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Posted: Thu May 03, 2007 3:33 am
by theshadowofseattle
DGNR8 wrote:I KNOW WHAT IT IS
I KNOW WHAT A HELL I TALKING ABOUT

Posted: Thu May 03, 2007 5:43 am
by Billy3000
theshadowofseattle wrote:
DGNR8 wrote:I KNOW WHAT IT IS
I KNOW WHAT A HELL I TALKING ABOUT
EXCUSE ME THE FUCK!

Posted: Tue May 22, 2007 3:15 pm
by DGNR8
So I have this vintage Italian decal that is just like the one on Brian Setzer's Gretsch. Is it too homofanboy to put it on my own orange guitar? The Corona is just so pretty now. The HW is just set on top for the pic--it's not really that crooked. Although I have half a mind not to wait the full SIX WEEKS to wetsand. SO WHAT if the nitro is soft? I am dying to hear those Novaks.

Handwound handbuilt Filtertron pickups - built by CURTIS NOVAK. These are nice quality, with excellent tone -You will not be disappointed! These will drop right in to your humbucker cavity with no mods. Pickup rings included. Bridge is 6.4K and neck is 7.85K. Both pickups are wired with 4 conductor wire, so you can wire the pickups to split coils, which is an excellent splitting pickups with great SINGLE COIL tones!!!!

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Posted: Tue May 22, 2007 3:25 pm
by Aug
I SO love those pinup decals!

fuck what anyone else thinks...if you like the decal, and wanna throw it on there, DO IT!

Posted: Tue May 22, 2007 9:53 pm
by theshadowofseattle
DON'T DO IT. It's already beautiful.

Posted: Fri May 25, 2007 3:33 am
by DGNR8
It's not much further along than the last pictars. I have to sort out the fucking wiring harness. I am happy I have the harness, but it's 100 year old wheelchair rubber that crumbles when I even look askance at it. I could post the wiring puzzle for youse to look at, but I never get any responses so I will show the paint here and the wiring at Reranch.

It is lighter orange than any of these, and fucking stunning. I can't take much credit for the thing itself, but it was an epiphany moment where I realized I would probably only create or work on a few other things in my life that would be as beatific or satisfying. I shit not. There are plenty of other pretty guitars out there, but holy fuck. If you find buy make one that you can't stop looking at, you will know what I mean.

I am going to start with the trapeze because it's not as heavy as the trem and I rushed the polishing (so it isn't as cured as the monks at Reranch suggest). I couldn't wait and I don't mind indentations and shit. It isn't a faux relic if it is 40 years old and lucky to be in one piece. I have to figure a low rent way (Dremel?) to cut the pick guard. When I bought it I hadn't landed the pups yet. It is not assembled because I AM A DUMB SHIT and I am moving as fast as I can. The nut might be teat's up anyway. WHY SHOULD THIS ONE BE ANY DIFFERENT? I only buy necks with snaggletoothy nuts.

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Posted: Tue May 29, 2007 6:05 pm
by DGNR8
FUCKING HELL. Nothing is as hard or scary as pulling a wiring harness through a vintage hollow body. All the various branches get twisted around each other and you can't see nor reach them. One time guy on Reranch told somebody to take the guts out of a vintage Gretsch to do the job right. He should be kicked to death and had his entrails removed--to do the job right. Smooth lacquer is not worth doing that. Of course it may have been easier had I seen it before it was dismantled.

I could not have been any more lucky, since my entire harness was intact and fit precisely with any added wires. I only put in an extra from the jack to the tailpiece (as shown), and I will splice some extra onto the neck pup. It looked perfect outside the body, but I had to disconnect it again in order to string everything through the pup openings in the body.

TRUST ME. THAT'S ALL YOU WANT TO KNOW ABOUT IT.

You can see my toolkit, which consists of an E string and a length of coat hanger wire. These are in case things get so hairy you want to gouge your own eyes out. Actually the string and some electrical tape were invaluable for pulling the knobs out the holes.

The harness is wrapped in a thin spring-like Slinkyâ„¢ that also acts as a ground (and is wired as such). It extends from the switch to the pots in two long legs. The vol pots connect to the tones with two shorted ones. The pups connect at the vol pot, and I grounded them into a central ground. When I go to plug this in it better work, because it will be impossible to troubleshoot. I could have teted it all outside the body, but where is the fun in that? IT LOOKS like it will work perfectly. I couldn't get any info anywhere on how to wire it, so I sat and looked at it until I figured it out. It was simple, but it was like knowing which wire to cut on a bomb.

I should never have started it after a long weekend of watching toddlers. At every hitch I would turn into the HULK. I would have finished it last night because I had done the hard part of getting the six knobs and jack through the holes, but I realized I didn't have the goddam HB pup ring mounting screws, and my neck holes were a little loose and needed to be shored up. Besides, had I finished and tested it and it didn't work, I may have smashed it to orange bits.

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Posted: Tue May 29, 2007 6:59 pm
by Mo Law-ka
couldnt you just put it thru the pickup hole?

Posted: Tue May 29, 2007 7:50 pm
by DGNR8
Everything went through the pickup holes. But it all had to be grabbed and dragged from that point to all the openings. The hardest part was where the wires would tangle around each other and it was in a spot that I couldn't see, or I had trouble moving the body around without letting the pickup flop around and whack the body. I had already taken the trapeze tailpiece off or it could have been banging around as well.

It must not look very tricky. IT IS. At least it's a plain jane switch and pup setup.

Posted: Tue May 29, 2007 8:39 pm
by Tweez
It looks like it was an absolute bast to get it right, it was definitely worth it though, great project.

Posted: Wed May 30, 2007 11:53 am
by ElCapitan
yeah man, looking good.

Posted: Thu May 31, 2007 5:23 am
by DGNR8
DOA

The Heart of the Devil looks great, but I got it all plugged in and ready to go, and NOTHING. That means I have to strip it all out again because I can't see any of it. It also means that I now have a three completed vintage guitars, and NONE of them are playable. :shock:

I don't know why I didn't test everything outside the body. I was so sure it would work. I did everything very carefully. I will post pics of the cadaver tomorrow. I also wet sanded the trans blue Musicmaster to keep myself from teh madness. Meanwhile I tried adjusting the Bronco bridge again and I just don't get it. I guess I need to find a tech. I could have picked a Strat, of which there are reams of pages of info and everyone has experience. Thanks god for the Tele. It is certain to be gorgeous AND work.

Posted: Thu May 31, 2007 11:19 am
by Mike
suckage.

Posted: Thu May 31, 2007 4:43 pm
by mezzio13
Regardless of your setback, that Coronado is soooo fucking gorgeous!!!!

Posted: Thu May 31, 2007 7:49 pm
by DGNR8
Thanks. By the light of day I feel better about it. If it had worked, that wouldn't have been much of a victory, and it would be over. I know how to do it now, so I can do it more easily the next time. I also got to HEAR it with one lone string on it and it sounds pretty sweet. I think it's worth going back in and rooting around. This time I may even check over the other wires and use my multimeter. Blind faith is a little limiting--better to look both ways just in case. But I can't wait to get it cranking. I gotta hear me some Novaks.

The binding is pretty yellow. Some of that was there and some of it I added. I will take some pics out in the sunshine. Night time pics just aren't cutting it. It's a shiny beast. In certain angles it looks much deeper than it is. The depth must be in the wood.

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Posted: Thu May 31, 2007 8:04 pm
by SickenedEmotions99
That is fuckin

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GAWJUSS!

Awesome job man.

Posted: Thu May 31, 2007 9:57 pm
by arcadedave
I love Coronados more than life itself. Nice job man!




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RIP

Posted: Fri Jun 01, 2007 10:04 am
by Thom
that looks so good. glad you sorted it out.

Posted: Fri Jun 01, 2007 10:17 am
by Mike
Brilliant. Well done.

Posted: Fri Jun 01, 2007 1:59 pm
by DGNR8
Now to make it work through an AMP. I am actually looking forward to it now.