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Electric modification to Ed Elliott guitar

Posted: Wed Feb 17, 2016 11:43 pm
by arpsum
Hi all,

Recently I did the electric modification to Ed Elliott's guitar. As you know, Mosrite pickups are high impedance comparison to other ones. So they tend to pickup not only the strings' vibration but also buzz noise from outside. I tried to adjust the ground level in the pickup cavity and adopted the brass tube to avoid the noise. In addition, I replaced the conventional variable resister with small pro audio potentiometer. In general, the high frequency signal would be spoiled when it comes to turning down the volume pot. This potentiometer has many high quality resister inside, so I can get well balanced sound at any position.

Image

Re: Electric modification to Ed Elliott guitar

Posted: Thu Feb 18, 2016 1:13 am
by dubtrub
Nice looking assembly. I don't quite understand what was accomplished but admire your ingenuity and super clean workmanship. What is the spent .38 cartridge casing used for on the selector switch?

Re: Electric modification to Ed Elliott guitar

Posted: Thu Feb 18, 2016 2:37 am
by motiersbad
impressive! Very clean!

Re: Electric modification to Ed Elliott guitar

Posted: Thu Feb 18, 2016 6:46 am
by BRRanger
Super clean and tidy!
Scott

Re: Electric modification to Ed Elliott guitar

Posted: Thu Feb 18, 2016 1:27 pm
by Greg_L
Nice. I use .45ACP and the sound is much more powerful. ;)

Re: Electric modification to Ed Elliott guitar

Posted: Thu Feb 18, 2016 11:23 pm
by arpsum
Thanks for the impression.

Although we can't see the assembly under the pick guard, I make it my motto to work diligently under the surface. The most expensive device is the potentiometer, it costs about 15 times more compared to ordinary volume pots. Indeed this is expensive, but you can get transparent sound with direct connection to the amplifier. This potentiometer is custom version for Mosrite style guitars. Others are as they look, except for the black cube on the tone pot. This is Q-filter by Bill Lawrence. As to inside of cartridge casing, there are some LCR filter to adjust the mixing balance of two pickups.

Re: Electric modification to Ed Elliott guitar

Posted: Thu Feb 18, 2016 11:40 pm
by dubtrub
Very interesting. By chance could you post a sound clip to hear it in action?

Re: Electric modification to Ed Elliott guitar

Posted: Fri Feb 19, 2016 8:06 am
by Bob Shade
Hello Ten! I hope this finds you well.

Is this the same change you made to all the Hallmarks that you purchased?

Best, Bob

Re: Electric modification to Ed Elliott guitar

Posted: Fri Feb 19, 2016 5:12 pm
by arpsum
Hi dubtrub, this guitar has already sent to the customer. So I asked him to launch the sound clip.This circuit was optimized for tube amplifier, which has high impedance input like Fender Twin Reverb. High range is clear, mid range is fat, and the bottom range is so tight with no extra attachment.

Hi Bob, you got it. How did you know? Yes, currently I'm working on H60C Orange Crate with the same specification. This circuit and special stud bolt for the bridge have combined to give your axe a high reputation in Japan.

Re: Electric modification to Ed Elliott guitar

Posted: Fri Feb 19, 2016 6:52 pm
by arpsum
Please let me explain a little bit more. The input impedance of recent guitar amplifiers is getting lower and lower for low output pickups. In fact, those amplifiers can drive many kinds of electric guitars in their own way. But I think those amplifiers aren't guitar amplifiers but small PA systems. Besides, they don't have sufficient head margin at input stage, so they can't accept the powerful output from Mosrite pickups.