The Stagemaster is finished, and here it is. Isn't she beautiful? I had time today to put it all back together and I'm happy to say it went off without a hitch--which is not to say that there wasn't a final hitch regarding the electronics. But please allow me to describe the bad parts in a later post.What I would like to do today is enjoy the moment. The Stagemaster is back together and it sounds . . . well, it sounds like I hoped it would. What more could I ask for, really? I expected and hoped it would sound a certain way, and it has exceeded my expectations.
The new DiMarzio pickups sound sublimely beautiful singly, and in combination with one another. The neck position pickup is a powerhouse with a huge, big fat sound and the single coil in the middle position is as clean sounding of a pickup that I have ever heard.
But the main feature, it turns out, is the f-spaced pickup in the bridge position. This is an ass-kicking pickup that almost sounds like it has an overdrive built in. The power is indescribable.
And finally, the shielding. Going to the trouble of shielding the electronics properly has paid off in a big way. I have never owned a guitar, until now, that is completely noise free. No hum, no buzz no nothing. Complete, beautiful silence.
So what is left to do? Nothing as far as the Stagemaster goes, but what I would like to do for you is to summarize the project in the next series of posts. There were several mystifying developments at the end of the project which you should be aware of if you try something like this on your own. I will describe these to you in detail.
I would also like to summarize what this project cost. I have a feeling that it may have cost more than the guitar itself cost, but we'll see. I haven't added it up yet.
But for now, the Stagemaster is done and I am enjoying my "new" guitar.
Crispy
2 comments:
Hey, go play with the new toy. Enjoy it. We'll wait for more details. Take your time.
HEY I CAN'T BELIEVE HOW YOU WERE TREATED BY DIMARZIO.. I JUST SAW YOUR PROJECT GUITAR AND READ YOUR TEXT I WISH I WAS IN FROM THE START... BUT I TOO DO A LITTLE WIRING I JUST DID A FENDER AMERICAN STRATOCASTER WITH CUSTOM SHOP TEXAS SPECIALS AND CHANGED THE TONE AND VOLUME POTS WITH FENDER NO-LOAD POTS AND CHANGED ALL WIRES TO 22 GAUGE VINTAGE CLOTH COVERED WIRES IT HAS ALOT OF OUTPUT AND SINGS LIKE ANYTHING WHAT RICH HARMONICS.. I HAVE A SUPERSWITCH AND A TONE ZONE HUMBUCKER BUT HAVE NOT YET DONE A HUMBUCKING PICKUP IS IT HARD? IF YOU HAVE ANY INFO YOU COULD PASS ALONG WOULD BE HELPFUL I'M LOOKING FOR COIL TAPPING THE BRIDGE PICKUP(THE TONE ZONE) TO WORK WITH THE NECK(SINGLE COIL) AND THE REVERSE WOUND MIDDLE(FOR OUT OF PHASE BETWEEN THE MIDDLE/BRIDGE AND THE MIDDLE/NECK).. MY LAST THING IS ON ANOTHER AM STRD STRATOCASTER I HAVE MULTIPLE PICKGUARDS SETUP WITH PICKUPS AND TONE POTS AND VOLUME AND READY TO CONNECT TO JACK AND GROUNDS. FOR THIS GUITAR ONE IS THE SINGLE SINGLE HUMBUCKER I SPOKE OF AND A 2 HUMBUCKER SET UP USING SEYMOUR DUNCAN LIVEWIRE METAL(IN THE BRIDGE POSITION) AND A DUNCKUN LIVEWIRE CLASSIC(IN THE NECK POSITION) THEY HAVE A 2 CONDUCTOR WIRE SETUP SO NO COIL TAPPING.THEY ARE A SET OF ACTIVE PICKUPS 18 VOLTS EACH!MY OTHER STRATS ARE ALL BLUES. BUT, THIS ONE IS ALL HARD ASS ROCK. IT ALSO HAS A FERNANDEZ SUSTIANER IN THE NECK SPOT SO, I HAD TO MOVE THE NECK PICKUP BACK A BIT TOWARDS THE BRIDGE BUT THE PICKUP SOUNDS A BIT MORE TOP END BUT THE ACTIVE PICKUPS ARE BIG AT THE BOTTOM END. ALSO, MYROCK GUITAR HAS MIKE CHRISTIAN ACOUSTIC PICKUPS THEY ARE WIRED GRAPHITE SADDLES FOR AN ACOUSTIC SOUND AND A SEPERATE 1/4 INCH OUT STRAIGHT TO THE SOUNDBOARD.THE REASON I'M WRITING IS TO SAY NEXT TIME TRY USING SEYMOUR DUNCAN THEY LOVE TO HELP OUT AND YOU CAN CALL THEM ALSO SINCE I DID NOT KNOW ABOUT THIS PROJECT OF YOURS I DONT KNOW THE DETAILS WHY DID YOU CHOSE THE GUITAR YOU DID? ALSO HOW DID YOU CHOOSE THE COMPONANTS FOR THE GUITAR? DID YOU EVER CONSIDER A TONESTYLER TONE KNOB? ITS LIKE HAVING A BUILT IT EQ ITS AWESOME.. IF INTERESTED JUST ENTER STELLARTONE IN A SEARCH WINDOW OR STELLARTONE TONE POT REPLACEMENT TAKE CARE ..JIMMY
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