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Mayfly, I did try preamp out into a known working amp. No dice. Also, I tried moving the amp to a new 125v AC receptacle, as it was being used (unbeknownst to me) on a 2-wire circuit (no ground) original to the 1960 construction date of my house. Supposed to be GFCI protected, marked as such...

all 4 EL84 power tubes are glowing... If that says anything. Pretty sure filament heater comes from power trans, and the other half of each octal tube is send/return to output transformer, so maybe that's not how to tell. Carvin bias procedure states that plate voltage is pulled from before and...

I wasn’t extremely clear on this point but I did mention in my OP that I’m getting a slight hum or buzz from the speaker, and no output no matter where I plug in. Front end of preamp, power amp in, nothing. Used ONLY a known cable with good continuity (I checked) straight into the jacks, no...

I use two Carvin 50 watt EL84 amps (a VT50 head and a Nomad 1x12, totally identical chassis and schematic, same amp) to get stereo sound from a smallish pedal board in my home. I noticed a lack of stereo effect this morning and sure enough, the combo amp is making a faint 60hz hum and I’m...

That Strat neck is a recipe for awesome.

Awesome info and discussion. I guess bubinga looks really appealing to me when viewed in terms of hardness/density/stiffness stats. It’s the type of wood I would prefer not to get hit with. I want to pine for it (not a lumber pun, unless you want it to be), but it’s just kind of boring looking...

Thanks for the tip on the DiM SD-S. I will probably at least try one out. The cool rails neck was nice sounding, especially clean, and the right output level but way too dark or smooth for my tastes. I am also wondering about the Vintage Rails bridge model wired in series, not the parallel...

Ok, why is that? And I take it you have tried the SVR1b? Any opinions?

Anybody use these in a Stratocaster bridge? The neck version, I’m just floored by. A series/parallel switch makes this pickup a real two-in-one option, not just a watered down version of itself. I am wondering if the bridge model, in series mode, is comparable to a Dimarzio Chopper in output. I...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hr58e9yE8uk Not liquid binding. But darn cool! Clamp some forms down the neck, you’d get colored epoxy fret lines. Wonder if tape would do it?

Cagey - nice info and comparisons in that ric forum thread, thanks. I guess rics are maple necked under the fingerboard? I’ll have to look that up. Stratamania - I did google it, I wanted to see what the Warmoth crew came up with, web results were sort of vague. Although allparts has clear...

Any photos of bubinga, fretboard, neck back, or both, would be welcome. It seems on paper like a very effective neck wood, and similar to goncalo, but I’m concerned that it looks a little boring. Any sweet bubinga pieces out there?

I love my boatneck but I will probably not order another one. I was going for mass there, mine has awesome tone. I always thought it was a size thing. I still play it, but dang... its an inch thick the whole way.

Gold hardwear gets a lot of “love it or hate it” responses, maybe because it’s a vintage Strat hunter’s wildest dream to own an original Mary Kaye...and vintage guitars are like guns, they foster some awful extreme and adamant opinions in some people. Maybe because it can be seen as flashy or...

LOL’d my arse off. I’m right there with you!!! Headed for Club D and I can’t WAIT to decorate my house with MOAR GITARZ

Now THAT is a good question. Fender noiseless pickups with what potentiometer values? My advice to you is to stick with a big fat profile like the ‘59 roundback or boatneck, SRV is pretty chunky too. More wood is my point here. Nickel frets will sound a little mellower as in how the highest...

The aforementioned kingwood/flame maple VM neck in currently bolted on to my first W build, a mahogany/flame maple flat top soloist. The bridge, it’s got a Gotoh/Wilkinson VS100 with GraphTech saddles. Cagey, do you find that part to be any brighter than any other Strat trem? I don’t  remember...

How could kingwood be a ‘warm’ fretboard choice? I have a kingwood board on a VM flame maple warhead neck and it is the spankiest bright thing. From the Wood Database website: Kingwood Average Dried Weight: 75 lbs/ft3 (1,200 kg/m3) Specific Gravity (Basic, 12% MC): .98, 1.20 Janka Hardness...

Ahhhh, the humcancelling backplate. I see what you did there. Yeah, the Dimarzios are pretty good, my favorites were a toss up between the 58 and 67, kind of depends on the guitar. Basically maple or ebony neck, 58s, pau ferro, kingwood, rosewood, anything that adds ‘mwah’ to the snap, 67s. I...

So why are the Rocketfire p-ups so good? Just accurate recreations of period pickups? It’s been almost 20 years since I’ve owned an actual single-coil pickup. I’ve never played any strat pickups older then 80’s vintage, and probably sitting directly in front of Eric Johnson’s Marshall stack at...