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Articles & Tutorials

#65 Wiring

Posted by on Feb 15, 2015 in Articles & Tutorials, Electronics, Instructions and FAQs

While I’m at it with schematics, here is the one for #65, which is a little more interesting. It has a Lundgren humbucker in the bridge, and Bare Knuckle single coil in the neck, and switches through combinations of the different humbucker coils in combination with the single coil using a 5-way switch.   And the DIYLC file. Again, this may be modified and shared under Creative Commons...

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#61 Wiring

Posted by on Feb 15, 2015 in Articles & Tutorials, Electronics, Instructions and FAQs

As I was digging through piles of handwritten notes – some written on both sides of a sheet of paper, many without description what the actual schematic did – to find a starting point for a schematic, I decided to make a serious effort to retain documented schematics for posterity. From a Google search, I found the free software DIY Layout Creator (diylc.org), which turned out to work really well. Apparently, it is a favorite among stompbox builders. (Note that on MacOS X , you get a random error message trying to run it, and you have to allow running apps downloaded from “Anywhere” in order for it to work.) Here is the schematic for #61, which is an HSH guitar with two three-position mini toggles that switch the humbuckers into series/parallel/split (outer coil) mode, and combines the humbuckers with the middle pickup in position 2 and 4 of a 5-way blade switch. Enjoy!   And the link to the DIYLC project file. Feel free to enhance, correct, and...

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With a Little Help From My Friends

Posted by on Jan 18, 2015 in Articles & Tutorials, Non Lutherie

I handed in my resignation at the day job a couple of days ago, so here starts the next phase of Strandberg Guitars! As I’m writing this, I just arrived in Anaheim, where I’m exhibiting at the NAMM Show for the fifth consecutive year. A lot has happened the past seven years, since the original idea for what is now .strandberg* was hatched. What allowed me to confidently make the decision to leave the security of my well paid (and even fun!) day job was that there is now a sustainable and well functioning organization and delivery capacity, which has been built the past several years. In particular, I’m very happy to finally present the Swedish contingent. From left to right: Erik is with us temporarily as an apprentice, taking a break from touring life with his band Casablanca, previously having toured with Bullit and supporting the likes of major Swedish artist Dregen on the road. Besides having a degree in music from Ingesund/Arvika and being an amazing bass player, Pelle has made his living repairing guitars and building guitars by hand for more than 10 years. Yours truly, Ola. I started building guitars in 1982 after reading an article in Guitar Player Magazine about the process of Allan...

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The impact of wood choice in an electric guitar

Posted by on Dec 28, 2014 in Articles & Tutorials, Instructions and FAQs

There are continuous debates on various topics that I am often asked to contribute to with my opinion. I usually decline, because it’s rarely important what my opinion is when it comes to the instruments I produce – it has to be the musician’s opinion that counts. So let’s start by the question “Which tonewood is the best” and just answer it with “The tonewood that gives the musician the sound and feeling he or she is after” and then we can leave it at that. My son David did a school project about a year ago now, and I have been meaning to publish it for a long time. What prompted me to do so, was stumbling onto a “myth debunking video” the other day, which draws all the wrong conclusions in the name of science. Here’s what David did: Created four identical test rigs out of scrap wood from my workshop. They are all 725 x 35 x 47 mm in size, and weigh 651 grams (Alder), 618 g (Koa), 537 g (Swamp Ash), and 818 g (Zebrano). They obviously don’t exactly mimic a guitar, but should for the sake of the test resemble the type of tensions and forces that a guitar body with a neck is...

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“Blower” Switch Mod

Posted by on Jun 7, 2014 in Articles & Tutorials, Custom Work, Electronics, Instructions and FAQs

Charlie Griffiths of HAKEN, the owner of #53, realized that he didn’t need a tone pot and that he also needed to move the volume pot out of the way – and in place of the old volume put a “blower” switch. This switch sends the bridge pickup in humbucker mode straight to the output jack, bypassing the 5-way switch and volume knob, for a “solo mode”. The switch itself is a push-push switch that simply protrudes out of the top. Mounting one, however, is not necessarily the most straight-forward operation… What I came up with was a bracket that is wedged in between the top and bottom inside the control cavity, to secure it depth-wise, and that is secured in place by the volume pot + a small screw that holds it in the side.         The hole for the volume pot:   And the switch mounted:   Finally completed:  ...

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Acoustic EndurNeck™ – Fredholm Guitars

Posted by on May 29, 2014 in Articles & Tutorials, Custom Work, Prototyping

After playing an EndurNeck™ equipped .strandberg* guitar at the Uppsala International Guitar Festival last October, one of incredibly talented luthier Thomas Fredholm’s wait-listed customers was able to convince both Thomas and myself that he deserved the first ever acoustic guitar with EndurNeck™. Thomas and I were both exhibiting, so we had a chance to talk things through, and I had no doubts he would make it justice. Thomas does all work using traditional methods, and was a little apprehensive of crafting the “high tech” profile and asked if I could mill the center section on my CNC. Normally, I don’t take on this kind of project, but at the same time, it seemed like a very worthwhile project, so I agreed. I can’t wait to see the finished...

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