LeoCaster project

I'm planning a telecaster project, mostly using guitarfetish parts. It's called the LeoCaster, in honor of Leo Fender and because of its "lion overlooking the African savannah sunrise" theme. Here are the components:
Guitarfetish ash tele body in transparent butterscotch:
http://store.guitarfetish.com/soashtestbot.html $60
Guitarfetish maple vintage amber neck:
http://store.guitarfetish.com/testnemaviam.html $35
Wilkinson compensated bridge, gold:
http://store.guitarfetish.com/wicotebrgowi.html $33
Guitarfetish lipstick bridge pickup, gold:
http://store.guitarfetish.com/neprotulipif1.html $41
Guitarfetish vintage neck pickup, gold:
http://store.guitarfetish.com/altepigocovi.html $25
Guitarfetish 14:1 tuners, gold:
http://store.guitarfetish.com/gosusmgost14.html $24
Greasygroove tele pickguard, lion face:
http://www.greasygroove.com/proddeta...11-PG-F-S-D-TC $30
Stewart MacDonald Black Ice tweed distortion circuit (replaces the tone cap - I never use the tele tone control):
http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Electron...Overdrive.html $28
Guitarfetish hardware (jack, plates, knobs, screws, straplocks, pots, switch, shielding, tee), gold:
http://store.guitarfetish.com/tegocoplvist.html $73

Total: $359 in parts for a kickass tele that looks like a lion surveying an African sunrise, with all gold hardware. The only modification I plan to make is to change the headstock shape to a more traditional fender style and add headstock lettering that says LEOCASTER. I'll be toploading the strings, so I don't care about the non-standard string holes in the body.

What do you think? Any comment will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

John Richards
San Francisco

Could be sweet. Are the screw holes in the Wilkinson bridge going to fit the Asian-spaced body, though?

I just noticed the string spacing comment on their website. I wanted to topload the strings so there shouldn't be a problem. Doesn't look like there are any bridge holes pre-drilled.

http://s788.photobucket.com/albums/y..._LEOCASTER.jpg
Here's a rough mock-up using photoshop. Sorry for the non-exact symmetry, size-matching, image-flipping, etc. But it gives a rough picture.

Post pics as you get the pieces and get 'em assembled!

"LeoCaster"......I like it!

Pretty beyond doubt. Keep us in the loop as the build progresses, John.

:salud:

i think that'll be awesome. can't wait to see it all bolted together.

That black ice device needs a SUPER hot bridge pickup to work. I used it with a fairly hot HB and it was still very mild.
The lipstick tubes from GFS are nice - but will not drive that circuit.

Beyond that - I have found that GFS parts are pretty low quality in general - lots of pot metal. I did pick up one of their Xaviere tele style guitars a couple years back and once I had swapped the nut, pots, switch, wiring, tuners, and string trees, it is a nice cheap player. The body and neck are decent for what you pay.

Good luck!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by John Richards

I just noticed the string spacing comment on their website. I wanted to topload the strings so there shouldn't be a problem. Doesn't look like there are any bridge holes pre-drilled.

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"are drilled at the factory for 10.55 spaced bridges-

We DO NOT STOCK these bridges right now so we have discounted these bodies additionally"

I'm thinking that the 10.55 is just string spacing in millimeters, not holes for bridge screws, so if I top-load the strings, there won't be a problem.
http://i788.photobucket.com/albums/y...ds/ashtele.jpg

Thanks for the info on the black ice. I'll give it a try and put it in another guitar if it doesn't do anything.

This guitar is half tone experiment, half art project.

All the parts are on their way...

Anybody know if I wire up a 4-way switch to add a series neck-bridge pickup position, if it will add up to more than 10K ohm output which will be enough to drive the Black Ice distortion circuit?

My 2001 AmStd Tele is wired with a 4-way for series/parallel operation, John. I'm not sure if it hits your 10kΩ benchmark but it is pretty hot.

HTH

you should as long as one pup has 3 leads, if both do, even better!

if not, post a pic and maybe you can disconnect the baseplate from the pup itself. normally the bridge plate (or neck cover) is tied into the pup ground circuit. but you can sometimes make a 2 wire pup into a 3 wire, and that's what you'll need to run the 4 way switch.

How's this LeoCaster goin John?

Most of the parts came this week. A few left to go. The body and neck look really great. It's not a perfect fit, so a little woodworking is in my future, which is both fun and annoying (because I want it done right away). The matching of the amber neck and transparent butterscotch body is perfect, and the gold bridge and gold lipstick bridge pickup are amazing. I got the Black Ice distortion cube and it says it needs 8 K ohms, so maybe the series pickup configuration will be enough to drive it. I'm considering a 2" by 4" gold pickguard around the gold neck pickup because the ash is so beautiful, but the lion pickguard may end up being the centerpiece of the whole project (we'll see when it arrives). I'll post a picture of all the parts when they arrive.

John

Anyone have any idea on how I can put 3/8" lettering on the headstock that looks like this?:

http://i788.photobucket.com/albums/y...astername2.jpg

Custom decals? Little brass letters? Vinyl stick on? Starving art student with a can of gold paint, a magnifyer light and a teeny brush? Printing on a clear plastic sheet? For those with font knowledge, it's Imprint MT Shadow in bold.

I can send the plain lettering in black and white to someone as a template. I see that greasygroove does custom diamond etching of gold plates but I'd love to have individual letters on the wood.

Am I going over the edge?

Thanks,

John

Send George an e-mail, maybe he can help w/ a custom decal...

gcharles@hvc.rr.com

Thanks for the decal contact.

Here are the parts that have arrived so far. I'm fitting the neck joint today. The headstock is not shaped yet.

http://i788.photobucket.com/albums/y...neckbridge.jpg

that looks nice!

Man, you can't beat those prices at G Fetish can you?

All the parts came in except the lion face pickguard:
http://i788.photobucket.com/albums/y...rds/leo005.jpg
Still working on the headstock shape. I need to find a teeny amount of amber stain

It's a Tele kit!

Looking good. Keep us posted.

Of course, I'll have to put these gold strings on it:
http://www.astrings.co.uk/product_in...products_id/21

http://i788.photobucket.com/albums/y...optimagold.jpg

Gold strings? really? Huh.

Gold-plated steel. $30 a set on eBay. Brian May (of Queen)signature strings (he's got the money).

Is that a Gibson Style 3-way?

Very observant. I'm trying to keep the all-gold hardware theme. Actually, now I'm working on putting a set of five mini gold toggle switches on the control plate instead of the standard volume/tone/selector configuration. The switches would be:
neck pickup phase (normal/reverse)
neck pickup selector (on-parallel/off/on-series)
bridge pickup selector (on-parallel/off/on-series)
distortion (off/on) (with a 250K ohm resistor for the black ice diodes)
volume (off/medium/full) (with the medium having a trim pot of 0-100K ohms)

Here's an example of the switches:
http://www.guitarnucleus.com/gnstore...#mini-switches GN0080EL-GLD

Here's a rough idea of the circuit. It needs a couple of changes:

http://i788.photobucket.com/albums/y...derSwitch1.jpg

Well, I just finished a Body Replacement...

I bought a $40, 2 pound body from GuitarFetish and had to cut my own pickguard, because the neck pocket was cut to 'Low' and there was a .25" gap at the bottom of the neck that I had to cover up... I also had a problem covering up the string holes w/ the bridge, and pickup route with the pickguard... Things were not exactly 'centered'... Control cavity and Bridge Pickup cavity wasn't routed deep, or wide enough

But after all, it was a $40 finished body, ya get what ya pay for... and it was lite!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...Picture019.jpg

I'm Happy... I wired in a 4-way w/ the Bill Lawrence noiseless 280's... I like the sound of the 'series wiring'...

I'm jealous. I'm still waiting for some parts (toggle switches, lion pickguard).

Leo is waiting for his LeoCaster:

http://i788.photobucket.com/albums/y...ds/waiting.jpg

I did test the sound of the bridge pickup with a temporary wiring to the jack. It sounds amazing!!! The bridge pickup is off-center, so the high E string is half the volume of the other strings. I'll have to file the bridge pickup holes into slots so that I can position the pickup correctly. Like you, I had numerous off-center and not-quite-fitting issues, but they have all been fixable.

Maybe Leo ate the parts, sensing his imminent loss of being the center of attention...

I'm trying the Stewart MacDonald black ice distortion on this guitar (that will probably only work with the pickups in series to get the .3 volts to drive the device) and I found a very interesting website that reviews the various passive distortion circuits that can go into a guitar:
http://www.muzique.com/lab/sat2.htm
Very interesting.

for a second there i thought you had a locking nut on that guitar, til i realized it was capo... what a :da i am sometimes! looking good, that's a nice color on that body.

The capo is on it because I am doing pickup, bridge and neck setup work and I don't have a cheap way to deepen the string slots on the nut yet. I don't want to buy a nut file set that costs more than the body! I'll probably use my .025" wide mini hack saw to cut down to a 1/16" steel rod flush against the neck and the nut, and then sand out the slots that need it.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by John Richards

http://www.muzique.com/lab/sat2.htm
Very interesting.

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Indeed, but it doesn't give the answer as to why LEDs were used in that one circuit verses another type of diode. Which I find frustrating.

http://i788.photobucket.com/albums/y...caster7-31.jpg

http://i788.photobucket.com/albums/y...er7-31full.jpg

The parts came in !! Time for adjustments, shielding, soldering, etc...

Radical!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Jonnda

Indeed, but it doesn't give the answer as to why LEDs were used in that one circuit verses another type of diode. Which I find frustrating.

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different clipping my man. LEDs can be used like diodes in a clipping circuit, one or the other, or both. it's all the same, they clip the signal and create distortion. the LEDs may or may not light up, but they will screw with the distortion.

hijack over, carry on.

LED's are just diodes after all...

Quote:

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Originally Posted by John Richards

The parts came in !! Time for adjustments, shielding, soldering, etc...

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Dang John, that Pickguard looks like it was cut to that Body, Really Good Fit!

My body must have come from the bottom of the 'Reject' barrel...

Did you weigh that Body?

Lookin' good, but why the 'Off Center' strap button?

Off-center strap button because my daughter-in-law got me a rocking chair with high arms and I like to play guitar in it, so the guitar tilts up and rests against my right leg. The strap buttons that are centered on my other guitars stick into my leg.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by John Richards

Off-center strap button because my daughter-in-law got me a rocking chair with high arms and I like to play guitar in it, so the guitar tilts up and rests against my right leg. The strap buttons that are centered on my other guitars stick into my leg.

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LOL, yeah, thats a good reason...

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Jonnda

Indeed, but it doesn't give the answer as to why LEDs were used in that one circuit verses another type of diode. Which I find frustrating.

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The only reference I can find on line to LED usage in distortion circuits is from an article on modifying the Boss DS-1 with an extra LED for a different sound. Here's some comments from the article:

"Mods to correct the bass response and give you a fuller, more powerful tone. Perfect for Strats now with this mod!"
"Adds another LED to the clipping circuit for a Large Fat Tone."
"The Extra LED increases the volume output of the pedal a bit, great for using the DS-1 as a pre-amp to push the amp or to fine tune a low distortion sound on the unit. The way we engineer the mod, it is has increased 2nd order harmonics and tube-like qualities."
"For sound sample visit: www soundclick.com/bands/pagemusic.cfm?bandID=190415"

I'm no expert, but the way those quotes talk about adding "another LED" and "the extra LED" make me wonder if they're not talking more about the effects of an asymmetrical clipping circuit rather than the effects of using LEDs in the clipping circuit.

Sounds like they are.

Here's a Demeter Fuzzulator pedal that has germanium or LED distortion:

http://www.demeteramps.com/products/pedals/fuz1.html

sound clips:

http://www.demeteramps.com/sounds/index.html

Here's a Keeley pedal that has germanium or germanium/silicon distortion:

http://www.robertkeeley.com/product.php?id=25

sound clips:

http://www.robertkeeley.com/fuzzhead/

All in all, I like the germanium sound.

I'm looking forward to getting my LeoCaster built (too busy on house projects at the moment). It will have the germanium-based Stewart MacDonald Black Ice distortion built in, for use with the series mode. Here's a sound clip of the Black Ice in an SG:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=awCcC6U-5K4

I like it.

John

Finally got an hour to get back into the LeoCaster. Slotted the nut and shifted the pickups to be more centered under the strings. Wired the pickups temporarily to check the sound, sounds very very cool. Took some pictures so I can enter it into the staff art show at work (it's a big hospital). The theme this year is "nature". Is a telecaster with a lion pickguard representative of "nature"?

http://i788.photobucket.com/albums/y...tercollage.jpg

Next steps: shielding, control panel wiring, neck/fret adjustments, gold lettering on headstock, trim the pickguard to be centered, gold strings.

I'm hoping to have it all finished for the 40th anniversary of Woodstock event in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park: a couple of thousand guitarists all playing "Purple Haze" together. Go to steveroby.com to sign up and get the chords. Gotta get my 9 volt powered 1/4 watt Tweed amp fixed up for that. Supposedly, Hendrix played a Telecaster on Purple Haze.

Tahts a great guitar. I was just thinking how cool it would be if you added to red LEDS underneath the pickguard on the lions eyes, and have it so where they were touch sensitive, or just to at least where you could switch them on and off!

Looking good! I'm interested in knowing how the control scheme works out. What does each of the switches do?

Swithces - left to right:
1 - Black Ice germanium distortion: on/off
2 - Volume: up = off; middle = 7 (a 47K ohm resistor); down = full volume
3 - Pickup selector: up = bridge; middle = both; down = neck
4 - Series/Parallel: up = series; down = parallel
5 - Neck pickup phase: up = normal; down = reverse polarity

The series configuration is required to generate the .3 volt output needed to clip the germanium diode distortion circuit in the Black Ice box.

I'll be trying out various capacitors in parallel with the 47K ohm resistor to maintain the sparkle of the tone with the reduction in volume. My circuit consultant, Rich from Fechter Designs says I should try a .01 or .02 microfarad to start, and adjust it to the input impedence of my amp (a Super Champ XD).

He also recommends finding old NORAD stencils and put "ARM", "TEST", "LAUNCH", "ABORT", etc. above and below the switches.

I posted the schematic on 7-22 in this thread.

A very atypical yet cool tele!

viva la difference!

If I put my brown tortoise shell pickguard and gold control plate with the two gold tele knobs on it, it looks extremely traditional and equally cool. I plan to use it both ways. I'll post photos soon.

Tough call on that Tele. Black defintly won't work. I wouldnt like Tortoise on that either. Looks like Parchment (aged white)is your only way out..
Unless you'd want to try a Chrome brass guard?

EDIT_ after further review, looks like black would look very good on that. I'll have to wait to the the tortoise in action. I really like this guitar.

Four incarnations of the LeoCaster

http://i788.photobucket.com/albums/y...leocasters.jpg

SWeet! Yup, looks like Tortoise wins.

the lion is "king"!

Here is a little sound tease from the LeoCaster. It's the lead guitar in this song (Call a Doctor), running through my Super Champ XD on setting # 3, the "heavily overdiven Tweed" with a touch of reverb.

http://soundclick.com/share?songid=8111642

The Strat rhythm riff is my Ash Deluxe (SCN pickups) going through a narrow band eq at +12dB around 10K Hz, going into the SCXD on setting # 16, the "acoustisonic" tone.

Drums and bass are done in Reason.

The Tele sounds strangely like a screaming hawk in parts. That's up around the 15th fret on the G and B strings. Very cool. Probably is the gold lipstick tele bridge pickup from guitarfetish.

The last part for the LeoCaster arrived 2 days ago (the gold headstock LeoCaster decal). Time to put it all together!

Black guard all day long

Different color LEDs have different breakdown voltages, as do different diodes. People use different ones to create different amounts of clipping, or asymmetrical clipping when using different ones on each side of the circuit.

If you don't have an active circuit, they usually sound like ass, because they reduce your output considerably. For example of this, the 'comp cut' switch on a Fulldrive II pulls the clipping diodes out of the circuit. BIG volume increase.

Great tone on the Leocaster. Thats a great tune

"Call a Doctor, the Doctors gonna charge you, but I will come free"

We could be the next Lennon and McCartney...... or not.

http://i788.photobucket.com/albums/y...rshielding.jpg

Shielding done, fret ends filed smooth, amber shellac applied to bare wood spots, two .002" high frets filed down. Wow, lots of work left. Today is soldering Sunday.

I measured the resistance of the pickups:
bridge: 8.6K
neck: 6.3K
both in parralel: 3.5K
in series: 12.4K
I'm hoping the 12.4K will drive the Black Ice distortion.

You are going to regret shielding the pickup cavities.

Control cavity: good.

Pickup cavities: bad.