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Post by elmar on May 28, 2024 18:25:17 GMT
Yes! The wire tips will be tinned. Thanks for the suggestion Snakehips
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Post by Bottleneck John on May 28, 2024 19:34:43 GMT
Done! The T-bug is in and it works really well at a first very, very improvised test through a Roland amp clean channel. All went well with the fitting, I put some solder on the wire tips and it works great to get them to stick in the socket. (Red wire to white) There's around 2-3 mm between the pickup pole and the steel strip on the T-bar. Both pup and steel strip is fastened with the double sided tape Elmar provided. I'd say they're NOT gonna come lose.. Time will tell if it falls off during a gig somewhere! Gonna put a video clip here for you guys to see just for the fun of it, this was done directly after I tuned up, haha! Eager to hear.. I'll record a better one to go public asap and if it's ok by Michael and Elmar.. To create a buzz among reso-heads perhaps? ----------- First impressions are that it's very even tonaly over the strings and that's a great feature. Output is only slightly lower than the other pickup I have on this guitar and that one's pretty hot! And it seems to be very true to an acoustic tone, it's really microphonic!!! I love that in a magnetic pup! So, let me keep on tinkering with this one, I'll try to run it through some preamps and see what happens as well. Some more photos here.
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Post by Bottleneck John on May 28, 2024 20:12:26 GMT
My first T-bug tryout! Folks, I like the sound and string separation, good clean acoustic tone amplified. In this clip I think it's roughly a 70/30 mix pickup/acoustic tone. Next, proper, video I'll compare to the unplugged tone and compare to that other pickup on this tricone. Try some different amps and PA as well. The installation went well and everything seems to be ok, very easy to install. I can't see anyone having trouble with this and if they can't fix it a good luthier can help them out for sure! Michael and Elmar, you're surely on to something here for the reso community, awesome!
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Post by Michael Messer on May 29, 2024 8:35:33 GMT
Johan, That sounds really good and thank you for your comments.
It is great to see videos. It would be wonderful to see videos from the other testers.
Thanks everyone
Shine On Michael
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Post by snakehips on May 29, 2024 8:40:25 GMT
Hi there !
I should definitely manage a test at the weekend through a Bose L1 PA system, in my garage at least. My son's last school exam is today. Got gig rehearsals this weekend anyway, so the music gear will be set up for that.
I'll do a comparison with my Highlander Magnaphonic loaded NRP Tricone. I'll try to do it in a way that the guitar is not being heard acoustically, so we are just hearing the sound through the PA.
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Post by Bottleneck John on May 29, 2024 9:19:15 GMT
Only the pickup sound comin’ up here as well.. My clip was filmed in our living room late at night with too low volume because of grumpy neighbours, haha! 😄 On the road gigging a lot for about 10 days now but new video coming up asap.
Michael, is it ok to go public on my YouTube/Facebook with these clips/demo/tests soon or would you like to keep it here for the time being? Until it’s a finished product I mean.
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Post by bonzo on May 29, 2024 17:11:50 GMT
Getting very nice tones above the 12th fret, a place I rarely go! 👍🎸👏
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Post by ken1953clark on May 30, 2024 15:13:24 GMT
Hi I revisited my installation. Removed the original dome head screw and used it to screw the connection block to the neck stick so I don’t lose it (during the installation I lost the small supplied magnet and a coverplate screw, pah!) I replaced it with a flat top screw and a much thinner washer, then removed the double sided sticky and stuck the P/U down I stuck the metal plate directly to the t-bar and removed the double sided sticky I now have a gap of approx 3.5mm between the P/u and the plate I added felt gaskets for the cones, and for the coverplate so I’m going to let it settle for a few days before continuing The suggestion for a polo shaped sticky pad is a good one. Perhaps supply a flat head screws too, as the really old ones like mine and Snakehips are domed and not suitable
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Post by elmar on May 31, 2024 17:12:49 GMT
[...] The suggestion for a polo shaped sticky pad is a good one. Perhaps supply a flat head screws too, as the really old ones like mine and Snakehips are domed and not suitable Snakehips and Ken, thank you for your suggestion. The hollow patch tolerates protruding screw heads of 1mm.
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Post by Michael Messer on May 31, 2024 17:19:08 GMT
Nice work, Ken!
Shine On Michael
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Post by snakehips on Jun 3, 2024 18:56:07 GMT
Hi again, I’ve owned this 1931 roundneck Style 1 Tricone for 10yrs now but never gigged with it yet. For my trio gig this Sunday, in Leith, Edinburgh, I have decided to gig with this guitar, for the first time ever (and perhaps it’s first gig in many decades), now that it is loaded with the MM/Sixtus prototype tricone pickup. I need to give the pickup a good workout/test. It’s my only National I’ve never had the heart to drill into the neck heel to install a strap button, so I dug out a vintage “pyjama-cord” guitar strap, that came in an original case with a 1934 Duolian (my first vintage National, bought about 25yrs ago). I’ll be playing piano for about half the gig, and my guitar playing will be divided up between an electric for regular tuning, and another for Open D tuning. Should manage 3 or 4 scratchy tunes on the tricone - and I think instead of electric, I may use the Tricone to play Muddy Waters’s “Honey Bee” Will report back after the gig to tell how the pickup sounded in a real pub gig situation. I had a rehearsal on Saturday afternoon, and Prof Scratchy, who has surface-mounted magnetic pickups on his Nationals, thought the Tricone sounded good through my wee PA system. Attachments:
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Post by Bottleneck John on Jun 3, 2024 19:24:14 GMT
That's cool Snakey! I'll be testing the T-bug live on stage as well on Thursday when I play at the Swedish Airforce Museum, gonna be interesting and I'll record some video as well. Well see how it works out, still might need some tinkering I think. The coolest part though is that they've put my stage under a DC-3 vintage plane, the tricone's gonna shine along with the polished fuselage, haha! T-bug video this weekend then..
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Post by MagusGuitars on Jun 4, 2024 16:21:21 GMT
I fitted Martyns #2 T-bug today, into his lovely 1930 tricone. I'll just add my thoughts to fitting. The guitar had the dome topped screw so I swapped it out for a flat one and fitted a washer underneath the pickup. On the test fitting it was still too close to the metal plate, about 1.5mm. I found a thinner washer and filed the screw head down somewhat. I also removed the double sided tape and replaced with much thinner carpet tape. I glued the metal plate to the T-bar with superglue. This gave me about 3mm gap, which was perfect. The only other issues I had was the screw was not central so I had to offset the washer on the bottom of the pickup slightly. So the only issues I see are the variable heights for different intruments, and the screw might not always be in the same place on the guitar. You can see the offset screw on the picture. I got too involved at this point and neglected to take any more pictures, it looked the same as previous posts though. We did a quick test on my workshop amp, I will let Martyn give all the details on sound and such as he plans to test it thoroughly. To my ears, it sounded fantastic.
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Post by snakehips on Jun 4, 2024 20:36:57 GMT
Hi there !
That's pretty much what I did, sanding down the original pan screw head and gluing a washer around it, of the same height. I've not glued/taped the pickup down onto the washer though, as the pickup's magnet is strong enough to hold the pickup securely in place !
Where did you put the jack socket ?
I have about 3-4mm gap above my pickup. I haven't tried the extra wee magnet on the metal detector plate yet, but may still do.
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Post by MagusGuitars on Jun 5, 2024 9:00:02 GMT
I put the jack socket into the grill as a temporary measure. I agree the magnet does stick very well to the body, I stuck it down as an extra measure as the guitar will be travelling to gigs and if knocked could move a little maybe, just being overcautious. Same gap here of around 3mm, also didn't try the wee magnet either as the gap looked good, be interesting to see what exact gap is the sweet spot.
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