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By Doron Markowitz
Hello again and welcome to another installment of
Luthier's Corner. This month, I’d like to discuss
hybrid guitars, specifically electric guitars that
have acoustic piezo bridge systems, which help expand
the tonal spectrum of the instrument. Piezoelectric
technology has come along way since first introduced
decades ago. Thanks to various manufacturers, it’s
possible to convert an existing electric guitar to
acoustic/electric, or even build such a hybrid. To
showcase an example of this technology, I present
my most recent custom guitar, which was built for
an up and coming local musician.
OK folks, here is Joe Koontz's "Thunderbox"
guitar that I just finished building on 8-25-14. It's
a semi-hollow body design with the body consisting
of 1 1/4" thick poplar frame and 1/4" sapele
top and back, finished in a subtle walnut burst stain
and several coats of high gloss 2 part acrylic poly.
It is accented with 1/8" thick maple, stained
amber and also cleared the same as the body. the pickguard,
control cavity covers, and custom speed knobs are
those accents. It is a set neck design with a 25.5"
scale length, 1 11/16" Graph Tech tusq nut, maple
neck, rosewood fretboard, jumbo frets and block pearloid
inlays. tuners are die-cast Taylors. It has a very
hot pair of chrome covered dog-ear P-90's that each
put out around 12K, wired to a 3 way toggle switch,
500K volume, 250K tone and .022 cap, to a dedicated
output jack.
The bridge is a Graph Tech Guitar
Labs Ghost piezo tuneomatic, wired to their Acousti-Phonic
preamp system, with its own 250K push/pull volume
which has a mid-boost, and then to its own dedicated
output jack. If you look closely, you can see a special
string mute clip that I made, between the bridge and
stop bar tailpiece. that is to prevent unwanted overtones
from ringing out, which can really be heard when using
the acoustic pickup. The guitar is strung with Black
Diamond 11's, and tuned down a whole step to D. I
also installed a set of Grover strap locks for solid
live performance. She weighs about 5-6 lbs. The action
is about 1/16" at the 12th fret, and she plays
and sounds killer.
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To get an idea of how I built this guitar,
take a look at the following pictures:
Picture A shows me cutting out the template
for the new body shape using ½” mdf board.
Picture B shows the poplar frame glued
to the sapele back, with the sapele top next to it, ready
to be glued on as well.
Picture C shows the top glued and clamped onto the body.
Picture D shows me routing out the various cavities in the
body, such as the neck pocket, pickup cavities, etc.
Picture E shows the neck and pickups being
test fit in their respective cavities, which look perfect.
Picture F shows the neck glued and clamped
into the body.
Picture G shows the piezo system that I used for this- a
ghost piezo tuneomatic bridge, and the Acousti-Phonic preamp
system, both from Graph Tech Guitar Labs.
Picture H shows the guitar completely assembled and ready
to play, after all of the stain and finishwork, electronics
and hardware installations, etc.
To get a full rundown of the entire build process, click
on this link for a step by step photo log:
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.792612760778453.1073741862.100000892103878&type=1&l=c36dbae8bf
And to hear it in action, click this link to
watch the demo video: http://youtu.be/ualJyK9eikc
What’s great about this sort of
technology is it obviously makes it possible to play acoustic-based
and electric-based songs at a gig without having to break
out a “proper” acoustic guitar anymore. And as
the technology is ever improving, the tone quality and sound
becomes that much more realistic.
Click on THE IMAGE to view in actual size
Well, I hope you found this month’s
article informative and enlightening. Once again, thanks for
reading my column and remember no task worth accomplishing
is ever achieved if not pursued with fierce dedication. Believe
in yourself, and make happen that glorious noise called music!
Until next time, remember, there is nothing you can't do if
you set your mind to it! Cheers!
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D Guitars
Miami has been a full-service repair and
manufacturing shop since 1988 serving South Florida
with the highest attention to detail one can expect.
No job too big or small. Whether you need pickups replaced,
new frets, a total refinish, broken head stock rebuilt,
or just want a custom crafted instrument built to your
exacting specifications, D Guitars Miami can do it all,
from acoustic, to electric, guitar or bass. (305) 896-1811
dguitarsmiami@yahoo.com |
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