finished projects update:
i did more pickup adjustments on the Hopf and got it about as loud as it’s gonna get. this is one of those guitars where the high E polepiece has to be within 1-2 mm of the string for best results. with that it’s still a bit quiet compared to my standard output level, but not terribly so. i have a clean boost on the FEB and a boost/OD on the Normie Board i can use to bump it up a bit if necessary.
the tricky part is the 4-position tone switch. i had to look up the circuit diagram to figure out which of the center 2 positions was bypass. that’s labeled T+B+ for inscrutable Bavarian reasons. T+B- is less a bass cut than a notch filter that bumps up the midrange, but may come in very handy as a quick boost when kicking into a solo. T- and B- are self-explanatory treble and bass cuts. all of the settings are useful, unlike the Pentatone in the Kondor. that range of voices should be really good layering lo-fi stuff through the FEB. the pickups are a bit less aggressive than i was expecting, still in the snappy larger singles ballpark but not as in-your-face as a P-90 or Dynasonic. that's OK, though because it's a voice that fills a gap in my single-coil group.
boffin bonus!: the Schaller tone switch cap and resistor values are:
position 1 (T-): 1nF cap
position 2 (T+B-) 1nF cap + 470k resistor
position 3: (T+B+): BYP
position 4 (B-): 22uF resistor
the neck is wider than i’d spec, but the broad C/D profile and fairly flat radius makes it incredibly comfortable to play. i gather that the body is probably pine (i’ve seen it alleged that the multi-layer marzipan of a neck is also pine, which i’m less sure of) so it’s one of the lightest guitars i own, up (or perhaps down) there with the Aristocrat and Duo Sonic. the comfort factor makes it more fun to play.
i would have liked things to work in a less Heath Robinson fashion. i don’t love the stacked shims which were the only way to get the strings over the fretboard, but i’ve seen far worse hacks. if the bridge could be adjusted higher i wouldn’t have had to put a bloody platform under the bridge. but when the rubber hits the road it
works.
the Kondor is doing great. the second set of pickup adjustments found the sweet spot between Too Close and Too Far that brings out the pickups’ subtle sounds but also lets them slap when you dig in. eventually i’ll rewire it so the Pentatone is right after the pickup selector and before the volume knob…when i took out the tone knob it brought the Pentatone out more, and i suspect that the low-output pickups (2.6-3.2 kOhm) need as little as possible draining tiny but necessary bits of signal. if that’s not enough it’s Tonestyler time. i'm super happy at how it's working after the long, slow process of development. it really doesn't sound like any other guitar i've ever heard, and it's already been wonderful on loops. everything on this loop is the Kondor, run through the stuff on the FEB as well as the Soft Focus, Shallow Water, and So High So Low. this was recorded before adjustments and rewiring.
https://soundcloud.com/dubkitteh-1/a-hi ... al_sharing
i haven’t forgotten the Double Jet and Galaxiemaster at all…i’ve just been pushing since February to get guitars i can work through that have been waiting around done. i’m a little surprised at how much i worked. but there are good reasons to push them back. since i got the White Falcon which also has Filtertrons, i feel less urgency about finishing a second guitar with similar (but slightly hotter) pickups. and there’s so much to do on the Galaxiemaster that it’s going to be a long, long time (h/t Elton John) before it’s anywhere near ready. the body finish needs a whole lotta smoothing, the neck needs grain on the fretboard filled, i have to finalize the proposed pickguard layout, which requires examples of everything i can measure for Pickguardian so he has correct directions. i’ll have to get a digital caliper thingy so it’s very exact. if it's done this year i'll be happy. and surprised.