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Jeffm725
Username: Jeffm725
Registered: 6-2005
| | Posted on Wednesday, April 25, 2007 - 10:05 am: | |
I promised DaveG that I would post pics when this axe was done.It has taken a long while but it was finally finished in March! I did the Jerry Garcia mods to a '78 MC400.
Now before everyone goes nuts about maiming a classic, it should be told that this was a "project" guitar to start with. As Dave can vouch for, it had no pickups, it had the whole eq system ripped out, it had replacement switches, etc..etc...so it was not like I was starting with an untouched specimen. In fact I got an insight into Daves guitar labeling/sorting system, ;-)in that when I received this axe it had a piece of masking tape on the top of the case with the words "MC400 - Project"
written in red marker!
The results both cosmetically and more importantly for me (as this is a "gigging" guitar) playing and sound wise have exceeded even my lofty expectations. It is unbelievable!
The pictures below were taken last Thursday night at the Lions Den in Greenwich Village, New York City.
I will post close up just guitar shots (havent taken any yet) when I get home tonight and add them to this thread as it is worth seeing for those interested. I am biased obviously, but I like my conversion better than the other 1/2 dozen or so I have seen.
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Jeffm725
Username: Jeffm725
Registered: 6-2005
| | Posted on Wednesday, April 25, 2007 - 11:49 am: | |
some information about what has been done to this guitar:
space for a middle humbucker has been routed out for a 3 pickup guitar
The pickups are as follows:
The neck pickup is a 1981 Dimarzio SDS-1 Single coil
The Middle and Bridge Pickups are both Dimarzio Super 2's Humbuckers
There are two "on-on-on" DPDT switches for the 2 Super 2 pickups.
The switches have the following functions for each pickup:
Up= Standard humbucker
Middle= Split to single coil
Down = Parallel Humbucker (single coil type sound without as much of an output drop
as going to split single coil provides)
There is One 25k Volume pot:
(25k - because electronics are different than a standard guitar which usually uses either a 250k or 500k)
and
Two Tone pots (500 k each):
One 500k tone is for the middle pickup only
the other 500k tone is handles both the Bridge and Neck pups (these pups are never on at the same time and cannot be the way my selector switch is wired so it definitely precludes the need for separate tones for those two pups)
5 Way Schaller "Strat-type" pickup selector:
From top to bottom:
1- Neck Only
2- Neck and Middle
3- Middle Only
4- Middle and Bridge
5- Bridge Only
Here is where things start to get real funky:
The guitar has 2 output jacks (see the blue Belden cabels in pics?) -
One is a Stereo Jack which acts as an effects loop BEFORE the guitars volume pot.
I use a "Y" cabel from this jack which has a Stereo TRS plug on the end that goes into
the guitar and 2 mono TS plugs that are Send and Return for my floor effects.
So The stereo jack plugs into the the top jack on the guitar, on the other end of the "Y"
the mono send jack goes into the input of my first floor stomp box, and the mono
return goes into the output of my last floor stomp box. What this does is put all my
floor effects in line before my guitar volume control, so that my effects always see a
constant signal from my guitar and their properties are not changed by what my guitar
volume is at (especially useful for auto-filters like mutrons, qtrons..or my favorite the
Ibanez AF-9 ;-).
Then there is a regular mono output jack which takes the guitar's signal AFTER the volume pot like a normal guitar and sends it to my amplifier.
I have an "on-on" dpdt switch which is wired to this configuration so that I can bypass the effects loop entirely and send a straight signal directly to my amp that does not pass through the effects chain (which can suck tone, even when effects are off).
This also allows me another neat feature which I use, which is before a song I can choose what effects I want to use, say during a solo, and stomp them "on" but then bypass them with the switch on my guitar. Then when it comes time to solo, instead of tap dancing, I can just flip my switch on the guitar to engage the loop and presto, there are my effects!
Also, in the guitar cavity is a Custom Audio Electronics (CAE) Unity Gain Buffer. This
requires a 9 volt battery and it buffers my signal and converts to low impedance so
that the long cable runs in this configuration do not suck tone.
It really is a beautiful setup and tone when everything is up and working as it should. I couldn't be happier with it.
I did all the electronics wiring myself, but I had to have the pickup plate, the 5 way
switch cover plate, and the dual output jack plate, custom made and machined at a
local shop. I went with a Black composite type material, kind of like a strat scratch
plate but much thicker. Was originally going to do brass, but was crazy expensive and
now I really like the black, (and Dave had given me black knobs along with the gold ones). As I said, I am delighted with the results.
I routed out the center pup space myself as well as the dual jack space and had to expand the cavity a little. I am not great with a router, but luckily all my work is covered by plates! |
Laurentb
Username: Laurentb
Registered: 4-2007
| | Posted on Thursday, April 26, 2007 - 7:16 am: | |
Well, I think this Musician should be renamed into the MC 650, as it has an array of electronic options even more dazzling than that of an MC 550! |
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