Haddo-caster 2.0

Got some more parts to talk about. Today I got the neck in the mail. It came in a mailer that I might send a map in. It is in perfect condition, I am pretty excited. This is not the neck that would normally go with an American Deluxe guitar. It actually came from a 2005 '52 reissue model. Those are pricey as well. I like that it is 21-frets, black clay dots, and that vintage tint. Okay, the vintage tint is a big thing for me, the American Deluxe necks are awesome, with abalone inlays, and 22-frets. (But they are so pale, almost pastey.)

Okay, I have to admit that I was worried about ending up with the same model neck and body. Maybe some day I will get a '52 reissue body and put an American Deluxe neck on it. So, now I have a 2006 body, 2005 neck, and 2007 bridge. It's a real partscaster!

I have some work to do on the neck. First, the bolt holes of the different bodies don't line up. The fourth hole is offset, because the American Deluxe body has a carved heel, and a special neck plate. The bolt that is sticking up marks the new location, so this is a one-minute job. There is another tiny hole in that neck plate, if you look close enough. It is for a modern feature called microtilt that adjusts the neck angle. It needs a metal receiving plate in the base of the neck. So, should I route out a little circle and glue a nickle on there or something? The old way was to shim the neck with a piece of wood, or a business card. Idunno, we'll see.

The look is great. I have a Fender tweed case which I have always liked the looks of. I sure hope I like the way this thing sounds, because it will look great. Here you can see the 3-barrel bridge from Glendale - it is compensated so it will be intonated well. The newer bridges have six adjustable saddles for each string. I like that as well, but the look of the older bridge is too cool not to try. There is some mojo in there as well, I think - but I am not too good at determining that. I should also mention that I will mount the neck and middle pickups right on the body, so the pickguard will drop right in. Due to the 21-fret neck, I won't have to do anything else to move the pickguard.


So, here are some goodies close up. The neck pickup will be the standard metal covered small style that Telecasters are known for. The bridge pickup is pretty standard as well. The middle pickup is a real Stratocaster middle pickup, which I hope blends well. The neck and bridge are Seymour Duncan Vintage stack models, and the middle pickup is a Seymour Dncan Strat Classic stack. The stack is a fancy small humbucker pickup, stacked on top of itself, for a noise-free sound.


I think I wished that the bridge was polished and shiny. But, it is a satin finished stainless steel. When I was looking at a black painted neck, I considered sending this to a jeweler to gold plate! It's funny all the thought processes I go through. Instead, I ordered a brushed stainless steel control plate to somewhat match the bridge. I hope that works.

On deck is the tuners, controls, output jack, and pickguard.

--gh

Popular name?

No wonder I am so easy to google...

HowManyOfMe.com

There are: 15 people with my name in the U.S.A. How many have your name?

--gh

The Haddo-caster one-point-oh

Here begins my next project. I have always liked the clean straightforward looks of the Fender Telecaster. A few weeks ago, I scored this on eBay! It is the body of a 2006 American Deluxe model. The body is made of alder, and it has a nice sunburst finish on it. There is not one scratch on it. Notice that Fender routes out a middle pickup cavity - I will be putting a Stratocaster middle pickup in there. In Tele-land, that is considered the "Nashville mod."

I will order some copper shielding tape and line all of those cavities before I start putting pickups in there. Not that I have any pickups, or a bridge, or control plate, or controls, or a neck, tuners...

Okay, I almost had a bridge, here's a picture I took this morning. Glendale makes some fine parts (since I had a few brief moments to inspect the craftsmanship). However, the part I accidentally ordered was for a more vintage layout, and I needed something for the standard American layout. Duh. I had to learn a big lesson on my second part! Well, luckily Dale Clark is more than a solid artisan, he is also a fair businessman.


The part is on the way back to be exchanged, and he'll probably have me set up with the right sized part by the end of next week. I'll probably have a picture of that on the body in a week or so. Note that I went with the vintage look, three brass saddles. Note that these saddles are "compensated." They are built with an angle so the intonation can be a much more accurate.

--gh

...an old email - I changed the Names to I.N.I.T.I.A.L.S.

From: G.H.
To: M.F, C.J., J.F., M.A., B.W., J.M.
Date: Feb 23 2001 - 10:36am

In the grand tradition of my disturbing but true stories: Oh Man, this morning was BAD. Terra got away from A. and was gone for a few hours. When she came back she was covered with crap and stunk like crazy. She proceeded to go upstairs and then vomit what looked like a mixture of burnt hamburger, cat poop, and oatmeal. My stomach is getting kind of churny just thinking about it. It gets worse now. In order to clean this stuff up, I had to grab some bread bag and a metal serving spoon and scoop the mess into the bag. It stunk so bad and looked like someone threw up and then took a crap in the mess. The foaming saliva formed these long strands as I was spooning it into the bag and then I JUST LOST IT. I started to vomit myself. I am not talking about a regular "I can taste the bile in my throat" type of vomiting. I am talking about nearly violent projectile vomiting. I did not make it to the toilet in time, so I now had even MORE to clean up. Also, I had just finished my breakfast of eggs, so it was a real mess. I went back to cleaning up the mess and started to vomit again, this time I was smart and vomited into the same bread bag that I was scooping Terra's vomit into, so I guess the worst of our essences are now mixed. Eventually, I was able to clean up her mess and MY mess and get it downstairs. The bread bag was tossed into the center of my front lawn, not without one splat hitting the corner of the front porch. Then I went to go clean up THE SPOON. I had no idea how to get the bulk of the mess off of it, so I stuck it into the toilet to swish most of it off. And then, you guessed it, I lost it all over again. Luckily, this time I was next to the toilet so I did not make a mess again. Eventually I got that spoon cleaned off for a future table setting. (I think it was the same spoon that we served Cherry Cobbler to M.A. last week.) In all, I must have vomited at least four times, but I think it felt like five. I am still feeling a little woozy. After nearly 10 years of kids, and four years of dogs, I have no idea what happened to me. I used to think I had a strong stomach.

Incidentally, I am overhearing a student talking to T.G. about the possibility of the Missouri Academy of Science meeting interfering with his viewing of the show "Survivor." It actually seemed like a genuine concern to him. I think that is going to make me puke.

--gh

...and this is why

You should NOT do drugs, Acid trip.

--gh

Is Duh-dar a word? It should be. Duhdar!

In an email to M, I was trying to think of a word for the ability to detect stupidity. I can see that Dumbdar is in pretty good use. But, for some reason I don't care for it.

How about "Duh," rather than dumb? I give you --> Duhdar

So, I think I have a really well-developed duhdar. But recently I was talking with Amy about someone that I only just realized was dense. This person has an interesting personality that could be described as insincere and abrasive. This might be cynical, but I usually associate those types of personality traits with smarter people.

Honestly, most of my dumber acquaintences are less sophisticated, but usually affable. So, if you want to fly under my duhdar, just act impertinent, impudent, and impetuous. (Actually, I think those are mostly synonyms, but if you are on my duhdar, you don't know that.)

--gh

...when I was a kid.

I am middle aged, quickly approaching the top of the hill in 18 months. After that, I will be "over the hill" and be able to spout off tidbits of wisdom about my experience that know one cares about. So, I will describe some of the things that were different "when I was a kid."

Number one, as I tell my IntroGeog class, there was broken glass every where. Bits of glass from discarded bottles were strewn across our gutters, streets, creeks, and even the beach. I loved finding bits of colored glass worn down by the seashore. Each summer I would get at least one bad cut on a bare foot from broken glass.

Next, I am absolutely sure that there were a lot more bees when I was little. I would usually get stung 2-3 times each year! I can't remember the last time I heard someone talk about being stung by a honeybee. Something is wrong with the bees.

Finally, and I am not kidding, there used to be a lot more white dog poo. As a kid, I was fascinated by the process of how a dog mird changes into a crumbly white substance. Due to its ubiquitous nature, we even had a word for it: PURVY. (There is no "e" in that word.) My cousin Bradly told me that the Egyptians used it to make the blocks of the great pyramids to stick together. When I was a kid, there was purvy in every yard. I can't remember the last time I saw purvy...

--gh

By request

There was a request to put the Multicultural Revolution on a shirt, so here is one for the ladies...


...and one for the dudes.


--gh

Phases

One of the things I like about the Fender Stratocaster is when the pickups are out of phase in positions 2 and 4. This hollowed out nasal sound sounds good clean and dirty. This is an electrical change by switching the leads. But if you switch the leads on a PAF-style humbucking pickup, you will make the cover hot, and add a lot of noise. Kind of defeats the whole humbucking point.

The closest that you can get to that sound is to take one pickup apart and flip the magnet around. No need to post pictures, you can read all about that process here. Also, no need to try and record what this sounds like, because you can see a demonstration here.

What I am hearing is very similar to what he has. The slight difference could be his 1965 BFDR! Man, I could be jealous of that amp. Thinking positively, since those designs are in the public domain now, I think I will just build one.

This pickup modification is usually called the Peter Green mod. Peter Green was in the original Fleetwood Mac lineup, you know, when they were a real rock band. The modification is partly apocryphal, did he just flip the neck pickup, or did he flip the magnet in the pickup. Was this deliberate, or a serendipitous accident? Since he went on an LSD trip and failed to return fully, the world may never know. Oh, but subsequent analysis of his guitar proved that the magnet was indeed reversed...

--gh

HNB 10.0 The final product

Finally, I am about 99% done with this build. I still need to protect the corners will metal covers. They will be black. This was a lot of fun to put together because I sourced none of the work out. In contrast, on my first amp the chassis was punched and drilled and the turret board was drilled and loaded with eyelets. Bought as a "kit" meant that all of the components were purchased together. Here, I had to use 3 different online sources.

This works well as an open back cabinet. The speaker is an Eminence Copperhead which has a very clear sound and is very efficient (99db sensitivity, I think). For one speaker, this little 10" really cranks. Considering the amp is only 5 watts, it amazes me how loud this thing gets. It is too loud for home use if you crank it up all the way. If I lived in an apartment, the neighbors would be complaining.

The light on my first amp is a bluish purple. I got to choose this one, so I came up with a goldish yellowy brown color. The first time that little lamp glows is a major victory. It glows when you turn on the power switch. The next switch is standby, which heats the tubes but gives no power (B+) to the rest of the circuit. The last switch is called "MUTE" but it really just makes the high gain setting work at lower volumes. Maybe I should have labeled that something different. At least it wasn't a mispelling!

The heavy inked area for the name of this amp looks cracked from a certain angle. Straight on it seems fine, though. There are minor imperfections all over this build - in the wood work, the lettering, and of course the finish (I am heavy handed at spray paint and lacquer). However, it is 100% my own work, and sounds absolutely amazing. Family members have sent checks to offset my costs, do this will be a family gift to my father-in-law.

The tone controls are actually very responsive. The thing really sings if you leave them full on, but turning down the treble, mids, and bass help balance the sound for the different guitar setup. My favorite clean sound is with the GAIN setting on 3, and the master VOLUME on 6-7. With my Les Paul, I can get some nice jazz like sounds. I would love to hear a real archtop through it, though. Because it is a low-power amp, you can get some great distortion at a sound pressure that doesn't split your ears. I don't think I ever need to go above 20-30 watts in this lifetime. (In case this stuff is new to you, a 50watt amp would be twice as loud as a 5watt amp.)

I may post one or more times about this build, maybe showing the corners and stuff. But for now, we can pretty much consider it done. Aww, look at it.



--gh