News And Updates

Many players have contacted me and been curious about how the EGS guitars sound with “normal” pickups. Johan Lundgren of Lundgren Guitar Pickups kindly lent me a pair of Heaven ’57 humbuckers for a test.

Getting this done was not as straight-forward as I had hoped. The Alumitones are a few millimeters smaller (36 x 65 mm) than a regular humbucker (38 x 68 mm), and for aesthetical purposes I had cut the pickup cavities as close to the original Alumitones as possible. This meant that I actually had to get the router out to enlarge the holes for the test. Another interesting fact is that the two Lundgren pickups weigh 250 grams and the two Lace pickups weigh 90 grams. With the EGS#1 guitar weighing in at about 2kg, it still results in a fairly light instrument, but the increase in weight is quite large percentage-wise.

You will have to judge the results for yourself. The larger frequency response of the Lace pickups allow them to be equalized into any type of sound using tone controls and effects, but the clips are recorded with the same settings on the amp.

Some comments from Jonas – his personal views and reflections:

• The Alumitones have a “sparkle” on the high end and the “punch” is high in the tonal register.
• The Lundgren pickups have their “punch” much more in the mid-range.
• The Lundgren pickups have a warmer and muddier sound.
• When playing the Alumitones, he feels he has to hold back a little – they have a tendency to “break” when picking hard. With Lundgren pickups, he feels more “relaxed” and un-inhibited.
• The EGS guitar still responds very quickly with the Lundgren pickups, but the attack is slightly less intimidating than with the Alumitone.
• Jonas’ verdict: “the EGS guitar really comes together with the Lundgren Heaven 57 pickups. Having said that, in something like the sound clip featuring Joe Pesce from FUZZ Guitar Show, the Alumitones beat the Lundgrens hands down.”
• My verdict: “As with anything on an instrument, the choice of pickups is very subjective. Material choices, design features, and electronics all have to blend together to form a complete instrument that resonates with its player. Both of the tested pickups have their merits. I am offering my customers a choice of whatever pickup type suits their playing style and genre the best. The Lundgren pickups turned out awesome in this particular instance, so I am definitely keeping them on. In the niche of ergonomic guitars, design and innovation, Lace Alumitones will continue to be my first choice.”

Clean sample:

Slightly distorted sample:

I rigged the neck and routed a channel for the string locks last weekend already, but didn’t have time to post the pictures. I used an old pickup router template.

I created a drilling template since I did not have access to the milling machine that I usually do and hence had to cut the holes manually.

The larger holes are for the guiding pins and the smaller to hold the screws.

Ideally, you would keep the neck square in section where the string locks sit, to give room for the full length of the screws. In this case, the neck is round and I have to cut the outer screws quite short.

Anodized aluminium is not very conductive to electricity, which can lead to string grounding issues. It is quite easy to overcome though, and with recent and future orders, I am including the necessary materials. However, I do not want to make any assumptions on how you would prefer it to work, so I am not grinding off the anodization as described below.

Step 1 – route the ground cable

Drill a hole into the control cavity as usual and run a bare wire through it to the bridge.

Step 2 – grind off anodization

Next, grind off the anodization (using a Dremel for instance) from underneath the base plate.

As well as on top of the base plate. Take care to check an approximate intonation first though. You want to make sure that the area you grind off will be completely covered by the bridge when it is mounted. The ground off portion should sit straight under the saddle.

Step 3 – re-mount with the spring

Lastly, insert the supplied spring into the bridge and re-mount it. The saddle will have full contact with the ground off anodization through the spring, and on to the ground wire that sits under the bridge plate.

Today, drilled the fastening holes for the neck and could for the first time test out the balance of the instrument. It was a nervous moment the first time I put it in my lap, since the body is so incredibly light and the hardware and pickups add very little weight. The neck on the other hand, being made out of wenge and ebony, felt like a rock in comparison.

However, I needed not to have worried. I’m happy to report that it balances perfectly and exactly according to plan.

I started with an alignment test setup that was left sitting all the while I was drilling the holes.

Then, the three main positions were tested:

Look ma, no hands!

Lastly, note the angle of my index finger and how it follows the angle of the frets.

The guitar obviously doesn’t balance itself in this position, but it is very comfortable nonetheless.

I can feel that the comparatively heavy neck and the trapezoidal neck profile (licensed by permission from Rick Toone, inventor, patent pending) seems to address the “headless wiggle” problem. I can’t wait to string it up, but the mounting plate for the string locks is off for finishing along with the rest of the new hardware.

I feel that some additional explanation on the string lock is in order. First, the design goals for all hardware that I develop are (not necessarily in order of importance):

1. Modular, i.e. ability to build with any number of strings and use compound scale lengths
2. Low weight – for ergonomics, but also for efficient energy transfer into the tone wood
3. Easy to use
4. Easy to manufacture, including minimizing the number of parts that need to be manufactured especially
5. Durability
6. A minimum of energy transfer points, i.e. strive for direct contact with the wood
7. Aesthetically pleasing

Not all goals can be met in every design of course, but they are at least goals.

In this design, the modularity is apparent. In addition to being able to use it with any number of strings, you may also choose whatever string spacing is suitable. Low weight comes from using extremely hard and durable 7075 aluminum. Ease of use is not optimal – I would prefer a solution that did not require a tool. Nevertheless, allen keys are part of most guitarists’ arsenal and widely accepted. This design is not the easiest to manufacture, but with the right machinery it can be done with no more manual operations than any at the face of it simpler designs. It consists of only one manufactured part. The rest are purchased off the shelf components. Aluminium is not the most durable material. For that reason, the mounting screw in this design has dual purposes. The head of the screw (which is made from hardened steel) acts as the resting surface for the string. The string is pressed towards it by a “dog-point” screw. Both of these parts are more durable than the aluminium itself, and what’s better is that they can be replaced if they ever get worn.

The picture above shows a metal screw, whereas in reality, the string lock would normally be mounted directly on the wood. It is possible, however, to create a metal plate specifically for the number of strings and mounting geometry required and then fasten the string locks to this plate and fasten the plate in the guitar.

Another image at an angle.

As for the last point – beauty is obviously in the eye of the beholder. But, I think it will look good in most designs. What do you think?

Back in March last year (!), Mats over at eLutherie.org raised the question of where to place the output jack in the EGS design. Since then, I have been so focused on hardware that I have not really thought about it. That is until I was contacted recently by someone who wanted to pioneer actually building the first instance of it. One of the questions that was raised immediately was the one with the output jack.

I played around with it a little bit, and have come up with two alternate placements that will both work well.

Placement 1 is at an angle in the cutaway for the tuners, similar to that of an Ibanez JEM. This could, however, theoretically obstruct the tuners. It could also interfere with placing the guitar in a stand or on a surface. But it gets the cable out of the player’s way.

The second position is at an angle at the back of the body, and I think this is my favorite.

It works well both seated and standing up, in the anticipated playing positions as described in an earlier post.

Next steps are adjusting approximate string height and mounting the bridge.

First, I unwind the tuners to their maximum range.

Next, I thread the string through the tuner.

And fasten it in the string lock.

All six strings mounted.

All six strings fastened. The result is stunning! I have been very impatient to get some of this work done, as may be apparent from some of the woodwork, but it’s done and it works amazingly well.

Next installment will cover adapting a pick guard and finishing the guitar. I am not yet sure whether to mount the Lace Alumitones that I have laying around or if I should go more conventional.

After completing the routing of the body, it is time to turn to the neck. I have decided to keep the original neck with a minimum of modifications. Note that it is possible to mount my string locks in many different ways, including removing most of the head.

I begin by drilling 1.5 mm holes through the side of the head and through the bottom of the tuner holes.

I then enlarge the top portion of the holes to 6 mm.

Now, I can insert the string locks through the tuner holes. I insert the fastening screws through the side holes and tighten. These hardened screw heads will form the seat that the strings will rest against when locked. This provides good durability and they may also be exchanged if they ever get worn.

This is what it looks like from above.

Here, I have mounted all six string locks.

Viewed from the side, you can see the locking screws. Next installment will cover assembly of the complete guitar.

I decided to route a slanted “groove” in the body to allow for the fingers to reach underneath the tuner knobs.

I made it approximately 30 mm wide and 10 mm deep.

A tremolo fitted for reference. Next installment will cover modifying the neck to fit the string locks.

Below, I have drilled the holes for the mounting posts. They are drilled to a depth of the bushing height + 4 mm since I intend to route the recess to a depth of 4 mm. I drill them before routing the recess in order to have a flat surface with my taped guide marks still on it to drill on.

Next, I used the mounting post holes as reference points for the recess.

The next installment will cover how I route the clearance for fingers to tune, below the tuner knobs. The jury is still out on how to achieve this in the best and most aesthetically pleasing way.