losthighway wrote: Thu Feb 22, 2024 6:36 pm Sidebar: the noise on single coils is pretty bad in my studio. Possibly due to two runs of power lines parallel to two of my studio's outer walls. The least humming I've ever heard from a single coils guitar was a tele that was meticulously copper taped.

Traditional 50s Teles are usually the least offenders out of the gate. The neck pickup is shielded. The bridge pickup has a copper bottom plate. That bridge. The metal control panel is even grounded through the pots.

Jazzmasters originally came with brass cavity shields and plates under the pickups. Fender cheaped out on doing that little by little over time starting with the CBS takeover (just a flat plate at the bottom of the pickups and controls instead of the bathtub) with I think the last time they had any of it was the AVRI series. I think now they only have the aluminum tape on the back of the pickguard.

Jazzmaster was my main guitar starting 2001. A good 20 years of dealing with that hum has made me give zero fucks and just embrace it.

I picked up a Gibson Les Paul Studio a few years ago for pretty cheap. It's a great guitar and I absolutely love it. The reason it was cheap is because it had a crack in the neck up by the nut. I had it expertly fixed by the shop I love and trust. Only thing is, the tech doesn't really do paint jobs. I would love to get the area that was worked on to look good again, I just don't think I could do it myself. Is there any place in Chicago someone recommends for fixing paint jobs on guitars? There's some other cosmetic things I would love to fix on it, most of which I could do on my own.

cakes wrote: Fri Feb 23, 2024 4:04 pm I picked up a Gibson Les Paul Studio a few years ago for pretty cheap. It's a great guitar and I absolutely love it. The reason it was cheap is because it had a crack in the neck up by the nut. I had it expertly fixed by the shop I love and trust. Only thing is, the tech doesn't really do paint jobs. I would love to get the area that was worked on to look good again, I just don't think I could do it myself. Is there any place in Chicago someone recommends for fixing paint jobs on guitars? There's some other cosmetic things I would love to fix on it, most of which I could do on my own.

Depending on how picky you are, matching old paint can be hard, and expensive because you have to try things, or maintain library of known paint, ie “arctic white”
In that case, it’s often easier/better to cover it with a burst, or do a total refin

TylerDeadPine wrote: Fri Feb 23, 2024 10:35 pm Depending on how picky you are, matching old paint can be hard, and expensive because you have to try things, or maintain library of known paint, ie “arctic white”
In that case, it’s often easier/better to cover it with a burst, or do a total refin

The color is black, nothing really special. I emailed a place near me with a photo, so we'll see!

cakes wrote: Fri Feb 23, 2024 10:54 pm

TylerDeadPine wrote: Fri Feb 23, 2024 10:35 pm Depending on how picky you are, matching old paint can be hard, and expensive because you have to try things, or maintain library of known paint, ie “arctic white”
In that case, it’s often easier/better to cover it with a burst, or do a total refin

The color is black, nothing really special. I emailed a place near me with a photo, so we'll see!

Right! Black!

On their site, they mention specifically color matching and having a library of paints. I'm going to assume that a black Les Paul is going to be pretty straight forward. (For a total refinish, I might as well buy a new guitar.)

I did a look over on the guitar with bright lights on and holy shit, I never noticed how dirty and scuffed it is. This thing needs a buff like nobody's business!

OK! Who's up for A.) a mystery and B.) giving build advice?

So quite some time ago I had a good friend up north nab a Sunn 2000s head (which got the spa treatment from Nate) and mentioned it here. What I haven't mentioned is that it also came with a massive 4x12 cabinet. it was so big I could not bring it home with me on that trip, but because of being up north hauling gear w/ a borrowed truck, I was able to wrap it in a tarp and bring it back "Below the Bridge" (a common regional phrase) this past weekend.

As it turns out, it's a really nice-sounding cabinet! Loaded with Altec 417B speakers in fact. Both Nonagon and Maple Stave played through it at Thundersnow on guitar but I'll say it really shined when Body Futures used it for bass.

So first the mystery...any ideas what this thing is? It might be a home-brew but if so, it's one of the most professional-looking I've ever seen, especially with the torlex and piping around the grill. It seems well-designed, well-built, and solid. It shares some commonalities with some of the earlier Sunn cabs I've seen (middle port and ONE MILLION screws holding the backplate in) but the tolex and the corners are wrong and lots of research I've done just doesn't show any Sunn builds that line up w/ this. (Please note it's upside down in the photos so I could work on getting feet or casters installed but more on that in a sec....)
Second is a question. So this thing is barely mobile, especially without handles or casters. I was going to screw some casters on...but whenever the old ones came out it took a pretty good chonk of the plywood with it. Wondering what the most solid way to deal with this is? Cut out the hole and glue in a piece to fit? Honestly wondered if it would be easiest to fill it with epoxy. Overall those sections still seem like they have a good 1/2" of plywood left even on the worst gouge shown here with pen shown for reference: Was thinking about edge casters but I don't think I can get away with it on normal rear back side due to the back panel access. Was thinking around on the side? but I think it might be too massive for that & would flip around wildly especially if it's going up/down stairs.

I wouldn’t cut out that entire damaged spot if the ply under it is good because whatever patch you put in will likely not be as strong, especially with casters attached to it. You might be able to route out like 1/4” or less and patch in a 1/4” piece, in which case you’d have a nice flat, flush surface again. I think if you want to just get it done, bondo would work fine.

I'd make a separate dolly for it, like a B15 has, then bolt it through the bottom of the cabinent with 4 or 6 machine bolts + nuts + washers. Wouldn't bother fixing the borken areas.

I have an oversized vintage Ampeg V2 4x12 in the same format and the same speakers. It looks the same except somebody redid mine in Vox grill cloth, Dumble style.

I bought mine for a couple hundred bucks from a Guitar Center in California. For a while they were shipping big ass gear across the country for next to nothing.