I recently finished resurrecting an old Kay electric guitar. A friend of mine rescued it on its way to the dumpster & gave it to me.
Here is how it came to me.
Here it is now.
The pups, pots, & switches come from an old Teisco. The pickguard design is inspired by the Harmony Roy Smeck model. I cut the control plate from a brass kick plate.
I just finished soldering in the electronics yesterday and everything works! It sounds pretty good. I just need to get everything dialed in for playing comfort.
Wow, that’s quite a makeover. I like the emblem on the headstock, nice touch.
The fingerboard changed from blonde to black; did you paint/stain it? The fretboard markers and other things look the same, so I assume you didn’t replace the neck.
I was recording a song the other day with my hollow-body electric. It was a pretty simple set-up – I had a mic for my singing, and I was recording the guitar direct-in through my Vox Tonelab as usual. However, I underestimated how loud the guitar was, and it bled quite a bit into the vocal mic.
So on the final track, the guitar ended up about 40% direct through the amp simulator, and 60% bleed into the vocal mic. It’s actually a pretty cool sound, very different from the amp sound alone. Here’s the clip:
Nice piece. And also an interesting tone, almost banjo-like. I guess if you don’t want the bleed, a workaround would be to record the guitar first, vocal second. But I’d say it worked out okay in that vid.
Ahhh, OK, it was just a wild guess anyway.
On another note, I decided it was time to get a small “practice” amp, so I got a Crate GTD15. It’s rated 15 Watts into a 4 Ohm speaker, and has a 8 inch speaker, headphone output, and a speaker out jack, for hooking up to my 2x12 cabinet. There is an “overdrive” channel, but that is not exactly spectacular - at least not to someone who spent his formative years on overdriven tube amps. I haven’t had a chance yet, to see how well it takes pedals and effects.
I’m not a world-class uke player, but I can play them fairly well. And I think the cheap ones sound pretty good if you mic them properly. If you want acoustic, it will cost more, but I’m certain you could get a very nice one for much less than $350.
As an aside, I’m thinking of converting a uke to mandolin tuning - a mandolele, or a ukulin. Anyone else see potential in this or other hybrid instruments?
After much hemming and hawing, I’m getting a 6-string Baritone Classical Guitar. It started life as a ‘regular’, luthier-made instrument, but its box has always had a very deep voice. And so…
When I wrote my friend Ed Klein about a price for a baritone, he suggested re-fitting the nut and saddle on this instrument and adding a Schatten pickup. Despite him giving me a serious break, it was still more than twice the budget; I was heartbroken and I thought for sure I’d have to turn him down.
It came down to - I need an instrument for this voice and classical guitar project (“21st Century Troubadour” is the working title…) that has the same resonance and response as my regular classical, but down a fourth. (B-E-A-D-F#-B) I’ve got my laminate top Yamaha strung that way, but it’s a beater and it sounds like it. I’ve played other student/entry level instruments, and they haven’t had the depth nor the response. I could take Sergei deJonge’s lutherie course, but I haven’t got the time for a few years. And a custom built guitar would be easily more than four or five times the budget.
What clinched the deal was that Ed had let me borrow the instrument for a few days. I made my wife listen while I played the same Marschner song on the beater and on the new guitar. We then had a long talk about the upcoming recital, the possibility of touring it as a package deal, the possibility of recording it… The end result was, I emptied the Swear Jar and there was the down payment. Teasing; the end result is, it’s a big risk, but I need the right instrument for this project or it’s not going to work anyway. Gulp.
Besides, the kids’ college funds were just sitting there…
Le Ministre de l’au-delà - Woodshedding. Do Not Disturb.
How exciting is that? Congratulations **Le Ministre **- can’t wait to get a full report.
Boomerwang - there’s a long history of banjo ukes, mando-cellos (8-strings-in-4-courses) acoustics and electrics, piccolo short-scale basses and the like. Just because there are standard formats doesn’t preclude other combos and most have been tried…
Teasing; the end result is, it’s a big risk, but I need the right instrument for this project or it’s not going to work anyway. Gulp.