Gerry Hayes Haze Guitars
Forum Replies Created
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The wiring looks ok in the photos and the fact you can swap switch connections (and, in fact, switches) and get the results you mention is weird. So, from what you’ve said, the pickup works and the switch has been replaced so that’s not the issue.
I’d want to try disconnecting both wires to the tone pots and see if it made any difference. If it does, reconnect one and try again. Then try the other. Also, check if the tone control works in the neck position before you do start disconnecting stuff.
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It’s possible that I’m under-thinking this but I generally keep my workshop around 45% RH. I run a dehumidifier that snaps on automatically if humidity gets above this. Because the dehumidifier kicks in as needed, I don’t spend any time thinking about dew points. And, as for temperature, in the winter, I try to keep it around a comfortable 20ºC (68F) while I’m working there and I’m ok to let it fall to low teens (C) during the night unless I’ve got some work that I feel is particularly temperature-sensitive. The temperature is monitored to heat as needed to maintain across the day/night.
Our climate is (as far as I remember) high 70s or low 80s RH pretty much all year around. I don’t see a lot of dry instruments. Some houses can get dry inside during winter (depending on a bundle of factors) but most instruments are not too dry here.
I’d say that the majority of Irish players don’t think about humidity (and for the most part, they can get away without doing so). For those that do think about it, the main thing I have to do is tell them they probably don’t need that humidifier in their soundhole. The advice I generally give to musicians is to buy a few cheap hygrometers, leave them in the places their guitars live and keep an eye on it. If they agree to do that, I’m happy. I can’t imagine having to discuss dew points with them. 😄
Like I say, maybe I’m under-thinking this. If a dew point calculation works best for you, go for it. It’s worth remembering that most players here probably aren’t losing sleep over it though.
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That there’s a quality tip. 👍
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Hey Mark
The Gibson uses a Switchcraft EP-4378-000 for its neck selector toggle. You should find it easy enough if you google that.
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The terminal strips usually have one lug with a right angle which can be soldered to the top of the pot or whatever. That lug then automatically becomes a ground lug. The others are just connection points for whatever other wires are knocking about.
The diagram isn’t the most clear thing I’ve ever seen. I’m not sure the wires labelled ‘top-term’ and ‘bottom-term’ are referring to what they’re supposed to (that or I’m missing something). I think I’d try to redraw a little more clearly before kicking off if I was working on this.
It looks to me like the coil tap splits the coil in two of its three positions (including the illustrated middle position) and I think the other switch is doing two things. Flipped to the right, I think it’s cutting the neck and bridge signals in order to solo the middle pickup. In the middle should be normal and over left the middle pickup gets phase flipped (although I haven’t been masochistic enough to parse out all the switch wiring to confirm that’s absolutely correct). Yet. Hopefully, I won’t need to but let me know if you need a hand.
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If your customer isn’t completely wedded to Switchcraft, it might be possible to substitute something like this switch instead. It’s a similar size and look (more or less) and it’s a 4PDT ON/ON/ON so has a lot of flexibility. It might avoid having to build some Switchcraft Frankenswitches.
Maybe. 😄
If this switch is a runner, things should become a bit easier.
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Hey Andy
The terminal strips should be (reasonably) straightforward. If you have a google for something like 3 lug terminal strip you should find some stuff that will do the trick. I’m sure you’ll get them from Mouser but most amp part suppliers will probably have them too.
Haven’t worked on one of these before and I’m not certain what type of switcraft switches those are. I’ve never seen it specified anywhere and those switches can be pretty flexible in how they’re built up. I’d bet that it might be difficult to identify these exactly and source them if you can.
You can try to build your own if you cannibilise a number of other switchcrafts. You can take them apart and put them back together in different ways so they switch as you want. It’s fiddly but possible (those two linked leaves in the phase switch might be challenging, though)
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OK. It’s hard to say for certain from a photo but the wiring seems correct. I’m going to guess that yellowish wire is the ground from the neck pickup cover. That’s good, if so.
From the additional information about a ‘light spark’ sound, I’m going to go out on a limb and say the guitar is functioning as normal. Sounds like that light spark is just your body grounding to a metal part. That’s what should happen. As a test, hold the guitar as you would to play it and place one hand on the strings/bridge. Keeping that hand there, use the other hand to touch the other metal parts again. Probably, you won’t get that same spark sound from touching the other parts as long as your first hand stays in contact with the bridge.
If this is the case, it means the guitar is doing what it should do. If you had a buzz that was constant when you were in contact with a metal part, that would indicate a problem — that’s what I originally thought and what Dave mentioned. Light spark doesn’t sound like that problem.
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Also, can you take a photo of the wiring and upload?
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Hey Magnus. A few questions just to confirm. If you’re not touching the guitar, it’s reasonably quiet but, when you touch ANY metal part it buzzes? This happens if you touch the knobs or control plate? If you touch the neck pickup cover? If you touch the metal cup holding the output jack? If you touch the bridge?
Does this happen in every switch position?
The guitar came from the factory with a four-way switch and you haven’t altered the wiring?
Do you access to a multimeter?
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Interesting. Have seen maybe four brand new Martins with underset necks over the last two years. Given how many instruments they make every year, I’m not sure if that’s enough to constitute a trend but it was enough that I noticed. We should take care not to turn this into any sort of builder-bashing thread but, if there is an issue, it seems ok to discuss.
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I’ve been using RepairShopr for a few years and I really like it. Definitely worth checking out. It has CRM stuff, ticketing, parts, and inventory. It’s got workflows to handle intake, estimates, working, etc. Also has invoicing (and I think has a Square integration if that’s what you’re using). Have a look at https://www.repairshopr.com/
I use Zapier (https://zapier.com/) to tie in some other services in a crazy Rube Goldberg machine of connected internet stuff. Zapier connects Acuity Scheduling (https://acuityscheduling.com/) to my calendar and back to RepairShopr so that when a customer makes an appointment, it automatically creates a new ticket. Zapier also connects Repairshopr’s invoicing to my accounts app so the appropriate records are created back there saving me some work when I have to pull accounts together.
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Quick and dirty sketch. Think this’ll work. You only need two of the three poles and you can think of those like the two sides of a standard Tele-style three way lever switch — there’s a common lug and three switched lugs for each.
I think the numbering should be correct but double check the starting position for the switch corresponds with the #1 lugs.
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Oh, that’s very cool. Thanks a lot for sharing.
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Hey Brian
Yeah. It’s a bit annoying. What follows is my understanding but I’m not a web developer so it’ll be expressed in barely-know-what’s-happening terms. I think this behaviour is because of the way many websites work now. Instead of a series of static pages, the content of each page gets pulled from a database and a file locations and assembled on the fly. If you check the page URL for for first page of members, you’ll see it’s loothgroup.com/members. If you check the second page’s url, it’s still the same. Same for the third and so on. The page doesn’t actually change but the content inside it is updated. So, when you go somewhere else and hit back, it loads loothgroup.com/members.
A potential workaround (which has become how I do almost anything on the internet these days) if I think I’ll want to come back to this page at some point, is to load new pages in new tabs. On mobile, if you long-press the link, it’ll bring up a menu and you can choose open in background. I’ll check to see if there’s anything else we can do but I think this is the way of things.
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Sure thing. 👍
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If I recognise this correctly, around the back of the guitar, deep up under the bridge you should be just about able to make out six little hex head screws. These lock the saddles in place. If you loosen them, you can nudge the saddles back and forth to intonate. I’d set them all further back than needed and then use a flat screwdriver to sort of lever them forwards until they’re right. Doing that means you can do it when tuned to pitch. When you’re finished with each one, re-lock them around the back as you go.
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I used linoleum for ages. It’s fine as long as you don’t forget and leave a nitro-finished instrument on it for a week (I suspect the same might be true for many yoga mats). Never cared for towels/carpets as they have a habit of collecting debris.
Bought one of the music nomad mats a while back and like it a lot. Planning to get more but would really like it if some enterprising person started selling it by the yard/metre.
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There’s a lot of merit in Ian’s opinion of letting it ride but, I’m guessing that, as you’re asking, you made the call before assembling that it was going to be fine but afterwards, you’re second-guessing that. I sympathise. 🙂
You certainly could try staining the other side. There’s a risk you’ll end up chasing back and forth between sides trying to make it symmetrical and colour-matched, so I’d make my peace with things being ‘closer than they are now’ before starting.
As a radical, left-field suggestion, you could stain both sides completely. 🤯
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Yeah. The papier-mâché and CA approach might work just fine. I’d have a worry whether I could re-tap the new hole without the filler pulling free but that might be me being over-cautious.
A possible alternative could be to add a surrogate base. You could make a new fibre-board base with appropriate pole holes and slots for the wires and attach to the bottom of the existing base. There’s no real shear there so even some double stick tape might do the trick to keep it in place. It’s easily reversible should the need arise. This is all a ‘first thought’ though so the whole plan may be full of holes. 😄
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Great stuff, Bill. 👍
Can you post the info here to help out any looths who find themselves in the same pickle in the future?
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Awesome. Great stuff. 👍
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Thanks a lot, Mike. Appreciate that. Seems like it’s an oversight on my part that it’s not already there. Maybe for the second edition. 😄
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Yep. No reason why not. Sorry — thought you were looking for some of the connector things.
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Yeah. I think it repays a bit of time spent working it out. There are a number of functions I don’t use as I don’t think I need them but there’s a lot there that can be really useful. If I remember rightly, they have a pretty decent knowledgebase on everything.
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Ah. You might not like RepairShopr then. 😐
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Nicely done. Looks great. 👍
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Yeah. If you’re going to make a number available it has to be a second phone. Many people (and many musicians) have weird boundary issues. I’ve had people call my business phone at all hours of the night and early morning. While stoned voicemails might be vaguely amusing next day, it’s nice to able to turn off the phone and wait until next day.
I’ve been pushing people through my website and my email more for years and it’s paying off. These days I don’t get a lot of calls and most of the ones I get go through to voicemail. That has a message telling people that email is the best way to get me but they can leave a message if they want. Most don’t — mainly just a few old-timers who aren’t comfortable with email.
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The budget piezo elements can often be a bit ‘over-sensitive’ and shrill. If that’s the case, I’ve sometimes dampened them by sandwiching something a little more absorbent between them and the top. Even a spongy sticky pad or some extra layers of double-stick tape might work for percussive stuff.
Can also try covering their backs with something like putty or a blob of silicone sealant or similar.
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Ok then. Thanks, Bill.
