Mattsoncaster II

[SarnoMusicSolutions]

Just a few tweaks, but it's up and running. Nice and light, super tone.

Mattsoncaster II - 1.jpg (107.52 KiB) Viewed 1196 times

Mattsoncaster II - 2.jpg (114.3 KiB) Viewed 1196 times

Mattsoncaster II - 4.jpg (92.3 KiB) Viewed 1196 times

[SarnoMusicSolutions]

Mattsoncaster II - 7.jpg (76.82 KiB) Viewed 1189 times

Mattsoncaster II - 5.jpg (97.36 KiB) Viewed 1189 times

[Rusty the Scoob]

That is awesome! I'm not normally a pickugardless-strat guy but for that top I'll happily convert. Really, really nice!

Needs something in the Fender-logo spot on the headstock. Sarno sticker?

[Tennessee Jedi]

That is a sweet looking set up - beautiful looking

[SarnoMusicSolutions]

Yeah, Jeff picked out the look for the thing for the most part. It's all Warmoth, custom ordered, dyed blue top, sprayed blue back, nitro finish. I picked the chrome rings, knobs and tip, but I also got a set of the vintage off-white, cream colored knobs and tip so he has the option. I must give credit to John Higgins here in St. Louis. He's one of the region's top luthiers. John did the custom routing for the Roland GK-jack and also some internal routing to fit the Roland GK circuit board. John also did the basic neck mounting/alignment, cleaned up the frets, intonated, all the basic guitar setup stuff. I can do that kind of stuff too, but John's better, so I had him get it all going. Then I brought it home to do the electronics. So really I can only take so much credit. I'm more of a facilitator of Jeff's vision for the ultimate guitar for him in the DSO gig. Jeff's totally a strat guy, and this feels just right in that regard. Light swamp ash body, thin maple cap, maple neck with compound radius.

The toggle closest to the jacks is the MIDI up/down selector. And that bottom tone knob is actually MIDI volume. The middle toggle is a global Humbucker/Single coil switch. The top toggle is the OBEL. Waldo's buffer lives inside. Stock Dimarzio Super II's. Pretty straightforward Jerrycaster.

Brad

[playingdead]

Looks great, Brad!

[jester536]

I'm guessing the cavity for the electronics is rather full. I modded my Strat and we put the buffer in the back cavity...but that wasn't an option for you. Looks fantastic.
Beautiful work.

[SarnoMusicSolutions]

Pretty full in there, but surprisingly easy to fit. The separate battery compartment saved me for sure. I didn't do a full copper shield everywhere because it kind of started to get assembled and fit and at some point, honestly, I didn't want to undo everything to get the copper in there everywhere. We'll see if it's a problem. I did shield the backplate and some critical areas near the signal path and high Z. Here's the gore and guts.

B

Mattsoncaster II - 10.jpg (110.81 KiB) Viewed 1152 times

Mattsoncaster II - 11.jpg (101.75 KiB) Viewed 1152 times

[JonnyBoy]

Holy crap!! That's cool. I like to see the the goods behind the scenes... You still have some room... but not much He's really diggin' on Warmoth's guitars huh? They did a stellar job on the finish/construction. You too!

[waldo041]

very nice!

peace,
waldo

[jdsmodulus]

Is the large green board the Roland? I have an extra that Im thinking about taking apart? Very nice build!

[tcsned]

Brad,
Is he running the Roland separately from the guitar output? 3 cables out (guitar line, synth line, efx loop)? Or does he run the guitar signal out of the synth? I am having to split mine out due to the way the guitar out of the synth messes with the gain/tone of the signal. I'm using the Graph Tech Ghost pickup not a GK.

btw - I'm really getting the SMS Classic dialed in nicely. Best new toy I've gotten in a long, long time - thanks!!

[SarnoMusicSolutions]

Yes, the larger PC board is the Roland. We bought the GK-Kit designed for this type of internal install. The MIDI audio signal will NOT come from the guitar, but instead will come directly out of the GR-50 rack unit. The 13-pin Roland cable will connect this GK circuit board to the rack unit so that the guitar can talk to it. On the guitar there's a scroll up/down toggle and a MIDI volume control. The audio paths are completely separate. The guitar is just like a non-midi guitar with regards to the audio ins and outs. So basically they're two completely separate things. The guitar and MIDI audio never mix. At the gig, Jeff's MIDI will go direct from the Roland rack unit into a DI Box and to the PA and to his monitor. He'll have fingertip control over guitar volume and MIDI volume separately. A blend or just either one, cake.

Brad

[Chinarider1A]

Looks great Brad!

[jdsmodulus]

this is great, Ill will look for this Kit? I have never seen one before, But I have the GR50 as well and have been tweaking how to run it more effeciently. These kits are easy to find, I never thought to look for one. 269$ free shipping from all of the usual places. I will get this soon! seems like a fairly easy install?