psychic_driver
Active member
Could you wire it up such that when you pop the push/pull up it turns the q zone on and also modifies the mid sweep ?
psychic_driver
Active member
Solarflares
Banned
Well-known member
Two pots like this, and you can get them with switches.
I’m sure you can find some that come complete with knobs.
griff10672
Well-known member
the big problem with all this is the amount of time it would take to put together .....
it would involve some hours of research ... just fitting the PCB in the cavity and mounting it some how would take some doing .... and dealing with SMD components isn't a ton of fun unless you're a robot ...
I would keep things as simple as possible ..... if I were to do it to my Les Paul .... I wouldn't drill shit ...
I'd just keep one pot for Vol and one for Tone ..... and free up the two spots for the effect .... and just pick which two controls are the most important to me and keep the others as trim pots inside the guitar
put the on / off on a push pull .... on one of the two pots ... ...
but still..... would take more time than you'd want to pay me for ..... now if I thought I could sell a few it might be a whole different story ....
but I think 99 % of the people out there would just use pedals on the floor ..... even though I totally get wanting a super cool custom ( as far as electronics ) Les Paul
it would involve some hours of research ... just fitting the PCB in the cavity and mounting it some how would take some doing .... and dealing with SMD components isn't a ton of fun unless you're a robot ...
I would keep things as simple as possible ..... if I were to do it to my Les Paul .... I wouldn't drill shit ...
I'd just keep one pot for Vol and one for Tone ..... and free up the two spots for the effect .... and just pick which two controls are the most important to me and keep the others as trim pots inside the guitar
put the on / off on a push pull .... on one of the two pots ... ...
but still..... would take more time than you'd want to pay me for ..... now if I thought I could sell a few it might be a whole different story ....
but I think 99 % of the people out there would just use pedals on the floor ..... even though I totally get wanting a super cool custom ( as far as electronics ) Les Paul
The~Kid
Well-known member
Right on, just seems rather redundant when you can just get a wah to do the same thing essentially.
Plus unless it's on an Epiphone or Haley Benton be prepared to take a huge resale loss.
Solarflares
Banned
Well-known member
Don’t see why you can’t have a little box taped to your guitar strap.
The~Kid
Well-known member
Stuff like this was cool back then because it was sort of like a novelty that now has become a cliche nostalgia for some but I mean whats the point of devaluing a nice guitar for a mod that is pretty niche and as said a pedal can do.
Not to talk down on Zappa but maybe it made sense back then and now not so much.
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griff10672
Well-known member
it simply comes down to .... his guitar ... his money .... I think it's a cool idea ..... just to me .... not worth the effort it would take
Solarflares
Banned
Well-known member
Frank was always famous for the filthiest of guitar tones.
But at some point, he stopped playing rhythm parts. Probably 1976, and certainly by Sheik Yerbouti. His soloing though was off the charts after ‘78 - he was incredible.
He was constantly experimenting just before that, with the Rex Bogue Strat, and his SG. The Les Paul sneaked in under the radar as a heavily modified instrument. But featured a lot on the “Shut Up” albums.
He was one of the greatest ever sounding touring guitarists between ‘79 and ‘81. After that, he seemed to not really have the same heart in it.
Music&Chaos
Well-known member
That was my same thought. There are plenty of enough spots on that LP already to not need to drill anything. If you had each of the pots as splittable or stacked concentric, that should give you all you need.
psychic_driver
Active member
Damn. I think you are right that 99% of guitar players don't have a use for putting a tiny cocked wah inside their guitar when there's already a million pedals that do it ... I'd be willing to pay a few hundred bucks for the custom electronics + R&D legwork but if you think it would cost more than that I get it.
Definitely redundant, the point is the ability to adjust the amount of boost & the mid frequency on the fly - can't adjust boost with a traditional wah & can't easily change the frequency with a pedal on the floor.
You're right about resale value but I'm not a collector. This is my only les paul & it would kick ass to customize it with some trippy Zappa electronics
Zappa is incredibly inspiring. The technical skill, the relentless, uncompromising & prolific creativity, fuckin sick biting tone. He's the man.
The~Kid
Well-known member
If its your only Les Paul it's totally up to you and respect man.
If that is what you want YOLO and cheers *_*
griff10672
Well-known member
It's not the first time I've thought about doing something like this .... I was going to create my own Gibson style PCB .... with the option to go 50's wiring or " Modern " .... and pads to use my favorite Emerson Paper in Oil caps ..... I was going to include a Tube Screamer or something outrageous like a HM-2 ...
psychic_driver
Active member
Well like I said I'm not rolling in that Zappa money but I'm gainfully employed & have some spare cash ready for a q zone modded with push/pull pots on a les paul ... Let me know !!
Even a standalone boost circuit could be cool ...
griff10672
Well-known member
tell you what .... I can put a little time into it here and there .... I just won't bullshit you and say " yeah in about 3 months "
I'll take enough time to see how quick I can pull it off ..... if I can do it quick then you're probably talking around 300 bucks for a PCB that has all the pots and you'll just have to simply solder in the rest ( HOT ..Ground .. etc ) but it will all be right there on the PCB ... easy peasy
I have a few LP PCB's that I've yanked ..... so getting the dimensions for a perfect fitting PCB will be a breeze
psychic_driver
Active member
Fuck yea ! You're the man. If it don't work out, no hard feelings. I appreciate you taking a crack at it.
If its possible to add the q zone capability without removing any of the stock functions, that would be ideal - like the second shitty diagram I drew where both tone pots function as normal and also double as boost volume/mid sweep controls and the pulling of the pot acts as the on/off switch. If that's impossible & one or two of the pots need to be sacrificed, dedicated only to the cocked wah, so be it.
Thanks again. 300 is more than reasonable for some off the wall custom shit like this & I would be stoked to jam on it
Solarflares
Banned
Well-known member
Preset boost volume internally.
Having a 5 position rotary switch with 5 fixed frequencies is preferable, and dependable.
Off the top of my head, with a maple-top two pick-up guitar, I would not have a neck pick-up tone control. Or at least dual-gang both tones to one pot.
This frees up one knob.
The single tone control can also be a push/pull switch for off/on.
The filter’s control knob can have the 5-position rotary switch, ganged with a pot for Q/width.
Having a 5 position rotary switch with 5 fixed frequencies is preferable, and dependable.
Off the top of my head, with a maple-top two pick-up guitar, I would not have a neck pick-up tone control. Or at least dual-gang both tones to one pot.
This frees up one knob.
The single tone control can also be a push/pull switch for off/on.
The filter’s control knob can have the 5-position rotary switch, ganged with a pot for Q/width.
