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Topic: home build dynamic |
Kevin Brown
From:
England
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Posted 18 Jul 2006 12:24 am |
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| Think of trying a homebuilt based on the national dynamic. (simple beauty) Going the 7 string route to keep my 3/8 spacing. Just need to decide material, my original dynamic feels very light, almost pine like. Would appreciate any wood suggestions. |
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Randy Reeves
From:
LaCrosse, Wisconsin, USA
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Posted 18 Jul 2006 4:54 am
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| I like working with mahogany. easy to cut, shape and finish. it is fairly lightweight and has great tonal capacities. |
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Rick Batey
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Posted 18 Jul 2006 8:47 am
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Hey Kevin, I reckon mahogany would be great, but like you say Valco never seemed to give a hoot about woods! Pity light swamp ash is so tough to find in the UK but y'know, a dense pine prototype is never a bad idea for any build project, and it might sound surprisingly good.
Thought about pickups? Get in quick if you want a Lollar Chicago 'cos he's gearing up to make tons of humbuckers for Collings electrics. Ever heard of www.shedpickups.co.uk down in Cardiff? Word is he knows something about lap pickups... |
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Bill Creller
From:
Saginaw, Michigan, USA (deceased)
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Posted 18 Jul 2006 2:02 pm
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I have built three identical guitars using different wood for each. The mahogany one didn't have much sustain or good response for harmonics. The next one is made of black walnut, which works great, with all the things the first one didn't have. The last one I built using ash, and it has a slight Fendery sound, bright, and with good sustain.
Just my own experiences with wood.
The pickups I used in all three are DiMarzio 702 seven string humbuckers, which are for bridge position. |
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George Piburn
From:
The Land of Enchantment New Mexico
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Posted 18 Jul 2006 7:37 pm edited
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edited
Last edited by George Piburn on 8 Jun 2012 7:38 am; edited 1 time in total |
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Kevin Brown
From:
England
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Posted 19 Jul 2006 12:52 am
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| Thanks fella's, felt around around blocks of stuff yesterday, douglas fir and pitch pine, I'll swear my original is pine, thanks for pickup help to Rick, Cardif not far from me. Hey George many thanks buddy your input speaks from good experience. |
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Bill Blacklock
From:
Powell River, British Columbia, Canada
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Posted 19 Jul 2006 6:21 am
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Hi Kevin,
I'm a big fan of Dynamic's. Out of all my fine steel guitars if I had to pick one it would be the dynamic, the cheapest one of the bunch. Dynamic's just feel and sound right. Mine is made of maple,I'm not sure of the year, it's a red and white one.
I've been kicking around the idea of building a new dynamic with a Lollar pickup. Im sure I'll go with Iron wood (gumwood)or Paduak for the body, should make for good sustain. |
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Nick Mesenbrink
From:
Golden, Colorado, USA
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Posted 19 Jul 2006 7:33 am
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Hey guys, I have a dumb question for you. I am seriously thinking about building a lap steel and I am lost as to where to find some wood for the body. I would love to find some mahogany, but I'm not sure where one would find some. Any recommendations? Thanks!
Nick Mesenbrink |
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Rick Batey
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Posted 19 Jul 2006 7:56 am
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| Nick, you'll likely think I'm nuts, but I've in the past I've salvaged nice bits of nato/mahogany type hardwoods from the crates used to import high-end Japanese motorcycles... you might have to laminate some thinner strips together to get a steel-sized piece, of course. Make friends with your local Kawasaki dealer. Take a crowbar! |
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Mike D
From:
Phx, Az
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Posted 19 Jul 2006 8:07 am
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Nick you shouldn't have any trouble finding suitable materials. Look up Rockler or Woodcraft on the web and see if they have a store near you. Or check the Yellow Pages for a hardwood supplier.
Even Home Depot can have decent stuff, but you may have to laminate to get the thickness you need.
------------------
Half-assed bottleneck and lap slide player. Full-assed Builder of resonator instruments.
[This message was edited by Mike D on 19 July 2006 at 09:08 AM.] |
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Bill Creller
From:
Saginaw, Michigan, USA (deceased)
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Posted 19 Jul 2006 10:23 am
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| The mahogany I used was Honduras. I think the African variety that George mentioned would be better. |
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Peter Jacobs
From:
Northern Virginia
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Posted 19 Jul 2006 11:03 am
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| Kevin - what pickup are you thinking about using to get the Dynamic sound -- the Lollar Chicago? |
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Kevin Brown
From:
England
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Posted 20 Jul 2006 12:01 am
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| Of all the pick up manufacturers only Lollar has mentioned valco as a benchmark but I'm going for 3/8 pole pieces, Lollar a tad pricey though |
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Peter Jacobs
From:
Northern Virginia
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Posted 20 Jul 2006 6:52 am
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Kevin - I haven't heard or tried them, but Mike Robinson at Eastwood Guitars makes replicas of old, oddball guitars, including Airline. He also claims to have a humbucker-size single coil that sounds like an old Valco/Airline/National pickup. Here's the link: http://www.eastwoodguitars.com/ - look under "Accessories".
Peter[This message was edited by Peter Jacobs on 20 July 2006 at 07:53 AM.] |
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Ed Altrichter
From:
Schroeder, Minnesota, USA
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Posted 23 Jul 2006 6:15 am
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| I like Rick Batey's comment: "Try to make friends, but carry a crowbar" ! Good advice in many situations ! Ha haaaaa ! |
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