Little Project

This is Cindy, my archtop prototype. If you attended shows where I was present as an exhibitor, you probably know her and have played her with the 25.5" neck.

My Little Project is a new 27–28" scale neck. This year, my working capacity was pretty limited, and that was about all I could manage with 110% of my available energy. The beauty of this Little Project is that Cindy now has two necks (25.5" and 27–28"), and because the body resonance (box) is tuned very low, she can be:

• a standard 25.5" archtop,
• a baritone guitar tuned to A1 with 16–70 strings,
• a baritone guitar tuned to A1 in Nashville tuning,
• a guitar tuned to standard C with 14–64 strings,
• or a guitar tuned to standard D or DADGAD with 12–53 strings.

This last possibility was completely non-obvious to me at first, but my calculations of string tension and vibration characteristics for relatively thin strings on a long scale length indicate that this may be the most attractive way to use this guitar. Of course, other cool combinations are possible, but they require custom mixed string sets. I'm still learning about it. So much new ground left to cover!

New pickup prototype

I developed a new pickup. It's still a very low-impedance humbucker connected via an XLR cable, but with a modified design. I kept the sound characteristics because many musicians (myself included) found the sound of this pickup very attractive, but it is louder. My benchmark was a Telecaster neck pickup. Based on measurements, the new prototype has a higher output level than the Tele neck pickup, at least relative to the Telecaster I have access to.

The pickup prototype is complete; however, I was unable to install it in time for the Arvada show.