Getting Wired

Wiring is coming along. This pic doesn't show where I am at this point, I've progressed since. It was easier to wire things up with the pots in position, allowing for making sure the wires are long enough and that I'm actually connecting things to the right spot according to the schematic.

All I have left to do is figure out which leads I'm supposed to wire on the endpin jack, and solder my ground wires. You may be thinking I should know how to wire the jack, but there are more connection points than there are wires going to it. When I have more time I will have to refer back to the information on the jack.

Passive ... Agressive Pickups?

There are two basic types of pickup; passive and active. Passive pickups work through simple magnetic properties, sending impulses through wiring going into the amplifier. Active pickups are powered (usually by a battery). I am using the more common passive pickup, specifically DiMarzio DP 103 humbuckers. The humbucker is named for the fact that it's configuration is designed to "buck the hum", or cancel the hum that can happen with a single coil pickup. They are typically wired in series, so each of the two coils of the humbucker is linked like sausages in the wiring. This is not always so, and many different effects can be obtained by wiring in different ways. However, I am going for a standard wiring of two pickups with a single volume and tone, with a three way switch. The switch allowing to select neck, bridge, or both positions.

OK, so the pickups are passive. But the instructions are passive aggressive. The wiring schematic cryptically shows only two wires from each pickup. As you can see above, there are five wires sticking out the end of this thing. Well, after a bit of reading and head scratching, I realized that the black and white wires get tied together and capped (at least with this brand, you will have to be sure the wiring is what you expect before going ahead with the tying of wires), essentially eliminating two wires. And it would seem the green and the bare ground are wired as though they were one wire. So, in effect, we do effectively have only two wires. That's just paranormal stuff to someone who hasn't really done any electronics to speak of.

Now that I have that figured out, it's time to get into it. I spent some time last weekend when I was home doing most of the wiring. I hope to get the remainder done this weekend, and then I can start the assembly of this guitar. Yay.

Identifying Pickup Wires & Polarities - Humbucker

Trying to familiarize myself with wiring. I haven't done much wiring really, so I need to get a sense of what's going on with these humbuckers when I wire it. This vid is actually quite informative.

Happy Birthday Radio Jazz Box

I was just sitting here thinking it must be about a year since I started this blog. Turns out it's a year to the day today! This project isn't going as fast as I'd hoped, but once I realized what I was getting into I'm not surprised it's taking this long.

I've been delayed in getting my wiring done over the last couple of weeks due to having out of town work, but I hope to get it done this weekend.

Thingamatar Label

I had been calling an earlier guitar construction my "thingamatar". It was just a name I gave it because I didn't know what else to call it. It's a strange combination between an electric guitar and something called a Tahitian ukulele, which is not really a ukulele at all, and is more akin to a banjo made of wood.

Anyway, my friend Jeff told me recently that he liked the name of that guitar as much as he liked the guitar. So, I thought I'd adopt it as my "brand name". From now on, whatever guitars I make will be called Thingamatar, each one having its own designation. In this case, Radio Jazz Box.

Here is the label for the inside in place waiting to be glued down.



I simply printed it out on gold/brown paper and cut it out. I coated the back with glue and pressed it down in place using some wax paper to prevent mess spreading from my fingers.

 And, voila! My guitar has a label that will be visible through the lower sound hole. That Michael Gallant guy on the label? Yeah, that's me.

The top has been set temporarily in place to get a sneaky looking pic of the label, as it will appear when done.

Pot Holes

I spent some time deciding exactly where I want the knobs to go. It was difficult to find a balance between functional and aesthetic, but I think I managed to figure it out.

I lightly traced around the knobs as I had them in place on the guitar top, then I marked the centre of each one.

The pilot holes are rough drilled, to be cleaned up and bored to the correct size to accept the shafts of the potentiometers (pots for short).

I was a bundle of nerves when I drilled these holes. One slip and I could have gouged the top. But, now it's done, and aside from having to clean up around the holes they turned out fine.

Not Wired - Yet

I have all the electronics I need for my wiring. I'm not wired yet, but I just made another pot of coffee, so that should change soon.

The humbucker pickups are Dimarzio PAF DP103, which are these, minus the metal covers. I have two potentiometers (volume and tone of course) with black speed knobs, and one 3-way switch. Many of you will be familiar with what the 3-way switch does; for those who are new to this, it allows switching from one or the other pickup, or both. I can chose either a white or black switch grip, which is cool because I won't really know which will be better until I get the thing set up. The jack is hidden in the end pin (the silver shaft-like part near the centre), which will hold the tailpiece in place, as well as provide a strap button thanks to a cool little doodad from StewMac that goes on the end of the jack. Wow, three uses all in one bit of hardware sticking out the back end. Gotta like that.

The humbuckers and the speed knobs came from ebay, but all the other parts came from StewMac. I just got my wiring stuff yesterday and I couldn't wait to rip the box open and see the goodies inside.

Now comes the fun of putting my wiring skills to the test. Time to dig out the soldering iron and grab my glasses. Yup, I recently admitted (to myself) that I need glasses for close up work and reading. Sigh.