[milobender]

I put strings on it last night and played it for an hour or so

Everything worked except... the main volume control, which is either all the way on, or just a little quieter... it won't turn all the way down to nothing... so... I think it may be a bad part. I won't be able to check to make sure (I guess it could be in my circuit, needs a double check too) until Monday now... but ITS ALIVE!!!

Edit: Turned out I'd just forgotten the ground connection on the volume pot... couldn't see it thru the switch wiring...

Man Tom, it's gonna take you a while to find your way thru all the tones! I'll give a breakdown of the controls later... right now I have to make a 6 or 7 hour drive to rescue a dog... back tonight, my wife who's been away for work for 6 weeks gets home tomorrow, and our Thanksgiving meal will be on Sunday.

Now I need one of these too!

Brian

[Tennessee Jedi]

I put strings on it last night and played it for an hour or so

Everything worked except... the main volume control, which is either all the way on, or just a little quieter... it won't turn all the way down to nothing... so... I think it may be a bad part. I won't be able to check to make sure (I guess it could be in my circuit, needs a double check too) until Monday now... but ITS ALIVE!!!

Man Tom, it's gonna take you a while to find your way thru all the tones! I'll give a breakdown of the controls later... right now I have to make a 6 or 7 hour drive to rescue a dog... back tonight, my wife who's been away for work for 6 weeks gets home tomorrow, and our Thanksgiving meal will be on Sunday.

Now I need one of these too!

Brian

Have a safe trip Bro and a great dinner with the wifey ( Sunday is our main meal too ! )....
No worries man you will suss out all the bugs

[milobender]

Thanks Dude! It's a small bug... easy to run down, besides that it works great. Thanks for the good wishes... the roads are crazy this week, 60 mph winds, snow, drifting, I'd rather stay inside! But looks like more storms coming, so today's the day!

Brian

[Tennessee Jedi]

Missed this photo - SWEET !

[Tennessee Jedi]

[Tennessee Jedi]

[milobender]

Ok, under the hood: Choice of Stratoblaster, Waldo's UGB, or Passive Pups (Neck = Dimarzio HS-2, Mid and Bridge = Dimarzio Super 2s)

Knobs from the top of the photo down:

Volume (with pull up switch - which bypasses all the active electronics in case of problems or battery failure)
Combined tone for Neck and Mid pups (ganged pot, so one knob but seperate tone circuits for each pup)
Tone for Bridge Pup
Gain Control for Stratoblaster

Fender type 5 position switch for pup selection

The three switches in a row on the left: series, parallel, and single coil for each pup

Switch between the Bridge tone knob and the Stratoblaster gain control is the switch for selecting either the Stratoblaster, or Waldo's UGB

LED glows Green with UGB, Blue with Stratoblaster, and Red when active electronics are bypassed

Switch right next to Stratoblaster gain knob is the Stratoblaster gain bypass switch... which just kicks the blaster to a constant Unity Gain (or close to it)

The lowest switch is the OBEL bypass switch

Stereo jack for OBEL and jack for signal out

[Tennessee Jedi]

Bri
How gainy does that "blaster' get ?

[Tennessee Jedi]

Bri
When I'm using the pedals the UGB (the 'secret sauce') should be on and when I'm playing with the pedals bypassed use the Blaster ?

[milobender]

Regarding the question, 'How grainy is the Blaster...'

It's a bit hard for me to tell, because my amp setup isn't real clean... but it depends on how high you have the gain. I think it's pretty clean for the first 30 or 40%... I forgot to mention, if you look at the close up of the guts, on the right you can see the Blaster... I put the transistor in a socket so you can try different types, or just a different one of the same type and compare the sound

[milobender]

When I'm using the pedals the UGB (the 'secret sauce') should be on and when I'm playing with the pedals bypassed use the Blaster ?

There's no rules... any combination you choose is ok, and each has it's different characteristics. Whatever sounds good!

[Tennessee Jedi]

Holy crap - cant believe it but here we are !

It really looks like you put a lot of work and time into it ,Bri ....
man O man - I'm a lucky guy !
You gonna do a band practice/jam with it , Bri ?

[milobender]

HAW! I almost did last night! But I thought, "that's a bit like taking your girlfriend out without permission"... So, I didn't... And if all goes well, you'll have it by the next time we practice... sure had some good jams last night

[tcsned]

That is just awesome! I love the chrome pickup plate and switch plate. We need a "jealous" smiley cause I'd use about 10 of 'em for this guitar. Looks like years and years of enjoyment!

[milobender]

As a note of interest:

I had the 3 input/signal paths/options, (passive, UGB, and Stratoblaster) seperated in the switching (truly bypassed)... but I had the output/signal paths all combined at the center lug of the main volume (without being seperated by switch)... which created a major tone sucking situation. Both the UGB and the Stratoblaster take all the highs from the passive pup signal. So... builders beware, seperate your signal paths with true bypass switching if you plan to combine like I have

Brian