2nd build, another 8.

[Empryrean]

Well guys, it's been well on its way with planning and such; however I've decided I wanted to try something different.

First; questions. I'll update the first post as this build gets moving along.


Multiscale + non fanned pup. This should work fine so long as the fan isn't 2+ inches. But I want your insights, does this look like a bad idea?

 

[sk3ks1s]

I say it should be fine. If the layout will be similar to what you have laid out there, there should be very little affect on tone in my opinion.

 

[aWoodenShip]

Based on my limited knowledge, I would have to agree. It shouldn't be a problem.

 

[Empryrean]

Thanks for the replies guys, I had a feeling about it too, however it would mean that my treb strings will be more trebly, and my bass strings will be more bassy, nay?
I don't mind at all though, this is mostly as an experiment.

again, thanks for chiming in

 

[Stealthdjentstic]

Ah sweet dude! Im excited to see how this goes. What saddles are those? I think it might be worth the extra effort of tilting the pickup, EMG's are cheap anyways no?

 

[Empryrean]

Ah sweet dude! Im excited to see how this goes. What saddles are those? I think it might be worth the extra effort of tilting the pickup, EMG's are cheap anyways no?

Thank ye Mehtab :3
The saddles are just some cheap roller saddles I got off the bay, I plan on making the bridge out of wood
Emg's aren't hard to come by, however I really want to make this one passive since the last one had an emg in it, don't get me wrong, it sounds just fine, but I wanna keep this different. The thing that worries me with tilting the pickup is that some of the poles wont line up perfectly, most notably the ones furthest from the bridge.

 

[Necromagnon]

Ah sweet dude! Im excited to see how this goes. What saddles are those? I think it might be worth the extra effort of tilting the pickup, EMG's are cheap anyways no?

EMGs don't solve the problem of the 2 outer strings that will be out of the pole pieces.

For my point of view, I think it will lack some clarity on the low strings, and have too much high harmonics on the trble strings. For the treble strings, if you play on the neck pickup, it will be no problem. But for the low strings... hee...
Or maybe you can adjust the position regarding the low strings, and get closer to the bridge (very close for high strings) so that you'll keep some clear tone on low strings?
Or you can see how the strings get over the pole with a very little tilted pick up. You have some space to move your pole piece from the string as the string is not always right above the pole when playing.

(I don't know if I'm clear enough )

 

[Empryrean]

i've got a decently good idea, but I'm not sure if it'll be plain bad or half okay.
If i keep the spacing relatively close, I can just lower the pickup where it is under the treble strings, just by a tad. and adjust so that the strings aren't as 'close' to the poles.
It seems to be okay in my head, but I don't know

 

[Necromagnon]

i've got a decently good idea, but I'm not sure if it'll be plain bad or half okay.
If i keep the spacing relatively close, I can just lower the pickup where it is under the treble strings, just by a tad. and adjust so that the strings aren't as 'close' to the poles.
It seems to be okay in my head, but I don't know

I really don't know. It will lower the output level of the treble strings, but it doesn't solve the problem of trebly sound.
I think, what you should do is a benchmark. You place 2 outer strings, wire the pickup to jack plug and plug it into a little amp, and then you test some combination: straight pickup, lightly tilted, lower on the treble side, etc.
I think it will be the only way to have concrete answer.

 

[silent_k]

I believe he's going to be doing slanted pickups in the future, but all of Ola Strandberg's guitars with fanned fretboards that I've seen have had straight pickups. He isn't doing really big fans, but a fanned board with straight pickups hasn't seemed to be a problem in his builds at all.

 

[Empryrean]

Well guys; uh, here's a progress mockup. since you've all been so nice to me

 

[Tom Drinkwater]

Going headless? Very nice!

 

[Necris]

I think it would be interesting to angle the pickup forward in porportion to the fan rather than backwards. Leaving it straight should be fine though.

 

[Empryrean]

I think it would be interesting to angle the pickup forward in porportion to the fan rather than backwards. Leaving it straight should be fine though.

I had thought of that, I also considered only a neck pickup until I had the money to buy a slanted bridge, or try making one myself.

Going headless? Very nice!

Yes sir Tom! I am feeling extra adventurous with this one!

 

[Necromagnon]

I don't like headless... :/


I think you'd try to get down a little the bridge, it's way too far from the bottom of the body, in my opinion (I think about 1" backward, seen from here).

 

[Stealthdjentstic]

Looks good man. Bkp said theyre now doing fanned pickups for 7's but are still tooling up to do 8 string pickups. They said the angle will be locked in at 10 degrees though.

 

[in-pursuit]

just try to keep in mind all of the possible factors of your design. you say you're concerned about the pickups being slanted/not slanted in keeping with your multiscale design. have you considered changing the point at which your "perpendicular" fret occurs in order to minimise any negative effect that not slanting the pickup would create?

what about considering alternative pickups to get around the problem? you've mentioned you're interested in going passive, what then are your options? I know that the lace tone bar pickups are becoming a bit of a staple when it comes to ERGs and multiscale instruments, it might also be worth looking into some second hand Q tuners. or if you have the patience, wait for the new lineup of Q-tuner products

 

[Fiction]

I think it would be interesting to angle the pickup forward in porportion to the fan rather than backwards. Leaving it straight should be fine though.

That would be even more bass-y on the low strings. I don't think you'll notice too much of a difference if you leave it straight.

Or if you really want different, maybe try wind your own pick-ups, Could be a cool experience, and you could set the pole pieces where you want them to match up to your fan and string spacing.

 

[Empryrean]

just try to keep in mind all of the possible factors of your design. you say you're concerned about the pickups being slanted/not slanted in keeping with your multiscale design. have you considered changing the point at which your "perpendicular" fret occurs in order to minimise any negative effect that not slanting the pickup would create?

what about considering alternative pickups to get around the problem? you've mentioned you're interested in going passive, what then are your options? I know that the lace tone bar pickups are becoming a bit of a staple when it comes to ERGs and multiscale instruments, it might also be worth looking into some second hand Q tuners. or if you have the patience, wait for the new lineup of Q-tuner products

I considered moving the perpendicular fret to a few different places, but since my playing sort of tends to lean towards the center, I feel it would be best to leave it at the 12th fret. There was also the purpose of having the bridge and 0 fret at the same angle, I didn't want the first frets to be too slanted.

For now, I believe I'll be fine tilting the bridge ever so slightly, unless putting it in the neck for now would work..then I'd do that instead.

As far as Laces and Q-tuners go, I have yet to hear any high gain Lace demos that I feel would produce the sound I want, and if I went q-tuners, I find the bridge is a little too (whats the word..) - honest, for my tastes
However, if I can get my hands on a medium-z for the neck, I would be most tempted to do so.

Ideas rattling in my head:
Put the pickup in the neck, leave room for bridge.
OR
Route both, put the bridge in, wait for neck

What would you guys do?
Cash is slim

 

[Necromagnon]

Cash is slim

It's worldwide... :/

I think it will depend on which style of music you wanna play. Just a neck pickup will be useless for any hi-gain sound.

Anyway, I wouldn't route both. I'd only route the position I'll place the pickup, because when the guitar is finished, it's hard to get back on it. For me, I generally go on another project pushed a little further than taking back to work a finished (or almost in my case...) guitar.
And if you leave your guitar with two routes and only one pickup....

About sound, I suggested you to make test. Just place a saddle (or two, depends on what you wanna test) on a bridge blank you've made (not a complexe, just a small steel square -??- ) with a hole on it, a nut to hold the string, a wire to connect pickup to jack output, and then you test which position and sound fit your taste. It's the best way to have what you want, I think.

Anyway, tilt a pickup works fine. I've done it on my first 8 strings, and it works fine: