My new Mostest Scariest guitar mod

[spinland]

Just finished my most ambitious guitar mod yet, and I couldn't be happier with the results.

I've had this Woody XL soundhole pickup for a while, and I love the tone (especially after I tweaked the posts), but I've never been a fan of that freakish long (and non-removable) cable hanging off the face. Since I rarely take the Woody out, and the guitar sounds great unplugged with it in place, I decided to make it permanent.

The main issue was I have Schaller strap locks and any endpin jack I've found (especially in gold) would mean losing one of them. I took some video of the inside of the body and realized I had plenty of room to put the jack below the strap lock, so that's what I did.

I couldn't justify spending US$70 on the reamer drill bit from StewMac so I bought a hand-held one, drilled a smallish pilot hole, and reamed the 1/2" hole by hand. Took a while, but I had total control over the process and the tool only cost me US$8. Big difference, and I felt really Old Skool not using a power tool. :side:

[auntlynnie]

It looks great!

Excellent work around for avoiding the $80 drill bit.

Lynn

[neverfoundthetime]

Brave man Mark, looks good!

[wrsomers]

Good work Mark. Even more intriguing to me is the guitar. I don't think I've ever seen a top with that kind of wood grain. What woods are used for the top, back and sides ?

Bill

[wrsomers]

Good work Mark. Even more intriguing to me is the guitar. I don't think I've ever seen a top with that kind of wood grain. What woods are used for the top, back and sides ?

Bill

[spinland]

Hi, Bill!

It's called the "Wild Cherry" and that was the wood they used. It was a limited-run seasonal from Art & Lutherie, made in a shop in La Pétrie, Quebec.

It was my very first guitar purchase, at a little music shop in Alabama (where I was stationed at the time) in the mid 90s. I knew absolutely nothing about guitars and let one of the experts there guide me. Sounds great, holds tune like a bulldog, and apart from one multi-day setup session with a luthier it's needed no care and feeding (well, new strings, but yeah).

One of the few belongings that stayed with me through some turbulent times and I'm glad I kept it. :side:

Mark

Edited to add: just found the email they sent me when I asked them about it about a year ago. Besides the wild cherry body it's a maple neck, spruce bracing and a walnut fingerboard and bridge.

[wrsomers]

Thanks Mark. It's always nice to still have your first guitar and love it as much as the day you got it. So judging by the A&L location, I would say they are a Godin company, which also makes Seagull guitars. They make very good instruments and at a reasonable price. The wood grain of yours is beautiful. I hope to one day hear you play it.

I don't have my first guitar because it was basically a POS It was a Harmony with action so high my fingers almost bled. I still have my second guitar (actually my daughter has it now). It is a Yamaha FG180 red label, Nippon Gakki. It still plays and sounds good but needs a neck reset. Unfortunately the cost for that is prohibitive based on its present value. My "best girl" is a 1977 Martin D28 which I bought in 1987. You heard her in my last post "In The Shape Of A Heart".

I assume you'll be bringing the A&L to IGC?

Bill

[spinland]

Hey, Bill!

Yeah, A&L is a Godin company and, in fact, mine has Seagull tuners. The action was terribly high and I had no clue, I just figured I had wimpy fingers. When I arrived in New York for my "new life" one of my new friends (now my brother in law but that's another story) was a guitarist who quickly noted what the problem was (at his instigation I had wiped the figurative dust off the guitar and had started playing it some) and pointed me at a good local luthier with cheap rates and a great rep. He did a full setup on it and it's played like a dream ever since.

It was a cheap instrument (I think I paid just under US$450 for it back in the mid-90s) and as a laminate body the guy who sold it to me warned me that it sounded great new but that's as good as it would ever sound (since laminates tend not to improve with age). I may be biased, but so far as I'm concerned it does sound better over time! Maybe it's just the nut holding the body.

It is, indeed what I'll be bringing to IGC. One of the first things my lady love did (besides becoming the cornerstone and light of my new life) was get me a good hard case for it as a birthday gift, so it'll be well-protected.

I've gotta go back and give your crazy-good video yet another listen, and this time focus on the guitar. I have a virtual D-28 in my DAW but of course it's not a patch on the real thing. :side:

Mark

[spinland]

auntlynnie wrote:

It looks great!

Excellent work around for avoiding the $80 drill bit.

Lynn

neverfoundthetime wrote:

Brave man Mark, looks good!

Thanks, guys!

Yeah, not only could I feel all frugal and stuff, it was a reamer sold for working on violins. While I was working up a sweat (and a blister) I could fancy myself in some Middle Ages music shop working off my apprenticeship. :silly:

It took me weeks to build up the guts to do this to my Grand Old Dame, and I spent no few hours researching the process and what pitfalls to look out for. In the end it was the soldering that gave me the most difficulty but after a couple of botched efforts I got a good (and not shorted-out) bond. The tech who sold me the endpin jack gave me a knowing grin and sage advice to test the connection before fishing it into the guitar, just in case. :side:

Mark