A 3d printed six string....

[Stub Mandrel]

That's the fun of a project like this, the problem solving.

[rwillett]

I agree that the problem solving is part of the fun, the fun part this afternoon is working how to solder the 7 pin 3 way import switch correctly.

 

 

 

 

What I will actually be doing is using choc blocks to get it all connected so I can easily change it around to test what it sounds like. I suspect the multi meter will be in constant use.

 

Rob

[rwillett]

As part of the learning experience, I've spent the last 2-3 days fighting one of my Prusa's trying to work out why the quality of printing was junk and failed constantly, checked the heated bed, checking the Z level, checking PrusaSlicer, doing probably around a dozen calibration prints and they looked like crap, I finally found the issue. I'd accidently set the nozzle to be 0.6mm rather than 0.4mm. As this setting was buried in the HW setting menu, I'd forgotten to change it back when I pulled the 0.6 nozzle off and put a 0.4mm nozzle on. I remember doing it but only on the second printer not the first. Putting this here so other people can learn from my mistakes.

 

Also at the same time a Pi Zero has started playing up and was disconnecting, could be power, could be dodgy cable, could be goblins, could be anything, so thats now gone and a Pi 4 is in it's place. Overkill but I have a few spare ones and I just have received a new Pi 5 to play with. The nice thing about Raspberry Pi's is that changing the Pi Zero to a Pi 4 took around two mins. Power down, pull the SD card out the Pi Zero, put in Pi 4 and reboot. That was it, and it now seems to work OK.

 

Finishing off the last two prints for the body of the guitar now, should be finished around 23:00 tonight. Then need to do the wiring and putting strings on.

 

 

 

I have already thought about V2 of this and also a V1 bass guitar. We'll see if this plays well enough to justify V2 and a V1 bass.

 

Rob

Edited November 22, 2023 by rwillett

[rwillett]

It's finally wired up and working. A few problems.

 

1. The action is so high, the strings are in different timezones to the neck.

2. The nut isn't fixed down as I don't know how to fix it. Also not sure which is the front and the back of the nut. I think the front is the flat side and the rounded side goes to the tuners.

3. The hum from the guitar is appalling. Not sure if this is because there is no cavity shielding, poor soldering or bad/no earth.  I suspect earthing but not going to look at it tonight.

4. I misread the wiring diagram so the switch is back to front but it does work.

5. The pickguard looks like it was put together by a five year old.

 

It is lighter than my other Telecaster, the neck feels good and if I could reach the strings to press them down, that would be better. No idea about how it really sounds until I get the hum under control. I suspect I need a cable from the bridge to the earth on the control panel but thats tomorrows work.

 

 

However it plays. Not very well (yet), but it does play

[SpondonBassed]

It doesn't look bad from this distance.

[Richard R]

Looks good to me, I'm impressed 👍

I think bridges do need an earth wire.

[Geek99]

Yes without a doubt 

[rwillett]

8 hours ago, SpondonBassed said:

It doesn't look bad from this distance.

Yes....from a distance. 

 

The number of mistakes I made when I look back it are far too numerous. I'm disappointed with how many there are. 

 

Plans now are to

 

1. remove the hum

2. get the action and intonation right.

3. Change the wiring so it works as expected 

4. Fix the tone control knob as it's loose

5. Check if I can glue the outside frame with a decent plastic glue. Bostick hard plastic looks like it works, but want to try 3d Gloop for PETG. Can't find it at all in the UK. I have too many screws in the frame, it's rigid as hell but it takes a long time to print. I know what I said about glue, but I might change my mind. 

6. Look again at variable layers in prusaslicer to try and get the little 5mm fillet around the edges cleaner. It looks bad to me. 

7. Think through how to make the holes and embedded nuts at the same level as they are slightly different heights meaning the 3d printing interactions are too many. One of the pieces is circa 14 hours and needs constant attention to it nuts in. This means I cannot leave it for the whole day and must tend to it constantly. 

8. Redo the outline shape to get it right before I do the rest. There are various issues with doing fillets on curves which means I need to have it right before I do the rest. I have a number of design changes labelled "hack1 to fix curve"

9. Do the maths to work out the honeycomb properly in advance as opposed to hacking it to make it fit. 

10. Learn to cut wood with a coping saw so it doesn't look like I used my teeth to cut the curves. 

 

There are loads more as well. 

 

 

Oh well. 

[Pea Turgh]

Mistakes are just learning tools.

 

You turn up to a gig with that, you’ll be everyone’s hero!

[BigRedX]

I take it the saddles are as low as they will go, and the action is still high? If so you'll ultimately need to re-print the neck pocket, either shallower or at an angle depending on what suits you best. I'd start by adding a shim in the body-end third of the neck pocket to see what sort of an angle or how shallower the pocket needs to be. Start with a single thickness of business card and build up in necessary until you get a decent action on the neck and the scales are no longer sitting flush with the bridge base plate. Then you can use that to calculate how much higher the neck pocket needs to be at the body end when you reprint it.

 

You are correct about the nut, the fact side faces the fingerboard, the curved side faces the machine heads.

 

Regarding the hum - have you earthed the bridge? If not run a wire from the bridge base plate to the earth on the output jack and see how much difference that makes. You'll probably want to shield the control cavity and maybe the pickup cavities too and bond them all to the signal earth.

 

Otherwise that is looking good!

Edited November 24, 2023 by BigRedX

[rwillett]

@Pea Turgh

 

If mistakes are learning tools, I should be one of the cleverest people on the planet

 

@BigRedX

 

I've not even looked at the string height yet. The saddles can go lower. I'm going to print a nut to check things out before I start altering the the nut to fit.  Thanks for the confirmation of the nut placement. Any idea what sort of glue would be good to fix the nut to the neck? Superglue, woodglue, uhu, hot glue?

 

The bridge is not earthed yet. First job this monring when I go onto my first MS_Team call. can do that whilst listening in. I have some copper tape for cavity insulation. Lets see what difference an earth cable makes.

 

V2 is already being thought about.

 

Thanks

 

Rob

[BigRedX]

2 minutes ago, rwillett said:

Any idea what sort of glue would be good to fix the nut to the neck? Superglue, woodglue, uhu, hot glue?

 

Anything that will hold the nut in place will do. I've owned guitars where the pressure of the strings was the only thing holding the nut in place which I didn't discover until I restrung it. If you are planning on making lots of adjustments, I'd go for something that will hold the nut in place with no strings attached but will allow you to break the bond with a single careful tap of a hammer.

[bartelby]

11 minutes ago, BigRedX said:

 

Anything that will hold the nut in place will do. I've owned guitars where the pressure of the strings was the only thing holding the nut in place which I didn't discover until I restrung it. If you are planning on making lots of adjustments, I'd go for something that will hold the nut in place with no strings attached but will allow you to break the bond with a single careful tap of a hammer.

 

I've used just a little dab of PVA before for that purpose

[rwillett]

@bartelby @BigRedX

 

Thanks for this. I'll check out what I can do.

[rwillett]

Lowered the saddles as low as they can go, an awful lot better, suspect the nut is actually about right now.

 

I think the neck is a little too low and that it should be around 1mm - 2mm higher so I can use the saddles a bit more. I can easily print a 1-2mm higher neck module, but will see if I can find a good guide to set the neck up properly. This is now a long way outside my comfort zone and expertise.

 

Rob

 

 

[Richard R]

1 hour ago, rwillett said:

I think the neck is a little too low and that it should be around 1mm - 2mm higher so I can use the saddles a bit more. I can easily print a 1-2mm higher neck module, but will see if I can find a good guide to set the neck up properly. This is now a long way outside my comfort zone..

 

Calling Mr. Wizard @Andyjr1515..

[SpondonBassed]

3 hours ago, rwillett said:

Any idea what sort of glue would be good to fix the nut to the neck?

 

Forget glue.  I'd be inclined to try printing the nut with a shallow locating dowel (or two) and making a corresponding hole (or holes) for it (or them) on the neck.

 

That would stop lateral movement and string tension would do the rest.  If you need a new nut it's easy to swap.

Edited November 24, 2023 by SpondonBassed

[rwillett]

33 minutes ago, SpondonBassed said:

 

Forget glue.  I'd be inclined to try printing the nut with a shallow locating dowel (or two) and making a corresponding hole (or holes) for it (or them) on the neck.

 

That would stop lateral movement and string tension would do the rest.  If you need a new nut it's easy to swap.

Thats an interesting idea. I have just about to print a 3d nut thats a little lower, I'll see if I can work it to use the tension rod slot to locate it.

 

I will also print a few neck shims 0.75mm, 1mm, 1.25mm, 1.5mm, 1.75 and 2mm to see if that helps. If they do, I'll repring the neck module with the right size. This was originally designed for a different neck, so suspect thats my issue.

Rob

[rwillett]

Printed a smaller height nut, printed a 1.6mm shim and put them on, adjusted the saddles and tried to set the strings the same height as my Squier 89 Telecaster. Different neck but it's all I have to go on and to be my utter amazement, its quite nice to play. The Yamaha neck is great, the tuners are really smooth. This is really nice neck and for £30(?) is fabulous value. Suspect it's 30+ years old but great value. I'd prefer it to be a little wider as I have big hands but I can live with it.

 

However In the process I broke the cable off the output socket so that will need repairing and the soldering iron is downstairs and I have a 44 page business case to review before 17:00. So thats me for the day

Rob

[Andyjr1515]

8 hours ago, rwillett said:

I think the neck is a little too low and that it should be around 1mm - 2mm higher so I can use the saddles a bit more. I can easily print a 1-2mm higher neck module, but will see if I can find a good guide to set the neck up properly. This is now a long way outside my comfort zone and expertise.

 

You shouldn't need to raise or lower the neck for this - the most effective way is by changing the neck angle a teeny bit, as @BigRedX suggested above (and quoted below)

 

9 hours ago, BigRedX said:

I'd start by adding a shim in the body-end third of the neck pocket to see what sort of an angle or how shallower the pocket needs to be. Start with a single thickness of business card and build up in necessary until you get a decent action on the neck and the scales are no longer sitting flush with the bridge base plate. Then you can use that to calculate how much higher the neck pocket needs to be at the body end when you reprint it.

 

If your action is too low, you put the business-card-thickness shim at the headstock end of the neck pocket; if your action is too high, you put the shim at the bridge end of the neck pocket.  This teeny angle makes a much greater difference to the action height than actually raising or lowering the height of the neck. 

 

[Andyjr1515]

It looks absolutely splendid, by the way....

[rwillett]

@Andyjr1515

 

Thanks for your really nice comment. Appreciate it.

 

I originally was going to use a Telecaster kit from a supplier to provide the neck, bridge and electrics, but after building it, I found the shape of the neck was too deep and I struggled to play it as my thumb was in agony after a while. Too many rugby injuries have taken their toll on my body. So I built it, enjoyed doing it with my daughter and gave the guitar to the local schools music dept who were very happy to take it off my hands.

 

By this time, I had laid down the foundations of the 3d printed body and had designed the neck module depth (not width) to fit the other guitar neck. I then started looking around for a guitar neck to use instead and found somebody selling the neck I used on eBay. I took a gamble and it's a great neck. I'm 90% certain it came off a guitar similar to this https://www.axebition.com/electric-guitar/yamaha-rgx-121d.  It's stamped RG121DM on the end but no date I could see.

 

I'll be honest and say it never ocurred to me to change the neck height in the 3d printed neck module to compensate for the fact that this neck was not the one I planned for. My thinking is that the original neck was thicker than this one and simply putting a 1.6mm shim in brough the neck up to the same spec as before. Of course that could be complete b0ll0cks and it all just worked. I think the more experienced amongst you are ascribing a level of planning, competence and expertise to me that is wholly unwarranted, I think in my case three wrongs made a right.

 

I've never thought about building a guitar before, so I tried to work out what I presumed would be the fundamentals, the length of the neck from the 12th fret to the bridge, the height of the fretboard and the height of the bridge. Everything else was just guesswork and trying to make it fit a shape I recognised and could print. In hindsight I made so many design and printing errors, I am mortified I got so many things wrong.

 

Anyway, I have now:

 

1. Shimmed the neck up by 1.6mm

2. Lowered the nut by 0.5mm, glued it on using wood glue.

3. Raised the saddles so there is more adjustment.

4. Drilled a hole in the bridge module so I can run an earthing cable. As this is a 3d print, drilling is normally a big no-no, but as this is a proof of concept, I wasn't going to print another module, this time with a hole, and spend 10 hours waiting for it.

5. Put an earthing cable from the bridge to the ground on the control panel through the newly drilled hole.

6. Swapped the wiring around so that the switch works the right way.

7. Repaired the output socket.

8. Fixed the loose knob

9. Set the string height so its the same as my MIK Telecaster.

10. Tuned it up.

11. Plugged a NUX Mighty Plug Pro, attached headphones and strummed a barre G.

 

Well knock me down with a feather. The damm thing worked, hum was almost all gone, tiny bit in the background but I've heard worse, it sounds great. The neck pickup sounds better than the one on my genuine Telecaster, the bridge pickup, not so good. The tone controls work. No neck buzz, no idea why, luck I guess, the 3d printed nut is fine, no idea how long it will last but it's 24 mins to print a new one.

 

I'm going to leave it overnight and see if the strings go out of tune, but I'm quite pleased with how its turned out. I can still see every mistake I made (and there are lots) but not too shabby for a first effort.

 

Now for V2

 

Rob

[Andyjr1515]

18 minutes ago, rwillett said:

@Andyjr1515

 

Well knock me down with a feather. The damm thing worked, hum was almost all gone, tiny bit in the background but I've heard worse, it sounds great. The neck pickup sounds better than the one on my genuine Telecaster, the bridge pickup, not so good. The tone controls work. No neck buzz, no idea why, luck I guess, the 3d printed nut is fine, no idea how long it will last but it's 24 mins to print a new one.

 

I'm going to leave it overnight and see if the strings go out of tune, but I'm quite pleased with how its turned out. I can still see every mistake I made (and there are lots) but not too shabby for a first effort.

 

Now for V2

 

Rob

 

Splendid, Rob - a well-deserved Gold star & Smiley Face  

 

Oh and welcome to the club...clearly your journey towards total madness creative fulfillment will be continuing...  

 

[Richard R]

🥳

Looks the biz and works well too.

Well done that man!

 

[Daz39]

2 hours ago, Andyjr1515 said:

 

Splendid, Rob - a well-deserved Gold star & Smiley Face  

 

Oh and welcome to the club...clearly your journey towards total madness creative fulfillment will be continuing...  

 

He doesn’t have a basement yet, give him time!