I finally did it... NWGD

[Liko]

After literally years of hemming, hawing, saving, spending and almost giving up, the tax refund was bigger than expected this year, and I finally pulled the trigger on my Warmoth/Duncan "Swiss Army Strat". She'll be swamp ash, finished in trans blue satin with a black pearl guard and roasted maple neck.

Most importantly for forumites here, she'll have a set of P-Rails matched to a Classic Stack Plus bridge pickup in the middle, with four mini-toggles to handle all the coil permutations of each P-Rail, and push-push pots for neck-on in the volume position and "select-a-cap" tone pots (switch between Gibson 500k/47nf and Fender 250k/22nf tone circuits with a push on the knob to complement the coil selection). Coupled with the full range of P-Rail options, this one guitar will have settings to emulate a traditional Strat, Fat Strat, LP/SG, Goldtop, or Tele.

... Now to wait for Warmoth's 8- to 10-week turnaround on custom bodies/necks. If I thought they would split the shipment, I'd have asked them to ship everything that mounts to the pickguard once they finished it, so at least I could get all the wiring done before the body and neck showed up. I ended up buying the toggles from Stew-Mac (I wanted black-anodized) and they'll be here in less than a week, then sit unused for up to 3 months waiting for the rest of the guitar to show up. Oh well, can't rush perfection. I've waited this long, it's just weird having so light a wallet with nothing to show for it yet.

I'll dig this thread back up when the parts get here and start posting pics.

 

[BTMN]

Re: I finally did it... NWGD

Should be a good one. I have bought 2 completed Warmoth guitars and been real pleased with them. I have a LP and a V in Korina. looking forward to seeing yours.

 

[ehdwuld]

Re: I finally did it... NWGD

Does warmoth offer assembled guitars?

 

[Liko]

Re: I finally did it... NWGD

Does warmoth offer assembled guitars?

I don't believe so. They will finish the wooden pieces for you, since not many guitarists have a professional spray-finish booth (or the skill to hand-airbrush a burst finish, or the patience to apply and then sand down umpteen coats of poly), but final assembly is your responsibility. Everybody else sells pre-assembled guitars, there's no shortage of supply of ready-made instruments. The whole fun of buying from Warmoth, besides the high level of customization, is the ability to put it all together yourself and have an instrument that's truly yours.

 

[BTMN]

Re: I finally did it... NWGD

Some nice Warmoth builds in this thread... https://forum.seymourduncan.com/showthread.php?292218-The-Warmoth-Club including mine Dave and Sarge. I loved what the previous owners had done so I have not changed a thing. Warmoth at one time did sell just about everything you would need to complete a guitar. Been a while since I really checked out the website.

 

[Liko]

Re: I finally did it... NWGD

Warmoth at one time did sell just about everything you would need to complete a guitar. Been a while since I really checked out the website.

Depends on your design. Warmoth would have had anything I needed to wire a stock Strat or LP, but that's not what I'm doing. The StewMac order was the switches (black anodized; Warmoth only carries chrome), capacitors (mylar film; Warmoth only has ceramic) and resistors (no Warmoth stock on fixed-value resistors at all). The remaining electronics are coming from Warmoth, including the push-push DPDT pots (a part I haven't found anywhere else; everything else I've seen besides the massive S-1 has been push-pull, which works best with set screw knobs).

 

[Rand-O-Monium]

Re: I finally did it... NWGD

Looking forward to the progress!!!


Sorry 'bout the wait,but some things are worth it...
:headbang:

 

[Liko]

Re: I finally did it... NWGD

The Stew-Mac package arrived today. The catalog took up more volume than the actual parts I ordered...

The Strat knob is for scale, not part of the build. I was expecting a bigger switch but I'm pleasantly surprised at the size, makes it easier to fit in:

Hrmm, I was expecting name-brand Orange Drops to be a little closer to spec, the other is 21.99 nF which is good:

... And the 47nF are worse, the other one tests all the way down at 45.88:

... But these readings are closer to spec than what I got from a couple no-name Mylar caps from Fry's, so not too bad. I'd probably have gotten an extra in hindsight, though.

The resistors fared better, and I got 4 of each when I only need two, cause they're cheap. Two of the 4.7k measured 4.68, the other two 4.69, so not bad. The 500k resistors spread a little more but I still found two at 505k which will work fine.

Now, we wait for Warmoth's contribution...

Sent from my VS985 4G using Tapatalk

 

[Liko]

Re: I finally did it... NWGD

For those of you playing the home game, wondering why I need four tone caps, 500k resistors and four DPDTs, this is the wiring diagram:

Now I hear what you're saying, I can actually hear it through the ether. No, the neck pickup isn't a mistake. I'm going to flip that pickup to get more separation between the neck rail coil and the middle pickup for (I hope) better quackiness.

As for the rest of it, which I know is what you're actually asking about, the pairs of switches are derived from the Triple Shot circuit, but all the TS connections for one pickup are made on one switch, which would normally make it impossible to get combinations where the switches are set opposite the other. So, the second switch for each pickup uses a simple phase-reverse setup to swap the outer leads of one half of the switch. The upshot is that the phase-reverse circuit switches between humbucking and single-coil mode, while the first switch is the series-parallel switch in HB mode, and the coil selector in SC mode. The switch positions are fairly intuitive (more intuitive to me than the standard TS wiring anyway).

As for the tone pots, the circuit's really not as scary as it looks. It's a switchable combination of a Fender 250k/22nF circuit and a Gibson 500k/47nF circuit. To do this, one side of the switch is a simple on-off for a 500k resistor which will be in parallel to the 500k pot. Parallel resistance means the total resistance of the fixed and variable resistors is halved, producing a 250k pot (with a more severe audio taper, but whaddayagannado). The other half of the switch has the two resistors, and works by shorting out the one we don't want in a given position, leaving the other in the ground path. I'm considering a variation that will actually lift one side of the unwanted cap so there's no possible current flow through it, but this should work.

Finally, the volume switch is, as you may have guessed, a simple neck-on. I might switch it to bridge-on, which would give all the same possibilities with the added bonus of a mid-bridge position that has no tone pot connected. I'm also considering a master tone, with the last pot switch giving me one more option like no-load, the pot possibly controlling a Schottky distortion mod, or maybe spin-a-split on the middle pickup.


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[Liko]

Re: I finally did it... NWGD

I got an e-mail today...

The pieces of my new guitar should be here Monday. Can't wait. Literally, I haven't been able to wait for this project to exercise my luthierie. I've added a push-pull pot to my LP to give my JB series-parallel switching, and just last weekend I found an Alvarez Artist 5020 from the 80s or 90s for just $70, cleaned it up and gave it to my wife as her first learner guitar.

Now, it's almost time for a real project [emoji38]

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[RorySquier]

Re: I finally did it... NWGD

That's pretty cool piecing together your own guitar. It feels more rewarding and you take pride in playing your guitar. I do mods to some of my guitars and it's a fun process. I've heard nothing but good things about Warmoth. I might consider a build myself since I'm a guitar tinkerer.



;>)/

 

[rgand]

Re: I finally did it... NWGD

This will be a good guitar when you're done. Very cool to get the ship notice. Are you getting any sleep right now?

Love those Warmoth projects. Looking forward to seeing yours go together.

 

[Liko]

Re: I finally did it... NWGD

There were a couple of boxes waiting on my kitchen island when I got home today...



It's here, it's finally here!

Neck first:



The roasted maple is beautiful, the pictures aren't doing it justice. There's the subtlest hint of flame in places on the back of the neck, nothing you'd pay extra for. The SRV profile is perfect. I was worried about whether I'd like it, but it feels so natural.

Now the body:



O... M... G... Absolutely beautiful. Warmoth's woodworkers are artists. The satin, just wow. Should have sent a poet.

Basic dry fit:



The black pearl was another "I dunno", but it's also the cheapest custom piece, so if I need to change it down the road it's another $30 plus shipping. Besides, white pearl was the #2 choice, and that's been done.

And now, the real stars of the show:



This is the reason behind the whole build; I wanted a Strat that gave me the whole spectrum of electric sounds. So many great demos of the P-Rails.

Here's the whole thing dry-fit; if only it were so easy:



The black chrome hardware is a perfect match to the maple. The tuners are Sperzel locking, over a Tusq graphite nut, and a Gotoh Wilkinson trem on the other side. I went ahead with the semi-recessed rout for better flexibility.

Next step: positioning and drilling the 1/4" holes for the mini-switches. There's not going to be a lot of room in this control cavity, between three DPDT pots, the five-way and four mini-toggles. I'll make it fit; not many other options at this point.

 

[PFDarkside]

Re: I finally did it... NWGD

Enjoy the build and the guitar when it's done.

One question... have you played a Fender SRV, and does the Warmoth profile match pretty closely?

 

[rgand]

Re: I finally did it... NWGD

That blue finish outstanding. They do an amazing satin, don't they?

 

[Clint 55]

Re: I finally did it... NWGD

That is so nice. Is the neck unfinished? I wonder what that sounds and feels like. What radius and fret size did you get? That's awesome.

 

[Liko]

Re: I finally did it... NWGD

That is so nice. Is the neck unfinished? I wonder what that sounds and feels like. What radius and fret size did you get? That's awesome.

I got the compound 10-16" radius, with stainless steel 6105 frets, tall but narrow. I was hoping to get the low, wide 6130s in stainless, but they don't carry that fretwire and have no plans to. The neck is unfinished at the moment, feels almost silky, but I'll probably give it a light wipedown with some Tru-Oil to help protect it.

 

[Clint 55]

Re: I finally did it... NWGD

Nice. Unfinished necks are my favorite. How do you like the compound radius? Do steel frets feel or sound differently than nickel?

 

[Liko]

Re: I finally did it... NWGD

More pictures. Sorry I haven't been on, but between my new job and actually putting this axe together, I've had enough late nights as it is.


As close as I have to a "before" picture; nothing wired, just the pickups and selector switch installed. Notice the four little notches in the foil by the switch; I have to drill, very carefully, four 9/32" holes to fit the four DPDT switches.


One tone control wired. One thing I decided early was to do as much as I could off the pickguard, giving myself more room to maneuver the iron and solder without burning holes in insulation or the pickguard itself. This third hand holding was a godsend, I used it for practically every join whether it was holding the work, the wire, or both. Best of all, only 6 bucks; why didn't I buy one a long time ago? I tested it with my multimeter and everything looks kosher; knob in normal down position is Gibby-spec 500KΩ/47nF, popped up is Fender-spec 250KΩ/22nF. Rather than short the unwanted cap in each position like I originally planned, I decided to make sure one side of the unwanted cap was open, taking it as far out of the circuit as this DPDT allows. The side effect is that the resistor now doubles as the lead to the pickup selector switch. Luckily they come with fairly long leads.


Sorry there's no drilling in progress pictures; I was concentrating more on not ruining a $30 custom pickguard. The holes aren't perfectly evenly spaced, but from the front you'd need a precision straightedge to tell. What is fairly easy to tell, with the switches and pots mounted in a test fit, is that this is going to be a real squeeze; I'm going to have to be extremely frugal with wire lengths in order to fit it all in.


Switching path in progress. These leads are the switch-to-switch connections; the remaining terminals are for the pickup leads, ground wire and the lead to the pickup selector.


Neck pickup wired in, testing the switching positions and the neck-on selector on the volume knob. Everything's totally beautimous so far; all the positions are giving me DCR readings in the butter zone for each coil combo. We'll have to see whather I got the phase right; I spent enough time tracing that damn wiring diagram to be fairly confident I did it right.

The switching is different from a normal Triple-Shot setup; both switches "forward" (toward the neck) is series humbucking, the bats pointing at each other is parallel humbucking, pointing opposite each other is rail, and both bats pointing backward is P-90. The memory aid is "balls to the wall for serial, pinch for parallel, split for Strat, and lay it back for P-90s". More analytically, the second switch (the rear of each pair) controls SC/HB, and the front switch is series-parallel for humbucking and coil selection for single, with the switch bat pointing in the direction of the "on" coil.


Bit of a jump, but I really got into my work and forgot to take more intermediate pics. All pickups soldered, the tone controls wired in, and everything star-grounded through one ring terminal. For some reason I found myself without my electrical tape, but the heat-shrink tubing was handy, and that stuff's more durable long-term anyway. The bridge tone resistor just wasn't quite long enough, so that got an extra wire length. Tested it again thoroughly with the multimeter and everything's perfect.

More angles:


So at this point, the pickguard's wired. I'll have to warm up the soldering iron again for the control cavity shielding, and to wire up the jack and the bridge ground, but those will be child's play compared to the pickguard soldering. Next steps are to fit the neck, tuners and bridge, then I can string it up slack and use the strings as a guide for final positioning on the pickguard, before I mark and drill pilot holes for all the little screws that hold a Strat together, front and back. String it up for real, let the guitar rest under tension for a while before I do the initial setup, and she'll be done.

 

[Liko]

Re: I finally did it... NWGD

Nice. Unfinished necks are my favorite. How do you like the compound radius? Do steel frets feel or sound differently than nickel?

Haven't played the neck yet, so stay tuned. Warmoth says there should be negligible tone difference with stainless steel frets; the big difference will be durability.