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I just finished up this beast. I call it TestBot XJ5007BGYP9MS07. I know, it's not going to win any beauty contests, but that's not its purpose. It lets me easily swap out different pickups and move them around. The black knobs control a 500k volume and tone, and the amber ones 250k. I can switch between the two couples by hitting the mini switch.








It's pretty self-explanatory, but the pickups are mounted to a lexan template that is trapped between the aluminum angle stock and a piece of wood. They stay in place but are easily moved around and can even rotate. The guitar swings open on a hinge to allow pickup changes without removing the strings. I have single coil and P90 templates too.












In the back, I simply plug the pickup grounds and leads into the speaker box thingy. All the grounds go in the one on the far right. The first three run to the 5-way switch for neck, middle and bridge positions.






I used an old neck I had laying around. The fingerboard was coming off, so I went ahead and removed it and put on a new one with a different scale length.

I originally had a rake on the neck like I normally would with a tune-o-matic bridge, but I ended up giving it no neck angle and recessing the bridge into the body. This way, as I move a pickup around it stays the same distance from the strings.

_________________
Mike

"The Dude abides. I don't know about you but I take comfort in that. It's good knowin' he's out there. The Dude. Takin' 'er easy for all us sinners. Shoosh." The Stranger

By the way, I'm very open to any improvements anyone can think of. I really just designed it on the go.

_________________
Mike

"The Dude abides. I don't know about you but I take comfort in that. It's good knowin' he's out there. The Dude. Takin' 'er easy for all us sinners. Shoosh." The Stranger

Looks great!



Getting into pickup winding?

Mike...How timely, and I like the fact that many of the OLFers seem to have an electro side as well. This looks like a great setup for hearing the effects of an unconventional pickup selection request from an 18 year old college freshman who seems to know everything. I'm referring to my earlier therad regarding my cutrrent dilemma. Hope you have a chance to read and comment, Mike.

It won't be long before we're clamoring for a separate section...Brock, are you listening? Hey...if there was a Resonator Section, why not an Electric Guitar section?...MIMF has one!

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JJ
Napa, CA
http://www.DonohueGuitars.com

Very cool design Mike! I like the way you can change pick-ups for testing. Hey,An electric section sounds good!
I'd read it ! and MIMF has one!   

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Anderson Guitars
Clearwater,Fl. 33755

Mike...very cool idea. I always thought something like this would be a great way to test pick ups back to back. Nice job.

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Brad
Avon, OH

Hey Mike,

Neat idea. Let us know if you have any further customizations on the prototype. I know someone here will surely build one like it.

That's a keen contraption.  Smarty Pants!

 

 

Looking at the first couple of pics, I was thinking....yada, yada, yada...

Then the pic of the hinged side came around!!  Man, that is some creative thinking!!

Good Job!!!!

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Reguards,

Ken H

Thanks for the feedback, guys. It was a fun little project and is going to
be very useful.

Erik, I would like to get into winding in the near future, but just other's
pups for now.

_________________
Mike

"The Dude abides. I don't know about you but I take comfort in that. It's good knowin' he's out there. The Dude. Takin' 'er easy for all us sinners. Shoosh." The Stranger

That's pretty wild.....But also pretty sweet. Brandon

I like the body shape. Kind of Burns looking.

Thanks, Steven. I actually kind of like the shape too. I might tweak it a
bit and use it for a "real" guitar.

_________________
Mike

"The Dude abides. I don't know about you but I take comfort in that. It's good knowin' he's out there. The Dude. Takin' 'er easy for all us sinners. Shoosh." The Stranger

I'm impressed Mike! I'm a big fan of testing and that makes the whole thing a lot easier! Clean execution too!

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Billy Dean Thomas
Covina, CA

"Multi famam, conscientiam, pauci verentur."
(Many fear their reputation, few their conscience)