Lowe Guitars shop notes

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Shadoweclipse13
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Re: Lowe Shop Notes

Post by Shadoweclipse13 » Mon Jul 22, 2019 6:57 pm

Looks like you guys really had fun! All that hard work and prep seemed to pay off ;D
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Re: Lowe Shop Notes

Post by Rgand » Mon Jul 22, 2019 8:51 pm

Sounds like it was a great time. That video is a good one. Your booth looked good. Thanks for the link. I don't have a FB account so the photos weren't viewable for me but I expect they were cool. Congrats and welcome back.

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Re: Lowe Shop Notes

Post by Shadoweclipse13 » Mon Jul 22, 2019 8:56 pm

I missed the video! That's awesome! Also, that sunburst Chromasonic just to left of Brad's head in the video is just :? :? :? :? :-*
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Re: Lowe Shop Notes

Post by BTL » Tue Jul 23, 2019 4:45 pm

Thanks...it's easy to see I'm pretty excited.

Along those lines, here's another video from NAMM:

https://youtu.be/5zMwS9tBgB4

...and since it's easy to miss on the last page, here's the Premier Guitar video again.

https://youtu.be/q1AACPahDkg
Owner, Lowe Custom Guitars

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Re: Lowe Shop Notes

Post by BTL » Thu Jul 25, 2019 6:15 pm

BeeTL wrote: I posted and tagged a bunch of photos in a public album on Facebook.

I'll curate and create a few collages for forum posting as well.
I decided to skip the collages and just post a few photos directly.

Here's the Lowe Custom Guitars NAMM crew...Joe, Susan, and me.

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The Premier Guitar interview.

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Most of the ebassist crew.

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The rest of the ebassist crew.

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Brian Swerdfeger, VP of R&D at Fender and head of the Custom Shop.

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Jonathan Moody of GHS.

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Jeff Babicz of Babicz Full Contact Hardware.

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Curtis Novak of Curtis Novak Pickups.

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Doug Kauer, in absentia.

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Re: Lowe Shop Notes

Post by Shadoweclipse13 » Thu Jul 25, 2019 7:49 pm

Man, that looks like fun! How was Doug by the way? I haven't seen him pop on here in a while (though I might've just missed him and been in the wrong sub-forum).
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Re: Lowe Shop Notes

Post by Rgand » Thu Jul 25, 2019 8:41 pm

Man, that looks like you had a great time. It's cool to meet interesting people and exchange information (and BS, too). Outstanding photos, thanks for posting them.

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Re: Lowe Shop Notes

Post by Amon 7.L » Fri Jul 26, 2019 12:35 am

Thanks for sharing, Lowe!!
You're smiling face says it all, it was indeed a blast!!
I'm more than glad to see another fellow member being successful with his lovely & original instruments. ;)

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Re: Lowe Shop Notes

Post by BTL » Fri Jul 26, 2019 12:00 pm

Thank you so much, guys, NAMM was a LOT of fun!

The only thing I regret is that I had almost no time to walk around and soak it all in.

Getting ready, exhibiting, and getting home was quite a chore, so I'm looking forward to chilling out a bit this weekend.

Also, Doug wasn't there, just his guitars...that's why I think the photo is so funny!

:D
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Re: Lowe Shop Notes

Post by Shadoweclipse13 » Sat Jul 27, 2019 5:05 am

BeeTL wrote:
Fri Jul 26, 2019 12:00 pm
Also, Doug wasn't there, just his guitars...that's why I think the photo is so funny!

:D
I wonder if he was at the show at all. I just thought you meant that he wasn't in the picture.
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Re: Lowe Shop Notes

Post by BTL » Sat Jul 27, 2019 8:35 pm

No, he reached out to me and said he wasn't going to be there.

He's been one of my mentors all along the way, so I was just pulling his chain, striking the Rick Nielsen pose.
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Re: Lowe Shop Notes

Post by Shadoweclipse13 » Sun Jul 28, 2019 11:01 pm

BeeTL wrote:
Sat Jul 27, 2019 8:35 pm
No, he reached out to me and said he wasn't going to be there.

He's been one of my mentors all along the way, so I was just pulling his chain, striking the Rick Nielsen pose.
:D :D That's great! Tell him to stop by the forum to say some time (if he gets a second).
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Re: Lowe Shop Notes

Post by BTL » Tue Sep 17, 2019 6:09 pm

I'll try to remember that the next time we chat.

:)

I have been working on a number of guitar-centric projects, but not a lot that was build related. That said, I just completed a conversion neck and string-through bridge install on a Lindert replica P body. The history of this bass is documented here.

https://www.talkbass.com/threads/geos-b ... m.1358552/

This was a fun project to take on, and I had a great time adding my own touch to this collaboration.

You have to love the benefits of standardization. This particular neck already had threaded inserts installed, so I was a little concerned I might need to plug and re-drill the neck mounting holes to get everything to line up. Note the locating pins in the first frame. I needed to widen the pocket about 0.08", but once I did that everything fit together perfectly.

I have installed string-through ferrules in finished bodies more than a dozen times, and it's always a little nerve-wracking. The proof is in the pudding, I guess.

The new bridge was installed using three of the original mounting holes. The rest are covered by the plate and are not visible. If we chose not to add the string-through ferrules, this would have been a 100% reversible modification.

Image

Here she is, fully assembled.

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Re: Lowe Shop Notes

Post by Rgand » Wed Sep 18, 2019 8:14 am

Wow! Thanks for the link to the build thread. I read the whole thing (when I should have been doing other things) and it was a fun one to follow. Nice work, there.

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Re: Lowe Shop Notes

Post by BTL » Fri Sep 20, 2019 3:20 pm

Absolutely, and you're welcome!

I have a new series of builds in the pipeline, including a fiver or two.

A few years back, I worked with Lindy Fralin on a prototype of the pickup that ultimately became the Fralin Big Single, and that's what I used in the first Ridler bass.

It's a sidewinder-style pickup that has the bobbins aligned horizontally and a steel blade that runs through the center. A bar magnet rests on the blade in-between the two bobbins and acts as a narrow sensing aperture, like a single-coil, but with hum canceling properties.

I have always wanted to offer this pickup in five string format, but struggled with how to fabricate the bobbins. After spit-balling one Friday afternoon with Lindy first, then Dan Rocha later on, we had an Occam's razor event. Why not just cut the ends off two Fralin bobbins and glue them together to make one longer one?

With a razor saw, some blue tape, a blade for a jig, and some CA adhesive, I now have a bobbin that will work for string spacing up to 3". I went to the local Metal Supermarket and had 30 blades cut for $20, and we're ready to fabricate.

Image

Image
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