolin]

Hey Mica-
Not sure if you've had your eye on this thread but over the past week I looked (totally out of curiosity) into the possibility of a piezo midi set-up and found that there isn't really much out there- Anyhow I'm still totally interested in having a Roland GK-KIT-GT3 pick-up installed so if possible I'd like to look into some of the options you mentioned a couple of posts ago- Specifically I am interested in having the pick-up, on/off toggle, volume pot, and jack installed- I don't really see the need for the midi push-button controls or the led- If for some reason you need my email address please let me know-
Thanks-
-Ezra

[eardolin]

 
Hey Mica-
Just wanted to post this diagram illustrating the signal path I had in mind for my instrument- In the drawings I initially submitted I provided a control layout but no specific information regarding a signal path- This may be entirely premature as I'm not sure what state my instrument is currently in(??) but it's been on my mind so I figured I'd put it up here-   While I'm certainly no electrical engineer I have wired quite a few of my own instruments and fx projects and have a general understanding of circuit design-  
 
The specific reason for posting this diagram is to illustrate the sequencing of the various controls I have specified- All this may be totally obvious to the people in the electronics dept. but I want to make sure that I have not miscommunicated the intention behind my selection of controls-  
 
Specifically I am interested in the way in which the fx loop will be integrated into the signal path- As I assume you know I specified a wet/dry mix (fx loop pan pot) for my instrument and I wanted to verify that the mixing pot can be placed after the loop in the signal path thus mixing either the fx send signal with the dry signal or the fx return signal with the dry signal- In essence by having the wet/dry mixing occur after the fx loop the fx send signal will remain static, which, in my opinion, is the whole point in having an fx loop (constant send signal going to the fx, playing dynamics aside)-  
 
Additionally, I would like to specify that both the neck/bridge pan pot and the wet/dry mix pan pot have the locking 50/50 position notch-
 
Sorry for the lengthy post and any inconvenience-
 
Thanks-
-Ezra
 
(Message edited by eardolin on April 03, 2007)
 
(Message edited by eardolin on April 03, 2007)

[mica]

I'll have my dad review this within a couple of days. We did a modification on Scott Law's Owl guitar that I think was similar.

[eardolin]

Mica-
I would like to order some custom knobs for my instrument from THG and I'm wondering what size knobs Alembic pots need 1/4 in. or 6mm?
Thanks-
-Ezra
 
p.s. please also see my post in the new electronics thread...

[eardolin]

Don't worry about this one- Roger from THG saw this post last night and has already contacted me regarding the pot diameter- According to him the pots will be 1/4 inch...

[mica]

I can confirm that the pots are 1/4 but please ask Roger to supply with 2 set screws per knob.

[eardolin]

Hey Mica-  
Sorry for the barrage of c/a posts- One other thing that I wanted to verify was the carving for the body of my guitar- When I placed the order a while back with Susan she had mentioned the option of both a tummy carve and an elbow carve and said we could decide on those options when the guitar was in carving- Not sure where things are exactly but I've thought about those options a bit and I think I DO want the tummy carve but DO NOT want the elbow carve- Just wanted to throw this out there in case the work order stated something different-  
Thanks-
-Ezra

[adriaan]

From what I've seen, you had better call Alembic on the telephone if you want to prevent something irreversible.
 
These threads are fun to watch, but you can't be sure that someone from Alembic is checking in regularly.

[mica]

I've made certain the work order reflects your wishes for a tummy carve only.
 
You can be sure that I check the changes and additions pages regularly. I don't always check the discussion pages in teh FTC threads.

[eardolin]

Mica/Susan-
A while back when I first began the ordering process my drawings included ebony pinstripes between the neck and body wings- Assuming the body hasn't been glued to the neck yet, would it be possible to put these pinstripes in- I think they would help define the difference between the maple top and the maple neck lams- Please let me know when you get a chance-  
Thanks-
-Ezra

[tbrannon]

Ezra,
 
If it were me, I'd email Mica direct with that.  It seems as though they've been flying through instruments lately and if you're not sure where they're at in the build process, I'd send an email to make sure she gets the message ASAP.  If this is the only place you've made it known, it might be a few days before she notices (?).  Either way, probably better safe than sorry.
 
Just my $.02- I'll be living vicariously through your build process (just like I do w/ everybody else's!)  enjoy~
 
Toby