Guitar Design for Pirates

EDITOR'S NOTE: Transcription of conversation between G and Rick...

Toone: "I'm thinking about piracy."

G: "Resist the urge to go with an eyepatch. While undeniably rakish, it is also guaranteed to adversely affect your depth perception. I can heartily recommend a selection of smouldering fuses in the beard, however."

Toone: "Wondering, though, about potential fire hazard of open flame in proximity to hair? Especially combustible hair, smeared with oh, say, chicken grease."

G: "I find the nature of a smouldering fuse is to quietly smoke rather than burn gaily. By the same token, their spontaneous ignition is also somewhat rare. Unless you foresee yourself in circumstances where a third party will be ardently blowing upon your greasy, fuse-infused beard, I would not expect it to be much of a problem."

G: (cont.) "I made my first ever christmas pudding at the weekend. It resembles, in no small measure, a fair-sized cannonball. I am heartily pleased."

Toone: "My concern with the fuse was due mostly to standing on the quarterdeck in a stiff breeze, having just eaten a whole roasted chicken. And possibly having imbibed a bottle or two of wine (don't like rum). Perhaps it would be wise to train a parrot to pluck the fuse if it burns within an inch or two of my beard?"

Toone: (cont.) "I've not yet made an edible cannonball. Congratulations. But I am working on a guitar body shaped like the Jolly Roger."

G: "Ah, and so the circle completes. Sounds super. Or even jolly, for that matter. Any pictures yet?"

LEARN MORE: Skele

Comments

[Tony]

Brilliant design and innovations!

Have you tried it with some distortion? I am thinking this guitar might be a bit prone to feedback. Maybe the open sides of the body reduce the sometimes unwanted feedback?

I liked the idea of using phosphor bronze strings with the mag-pickups. I've tried it myself and the sound was much more even throughout the register.

[Rick Toone]

Tony — thanks for your question. You make an astute observation about (unwanted) feedback.

Feedback is generated primarily through microphonics (electrical) within a pickup, or through unwanted soundboard oscillation.

Skele does not suffer from soundboard feedback, because the soundboard is not coupled to the strings. The Uni-Neck actually makes the guitar much less prone to feedback than other semi-hollow body instruments I've tried.

Interesting observation you had about phosphor bronze strings. Would you mind sharing with us more of your experiences?

[Nekros]

Bravo for putting apart some alumitones to build your own copper-bronze-i-tone!!
Must have been a challenge!
I bet the sound is quite different since magnetic properties of copper alloys and aluminum are quite different. Perhaps I'm wrong who knows.
What's the range?? I'm extremely curious to hear some soundclips of this pickup, really!!

did you use Lace's alumitone original mini transformer coil? or did you put another one suiting best your new version?

Another thing, what's this guy talking about PHOSPHOR BRONZE strings with MAGNETIC pickups?? Does he have sound coming only from pickup feedback through the body transmitting string vibration, or is this purely a hoax?

[Rick Toone]

Skele is strung with phosphor bronze strings. I assure you they send a beautiful signal to the amp through both my fabricated pickup as well as the Seymour Duncan.

I am working on a video — with sound clips — about Skele. Will update everyone as soon as I can.

[Nekros]

Idea for an experiment: a small plate of pyrolitic carbon (most diamagnetic material), covering the same sensing area as your pickup , should be suspended between strings and the pickup without touching either of them, just to be sure if the strings affect DIRECTLY the pickup -induction- or if it is via body feedback as I think it may be the case -like a microphone- .

If I'm wrong it means that diamagnetic materials (non-magnetic copper alloys for ex) would affect a magnetic driven sensor ......

[Nekros]

By the way what is the brand of strings and particular model of phosphor bronze strings you're using ? Any kind of phosphor bronze strings does the job?

Thanks.

[Nekros]

Things may be simpler than I thought: having never played acoustic but only classical and electric, I was a complete ignorant concerning acoustic phosphor bronze strings, so I checked out several brands:

-Ernie Ball "coated phosphor" is Ti-coated phosphor brass wire wound around steel core, and "slinky acoustic" is phosphor bronze wire wound on hex steel core. Yes, STEEL core.

-Dean Markley for instance doesn't explain AT ALL what core is used in their phosphor bronze strings.

-Elixir , same thing: no hints.

-d'Addario says "core" and "compound plated plain strings" (steel)

All "phosphor bronze" strings are bronze on steel core,according to companies selling wholesale alloy wire for string companies, as for the plain strings.... they're plated steel

Steel being ferromagnetic, the wraps may act as a filtering of the magnetic field, altering it considerably before the flux enters the steel core. As for the plated plain strings, nothing special, they're regular.

"Phosphor bronze" is a misleading name hence only the wound strings are wound with this alloy,cores and plain strings being plated or plain steel.

My mistake for believing the "title", it'll teach me a lesson, huh!

the proposed experiment could still proove it's value to measure at a certain extent the effect of feedback though.