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Karl Monetti
`Olu`olu
USA
756 Posts |
 Posted - 03/26/2006 : 07:26:28 AM
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Well, one guitar made and now i am going off the dep end. I spent a week in Mexidco with my Backpacker. I hve had it for 15 years (birthday gift from wife...i just LOVE her!) and it has gone everywhere with me. However, since the dunking in California 10 years ago, adn the rough packing and jamming into overhead compartments (be careful when opening, the contents may have shifted...or been destroyed... in flight) I have decided I need a new travel axe. Something that sounds good, (Backpacker is quiet and dull) is easier to play (BP is hard to keep in one spot) and looks really cool instead of a fly swatter with strings.
I have dsigned an oddball deal based on the hollow neck design of the weisenborn, using the same body lines for the base side of the instrument, cutting away the upper bout on the trebble side. Shortening the body by 1 1/2 inches and the headstock by 3 inches makes an overall length the same as the Backpacker so i know it will fit in overheads, and the width is pared down an inch on each side, giving me a 12 inch width. Multiple small sound holes instead of the one traditional one, and a soujndhole in the curve of the base side of the guitar, so i can hear what i am playing more easily without playing too loud in npublic places.
The reason for this post is, i want to put electonics in this thing ans woanded to hear opinions on type and brands. I am thinking of a mic rather than piezo undersaddle deal. Or perhaps something attached to the under side of the soundboard. I would like a volume control on the instrument, don;t really need tone controls, as i have not seen one on any factory guitar that i really like anyway...none of themseem to change the tone that dramaticly.
I await your comments :)
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Karl
Frozen North |
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Fran Guidry
Ha`aha`a
USA
1579 Posts |
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Pauline Leland
`Olu`olu
USA
783 Posts |
Posted - 03/26/2006 : 11:47:00 AM
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| How will you get in to fix electronic things if you have numerous small soundholes? How about a trapdoor at the bottom? |
Pauline |
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Karl Monetti
`Olu`olu
USA
756 Posts |
Posted - 03/27/2006 : 11:02:10 AM
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Fran,
Thanks for the great links, I will delve into them tonight
Pauline,Are you trying to say i might not have planned ahead on that one??? Right on! Geez, maybe this model should come with a crowbar?
I'm sure glad yo said something. I've been so engrossed in drawing up contours and figuring out how to make the neck and cutaway, tha i forgot about the logistics of internal fixes. Another reason to stay away from inboard preamps and batteries ,I suppose. A trapdoor might bi OK, maybe on the back...the sides will only be 2 1/2 inches in depth, and the normal soundhole is almost 4 inches, so i may need a large hole in the back. Or, i could make a regular sondhole.
Thanks for the input |
Karl
Frozen North |
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thumbstruck
Ahonui
USA
2165 Posts |
Posted - 03/28/2006 : 05:10:44 AM
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| Karl, the project sounds like a worthy one. I had a Fishman Thinline put in my D-18 and it works great. No battery or anything, jus' plug in. I did get a Fishman pre-amp to wear on my belt to use if I was going into a big board, like for a show. With the pre-amp I have volume and tone. I tried the Goldline(it has a battery) in another guitar, but for my needs and guitar, the Thinline worked best. I also timed it so that I got both units on sale! See you in Seattle. |
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Pua Kai
Ha`aha`a
USA
1007 Posts |
Posted - 03/28/2006 : 07:47:19 AM
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| Oh, those long cold winter nights..... |
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Karl Monetti
`Olu`olu
USA
756 Posts |
Posted - 05/03/2006 : 09:33:01 AM
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Well, I got it put together. I ended up buying a K&K Pure western Mini pickup system while in Seattle last month. It is a series of 3 small pads tha glue on the uderside of the bridge plate. Needs a pre-amp, so i got an LR Baggs Para-acoustic DI.
Once i got everything glued up i strung the beast up to see if it would self-destruct before i spent any time finishing it. It works fine. Doing that also allowed me the opportunity to work on the nut and saddle before they were glued in place.
It seems to be pretty playable, the sound is much louder and brighter than the backpacker, it has more frets, is easier to hold, and looks pretty cool. I sent some pix of the work in progress to Andy a week ago but he is out of town and did not post them yet. I will send him some of the finished product so you can talke a look.
My wife took one look at the done deal and gave it a name. Medusa |
Karl
Frozen North |
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Karl Monetti
`Olu`olu
USA
756 Posts |
Posted - 05/03/2006 : 11:01:24 AM
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Andy just showed me how to post the pictures. These are the work-in-progress ones
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Karl
Frozen North |
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thumbstruck
Ahonui
USA
2165 Posts |
Posted - 05/04/2006 : 03:42:25 AM
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| Extremely kewl, Karl! You gonna bring it to Seattle next time, or just the big 'tar? |
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Karl Monetti
`Olu`olu
USA
756 Posts |
Posted - 05/04/2006 : 08:14:26 AM
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| I'll bring this one for sure; that's why i made it, and probably the Weissonetti, too. |
Karl
Frozen North |
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hapakid
Luna Ho`omalu
USA
1533 Posts |
Posted - 05/04/2006 : 11:57:35 AM
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Whether it plays or not, it's very cool!
Jesse Tinsley |
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Reid
Ha`aha`a
Andorra
1526 Posts |
Posted - 05/04/2006 : 3:12:06 PM
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Jeez, the first pic looks like some serial killers' torture chamber. Chains are good. Howzabout some description. Also, how did you figure out the areas of the multiple holes vs. the body volume (or did you)? The bracing looks like it could withstand a caribou stampede. Did you want it that heavy? Or the bridge plate?
So, even after reading your intial description of goals, I still can't figure out what it would sound like without electricity. Wanna tell us what you expect?
Sorta scared, I am,
Reid |
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Karl Monetti
`Olu`olu
USA
756 Posts |
Posted - 05/05/2006 : 09:31:16 AM
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Reid,
YOU'RE SCARED!?!?!?!?!? I am petrified. It's my wood, my time :) Hey, i already strung it up, as soon as i glued on the back, before i even trimmed the sides. Wanted to see if it was going to torque to the side, see if it sounded any good, also gave me a chance to figure out nut and saddle heights. The verdict is......it sounds a heck of a lot better that the Backpacker, is much easier to play and so far has been well worth the effort.
I am not a very good student of the guitar making trade, olr perhaps anything else in life. I sort of go my own way. I bought 2 books on guitarmaking, have read a few spots in each, cannot bring myself to go thru the steps they suggest based on hundreds of years of experience by thousands of luthiers. So, in answer to your querries....i just thought the soundholes sort of looked cool in that configuration, sort of following the body shape from wide upper bout on one side to cutaway on the other. As for the size, I think now the larges hole might be a bit too large, but only from an aesthetic point of view. The soundhole on the bass side makes it a lot easier for me to hear the guitar when i play it. As you can see, the basic body shape was lifted from the Weissenborn, and so the bracing followed the same pattern as the one i made before. I did use slightly lighter bracing material, scalloped them a bit more that the full sized guitar. the bridge plate is exactly what the original weisenborns had. Perhaps it looks so large because the body witdth is only 12 inches across the lower bout instead of what, 15-16 inces for a full sized guitar. At any rate, the sucked is closed up now, and there is no going back. I have about 12 coats of spray varnish on it, a few more to go and i will re-install the tuners and string it up.
If you really want to hear it, send me an email and i will send you a video clip (i cannot seem to do that via the member forum email)
Some of the atuff in the first picture is old dog chains (sled dogs), some tuna leader line used for tieing dog sleds together (Easier to work than rawhide, lasts longer, but not nearly as flexible or aestheticly pleasing), parts from a Monitor tove and the notebook i starteed the guitar with, but abandoned after a few hours of work....see, i can't or won't even follow my own directions.
And, actually, i really was scared to build my first guitar. I had bought the wood in 1997 near Hilo, and had been scared to touch it for fear of ruining a good piece of koa until my son said he wanted to build one, too. That was summer 2004. We finally sliced the boards that summer and traced some outlines. Next summer we cut out the backs and sides and some braces. (he is only here in summers) I waited until November of last year, when i finally had a consistent source of heat in my shop fo rover a month, to begin putting the Weissonetti together. Now with that under my belt, the fear is gone and I am no longer afraid, but nore like self-confident to the point of surlines; sort of dangerous, as you can see from the pictures above. So, watch out!!! |
Karl
Frozen North |
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Admin
Pupule
USA
4551 Posts |
Posted - 05/07/2006 : 2:31:32 PM
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I am posting these for Karl... the finished product!
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Reid
Ha`aha`a
Andorra
1526 Posts |
Posted - 05/08/2006 : 03:55:51 AM
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Karl, It was the chains, not the guitar, that got my attention :-) Actually, the body shape is a clever way of getting more body volume into a small package. OTW, I was just wondering if you had some idea about both bass response by tuning the hole size(s) and overall response vs, strength with the bracing - mostly, guitars sound best when they are just short of breaking/folding up. If it sounds good, though, that's all that counts.
Have fun with it.
Reid |
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thumbstruck
Ahonui
USA
2165 Posts |
Posted - 05/15/2006 : 04:52:13 AM
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| Eh, Karl! Looking forward to the end of May to see the new kika! What a neat project! I like the puka on the top bout, practical for the picker. |
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