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Old 09-01-2007, 09:06 PM   #41
bradjones007
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Default Neodymium pickups

Here's some...
http://www.q-tuner.com/
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Old 09-01-2007, 09:42 PM   #42
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Quote:
Originally Posted by J Kennedy View Post
We can probably pull off the gate better digitally nowdays, but I haven't found any digital compressor that beats the old Ross box, or the MXR floor box (distant second).
I've read a few good reports that say the Electro Harmonix Hum Debugger actually eliminates noise - "Absolutely eliminates hum from any audio source. Not a noise gate and not a suppressor. Dead silence in your signal chain courtesy of a little EH magic" - some people are saying it actually works.

I have never tried a Ross compressor, but they are still very popular and there are a lot of clones available from boutique builders if you just want a replacement that is not so rare and collectible. I do have two Ross distortion pedals - a black one and the older brown model - very nice!

I have an Electro Harmonix Black Finger compressor (the newer tube model). I have no idea how it compares to a Ross, but I like it.

Last edited by guitarzan; 09-01-2007 at 09:45 PM.
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Old 09-01-2007, 09:49 PM   #43
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Jason Brian Merrill View Post
reaper lounge would be perfect for it

please keep going, this is very interesting.
Yes, I agree, this is very interesting.
Maybe a 'section' in the forum for "DIY Studio Tweaks" (or something similar)
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Last edited by bluzkat; 09-01-2007 at 09:50 PM. Reason: brain fart
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Old 09-02-2007, 10:42 AM   #44
J Kennedy
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Default depths of depravity

Buddha forgive me for the perverse thoughts going thru my head. My young grandson just arrived for his visit and unloaded his toys. His “Thomas the ChooChoo” train set has a bunch of small railroad cars that are linked and unlinked by magnets…perfect, powerful, quarter inch Neodymium buttons, and by the count, just enough to upgrade all 18 poles in a strat.

Got to take a walk, read a book or something to get my mind off this.

John K

Thank you also for the good links and ideas on the pickups, compressors and noise filters.
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Old 09-02-2007, 08:21 PM   #45
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Default Rebirth of the Fender Strat part 1 of 2

Friends,

(No laughing at my art work).

As said, these wirings are about as simple as things can get. I’ll break the strat mod into a couple posts. To get every conceivable sound variation a strat can make, meaning all phasing combinations and any volume from any pickup, alone or in combination, all you need are two miniature double pole – double throw center off switches. Radio Shack has these, cheap and they will work solid for years. A third switch would be needed if you are doing this on a 3-pickup guitar that doesn’t have the standard Fender knife switch. This would include guitars with the 3 position switch where the center position turns multiple pickups on (like the standard Gibson toggles). More on this later after the strat is reborn…

The DPDT center-off switch is a 3 position switch with 6 terminals on the bottom. The outer 4 terminals are soldered in the criss cross manner shown in the graphic. Either set of end terminals take the hot and ground wires from a pickup. The center two terminals are the ground and hot leads. Hot goes to exactly where the pickup hot was wired onto the knife switch originally. Ground can go to anywhere that is grounded. There is no absolute hot or ground to the input or output, from the reference of the switch itself, but it is nicer to keep the wiring the same for both switches. That way, throwing all switches in one direction has the same phase effect. Note that there are 3 pickups but only two switches. The bridge pickup stays in tact, no rewiring required with this simplest approach.. Only the middle and neck pickups are wired to the switches. Mounting these switches onto the pickguard is easy, because the two switches fit nicely between the 3 knobs on a strat. Best end results in all of this will depend on the grounding process for pickups and body cavity described earlier, but you can do this before grounding to get an idea of what it will sound like. Use a rubber band around the knob shafts to align your drilling location, marking the centerpoint between the knobs under the rubber band. Things will look nicer when you’re done.

All that’s left is to reassign the tone controls which I’ll get to shortly. End product will take a strat to where no strat has gone before. Note that you can just do this for now and will get two new out of phase sounds you didn’t get before. These are the not so neat sounds though...interesting but probably not all that useful, though the tone controls will have a greater effect on the range of sounds than if the pickups were in phase. These two sounds are the reverse of the Hendrix or quack sound as it was called, running 1+2 out of phase or 2+3 out of phase. Rewiring the two tone controls breaks all limitations getting access to where the real sounds are, exquisitely completing the process.

Gentlemen, start your drill motors.

Regards to all,
John K
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File Type: jpg switch.jpg (43.5 KB, 378 views)

Last edited by J Kennedy; 09-02-2007 at 09:11 PM.
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Old 09-02-2007, 09:24 PM   #46
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Default Neodymiums

Guys, check this one out!

http://www.kjmagnetics.com/categories.asp

John
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Old 09-09-2007, 12:25 PM   #47
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Bump.

Reaper 2 Beta or not, this pearl doesn't deserve to get lost on the third page.

Want more.

FWIW, I've just posted a link to this thread in a thread on KVR.

Guess we'll see if the barbarian hordes invade...
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Old 09-09-2007, 12:55 PM   #48
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John,
You've got to start a blog! Or write a book. Your posts are a great read. You might inspire me to try to salvage my own Squier strat instead of trading it in for something better.
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Old 09-09-2007, 05:16 PM   #49
J Kennedy
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Thanks guys,

I've got the graphic drawn and instructions to complete the strat mod, and will have this posted by tomorrow. You will not be disappointed with the results. I've got a Squire strat that sounds incredible (tone-wise at least)with only these mods. The idea of the neodymiums is something I'll follow up on (will try to order tomorrow) and install them in the Squire. Will report back on this one also since the addition could be significant.

Hope all are well,

John
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Old 09-10-2007, 12:28 AM   #50
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Default Strat mod completion

Friends,

Here is the completion of basic strat reincarnation. Please see attached graphic. (Sorry about my drawing skills or lack of. Looks pretty bad, but at least the content is there. Non guitar players can rejoice in the fact that I’m not designing GUI’s for Reaper.) Labels for bridge, mid and neck refer to the position of the switch solder terminals below the pickguard, which are directionally reversed from the switch handle above the pickguard.

Volume control isn’t drawn in because it doesn’t have to be messed with. You’re choice of trading out the two tone controls for 1 or 2 meg values to help with isolation, or keeping the 250k’s. The 250k’s will work. The DPDT switches are center off to allow for complete isolation of the middle and neck pickups. There will be minimal to insignificant bleed of the bridge pickup (insignificant with 1+ meg pots). Note that to change the tone controls to the new volume controls, you will have to unsolder and remove the tone capacitors that are grounded to the case. Look at the original volume control and keep the convention the same as to which two adjacent prongs you are using when you wire the pickups in. This should be the same for all three potentiometers. This way it keeps things in order so that volume goes up and down in the same direction for all 3 knobs. Note also that the two new volume controls do not have the third prong grounded to the case. This prong can be clipped off to have less potential “hot” lead floating around in the open, though with good cavity grounding there isn’t a problem. Regarding grounding, the foil backing on the pickguard is adequate to ground the hardware, but still solder a common connection wire to all cases of pots, switches, and be sure to resolder the ground wire that connects hardware to bridge and strings.

There’s another addition of a switch for the classic “Rick-o-Sound” Rickenbacker signature that can go center off and double as an isolator for the bridge pickup. In this case the Rick-o-Sound filter would be aesthetically placed between the second and third knob with the two phase switches installed between knobs 1 and 2. Since there is no tone control, a second switch can also go beside the Rick filter to select a deep bass or midrange tone, if you don’t want to add another potentiometer to the pickguard. I’ll go over this after getting some brief stuff on Rickenbacker and Telecaster filters, how they work and how to transplant that sound option to other guitars with the flip of a switch.

Knob 1 is volume control like before. Knob 2 is now volume control for middle pickup if bridge is selected, or volume control for bridge if middle is selected.

Knob 3 is now volume control for bridge/middle mix if neck is selected, or neck volume for whatever is going on when neck/middle mix is selected. You can see that any and everything is available. A helpful mental approach is to think of this as a two pickup guitar with bridge and middle blends being the lead pickup and the neck being the neck.

Worth mentioning, the fat Hendrix sound is kicked up in intensity since you can now get all 3 pickups going full blast which increases the effect...

Crystal clear “Beach Boys” sound now available by playing 1 and 3 alone in phase, which the standard stock strat can’t do. Start blending in the center pickup out of phase, into in-phase 1+3 and the Beach Boys motif really gets mangled into bells or the like. These make for great recording sounds that stand out in the mix. Hairline adjustment of (out) 2 into full volume (in) 1+3 takes you thru a wide spectrum of variations on this specific sound.

Funk stuff is achieved by blending neck into bridge out of phase. Blending bridge into neck out of phase gives a woody, age-old vintage to the sound.

Mentioned before the opinion that 1+2 or 2+3 out of phase are interesting but not that useful if overdone. There are some good subtle variations though since you are able to fine tune the blend, and aesthetics are individual anyway..

Still a lot of realms to cover. Best probably to briefly go over a variant of this design for guitars that don’t have the Fender type knife switch, but have 3 pickups , 3 knobs, and a standard 3 position toggle (like “George’s” Vox Bulldog). A third switch is needed to get the same coverage as the Fender with two.. Then into to some serious good stuff about passive filters, Ricks, Tele clones, external boxes to test filter mods before tearing the guitar up, Gibson rebirth, etc.

Best to all,
John K
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File Type: jpg Strat2.jpg (44.6 KB, 412 views)

Last edited by J Kennedy; 09-10-2007 at 08:55 AM.
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Old 09-10-2007, 08:09 AM   #51
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Default sound tip

A tip on the “Beach Boys” sound, the distinct timbre you get when playing bridge and neck together (reproduced accurately with the Fender Jaguar or Jazz Master with medium gage flat wound strings going thru a Fender amp, no distortion).

The specific sound is typical to two pickup guitars, playing both pickups in phase, but both pickups full on is not the point where this sound is maximized. Because the neck pickup is getting a stronger signal, sound is diminished with too much neck presence. You lose the balance needed to really get the sound to begin with.

There is a sweet spot that is barely more than a notch in the mix where the voltage of the pickups is about equal. This spot is where the neck pickup is backed off just a bit, but is difficult to find dead center. You can however easily find this balance by throwing neck and bridge out of phase, full volume and backing off the neck pickup. You will hear the out of phase notch where the output dives to the lowest point. Fine tune to minimum output, throw the pickups back in phase and you’re in the place. This is the optimum mix of 1+3 to start adding 2 out of phase for ethereal sounds.

John K
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Old 09-10-2007, 03:38 PM   #52
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Default magnet update

reference http://www.kjmagnetics.com/categories.asp

Got some Neodymiums ordered. The best candidates from this website are the 1/4" X 1/8" thick discs that should fit on the bottom of the pickup poles. These are also their N50 stronger grade and magnetized thru the thickness.

The others I’ve got coming are 2" X 1/2" X 1/8" thick bars. These are about a quarter inch shorter than I’d like, but will give them a try. Not N50 rated, but way better than the iron bar magnet and inert pole junk I’ve got in the Squire strat currently. These neodymiums are also magnetically aligned by thickness. If you get bar magnets, don’t get the ones that are magnetized thru the axis. You will end up with a more dull, weak pickup with uneven volume across the strings. Guitar magnets need to specify that they are polarized thru their thickness.

Total price in this was about $24 for four bars and 25 buttons. I can handle that (my wife said I could).

Going to see if I can breathe new life into the Squire pseudo pickups. Will try both the bars and buttons, and hope to get back in a couple days with some good news.

John K
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Old 09-15-2007, 01:54 PM   #53
J Kennedy
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Default Neodymiums installed in Squire strat

Gentlemen,

Got a very good report, no, a great report on the Neodymium magnets. Advice is to go forth without hesitation and do it.

Reworked the Squire Strat. They’ve got a couple varieties that either have real alnico magnets, or the crap variant like mine that has a ferrous iron bar beneath inert poles.
They’ve glued the bar in place fairly well. Some wide mouth pliers are about the best way to pry it loose without breaking anything. The poles are firmly in place, but moveable. Press the poles a bit below the surface before placing the buttons, then press the button in place. You want to assure metal to metal contact. May want to lightly sand away the glue on the pole base for better contact. A dab of Elmer's glue would be good. I haven't done this yet because I want to work with the bars at some point. Haven’t played with the bar Neo’s yet because the buttons do such a nice upgrade and I want to get used to the new potential. Stuff in the local area does tend to fly around a bit because these things are strong!..

The magnet buttons come all stacked together and it’s a bit of trouble prying them apart, as well as keeping any polarity standard, since you’ve got 18 magnets flipping and flying while you’re trying to work. Use a felt marker and mark the ends as you take the magnets from the stack. Upon removing the bar, make sure that each of the magnets pulls in the same direction referencing one side of the original bar, or you could get things mixed up and have some weird phasing problems. The mark helps if one of them gets sucked onto your belt buckle and you can’t tell which way it was turned.

Sound is great, higher output and clarity, an extra treble punch without getting tinny. The notes are significantly more defined. Very much worth the effort. Time involved is about a half hour.

For reference again, you are wanting the quarter by eighth inch discs, N50 grade, magnetized by thickness. 18 magnets do the job.

http://www.kjmagnetics.com/categories.asp

Cost was $7.75 for a stack of 25 and $5 shipping cost. Way cheaper than buying and installing hi gain replacements.

Please let me know what you guys come up with and anything you've discovered in the process.

John K

(edit)

Tore the thing apart to try the bar magnets. They work fine also, but there seems to be more of a bite to the discs placed under the poles.

Last edited by J Kennedy; 09-16-2007 at 05:04 PM.
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Old 09-16-2007, 12:56 AM   #54
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Default grounding Neodymiums

Friends,

Not a whole lot of experience with these yet, but two of the stated drawbacks are brittleness and the low heat tolerance before strength takes a hit. Nothing has broken yet even though they tend to fly all over the place and slam into things. This is no myth.

The acid core soldering ground technique okay for alnicos would probably screw these things up quite badly. A workable option is to cover the pickup pole base with aluminum foil, slam the magnets on with the layer of foil inbetween, and ground the foil with a paper clip as described earlier.

The Neodymiums impart a unique quality, not entirely Fender-like, but a sharpness that makes the experiment well worth the time and minimal expense. Between the circuitry mod and the neodymiums, this low quality, 75 dollar pawn shop reject, ex-Squire strat is way superior to what any stock strat is capable of delivering. Proof is blissfully obvious in the end result of the conversion. I'll put this up against any $2000 custom off the shelf of the finest Guitar Center.

The step by step procedure is here for the doing. I can only imagine the sound capability if these alterations were done on a real guitar.

John K

Last edited by J Kennedy; 09-16-2007 at 01:27 AM.
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Old 09-16-2007, 05:03 PM   #55
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Default Major update

Major update on refining strat pickups. This will probably work wonders on other types as well.

I placed and glued the 6 neodymium discs to the underside of the pickup poles. After they dried enough not to get ripped off the base, I placed a neodymium bar across the discs, centering it so that only about a sixteenth inch of the two E string discs showed beyond the bar on each end. Fantastic, clean, strong, uniform response!!! I think I’ve created a monster. You got to try this.

The invoice part numbers for the magnets are C42-N50 for the fourth inch by eighth inch discs. You need 18.

BY082 is the part number for the 2 “ x 1/2 “ bar. You need 3.

http://www.kjmagnetics.com/categories.asp

John K

Last edited by J Kennedy; 09-16-2007 at 05:07 PM.
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Old 09-19-2007, 08:48 AM   #56
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Default Pics

Hey John!
any chance you could take some pictures of those neodymiums mounted on the pups? I think I get it, but would rather be safe than sorry.

Also, parts come in from small bear electronics this week so I can get started on building that fuzz pedal from the cassette recorder. We'll see how the Frankenfuzz turns out.

Brad
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Old 09-19-2007, 09:02 PM   #57
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Default Brad

Be glad to get some pix posted. Will do this soon with a couple pix of the magnets, circuit, layout and how the guitar looks from the outside. The magnets did such a good job I'm thinking about overhauling the entire fleet.

Regards,
John
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Old 09-21-2007, 09:19 AM   #58
J Kennedy
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Default how to post graphics

I'm a bit challenged on some of the how to do stuff in the threads. Can someone advise how to insert the graphics into the post (like on the theme thread). Tallisman mentioned a process that I couldn't quite follow. Thanks, this will help me get some clearer shots of the magnet systems and circuitry for those interested.

John K

Last edited by J Kennedy; 09-21-2007 at 10:09 AM.
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Old 09-21-2007, 12:21 PM   #59
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Default more on magnets

Friends,

Some added info on magnets. All are probably aware of the basic induction that goes on in the pickup. Disturb the flux field with a vibrating string in the presence of a wire coil and you get a few millivolts analog output to get amplified.

There are lots of designs and magnets. The worst type of pickups are the ones that have axial polarized bars and inert poles that contact the bar. The bar magnet is 3D and can be polarized thru any dimension. The axial type are like a ruler that has one pole on the 1 inch end and the other on the 12 inch end (damn this English foot-pound system). You can use a compass or the push/pull of another magnet to easily identify what type bar you have.

These axial pickups are lower output, more dull, and have weak spots in the center strings. If you have a guitar with this configuration, you will at least benefit from changing to a thickness polarized magnet. This is like one pole on the front of the ruler where you can read the markings and one pole on the back.

There is a type of pickup that has a metal base that is bent like a cross section of a hat and usually has adjustable screws thru the top of the hat. The magnet is secured on the bottom of the “hat” and channels the flux thru the keeper. The screws that adjust field proximity to the strings are not in contact with the magnet. This style is also weak, but is not as dull and can get away with an axial bar. Even some of the Gibsons have used these. Though still not optimum, the response doesn’t have as pronounced soft spots and actually uses the flaw to get more proportional gain out of the hi E string. If you have an axial on a Gibson, change to a thickness polarity will help out significantly. A good principle is to get rid of axials anyway unless the sound of the guitar is just where you want it to begin with. There seems to be a certain saturation point where output response is even across the strings as the magnets are piled on. No soft spots left.

Edge polarity is sometimes seen in knife blade pickups, where the opposite thin edges of the bars are the poles. These things are usually crammed pretty deep into the structure and there’s not a lot you can do remove them, though you can amplify the field by adding from the bottom.

Bar magnet pickups with inert poles or screws can have their fixed polarity reversed without having to worry about added grounding issues by turning the magnet around. The axials get turned 180 degrees length-wise. Thickness polarized systems are turned around top to bottom. Turning 180 degrees length-wise has no effect on thickness polarized bars, just like turning the axial bars top to bottom has no effect on polarity.

Magnet systems are a tradeoff regarding pole magnets or bars. Pole magnets are usually higher gain and brite but can lack bandwidth (bandwidth increased also by the number of windings). A wide thickness-polarized bar can channel flux thru the inert rods and also cover a wider area of the coil, though weakly. You end up with a pickup that is still brite with a bit wider frequency range, at the expense of overall gain.

Care also has to be taken when installing extra pickups close together. I’ve had guitars where the flux on one magnet distorts the pattern on the adjacent pickup weakening the output and degrading the sound, needing to paradoxically replace the stronger magnets with weaker ones to increase the gain.

I don’t know where this stuff was 20 years ago when I really needed it, but late in my guitar hack career, I’ve got to submit the opinion that the dynamics of the Neodymium magnet, bar in combination with discs gives the best of all universes. The extension of the field that causes the weird flying around fully saturates the coils from the bar as well as the discs sucking down the strings thru the rods. Beautiful sound.
Will probably revise this to bars and poles or bars+discs+poles if I can find neo’s that are the right dimension to replace the rods. This is an awesome thought.

Only a reminder that you are installing a 21 magnet system on a strat with magnets that are hard to control getting them in place. It is very easy to get polarities goofed up on one or two magnets as you’re recollecting them off the ceiling.

Would still appreciate help on how to post graphics so I can send you guys some decent pictures of this stuff.

Best to all,

John K

Last edited by J Kennedy; 09-21-2007 at 01:04 PM.
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Old 09-21-2007, 01:30 PM   #60
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John, this is awesome stuff you're posting. In the interests of getting even more of your wisdom to sink in to my dim awareness, here's a quick guide to posting images on the forum.

First, you have to get the image on the web someplace for the forum software to access it. Stashbox is a super-easy and convenient way to do that:
http://stashbox.org/

If you have the picture you want to upload on your computer, basically just go to the above website and click the "Browse" button, navigate to the picture on your hard drive, double-click it, and then click "Upload." Your picture will now be on the world wide web.

Stashbox will present you with a link you can use to refer people to that picture, something like www.stashbox.com/pic378987 or whatever. You can simply copy andd paste that link all over the web and people can go to stashbox and view the image themselves, or you can use that link to embed the picture in your posts.

Here's how to embed a picture:

1. Within your forum post where you want the image to appear, type or paste the following two BB code tags(just what's inside the quotes):

"[img][/img]"

2. Now, in another browser window or tab, go to the *online* location where you can view your picture (e.g. the stashbox link).

3. Right-click the picture and a little menu should pop up. Select "Copy image location." This will place the web address of the image on your clipboard.

4. Now click the space between the two 'img' tags (I think you can figure this out), and paste the web address you copied above in between them, so it looks like this:

"(img)http://cockos.com/reaper/siteimages/reaphead_ck.jpg(/img)"**

**except with square brackets instead of the round ones

5. Click "preview" or "submit reply" and the image should now show up in your post, like this:



Cheers.

Last edited by yep; 09-21-2007 at 01:35 PM.
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Old 09-21-2007, 02:51 PM   #61
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Default This guy Claw...

I've just got to hear him - anything of his online?
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Old 09-21-2007, 04:55 PM   #62
J Kennedy
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Yep,

Many thanks for the information and your time to share. I'm going to borrow a better digital cam with a zoom to get some photos of the setups, and will follow your steps to get it posted. Much appreciated!!

Mike, nothing recorded here yet, but Claw is roaming Eastern Oregon. He has a couple kids, one a computer whiz at 9 years old who is supposed to be designing a webpage. The website will be also mixed with "Solarians". This isn't the name of his group, but a religious spinoff of the Essene doctrines that he co-founded. His concerts are also an evangelical event.

I will keep ears open, Reaper ready, and thanks to Yep, will get some good pix of the mod processes.

May all be well,

John K

Last edited by J Kennedy; 09-21-2007 at 06:10 PM.
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Old 09-22-2007, 02:11 PM   #63
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Default Neodymium pix

Hi Folks,

I think my flea market Olympus will do the pictures okay. I'll get up to speed with Yep's knowledgeable help and get some more shots. The attached graphic shows the two types of neodymium magnets needed for the mod. Guitar pick is there for size reference. This was as close as I could get the magnets to sit still and pose for the portrait.

The second graphic highlites some of the problems you may face actually working with these things.

John K
Attached Images
File Type: jpg Neodymium.jpg (55.7 KB, 377 views)
File Type: jpg NeoReal.jpg (87.4 KB, 346 views)

Last edited by J Kennedy; 09-23-2007 at 04:17 PM.
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Old 09-23-2007, 06:21 PM   #64
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Default blundering oversight

Jeez,

I started doing this stuff in 1965 and never realized til now that I'd forked up one aspect of the process. The three pickup, Fender knife toggle conversion does not allow mix of 2+3 when restricting the mod to only two additional DPDT switches. Partly overlooked because this is the least remarkable and desirable sound realm. This may have impact in today's digital age though.

Guitar amps are narrow lo-fi boxes with limited frequency response, and miking the amp limits the response even further under the best of conditions. Didn't stop Jimmy Page from miking his Telecaster going thru a wall of stacked Pignose amps for Led Zep I. Who can argue with the sound...Carry over from the Yardbirds. Later migrated to Les Pauls. (Anyone remember that album, one of the best ever produced).

Guitar into computer captures the broader spectrum, and the guitarist may be fighting with too much low end response that needs to be taken out. The overbearing true bass capacity can mask the sound you are trying to get that was ideal on stage thru the Marshall stack. No more aesthetic way to do this than with phasing blend at your fingertips with the guitar knobs, with graphic eq second on the list (opinion only). In todays operating environment, 2+3 out adjustment may have a place in controlling the full spectrum barage that's coming thru to the DAW.

I'd mentioned the necessity of adding a third switch to get all combinations in 3 pickup guitars with standard 2 position center-on toggles. Looks like this may be necessary for strats also if you want 2+3 variations, though 2+3 in phase doesn't give anything remarkable that you can't get better elsewhere (another opinion). Will get the schematic posted.

Sorry for my short sight here. You can go ahead with the full mod as presented and still get the sounds of Allah and his 437 celestial virgins playing their transcendental flutes.

Got some pix to post shortly. Talked also with the local tribe of musicians and got an APB out for Claw's whereabouts, so we can get soaring samples of this extrordinary musician posted..

John K
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Old 09-26-2007, 10:32 AM   #65
J Kennedy
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Hi All,

Included are a couple graphics. Zoom on the camera didn’t get crystal clear shots, but there’s enough to see the magnet layout. Pending getting better graphics and Yep’s instructions together, I can put some closure on this.

Pickup 1 and 2 are views from the top and as good as I could get from a sideways angle, showing the layout and overlapping ends where a 2 inch magnet doesn’t quite cover the pole width. There are no soft spots, so this doesn’t affect anything.

Strat.jpg is what the Squire looks like from the outside with the two switches in place.

Peace,
John K
Attached Images
File Type: jpg Pickup1.jpg (64.3 KB, 357 views)
File Type: jpg Strat.jpg (93.4 KB, 359 views)
File Type: jpg Pickup2.jpg (65.7 KB, 354 views)

Last edited by J Kennedy; 09-26-2007 at 12:36 PM.
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Old 09-26-2007, 01:18 PM   #66
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Thanks, looking forward to hearing them John
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Old 09-26-2007, 03:43 PM   #67
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Out,

This seems to work for guitars without pre processing and was discovered by an individual with an ancient Martin acoustic that had been deep freezed by accident. I've done this on several acoustics and there "seems" to be an increase in the full bodied sound. Downside is the cracking of the finish, which looks neat, but the finish will crack. I haven't noticed any structural damage which might be there if the guitar was humidified (just a guess). The excess moisture could expand on freezing and damage the grain.

There are theories afloat about why acoustic instruments age and sound better. There's the idea that sound vibrations play across a bunch of micro domains where the wave will resonate in a small pocket but be blocked a few molecules later down the wood. The vibration friendly areas supposedly break down resistance in neighboring domains and resonate more of the wood overtime and with use.

Problem with the dry ice model is that disruption doesn't send soundwaves thru the wood. Maybe it does micro fragment areas that can then pick up new resonances when the instrument is played. Dry icing would definitely be best first tried on a guitar you can live without, so you can see if the look or change in sound is something you want to risk on a more valuable instrument. Cautionary note again to release all tension on the strings before you try this or things can get permanently warped.

Regards,
John

(edit) New discovery. Beer spilled onto the computer keyboard will severely shorten the working life of the keyboard.

Last edited by J Kennedy; 09-27-2007 at 01:18 AM.
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Old 09-28-2007, 08:25 PM   #68
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Out,

The before and after audio clips are I guess what I was hedging on with this. The guy who owned the Martin played the thing at 3 years old (inherited it from his father) and was a master of weird open tunings. This was a medium size body and his string gauges were all different to optimize sounds which were often tested outside the normal EADGBE range. Divyam'shu was not only a phenomenal acoustic musician but had a critical ear, and absolutely stood by the improvement in sound quality after the freezing incident.

The only significant differences in the plane cargo pit would have been the lower atmospheric pressure and the dry ice being colder. Some industrial freeze drying processes rely on low pressure as well as low temp. Air pressure could have been a factor but would not be too hard to recreate at sea level. Dry ice on the ground or freezing way up hi seems to have the same effect, just not knowing why it works.

The guy literally grew up with this one guitar and his conviction was enough to inspire me to try it on a Yamaha acoustic. It seemed to increase the bottom end, resonance and projection. I ran it thru probably 4 cycles. Tried later on an Aria with the same results. Fried a bunch of other acoustics and the owners liked the result. Tried it on solid body electrics with no change except for the cracks in the finish.

We tried one before and after on an acoustic using an E-Bow, mike setup and analog volume meter. Not the most sensitive mechanism, but didn’t get any significant change in the volume reading. So things sounded better, but was it really. Maybe volume isn’t the factor to test, or maybe the improvement is wishful thinking. If it doesn’t work, there are still a lot of people running around with guitars they swear sound better after the freezing.

On the quantitative electric side, a buddy just redid his kids mega fake strat, a Korean off brand that even missed their factory specs enough not to be labeled. He’s got some good diagnostic equipment and rated the output at 180% times the original, on top of the new tonal capabilities. He considers the sound of the converted axe to be above the best American Fenders he’s played off the shelves. My Squire needs only about a third the crunch gain settings to overdrive after the overhaul.

A random note on my friend with the Martin. He was a gambler and was playing Russian Roulette with a 357 magnum. 6 to 1 odds, and he splattered his brains all over the wall on the first shot. A week before his untimely exit, he gave me one of his tunings. It’s sorta like an open D with a modification. Use medium gage acoustic strings, but supplement with a heavier gage low E.

Tune the low E and Hi E down a whole step to D. Lower the B string 2 steps down to G, giving 2 G strings, with the B string slinky enough to have a bit of sitar-like quality. Lots of neat chords and outside the box possibilities.

Regards,
John

Last edited by J Kennedy; 09-28-2007 at 08:47 PM.
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Old 09-28-2007, 08:35 PM   #69
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Hi John,

I just wanted to stop in and say thanks for the cool guitar thread. I've been as busy as a cat in a sandbox covering up poop and have not been able to try the Strat mods... someday... someday. Having to hold down a day job sucks sometimes... but hey... gotta feed the family! God bless 'em!

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Old 09-28-2007, 09:28 PM   #70
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Thanks Diogenes,

Work definitely ravages the music. I've got several guitars downstairs begging for new magnets that I can't even touch for 2 more weeks. When you do get the time to try this, your strat will sing with the angels.

John
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Old 09-29-2007, 09:07 PM   #71
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Quote:
Originally Posted by J Kennedy View Post
(edit) New discovery. Beer spilled onto the computer keyboard will severely shorten the working life of the keyboard.
in my case it made some really funky things happen. the "o" key launched "my computer", the "9" key launched a new browser window, and all kinds of other strange happenings. my guess is that the keyboard got a permanent buzz.
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Old 10-01-2007, 04:16 PM   #72
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Gentlemen,

These are currently out of stock, but check these out:

http://www.kjmagnetics.com/products.asp?cat=168

…specifically the D62-N50 disc. This would be a more powerful replacement for the D42-N50 disc. They should fit under pickup poles giving a wider field. Defined as axials with poles on the flat face, but this is what you want. I’ll get some info on when the D62-N50's will be available.

Brainwreck, I couldn’t clean out the keyboard, so Walmart got another $10 for a replacement. It seemed to be channeling messages from dolphins or something as it went down.

Hope you guys are all doing well.

John K

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Old 10-02-2007, 05:24 PM   #73
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KJ Magnetics replied that the D62-N50 is being replaced by the D62-N52. This magnet is in production and should be available by the end of October. The N52 relates to an even stronger field strength.

Cheers,
John
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Old 10-05-2007, 11:28 AM   #74
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Don’t have all the info yet and some of this is third hand, but Claw’s Portland concert was a disaster, and he’s in jail for a week after a literal battle of the bands.

Described as shit and a bunch of meaningless noise, Claw rolled out his 4 hour rock opera “Save the Quails”. There was some serious deep stuff involved both musically and philosophically, tho some of it was a bit like atonal jazz when he was getting the idea together a couple years ago.

They played at some gym and had set up chairs and flyers for the concert. Management came in and had all the chairs taken out and dumped his program guides. The crowd was evidently our generic Oregon meth heads wanting to flail on the dance floor and bang their dates after. Claw had managed to empty out everyone but a few musicians who sat on the stage convinced that God had returned as a guitar player.

The meth heads returned at the intermission with another local band to finish the gig and to be paid with Claw’s check, management approval. Things got ugly and equipment was being trashed. Claw took a couple of them down before being hauled off.

We realized that no one here knows his actual name or where either of his ex wives and kids live, and don't yet know what gym they played at.

I’ve got a day off today, one of the last before monsoon season sets in and will cruise the logging roads for his old signs. Been a lot of places on the earth and there are few areas you can go with a car that can be more desolate and dangerous than the Oregon logging roads. People take a drive and just disappear. There are a few intersection poles here and there that the good ‘ol boys would turn around for a joke getting people hopelessly lost in the wasteland. Claw knew these roads like the back of what’s left of his hands and would put rainproof red and white signs for his gigs nailed to trees. The gig ads always had arrows and milepost data that have probably saved some lives. They tended to stay up and Claw saw this as good longterm advertising. I can contact some of the dives he’s played in and track him down (easier than finding one gym in Portland).

This still leaves the Corvallis, Albany tour. So Claw gets out of Jail, we hear Save the Quail. My appeal to any Reaperites in Oregon, watch for the red and white signs around OSU. They will only be nailed on trees. Please post location, date, time.

Many thanks,
John K
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Old 10-09-2007, 10:02 PM   #75
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prayers to claw and to you as well

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Old 10-10-2007, 12:51 PM   #76
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Twoleftfeet,

Your kind thoughts (and prayers) are appreciated.

Regards,
John
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Old 10-12-2007, 11:38 AM   #77
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Friends,

While waiting for the new Neodymiums to hit the shelves (and speaking of prayers), there’s some amusing thoughts behind the “Save the Quails” tour by Claw and company.

The opera has self-destruct elements put in on purpose that are meant to thin out the crowds. This evidently worked quite well in Portland. The opera is a recruiting tour for the Solarians, playing music that “unsaved” individuals will hear as dissonant, but the “saved” will recognize. His goal was to follow an old Asian sage’s attempt to gather a hundred “lion-hearted men” with whom he could change the world. The opera was the benchmark to find these people among the masses.

I don’t know what the final composition turned out like, but heard excerpts of the first several acts when “Save the Quails” was still being conceptualized. The first act, “In the Beginning” was a solo getting the perfect tunings and harmonics of “The Word”. The next 6 acts were for the 6 days of Creation. 7th day was to be intermission when Jehovah rested. After the intermission, the “Garden of Eden”, then “After the Fall”, etc, etc, etc.

Claw thought that music in the pure tuning was heard as such by the spiritually elevated, but as clashing noise to the rest of us. Only with After the Fall was the guitar tuned to our normal senses and everyone would hear only good stuff. So a normal hell-bound heathen like me would hear rapture with “In the Beginning” but be run off with the creation days, until the fall where things would make musical sense again.

We’ve got a lot of philosophical differences, but his idea of how you can tell if you are going to heaven or hell by your guitar tuning is some deep stuff. The same principle could be applied to a keyboard and sampler by getting in and very fine tuning a few sine waves. I’ll get the details, which I think will be quite interesting to musicians regardless of what you play. Looks like I’ll be frying in the tar pits for some time if the man is right.

Regards,
John

(btw…Claw saw hell as being a literal place that everyone has to go thru, but everyone gets saved on the other end. He said some day, even Barry Manilow would get out.)
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Old 10-13-2007, 09:20 PM   #78
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(btw…Claw saw hell as being a literal place that everyone has to go thru, but everyone gets saved on the other end. He said some day, even Barry Manilow would get out.)[/QUOTE]

Barry Manilow !! wow, that is amazing. when you talked about an Asian sage I thought a fellow named Nichiren Daishonin, just curious. man this thread is WAY out there, but it's becoming a part of my daily routine to check in here. hope Claw is okay
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Old 10-14-2007, 07:50 AM   #79
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JK, Thanks for a really interesting thread!

Unfortunately I'm not able to follow through some of the stuff presented here, no matter how interesting it seems. Being a guitar player and DIYer myself doesn't seem to help understanding this, but rather confusing things further.

I quess presenting just the regular schematics with the usual info would've been enough for me, but these technical journeys out of the right brain tax me too much. Not anybodys fault as such, just not a thing for me, I feel.

But please do continue JK, I'm sure people are getting something out of this.
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Old 10-14-2007, 09:38 AM   #80
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Good point Xpander, will try to stick to the task at hand. Let me know if the scematics were not up to speed also. My drawing isn't that great to begin with and had my grandson pulling on the paper while I was drawing. Still got to find a decent digital camera with a close enough zoom, because the pictures may be more useful than my drawings.

Best,
John K
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