The Steel Guitar Forum

Hi Forumites.....I'm just finishing up my first console build using mostly components supplied by Mr. Boards. It has been a fun project and believe me I have a new found respect for all you builders out there.....this turned into a very time consuming and detailed endeavor. Now, I can glue up boards and route cavities and stain and finish. But when it comes to electronics I'm like a deer in the headlights. So George, if you or anyone else could help me understand how to wire this thing up I'd be forever grateful. I'm dying to see how it sounds.

Love a blue guitar! That is nice looking. It is amazing how time-consuming it is, isn't it? When I get to the end of a build I'm not even sure where all the time has gone.

Looks like you've got a mini-switch to coil-tap that humbucker? I find this site usually has the diagram I need to wire up any configuration:

Link to Guitar Electronics.com website.

Specifically, if that is a mini-switch for a coil tap, this diagram should work for you:

Link to guitar wiring diagram.

Don't forget to run a ground wire to your bridge.

Thanks Iestyn.......I bookmarked that page for future reference. And thanks George, that was super helpful. It's all wired up, strung up, and guess what....it all works and sounds lovely with the Alumatone, but my playing sucks.

Nice finish!!!!!!!!!! but then I am a sucker for blue guitars.


Greg

That thing looks really familiar....

Alan that blue guitar is absolutly great. What kind of dye or stain did you use. Inquiring minds need to know. Thanks in advance.

Norm in Waco

Looks great Alan ... a true blue can sometimes be tough on maple. Often the natural amber / browns in maple can shift the color more to the Teal side of the chart.

Thanks for all the kind words guys. Here's my recipe. I used liquid dyes from StewMac mixed with denatured alcohol. I primed the maple with just denatured alcohol and then dyed the whole guitar black. I did this before I joined the body to the neck blank that I got from George Piburn. I then sanded it back down to the natural color of the maple which of course left the flame accented. Two coats of straight blue liquid dye mixed to the StewMac specs really brought out the grain. Then I glued the pieces up and did a French Polish ......shellac flakes dissolved in denatured alcohol. This was difficult because all the curves and contours would cause runs and unwanted buildup of the shellac that would have to be wet sanded before the next coat. On occasions I would accidentally sand through the finish and into the stain so this would have to be touched up.....the stain and shellac were very forgiving and the touch ups blended in nicely. The French polish really brought out the depth of the flame but it is time consuming. The control plate was cut from a piece of koa with just shellac. I was pleased with the results since it was my first project but I might get someone to shoot a nitro finish on the next one.

Tom....I was concerned about the blue being compromised by the natural color of the maple but I ran a test on a leftover piece of the body before I committed. I didn't really know what I was doing but I researched the staining process pretty well and probably had a little beginners luck. I'm going to try a six string version next, also in flamed maple but with a challenging yellow to orange to red sunburst. My long term goal is to eventually make all the pieces and get a finished product that looks half as good as the "Angel" you built for me.

Looks good to me. Me likey blue...