My Brownie - Blender Partscaster Project

[Ch0jin]

BTW, where were you "why havent you sheilded it yet" guys at yesterday before I logged off???

Well I can't speak for Bloozecat, but I was probably lying on my hammock outside the bar I own on the coast of Belize, being served fruity rum drinks by bikini clad ladies.

Oh wait.........

Nice build man. It looks real good. Nice neat wiring too

[warren0728]

that guitar looks great....it must be cool to play something you built yourself! :

[ShortBuSX]

....it must be cool to play something you built yourself! :

Not at first...
...without the intonation, string height, neck adjusted, pickup heights.
And then getting acquainted with the blenders functions.
Its really a bit much at first...but it does keep getting better and better.

Im taking it to a jam tonight, I let everyone play my new gear. For some reason I like hearing it through other hands for a bit, not only am I able to listen a lil more intently without playing, but anothers feedback is always helpful in dialing it in.

Im afraid I dont know how to record and post a clip for yall...so I dunno if thats ever gonna happen, although I wouldnt mind doing that...I mean if theres an easy way *shrug*

Its still a lil tough to give a full review of the Keystones yet.
But I find them really quiet in the 2 and 4 positions, which is normal for any RWRP Strat pickups. Right now Ive got all the pickups set at the same height, for some reason I feel they should be set up differently, but with the master tone knob they all sound equal. When I tap on the pickups its a lil different, I think its because of the lack of bobbins, but if I tap on the pickups with a pick they feel almost soft and rubbery, and its kinda hard to tell if the pickup is on cause I cant really hear the tapping...just a lil different than what Im used to.

Now having said that, the blender brings the noise! Which is also normal cause Im blending(for the most part) 2 non RWRP pups...but this does get me a really nice Telecaster twangy tone(in either the bridge or neck positions) and Im able to adjust(or blend) just how much of the bridge(or neck) I want...same with the 2 and 4 positions:
Im also finding my tone knob adds more noise as well with the higher the level of tone added...I think Im gonna do more shielding, to the pickguard and jack cup, Ive skipped this step in the past with great results, but this one needs all she can get...Im probably going to add another ground to the cavity while Im at it, but thatll likely happen with the first string change.
But I imagine with my Kluson(split shaft) style tuners I shouldnt need to wait.

Dont get me wrong, this isnt a bad set up...its just gonna take a minute to set it all up, tweaked and to my liking.

[warren0728]

keep us posted on your tweaking and stuff! :

[ShortBuSX]

keep us posted on your tweaking and stuff! :

Well shes 98% dialed in...Im pretty damn lucky I havent run into any issues, even the electronics went in without a single hitch.

the blender brings the noise! Which is also normal cause Im blending(for the most part) 2 non RWRP pups...I think Im gonna do more shielding, to the pickguard and jack cup

I totally jumped the gun in saying/posting that...I took it to the jam room and plugged it into my Deville and a Deluxe without a single hum or noise, I was floored! She was dead quiet.
I reckon the Blues Jr is the "Acid Test"...and sitting 4 feet away from it really doesnt help:

I took it to a jam on Weds, several people played it...and it got very favorable reviews from everybody, one of my buddies even wants me to build one up for him "with the exact same electronics", hes really diggin the blender as well as the Tele tones coming out of it.
While everybody was playing it I was able to make some really great observations, and Im really learning how to use this blender now.
In the #3 position it does nothing...just pure middle pup.
In the #1 and #5 positions(with the blender) is where you get that Tele tone and Twang...while my buddy was playing he camped out in this position, hed blend in the bridge and then take it away for leads(which BTW that neck pickup has so much definition that he was doing most of his leads with it).
In the #2 and #4 positions with the blender, this allows you to have all three pups on at the same time...Id read reviews that this was somewhat "unusable", I dunno what thats all about as I find it great for doing acoustic type stuff, like "Over the Hills and Far Away"...it give a nice mild echo-y reverb-y kinda tone, you can hear the ever so slight time delay it takes the note to travel up and down between the pups...I really just keep thinking reverb like, thats about the best way to describe it...rolling off the volume a lil really sounds nice.

The Keystones are sounding very nice and defined, not the usual break up Id been getting from the ceramics...I'll try and work on a better description over the next couple days.

[warren0728]

sounds like you got a real winner there! nice job....i've been thinking about trying some mods myself....it seems like it would be a lot of fun!