muttley600
Banned
I've just mocked up a few bobbin tops and we have centres on the bridge pickup at around 53.5mm. The final position will depend on the nut width. Pic to follow soon.
HR design and build thread part III - The build.
- Thread starter muttley600
- Start date
I've just mocked up a few bobbin tops and we have centres on the bridge pickup at around 53.5mm. The final position will depend on the nut width. Pic to follow soon.
muttley600
Banned
Pickup positions
String lines with E to e' with bridge pickup adjusted to 53.5mm centres. All seems to work.
String lines with E to e' with bridge pickup adjusted to 53.5mm centres. All seems to work.
muttley600
Banned
lol... but not the point on the headstock.
I often leave little bits like that in place simply because it's hard to put back once it's taken off. The only reason to remove it is to get the neck pickup closer to the f/b. I don't think it will make a blind bit of difference either way so I think I'll leave it for you.
Lt. Bob
Spread the Daf!
I'm actually not toally sure about the point on the headstock.lol... but not the point on the headstock.
I often leave little bits like that in place simply because it's hard to put back once it's taken off. The only reason to remove it is to get the neck pickup closer to the f/b. I don't think it will make a blind bit of difference either way so I think I'll leave it for you.
I think I'd prefer it straight but I actually don't have strong feelings about it. I kinda bounced back and forth before coming down on getting rid of it so don't take that into much consideration.
muttley600
Banned
I'm not 100% convinced myself thats exactly why I left it there. It can come off at anytime but very hard to put back on..
muttley600
Banned
The build has stalled a bit due to the pickup spec being bespoke. That being the case I need to make up the bobbins so I can work out the body route before proceeding. I like to make jigs up so that I can repeat the process later on but first I mock up and then if all goes well I make plexi jigs that will last. Her is how I approached the job of making the bobbins for the pickups.
Once again thanks milnoque for the design outline and thanks to JCH for the spec that these will be wound to... If the recipe doesn't give us what we want I can easily make up more bobbins exactly the same.
First I need a router jig to cut the outline of the bobbin flatwork. Both pickups will need a top and bottom. Using the router jig I can route a piece 6mm thick drill the hole centres and then rip it to thickness on the bandsaw.
This is my trial jig and it works well. The router is fitted with a 15mm top hat and a 10mm cutter so the jig is oversize to accommodate. The same jig will be used to cut the bobbin spacer with a larger top hat in the router.
I also made a bronze plate that has the pole piece centres drilled. More on that later.
Th finished blank can be lined up and the pole piece centers drill through before it is ripped in two on the bandsaw. The polepiece holes should then match exactly.
Rip the thing to size on the bandsaw and we have two bobbin tops that are the same.
The thing needs a spacer and that is cut on the same jig using a larger top hat. It's then centred on the bronze plate so the polepiece holes match.
The thing can then be screwed together and glued so that everything lines up. I have made the polepiece holes smaller than required at this stage because when using wood for bobbins the holes need to be reamed to exactly the correct size for the final polepieces. I'm waiting for those to arrive. I made the bridge pickup using the same method but as it is a standard single coil with alnico polepieces I reamed them out and fitted the outside polepiece holes to line up the bobbin.
Rough finished bobbins shown below.
I now have my bobbin size and can route accordingly allowing for the width of the covers...
The final jigs will have a few more features and I'll try and post a few pics when they are done....
Once again thanks milnoque for the design outline and thanks to JCH for the spec that these will be wound to... If the recipe doesn't give us what we want I can easily make up more bobbins exactly the same.
First I need a router jig to cut the outline of the bobbin flatwork. Both pickups will need a top and bottom. Using the router jig I can route a piece 6mm thick drill the hole centres and then rip it to thickness on the bandsaw.
This is my trial jig and it works well. The router is fitted with a 15mm top hat and a 10mm cutter so the jig is oversize to accommodate. The same jig will be used to cut the bobbin spacer with a larger top hat in the router.
I also made a bronze plate that has the pole piece centres drilled. More on that later.
Th finished blank can be lined up and the pole piece centers drill through before it is ripped in two on the bandsaw. The polepiece holes should then match exactly.
Rip the thing to size on the bandsaw and we have two bobbin tops that are the same.
The thing needs a spacer and that is cut on the same jig using a larger top hat. It's then centred on the bronze plate so the polepiece holes match.
The thing can then be screwed together and glued so that everything lines up. I have made the polepiece holes smaller than required at this stage because when using wood for bobbins the holes need to be reamed to exactly the correct size for the final polepieces. I'm waiting for those to arrive. I made the bridge pickup using the same method but as it is a standard single coil with alnico polepieces I reamed them out and fitted the outside polepiece holes to line up the bobbin.
Rough finished bobbins shown below.
I now have my bobbin size and can route accordingly allowing for the width of the covers...
The final jigs will have a few more features and I'll try and post a few pics when they are done....
muttley600
Banned
I was working on the assumption that the space for the wire at the end of the bobbins allows for the number of turns so should the space at the sides. The distance is equal all round. To reduce is not a problem as long as there is room for the polepiece holes which I had considered already. I was going to cut the final spacer from plexi.
muttley600
Banned
Had a bit of time Fiday and this morning so moved on to the routing of the pickup cavities and the body.
I would normally set up a flat profile jig to do the whole thing off one board on the router sled but as this is a non standard pickup set I want to take it one at a time and check that it all works. As with the pickups themselves if all goes well I'll make up a profile jig for future.
The pickup route uses the same jig as the pickup bobbins with a top hat and a router bit 2mm wider to give enough room for the covers on the pickups...
Once they are routed I can put the top on and route through the cavities with a flush cut bit to get the top routed as well.
Next the body chambres.
Since no one has come up with any specific thought o this I am going to go with taking out quite a bit of surface area but only going half way through the body. Two reasons, first I've never done it like that and am interested to see if I can gauge anything from that approach and second if I want to profile the back of the body it leaves me plenty of scope to do so.
I made up a couple of rough profile jigs to leave about a 1" border and pined them on to the body where the pin holes would ultimately be covered. If they come out fine I shall use the pattern to make a permanent jig.
The next obvious step is to start gluing the thing together. I want to rough out the neck some more before this so I can get an idea of the how the neck heel will work. The final neck profile will be done when the thing is pretty much all together and the fingerboard is on.
Looking good so I'm going to get that neck fixed once and for all. Only get one go at this...
Everything is working out good so far and the next thing is to glue the top on and do the binding. First we need to pick out a design for the f holes....
Any ideas?
I would normally set up a flat profile jig to do the whole thing off one board on the router sled but as this is a non standard pickup set I want to take it one at a time and check that it all works. As with the pickups themselves if all goes well I'll make up a profile jig for future.
The pickup route uses the same jig as the pickup bobbins with a top hat and a router bit 2mm wider to give enough room for the covers on the pickups...
Once they are routed I can put the top on and route through the cavities with a flush cut bit to get the top routed as well.
Next the body chambres.
Since no one has come up with any specific thought o this I am going to go with taking out quite a bit of surface area but only going half way through the body. Two reasons, first I've never done it like that and am interested to see if I can gauge anything from that approach and second if I want to profile the back of the body it leaves me plenty of scope to do so.
I made up a couple of rough profile jigs to leave about a 1" border and pined them on to the body where the pin holes would ultimately be covered. If they come out fine I shall use the pattern to make a permanent jig.
The next obvious step is to start gluing the thing together. I want to rough out the neck some more before this so I can get an idea of the how the neck heel will work. The final neck profile will be done when the thing is pretty much all together and the fingerboard is on.
Looking good so I'm going to get that neck fixed once and for all. Only get one go at this...
Everything is working out good so far and the next thing is to glue the top on and do the binding. First we need to pick out a design for the f holes....
Any ideas?
Milnoque
Resident Curmudgeon
View attachment F-Holes 1.pdf
The upper two restate the curve on the headstock. The bottom one was suggested in an earlier version of this thread. I thought they would be useful as starting points.
The upper two restate the curve on the headstock. The bottom one was suggested in an earlier version of this thread. I thought they would be useful as starting points.
muttley600
Banned
lol thats a good technical term...
I do too. I mentioned a while back that I'd always wanted to use a lightening bolt as a starting point. Maybe thats where that is from? I'm trying a few sketches with it curved rather than straight. I'll see where I end up. I don't think a traditional f hole scroll is appropriate on this so I would discount those personally...
muttley600
Banned
A few quick sketches.. Which way should we go??
Milnoque
Resident Curmudgeon
muttley600
Banned
Thats getting there.....
I have mocked up a top plate. One of the problems or last decisions is where to place the lower cut? What tone/volume/switch controls and where?
I have mocked up a top plate. One of the problems or last decisions is where to place the lower cut? What tone/volume/switch controls and where?