Want to build a Thunderbird!

airplane

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Nuuska

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Grüetzi

Is the whammy bar too high for case lid? Even if you turn it back?

Absolutely great work !!!

Did you writ "AIRPLANE" in headstock? Cool

I am certainly waiting for you to finish it and record the sound for rest of us to hear.
 

airplane

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@adorshki you’re probably going to loose interet then :nightmare:

i‘m really more of a 60s (music) and guitar enthusiast than a good player!

@nuusks no it says „matrix“. 100 points if you get the reference!

well i‘m going to vienna for two months and i definitely can’t take my deluxe reverb with me! i will have to play with the ****ty *** micro cube with headphones because walls in vienna city are paper thin.. maybe i can catch a quick video in a guitar store. i wanted to check out a vox amp anyway..
 

adorshki

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@adorshki you’re probably going to loose interet then :nightmare:

i‘m really more of a 60s (music) and guitar enthusiast than a good player!
Did I mention one of my earliest inspirations for style was "Spare Chaynge", Jack and Jorma's tour-de-force on ...Baxter's?
In fact Baxter's was also one of my first music books.
I was born in '56 and the garage band era's still one of my favorites.
I don't care much how crude it is as long as it makes me wanna tap my feet, or better yet, try to play along.
:friendly_wink:

@nuusks no it says „matrix“. 100 points if you get the reference!
PM sent. J
Just so my buddy Nuuska still has a chance.
:friendly_wink:

well i‘m going to vienna for two months and i definitely can’t take my deluxe reverb with me! i will have to play with the ****ty *** micro cube with headphones because walls in vienna city are paper thin.. maybe i can catch a quick video in a guitar store. i wanted to check out a vox amp anyway..
OK at least we won't worry while we wait for the final unveiling.
 
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Hey this build is looking fantastic! Great work. I'm new to this forum but a regular of the offsetguitars forum. I was referred to this build thread from there as I'm planning out a super low budget thunderbird(ish) guitar using spare parts. Does anybody have a blueprint/plan of the body they'd be willing to share with me? my plan is to make a chambered thunderbird body with a strat neck and jazzmaster wiring loom for those interested!

Also airplane, is your username in reference to the jefferson airplane? If so, thats awesome!
 

adorshki

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Hey this build is looking fantastic! Great work. I'm new to this forum but a regular of the offsetguitars forum. I was referred to this build thread from there as I'm planning out a super low budget thunderbird(ish) guitar using spare parts. Does anybody have a blueprint/plan of the body they'd be willing to share with me? my plan is to make a chambered thunderbird body with a strat neck and jazzmaster wiring loom for those interested!
I see a first post, welcome aboard, "07"!
Also airplane, is your username in reference to the jefferson airplane? If so, thats awesome!
We drift off-topic pretty freely around here, but in answer to your question, I think that's a pretty strong likelihood, as he mentions in post 6 of this thread:
http://www.letstalkguild.com/ltg/showthread.php?197969-Jefferson-Guild
Do you care to take a stab at the bonus points he offered for identifying the "MATRIX" connection on the headstock logo?
:friendly_wink:
 

airplane

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@adorshki i'm not sure if i answered your PM (?). but yes you got the "Matrix"-connection right :witless: and thanks a lot for that steppenwolf song ( '67 live version of "the pusher") i'm only 30 years old and have been listening to 60s music for almost 20 years now, it's amazing that there's still stuff out there to discover...

Hey this build is looking fantastic! Great work. I'm new to this forum but a regular of the offsetguitars forum. I was referred to this build thread from there as I'm planning out a super low budget thunderbird(ish) guitar using spare parts. Does anybody have a blueprint/plan of the body they'd be willing to share with me? my plan is to make a chambered thunderbird body with a strat neck and jazzmaster wiring loom for those interested!

Also airplane, is your username in reference to the jefferson airplane? If so, thats awesome!

hi there! i got some measurements form a member in the MLP forum, but the actual shape and all i transferred from photos. in fact i've never seen a thunderbird with my own eyes in my life! i drew a grid on my computer screen and transferred the shape directly to the MFT for the routing template. then, with two or three correct measurements, you can adjust the outlines. for the neck i took a 59 les paul template and moved the heel back so that the 18th fret is above the body joint.

since this was my first build, i wanted to keep it on the cheap side too. but i eventually got so hooked up on it that i decided to get all the original vintage parts (the ones that matter) and a korina neck and all. keep in mind that the earlier thunderbirds were made of ash or alder or something. i went for khaya because i was missing a "mahogany" solid body in my family and i believe Jorma Kaukonen had a later one with maho body. there are only two photos of him with the Surrealistic Pillow guitar i know of, but i think that's a maho thunderbird.

"Anything worth doing, is worth doing right" - Hunter S. Thompson
 

adorshki

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@adorshki i'm not sure if i answered your PM (?). but yes you got the "Matrix"-connection right :witless:
When you mentioned Vienna for 2 months I wasn't sure if you were going to have 'net access, so this confirms it, thanks!
I left the challenge open for anybody else who may care to take a stab, as I felt like I had an unfair advantage.
and thanks a lot for that steppenwolf song ( '67 live version of "the pusher") i'm only 30 years old and have been listening to 60s music for almost 20 years now, it's amazing that there's still stuff out there to discover...
"De Nada" :friendly_wink:
I've been on a similar mission with jazz for the last 15 years or so.

"Anything worth doing, is worth doing right" - Hunter S. Thompson
Or maybe for this guitar:
"Too weird to live, too rare to die"
:biggrin-new:
 
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Or maybe for this guitar:
"Too weird to live, too rare to die"
:biggrin-new:

This quote may have to go on the guitar or at least the case once I've built it! If you don't mind that is.

Also, I'd like to thank everyone for making me feel so welcome! As I said before, I am a regular over at offsetguitars and they are a great bunch of guys. But some forums similar to this one and OSG, people are so rude and seem more intent on outdoing each other or just being genuinely obnoxious to each other.

I've managed to track down a template of sorts for the body. However, it is drawn up to print on a single sheet of a4. Do you suppose my best bet would be to print it off, use something that i know the definite size of ie the gibson style humbuckers my drawing has, calculate the percentage size and draw some reference lines on my printout, then scale those lines up by my found percentage and fill in the blanks as it were?

Or am I massively over complicating this whole process?
 

adorshki

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This quote may have to go on the guitar or at least the case once I've built it! If you don't mind that is.
My bad, I should have ID'd it as another Hunter S. Thompson quote....I don't think he'd mind but I think crediting him on it would even further enhance the vibe.
:abnormal: :glee:
Also, I'd like to thank everyone for making me feel so welcome! As I said before, I am a regular over at offsetguitars and they are a great bunch of guys. But some forums similar to this one and OSG, people are so rude and seem more intent on outdoing each other or just being genuinely obnoxious to each other.
Wait'll ya meet my evil twin.
:biggrin-new:

I've managed to track down a template of sorts for the body. However, it is drawn up to print on a single sheet of a4. Do you suppose my best bet would be to print it off, use something that i know the definite size of ie the gibson style humbuckers my drawing has, calculate the percentage size and draw some reference lines on my printout, then scale those lines up by my found percentage and fill in the blanks as it were?
Or am I massively over complicating this whole process?
Assuming you're using some kind of CAD program to scale up the drawing, sounds like the way to go to me.
Only thing I can think of is that in past when I've seen drawings that depend on accurate scale when printed out on everyday printers like laser of inkjets, I've seen warnings that the scale needs to be double checked on the printout.
IE, check that a line that's supposed to be 1" long actually prints out 1" long.
Sometimes stuff gets shifted by the graphics program or printer driver, for example.
Are you looking to make a lifesize template?
Many print shops have wide-format inkjet printers that'll print out any length on 24-36" wide rolls of paper, the modern version of traditional blueprint printing; should be able to print from a disk or even an e-mailed file.
They can tell you what kind of file formats they can use.
Assuming I'm understanding the question correctly.
:friendly_wink:
 
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airplane

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ok so this thing is buffed and i did some weather checking and all and it's a great guitar. BUT there's something really weird going on with the pickups! my hand works as a wah/tone control. it's difficult to describe. when i cover the active pickup with my hand (when i rest my hand on the bridge and play the bridge PU, which i normally do all the time) it sounds like the tone control is rolled all the way back. the further i take the hand away from the pickup, the brighter and clearer it sounds. i can even do wah wah effects with my hand which is funny, but it's kind of a bummer because it means that i have to put my hand above the neck PU when i'm playing the birdge PU! that means i can't really rest my hand anywhere, except with the pinky on the pickguard. has anyone ever experienced this with vintage (60's) pickups?
 

adorshki

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t....the further i take the hand away from the pickup, the brighter and clearer it sounds. I can even do wah wah effects with my hand which is funny has anyone ever experienced this with vintage (60's) pickups?
Only when under the influence of experimental substances.
And since we believed in it, we would have called it magic..
.
.
.
.
Joking aside this sounds like some kind of bizarre inductance effect much like what used to occur if you touched a traditional VHF/UHF TV antenna (or just got near it) and suddenly the reception would clear up.
Or even the principle behind playing a theremin, itself derived from proximity sensor done by Leon Theremin.
From here:
http://www.unmuseum.org/notescurator/coils.htm:
"I've always found the idea of using objects in unconventional ways very interesting. For example, way back in 1920 a Russian engineer named Léon Theremin was doing some experimentation for the government with proximity sensors. These are devices that put out an electromagnetic field and can sense when an object interferes with that field though no physical contact with the sensor has been made.
Have you somehow turned your pickups into proximity sensors?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inductive_sensor
Full disclosure though:
I'm notorious for tossing out ideas for discussion, but someone with a lot more experience with electric guitars than myself may know of a much simpler explanation.
But because it sounds like you're only affecting frequency and not volume I think it will turn out to be inductance related.
And do you happen to be wearing something metallic on your playing wrist?
Final note:
GAD is one of if not the most knowledgeable guy here about this stuff (who posts regularly, anyway)
If he doesn't see this and jump in, I suggest sending him a PM for more thoughts.
 

GAD

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I'd love to see a video of what's happening. Off the top of my head I can't say that I've seen that before, but remember I'm not an electrical engineer or a seasoned tech so there are many things that are outside of my experience (but thanks for the kind words, adorshki!).

The Theramin idea is an interesting one but gets into things like stray capacitance which I'm going to put on hold for now. As an aside if you'd like to know how a Theramin works check this out: https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/159b/8f7ab33083fc1b8de584ec338b0ee2f6fd7b.pdf

Back to Airplane's guitar - are you saying that your hand over the neck pickup affects the tone of the bridge pickup even when the bridge pickup is selected (meaning that the neck pickup should be out of the circuit)? If so then you've got a wiring problem because the selector switch(es) should completely remove the neck pickup if the bridge-only is selected.

The guy who taught me a lot about troubleshooting networks had a mantra: physical layer first. In his words, "It's almost always the copper". I would start with basic wiring. Isolate each pickup - does it ever work right? That should help to isolate any anomalies.

Any chance you took a pic of the back of the pickguard with it all wired up?
 

Nuuska

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Hello

Airplane - have you connected the strings to ground via bridge?

Or have you perhaps been handling too much gold with bare hands - and your palm pores are filled with gold particles - this would affect magnetic field of pickup . . .

Seriously - proximity of hand varies capacitance of the system - and guitar being more inductive with low-mid impedance is normally not that sensitive for capacity.
 

GAD

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Or have you perhaps been handling too much gold with bare hands - and your palm pores are filled with gold particles - this would affect magnetic field of pickup . . .

Airplane in his free time:

S1344-Donald-Duck-Scrooge-McDuck-Cartoon-Film-HD-Canvas-Print-Home-decoration-Living-Room-bedroom-Wall.jpg_640x640.jpg
 

airplane

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well i do indeed wear two gold rings on the right hand! i can't take them off easily to check if that is the reason tho :nightmare:

yes, the circuit is grounded to the bridge but there's almost no shielding on the inside of the pickguard!

the effect ist much more present than in the video.. i tried to capture it:

 

airplane

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@GAD

the active pickup is suffering from the wah-syndrome when i cover it.

these LB-1 of mine are also very microphonic but i guess that's the way some vintage pickups are.. vintage guitars (and parts) are rare birds here in switzerland and in fact the only time i ever saw and heard vintage gear was at a (absolutely mindblowing) JD Simo show.
 
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