Well, the sub-pickup bolts idea is pretty much a dead thing, which kinda bums me out. That would be cool, but there's just not enough under there to make it work. Even with shallower pickups, I'm not going to be clamping through enough to make it sound.
On the plus side, there's a ton of meat to make contact for the external bolts. I'll be using some pretty beefy inserts and machine bolts to make these two parts hold together. So that is cool.
The drop mechanism was kind of dead to me, but I think I want to try it. I have some new ideas and inspirations, so I want to make that happen. Of course that means a headstock reshape, but it will likely be what I had in mind on the first concept drawing:
There will still be enough Rick shape to keep the bottle opener (and I just found a plate of aluminum to use from my box of bike parts, so that's awesome!). I'm not going to do the mech like Kubicki did, but I still want to make that area playable. So it will be more like the upper half of a Rick headstock, the lower half of a Factor.
What is giving me fits is the concept of clamping the strings at the headstock. I'm trying my best to make it look snazzy, but also want it to hold strings well. Looking at some other designs, I think I have the general ideas in order. I want the clamp to be hidden as much as possible and I want the strings to be anchored at an angle, so they have very little chance to slip.
Big question is: What should I make that out of? It's between brass or aluminum.
- I'd love to find an aluminum that was more resistant to stripping out when threaded. I'm not sure which alloy is tried and true (7000, 7075, etc?), but I feel its lighter weight and ease of machining by hand make it a good candidate.
- Of course, brass is kind of the industry standard. You can cut and thread it easily enough with hand tools. But it's heavier.
Any suggestions where to get either of these in small billet form (3x1x3/8" - ish)?
And if you have any inspiring DIY project pics of something akin to what I need to do, I love pics!
On the plus side, there's a ton of meat to make contact for the external bolts. I'll be using some pretty beefy inserts and machine bolts to make these two parts hold together. So that is cool.
The drop mechanism was kind of dead to me, but I think I want to try it. I have some new ideas and inspirations, so I want to make that happen. Of course that means a headstock reshape, but it will likely be what I had in mind on the first concept drawing:
There will still be enough Rick shape to keep the bottle opener (and I just found a plate of aluminum to use from my box of bike parts, so that's awesome!). I'm not going to do the mech like Kubicki did, but I still want to make that area playable. So it will be more like the upper half of a Rick headstock, the lower half of a Factor.
What is giving me fits is the concept of clamping the strings at the headstock. I'm trying my best to make it look snazzy, but also want it to hold strings well. Looking at some other designs, I think I have the general ideas in order. I want the clamp to be hidden as much as possible and I want the strings to be anchored at an angle, so they have very little chance to slip.
Big question is: What should I make that out of? It's between brass or aluminum.
- I'd love to find an aluminum that was more resistant to stripping out when threaded. I'm not sure which alloy is tried and true (7000, 7075, etc?), but I feel its lighter weight and ease of machining by hand make it a good candidate.
- Of course, brass is kind of the industry standard. You can cut and thread it easily enough with hand tools. But it's heavier.
Any suggestions where to get either of these in small billet form (3x1x3/8" - ish)?
And if you have any inspiring DIY project pics of something akin to what I need to do, I love pics!
